November 24, 2019 • 21 mins
This bridal fashion designer has spun magic with her 25-piece timeless line, blending in contemporary fashion, and we can't wait to share her inspiring journey with you!
In her lively chat with us, Weilu takes you back to her humble beginnings, sewing alongside her grandmother and her evolution into a renowned designer - from attending fashion school in China to working with the celebrated Monique Lhuillier in Canada. We walk you through her awe-inspiring studio, a wonderland where brides can add personal touches to their dresses. Moreover, we explore the perennial allure of detachable sleeve trend and how it ties in with the timeless elegance of bridal fashion
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weilufresolone_atelier/
Special series season in partnership with Coded Agency
Places to go - People to see:
Kelly's Site: http://www.kellymcwilliams.com
Kelly's Blog: https://www.kellymcwilliams.com/blog
Instagram: @kellyamcwilliams
About Kelly:
Kelly knows how incredible a well planned wedding can be. Every moment counts and every decision plays a part. Wedding planning should be fun and as easy to do as possible. Besides planning weddings, Kelly travels the globe as an industry speaker. Kelly is a Martha Stewart Top Wedding Planner & this podcast won Brides magazine and WeddingWire's best podcast.
Need a little help planning your wedding?
The Getting Ready Room List (ON SALE NOW)
Wedding Song Ideas: Spotify Playlist Included! (ON SALE NOW)
Download the Wedding Spending Plan
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Hello and welcome to this versus that.
Making wedding decisions withKelly McWilliams.
This podcast is for you ifyou're making a wedding decision
and want to know what toconsider before saying I do to
all the things that will makeyour wedding experience a great
one.
I'm your host, kelly McWilliams, and I'm so glad to be a part
(00:30):
of your wedding planning journey.
In each episode, you can counton me and my expert wedding
co-hosts to give you everythingit takes to make the best
decisions for the wedding thatyou're dreaming of.
Welcome back to the weddingdesigner.
Bright old ground designer miniseries here at Melanche de Blanc
(00:51):
.
I'm in the coded agency podcaststudio.
Lots of noise, because thereare hundreds of people walking
around, as I've explained onevery single episode, and I'm
sure you're tired of hearing it,but I'm going to keep saying it
in case you started with thisone.
So I will say also that, yes,we're in New York City and it is
(01:14):
October and it is the mostbeautiful weather outside, but
I'm excited to be inside in allof this commotion.
It's so cool.
So when I first got here, I tookthe time to walk through all of
these.
I guess you I don't even knowwhat to call these.
It's like these little minishowrooms that each designer has
(01:37):
within Melanche de Blanc andwithin each of the showrooms,
the designers there and a coupleof people that they work with,
and they have all of dressesthere and mirrors and models and
they do little runway shows orthey present to the buyers.
And as I was walking throughjust to kind of get a grip on
(02:00):
what was going on in here, therewas this one where I was just
so drawn in like from where Iwas.
Oh, you know how you describeit, you know how your IKEA, and
you're like there's the path andit has the arrows in it, and
then there's like all the roomsoff to the side, like this is
(02:21):
what you get in 500 square feet,kind of imagine like that and
each one of the rooms quoteunquote it has a designer and
her gowns or his gowns in there.
So as I'm walking through, I amdrawn to this designer, wei Lu
Fresalone, and I see that in thewall and I go in and I'm just
(02:43):
looking at the dresses and I'mlike wow, and I turn around and
then there's just beautifulwoman sitting there and I said
are you Wei Lu, by chance?
And she was like yes, I needyou on the podcast right now.
The look on her face was likecomplete fear in like two
seconds and then her friendsstopped by and her husband and
(03:04):
they're like do it.
So she was incredibly nervous,but I think once we got talking
it all went away.
We got along so well and I wentback again later to look at all
of her dresses again and I wasjust dumbfounded by how this one
(03:26):
that had literally zero seams Istill cannot understand how she
did this, but there is no seamson this dress.
It's unbelievable.
So make sure you look it up andgosh now.
I wish I could remember whatthe name of it was.
I think I'm sure it's like onher Instagram where they explain
(03:49):
this.
If not, we're just gonna haveto call her about it, but it's
so cool.
So here is Wei Lu, fresh Loneand Wei Lu, if I have said your
name wrong.
If it's Wei Lu, I think it'sWei Lu though.
Oh, my goodness, okay, here wego.
Hi Waylue, thanks for cominginto the podcast studio today.
(04:09):
Thank you for having me.
And you said you've never beenon a podcast, right?
Speaker 2 (04:14):
No, this is my first time.
Yeah, I hope it's not your last.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Don't be nervous.
Don't be nervous because we'regoing to talk just like.
I was over there in your littlebooth looking at your pretty
dresses and we were talking justfine.
Then I said, do you want to beon a podcast?
And you were like Like mm.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Mm.
Do I?
Speaker 1 (04:31):
So we're still here in the Coated PR lounge inside
Melange de Blanc.
Is this your first time showingat Melange de Blanc?
Speaker 2 (04:40):
It's my first officially showing with Melange.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Okay, all right, great.
So what do you think so far?
Speaker 2 (04:46):
I've been loving it.
I always heard of them andthey've been doing a great job.
I see different designerspopping up like, like with them
and see them getting like a lotof attention and getting into
stores and that's what you wantto do?
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Yeah, that's what.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
I want to do so.
I'm here.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Well, I want everyone to see your dresses too,
because I mean, I was.
You saw me like drawn in.
I was like, oh, what is overthere on that rack?
And you had so many beautifuldresses.
So tell me first about you andhow you started your brand.
Like, where brought you intobridal fashion?
Speaker 2 (05:23):
So I was like growing up.
I always sew with my grandma.
I grew up with my grandparentsand my grandma taught me how to
sew.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Oh, okay.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Yeah, so I was always into fashion and in college I
went to fashion design and aftergraduate from, like a certain
university.
That's where I'm coming from.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
I'm from China, so I moved from China to here, like
Wait, did you go to fashiondesign school in China?
Yes, okay.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Yes, I did.
I went to there and I finishedwith my bachelor's.
I met my husband while I wasstill in college.
I moved back to New Yorktogether because he's from line,
and then I was starting lookingfor like a job in fashion and I
was lucky to get into a like acustom until I ate oh.
(06:12):
To do like a hand sign work.
So that's where, like that'swhere I really shop in my skills
in custom, like dressmaking.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
So you were actually making dresses?
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Yes, I was I was making dresses Because I went to
school for fashion.
So I always have the theory andknowledge about like patterns
and I just didn't have theability to be on an industrial
machine.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
To create the fit.
But in that shop I really nerdlike everything.
And then I got into MoniqueLune oh, canada.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
We all know her name yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
So I worked for her as a tailor for about four years
Wow yeah.
And during COVID I was like Iwas furlough, so I got tons of
time on my hands and I'm like Ialways wanted to buy brands, so
let's just do that.
That's where I have the time,so I start producing samples in
(07:13):
my little apartment.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
So oh my gosh.
So you have the.
You have like the Epic store.
I didn't know pulling you inhere I was going to get this
story.
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Yeah, I'm very grateful for what I have been
through and all the talent Ihave worked with my director at
Monique Lune.
She is so talented and Ilearned so much from her and
that's how I am able to like,like, construct the dress and
create the perfect fit.
(07:47):
She taught me so much.
I'm so grateful.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Oh, that's so awesome .
That's really really awesome.
Okay, so let's talk aboutwedding dresses.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Yeah, I think that's what everyone's talking about.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Okay, so how many dresses do you have in your
current line?
Speaker 2 (08:02):
So right now I kind of lost track of the dresses.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Oh, does that help me .
Speaker 2 (08:07):
But right now I'm showing about like 25 dresses.
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Yeah, so you have lots to choose from.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Yeah, a lot, yeah.
So my first collection.
I only did eight pieces, but Istarted adding more pieces into
the collection and I want mycollection to be timeless and
elegant so they never go out ofstyle.
So even the ones from like twoyears ago I first made, they're
still my bride's favorites.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
So I'm still showing this, even yes.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Because they haven't gone out.
Yeah, so I will say that as Iwas looking through your dresses
, all of them like felt veryunique, like they felt like they
all fit together, but they allfelt very unique.
But there wasn't one where Iwas like this is not going to
make it for a long time.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
You know what?
Speaker 1 (08:54):
I mean Because you know, it does happen where
there's some dresses that aremeant for like one time.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Yeah, yeah yeah Like, yeah Like 18 months and never
needs that.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
But yeah, we evolved in there.
But the thing that rememberwhen we were over there and we
were talking and I startedasking you about was you have
the one dress that has thedetachable sleeve?
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Right.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
And I asked you I said, do you think that that
came from?
Like you know, way back in theday there were, you know, people
wore gloves with their dresses,or were them always Right, and
then that went by the wayside.
And then we had, like back whenI got married, sleeves, which
was 25 years ago, long time.
(09:38):
Sleeves were a big deal then,and then after that it was about
like sweetheart.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Right, Right, you know, do you have?
Did you have some in there?
I have some yeah, we always seefashion as always a circle Like
10 years, 20 years, somethinglike very popular in the past
will come back again and in afew years people will get over
it and it won't start on yourframe, yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Yeah, but that I mean maybe that's the good thing
about bridal is that it all doescome back.
So we did like so often it's itdoes come back.
It's easier to say that it'stimeless because they do return
eventually, but I will say Ifeel like the detached sleeves.
I know I'm going back to thisagain, but I don't think we've
(10:25):
ever seen it before, like that'svery, very new Right.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
That has been in the industry for quite a few years.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Oh, really, yeah, oh, I'm just out of the loop,
that's okay, yeah, because I'mlike so into this, like.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
I'm in this industry.
So yeah, right now it'sprobably been around for four,
five years.
Oh, okay, oh not that longthough.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
Yeah, no, I'm thinking like, like I said, I've
been at this for like over 20years, so I think a long time, I
think 20 years, and then youknow, I got married 25 years ago
.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
So that's newer, but I think it's gonna hang out for
a long time, just becausethere's so many things Like you
didn't have options, you know,yes, yes, exactly so of your
line that you have now.
So has anyone seen any of thoseyet?
Or is that brand new?
Like here today, like surprise?
Speaker 2 (11:18):
you use all the dresses.
Like what I said, I had a fewpieces from like two years ago.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
The first start producing samples and they are
still like a very like a more.
I still loving them, so I'mshowing that, but I also have a
few pieces that are brand new.
Okay, and I just added to thiscollection and we just started
like we had a shoot like twoweeks ago and they are just
starting to show like okay, onour social media on our website.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
I hate to ask you this, but do you have a favorite
?
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Oh my God, it's hard.
It's like they're all my babies.
Can you pick your favoritechild?
I know?
Speaker 1 (11:57):
And people ask me like that all the time as a
living player.
Which was your favorite design?
Listen, I like all of them.
I made them.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Yeah, yeah.
So there's an aesthetic,there's a style for third and
bride.
This style is perfect for themand it looks gorgeous on them,
it's pretty and you loved it somuch.
And then for another bride,that's definitely not an option
at all, and yeah, it's just sodifferent?
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Do you have like a shop where they come in and they
see them all I do.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
I have my Hattie-Lay in Greenwich, connecticut, in
Greenwich.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
Oh, so you're not too far from here.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
No, not too, far.
I live in Westchester and Idrive 25 minutes to Greenwich
every day.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Oh, that's not bad at all To make my bride, so do
they get to meet you in person?
Yes, I work with a bride aswell.
Oh, that's really cool.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
And in my Hattie-Lay.
Yes.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Oh, that's awesome.
I do fully custom dresses aswell.
Oh, you do.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Yes, so from my collections they can take their
inspirations and then we canlike finalize all the details
and maybe change something Likethey are not filling 100% of
themselves.
Just add their unique touch tothe dress and just create
something custom.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
So do you ever have a bride walk in, or has this ever
happened where someone walkedin and instantly you were
inspired by them?
Speaker 2 (13:20):
I do.
I actually have one bride Likeshe's not a bride's mother of
the bride and she's so thepleading.
I have my pleated dress at thewindow and she loves the
technique so much.
And then she came in and shewanted something more coverage
with more like a sleeve, becauseshe want to look timeless and
(13:42):
elegant, but she want to be.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
She's not like, comfortable showing her dress
and everything she wanted,everything covered up.
Yeah, so a little moreconservative, exactly.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
And it's not like that for her.
We had more like a I sketchedout and yeah, and then she came
in, for she actually lived inColorado, so she fly in for
fittings, oh gosh.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
Oh, she really loved you.
Wait, did she come outspecifically to meet with you?
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Yeah, that's so cool.
Yeah, so yeah.
And she she just had herdaughter's wedding like a mass
out of the area.
Wait, I would get pictures fromher, so you haven't seen it.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
You haven't seen it yet.
No, no.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
But she just got married From the wedding yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Oh my gosh, you must be so excited waiting for those
pictures.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Yeah, I'm so excited and she had a pink color.
So like I actually loved thestyle so much and I understand
some brides are moreconservative and they wanted to
cover it, so I actually take heridea and create a white dress
for my collection and a name hername.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Did she know that yet ?
Yeah, she knows.
That's so cool.
She must be so excited aboutthat.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Yeah, her name is Leslie, so she said make sure
it's L-E-Y.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
L-E-S-L-E-Y instead of I-E.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Okay.
Because this is my you need tosuspect her.
So now, when?
Speaker 1 (15:06):
yeah, so when everyone, you're listening and
you want to go see what Leslie'sdress looked like.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
You can go on the website.
Well, actually is that not onthe website yet, but we will
work on it.
We'll work on it.
So when?
Speaker 1 (15:20):
something like that happens and someone comes in and
they're you know, you'reinspired by them, or they come
to you to get something and youend up loving what you create.
Does that sometimes turn intopart of your, your collection,
Like?
Speaker 2 (15:36):
it does Okay, because it's something.
They bring fresh ideas.
They bring fresh perspective.
Like you hear it from yourclient side and I think that's
very, very important to make thedresses that will represent my
client.
Yeah, Because sometimes we,when people, we have ideas.
(15:58):
I always want to stay true tomyself, but I also want to
create something to make otherwomen feel beautiful and
themselves.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Well, that's, and here's the thing.
This is the one thing I don'tlike about podcast I love
podcasting Is that you can't seeher sitting here and, like I
can see the passion in your face, like the second I start
talking about things that reallyare lighting you up, like you
just glow.
So I love what I do.
Oh, that's so exciting.
So I'm excited for everyone toget to see your dresses.
(16:30):
Can you tell everyone where tofind you online?
And I want you to spell it out,like everyone's going to go to
Instagram, but spelled out,because I hate when you're on
podcasts or you're listening topodcasts and they're like oh,
I'm at Chevrolet.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
And my name is.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
Alizzo, your name is Alizzo.
And then you're like where Okay, so if someone goes to
Instagram to find you, what arethey going to type in?
Speaker 2 (16:55):
Yes, so my Instagram handle is waylufesselonatida,
which spelled out as W-E-I-L-U.
That's my first name, waylu,and my last name is my married
name, which is Italian.
It's press alone and it'sspelled as F-R-E-S-O-L-O-N-E.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
Okay, perfect.
So I'm going to say it one moretime it's waylufesselon W-E
I-L-U-F-R-E-S-C-L-O-N-E.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
And the last name is F-R-E-S-O-L-O-N-E.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
Okay, perfect, and then your website is the same.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
And wwwwaylufesselonatidacom.
Okay perfect.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Thank you for coming in the show.
I'm so excited and your dresses.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Oh, absolutely, oh, my gosh.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
You're like a pro now .
Speaker 2 (17:52):
You're like, yeah, I've been on podcasts no, I can
tell everybody about it.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
Well, that's the point.
But yeah, your dresses reallyare beautiful.
I do want to ask you, if youhad to pick between, like, a
mermaid style or an A line,which would you if you had to?
A-line versus mermaid, I thinkpersonally.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
I'm definitely a more fit to flare type of girl.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
Okay, okay, okay.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Yeah, I'm like I'm small and I wanted to, like,
have something.
I'm pretty so I want to havesomething more like a fitter, so
I can show my figure.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
But you know everybody's different.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
Yeah, it's totally valid, so I have all different
silhouettes for everybody.
And then if you had to chooselace versus beading?
Speaker 2 (18:46):
I think I'm definitely not a beading girl,
I'm more like a lace, and then Iget solid fabric with textures.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
You had a lot of textures of that.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Yeah, that's what I'm very into like creating texture
with solid fabric.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
That was something I noticed over there when we were
looking.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Expertise, like how you manipulate the fabric and
the mermaid.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
And that was very striking about a couple of your
dresses that I saw over there.
There was one that was likevery covered.
I don't know if that was calledpleading.
It was kind of high up herePleading, the one it was like,
but it also had layers in it.
Yeah, oh, so pretty.
It's so much like a texture ithas so much interesting details
(19:33):
to the dress and also yourdresses look like they would
look like fun on the dance floor.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
We're gonna have fun getting it right yeah exactly.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
Thank you so much, Wayloo.
I'm really glad you came in.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
Thank you so much Okay bye, bye.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
I'm so glad to be able to share my wedding
experiences and expertise withyou, and that my co-hosts are so
giving it theirs.
We truly do want you to havethe best time at your wedding,
and our hope is that thispodcast is helping you to make
your engagement time whileplanning your wedding that much
easier.
May I ask a favor of you?
(20:10):
If this is the case, would youjust take a moment to leave a
review of this podcast on yourlistening platform?
It helps people just like youto find the podcast and to also
find out their answers so theycan make decisions.
I would also absolutely lovefor you to give this Versus that
podcast a shout out on yoursocial media.
(20:32):
You can find us at this Versusthat wedding podcast on
Instagram, and if you would likeme to help you with a specific
question, a wedding decision,please by all means ask.
Send me a DM.
I would love to hear from youand maybe, just maybe even have
you as a wedding cast on afuture episode.
(20:54):
How fun.
Here's to another great wedding.
Hello and welcome to this versus that.
Making wedding decisions withKelly McWilliams.
This podcast is for you ifyou're making a wedding decision
and want to know what toconsider before saying I do to
all the things that will makeyour wedding experience a great
one.
I'm your host, kelly McWilliams, and I'm so glad to be a part
(00:30):
of your wedding planning journey.
In each episode, you can counton me and my expert wedding
co-hosts to give you everythingit takes to make the best
decisions for the wedding thatyou're dreaming of.
Welcome back to the weddingdesigner.
Bright old ground designer miniseries here at Melanche de Blanc
(00:51):
.
I'm in the coded agency podcaststudio.
Lots of noise, because thereare hundreds of people walking
around, as I've explained onevery single episode, and I'm
sure you're tired of hearing it,but I'm going to keep saying it
in case you started with thisone.
So I will say also that, yes,we're in New York City and it is
(01:14):
October and it is the mostbeautiful weather outside, but
I'm excited to be inside in allof this commotion.
It's so cool.
So when I first got here, I tookthe time to walk through all of
these.
I guess you I don't even knowwhat to call these.
It's like these little minishowrooms that each designer has
(01:37):
within Melanche de Blanc andwithin each of the showrooms,
the designers there and a coupleof people that they work with,
and they have all of dressesthere and mirrors and models and
they do little runway shows orthey present to the buyers.
And as I was walking throughjust to kind of get a grip on
(02:00):
what was going on in here, therewas this one where I was just
so drawn in like from where Iwas.
Oh, you know how you describeit, you know how your IKEA, and
you're like there's the path andit has the arrows in it, and
then there's like all the roomsoff to the side, like this is
(02:21):
what you get in 500 square feet,kind of imagine like that and
each one of the rooms quoteunquote it has a designer and
her gowns or his gowns in there.
So as I'm walking through, I amdrawn to this designer, wei Lu
Fresalone, and I see that in thewall and I go in and I'm just
(02:43):
looking at the dresses and I'mlike wow, and I turn around and
then there's just beautifulwoman sitting there and I said
are you Wei Lu, by chance?
And she was like yes, I needyou on the podcast right now.
The look on her face was likecomplete fear in like two
seconds and then her friendsstopped by and her husband and
(03:04):
they're like do it.
So she was incredibly nervous,but I think once we got talking
it all went away.
We got along so well and I wentback again later to look at all
of her dresses again and I wasjust dumbfounded by how this one
(03:26):
that had literally zero seams Istill cannot understand how she
did this, but there is no seamson this dress.
It's unbelievable.
So make sure you look it up andgosh now.
I wish I could remember whatthe name of it was.
I think I'm sure it's like onher Instagram where they explain
(03:49):
this.
If not, we're just gonna haveto call her about it, but it's
so cool.
So here is Wei Lu, fresh Loneand Wei Lu, if I have said your
name wrong.
If it's Wei Lu, I think it'sWei Lu though.
Oh, my goodness, okay, here wego.
Hi Waylue, thanks for cominginto the podcast studio today.
(04:09):
Thank you for having me.
And you said you've never beenon a podcast, right?
Speaker 2 (04:14):
No, this is my first time.
Yeah, I hope it's not your last.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Don't be nervous.
Don't be nervous because we'regoing to talk just like.
I was over there in your littlebooth looking at your pretty
dresses and we were talking justfine.
Then I said, do you want to beon a podcast?
And you were like Like mm.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Mm.
Do I?
Speaker 1 (04:31):
So we're still here in the Coated PR lounge inside
Melange de Blanc.
Is this your first time showingat Melange de Blanc?
Speaker 2 (04:40):
It's my first officially showing with Melange.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Okay, all right, great.
So what do you think so far?
Speaker 2 (04:46):
I've been loving it.
I always heard of them andthey've been doing a great job.
I see different designerspopping up like, like with them
and see them getting like a lotof attention and getting into
stores and that's what you wantto do?
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Yeah, that's what.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
I want to do so.
I'm here.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Well, I want everyone to see your dresses too,
because I mean, I was.
You saw me like drawn in.
I was like, oh, what is overthere on that rack?
And you had so many beautifuldresses.
So tell me first about you andhow you started your brand.
Like, where brought you intobridal fashion?
Speaker 2 (05:23):
So I was like growing up.
I always sew with my grandma.
I grew up with my grandparentsand my grandma taught me how to
sew.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Oh, okay.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Yeah, so I was always into fashion and in college I
went to fashion design and aftergraduate from, like a certain
university.
That's where I'm coming from.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
I'm from China, so I moved from China to here, like
Wait, did you go to fashiondesign school in China?
Yes, okay.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Yes, I did.
I went to there and I finishedwith my bachelor's.
I met my husband while I wasstill in college.
I moved back to New Yorktogether because he's from line,
and then I was starting lookingfor like a job in fashion and I
was lucky to get into a like acustom until I ate oh.
(06:12):
To do like a hand sign work.
So that's where, like that'swhere I really shop in my skills
in custom, like dressmaking.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
So you were actually making dresses?
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Yes, I was I was making dresses Because I went to
school for fashion.
So I always have the theory andknowledge about like patterns
and I just didn't have theability to be on an industrial
machine.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
To create the fit.
But in that shop I really nerdlike everything.
And then I got into MoniqueLune oh, canada.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
We all know her name yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
So I worked for her as a tailor for about four years
Wow yeah.
And during COVID I was like Iwas furlough, so I got tons of
time on my hands and I'm like Ialways wanted to buy brands, so
let's just do that.
That's where I have the time,so I start producing samples in
(07:13):
my little apartment.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
So oh my gosh.
So you have the.
You have like the Epic store.
I didn't know pulling you inhere I was going to get this
story.
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Yeah, I'm very grateful for what I have been
through and all the talent Ihave worked with my director at
Monique Lune.
She is so talented and Ilearned so much from her and
that's how I am able to like,like, construct the dress and
create the perfect fit.
(07:47):
She taught me so much.
I'm so grateful.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Oh, that's so awesome .
That's really really awesome.
Okay, so let's talk aboutwedding dresses.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Yeah, I think that's what everyone's talking about.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Okay, so how many dresses do you have in your
current line?
Speaker 2 (08:02):
So right now I kind of lost track of the dresses.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Oh, does that help me .
Speaker 2 (08:07):
But right now I'm showing about like 25 dresses.
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Yeah, so you have lots to choose from.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Yeah, a lot, yeah.
So my first collection.
I only did eight pieces, but Istarted adding more pieces into
the collection and I want mycollection to be timeless and
elegant so they never go out ofstyle.
So even the ones from like twoyears ago I first made, they're
still my bride's favorites.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
So I'm still showing this, even yes.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Because they haven't gone out.
Yeah, so I will say that as Iwas looking through your dresses
, all of them like felt veryunique, like they felt like they
all fit together, but they allfelt very unique.
But there wasn't one where Iwas like this is not going to
make it for a long time.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
You know what?
Speaker 1 (08:54):
I mean Because you know, it does happen where
there's some dresses that aremeant for like one time.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Yeah, yeah yeah Like, yeah Like 18 months and never
needs that.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
But yeah, we evolved in there.
But the thing that rememberwhen we were over there and we
were talking and I startedasking you about was you have
the one dress that has thedetachable sleeve?
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Right.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
And I asked you I said, do you think that that
came from?
Like you know, way back in theday there were, you know, people
wore gloves with their dresses,or were them always Right, and
then that went by the wayside.
And then we had, like back whenI got married, sleeves, which
was 25 years ago, long time.
(09:38):
Sleeves were a big deal then,and then after that it was about
like sweetheart.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Right, Right, you know, do you have?
Did you have some in there?
I have some yeah, we always seefashion as always a circle Like
10 years, 20 years, somethinglike very popular in the past
will come back again and in afew years people will get over
it and it won't start on yourframe, yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Yeah, but that I mean maybe that's the good thing
about bridal is that it all doescome back.
So we did like so often it's itdoes come back.
It's easier to say that it'stimeless because they do return
eventually, but I will say Ifeel like the detached sleeves.
I know I'm going back to thisagain, but I don't think we've
(10:25):
ever seen it before, like that'svery, very new Right.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
That has been in the industry for quite a few years.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Oh, really, yeah, oh, I'm just out of the loop,
that's okay, yeah, because I'mlike so into this, like.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
I'm in this industry.
So yeah, right now it'sprobably been around for four,
five years.
Oh, okay, oh not that longthough.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
Yeah, no, I'm thinking like, like I said, I've
been at this for like over 20years, so I think a long time, I
think 20 years, and then youknow, I got married 25 years ago
.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
So that's newer, but I think it's gonna hang out for
a long time, just becausethere's so many things Like you
didn't have options, you know,yes, yes, exactly so of your
line that you have now.
So has anyone seen any of thoseyet?
Or is that brand new?
Like here today, like surprise?
Speaker 2 (11:18):
you use all the dresses.
Like what I said, I had a fewpieces from like two years ago.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
The first start producing samples and they are
still like a very like a more.
I still loving them, so I'mshowing that, but I also have a
few pieces that are brand new.
Okay, and I just added to thiscollection and we just started
like we had a shoot like twoweeks ago and they are just
starting to show like okay, onour social media on our website.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
I hate to ask you this, but do you have a favorite
?
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Oh my God, it's hard.
It's like they're all my babies.
Can you pick your favoritechild?
I know?
Speaker 1 (11:57):
And people ask me like that all the time as a
living player.
Which was your favorite design?
Listen, I like all of them.
I made them.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Yeah, yeah.
So there's an aesthetic,there's a style for third and
bride.
This style is perfect for themand it looks gorgeous on them,
it's pretty and you loved it somuch.
And then for another bride,that's definitely not an option
at all, and yeah, it's just sodifferent?
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Do you have like a shop where they come in and they
see them all I do.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
I have my Hattie-Lay in Greenwich, connecticut, in
Greenwich.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
Oh, so you're not too far from here.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
No, not too, far.
I live in Westchester and Idrive 25 minutes to Greenwich
every day.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Oh, that's not bad at all To make my bride, so do
they get to meet you in person?
Yes, I work with a bride aswell.
Oh, that's really cool.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
And in my Hattie-Lay.
Yes.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Oh, that's awesome.
I do fully custom dresses aswell.
Oh, you do.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Yes, so from my collections they can take their
inspirations and then we canlike finalize all the details
and maybe change something Likethey are not filling 100% of
themselves.
Just add their unique touch tothe dress and just create
something custom.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
So do you ever have a bride walk in, or has this ever
happened where someone walkedin and instantly you were
inspired by them?
Speaker 2 (13:20):
I do.
I actually have one bride Likeshe's not a bride's mother of
the bride and she's so thepleading.
I have my pleated dress at thewindow and she loves the
technique so much.
And then she came in and shewanted something more coverage
with more like a sleeve, becauseshe want to look timeless and
(13:42):
elegant, but she want to be.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
She's not like, comfortable showing her dress
and everything she wanted,everything covered up.
Yeah, so a little moreconservative, exactly.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
And it's not like that for her.
We had more like a I sketchedout and yeah, and then she came
in, for she actually lived inColorado, so she fly in for
fittings, oh gosh.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
Oh, she really loved you.
Wait, did she come outspecifically to meet with you?
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Yeah, that's so cool.
Yeah, so yeah.
And she she just had herdaughter's wedding like a mass
out of the area.
Wait, I would get pictures fromher, so you haven't seen it.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
You haven't seen it yet.
No, no.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
But she just got married From the wedding yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Oh my gosh, you must be so excited waiting for those
pictures.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Yeah, I'm so excited and she had a pink color.
So like I actually loved thestyle so much and I understand
some brides are moreconservative and they wanted to
cover it, so I actually take heridea and create a white dress
for my collection and a name hername.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Did she know that yet ?
Yeah, she knows.
That's so cool.
She must be so excited aboutthat.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Yeah, her name is Leslie, so she said make sure
it's L-E-Y.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
L-E-S-L-E-Y instead of I-E.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Okay.
Because this is my you need tosuspect her.
So now, when?
Speaker 1 (15:06):
yeah, so when everyone, you're listening and
you want to go see what Leslie'sdress looked like.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
You can go on the website.
Well, actually is that not onthe website yet, but we will
work on it.
We'll work on it.
So when?
Speaker 1 (15:20):
something like that happens and someone comes in and
they're you know, you'reinspired by them, or they come
to you to get something and youend up loving what you create.
Does that sometimes turn intopart of your, your collection,
Like?
Speaker 2 (15:36):
it does Okay, because it's something.
They bring fresh ideas.
They bring fresh perspective.
Like you hear it from yourclient side and I think that's
very, very important to make thedresses that will represent my
client.
Yeah, Because sometimes we,when people, we have ideas.
(15:58):
I always want to stay true tomyself, but I also want to
create something to make otherwomen feel beautiful and
themselves.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Well, that's, and here's the thing.
This is the one thing I don'tlike about podcast I love
podcasting Is that you can't seeher sitting here and, like I
can see the passion in your face, like the second I start
talking about things that reallyare lighting you up, like you
just glow.
So I love what I do.
Oh, that's so exciting.
So I'm excited for everyone toget to see your dresses.
(16:30):
Can you tell everyone where tofind you online?
And I want you to spell it out,like everyone's going to go to
Instagram, but spelled out,because I hate when you're on
podcasts or you're listening topodcasts and they're like oh,
I'm at Chevrolet.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
And my name is.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
Alizzo, your name is Alizzo.
And then you're like where Okay, so if someone goes to
Instagram to find you, what arethey going to type in?
Speaker 2 (16:55):
Yes, so my Instagram handle is waylufesselonatida,
which spelled out as W-E-I-L-U.
That's my first name, waylu,and my last name is my married
name, which is Italian.
It's press alone and it'sspelled as F-R-E-S-O-L-O-N-E.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
Okay, perfect.
So I'm going to say it one moretime it's waylufesselon W-E
I-L-U-F-R-E-S-C-L-O-N-E.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
And the last name is F-R-E-S-O-L-O-N-E.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
Okay, perfect, and then your website is the same.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
And wwwwaylufesselonatidacom.
Okay perfect.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Thank you for coming in the show.
I'm so excited and your dresses.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Oh, absolutely, oh, my gosh.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
You're like a pro now .
Speaker 2 (17:52):
You're like, yeah, I've been on podcasts no, I can
tell everybody about it.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
Well, that's the point.
But yeah, your dresses reallyare beautiful.
I do want to ask you, if youhad to pick between, like, a
mermaid style or an A line,which would you if you had to?
A-line versus mermaid, I thinkpersonally.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
I'm definitely a more fit to flare type of girl.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
Okay, okay, okay.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Yeah, I'm like I'm small and I wanted to, like,
have something.
I'm pretty so I want to havesomething more like a fitter, so
I can show my figure.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
But you know everybody's different.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
Yeah, it's totally valid, so I have all different
silhouettes for everybody.
And then if you had to chooselace versus beading?
Speaker 2 (18:46):
I think I'm definitely not a beading girl,
I'm more like a lace, and then Iget solid fabric with textures.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
You had a lot of textures of that.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Yeah, that's what I'm very into like creating texture
with solid fabric.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
That was something I noticed over there when we were
looking.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Expertise, like how you manipulate the fabric and
the mermaid.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
And that was very striking about a couple of your
dresses that I saw over there.
There was one that was likevery covered.
I don't know if that was calledpleading.
It was kind of high up herePleading, the one it was like,
but it also had layers in it.
Yeah, oh, so pretty.
It's so much like a texture ithas so much interesting details
(19:33):
to the dress and also yourdresses look like they would
look like fun on the dance floor.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
We're gonna have fun getting it right yeah exactly.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
Thank you so much, Wayloo.
I'm really glad you came in.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
Thank you so much Okay bye, bye.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
I'm so glad to be able to share my wedding
experiences and expertise withyou, and that my co-hosts are so
giving it theirs.
We truly do want you to havethe best time at your wedding,
and our hope is that thispodcast is helping you to make
your engagement time whileplanning your wedding that much
easier.
May I ask a favor of you?
(20:10):
If this is the case, would youjust take a moment to leave a
review of this podcast on yourlistening platform?
It helps people just like youto find the podcast and to also
find out their answers so theycan make decisions.
I would also absolutely lovefor you to give this Versus that
podcast a shout out on yoursocial media.
(20:32):
You can find us at this Versusthat wedding podcast on
Instagram, and if you would likeme to help you with a specific
question, a wedding decision,please by all means ask.
Send me a DM.
I would love to hear from youand maybe, just maybe even have
you as a wedding cast on afuture episode.
(20:54):
How fun.
Here's to another great wedding.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!