Womens formal evening wear

A friend and I have an invitation to a Black Tie party in Switzerland and she needs something to wear. I own my own Tuxedo and it nice to have a custom tailored thing that I wear once or twice a year, but she never has anything quite formal enough.

She is about 1.75m + heavy built has the money to pay for custom stuff, doesn't want to do the slinky dress, was thinking of formal womans suit, but generally she doesn't like how they look on her.

She doesn't like strong sales pitches, she does speak good german.

Any reccomendations for a good place to look at?

We will try Konen, Beck, Lodenfry, Hettlage this weekend, but if there are any smaller places that could actually spend the time with her to come up with something that would be nice I would love to hear about them! The party is in a month so we have time to wait for alterations. Or fast custom work.

Not sure if it's one of the places you mentioned (possibly Ludwig Beck) but we went to a shop just off Marienplatz (on the Tal side) recently to get a formal dress. They were pretty friendly & helpful with try-ons and alterations too. It's a big multi-level store between the Rathaus and the Stadtsparkasse.

Just checked, yes it's Ludwig Beck

Marienplatz 11,
80331 München
Tel. +49(0)89 23691-0
Fax +49(0)89 23691-600

Reasonable selection of formal stuff and staff who were helpful and courteous without being pushy.

At Marienplatz where Sportsheck is.. go up that side street and on your left is Tintoretto, an Italian clothes' shop which has posh dresses and suits (satin suits or whatever).

Custom work can be extremely expensive here - would she be prepared to pay €800 for something custom? If yes, then I could list a few places.
Tintoretto has beautiful dresses, fantastic for curves, but only go up to about a UK16/US18 and I'm not sure how big you mean when you say "well built". Tintoretto is actually Spanish UA - las chicas told me that one.
Pajas, Franz-Joseph-Straße 46, München Tel.: 089-393630 does custom fit stuff (not sure on sizes), might be under that price level.
To tell the truth, you'll get much better formal wear (unless you want to go to Escada) in the UK - that's where I get mine.

Thanks for the quick responces!

Yes 800Euro would be under consideration.

Size 16-18 I think.. Woman's clothing sizes confuse me.

sadly I don't think going to the UK is an option. I know even fewer stores there.

Actually now that I mention it , Men's sizes in Germany confuse me as well. I just want to tell them how big my waist is and how long my legs are.

Germany for men confuses me because there are two sets of numbers used for mens button down shirts that don't line up. Some styles I am a 45 and others 56 no idea what is going on.

I only recently understood the 100s are talls, and the 20s are shorts.

I got a very nice balldress from "S. Fietzek" in Theatinerstr. The assistant was very nice, if a touch overpowering.
There's also "Natasha Müllerschön" on Franz-Joseph str. if you are looking for made-to-measure and "Pajas" just down the road (I have to stop myself going in there or I would spend far too much money).

None of them are cheap, but then they do have nice clothes.

Bron

Holy crap! Would someone actually pay that for clothes??!!
If that's the kinda cash being shelled out for this then I recommend flying to Thailand and getting one custom made there. All up including flights you could save yourself €100, and you get to go on holiday to Thailand. Perfek

A custom tailored garment will always provide the best fit, but another option would be to find something online or from a catalog, and then have any minor alterations done by a tailor. There are a lot of companies in the US that cater to plus sizes, talls, etc. PM me for recommendations. Be careful to take all of her measurements and order the right size. Many shops/catalogs have fitting experts that you can consult over the phone to be sure that you are getting the best size.

I'd also recommend here, lovely service, not cheap at all but the prices have a sliding scale depending on the amount of work involved (if there is a lot of hand embroidery for example). Do off the peg and custom-fit.
I tried some things here, didn't buy in the end but got lots of good advice (my liking for apple green stems from this fitting, I never knew that it suited me) and no hard sell.

FYI: Tintoretto is having a sale, some stuff marked down by 50%. just happened to pop in over lunch, didn't look to badly picked over but there were some Italian ladies *with shiny expensive purses probably full of gold and wads of euros* heading in on my way out.

PS: Wasnt there a thread specifically for sales about town? Couldnt find it.

Hi, My German friend is a Tailor and i believe her contact will be interesting for your friend.

Her website www.qaru.de

She is english speaking.

Prices starts from €200 and up (It always depend on the material chosen) Most probably it would require a week to complete.

Happy Tailoring...

Solomoda on Inner Wiener Ring- right accross from the Hofbraukeller,

Perfect Women- Ismaningerstr (MAx Weber Pl) also has nice stuff.

I personally bought a nice outfit in Scotland on a recent trip, I find the sizing and the cuts are better, than here, most german styles do not allow for curves!