In April 2016 our Design Team traveled 8,500 miles around the globe to Guangdong Province in China to begin the creative process of designing our 2017 Prom, Bridal and Social Plus Size Collections! After three weeks, four flights and 22 trains we returned to our St. Louis-headquarters exhausted but very excited about the dress designs that will be in stores near you and online later this year.  

2017 Plus Size Collection Design

Our design process for 2017 Prom and Bridal involves thousands of decision when it comes to selecting fabrics, colors, styles and embellishments, that will flatter all plus size figures. For Prom 2017 dresses we opted to create designs in Mikado satin, a rich, luxurious fabric. The Mikado draped beautifully on Mermaid styles that hug your curves and elegant on flowing A-line ball gown skirts. We also got playful pulling together an assortment of floral patterns that bloom with romance and femininity.

Cultural Experiences

On our design trips to China, tons of detailed planning always proves valuable if we want things to go smoothly. We pack everything from safety pins to antibiotics to hang tags for the dresses. But something always goes wrong. This time it happened when we got off a high speed train to visit a factory in a rural area. We stepped outside the train station and realized we forgot to take a silver Sydney's Closet shopping bag filled with samples. We had stored it on an overhead luggage rack. Out of sight, apparently out of mind! We ran back upstairs to the platform but the train had already left for the next station. Panicked we worried how we would ever get back the one-of-a-kind samples.   Our translator rushed to the station police. They contacted the police at the station where the train was making the next stop. That's where we got very lucky. The train was heading back to the station where we got off. The police alerted the train captain who arranged to have it delivered to us. The punctuality and precision of Chinese trains made the safe return of our samples possible within just one hour! We couldn't help but think that if this had happened in the USA we would never had gotten back the bag.  

Your Sydney's Closet Style

  When we start designing for a new plus size collection, we take a lot of factors into consideration like what plus size styles of our dresses have been the most popular in the past, and favorite colors. Have you always wanted to see a Sydney's Closet dress in a specific cut or color? Or, maybe you're looking for a special detail on a dress that you just can't seem to find anywhere else - let us know! We love getting customer input, and you might even see your ideas come to life in a 2017 Sydney's Closet dress!