Eco Wedding Dresses - About Our Designer and How Conscious Elegance came to be

Welcome!   My name is Lori, eco wedding dress designer at your service. I'm a third-generation dressmaker and have been a seamstress for over *cough* 24 years. I supported myself through grad school by sewing for local theaters and working under seasoned designers. I learned every dressmaking trick in the book and a few that weren't. Several years ago, I had the unique opportunity to create my mother’s gown for her remarriage (really, how many of us get to do that?). That dress brought so many compliments and requests that I began gifting handsewn wedding dresses to friends and loved ones.     Then came my turn to be married.

Lori Del Genis in her studio [photo by 'Voices' newspaper]

I still remember planning my wedding. It was a simple affair and yet the details were enough to drive anyone crazy. There was so much that I didn't care about (an engraved silver-plated cake-cutter?!). But the one thing I did care about was the dress.

That dress was mine, all mine. It was the only bit that would be completely my choice. And my choice was not only going to be gorgeous, but eco friendly, made with sustainable fabric and socially responsible. No pesticides, petroleum products or sweatshops, period. I wanted to know that my dress was in harmony with both the earth and my values.

Instead of creating my own dress, I figured I'd save some time: I'd buy something and fix it up. And I was shocked by what I found in the bridal shops -- mass-produced, scratchy, badly made dresses with acetate linings that you knew would melt near a flame. Some of the fabrics even made my eyes burn. I was eyed suspiciously by condescending salon employees who were only interested in making a sale and knew nothing about dressmaking. And *holy cow* were these gowns overpriced!

This was absurd; there had to be beautiful, well-made dresses sewn from natural fabrics. Dresses that didn't sport a 700% mark-up (!!) and wouldn't require all sorts of expensive alterations. We needed an alternative.

I started researching available materials and current labor practices and found that the situation was much worse than I'd ever imagined. Before then, I'd had no clue where my clothes had come from or who had been affected by their creation. I’ve compiled much of this research into our Why We Use Sustainable Fabrics page but there was more to learn, and it was disturbing. Worst was the question of what effect such practices could have on the world's children. And what about my own children? I didn't want any child of mine to be exposed to chemically-treated fabrics. Clearly, we needed a solution that neither depleted our earth nor mistreated her people.

And so I began with a question: could one offer fairly-priced wedding and formal wear that would be earth-friendly, people-friendly, *and* stunningly beautiful?

In response to this need, Conscious Elegance was born.