See this beautiful Lebanese Inspired Juniors Gown

by Pegeen.com // April 17, 2019 // No Comments

As a designer, I have few things that excite me – beautiful fabrics are one of them, especially beaded and embroidered laces. I have long wished I would have the place to go and the money to buy one of those magnificent creations made by Elie Saab, just to name one of my favorite designers. Inspired by some of the greatest Lebanese designers and fabrics, we were asked to do a similar gown for a mom who will be having a special First Communion party for her daughter. (We did that gown too but won’t show it until the event!) Imagine too what this material would look like in a flower girl dress or a Bat Mitzvah dress. What a pleasure to work with our customer!

This was really one of the most challenging things I did because we had to fit our mom from afar and we did a really great job 0 in fact we were only off on the hips and bust during the first fitting because the person who did her measurements up north di the first set wrong. But, after the muslin set came back to us we were able to make the pattern and then finally, the dress. We are going to be SO excited to see our mom in her beautiful lace and embroidered gown.

#embroidery #pegeen #handmade #sewing #inspiration #designerdress #handmadeembroidery #juniorsgown #eveninggown #swarovskicrystals #embroideredlace

Pretty First Communion Dress for a Plus Size Girl – treated with Dignity

by Pegeen.com // March 18, 2019 // No Comments

When we receive a call from a frantic mom still searching for a dress late in the season for a plus size First Communion dress for her daughter, we are still here to help, even late in the season.

Such a mom called us maybe 3 weeks ago, and we made one of the loveliest dresses and we were happy to receive her review today. But something more rewarding for us than praise was in creating something for this lovely little girl. Apart from the privilege to help design a dress, this the little girl was so worried they wouldn’t be able to find a dress for her to be receiving one of the holiest of sacraments for Roman Catholics. You see, this little girl, with a 35” chest and was the lucky recipient of a transplant. This meant she was also on steroids making her face and body swell. In any event, she chose Style 970 from the Heavenly White Communion Dresses, with silk, Swarovski crystals, appliqued flowers, tulle and organza.

When she felt better and the doctors gave her the ok to go out in public to shop for her Communion dress, her mom Audrey had dreamed of a special shopping day with her daughter and a trip afterwards to the American Doll store. Her mom took her to that big box store of a bridal store chain and no sooner then they stepped in the store, the clerk spoke to the mom and said “Oh, we can’t serve her kind here”. IN FRONT OF THE LITTLE GIRL!!! Can you imagine a little 8 year old hearing a sentence like that out of some random sales clerk? When we told the customer that we, like her, were disgusted by that remark, the mom went on to tell us that while looking for a flower girl dress for her plus size daughter a month earlier, when she first went on steroids. she got a similar remark from a local bridal shop.

Then today, as we sat down to write this blog post, a new mom looking for a First Communion and an Easter dress, also for her daughter on anti-rejection medication complained that she went the the same chain where the sales clerk tapped her on her shoulder to say they wouldn’t be able to help. Could you imagine? Her life is one day at a time enough as it is with her daughter’s illness that she needs to be trampled on by some insensitive sales clerk. The new customer (from today) and I discussed this to some depth. She ended with my favorite line about karma. All I could think of after our phone conversation was how easy it would be for store clerks to be like the Macy’s Santa in “Miracle on 34^th Street” – you remember – he recommends to go to Gimbel’s down the block.

Woah! Shame on you these bridal stores for their insensitive remarks. And you wonder why stores like this go out of business!! Lack of compassion yes, but what about arming your sales clerks with some couth and maybe the name of a few vendors who specialize in plus size clothing for children!

Well, fast forward 6 days and our customer, now with her new First Communion dress in hand wrote us today “Tears of joy ran down my daughter’s face. Thank you for a darling dress, your help throughout the process and one of the most magnificent pieces of workmanship I have seen in my lifetime. To hell with that (big box) bridal store chain. They should be ashamed of themselves.”

Pegeen.com has a special way of treating all special fit and plus size girls for communion, flower girl and Bat Mitzvah dresses. Call us or chat, 7 days a week, from 8am to 11pm EST at 407-928-2377 Shipping Worldwide Since 1982.

Simple rules the mother of a flower girl needs to follow

by Pegeen.com // February 8, 2019 // No Comments

When I was growing up, my father gave me a book on Emily Post Etiquette. I didn’t read it then, some 30 years ago and I still won’t even look at it. I was, or at least I thought I was, a non-conformist. When I married, I had my niece as my flower girl and my cousin, who was five at the time, as the ring bearer. Stephanie, the cousin in question, still chides me today about the job choice, but she had the most beautiful ringlets down her back I ever saw. Maybe it was Shirley Temple envy but I wanted to use her for this special position in my wedding, that and the fact that she was the daughter of my all-time favorite Aunt. So, being a designer of Pegeen and able to create whatever formal clothing, flower girl dresses and ring bearer suits, I wanted for the children in my wedding, I created (as if I were just a bride shopping) what I loved most. I loved antique laces and the color blue and created my first Bridal Wear before Pegeen was as well known for their children’s bridal wear as they are now. My niece wore a beautiful silk plaid dress with insets of lace, but my cousin Stephanie wore velvet knickers and jacket with a fancy lace jabot. Very Victorian.

Blue and creme theme flower girl dresses and ring bearer suits

Today’s reality means that many flower girls are the step-child or children of the bride or groom. What they wear or their function in the wedding ceremony is really immaterial. These are children of the people you love and Emily Post’s rules are long forgotten. We have designed flower girl dresses for 13 year olds and Jr. Bridesmaids dresses for 9 year old. What I always suggest as a designer is that you do for your wedding what you are most happy with as choices for YOU and your INTENDED and no one else.

That said here are some common sense rules of etiquette, or rather rules of guidance for bride and/or the moms of the children in the wedding:

RULE #1 You are the bride, you make the rules. If the children asked in your wedding are not your own, the parents must follow Rule #1. This means that if you say wear RED they have to quit complaining about how bad the color looks with their kid’s hair and do as you wish. They are obliged to do what the bride wants regarding color and style. See silk fabric choices.

RULE #2 This is not the child’s coronation, it’s the brides wedding. Give her the same respect to be the boss as you had or wish you had, at your own wedding. If you are the mom, and the bride has no opinion, find out what color is going to be in the wedding theme. Perhaps flowers can give some color guidance, but whatever is done, do not have the child compete with the bride.

RULE #3 Forget about the correct age of a flower girl….or the sex of the ring bearer, whatever feels right for you (and yes, sometimes the children have a strong opinion) this is really a time when the children you love are participants. It’s not like you are asking them to drive the limo for you, you are asking the children to accompany you down the aisle. So, if a 6th grader has her heart set on being a flower girl, then so be it. It’s just a name.

RULE #4 You can negotiate the budget with the bride, but if it’s more than you can afford INCLUDING out of town costs, etc., step out gracefully. You have to discuss this from the start. Remember, there are some moms like myself who are worried about the lessons at the gym, the cost of private school and the multiple tasks of a home budget so this should be something you need to discuss with your bride.

RULE #5 Be flexible. It’s a good idea as the bride to involve older step children what they would like to wear too. Make it a fun date in the bridal salon or with us, you can have her design her own with our virtual tool – the Pegeen Dress Dreamer.

RULE #6 Spend whatever you want as the bride but be realistic. (Assuming these are your children/step children then) we encourage you to get exactly what you want but please refer to rule 4.

RULE #7 Coordinate the look for a cohesive look. Style choice does depend on what you & your maids are wearing – for instance if your gown is ivory and the bridesmaids are wearing dresses in shades of pink with a V-BACK then I suggest you try to pick up some of these same qualities in the dresses for the children. A pink dress for the children with an ivory sash and a v-back would be my first choice.

At Pegeen, we encourage the bride to give us the style number and manufacturer for her dress or the bridesmaid’s dresses, so we can complement the children’s attire. This really gives the entire wedding party uniformity that I believe, helps to keep that photograph that is going up on the wall later from being too distracting. Yes, the wedding is not about the picture on the wall but if you close your eyes and envision how that photo will look, I truly think you will come up with the best decisions for YOUR WEDDING.
Have a look at some of the flower girl dresses others have ordered: CLICK

What is interesting for me as a designer now is that brides are very creative in their decisions. Each bride that we do a wedding for is encouraged to send us photos after their weddings for two reasons: inspirations for others and because we are excited to see how we looked walking down the aisle with the children.

For matching children’s fashions, direct from the Manufacturer & Designer, from Infants to Plus Size, & seeing what other Brides have done, visit our website. Walking Down the Aisle with Brides Since 1982.

Design your custom flower girl dress in our Pegeen Dress Dreamer

by Pegeen.com // January 22, 2019 // No Comments

Our company always strives to use the latest web innovations and we developed a fun way to create your own flower girl dress online much in the same way you can customize a car. Today we announce that we have added a new section of “bling” that you can drag and drop to your custom flower girl dress then get an instant update on pricing. “We have created a very practical and simplistic approach in order to sell our custom designed clothing in the easiest and most forthright presentation so that customers can now buy our dresses at Direct-from-Manufacturers pricing. This includes custom bodice fitting, guaranteed sizing, virtually any color combination a bride or mom can think of, and easy, fast delivery right to their doorsteps in record time. We produce everything in our own factory here in the US and we are very proud of it. Our success rate is fantastic and 100% – we know it by the amount of referral and repeat business we do! Imagine, customers who were once wearing our dresses as flower girls themselves are now ordering for their children.

By using our exclusive Pegeen Dress Dreamer, we have made it rather easy for a bride to create an exquisite look for the children in your wedding. For now, we only have the ability to custom design your flower girl dress however sometime in the future, we will add a separate area to create your own ring bearer suit.

Our customers love it, saying: “If you were traded publicly, I would buy stock” and most recently, “I swear, you must have elves in your factory! How you made these dresses and delivered them so quickly – you have exceeded my expectations” and “You are a rock-star”. Pegeen’s customer loyalty is apparent by viewing their ever-changing Testimony Page.
http://www.pegeen.com/rave.php

Visit our Pegeen Dress Dreamer to create your own custom dress in over two hundred colors which works out to over 2 billion possible combinations of skirts, bodices, sleeves and of course our newly added “bling” sections.

Pegeen.com Adds Toy Soldiers to their Nutcracker Collection

by Pegeen.com // October 3, 2018 // No Comments

Orlando, Florida – Oct. 3, 2018 – The Design Team at Pegeen Designer Children’s Wear has added a few new styles including a Military-style red jacket with optional pant to their Nutcracker Collection. This collection was also updated to includes pancake tutus for The Snow Queen, The Dew Drop Fairy and the Sugar Plum Fairy as well as Romantic Tutus for the Corps de Ballet. Party Scene dresses are constantly updated each season as well.

After ballet company director’s requests, we added a bright red military style jacket with plenty of braid trim and buttons starting at $155. These bright and fun jackets are available in size 2 through size 14. The stage glows with her creations for the ballet and ice skating clubs as well.

Other boy styles for the Nutcracker Party Scene in 200 colors of silk in any combination can be seen on the following page including: click

The Party Dancer Collection prices start at $255, are available in over 200 silk colors and are used by up and coming or well-established companies. Typically, local dance schools will hold an audition for children to appear on stage with sometimes the most famous of all Ballet Companies. “I would liken winning an audition to NYC Ballet or ABT Company as the pinnacle of a young New York ballet student’s career. When I was a young dancer, I remember seeing Mikhail Baryshnikov or Suzanne Farrell appearing in The Nutcracker and could not help but be envious of the student who won the part of Clara”. The Tutu Collection for this season is made for the everyday dancer and although several dozen are made of each style (for traditional Pancake Tutus), prices are under $1000. Commissioned pieces can run as high as $5000.

In the past several seasons, Marg Hyland’s designs for The Nutcracker Ballet have appeared all over the country including the prestigious The San Jose Nutcracker and Norwalk Metropolitan Youth Ballet. She has also expanded to include other ballet costumes for Giselle, Don Quixote, Swan Lake, Midsummer Night and even How the Grinch Stole Christmas among others.

Visit the full line at Pegeen.com – Nutcracker Dresses or visit the SHOP TUTU link.

Having Small Children In Your Wedding Party? Our Top Ideas To Prevent Melt Downs

by Pegeen.com // September 21, 2018 // No Comments

Often a bride will wish to include the smaller members of her family or friends for her wedding party. These flower girls or ring bearers can be awfully cute in a wedding party but at times, can be plain awful as well. Why is that? Well, often, this is the first time a small child will be exposed to so much attention placed on him. We as adults have had to experience of having that adrenaline rush when all eyes are focused on us but imagine a small child, for her, this can be the first time that the overwhelming feeling of too much attention hits them right before they walk down the aisle. So, what to do?

Explaining to them, especially the two-year-old, what is going to happen is meaningless to them. In fact, the more you talk about it, the faster you will see their heads shake with a firm “no”. I hear it on the other end of the phone with the moms as they try to take their measurements for their flower girl dress or ring bearer suit. “Come on honey, let’s take your measurement for the pretty dress we talked about” – and low and behold, I hear the child scream and run away.

Here are my suggestions for the process:

1. MEASUREMENTS: As you will need measurements for their outfit, make it a game! Ask them to stand against the wall, and place a pencil on their heads so that they can see the dot; enlist their help to do the measurement. Take a tape measure to the dot and for the age appropriate child, see them read the number to you at the floor. When you take their chest and waist, especially if they are giving you a hard time, ask them to take yours first. Soon, they will allow you to take theirs AND pretty much they will want to take measurements for every person they see!

2. PREPARATION: Even the tiny ones will need to understand what they are going to be doing. There are many cute books out there to read or a scene from a movie to help them understand what they will be doing. On our Pegeen (http://www.pegeen.com) website, we have plenty of photos of children walking down the aisle. I point out one particular wedding from our Featured Weddings of the Month for February 2008 when you see the little girls coming down the aisle, with a “line leader” (the oldest, the Jr. Bridesmaid’s) holding a flower garland with the little ones trailing behind. Preparation, talking, showing books and photos, and even a movie or two isn’t a bad idea.
3. THE REHEARSAL: Certainly, the rehearsal is a way for everyone to know their places and responsibilities but for children, the practice doesn’t emphasize how many people the following day (usually the rehearsal is the evening before) will be “staring” at them, and although harmless, it can be very frightening to children, especially small ones. After the rehearsal, it’s not a bad idea to talk to them and let them know (tomorrow) all the people will be there but you know just about every single one! Name many of them and the following day, it can be a game for them to spot their cousins or aunts and uncles, especially if you ask them to sit at the end of the aisle. Certainly, the rehearsal is a way for everyone to know their places and responsibilities but for children but preparing them in advance for the number of guests!
4. THE WEDDING: This is the toughest time. Remember though, anything they do will be accompanied by chuckles of your guests. The older children, those 6 and older, are usually with it and are not quite a shy as a three-year-old, so they can help the younger ones. If however the child is “solo” know that there may be some hesitation on their part but they will make it through especially if you prepare beforehand.

We suggest that, when possible, consider the following:

5. Have them walk down the aisle with older children or their parents.

6. Make it a fun place when they get there – books are always good. When mine was little, I kept him busy at the ceremony with cheerios and hid them in my gown.

Here are some other fantastic tips for keeping the kids happy at wedding receptions:

7. Hire someone to sit with them at the reception. Mary Poppins not available? Well it really is better to hire someone they are used to but not practical for traveling or all of the children (because they have their own baby sitters they are used to).
8. Bring some interesting things for them to do when they get bored
9. Can’t say enough about that Kids table – they like the independence and the sugar.

10. Include them in your dancing – and what kid doesn’t like The Macarena?

Our chat is always open until 11pm, and at certain busy times, till midnight and we are happy to share ideas from other brides. We have a neat page that we put some great ideas on it – one of my favorites is the wagon! http://www.pegeen.com/great-ideas.php

What’s the proper length for my flower girl dress for a beach wedding?

by Pegeen.com // August 19, 2018 // No Comments

Even though it’s practically the end of summer, destination weddings are more popular than ever, so it wasn’t a surprise when a customer asked me today – “What’s the proper length for my flower girl’s dress on the beach?” It really is common sense – the dresses shouldn’t touch the ground so we recommend ballet length, just a few inches above the ankle. This is our standard length.

A beach wedding look with flower petals on the flower girl dress skirt – we can also add shells we collect from the Florida Beaches on request

So, thinking back on the activities of little girls on the beach, regardless of the occasion, these beach weddings came to mind.

We had to laugh about this flower girl (below) – can you imagine how much fun this likely was for the little girls? Until her mom saw her, we are sure

Don’t go in, don’t go in, don’t go…..oops! The Jersey Shore was just too irresistible for this little flower girl.

This beach wedding was a perfect time for these flower girls to explore. The shorter length kept them out of trouble but they still picked up their custom silk dresses in key lime and emerald green.

We thought the photographer captured the giddiness of each of these tiny girls, walking on the beach in their clothes instead of bathing suits!

but things got worse for the little one…

What to do at a beach wedding…. this little flower girl decided to take her mothers advice and not jump in!

Although not an ocean, my son was married in Denver but had his reception at a beach on my bucket list – Lake Tahoe. The flower girl wore our flower girl dress from The Fairytale Collection “The Opal Fairy”.

But speaking of lengths to wear here are some of our favorite flower girl dresses worn at the beach!

Mango orange and sorbet pink for these flower girl dresses, above

We loved this beach wedding at the Beaches Turks & Caicos Resort in hot island colors of boing (hot pink) and mango orange and this blended family had the men/boys wear coordinated colors.

Still one of our very favorites, these triplets shared the same tulle and silk flower girl dress style yet each had different combinations of melons and oranges.

One of our favorite looks for flower girl dresses on the beach – notice how the lightweight organza picks up with the warm summer breeze.

The perfect length – just a few inches above their ankles for this Navy and Lime Green wedding and flower girl dresses

Shore line – California Wedding in white and sunshine yellow above

The location for this wedding, in Asbury Park NJ, had some of the best shorts for a real fun wedding that tug at this designer’s memories of growing up.

This was a beautiful setting at the beach of Lake Tahoe and yes, although not the ocean, a real beach none the less. Flower girl dresses and boy’s vest in bubblegum pink and black.

A simple ivory and chocolate brown wedding.

This beach wedding showed our favorite color – a tiffany blue color called Pond with Summer Tan as the underlining color to the ivory organza. This flower girl dress is from The Classics Collection.

Top 10 Flower Girl Dresses for a Fall Wedding

by Pegeen.com // July 10, 2018 // No Comments

At this time of the year, it is not unusual for us to get swatch requests for Fall Weddings, especially for the month of October which has become very popular for weddings. The weather in most parts of the country is still temperate and most weekends are augmented by the beautiful change in the leaves. So the options for flower girl dresses from Pegeen.com are, not surprisingly, endless. In addition to all the lovely fall silk colors that are popular, we are showing you some of the classic seasonal picks, particularly the rusts, browns, reds, oranges and greens.

Above we show you some of the SWATCHES representing some of our favorite fall colors of silk used in our dresses but you can see below that the inspiration for many of these flower girl dresses do depend on other choices the bride makes, like flowers, lines, color of the venue and so forth. For those who are ready to brave the cooler days, you can choose sleeveless but we often recommend at least short sleeves if not 3/4 sleeves. However, most bridesmaids dresses are sleeveless so we find that we make more tank style dresses for the fall. Feel free to call our staff for help in designing your flower girl dresses for fall weddings at 407-928-2377 or click chat on our website. We are open 7 days a week from 9pm to 11pm and ship worldwide.

Above, flower girl dress style 398 from Pegeen Classics in (l to r) pumpkin (orange), papaya (gold) and mountain fall (rust).

Above, flower girl dress style 402 in new ivory and bisque in silk with 10 layers of tulle.

Above, flower girl dress style 402 in new ivory and pure gold in silk with 10 layers of tulle. Customer supplied wrap.

Above: These little flower girls had Iris pintuck & pearled bodice, plum skirt (right) and silver skirt (left). Their sashes were mixed as well. Flower girl dress style 409 from Pegeen Couture.

Above: These flower girls had tuscany gold bodice, organza skirt filled with peach, creme and ivory petals. Flower girl dress style 331 from Pegeen Classics

Above: These flower girl had a simple white silk dress with black sash and the older flower girls had silver gray with organza skirts and black sashes. Flower girl dress style 331 from Pegeen Classics

Navy and autumn silk flower girl dress in tulle and silk
Above: Navy and spice (rust) silk flower girl dress with tulle skirt. Flower girl dress style 356 from Pegeen Classics.