Seamstress Fariba Azimi inside her West End custom design and alterations shop (Photo by Jay Paul)
For more than 25 years, Fariba Azimi has been designing and making dresses and clothing. She got her start creating garments for herself and her family, and she worked professionally as a seamstress while living in Australia. When she relocated to Richmond in the early 2000s, Azimi shifted her focus almost exclusively to wedding dresses.
She opened Fariba's Bridal Alterations & Custom Design in 2010, and the shop at 11000 Three Chopt Road, Suite B, now makes between nine and 15 wedding dresses every year. Her team of seven seamstresses works with brides, bridesmaids and parents on alterations for fit and customization. They can make garment modifications such as adding sleeves, opening up the back, adding lace and embellishments, or completely changing a skirt.
Azimi offers more than dresses, though. Everything in the shop is handmade, including a selection of custom veils available for rental. The boutique also offers embroidery and monogramming, as well as accessories such as a coordinating winter coat.
“Everything around the wedding dress,” Azimi says, “we do it.”
The customization process is intimate, and Azimi and her staff spend hours with their brides, beginning months in advance. She says that has led to lifelong friendships with clients who continue to return.
“Many of our customers, we see them get married, and then they come back and they're pregnant,” she says. “They come for a bridesmaid dress, and they come with their kid. Some brides, they bring part of their dress to make a christening or baptism gown for the baby. That’s really fun.”
We caught up with Azimi to get her thoughts on going custom-made, having alterations done and what dress trends she’s currently seeing.
Richmond Bride: When should someone consider having a custom dress made?
Fariba Azimi: I always tell my customers, when they come to me to make the dress, if you are looking for something that you can find in the bridal shop, don't do a custom dress. It doesn’t make sense to pay to get the look of something that you find in a store. If you want a special fabric, a special color, or you cannot find your size, then it’s worth it to come and pay two to three times more and make a dress from scratch. Or if they find it, but it is over $20,000, $25,000, then I can make it for less.
RB: What are brides looking for when they bring a dress in for customization?
Azimi: Sentimental items, we have every year. Recently, a big part of our work is brides bring their mom's or grandma’s dress. We either make a dress for their wedding day, or for the rehearsal or reception. [One recent bride brought in] her mom’s dress, but of course, it was an ’80s or ’70s [style]. Dresses [from those eras] are completely different. We use whatever is from the dress and then change it to today’s new styles.
Another customer came at the end of 2019. She had her dress from her wedding day and wanted us to change it for her 50th anniversary. Everything we used was from the wedding dress.
RB: What wedding dress trends are you currently seeing?
Azimi: [A lot of brides] are ordering online. Some of the sites say it is custom, but I don’t believe most of them are custom. They ask for bust, waist, hips and say, “You fit in this size.” Sometimes they turn out really nice, but most of the time, they need a lot of tweaking. More and more, brides just order online and come here.
RB: What about dress style trends?
Azimi: [I’m seeing more] crepe, stretchy fabric — simple, no embellishment. That’s a big trend. And then they have a beautiful veil.
RB: How do you take someone’s vision and turn it into reality, whether through alterations or a custom dress?
Azimi: Usually they come with so many pictures, but you cannot just look at the picture and make it. When they come in, I look at their body to see its shape and what is going to look [good] on them. I help them to limit the styles. If they say I like the top and the sleeves, and you can have that in any dress, I say, let's work on the bottom. I draw each piece for myself, and then we look for the fabric. I order samples, and sometimes they choose from what I have. Once I have the fabric and the color, I start.
To make a dress, it takes four or five months. I make the piece from the lining, a muslin fabric, with nothing on it. They put it on, and I do all of the measurements to their body, and then I cut the actual fabric.
[For custom alterations] I give my customers my cellphone [number], and they can directly contact me and send me pictures. I can be a consultant even before they buy the dress, and it’s free.
