Dancers in the Orlando area have a great opportunity to have a custom ballroom gown made locally by Nadia, the orlando seamstress. Nadia routinely makes custom dresses for ladies across the entire United States and sometimes internationally as well. And she does not charge extra like many dance companies because her philosophy is that it really isn’t any additional work for her since she makes all of the dresses that she has available for dancers who would prefer just to buy something that is ready made.
The process is very simple. Often it begins by the customer and Nadia discussing what she would like to have in her dress. This will include the colors, the fabric, and the actual design. There are lots of possibilities. For example, whether the ballroom costume will have sleeves, or have the back covered, or how the front of the dress will appear. Once these details have been determined, Nadia will usually create a sketch of the dress so that the customer and Nadia know they are in sync with the concept. And the last part of this first phase is to get measurements so she knows how to create the dress.
By the way, while Nadia is the Orlando Seamstress, she also operates her Design Company, Cashay Design, which sells ready made Ballroom Dresses and Latin Costumes around the country. That is why in some images or some of her marketing, you will see the name Cashay. Anyway, Phase 2 begins with the Ballroom Gown or Latin Costume being sewn. A fitting will then be scheduled. The garment will just be fabric at this point in time.
In phase 3,decorations are added to make the ballroom dress a beautiful gown. This process takes a great deal of time because every single rhinestone must be added by hand. There can be lots of other detailed handwork involved in the dress creation as well. But usually after several weeks, the process is finished and the customer can come and pick up their new, one of a kind ballroom dress.
A couple of points are worth mentioning here. Sometimes people will buy used dresses or ballroom dresses from other vendors. But often, those sellers have not created the dress. To give you one example, Nadia once overheard a customer telling a huge national vendor that some stones had fallen off the gown and could she have them replaced. The vendor suggested she go to Michael’s and purchase some plastic rhinestones and glue them on herself! But with the Orlando Seamstress, when you have a dress made, you always will be talking to Nadia, the designer, and if there is a problem, she will help you solve it with the expertise and interest she gives to all of her customers. This is important, because sometimes a Ballroom Costume will have unexpected issues for the customer. Maybe a strap needs to be added or a some other detail that the actual designer can easily solve. So besides getting a great price, the expertise of a true dress designer with many years and hundreds of dance costumes previously created, you also have a valuable resource for the future about that particular dress or other related dance matters. Getting a custom made dress from the Orlando Seamstress is a great idea!
