The Dress

About the Designer:
Sandra Mansour is a Lebanese bridal and evening-wear designer who worked for Elie Saab before launching her own brand. She has dressed numerous celebrities. Princess Ekaterina of Hanover was married in custom Sandra Mansour gown - you can see her look here: https://www.vogue.com/article/prince-ernst-august-jr-ekaterina-malysheva-wedding-hanover-sandra-mansour-inside-look-final-fitting.

Her lines are carried at Harrods and LuisaViaRoma.com. You can see her recent collections in Vogue at https://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/designer/sandra-mansour.

About the dress design:
I wore the Sandra Mansour Regarde Moi for my reception so that I could do some swing-dance moves in my first dance that I was unable to do in my ball-gown. It could also be a great for an engagement party. It is wildly figure-flattering and very streamlined and classic. It is a great dress to show off a fantastic pair of heels.

The material is a mid-weight Silk Mikado (a silk blend - 20% silk, 80% polyester in this case), in an off-white/ivory shade. It is lightly lined and the mikado is a forgiving material and does not cling to lumps and bumps, but it does not have any stretch or give. You will most likely need to have it tailored unless you happen o have exactly the same proportions as me. There was a bit of room in the chest, so if your measurements are a bit larger than mine there you may be fine. However, it was quite snug across my hips and waist, so I would consider my measurements to be a maximum. If you are smaller though, it should be very easy to take in.

There is boning built into the bodice of the dress. There is boning in the back, side, and in the front. The boning in the front is curved - it sits under the bust flat and then curves out to support the bust for a Marilyn Monroe - like effect.

You can find more details of the dress and see more photos on the Sandra Mansour website: https://sandramansour.com/item/252/Sandra-Mansour-SS20-Regarde-Moi

About the dress condition:
I wore the dress once for my wedding and dry cleaned immediately flowing. There are minor marks on the bottom of the dress that are only visible when examining closely. I’ve shown photos of the bottom up close (where the marks are visible) and far away (where they aren’t) to show this.

Trying the dress:
I am based in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood. If you are local and interested in viewing/trying the dress, please reach out.

Note: I am 5’5 and wearing flats in the photos. The dress does not touch the ground on me in flats. If you were shorter than 5'2 it would probably touch the ground unless you were in heels.

Alterations

About the alterations:
I got the dress at the Sandra Mansour atelier in Beirut and did some initial alterations there. This was primarily taking the size 38 dress and adjusting the bodice only (Not the lower half, hips and below) to fit a size 36 bust/waist.

I did minor final alterations at a Bridal tailor in NYC. This included taking the waist in a bit (perhaps an inch, not more) and adding an interior (not visible) elastic belt so that the dress would fit tightly to my chest while dancing, and stay up despite being strapless.

I also cut out the inside care-tag (the one that states the material composition, how to clean etc.) The brand tag and size tag are intact.