Kelly Chase Couture - With Beaded Flowers 26-640

Kelly Chase Couture 26-640 is the beaded-flower edition of the Tesla gown, shown here in Hunter Green, the deep blue-based emerald that reads as true emerald green in photographs and under evening light. It is cut strapless with an asymmetric sweetheart neckline: one side lifts into a sculpted upswept peak above the bust while the opposite side falls away in a soft sweetheart curve, so the line across the shoulders is never flat. The bodice is ruched on the diagonal, every fold pressed toward a wide banded waist that sits at the natural waist rather than under the bust. At the left hip a cluster of hand-beaded flowers, ivory petals with gold and pearl centers, is set into a sculpted pleated fan drape. It is the only ornament on an otherwise unbroken gown and the detail that separates this version from the plain 26-640. Below the drape the skirt stays close through hip and thigh in a true mermaid line, then releases below the knee into a sweep train, with a center front slit that opens at the calf so the wearer can walk, climb a step and sit down normally. The back is high, fully closed and seamed over a concealed zipper, with no cut-out, no lacing and no illusion panel, which is why this gown photographs as cleanly from behind as it does from the front. The fabric is a structured matte crepe with enough body to hold the ruching and the fan drape without crushing through a long evening. Jan's carries 26-640 in sizes 0 through 28, so the same silhouette is available to a size 4 and a size 26. It is a black-tie gown first: mother of the bride and mother of the groom dressing, wedding guest, charity event and gala, military ball, debutante and bar and bat mitzvah occasions, and it sits in the Kelly Chase Couture collection at Jan's. Style it with gold or champagne jewelry to pick up the beading, an ivory or nude clutch, and a heel tall enough to clear the sweep train, which for most wearers settles at three to four inches by the end of the fitting.

A gown at this level is decided in the mirror, not on a screen, which is the argument for seeing 26-640 in person at Jan's Boutique, 406 Marlton Pike E, Cherry Hill, NJ 08034, about fifteen minutes from Center City Philadelphia over the Ben Franklin Bridge and an easy drive from all of South Jersey, Bucks and Montgomery counties, Delaware, New York and Maryland. Three things on this dress are placed against a specific body and cannot be judged from a photograph: the banded waist has to land at your natural waist, the beaded flowers and fan drape have to break at your hip rather than above or below it, and a mermaid skirt has to release at your knee, not your thigh. Taking in a diagonally ruched bodice means reworking the pleats by hand so the folds still run true across the front, and shortening a mermaid means resetting the flare and the sweep to your real heel height, work our on-site alterations department does in house rather than sending out. The showroom runs 13,000 square feet with 50 dressing rooms and more than 15,000 dresses on the floor, including evening plus sizes and plus size through size 28, so you can try 26-640 beside the styles it competes with instead of guessing. Clothing is tax free at Jan's Boutique, which on a gown at this price is a real number rather than a rounding error. Call 856-428-8181 or book an appointment and ask for the Kelly Chase Couture 26-640 in Hunter Green, and if you would rather shop the category first, start with best sellers in evening and cocktail, guest of, grandmom or the full mother of collection.