Dress uniform: Shop owner reaches out to military brides

Small business owner Colleen Ferry is making this Valentine's Day a lot sweeter for active military and veterans.Starting Tuesday, Ferry, owner of Chantilly Place bridal shop in Lowell, will be giving away floor sample wedding gowns to military couples to help them prepare for their big day."I appreciate the sacrifices other people my age are making," said Ferry, 25, of Chelmsford. "In this economy, money is an issue. If this is a small thing I can do to help them get started, that's great."Seventy-five dresses in different shades of white and ivory will be up for grabs. The frocks range in size from 4 to 22 and include brand names such as Casablanca Bridal, Maggie Sottero, Jasmine Bridal, and custom designs by Chantilly Place.
To help get the word out, Ferry approached the Veterans Resource Center at Middlesex Community College.Full-time student and Air Force veteran James Bartlett and his fiancee Teajin Sung are the first to receive a gown through the store's promotion."Colleen the owner was really good. She walked us through and my fiancee picked out a few dresses and tried one on. It was the perfect fit. It was almost made for her," said Bartlett, who served for four years as an engineering journeyman.Bartlett, a Methuen native, proposed to Sung in her native Korea last year.Sung said Ferry's kindness has helped ease the stress of planning their nuptials. (A date has not been set yet.)"I didn't know that I had to buy a wedding dress," Sung said of the difference between Korean and American customs. "(Dresses) are quite a bit of money.Michelle Williams wears another Victoria Beckham dress for Oscars luncheon.It was a really generous offer."
The selection of dresses available are valued between $600 and $1,200.After trying on five dresses, Sung, who is a stay-at-home mom for their 7-month-old daughter Anna, chose a strapless, trumpet-style ivory gown."I feel like I really need to get ready now," Sung said.
Two years later, she was inducted into the Council of Fashion Designers of America. While she credits her Indian heritage for her commitment to designs that are simultaneously demure and sexy, her androgynous Spring 2012 collection, draws its aesthetic inspiration from a 1992 film entitled, The Lover, a forbidden romance set against the backdrop of colonial Vietnam. She’ll break new ground come August, debuting a footwear line.
Ms. Roy embodies the self-assured woman she designs for, though she says it’s a persona she embraced quite recently. “I was raised to be a good Indian girl,” she confessed, alluding to her modest, formative years in California, when a copy of Vogue was considered a splurge. “What I didn’t learn till my 30s is that until I take care of myself, I can’t take care of others,” she said. “There’s beauty in putting other people first,” she added.  “But there has to be a balance.”