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    Brocade Apparel

    3.8 (87 reviews)
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    Updated 2 months ago

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    custom made from start to finish!
    Ashley M.

    I'm so glad I found Brocade Apparel for my qipao! Helen has such a great taste in fashion and so many fabric options available. I looked all over and she had the best quality and for a reasonable price. With her expertise, we designed my wedding qipao from the shape to fabric type so that it would fit my personality and body type perfectly. It was absolutely perfection! Helen was so sweet and prompt with making everything too. She ended up making my mom and grandma their qipao's for my wedding day as well. Highly recommend for anyone looking to get a qipao! (She does get pretty busy so you may have to wait a little at times, but she's soooo worth it!!)

    My custom qipao

    I absolutely loved my custom qipao! The owner was so sweet and gave the best customer service. She allowed me to try on multiple dresses until I found the one I liked the most. My entire family loved how elegant and traditional it was!

    Trying on qipaos!
    Kelly C.

    The other reviews are very on par: get appointment and keep the receipt. I did not have an appointment so I had to wait two hours, but that's my own fault. In the meantime, you can browse for women and men's clothing. Helen is honest and in the zone with her work. She lets you try on dresses and will tell you her opinion on what she thinks looks good. She focuses on only two groups at a time, but does a great job since she is so concentrated. Time and cost: mine was $640 including tax, and takes 2.5 months until it arrives. She takes cash or Zelle. Then you do the fitting and wait 2 weeks for the alterations and receive the final product. You cannot haggle the price, but I argue that for the ability to fully customize and with nice fabric it's hard to beat. Language: She does speak English, but converses better in Mandarin. My family speaks Cantonese so it was harder to understand, but not too difficult. Size: I would say I'm a large in Chinese sizing but a medium in America. Many of the qipaos don't fit me here so if you're bigger than a medium it'll be harder to try on samples. She gave me a gift at the end for my wedding which was very sweet of her and gave many apologies for the wait. Summary: You could order online for a bit less on price, but you're sacrificing the customizing and ability to try different styles on. As long as you make an appointment and have some time before the event you're getting the dress for it's worth it!

    Serena H.

    I stopped by in mid-February as a last minute decision to have a qipao for my wedding. Helen was able to custom order a dress for me. I picked up the dress at the end of March with time to spare. My mom and I took precautions based on other reviews such as making sure we brought the receipt and calling the day before our appointment. Her work is beautiful and even my mom, who typically finds bright red to be overly loud or tacky, loved my qipao. Helen is not extremely type A so her appointments can seem kinda random (I.e. she told me to stop by anytime on the day of my dress pickup) but we never had an issue with getting served. I would make an appointment before going to try on for the first time. My mom was also a huge help with Mandarin but Helen communicated with plenty of brides in English too. Very happy with my qipao, which I paid just a little over $500 for including tax!

    Pamela C.

    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!!!!

    Bridal QiPao

    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!

    Chan T.

    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.

    Kelly J.

    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!

    Brocade Apparel new location: 711 E Garvey Ave, Monterey Park, CA 91755
    Wei Z.

    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.

    Waiting for the groom and staying hydrated

    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!

    Cheongsam dress in the window.
    Rick S.

    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.

    Catherine Y.

    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!

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    Page 1 of 3

    Ask the Community - Brocade Apparel

    Review Highlights - Brocade Apparel

    Helen was amazing and ran the extra mile to coordinate with her support in getting a fit for me to try on.

    Mentioned in 51 reviews

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