When dress designer Brenda Betalia of BB's Salon (of Savannah, Georgia) goes to work on a custom-made dress, she thinks first of her vision by using Ott-Lites in her salon.
"You'd think that with the economy the way it is right now that custom dress-making would be a business that was struggling," says Betalia, "but it's not." Betalia explains that since the economy began to slow down, more and more customers who used to buy only at the designer label houses are now coming to her to customize dresses and suits for them. "Many of my customers are looking for a local American dressmaker to get the tailored custom look they want without worrying about haute couture prices. Some actually have told me that they are now only going to buy American."
The fact is that custom dressmaking and tailoring is becoming a less and less common profession. Fewer people are taking up the trade, so that the few custom dressmakers who are left are getting the lion's share of the work. The trend in Betalia's case is for a local dressmaker to customize a new outfit that is beautifully made. The reasons are the new patriotism for buying American, and the desire for the bride to save money as well.
Betalia explained, "I just finished a wedding dress that was so beautiful! I had my assistant sew in two thousand tiny crystals and we used the most expensive silks; it had a nine-foot train, and still the gown came to only five thousand dollars. That same dress, if purchased at a high end wedding retailer or department store, would have been at least ten grand. The bride paid for all the bridesmaids' dresses and the groomsmen's tuxedoes with the money she saved using my studio."
While work is plentiful, indeed, Betalia has to turn down some orders these days. She is aware that the long hours she spends working in the salon can put strain on her eyes and the vision of her assistants. "I use Ott-Lites for the salon," says Betalia. "One day I saw my cousin, who does a lot of my beadwork, straining her eyes, and I said, 'come on let's go get us some decent lights for the job'." That day Betalia outfitted BB's salon with desk and sewing lamps by Ott-Lite and with Ott-Lite Full Spectrum 3X Magnifier and Ott-Lite Truecolor Task Light.
"I'd been reading about true color lights for sewing studios, and that natural, full-spectrum light was better for the eyes. I decided to protect my vision and the vision of my assistants," said Betalia, "After all, our vision is our work!" And for this American dressmaker, that vision is paying off.
