Aliexpress (Floral Dreams Dupe) Dress

First off, let me say that I love Teuta Matoshi's Floral Dreams dress, I LOVE IT!!  It is my favorite of all her dresses and I wished more than anything that it came in Tea Length, because as it is it's quite long and I would have no occasion on which to wear such a dress.  So, I put it out of my mind...well, I tried anyway.  

I made this for my youtube video, but they want my phone no. before they'll let me use it, so I'll just use it here instead.

There are so many of Teuta's look alike gowns out there, but no so much on this one.  I looked and really only found one on Aliexpress.  It carries a price tag of less than $90 from a shop called Lorie.  I messaged the shop and asked for photos of the actual dress and this is what they sent me:

It didn't look drop dead gorgeous like Matoshi's but I was so glad that they had some photos of what I could expect.  They also informed me that if I wished to order the dress, I needed to do so by the following day or the factory would be shutting down for the holidays and I would not receive the dress until mid to late March.  Impulsively I ordered the dress right that minute. This was on January 22nd.  In spite of the fact that I placed my order "before the holiday shutdown," the dress did not arrive until February 23rd.  Of course I ordered several other dresses a few days later and they still haven't shipped.  While I was waiting, I realized that because Teuta Matoshi's gowns are made to order, there was a chance they would customize a dress for me.  I contacted them and they agreed!  More on that in another post!

Going strictly by the photos I would say that the Aliexpress dress is lacking all the dreaminess and ethereal majesty of the Matoshi's version.  It's a pretty dress, but it is a watered down version for sure, a shadowy reflection.  Once I received the dress and opened it, I was impressed by the quality and details.  I was not expecting the level of work that went into it.

Is it just me or does this dress say Fairy Garden wedding?!  I like it.  I really do.  It's pretty and it fits decently.  Although I did order one size up from my usual, it's not the width of the dress, it's the lowness of the bodice.  (The ladies need to be a little higher than this dress allows.)  There are five layers of tulle in the skirt, so it has plenty of volume, plus an opaque skirt lining with a train at the back.  This dress comes with an attached velvet belt and an extra velvet belt so you can wrap it and tie a bow.  It also has a built-in corset front with boning and the cups offer support, but there is also a built in adjustable bra-back so you don't have to worry about what goes under this dress.

The applique flowers, while not an exact match to the original are lovely and there are a few jewels--sewn, not glued on-- as leaves among the embroidered foliage which gives the gown extra sparkle.  There are also some strings under the arms which I have yet to determine how to tie.  They just don't make sense, but I will figure it out eventually.  For today, I just tucked them in.

*Sigh* As much as I wish there weren't, there are a few cons that I feel I need to mention.  1. The photos of the actual dress weren't listed anywhere on the site even though they were available upon request.  The seller explained that all their dresses are made as ordered so they don't have photos of a dress unless someone orders and asks for them.  That sounds like a terrible business model to me.  But even if they do have photos, they don't post them.  I don't know why, but it would be so helpful if they did.

No. 2 on the cons list is that this seller has fake reviews.  I've seen several reviews that were fake and I know they were fake because they contained images of the real dress.  One review's photos were taken from Matoshi's customer reviews.  Another looked like it came from an ad.  Not Ok.  People rely on those reviews and it's pretty deliberately deceptive to fake them.  Buying anything that's "inspired by___" in the global marketplace is always a risk.  The only guarantee you have is that it will not measure up to the real thing.  However, that doesn't mean you can't find a bargain now and then.  For all its issues with honesty, as a stand alone dress, if you can pretend you never saw the original, this is actually a decent dress that I don't regret buying.  I may change my tune when my Matoshi dress arrives at my door, but for now, no buyer's remorse in sight.  If you liked this Aliexpress review, I have a few more on the way....hopefully....someday...if they ever get shipped.