1. The shoes you will actually wear
This is the one thing we ask for twice. Hem length, the fall of a train and the whole balance of a long dress are set from the floor upwards. A borrowed pair from the atelier gets us close; your own pair gets us right. If you have not bought them yet, bring the closest heel height you own and tell us the plan.
2. The underwear you will actually wear
A different bra changes the bust line by a centimetre or more, and a centimetre is the difference between a neckline that sits and a neckline that gapes. If the dress needs built-in support, bring nothing and tell us — we will build it into the bodice, which is usually the better answer for a strapless or low-backed design.
3. Three photographs, not thirty
- One dress whose shape you love.
- One detail you want — a sleeve, a back, a neckline.
- One dress you dislike, so we understand the boundary.
The third picture is the most useful of the three, and the one almost nobody brings. Knowing what you do not want removes more wrong turns than any amount of inspiration.
4. Anything you already own that must work with it
An abaya you will arrive in, a shayla you plan to wear, jewellery inherited for the occasion, a piece of fabric brought back from travel. Colour matching from memory fails more often than it succeeds — bring the object itself and we will match it under proper light.
5. Your real schedule
Not just the date of the event — the travel before it, the week you will be away, the day you can and cannot come back to Al Wukair. We plan the fittings backwards from your event, and we would rather know about a ten-day absence now than in week four.
6. Something to tie your hair back
A small thing, but a neckline cannot be judged through hair, and pins have a way of catching on fine silk. If you intend to wear your hair up on the night, wearing it up to the fitting tells us more than any description.
How long to set aside
An hour for the first fitting, thirty to forty minutes for each one after. Come without a hard appointment straight afterwards if you can — the useful conversations tend to happen in the last ten minutes, once you have seen yourself in the mirror for a while.
