The Finished Dress

My custom-made dress is finally finished!

I had wanted the belt to be a little wider, but I was told this was the widest it could be, and that it would have to be made separately.

So it turned out a little different from the original image I had in mind, but overall, I’m very happy with it.

  • Fabric : 120 baht
  • Tailoring : 1,200 baht
  • Total : 1,320 baht

This was also the first time I had a fitting, so I thought I’d share the before and after.

Before and After the Fitting

The photo on the left was taken at the fitting, and the one on the right is the finished version.

I made two changes in between.
(The color looks slightly different, but that’s just because of the lighting.)

  • A Slightly More Fitted Shape

The dress I brought as a reference had a looser silhouette, so the first version came out slightly relaxed as well.

Then they asked, “Do you want it a little more fitted?” and I thought, Well… maybe, so I said yes.

  • Raising the Waistline a Little

I also asked them to move the seam slightly higher because I thought it might make my legs look longer.

But in the end, somehow the fitting version makes me look slimmer…!?
(Or did I just gain weight? Haha.)

I think making it more fitted brought out a bit too much fullness around the shoulders, and somehow the silhouette ended up feeling a little less interesting.

It was a good reminder of how even very small changes can completely affect the overall impression.

The Pros and Cons of a Fitting

Pros

  • You can avoid realizing too late that you want something changed after the garment is already finished
  • Seeing the garment in a nearly finished state helps you notice details you hadn’t fully communicated when placing the order.

Cons

  • It takes time. This time, it took 2.5 weeks to get to the fitting, and another 2.5 weeks to be the final piece, so 5 weeks in total which felt like quite a long process.
  • I also feel like having a fitting can tempt you to start changing things that didn’t really need changing.
    Maybe that was just me this time, though. Haha.

Still, if I were having something special made in an expensive fabric — someday I’d love to have something tailored in Jim Thompson fabric — I would absolutely want there to be a fitting.

I also really appreciated how carefully the tailor checked each detail with me.

And honestly, trying on a dress that was still held together with pins felt very tailor-made in the best way, which made me weirdly happy.

Next Journey: Matching Outfits at a Beautiful Temple

I also had a pair of overalls made for my son in the same fabric, so we went out in matching outfits.

See you on Next Journey : Day Out! Matching Outfits at a Beautiful Temple