Has anyone ordered, or known of someone to order from one of those sites that make imitation designer dresses. There are several different "companies" on E-bay with imitation gowns made to your order listed in the $150-$300 range (including shipping). They apparently make the gown from pictures and your measurements. They tend to have great reviews on e-bay, but it still seems too good to be true.

I'm considering this method for the departing/exiting dress and "trash the dress" photos.

Something in me feels a little wary of buying dresses on e-bay or the internet, unless they're a reputable place like Pearl's. I've heard of people going to local seamstresses to have them make designer dress knockoffs. Also, JCrew has a lot of beautiful dresses that might be on sale this time of year.

I would have a really hard time doing it for my actual dress. But if you are going to trash it I say who cares. If they are making it from the picture, I wouldn't anticipate having the true detail on the dress. Many of the beautiful details that the couture dresses have are not visible in pictures.

I'm too neurotic to do that. I want to be able to go and see the work in progress rather than getting the finish product.

The prices are great, but I am not sure if I want to buy it without trying it on (even though they make it to your measurements) 'cuz I want a dress that's comfortable and fits me well.

Not my wedding dress, but I ordered my cheongsam/qi-pao from one of those companies that does both wedding gowns and qi-pao. The workmanship was good, and it fit like a glove except for the part where the measurement I gave them was too loose (around the tummy). So it looks like I have a huge pouch on my tummy, but that's not *really* their fault since they followed the measurements I gave them exactly.

I actually don't think ordering a gown this way would be too big of a risk to take, especially at those prices. Most of the non-couture dresses are made in China anyway. (I think my Maggie Sottero was made in China.) If any country is an expert at good fakes, they'd be it -- they make so much of the genuine stuff anyway -- and that's where most of the dress copiers I've seen on Ebay are based.

I didn't order a wedding gown from the company I ordered my qi-pao from because I didn't know what looked good on me until I went to the bridal store, and ended up buying it on the spot when I found it.

Thanks ladies for your input. I think I'm going to try the mail order method. I'll get a simple gown for the "trash the dress" photos. That way I don't feel as risky since I'm "trashing" it anyway. I'll let you know how it goes.

I ordered my dress from one of those Chinese Ebay stores. They delivered in about a week and a half, besides some minor alterations, it was perfect. Just make sure to do all your research. If it's 100% positive ratings, then don't do it.

Hi, I ordered a dress from one of those websites that claims the dress retails for $1000 but they're selling it for $299. The customer service was great, very friendly - the dress on the other hand...It was very pretty when I pulled it out of the box, but looked very cheap when I put it on. I felt like I was wearing a bridal Halloween costume. I was lucky I could send it back and only pay a restocking fee.