I have done a lot of sewing. I did make bridesmaid dresses and altered brides dresses. It was very interested to read about the different technics in the making of a good bridal dress. I hope I will get to make one in the near future and than I can use this book for the fine touches
This book is not for beginners.
Lucie Zandstra

The Susan Khalje book is an excellent source of its sort - not speaking of the nice design and pictures, it tells you everything you would want to know when trying to make an evening or wedding dress. Susan Khalje gives many interesting tips and tricks that would otherwise be very time-consuming to figure out, like how and where exactly to attach boning, what layers to use under skirts to make them look as you want to, how to work with lace and how to place it on the curved bodice while hiding the cut places, she gives suggestions as what fabrics to use for what garments - she is very fond of silk organza - for petticoats, underlining, bone channels.

This is one of the rare books that show you professionally-done garments and reveal all their making secrets. Even if you're an advanced sewer, I still think you'll find many good tips here. Maybe a pure beginner would not be able to appreciate the value of the information given.

Highly recommend this book if you are making a wedding gown for the first time. Very clear instructions complete with pictures. There is also great chapter on how to attach lace.

I have been sewing for over 25 years and have a degree in design. However, I am always looking to evolve my technique, and I looked into this book because I wanted something that detailed couture techniques for formalwear. In reading other comments on this site before I purchased this book, I noticed some reviewers did not like it because of the outdated dresses. However, I wanted to add that while the specific dresses shown in this book are dated, the techniques described and illustrated are fantastic. This book is for someone that already knows how to sew well, but wants to take their sewing up another level. Don't buy this book expecting to copy one of the dresses used in the examples. Buy this book if you are looking for instruction on choosing and adding stability, using boning, etc, etc. This is about applying couture techniques to your own design. I was looking for something very specific, and found this book to be very helpful. I am glad I purchased it.

Though some of the featured gowns are very "eighties" (big sleeves, big skirts), this book is wonderful for showing how to engineer and fit the understructure or foundation necessary to achieve a remarkable fit on evening wear. The detailed instructions on preparing a muslin are easy to follow and thorough, and this book describes the small steps that, if followed, provide a "knock-em-out" gown that will stay put, even when dancing. Underlining, corsets, boning, and "how to keep things from drooping" are all demystified here. This will be terrific for evening wear and costumes, too, once the wedding gown is finished.