Bridal gowns off the rack — with some tweaking

One lesson I have learned from being a bridesmaid: Don’t mess with the bride.

Weddings can bring out the worst in an otherwise perfectly sane person. (I have the scars — and  batshit ugly bridesmaid gowns — to prove it.) During a particularly fraught experience, when I complained about my bridesmaid gown to the bride, she crossly informed me that I wasn’t the star — she was.

True enough. She was playing major leagues in Vera Wang, while I was sidelined in a horrendous poufy explosion, giving people the impression I was the victim of a tragic Fabric Warehouse bombing — tulle, satin flying everywhere and falling haphazardly on my body in the most unflattering configuration imaginable. But I digress.

Weddings are a costly business — and bridal gowns are at the top of the expense list.

To take the guesswork out of the made-to-order business, sisters TC Alvarez-Sibal and Ana Alvarez-Laygo, the duo behind the brand TwoChic, put together a line of RTW bridal gowns. TC, an alum of Natori for over a decade where she worked directly with Josie on the label’s collection, is known for her resort-friendly pieces, but is revered for her work with wedding gowns, having created the bridal looks of Jackie Cohen-Antonio and, more recently, Pam Gonzales-Lopez.

“It’s hard to know what kind of bridal gown you want from the beginning,” TC says, “so we came up with five looks as a starting point.”

The Jackie, a ’50s-inspired gown, draws the eye with a dramatic overskirt. “The embellishment was key to this gown,” says TC. “I wanted a very old luxe feeling with a lot of texture. This dress is a real statement dress, so the women wearing this has to have a lot of style and personality.”

For women who like their gowns poufy, there’s the Tatiana. “It’s Russian princess with a classic silhouette of satin with a tulle ball skirt,” Ana points out. “Very glam, classic wedding gown.”

Destination weddings demand a more modest style and that’s where the Amrita comes in. “Inspired by Indian saris, this mesh-made gown has an exotic twist: draping detail, exposed back and a draped shawl attached. The beading is made out of cut lace and bullion beads,” TC explains. “This woman likes to walk a little off the beaten path. She loves exotic adventures but does it with so much style.”

“Not everyone wants a ball gown,” Ana adds, so they created the Kate, an Art Deco dress fashioned in mesh, cut close to the body. “It’s got geometric beading with some Flapper strung beads — very sleek, sexy and unconventional,” she observes. “Her wedding is more like a fancy party.”

In their Keira gown, TC and Ana played to their strengths: classical conformations that pay homage to Old World style in a ’40s gown with a tulle off-shoulder neckline and pouf skirt. “We applied hand-cut lace leaves,” TC says, pointing to the gently growing vines along the dress. It looks like something you’d wear to a garden wedding in Tuscany or — more likely — a grand wedding at San Antonio, followed by an even larger party of guests to Manila Pen or Shangri-La. (We’ve all been invited to that wedding.)

Brides can choose from the designs and tweak a little from there, though the essence is, well, essentially the same.

“All the gowns have a very special luxe handcrafted feel to them,” TC says. “I wanted to evoke an Old World feel to the gowns, either through their silhouettes or embroidery. I wanted the gowns to look ‘worked on’ and like they took forever to make — which they did!” And, she was quick to note, the gowns have touches of gold in the embellishment.

As partners, the sisters appear to share a similar aesthetic: both equally versed in the modern minimal and the refined classics. For her wedding, TC sported a strapless gown in duchess satin, with a lace kimono sleeve shrug. “It had a structural Japanese feel,” she remembers. “Very clean.

“TC designed my gown,” Ana says. “It was tulle, cut very close to the body, heavily embellished with embroidery and beading. The embroidery had a garden theme so she used 3D metal dragonflies all over the gown for texture.”

They fondly remember their own nuptials as a romantic affair and want to replicate that experience for new brides. “My wedding was very intimate. Eighty people at Beluga,” TC says. “I had red roses everywhere — in bowls on the floor, on the tables. Tea lights. It was very romantic and intimate.”

And if she could get married again, what would she wear?

“There’s a definite return to the whole ballgown, baroque look, so I’d probably wear that, with very intricate, interesting embellishment,” TC replies instantly. “Something with hints of gold.”

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Their bridal gowns start at P50,000. For more info, call 899-2435. The TwoChic showroom is located at 6239 Manalac St., Poblacion, Makati.