On a whim, I bought a blue wedding dress made in the 1950s from a thrift store. The dress was a little too small and would not zip fully up the back. The owner of the thrift store said that I wouldn’t be able to find someone to alter it, but wished me luck. I was determined and knew I could find someone to let the fabric out around the zipper so it would fit. How hard could that be? A friend of a friend recommended Zebra Cleaners. She said that they could clean any fabric and had experience working with older garments. When I arrived at Zebra Cleaners the owner, Rutu, was not there. However, he told me that he would meet me in 10 minutes at the store. Even though I said I did not mind coming back a different day. But he insisted. Already I experienced exceptional service.
All my doubts about the dress ceased once he got a hold of it and transformed it into a custom wedding dress for me. After the altering was finished the dress was carefully cleaned and ready for me to wear on my wedding day.
Wedding dress alterations
I tried the dress on for Rutu and not only did the dress not fit, I felt that it was not flattering in the least. It was made for a specific person and in a different period of fashion. It extenuated my hips, it did not fit in the shoulders and the fabric was cut all the way to the zipper. This left him unable to let fabric out. I felt defeated. Rutu studied the dress and came up with a brilliant idea on how to fix the back. By making the length and hem shorter there was fabric to make a panel and piping to lace up the back and taking the zipper completely out. Every two weeks I would come to Zebra Cleaners to try on the dress. I probably did this at least 6 times. Rutu and the seamstress would spend at least thirty minutes pinning and coming up with different ideas to complete the dress. I felt that Rutu was excited about the project and genuinely cared for how I would look for my wedding day. He talked at length with me about what shoe color, jewelry, hair style, and makeup that would look nice with my dress. All my doubts about the dress ceased once he got a hold of it and transformed it into a custom dress for me. After the altering was finished the dress was carefully cleaned and ready for me to wear on my wedding day.
Wedding day is a special day
I could not be more pleased with Rutu and his staff. He transformed my dress into something stunning and we formed a friendship on the way. It is a work of art and it exceeded my expectations. Every girl wants to feel special on their wedding day. Zebra Cleaners made me feel that way in my one of a kind dress.