This dress is absolutely beautiful. It's so flattering on, and it made me look super svelte. I bought it at The White Flower here in San Diego, and the consultant said that Essence dresses are known for their boobs--which is immediately apparent. The silhouette and the lace are absolutely gorgeous, too. It's brand new--never been worn or tried on. The one I'm wearing in the photo is the sample at the bridal salon, and it's ivory on ivory. The one I'm selling is ivory on oyster (It's just a little more of a "cream" color. You can see the difference if you look at the picture of it hanging. I thought the slight contrast just made the lace pop a little more. )The only reason I'm selling it is that I went wedding dress shopping one day on a whim with two coworkers without giving much thought to what I really wanted and what was right for the wedding I ended up having. Soon after I bought it, my fiancé and I totally changed the tone and venue of our wedding, and I ended up needing to reconfigure my dress plan. That said, this dress is gorgeous, and it will definitely make some bride very happy. I also ordered a yard of extra lace from the design house so that I could add some scalloping to the neckline or maybe some little cap sleeves if I wanted to. I'd be happy to throw that in. I paid $1916 with tax and the extra lace, but I'm happy to negotiate. Such a beautiful dress deserves to be loved and worn by someone on their big day!
If you are interested in the dress and are able to go to a bridal salon that carries Essence of Australia, try on the D1391 sample, and you'll see what I'm talking about. It really does give you that Jessica Rabbit silhouette.
Please note: the dress comes with a beautiful satin sash built in (you'll see it on the hanging photo and all of the ones with the dress by itself), but not in the pictures where I'm wearing the dress. Those sashes with the flowers (one is a champagne color and one is white) were samples from the bridal salon that I loved but never ended up buying. They're not a part of the actual dress.
I was between an 8 and a 10 in sizing, so I ordered the size 8. The street size is about a 6. My measurements are 35.5B/28H/38H, and I'm about 5'6. The store recommended ordering a 10, but the 10 in the store fit big. An 8 looked exactly right.
If you are interested in the dress, there are 2 big things you should know:
1. The dress comes with a beautiful satin sash built in (you'll see it on the hanging photo), but not the ones I'm wearing in the picture. Those ones with the flowers (one is a champagne color and one is white) were samples from the bridal salon that I loved but never ended up buying.
2. When I opened up the bag recently, I found that there is very slight yellowing on the top right side of the bodice- almost under the armpit. This could easily be remedied with the extra lace I'm including. Any seamstress would be able to either replace the appliques or recover it (especially if you would like to alter the neckline at all). It's a very small area, and the dress is just beautiful. I would hate for it to go to waste.