Demetrios Evening A107 is a floor-length navy blue column gown cut in matte stretch crepe, and it is built for the woman who wants to look unmistakably dressed without a single sequin shouting about it. A wide folded band sits off the shoulder, crossing the collarbone into a soft sweetheart neckline and resting on the upper arms as a short cuffed sleeve, so the shoulders read bare while the arms stay lightly covered. The bodice is gently ruched and wrapped on the diagonal, drawing the eye across the rib cage to a defined natural waist, and a hand-applied spray of tonal beaded floral vines - bugle beads, seed beads and matte sequins worked in the same deep navy as the fabric - travels from just under the bust down across the hip and continues around to the back waist, so the detail reads as shadow and texture rather than sparkle. From the hip the skirt falls in a slim column to a sweep train, opened by a single front slit that lets you actually walk and climb a step. The back is high and completely closed over a concealed center zipper: no illusion panel, no cut-out, no open back. That full-coverage cut is the real point of difference here - nearly every navy off-the-shoulder beaded gown on the first page of search is a mermaid with a thigh-high slit or a sheer back, which rules it out for house-of-worship ceremonies, bar and bat mitzvah moms and conservative black-tie dress codes. A107 is offered in Navy, Purple and Sage Green in sizes 0 through 28, which is a range almost no competitor on that page carries, and it works as a mother-of-the-bride or mother-of-the-groom gown, a wedding guest or guest-of dress, a grandmother-of-the-bride gown, and a charity gala or military ball dress. See it beside the A117 navy blue ball gown, the C103 navy crepe off-the-shoulder gown, the A130 navy beaded lace gown with puff sleeves and the A114 black draped wedding guest gown in the full Demetrios Evening collection.
A column gown is the least forgiving silhouette in formalwear and the most rewarding when it is fitted properly, which is exactly why this one should be tried on rather than ordered blind. Three things decide whether A107 looks custom: the off-the-shoulder band has to land at the outer edge of your own shoulder so it stays put when you raise your arms, the ruched waist has to sit at your narrowest point rather than an inch above or below it, and the front slit has to be set to your height and your actual heel height so it opens for walking without opening for photographs. None of the three can be judged from a picture, and all three are ordinary in-house alterations at Jan's. Jan's Boutique has been fitting special-occasion gowns in South Jersey for more than fifty years at 406 Marlton Pike E, Cherry Hill, NJ 08034, with one of the largest in-stock selections of mother-of-the-bride and evening gowns on the East Coast, real stock in plus sizes and evening plus sizes through size 28, and an on-site alterations department that hems, takes in and re-sets a slit in the same building where you bought the dress. Customers drive in regularly from Philadelphia, Bucks, Montgomery and Delaware counties, Wilmington, Baltimore, New York and all over New Jersey. Browse more best-selling evening and cocktail gowns, then call 856-428-8181 to check current colors and sizes in stock for style A107 and to book a fitting appointment.
