Bridesmaid dresses: LA Fashion District

Ahhh, LA's Fashion District. The place where your haggling skills are honed. The place to find cheap clothing of questionable authenticity. You can either find a great deal or get ripped off. But be a savvy shopper and you can find a true gem.

I was lured to LA's Fashion District with hopes of finding great bargains for bridesmaids dresses. There is a particular corner where a lot of the wedding stores are (Olympic and Santee). I visited this intersection with my MOH, but unfortunately found few options in our color. Head to Trendy Too in this intersection and you'll find evening/prom/bridesmaid dresses for as cheap as $29!

We found one dress in plum:

The dress was $60 but I thought we could keep looking.

Then we found Christie's Collection. While there weren't any tea-length dresses in plum on their racks, I was told they can make dresses in any length, color and material. They charged $85 to $95 for each custom-made dress.

But just when I was about to email my bridesmaids to tell them of my find, I found this Yelp review giving the place 1 star!

I know it's one review, but it's the only review and I can't take my chances. I think I'm moving on.

Discouraged by our first visit to the Fashion District without finding our bargain, a co-worker told me I didn't look hard enough. Go further south on Santee, he said, that's where all the bargains are.

So I went back with my fiance and walked further down on Santee toward the freeway and we found Sweeties and this chiffon and satin dress:

It's $55 (if I buy four), but if I wanted my bridesmaids to try on the dress, they would all need to come in on a weekday. The store carries only samples and if they don't have the size, they will need to get it from their warehouse which is not open on the weekend. Also, they switch out styles each season, and they may stop carrying this dress after December. It's a nice dress and a good deal, but I'm positive I can't get all my ladies to LA on a weekday. I don't want to risk it.

So, the Fashion District probably won't work out for me considering not all of my bridesmaids live in the LA area. I would prefer they to try on the dress before we decide to buy.  But you can find great deals there. There were stores full of styles and colors for about $50-$90. Also, you can probably haggle your price down especially if you're buying more than one.

So we're moving on. I think I'll poke into an Alfred Angelo and see what they have.