FeaturesJune 30, 2016
'The fashion doctor': Nicole Fouche fills a niche for custom bridal gowns in Cape Girardeau
A wedding dress is more than a piece of clothing a bride happens to be wearing when she walks down the aisle. Nicole Fouche knows this, and it's why she's set up shop doing alterations and creating custom wedding gowns in downtown Cape Girardeau. "The dress is so important," she says. "You have an emotional bond with it. Your life is moving from one chapter to the next, and when you remember that moment, you'll remember what you looked like, and your dress symbolizes that."...
Robyn Gautschy
A wedding dress is more than a piece of clothing a bride happens to be wearing when she walks down the aisle. Nicole Fouche knows this, and it's why she's set up shop doing alterations and creating custom wedding gowns in downtown Cape Girardeau.
"The dress is so important," she says. "You have an emotional bond with it. Your life is moving from one chapter to the next, and when you remember that moment, you'll remember what you looked like, and your dress symbolizes that."
Nicole's interest in sewing came from her grandmother.
"I would always watch her sew, and I fell in love with the fact that you can make something from nothing," she says.
When her grandmother died, her sewing machine was passed on to Nicole. She wanted to learn to sew, but says the idea scared her, and she didn't think she could do it. Still, she couldn't ignore her lifelong fascination with sewing, fashion and art, so she set off for the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles, enrolled in a sewing class ... and panicked, still convinced that she couldn't do it.
Some time later, Nicole had a baby girl, which she says renewed her motivation to start sewing. She scoured the internet and YouTube, taught herself to sew and made outfits for herself and her daughter. In 2011, she began selling clothes and doing alterations as her own business, Fouche Couture.
Nicole also began studying fashion merchandising and entrepreneurship at Southeast Missouri State University and doing alterations at David's Bridal, where she learned even more about wedding attire, from bustles and hems to taking seams in and letting them out.
In talking with brides, Nicole realized there was a need in the area for stylish plus-size gowns. She already knew she wanted to make clothing that meant something to people, and she knew she could make a difference with plus sizes, where options are more limited. She also saw a need for someone willing and able to tackle difficult, ambitious alterations, such as "upcycling" a vintage gown -- even if it meant taking it completely apart and starting over. From there, Fouche Couture evolved into Fouche Bridal, now housed inside Magnolias Bridal Boutique in Cape Girardeau.
"Find out what your location lacks, and then build on that. I knew we lacked plus-size gowns that were trendy, and I knew we lacked someone who would do custom gowns and alterations. So I took that risk," Nicole says. "I can help someone find something they can't get anywhere else."
And why the shift from ready-to-wear clothing to bridal?
"I love the fact that someone will have a wonderful memory in it," she says.
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When first meeting with a bride, Nicole asks questions about what she's looking for in a dress, makes a sketch, adjusts as needed and starts sewing. The process usually requires about three fittings over three months' time.
Nicole encourages brides to use the internet and Pinterest to figure out what they like in a dress, then try on a variety of dresses at different stores -- even dresses you don't think you'll like. Consider the fabric, sleeves, skirt, neckline and other details, such as lace and beading. And don't be too tied to one idea, she advises.
"The biggest mistake brides do is think they know exactly what they want," Nicole says. "If you don't keep your mind open, you might miss out on that dress that gives you that moment that makes you cry."
That "say yes to the dress" moment is equally rewarding for Nicole, who says one of the best parts of her job is making women feel special.
"Alterations are the most fun," she says. "To take apart a dress and make it fit, so when a bride walks through that door, she can say, 'It feels like it was made for me.'"
With each dress Nicole creates or transforms, she includes a pale blue string in the bustle so the bride has "something blue" for her wedding day, or a golden crochet hook and pale blue string to help fasten the buttons at the back of the dress. She also gives the bride any leftover fabric to wrap around her bouquet or put in a memory box.
This fall, from Oct. 8 to 16, Nicole will show eight custom-made plus-size wedding gowns at Kansas City Fashion Week.
"It's the first time they're doing plus-size and the first time they're doing bridal. I'm so excited to be the first," Nicole says, adding that she hopes other designers will follow suit. Too many brides insist they need to lose weight before the wedding, or trim down to fit into a certain dress, she explains.
"How about 'no,' because he found you at your size and he loves you the way you are," Nicole says. "Find a dress in your size, and love your size."
Nicole's daughter is still her biggest motivation in life and in business.
"I don't want my little girl to grow up thinking she has to be a certain size," she says. "Any size is beautiful, and you should feel good and great in your wedding dress."
The number of thank-you cards Nicole has received from brides are proof that she's filled a much-needed, and much-appreciated, niche in the bridal market.
"Who knew you could change someone's life by doing alterations?" she says.
Keep up with Nicole at fouchebridal.com, facebook.com/fouchebridal and on Instagram as @fouchebridal. She also is working on a Fashion Doctor app to help brides with last-minute dress emergencies.
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