Coutures By Laura

What the heck is Laura's problem? That will be the question you ask when you walk away from her store. She carries an attitude that would make any Hollywood diva jealous. Normally this is acceptable of people that are good at what they do - Laura is not. Her work is sub par, she is never on time, her customer service skills are detestable, I could go on and on. I tried to get a price quote from her on a dress. She gave me three different quotes, all in the same sentence. I asked ""well, which is it?"" She said, ""I'll get back to you."" I think she was trying to feel me out to determine how much money I had before she decided on an appropriate quote. She never got back to me either. I called, and called, and called. I guess she decided I wasn't rich so my call wasn't a priority. I also looked at some of her actually samples. Not the ones she advertises on her website, but actual ones, not for for respectable weddings. Go with someone else in Austin. more

i don't know if i can find enough words to express my dissatisfaction with laura. she does not pay attention to detail. she brushes you aside and does not follow up. she is like the girl in high school that just wants to talk to the popular girls. funny thing is, she was really nice to me when I first went into her store. but then when she found out that I just wanted minor adjustments to my dress and that I was going to have my friend pay for it (my friend somehow has store credit with laura), everything changed. she took forever for the adjustments and would never call back. you have to go to her store and surprise her if you want to see her. i also saw her treating other customers similarly when i last went into her store. i would not recommend her to any of my friends for anything. Pros: If she likes you, you might get good service Cons: She sits in for Satan during his coffee breaks more

I recently went to Coutures by Laura to have alterations done on my wedding dress. She did excellent work, had alterations completed in short time, friendly, and at a great price. I would highly recommend her to anyone needing alterations on wedding dress. She indicated she does other types of alterations for different garments, and I definitely plan to go back to her! more

I have nothing but great things to say about Laura! I went to her 3 months before my wedding. We had well over a year to plan our wedding, so this was significantly late in the game to be starting on my dress, but my other plan had fallen through. I was stressing out and about to settle on a $4,000 dress I didn't even love, when a friend convinced me to call Laura. (She had just had her first fitting for her own dress and was very happy.) I called Laura the very next day, went in, and by the time I left I had written a deposit check and was feeling completely relieved. I showed her photos of a Vera Wang dress I loved. She completely got what I was wanting and had so much enthusiasm about it that I knew she was the right person to make it. Long story short, I LOVED my dress, the process was very easy, and she also ended up completely re-doing 4 vintage lace dresses for my bridesmaids, which we also loved. (See photos in the gallery) She's very reasonable (if you're aware that a custom wedding dress isn't going to be crazy cheap--I've read some bad reviews from people who clearly didn't get this). Our wedding was featured on a national blog and I've had complete strangers emailing me to tell me how much they liked my dress. I wish I could wear it again! Thanks Laura! SIDENOTE: The negative reviews on this site sound bogus to me. I didn't know her, she had no reason to think I was wealthy, and she still treated me very well. She definitely does not act like a ""snooty high school queen"", whatever that means. I'm glad I didn't listen to those reviews before I went in. more

Unless you're already friends with her (probably many of the fake 5-star reviews here are posted by them), you would do good to look some place else. This horrid person operates a business like she's still the snooty high school prom queen. Her good friends get prioritized over the ""regular"" customer which she looks down upon. She misquotes customers all the time. She does not properly honor gift certificates. She will change her quote in order to fully cover your gift certificate so that you have no credit left to use it on other services. She will be late on her work and ignore your calls and messages. If you have to use her (only if you HAVE to), bribe her with cookies. She responds better to food. more

I had a great experience with Laura. I fell in love with a very pricey Melissa Sweet gown that made me look short. My mother and I had heard great things about Laura, so we went to meet with her and told her our dilemma. Within minutes, she was sketching the solution out in front of us. The dress she made was wonderful material, gorgeously represented the dress I loved AND included flattering details. Oh, and it cost about half of what the original designer dress would have cost before alterations. She was very accommodating when I wanted some alterations made to the neckline less than a month before the wedding. Meeting with Laura and my mother to create the dress no one was allowed to see until the big day was one of my favorite memories from wedding planning. I am so happy with my wedding dress! 30 seconds before I walked down the aisle, my wedding coordinator told me that I was wearing the prettiest dress she'd seen at that venue in a while. I got comments the whole night and felt like a beautiful bride. Thank you, Laura. Pros: Sweet, easy to talk to, very talented more

My daughter was a recent debutant in Austin. In general, the dresses we were looking at in the stores were priced very high and of low quality. We went to Laura with a design in mind and and she took it from there. Laura created a gorgeous dress at a reasonable price and a much higher quality. There was far more attention to detail than we were seeing in the stores and it was overall much more superior to the ones had been looking at. One of the best things is that it was made to measure and fit my daughter like a glove. We looked forward to going in for fittings and it was so much fun watching the dress come together. Laura is just a lovely person; a pleasure to do business with, and someone I consider a new friend. Nancy Dacy Pros: detail-oriented; creative; aims to please; personable Cons: none at all! more

For our recent wedding, Laura designed and made 8 bridesmaids dresses, both mother's dresses, and 3 flower girl dresses. All were unbelievably fabulous! Her biggest accomplishment and the most unbelievable was my wedding dress that was my deb dress but got red wine spilled on it at the deb ball. We wrote the dress off as ruined and was wadded up in our attic for 5 years. Laura took one look at the dress and knew that she could turn it into my wedding dress. She replaced the damaged fabric and completely redesigned the dress while keeping the parts of it that I loved. It was a dream come true! One week before the wedding, she made the most fabulous rehearsal dinner dress for me. It is the prettiest cocktail dress I have ever worn. She even made my garter along with the ring bearer pillow that she tied in to the theme of the rehearsal dinner dress that she made. She put her personal touch on it and it was truly lovely. Every time we met with Laura we walked out with such feelings of relief and excitement that everything was going to be so beautiful and would come together perfectly. We will always think of Laura first whenever we need clothes or dresses for special occasions. Pros: Caring; Detail-Oriented; Delighful; Outstanding; Talented Cons: NONE - Laura is WONDERFUL! more

First of all, more than half the people giving her good ratings, are personal friends of hers. Take it from someone, who's not her friend, she will treat you like dirt unless she smells that you are rich. This ""businessperson"" is dishonorable and cheap. She does NOT honor gift certificates properly. She will quote a price for you and then when she finds out you are using a gift certificate, she will say that the service may actually cost more than the original price quoted. This is not how you build customer loyalty. Her customer interaction is horrendous. No doubt she is one of those people that if she likes you and/or she's your friend, you will see her good side. Everyone else will see her deceitful side. If I could give her 0 stars on this website, I would. Cons: She's terrible more

I have been bringing work to Laura since 2005 after she did a fabulous and timely job with my sister-in-law's bridesmaid dresses. She helped alter my wedding dress that came in a size too big, designed and made my flower girl dresses as well as my junior bridesmaid dress, created a maternity wardrobe for me, and in between she did countless small tailoring jobs for both me and my husband. She is currently working on elaborate Christmas Stockings that she worked with me to design. There is no one I trust more than Laura with any special alteration. I have referred countless friends to Laura over the years and they have all been more than pleased. Pros: Detailed work, Creative Problem Solver, Great Eye for Design Cons: Her quality work reputation got out so she is always swamped more

when I first went to Laura she helped me create the wedding dress of my dreams. She created exactly what I wanted and more...she was so professional and her work is the best. I would highly recommend laura for a wedding dress to anyone as she created the dress of my dreams! Pros: very detail oriented, friendly, professional more

My wife brought her designer dress in and need just a little room around the top. She was told it would be no problem and that it would look great. When my wife tried it on the dress fit awkwardly, and was un-fixable. If you do decide to go here I would be super descriptive on how and what you want altered. Also give your self lots of time if she screws up your dress, because it very well could happen. more

I was looking for someone to help me design my own wedding gown and was referred to Laura by another seamstress. Laura was fabulous. I had tried on probably over a hundred dresses and the cost of the dress, plus accesories and alterations was frightening. I had a small budget that I had to stick to and she supplied me with a beautiful wedding gown and veil, working with me as the dress went through the design and building process. Laura's business was very busy with numerous projects that had a tight schedule and were much larger orders, she never made me feel like my order was insignificant and worked with my work schedule to help make sure my dress was finished on time. It was a pleasure working with Laura and I have already started referring friends to her for assistance. I'd like to thank Laura and her team. They helped make a stressful situation (for me), calm and enjoyable. Pros: beautiful custom bridal gown Cons: too many beautiful ideas and items to choose from :) more

What a pleasure it has been to know Laura for 17 years! I knew her in McAllen and I've had many opportunities to deal with her and her staff here in Austin as well. Her advice regarding any outfit is always right on the mark and her friendly demeanor is a tremendous asset. I highly recommend that you visit her for anything related to high end couture. more

I went to Laura on the referral from my most meticulous friend. After months of saving money to buy my dream wedding dress it came and needed A LOT of work! I fell in love with its intricate beadwork and lace and ordered it hoping that someone would be brave enough to transform the shape from a horrible turtleneck-like top to a pretty strapless dress with lace edging. Several other seamstresses looked at my dress, expressed their fear and doubt, and then quoted nearly what the dress cost me!!! One look at the dress and Laura's face broke into a big smile - she was excited to have the challenge...and she quoted me less than half what the others did. Over the next several months, we became dear friends - she is an amazing woman and her work is flawless. She even surprised me by making me a custom veil hand-dipped the same champagne color as my dress. Pros: Trustworthy, Flawless Work, Fair Prices Cons: I don't have enough reasons to have more dresses made! more

Laura is a wizard! She makes even the simpliest design a work of art. Laura worked within my budget and created a gown that I could not have imagined. She treated me with respect and patience even though my budget was small. What a wonderful experience. I can assure you that as my ability to buy more increases, I will use Laura again based on my experience. It's a great thing to find quality workmanship in todays fast food mentality. Pros: Quakity, quality, quality more

I have a friend that used Laura that really liked her. But I also have other friends that have had terrible experiences. So I thought I'd call her and see for myself. She's a two-faced liar. She treats customers that have more money with more respect. Smaller orders are the lowest priority for her. I understand as a business person that you would give the super rich a little more attention,but that doesn't mean you treat all the others like bottom of the barrel horse dung. She also does not honor gift certificates. Oh, and it turns out my friend that likes her, yeah it was because she was giving Laura's fat-ass cupcakes every time she saw her. Cons: Full of garbage more

Having been a bride twice, I knew that there would be no one better than Laura to create my perfect gown! After a brief conversation and giving her some general details, she was able to bring to life (both for my 1st and 2nd wedding) exactly what I had imagined my gown to be. She has such an expert knowledge of fabrics, laces, and beads -- she was able to put that all together into something that was just for me -- with my taste and style. Laura has done work for me for over 20 years and I can say that she is a fabulous person and a true expert in her field -- her work is of upmost quality, her service is attentive and professional. I totally recommend her to any first time, 2nd time or anytime bride! more

Laura was absolutely wonderful to work with. Not only is she a sweet and caring woman, but also she works very hard for all of her customers. She made me 10 beautiful bridesmaids dresses, three flower girl dresses, and my mother's dress for my wedding, as well as two dresses for my honeymoon. She also took care of everything on my wedding day, pressing all of the dresses and transporting them to the church for me. She did beautiful, quality work, and had everything done on time. I would highly reccommend her to everyone. Pros: Customer service, quality more

My mother, grandmother and I have all worked with Laura on a number of occasions. While I'll admit I have heard some of the below gripes regarding her bridesmaid's dresses, Laura has been nothing but extremely attentive to me and my family. She completely reworked an outfit for me recently it came out looking like it was handmade for me. She has been so attentive to my wedding dress, although I will recommend that you keep on her--take the initiative to make the appointments with her--she does have a lot of appointments and overextends herself, working until all hours of the night to have everything done on time. My wedding dress is delicate english lace and I could not be more pleased with her--she has reworked it to give me more of a figure and I would not trust any seamstress but her to fashion the lace correctly. Spend the money on Laura if you want it done correctly--her attention to detail is unmatched in this city. more