If you follow my Instagram, you may have seen a few reels where I am wearing a stunning pink tulle gown from Teuta Matoshi. I bought this dress to wear to a wedding and ever since I posted it, I’ve been receiving lots of questions regarding it so I thought I’d write up a full review for you all. Teuta Matoshi is a designer most recognised for her whimsical and colourful designs. She hails from Kosovo and launched her brand in 2007 and now has a shared atelier with her sister, Lirika Matoshi (you know, the designer of ‘that’ strawberry dress) in New York. Her designs feature unique detailing, wonderful fabrics and embroidery and are all made to measure per order. Personally, I own four of her dresses one of which I even wore as my reception dress to my wedding so I’m very excited to be sharing my thoughts on this designer and her garments.
The Peony Blush Dress caught my eye as I was browsing possible dresses for a friend’s upcoming wedding. The dress code was strictly black tie so I wanted to make sure I had something elegant for the occasion without overshadowing the bride. To be honest, my friend getting married is absolutely stunning so I knew nobody would ever outshine her on her big day. Whilst browsing, I was watching the Grace Kelly film, High Society and of course, I was in love with the blue dress she wears. You know the one with soft puff sleeves that takes your breath away because it’s so pretty, yeah that one. When I saw the Peony Blush dress, it instantly looked like something Grace Kelly would wear in today’s world and I ordered it straight away. Compared to the blue Grace Kelly dress, it shares many similarities and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was used as partial inspiration. Both dresses have similar sleeves, construction and skirt lengths as well as sharing little tie-up bow belts and a sheer fabric over the main dress. This was the one.
When ordering from Teuta Matoshi, you have the option of shopping your standard sizing or getting something custom made. Although it was November and the wedding wasn’t till February, I know that getting something made to order and sent in time from the US to Australia can take quite a while so I didn’t want it to take longer by making it custom and I opted for standard sizing. I went with a US 8 as I have a 27 or 28-inch waist (depending on my Endo for the day) so a waist of 27.5 inches would fit me perfect. I would definitely recommend looking at Teuta’s sizing chart if you plan on purchasing as it really helps you get the best fit.
The most stressful part of shopping somewhere like Teuta Matoshi is waiting for the item to arrive. On the site, it states that garments take four to six weeks to arrive after you purchase them. As everything is custom made in house, it’s normal for a longer wait time. I’ve heard of people getting upset at Teuta Matoshi because their garments hadn’t arrived a week after they ordered but that’s basically impossible for something this elaborate and custom made. We really have been spoilt by Amazon and fast fashion so it’s nice to support some slow, ethically made companies. As I said, I placed my order in November and it arrived a week before the wedding in February. I was getting a little worried about this particular dress and I did email them due to a recent sale, they were a little behind but assured me my dress would arrive and it did. They had great customer service.
My dress arrived in a large box and was beautifully wrapped in tissue paper. Pulling it out of the box was so magical I wanted to try it on straight away. The tulle was soft, the details were stunning and there was a lot of work that had gone into the garment, that’s for sure. The Peony Blush dress is made up of mainly primrose tulle with pastel pink flowers and green leaves embroidered on top in different layers. The bodice consists of a corset with cups made from padding and boning for extra support and structure. She has a round neck illusion neckline made from the tulle and a very full tea-length skirt with side pockets. The dress also has long wide sleeves with tight cuffs featuring an embroidered flower on each cuff and the dress is finished off with a decorative green velvet bow belt. She is simply stunning.
When I put the dress on, she fits like a dream. The bodice was nice and tight without cutting into my body which is perfect for dancing the night away. The sleeves were the perfect length although I did notice that the cuffs stretched a little during wear it’s not a major issue. The only problem I really found with the fit was sometimes the back of the dress would push out oddly. I asked my husband to unzip the back, push my skin on my back down and then zip over as I thought that maybe as I moved about I pulled the dress up and when I relaxed it caused a pucker. It kind of helped but not fully; it really wasn’t noticeable when worn so I just carried on with my day. I have to say, this dress is simply breathtaking. The embroidered flowers over the bodice and skirt are really beautiful and feature beaded detailing to give it a little extra sparkle. There are plain embroidered flowers and then some flowers have sparkly sequins on them for some sparkle. The combination is perfect. I was a huge fan of the green velvet ribbon as it brought out the embroidered leaves in the design.
I love sleeves; short sleeves, three-quarter sleeves, long sleeves, puffy sleeves, bell sleeves … just give me all the sleeves! This dress certainly makes my heart flutter with the very pretty sheer tulle sleeves. On my skin tone, the tulle was almost invisible in certain lights but I loved feeling fully covered up. The sleeves were quite puffy and didn’t restrict my arm movements which I was very grateful for whilst dancing. I love how the tulle went up into a high neckline and then over the back as I personally prefer to cover my back if I can. The only issue I had with the dress that I would like fixed is the hook and eye that keeps the top of the back neckline together, just wouldn’t hold. Throughout the night, I had a good friend constantly coming up to me to fix the back of my dress which I was very grateful for. Gotta love a sister looking out for you.
A ball gown is always fun, but a ball gown with pockets is just the greatest thing. I loved having quick access to things like my phone and mask when I needed them. With all the tulle in the skirt, you didn’t notice a pocket gaping which was a plus. The twirl factor in the skirt was simply wonderful and I made sure to spin lots as I danced; I received many compliments throughout the night which certainly made me feel like I chose the perfect dress for the occasion. The tea-length on me as a tall person was ideal and I wouldn’t want the dress any shorter or longer. I did think about adding a petticoat for extra fullness but it was just a bit too much for a wedding and it started looking a little over the top. The skirt is certainly full enough without a petticoat as there are several layers of tulle in the skirt already. For her first outing, I wore her with simple rose earrings and some soft pink/beige shoes.
The main question I get asked about this dress is, ‘is she worth the price?’. She retails for $890 USD and although I got her a little bit cheaper on sale, she is a pricey garment. However, there is a lot happening to justify the price; first of all, she is made in house by skilled atelier workers who get paid a proper living wage. These dresses aren’t made in sweatshops in third world countries by underage workers who earn a dollar a day. Embroidery is expensive and the amount that’s gone into this dress is alone many many hours of work, even if it is done by machine. In the skirt alone, there are many meters of fabric which can cost a pretty penny even at a wholesale discount. Then there is the bodice which is fiddley to construct and put together; there is padding, boning and embroidery to workaround which can take many hours to do correctly. The fabric for something like this dress can cost you several hundreds of dollars, then the workers must make the garment and be paid a proper wage which is a few more hundred of dollars, then there is the company running costs such as lighting, water and electricity to run sewing machines. On top of that, they might even have to pay pattern designers to help grade and adjust patterns for different sizes. All up, plus a little profit on the side, yes the dress is worth the price. Like most of us who shop online, I’ve already seen Teuta Matoshi’s designs available for $120+ on websites that are clearly just using her images to sell lesser quality garments. Matoshi’s garments are not overpriced, they might be out of your budget, but they cost what they are worth and we can blame fast fashion for making us think the price is too high.
This is a special occasion dress and I think I will wear her any chance I get; even if it’s just dinner at a fancy restaurant (husband, if you are reading this *cough cough*). Teuta Matoshi’s dresses are not cheap but they are worth it. They honestly have some sort of magical quality to them that as soon as you put one of their dresses on, you just feel like you’re in a fairytale. I just wanted to run through a palace or dance in a secret garden at midnight. I know this is a dress I will treasure for years to come and I already have three more dresses on my wish list that I will slowly save up for.
Note: This is not a sponsored post. All opinions and thoughts expressed are solely my own and not influenced in any way. There are no affiliate links and I do not benefit from any link clicks or purchases made.
Miss MonMon 
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