About the shop
The shop in the house on East Pearl Street.
Bridal and formal wear, fitted in the rooms of an old Torrington house by the people who sold you the dress. Family-owned for decades, and run the slow way on purpose.
243 East Pearl Street, Torrington
The house
A shop with rooms, not a floor with curtains.
The gowns hang in the front rooms, the mahogany staircase is where the prom photos get taken, and the fitting rooms are actual rooms, with a door, chairs for the people you brought, and a three-way mirror so you see the back of the dress without twisting.
A bride is not standing in a corridor waiting for a consultant with three other appointments running. She has a room for as long as the appointment takes, and the door closes. There is a private lot beside the house, so nobody circles the block with a dress bag.
Mary
The person who pulls the dress is the one who pins it.
Ask around Torrington about the shop and the same name comes up: Mary. She listens to what you describe, pulls what matches it, and tells you the truth about the fit. Brides write about her opening early for them, about a bridesmaid dress rush-ordered when other stores said it could not be done, and about a gown rebuilt over five fittings after somebody else had altered it badly.
That is the difference between a shop and a store. The sale is not the end of the job here. The fittings are.
How we work
Five things you can hold us to.
They are the reasons people drive past the bigger stores to get here.
- 01
Honest on the phone
Call with your size, your date and your budget, and you will hear what is on the rack before you drive over. If it is not here, we say so.
- 02
Only what is in your number
Tell us what you want to spend and nothing above it comes out. The dress you fall for is one you can buy.
- 03
The same hands, start to finish
The person who helps you choose is the person who pins it. Nothing is handed off to a seamstress you have never met.
- 04
You try it on before it leaves
At pickup you put the whole thing on, shoes included, and we show whoever is helping you how the bustle works.
- 05
A close date is a phone call, not a no
Bridesmaid dresses and tuxedos have been turned around in days when the calendar demanded it. Ask before you assume.
Our word
What we won’t do.
- We will not pull a dress over your budget and reveal the price after you love it.
- We will not comment on your body. We will comment on the dress.
- We will not send you somewhere else for the alterations.
- We will not tell you a room is yours and then share it.
In their words
The quality of dress and the fit is custom to each customer. Our daughter had the most elegant and truly exquisite dress a bride could ask for.
Anne M. · Google review
Mary helped me super-rush order a bridesmaid dress when everyone else said it was impossible. The dress arrived on time, fit perfectly, and the wedding went super smoothly.
C. B. · Yelp review
She worked miracles on my silk chiffon gown. She fit the dress perfectly to my body and never made me feel insecure.
Taylor C. · Yelp review
By appointment only
Come see the house.
Tell us the occasion and the date, and we set aside a fitting room for you and the people you bring. Every appointment is booked by phone.
(860) 489-4774Tuesday to Saturday during open hours. If we are with a bride, leave a message and we call you back.