Gowns: "Inspired By..."

Yea...so for the past day or so I had been getting
really excited
about what I admittedly thought was a goldmine of knockoff gowns from Ebay sellers based in China.
Several
of these sellers--many whom even have good ratings--are offering all
kinds of knock-off designer gowns for super-cheapo prices...like $100
for the gown and $80 for shipping. They claim the gowns are
custom-made to your measurements and are dead-on replicas of the
original...

Well, long story short, after due research it seems like, as with anything else, usually you get what ya pay for.
Apparently,
many traditional bridal boutiques are having to actively combat online
retailers to protect their businesses from being swallowed by web
bridals. They especially have to watch out
for sellers peddling shabby, bad quality fakes.

To discredit Ebay and other knockoff sellers, one online discount bridal shop actually bought a few of the China-made
knockoffs and put them right up against the designer photos they were
claiming to produce.

CLICK HERE to see the real gowns VS. the knockoffs.
It's pre-tty bad.

I hope this "un-inspires" anyone else who is tempted about going the "alternative route."

I'm not saying that ALL Ebay or other online sellers who custom-make designer "inspired" gowns are
of horrible quality like these. I AM saying to be VERY careful and to
do your homework before buying from such a seller.

Several web sites for brides--weddingchannel and indiebride,
to name a few--- are a treasure trove of info and host thriving message
boards where past brides and brides-to-be are sounding off on any and
every vendor you
can think of. I suggest taking a few days to do as much info-gathering
as possible on these "alternative" vendors before taking a chance.
Especially helpful
are message threads where members post photos of these gowns they have
received from little-known vendors. That's hands down the BEST way to
get a feel for what YOU would get if you ordered.
For instance, many former/future brides seem to swear by Queens, New York dress-maker Julius Bridal Inc. There is lots of info on Julius' gowns on indiebride and even more on weddingchannel, where dozens of ladies have posted photos of themselves in their discount/custom-made Julians...and theydo look good:)