Has anyone had any experience ordering ballgowns from Hong Kong. I have been looking at RainbowShiu and they seem to have a lot of nice dresses. Also, is there a big difference in quality between Korean and Swaroski crystals?
Thanks.

Don't do it!!!! I have a very good dance friend who ordered one for her first competition. From a distance the dress looked nice but up close you could see the quality wasn't so good and after she wore it once (smooth category), some of the stones were already coming off and the fabric tore at the shoulder.

Best thing is to find someone who can make a dress for you. Hope that helps!

If your going to use RainBowShiu for showcase or studio shows and you don't have much money you should know what kind of design works best for your body type. There is a difference in materials. For example, Rainbow typically uses Polyester Chiffon, Lycra and Mesh. She produces alot of dresses. If you have material that you want a dress made out of, she will also do that for you as well. I had 3 of her dresses when I started. However, I knew exactly what style of dancing I was trying to get across with my partner (the dress does play a role in that) and I needed my dresses to "fly" with multiple laters and color. E-Bay has several vendors. If your a beginner and really watching your dollars - you may want to check out SwanAU on EBay as well. Yes, there is a difference in the stones. Korean is fine for a studio show. Swaroski and Preciosi have tons of sparkle due to the facet cut (think about how a clean diamond sparkles) (-: Also, you need to think that your at least 30 feet away from the judges or audience and you want to catch their eye. If the stones fall off or go missing in action, which they do, use Gem-Tac glue (Michaels craft stores sell it) place a small dot on the spot, wait a few seconds, and place the stone into the dot of glue allowing the glue to surround the stone as you press down (it should look like a donut). Let set for 24 hours. The stone will stay after 20 minutes but it takes 24 hours for the glue/stone to cure. Check out several rental web sites. This is a great alternative if you don't know what you want and you can't afford a quality fabric designed dress. Two vendors come to mind www.rhythmicrentals.com and www.alexkat.com. Everyone has their own personal experience with costumes and starting out. My Rainbow shiu dresses, I have sold as I moved up the levels, and they are still worn at various events.

If you go with one of the designs from Rainbow, I suggest getting it made "plain" (with no stones) and doing the stones yourself. I've done this before and it works much better for me. I order the stones (Swarovski or Czech) from rhinestoneguy.com and stone the dresses myself. The Korean stones are a total waste - DON'T DO IT!

Thanks for the comments/suggestions everyone. I will not go with the Korean stones, and I think I will look around for a better quality of gown.

Meesh, BTW, if you do stone your own dress - you don't mention if your dancing ballroom smooth/int.std or latin/rhythm - Michaels also sells the applicator "stick" which is like a straw with a glob of beeswax at the end of it. You can make your own applicator stick with a toothpick or straw or pencil or whatever "stick" works for you by, importantly, adding wax such as a nice sized dollop of dental wax (sold in most grocery markets in the toothpaste/dental section). Heat the wax in the your hand for a few minutes so it gets as pliable as gum, wrap it around the end of the stick. With your stones "face side up" gently press your stick onto the top of the stone that your placing onto the glue, then use your finger or another item to drop the stone into the glue. I normally wait 10-15 seconds after I dot with glue so it's a little tacky and sticks to the stone when I press down. Once you get the hang of it - it is pretty simple. Experiment first. Other vendors on the web for stones as well are ejoyce.com and mjtrim.com Good luck!

Hello,

I have ordered several dresses from rainbowshiu and have been pretty happy with them. There is a big difference between the rainbow dresses and the expensive designer dresses.................mostly the quality of fabric and the stones. I would order from rainbow again because the dresses are good enough for someone that does not have alot of money to spend (or would rather spend that money on lessons) but wants a pretty dress. On the dance floor you cannot distinguish rainbow's dresses from a designer's dress. As other posters have mentioned...the big difference is the stones. You can pay a bit more and get the preciosa or swarovski. Korean are not good. I would caution you that the fabric colors are sometimes a bit off what you see in the dress photos...so you should email her and ask her which color the dress is and compare it to the color on her color chart which is very accurate. If you are unhappy with the dress rainbow makes for you, she will work with you to get it right....very cooperative! The most difficult thing is to know what type of dress will look good on you. Choose carefully. I don't care for her appliques. Some of her designs are not so pretty and some are beautiful. I now buy plain dresses and stone them myself...but it takes awhile to get the hang of doing it well and it takes time. I have worn my dresses at least 5-6 times each and they are still in new condition...no seams ripping, no wear and tear. I would much rather have a beautiful 3000-4000 dollar dress from a "real" designer....but that is about 3 mortgage payments so I choose to spend a whole lot less and have a few more dresses and choices. You will see used dresses for sale online that have been only worn a couple of times...........it's easy to get bored of a dress and/or be seen in it too much. I think rainbow is a great low cost alternative if you are reasonably new to ballroom or don't want to spend thousands! I will buy more dresses from rainbow. Just choose carefully, take your time and be specific about what you want.

Lastly, Meesha - How you "feel" in your dress is important. Not who made it. I personally have made some dresses that I was proud of. I wore RainbowShiu dresses that had great color on the floor and looked wonderful in the pictures. I watched friends win in scholarship with their home-made or beginner dresses and I have friends that had great $$$ designer gowns and other friends that were disappointed in the their $$$ gowns for a garden variety of reasons. You can have any designer - make you a dress with Swarovski or Preciosa stones. They sparkle like mad. But give them or your chosen seamstress a picture of the things you like about certain dresses and piece it together for your own custom dress. Use your imagination or search the web for used gowns. It's a great time to buy a bargain as nothing seems to be moving. Or, better yet, buy a plain gown with no stones that is designed for you - as suggested above - and stone the dress yourself. You will save tons of $$. Because every stone is put on individually and it is time intensive. Remember, if YOU love your dress - you'll dance like you love how you look! It doesn't matter otherwise as your the one wearing it.

Ballroom costumes coming from that region are known for their low quality and pricing. Whether that would be a good decision for you depends on what you are looking for. If you don't compete often that might be a good decision for you. But if you are in pursue of high competition results, you might want to invest your time into finding a good designer studio that could create a good quality costume for affordable price.There's always a certain amount of risk when searching for a good competition costume, for the first time. And unfortunately that turns out to be quite a hard task especially if your budget is limited.
I suggest you check out that article I recently published at: http://www.danceallure.com/finding-a-dance-costume .It explores the major sources for ballroom dancewear , also some pros and cons related to every one of them.
Ordering just the base of a dress and then putting on all the stones yourself can be quite risky, unless you really know what you are doing. If you are seriously considering ordering your competition dress from the Honk Kong company, my advise would be to pick your fabric and mail it to them along with a detailed sketch of what you want.
In regards to the crystals, there is a huge difference between Korean and Swarovski crystals. The first ones are plastic-based, scratch easily and don't have the same glittering effect. Swarovski and Preciosa are indisputably the most quality crystals available on the market. Some believe that Preciosa is somehow kick-off, cheaper version of Swarovski but that is not true. Preciosa offer up to 20% better price on their crystals for just one reason- they are a younger company and are still in a process of gaining market share and taking over Swarovski. They are more innovative and instead of investing their profit in advertizing as Swarovski does, they invest in product innovations and development. Same as the Centrum vitamins and some other less known companies.
To recap, my advice is - if your budget is really limited - choose your own fabric and design and send it out to that company.
If you care more about the quality and lower risk- invest some time in research and try to find one of those smaller designer studios that can provide the quality you are looking for. The ones that won't make you pay for their crazy advertizing expenses.
I hope that helps a little.
Good luck in your search!
Regards,
Ivo G.