Helen is an exceptional business owner and was super inviting during our whole experience. We did come here without an appointment but just gave her a call/heads up and she was open to walk ins! So recommended to still call in to check. When we first came in, she greeted with us open smiles and also gave us time to take a look into the attires as she was helping assist another person who was picking up her dress. The girl who was picking up the dress complimented her saying it fit perfectly. I have been here with my sister when she picked out her dress and my sister also thought it fit really well. I found a couple of dresses to try on and she was very open in having me try them on and single-handedly picked it for me into the fitting room. After trying on a couple one, she had provided very positive suggestions (that weren't forceful) about adjusting to different fabrics on a style without extra charge. Side note, I recommend that people who do come here to try to order your dress up to 3 months before your wedding since each one of these qipaos are custom. She may be able to expedite but with an extra charge. Overall, LOVELY lady. While the dresses are pricy ($500-700), you could tell that she put a lot of effort and quality into the work. My fiancée also got a Chinese wedding jacket (a little pricy about $400-500 as well), but also custom made and good quality. read more

Helen is incredibly gifted and the QUEEN of qi paos. She has been in this business for a long time and her beautiful work shows it! She was so sweet and kind to me and my husband. She made us feel like family!! We designed my qipao together. I explained to her what style I wanted and she took my vision and created the most BEAUTIFUL dress! It is completely custom and fit perfectly to my body shape. We chose the fabric for my husband's magua and she customized it to his style as well. Not only was her service incredible but the qipao and magua are amazing quality! I was soo comfortable the whole night and so was my husband. The silk she uses is beautiful, luxurious quality! Thank you Helen for making us feel and look like royalty!!!! read more

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I loved how my dress turned out! Went in with my mom to get a custom qipao for my wedding. Helen speaks English but I did find it easier for my mom to communicate with her in mandarin. During this first visit we found the fabric we liked on one of her showroom dresses. With both my mom's and Helen's fashion expertise we came up with the design. After 2 fittings the dress came out perfect! Well fitting and great quality. Tip: Call Helen at least a day before to confirm your appointment. read more

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Brocade Apparel was the perfect place to create my custom qipao for my wedding last Spring! I had looked all over L.A. for a shop that carried real silk fabric in various patterns/designs at a reasonable price. I visited a few other shops that had since closed down in the San Gabriel Valley area and was reluctant to find that Helen, the owner of Brocade Apparel, was still around and offered such a wide variety/ships anywhere. She mentioned she had clients come from all over the U.S. and after working with her, I'm not surprised - I truly think she is the best in business! Although I would have to agree with some of the other reviews - ensure you confirm the time of your appointments ahead of time (I think they have selective hours on the weekends) and make sure to keep track of your downpayment/receipts. The silk comes from China so the whole process takes a couple of months (5+) and Helen has a lot of clients so the receipts can easily get lost. I went into Brocade Apparel in October 2021 and ordered my qipao for my rehearsal dinner / my mom ordered her qipao for my actual wedding. The gowns were ready for fitting in March 2022, and ready to take home in April. My mom and I were over the moon thrilled with how our custom qipaos turned out! I created one in traditional red/gold silk and Helen went the EXTRA mile to make sure the gold phoenix was front and center of my gown! She said they had to use extra fabric just to do that. I was very pleased. My mom loved her lilac purple qipao and received many compliments - it was the perfect Mother of the Bride gown for a Spring wedding. Couldn't recommend this QiPao shop more! Best in SoCal + greater United States! read more

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They have moved to 711 E. Garvey Ave. Monterey Park, CA 91755 Helen did an Amazing job with my custom Cheongsam! I had this done for my Chinese Tea Ceremony before my wedding. I really wanted a blue fabric and we went through all the blue fabrics she had and helped me pick which one would look best on the style that I chose. I bought the dress in November, had my first fitting in March, second fitting in April, and final pick up in May. We spread everything out since I didn't need it until June and she was super busy with all the weddings getting back on track from the pandemic. She was very professional, helpful, and had a keen eye on how the dress should fit. She speaks very good English, but if she needs help, she has an associate that can assist on the phone or text. The dress came out so beautiful, form-fitting, I felt very comfortable and elegant in it on our special day! read more

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Came here searching for a custom qi pao for my upcoming wedding. I called and was able to set up an appointment to come see the shop. There was a good selection of dresses, but depending on your size, there may be very limited amounts you can try on. The designer was very nice and helpful in our search. I was nervous from reading some reviews, but she was very kind to me and my mom. We ended up putting a deposit down for a dress, so we'll see how everything turns out. Like others, I also found it more helpful to communicate in mandarin. read more

Brocade Apparel is NOT closed! Reports saying that they're closed is wrong. They only relocated to 711 E Garvey Ave in Monterey Park, CA. They're the same owner and designer. Store hours are: Saturdays and Sundays 12-5. Appointments only as well. 626-688-6449. read more

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Appointments only fri-sat! No where on Yelp says that's so just be aware! Went last week and found out the hard way so just leaving a review to advise others. read more

Still daydreaming about how lovely my wedding went But wanted to show everyone how amazing my qi pao was! My friends and mom saw three dresses they liked and decided to pick each feature they like of this dress and voila! Helen was so kind in letting me try on all the dresses, (this is an of course but let me tell you vinshop's lady did not let me try on anything, she overheard me tell my mom that I'm still browsing and she said unless I put a payment on that day, she won't let me try on anything) Helen was also an expert but critiquing where to alter (needs bigger bra, cut slit higher etc) she had seamstress sew on my bra on the dress so I was very secure the whole day! I docked off one star however bc I loved her so much I wanted her to alter my white wedding dress and she said they do this all the time but my bustle was a simple hook and bc it had a long train, that weight did not hold well and my first dance was really difficult.... Also when I picked up my wedding dress, it was filled with red threads bc their floor must have been filled with qi pao threads.... However, my dress was multi tier and it was difficult to do the hem because spacing between the tier had to be consistent still. All in all, their qi pao were amazing, service great, they know what they're doing! read more

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If you need a Cheongsam / Qi Pao (Chi Pao), they custom tailor dresses for women and on average I hear, if the inventory off the rack does not fit, you can get your measurements taken to have one made for you, which takes I think around 2 to 3 months. The Chinese dresses are form fitting and fit the contours of your body, so are not very forgiving in displaying your body frame, but look gorgeous on women of all sizes when fitted right. They have a nice selection and seemingly good quality and decent prices, which vary and range widely of course. I'd think budget for around $300 or so for a dress at minimum with most stores. Parking is rather easy here in this area. read more

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Being that this is one of the few stores that still makes custom qipaos within 1 hour of me, I was excited to visit the store. However, I had a lackluster experience despite all the positive reviews on yelp. When I arrived, the owner did not greet me and did not inquire about how to help me even though I was her first customer of the day and I was by myself. The owner has multiple books of fabric samples for the custom gown. She has some items that are for sale off the rack in the back and examples of her custom gowns hanging on the wall. I requested to try on one of the gowns hanging on the wall. She told me she usually doesn't but let me. I inquired about the custom gown process and was interrupted by a long phone call from the owner's daughter. I understand Mandarin and it was a drawn out conversation about chores required during the summer holiday. Even after the phone call, I was given minimal help about designing a gown. I decided to leave and walked down the block to a wedding store where I was met with much more warmth and help. FYI - no photos are allowed. Understandable as each gown is the owner's intellectual property. I ended up buying a qipao in Amazon that shipped from China in a larger size and had it tailored down. Although not custom, it cost a fraction of the price and was gorgeous. read more

So happy we got our wedding attire from here. We were limited on time, but they made it work. The colors were beautiful and the material was very good. read more

Amazing! Helen is so talented and nice. All the chi paos be here are so beautiful and well made. I believe all the material is made of silk, mine definitely is. This is the go to place for quickly and beautifully made traditional chi pao for very reasonable prices! read more

Brocade Apparel - Bridal Near Me - Monterey park, California

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Brocade Apparel is an amazing custom boutique for Chinese traditional dresses and formal wear! Be sure to book an appointment, all the dresses are custom made by Helen who is incredible! Qipao's are beautiful and so many options to make a custom dress tailored to you! Perfect for special occasions, weddings, tea ceremonies, etc. a truly special place to make your perfect dress read more

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The store front has a sign that says "Brocade Apparel", so keep an eye out for that to help you find it easier. There is also parking in the back if you drive into the driveway by the store. I was very impressed that Helen Zhou has been in this business for so long that she was able to look at a few pictures of me and have a custom-made chi pao that fit. My parents showed her a few pictures as I was not able to go into the store with them at the time. So Helen didn't have any measurements of me before production started, and when I went into the store to try it on, I was amazed that it only needed minimal alterations! The entire process from order to final pick up after alterations was about 2 weeks. My family and I were very happy with the dress! If you need a custom made chi pao, I highly recommend her. There are swatches in the store so you can choose the fabric, and other samples so you can choose the color/style. It is much easier if you speak Chinese. Also, it is difficult to get someone on the phone, so going into the store is probably best. The store hours are 11am - 7pm. read more

Leave it up to my mom to know exactly where to go when we went shopping for chipaos for my wedding day (one for me, one for her). The lady doesn't speak much english, so I'd imagine it would be quite difficult to communicate if you weren't Chinese, but the selection of chipaos here are great! Come here for your custom-made chipaos - she'll have you try on the samples you like and then measure you from head to toe. They have the standard, traditional looking ones and other more fashion-forward chipaos that look more youthful and unique. I love love love the ones we chose. read more

Known in Chinese as "Ge Ge," this place is as Chinese-y as they come. Bring cash, prepare to pay the full amount upfront, and brush up on your Chinese shouting skills so you can stand a chance against Helen. I came to get a qipao altered to fit me, and it was obvious that Helen, the owner, knew her stuff. She expertly pinned the dress and also convinced me to get the collar opening lowered for an additional $20. The full charge was $100 (non-negotiable), and she told me to come back in three weeks to pick it up. My mistake was that I came back in three weeks + one day, and that's when the shouting happened. Apparently one of the unwritten/unspoken store policies is that you have to pick up your dress on the EXACT date or else it won't be there, so she loudly told me off when I came one day late. Customer service really doesn't get any worse. That cash-upfront policy is probably there for all the women who storm out on Helen after getting yelled at. Helen has the Chinese way of making business extremely frustrating, yet quite effective. My dress was a gift that turned out to be made of a very flimsy fabric, so it ended up getting burned when they tried to iron it. The damage wasn't too noticeable, but of course she made the process as difficult as possible by denying both its existence and her staff's responsibility for it. Eventually she explained how the burn happened (no, I didn't get any money back), and she helped me through three more fittings to make sure the fit was perfect. The dress, damaged and flimsy as it is, looks amazing. I haven't been to other qipao shops, but this one definitely gets the job done. Make sure you get your qipao made/altered at LEAST a month in advance. New dresses (nice silk ones) cost $280 and Helen will make sure it fits and flatters you like a tailored Chinese dream. She's really rude, but she knows her qipao. Just be prepared for a spike in your blood pressure. read more

Helen made us feel that we are truly good friends of hers when we went there to buy Chi-Pao. She concentrated to each of us, I don't understand why some one criticized her badly?? The winners of the Beauty Pageant I knew are all satisfied with ehr art work,the price is inexpensive and fair. If some one wants to save more money, they can fly to China to have Chi-Pao made, but consider the flight price!! Lots of my friend's daughter bought from GeGe Chi-Pao and we all love this shop. read more

I decided to have a Chinese traditional Keipo two and half months before my big date. I liked my cousin's dress and she highly recommended Helen. Helen had many displayed samples in her shop.  They were all beautiful.  When she understood she only had less than 2 months to my big date and I preferred no rental, she was hesitant to accept my order at first. When my mom expressed our desperate desire, she took my order cautiously and laid out a schedule plan to make it happen. As a busy working woman, my working schedule made me travel on top of my wedding planning.  I could not be able to follow the plan. Helen was amazing and ran the extra mile to coordinate with her support in getting a fit for me to try on. It was great but my mom found imperfections in the Keipo.  Helen noticed unhappiness from my mom. Helen said she would remake a completely new dress for me in a few weeks. It was a second amazing from Helen.  My mom and I were very happy about the final Keipo. I was blessed to know Helen. She provided not only a good dress for me, but she also cared for my mom's feelings and expectations. She ran extra, extra miles to make my wedding complete beautifully. I greatly appreciated her and thank you. read more

Helen is the owner of Brocade Apparel, and she has access to very skilled artisans. At least one of her dressmakers is here in the States on a P-3 artist visa. I have purchased two qipaos from her and have always felt honored to wear her creations. Some reviews complain that she is difficult to work with, but I have always found her to be engaged and professional. Helen specializes in bespoke qipaos and does not rent dresses. She does have some off-the-rack inventory, but I highly recommend collaborating with Helen on a custom gown. The process of selecting fabric, watching her sketch, and being measured by her is an experience in itself. There are other qipao shops in the vicinity, but I would encourage brides to stay with Brocade if the dress will be heavily photographed. The fabric, workmanship, and tailoring at other shops cannot compare. I have two other qipaos made by another shop, and they are much lighter in weight and shinier in photographs. They do not fit as well and lack the refinement of a Brocade qipao. For many readers here, your qipao is yet another thing on your wedding to-do list, but I hope you will treat the decision with reverence. Personally, I wanted to be deliberate about what I wore to my tea ceremony and am glad I chose to work with Helen. She has given me something that will be cherished in my family for generations. read more

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Helen is amazing! A friend of mine had recommended Brocade Apparel to me after her cousin had purchased her Qi Pao for the Miss Chinatown pageant (and won). I had a few reservations before going in since I don't have your typical Chinese girl body shape (I have a booty). But Helen was able to put me at ease and also work within my wedding time frame (5-months). She is super responsive and also very accommodating. Her happy demeanor also made the entire experience so much fun. The dress she designed, and yes, I did say designed (it was not an off the rack Qi pao that was tailored to fit me) was perfect. The red silk was brilliant and the bead work was extremely delicate and offered the right amount of shine, without making it too pageant-y. I loved my dress and felt absolutely beautiful in it. My husband even suggested that I go back and have more dresses made for future events. The price was also fantastic, for a custom designed and tailored dress I could not have asked for more. read more

Brocade Apparel - Bridal Near Me - Monterey park, California

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I just picked up my custom made wedding qipao today, and I have to say I'm very pleased with the end result. I do want everyone to know that it does take several months to have the final product fabricated, but it so very much worth the wait. The designer Helen is very patient and detail oriented, and she will not settle for less than perfect. There are several fittings that are a must before you finally go home with the dress. A few tips: several of the dress designs can be found exactly in Chinatown for much cheaper. HOWEVER, this is custom made-to-order shop, so the final fitting will always be perfect (unlike Chinatown). The money you pay here is definitely worth the end result. Please budget enough time before your event and the amount of time needed to fabricate the dress. The shop technically opens at 12:30 pm, although the site may say different. The best strategy is if you stop by in person after 1 pm to be safe. The shop is also closed on Tuesdays. The shop has a myriad of design samples for you to look at and try on, but please be mindful that these are only samples and therefore will have threads pulled, and wear and tear on them. Do not judge what the final product will be based on your impressions of the sample items. Also, if you speak fluent Mandarin Chinese, that helps greatly. Overall, very pleased with my experience, and wouldn't hesitate to recommend anyone here. My patient recommended me this place, and I couldn't be happier. read more

Helen is great at her job! First of all, yes, as all other reviews say, she only speaks Mandarin. But her work is truly stunning and above par of some other qi pao tailors. I arrived with my own cloth and design in mind. She added improvements to them and altered them, with my consent, to make me several stunning qi paos. I had 2 fittings, first time, of course, nothing fit well. You would rather them make it too big than too small. If it's too small, it's difficult to make it bigger. But the second fitting everything was snug and only minor adjustments had to be made. I had to rush my qi paos, my original pick up date for my three dresses were postponed for a day, but it was only for 1 dress that was late, and even so, I was able to pick it up early the next day. read more

I went here yesterday. Yelp says they're open at noon but they're really open at 12:30. When we walked in, a chime sounded but no one came to assist us. It seem like the owner or employees were just hanging out in the back room. This is the place that doesn't do rentals but they custom make your hundred percent silk dress. I will say that the dresses are gorgeous but the ones I was looking at were running about $385. read more

Let me just say Brocade is probably one of the last few stores in CA that makes custom qipao. We went to the store with most respect but only greeted with the rudest customer experience ever. I made an appointment as required by the store owner on the phone and this is my experience from the appointment. We walked into the store and no body came to greet us. We were in the store by ourselves for a few minutes and a man came to see if we made an appointment. We told him that we have an appointment and asked for his name. He didn't want to tell us his name but said he was the store owner. And did not even bother to check or confirm our appointment. We then waited another 10-15 minutes by ourselves checking out the display in the store by ourselves. Then the actual owner came out and greeted us, She asked us what we need and we gave her some details about the use of the dress and when we need it by. So she let us try out some sample dresses and while I was doing that her next appointment showed up. Some lady and her daughter who ordered a dress. The store owner quickly went to help her and started working on the next appointment leaving us waiting for a damn mirror. Finally I went up to the owner and the next appointment and ask if I could see myself in the mirror with the sample dress on. The mother of the next appointment immediately called me rude and have no basic manner to my face while her daughter let me use the mirror for a split second. The owner quickly said there is another mirror while the rude mother attacked me again for being rude. The owner also said that her next appointment gets priority of getting help because they ordered a dress. It is insulting to be treated like that. while I walked out expressing my disappointment with her service. I also let the owner know that I drove 5-6 hours from north CA just to come and see her. She didn't even bother to apologize to me and my mum but let the other customer be rude to us. Just because they are the only store that make custom qipao they behave like we have to beg them to make a dress for us. The owner also keeps on hinting that we need to order right now and she is packed with orders until next fall. If you want full service from the amazing princess of shanghai qipao Helen you will need to spend top dollars there for her to take a look at you. read more

Poor customer service! We walked in and the owner didn't even acknowledge us. I asked to see fabric samples and she pointed at a table of 10-15 fabric books and did not offer to show us red & gold fabric samples that she would recommend. When we asked her about styles and designs, she was very rigid. She does not custom design her gowns. They are made in Shanghai in standard S, M, L sizes - not custom. Her dresses are very traditional and a bit old school. I was very unsatisfied with the customer service, the selection, and the designs. read more

I am definitely not coming back here again. Helen, the store owner was very helpful and organized at first. She uses a calendar to write down all her appointments. When we went back to her to get our measurements done, she forgot about our appointment and had to reschedule us. Once we got to the point where my mom's gowns were finished, we went into the store to have her try them on. There were some details that needed fixing so Helen had my mom leave the gowns with her so the gowns can be tailored. Helen gave us an appointment to go back and have my mom try on the tailored gowns and she was out of town. This led us to reschedule again since Helen forgot about our appointment. When we went back to our rescheduled appointment, the gowns were not ready. We had such a frustrating experience with this place and really do not want anyone else to have to go through this. read more

Helen custom made my qipao and it turned out better than expected. I showed her pictures of dresses I liked and she recommended the fabrics and style. It took about 5 months from order to pick up with 3 fittings. I was pleased with the end result. I found it more helpful to communicate in mandarin with her. read more

Brocade Apparel - Bridal Near Me - Monterey park, California

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The lady here was extremely rude and unprofessional. My friend and I had arrived there at 12 pm (the time according to yelp), her sign on the glass said 12:30 pm...ok, yelp is wrong here, but my friend and i waited and she didn't show up at that time. We called the number on the window around 12:40 pm or so and she told us she'd be there to open at 1:30 pm -_- so my friend and I went to get drinks nearby. When we got back, the shop was open but I started to realize what a mess this little shop was. Everything was crammed together to the point I'm not sure how you could even get to the dresses in the back. Everything seemed a bit dusty too. The lady was completely unhelpful. She had greeted us and then left us in the store alone. I felt like we could have walked out with one of the dresses and she wouldn't have realized it. But honestly I wouldn't have wanted to. The dressing room was just a flimsy curtain on a curved rod. It was pretty small and hard to change in. My friend asked if I could try on (what I considered) the prettiest dress in store and she told us no because it was $2000! That was the last straw. I was incredibly offended. I was shopping for a wedding dress and there was no way I was going to purchase a dress I couldn't even try. I quickly changed and on our way out, I looked at the tags of other dresses. $300-$500 for dusty dresses with pulled threads! I could have gotten the same dresses from Chinatown for cheaper. Another thing I noticed is that all the dresses are the same as the ones in all the photos on yelp. Doesn't seem like she updates her inventory. So even if you purchase a dress from her, it's not very special. I took my business to GP Wedding Studio where the customer service and dresses were much better. read more

Beautiful dresses with dependable service. I walked in and found a style that I liked, got my measurements that day, and the dress was ready to be worn 2 weeks later. read more

Brocade Apparel - Bridal Near Me - Monterey park, California

we recently had our tea ceremony, and planned it kind of last minute. thank goodness for helen, who helped me custom make my qi pao and rush order it to make sure i had it for our day. i didn't personally fall in love with what was in store so i threw some ideas at her and i could not be happier with my qi pao and it is made just for me. she also altered my fiancés shirt and a qi pao for my mom. everything fit perfect! read more

Brocade Apparel - Bridal Near Me - Monterey park, California

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Picking up my tailor-made-to-fit-my-body Qipao. Helen and I worked on a design together made of lace with a key hole opening in the back. My wedding was formulated in only 2 months time and even in this short notice, Helen and her team was able to deliver. I am excited to wear to wedding next week. Thank you Brocade Apparel! read more

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I ended up choosing Brocade for my wedding because they had the Cheong Sam pattern I liked best. The owner also is the seamstress and does an amazing job!! My dress looked amazing. Her English isn't strong, but my mom and I managed. Loved their work, thank you! read more

Brocade Apparel - Bridal Near Me - Monterey park, California

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