Mrs. Adetokunbo Amosu runs the day to day activities at Reniques Occasions ,an occasion wear shop that focuses on Bridal and other occasion apparels. She is also a distributor of luxury fabric brands. She says her target market is the discerning bride who cares about details, luxury and style.
Evolving from what is known as the one customer model (which focused only on the bride) she has included the whole bridal party/crew and other occasion wear for females. Beyond retail, Amosu also sees a bigger picture of what fashion can be used to achieve and this informs how she adds value in the industry.
Saturday Sun spoke to her:
How many is too many to have on a bridal train?
A more popular preferable number will be anything between six and 12 maids. For the purpose of waiting on the bride, helping out with dressing, changing, holding up her train , fixing any emergencies and, of course, glamourising her pictures and her entire day.
How many fittings should a bride have before she takes possession of her gown?
A bride will be required to come for not more than two fittings before she comes for her dress. Reasons is that the first fit basically takes care of errors in style, interpretation, or fitness of the dress, plus a few other peculiarities that may not have been captured in the initial consultation, while the second fit should ideally be the final fit. That being said, however, there have been instances where a bride undergoes drastic size changes, which could be due to excruciating diets, a newly adopted bridal regimen ahead of her big day, hormonal issues or stress.
What is the best way to shop for bridesmaids’ dresses?
The best ways for shopping for bridal dresses include online shopping , relying on referrals and from previous maids or friends. There are also the classes of maids who go with the bride’s recommendations.
What are the best types of fabrics to use for occasional bridal wears and why?
The best fabrics that work well for occasion and bridal dresses include but are not limited to laces (which range from alencon, honitn, Chantilly, eyelets, guipires,) duchess silks , dupions, water chiffons, organzas and tulles. This range of fabrics not only have a luxurious feel to it, they also tend to drape well, drapery being one of the essential specialised sewing methods used to distinguish occasion wear.
What are the latest bridal trends?
A few interesting trends have continued to be relevant in the bridal industry, some of which are detachable skirts over the wedding dress (it’s usually layers of tulle, the top layer sequined or blinged), this normally allows the bride to come up with more than one look during the bridal ceremony. Another interesting trend is the single stem roses for the bridesmaids which until recently wasn’t the norm.
Other trends include the crystallised headbands /pieces which has largely replaced the place of boring veils (so veils have not become outdated, it just comes with more drama /is more accesorised than what used to obtain many years ago). There’s also the pearlised bouquets. Lastly, we have removable capes and tuck in jackets that help add sleeves to otherwise bare wedding gowns.
How does one sustain luxury fabrics?
Sustaining luxury fabrics involves having uncanny attention to detail. Most dresses come in a transparent zipped bridal jacket. Attention should also be given to the care instructions when they are still in fabric state, some of these fabrics cannot even be ironed, while others have specific recommended accessory /trimmings that can be used on it for bare results. All in all, as with delicate pieces or fabrics, they should be kept in uncluttered, well arranged cabinets /shelves. Also worthy of note is to train staff on the use of dressing gloves during bridal dress rehearsals and also generally include a tiny dry-cleaning budget to mitigate dirt, stains, and damage.
Is it really sensible to purchase fabrics on-line?
Overtime the bridal designer acquires the know -how of buying fabrics online. This includes buying from established sellers, there are also other considerations like the top rated seller badge conspicuously displayed on those e-commerce sites, feedback score, reviews, number of years the fabric store has been listed and number of real orders since the shop got listed.
Here again, attention to detail comes to the fore. As a buyer, ensure that you read the complete item detail/description, look out for seller guarantees and return/exchange policies (all of this is put in place to buy trust of you, the buyer. It’s also wise to think twice about luxury items with exceptionally low prices and lastly avoid free shipping for your expensive fabrics (yes! Any free shipping item is normally sent through the national post office of the country in question, which could take a long time to arrive and may arrive with a damaged packaging). Besides the hope of you getting a shipping insurance on your luxury fabric is totally ruled out when shipping comes free.
How far in advance should a bride start shopping for a gown?
Ideally, shopping for your bridal dress should start from the minute the bride gets engaged, as the bride begins to picture herself in her dress. Putting a more specific timeline will be six to eight months before the wedding, as there are considerations like right fabric and or accessories, trimmings that may be required for producing the dress. If it’s an outright order of a specific international designer, then everything from shipping duration to time required for production should be factored in.
Why do slimmer women have more exquisite options in bridal and occasion wears than fuller women?
Slimmer women seemingly have more dress choices than women with fuller figures because some certain silhouettes sit better on a slimmer bride but that is not a challenge for some designers. For me, any bride that I meet from the first consultation gets a wide range of style advice which then gets narrowed down depending on the brides tastes and style preferences.
What steps should a bride undertake to find a dress that is unique to her personality?
Have a vivid picture of what you want to look like on your wedding day (down to considerations like weather; because of the time of the year and even venue (no point running around in a full ball dress for a garden wedding or beach wedding). While this picture guides you through choosing a dress for your big day, decide with the help of either bridal consultants, a trusted friend or sister (not your whole entourage) on the silhouette, colour and your style tastes. Then, decide your budget (flexible a bit to accommodate your personal preferences though) and start shopping early.