I have always been serious about music and performing. I live, eat and breathe my music career and have for the past 10 years with immense focus. So never in a million years did I think I would or could start a fashion boutique. I began my music career in opera ( as Alessandra Paonessa ), so not only was my world engulfed in music scores and countless hours of practice, but also the constant hunt for the right performance gown.

Making a statement has always been equally important to me as rehearsing for an upcoming gig. Early on I learned that the way you present and style yourself can effect how others perceive you. I used to be the kid with dark eyeliner, rainbow socks and a hot pink striped fauxhawk. You can imagine the looks I used to get walking into a room - I lived for the reaction! But now looking back, I realize the valuable lesson I learned early on. The power of style and the influence it can have on others perception of someone.   

Over the years I've spent thousands of dollars in wardrobe, and time searching for appropriate attire to make sure each style followed appropriate gown etiquette: considering time of day, type of stage, not too short, not too low, when to cover my arms… and so on.  Most often my shopping options were between a mother of the bride or prom dress…. needless to say many unsuccessful shopping trips.

Over the years I tried to broaden my search for gowns. Winners was often a great go-to; if gowns were in season. Eventually I turned to online shopping and had great success but quality wasn't always guaranteed. And when it came to buying gowns online? WHAT. A. NIGHTMARE!

In the Fall of 2019 I received word that I had been nominated in the Hollywood Music in Media awards for ‘Best Female Vocal Performance’. I decided immediately I wanted to make the trip to attend the event and of course the big question that comes to any girls mind immediately is "what to wear on a red carpet?". I really wanted something that would turn heads and if I was flying all the way from Toronto (TO), Canada to Los Angeles (LA), United State, I wanted to make sure I looked flawless. So the hunt for the perfect gown commenced...

I won’t slander the brands I shopped, but what I will say is that I learned very quickly what you see in the photos isn’t always what you get. Have you ever seen those Pinterest shopping fails? Ya… that was basically my experience in a nutshell.

Size was an issue. I'm a size 8 US and normally that would translate to a medium or large. I thought I was being safe ordering an XL for my online order as something too big can always be taken in by a seamstress, right? Apparently not?! When my order arrived, that ‘XL’ wouldn’t even go up my legs. This was only the beginning.

Another order I placed was for a beautiful navy off the shoulder gown with sparkles and an over-skirt. I was SO excited for this one. And when it arrived? I’m pretty sure all the sparkles had fallen off before I even opened the bag. The glitter literally looked like it had been glued onto the fabric which had dried, crusted and flaked off on its way to me. 

Not only that but the fabric was different than what I expected. The image below contains the promotion shot of the dress worn by a model on the left, and what arrived on the right. You'll notice in the promo shot, the over-skirt has an interior layer made of chiffon with an exterior layer of satin fabric. This gives the interior a bit of a see-through property and beautiful movement. Indicated by the red circle (click image to enlarge). However the dress I ordered came with one layer in a spandex type material, and neither chiffon nor satin fabric was used. 

And I wish I could say this experience was isolated to online dress shopping but sadly not. Since I've started the company, I've had a few orders of jewellery that didn't turn out where quality didn't match the promotional images shown (stop me if you've read this before). It was so bad we had to change suppliers, but it was the right choice to find the right products.