1509 W Fullerton Ave,Chicago,Illinois
4 (50)
Reviews
Ette was recommended by a relative as well as by the sales representative who sold me my dress. Unfortunately, my experience did not meet my expectations in terms of professional, high quality performance when it came to handling my wedding attire. The first issue came to light when, a month after my first fitting and a few days before my second, I received an email from Ette stating that they found a snag in my dress that likely happened at the factory. I'm fairly meticulous about these things and never noticed a snag myself, nor do I see one in any of the photos I took of the dress before taking it to Ette, but I wasn't 100% positive. Ette was helpful about reaching out to the designer to order more fabric and re-paneled the dress with the new fabric at no extra cost. I appreciated this greatly regardless of where the snag originated from, but my subsequent experiences make me question this experience now. My second issue: the dress was uncomfortably tight during the second fitting and needed to be let out a half inch at the side. Unfortunately, the dress now has snagging all along the line where the dress was originally taken in. Their advice for fixing this issue was to take it in again, which would have made the dress too tight again. Not really a solution, in my opinion. Further, I did not notice until my wedding day that the bustle points they put in caused the fabric to bunch up in various places on the train. (Ette does not allow you to bring a guest to fittings until your pick up day, and it is hard to see the details on your own.) The bunching on the train was noticeably visible when walking down the aisle. To make things worse, I opted for a hidden bustle, which looked great from the outside, but, when bustled, left large swings of fabric on the inside which meant I was constantly tripping on loose fabric and needed to lift my dress to move around. I am told that this was a poorly constructed bustle. I am extremely surprised that these basic wedding dress alterations were so poorly done when working with an "expert" tailor. What finally made me the saddest was that I took my veil in for my final fitting to try the ensemble on in its entirety. Ette reps offered to steam my veil, which I accepted. I incorrectly assumed that they specialize in bridal and understand how to handle bridal accessories and fabrics. When I later took out the veil, I realized that there are now frayed ends all around the edge of the veil, causing it to snag, and the rough edges now stick onto the veil so that it no longer flows freely. After listening to my complaints, Ette did offer to fix the snagging and trim off the edge of my veil, but I did not trust them to touch my items again and declined. All in all, they did deliver a dress that fits me well, but the level of damage and mishandling left me incredibly disappointed in their level of "expertise," especially at the prices they charge. I should also note that the pricing is not transparent. When, after my first fitting, I asked for an itemized bill with pricing for each requested alteration, they initially refused. The price breakdown they finally sent me did not equal the final total, so it is unclear how much they charge for service fees, etc.
If you’re in Chicago, Ette is the *ONLY* choice. I had such a fantastic experience in every way possible working with them. The space is spotless and beautifully decorated, and every single person was so kind, patient, and smart. I was able to make some last minute changes, and I was able to talk through alterations and costs before they started to make sure I was staying within budget. Liliana did my dress alterations, and she took a dress that was 5 sizes too big and made it look like it was custom built for me. I was comfortable and loved how I looked in my dress, and every stitch survived the long day and night of festivities. This is also one of the only tailors where I never got asked about trying to change my body or lose weight. Liliana asked questions to make sure that she was changing the dress to suit me, not the other way around, and honestly, everyone deserves to feel like that. You will feel respected, affirmed, and treated at Ette tailor and in the clothes they alter for you.
Ette very sadly butchered my dress, and for a very high price. I wish I had known it was a red flag not to be working directly with a seamstress after the first fitting, but after another two visits (both times I was the only one pointing out issues and offering suggestions) the damage was done. I spent my wedding day hiding the unflattering bodice, which had been pulled up so high it no longer sat flush to my chest and exposed way more skin than I wanted it to. I feel robbed not only of the $600+ I spent trying desperately to course correct at Ette, but of the experience of wearing the beautiful dress I purchased on my wedding day. save yourself the heartache and take your dress elsewhere
Ette did an amazing job with my dress. Although seemingly simple, they added components to my dress that made it so much more secure and like it was made for my body. I couldn’t be happier with how everything turned out, it was better than I’d ever imagine. Alterations in general are expensive, but you really get what you pay for here - top notch detail oriented perfection. If you want your dress to be in the best hands possible - go here.
I had three appointments with Ette for my wedding dress tailoring - an initial fitting, first try on, and final try-on/take home. I worked with a couple different people for my fittings and each one was great and listened to my concerns and offered recommendations. It fit pretty well during the first try on but we tweaked a few things to make it even better. For my final try on and pick-up it was a little tight and uncomfortable around the armpits because of some of the adjustments we had made to the straps. The seamstress fixed it right there while I waited and it was perfect! They also provide a cleaning and preservation service which I’m also using. Highly recommend trusting Ette with your wedding dress!