Spot the Difference: Couture Vs Off-the-Rack

There’s a reason why we do what we do: because the workmanship involved is of the highest quality and the finished work of art is always exquisite. We love Couture precisely because we know what’s involved in the process of creating a wedding dress, and what sets it apart from mass-produced ‘fast’ fashion.

But perhaps not everyone knows the many differences between custom-designed and made wedding dresses and their mass-produced alternatives. So that you know exactly what you’re getting when you purchase a custom-designed and made wedding dress, we’ve put together a list of what separates these two very different processes.

The Size

The obvious difference between couture and mass produced wedding dresses is that one is made-to-measure for the individual wearer, while the other is mass produced to a set of generic sizes. The problem with this is obvious: women come in all shapes and sizes, and a size 12 dress may not fit a lady who is that size on top, but a smaller size on the bottom. The couture dress, on the other hand, is made to your exact measurements, so you really do get the perfect fit. We at Achilllea Marini measure once, measure twice, and take meticulous care in getting your proportions spot on.

The Fabric

It’s not only the fit, but the quality that sets couture apart. A lot of the time off-the-rack wedding dresses are made from inexpensive fabrics. Unlike finer quality fabrics, cheap fabrics will not hang well, will lose shape, and will deteriorate. Couture dresses, however, are made from sublime fabrics that hold their shape beautifully and are both delicate and durable. We get our fabrics from the fashion hubs of London and Milan, ensuring they’re of the finest quality and finish.

The Design

Our favourite difference between mass produced and couture wedding dresses is the design element. When you walk into a high street wedding dress shop you’ll have a limited range of designs to choose from, and sometimes none of them will fit the bill. You’ve probably got a particular design in mind, and know exactly how you want to look on your wedding day…?

With custom-designed and made wedding dresses from Achillea Marini you can realise that vision by getting directly involved in the design process. You can choose the shape, style, cut, and fabric of your dress, and even add little details to reflect your own personality. This is what makes couture so fun!

The Workmanship

The ‘hidden’ difference between custom-made and mass produced wedding dresses is the workmanship. Why hidden? Because unless you know the extent of work that goes into each couture gown, you won’t realise just how much love and attention that has been invested.

The art of couture is complex, and one that is developed over time. It is a discipline that is meticulously learnt, so that each gown created has the Hallmark of perfection. Mass produced wedding dresses, however, are machine made and therefore the intricate attention to detail is inevitably lost.

So there you have it: the major differences between custom-made and mass produced wedding dresses. When it comes down to it, it’s all about what you, the bride, have always wanted from your wedding dress. What do you have pictured in your mind’s eye? In our opinion, this vision can only really be achieved through the careful design process that custom-made wedding dresses offer. We believe that your wedding dress should be matchless, unique, and 100% YOU: all the things an off-the-rack dress just can’t accomplish.

“Fashion is architecture: it is a matter of proportions.” Coco Chanel

What does it mean when someone says a dress looks perfect? Can you put your finger on why your best friend looked so wonderful in her wedding dress? From a designer’s point of view, I can tell you exactly what it means: it means the proportions of the dress are exactly right for the person wearing it.

Let’s look at Coco Chanel’s famous quote, and the title of this post:

 “Fashion is architecture: it is a matter of proportions.”

When you think of the name Coco Chanel, you’re probably picturing a brand, but Coco Chanel, or Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel, was an exquisite, beautiful, and influential French fashion designer.

Her approach to fashion was strikingly similar to an architect’s approach to buildings. Her designs were modernist, practical, and powerfully simple; all the ingredients for cutting-edge, stunning buildings.

The parallels she drew between the two disciplines highlights just how methodical and technical the art of dressmaking is, and just how important it is to get the measurements and cut right for the individual wearer.

Another of my favourite fashion designers is Gianfranco Ferré, who was previously trained in architecture. Like Coco Chanel, his stunning designs reflect the precision of an architect, where the proportions are in perfect harmony. His work is extremely dynamic and cutting-edge, as you can see here:

So, just as proportion creates the perfect piece of architecture, it also creates the perfect dress.  But it’s not just about the dress itself, it’s about the shape and style of the woman wearing it. Just as a building needs to fit its environment, so should a dress fit its wearer.

As dress designers we have to take into account the bride’s features and body proportions, just as architects need to make sure a building’s colours and shapes are balanced. And when you get all these aspects right, the end product is, as the expression goes, ‘pleasing to the eye’.

Architecture is a great source of inspiration for me, and when you look at the work of top fashion designers such as Coco Chanel and Gianfranco Ferré, you can see how similar it is to fashion design. There’s no room for error, no estimates…it’s all about precision, and it’s the precision that creates the balance.

Next time you are in the city, look up. Notice the buildings that surround you, their shapes and their dimensions. Ask yourself, ‘what makes this building beautiful?’ I bet the answer you come up with will be the answer I gave you at the beginning of this post: the proportions make it beautiful. And next time you hear someone say that a dress looks perfect, you’ll know why.

The Battle of Quality Over Quantity...

There’s no doubt that social trends dictate fashion. We’ve already spoken about Paris’ launch into Haute Couture after the incredibly exuberant styles of Louis XIV.  Back then it was all about custom-made, custom-designed, quality clothes. The process of dressmaking was seen as an art, and each garment produced was made by hand, carefully and methodically.

A 'sewing circle'...no Primark in those days!

But unfortunately this trend was not to last, and after the onslaught of World War II, fashion changed forever. But why?

It all comes down to two aspects of our society: economy and the media. The impact WW2 had on the economy was devastating; you just need to dig out your Grandma’s ration book to know that. Just as fresh meat was replaced by processed foods such as SPAM, high-end, ‘slow’ fashion was pushed aside to make way for mass-produced, off-the-rack clothing.

By making everything disposable, the economy was kept above water. But it wasn’t just fashion and food; look in your kitchen cupboard and you’re likely to find not one, but several frying pans. Your Grandma would have had just the one, and it would have been made with materials that lasted forever.

Similarly, look in your wardrobe and you’ll probably find a rack full of dresses. Your Grandma, again, would have had one, maybe two, both of which would have been custom-made using durable, high-quality fabric. This post-war move to mass-produced markets kept the economy rolling, and still does, but it was a sad day for traditional Haute Couture.  

And the media? It is, if you like, the voice of the economy. It persuades us to buy certain things, and live a certain way, all the while cleverly boosting the wealth of the country. Nowadays trends come and go like the wind; the dress you bought on the high street last week won’t be on the catwalk in a few months’ time, and the iphone you thought was the ‘latest’ thing will most certainly be supplanted by something bigger and better.

What it all comes down to is that generally quantity is valued above quality. But we at Achillea Marini want to point out that despite current social behaviour, we should still appreciate high-quality, personalised services. Of course we don’t expect everything in your wardrobe to be custom-made, but surely there’s room for one very special, made-just-for-you garment that you’ll keep forever?

I recently dug out a beautiful emerald green dress that had been hand-made by my Great Grandma back in the 1920’s…after over ninety years it still looked and felt exquisite, each stitch holding fast. Here was a garment of the upmost quality; the art of dressmaking at its finest…

Need I say more?

The Father of Couture

There’s no doubt that ‘Haute Couture’ has become a widely recognised term. In fact, nowadays people tend to just say ‘Couture’, which has come to encompass the phrase’s meaning all by itself.

When we asked our customers and friends what this phrase meant to them, the popular answer was custom-made, high-end fashion. That’s pretty close, but what does Haute Couture literally mean? For that, we needed to dig out our French dictionaries…

The word ‘haute’ translates to ‘high’, and can also mean ‘elegant’, and ‘couture’ translates to ‘sewing’, and can also mean ‘dressmaking’, or ‘needlework’. 

So, this well coined phrase literally means ‘elegant needlework’, or ‘high dressmaking’. We think this is a beautiful way to describe what we do here at Achillea Marini, and hits the nail on the head in terms of defining the precision and attention to detail that come with creating our custom-designed and made wedding dresses.

And we prefer to describe what we do as dressmaking or needlework rather than ‘fashion’, because the wedding dresses we produce aren’t exclusively inspired by the current trends, but are timeless pieces that are a reflection of the bride’s individual tastes rather than what’s on the Catwalk.

In order to better understand the legacy of the fine art of dressmaking, we thought we’d take a moment to explore the history of the Haute Couture tradition. So, let’s go on a little journey to 19^thCentury Paris…

It was during the 1800’s that custom-made dressmaking triumphed.  After the explosion of Louis XIV’s extravagant Court in the 18^th Century, fashionable women started to imitate the styles and trends of the notoriously exuberant King.

Paris fast became the hub of fashion, and with the development of public transport women across Europe were able to travel to the Capital in order to shop for the latest trends. Clothes shopping became a form of recreation, and the privilege of the rich.

But Haute Couture as we know it didn’t explode onto the scene until one very talented and ambitious young man took the fashion industry by storm…Charles Frederick Worth, AKA The Father of Couture.

Up until Worth came onto the scene, the term ‘Haute Couture’ hadn’t even been coined.

With a host of wealthy customers all willing to throw mountains of money at style, Worth created one-of-a-kind designs that were solely for the shape and style of the wearer, and nobody else.

His clients were able to choose the colour and fabric of their dress, their precise measurements were taken, fittings ensued, and the tradition of custom-designed dresses that we know and love today was formed.

The previously humble trade of dressmaking was turned on its head, and the skill soon became perceived as an art form in itself…

The concept of the fashion designer was born.

The surprising thing about Charles is that he was not French. Given the fact that Paris is the home of high-end fashion, you’d think the man responsible for revolutionising dressmaking was a born and bred Parisian. In fact, Charles was born in Lincolnshire, England, and although he started his career in London, the ambitious designer soon moved to Paris to make his undeniable mark on the industry.

Following in Worth’s wake are the notorious fashion houses of Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, and Jean Paul Gaultier to name but a few, all of whom take their inspiration and fashion philosophy from the seeds sewn by Worth.

And when you learn that it was Worth who was the first to attach a designer label to his creations, you realise just how significant his work is in today’s fashion industry. Previously the dressmaker was seen as an artisan, not an artist, and their name was neither here nor there.

Nowadays fashion designers go one-step further with the fashion label, incorporating the designer’s name into the design itself, for example the well-loved Louis Vuitton handbag…

But perhaps this trend is more a celebration of the designer rather than the beauty of the design itself. Are you, for example, noticing the well-crafted handbag or the well-known Louis Vuitton emblem?

If we could just have ten minutes to ask Worth what he thought of today’s fashion industry, we’d be in heaven. But for now we will continue to keep in mind Worth’s work and legacy, and the beautiful art of custom-designed dressmaking, or, as we translated at the beginning, ‘Elegant needlework’…