korean places, i shall conquer u.

so all this time i've been avoiding korean places, even though some friends said they offered good deals (and usually offered rentals as an option). i'm just scared of pushy ajumas. i find myself often deferring to them. so, my fellow korean sarah and i agreed to brave two korean salons together today :) first stop was wilshire bridal. i had my game face on and everything! as it turned out, my consultant was great! not pushy. we got to pick out what we wanted, tried stuff on, she pulled one. and... i really liked one that i totally didn't expect to like so much. an angel satin in ivory/champagne (ella 5436). the satin wasn't all shiny, it was a bit matte. very pretty. modified sweetheart, beautiful ruching, corset back (!), and pretty train. i don't want a long train, so this might have to be shortened. i LOVED the color, complemented my skin tone really well. i had a smile on my face the whole time. i was sooo surprised i liked it so much, it being satin and all, and the dress not even being textured. the pick-ups made it look sort of textured-y. and WHAT a price, which INCLUDED alterations! what i learned from this visit: modified sweetheart is what i want for the top. interesting ruching i really like. sometimes it's not necessarily the details that make the wow factor, but the COLOR!

second stop was beautiful day wedding. hard to find. also another small boutique. by this time, sarah and i were really focused on what would work and wouldn't work. she pulled some great gowns, and i tried on about 4. the best one was the san patrick (pronovias) capricho. loved it! had many of the elements i wanted: interesting ruching, dropped asymmetrical waist, textured bottom. the only concern was the one-shoulder strap. did i want it? or did i want it to be strapless sweetheart? the ruffles also need to start higher. it would need a lot of adjustments. but for the price, which again included alterations, wow. what i learned: i just may have to go with a korean place!