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November 2023 by Pamela Chen
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!!!!
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August 2023 by Ashley S.
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.
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June 2023 by Rosie Z.
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.
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May 2023 by Emma L.
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.
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February 2023 by 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!!)
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January 2023 by Sophia B.
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!
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November 2022 by Anne T.
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.
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September 2022 by Yinchi C.
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.
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July 2022 by Yuki A.
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!
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June 2022 by Nat W.
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.
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May 2022 by Pia B.
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
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May 2022 by darlene y.
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!
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January 2022 by Kelly Jew-Garcia
They have moved to 711 E. Garvey Ave. Monterey Park, CA 91755Helen 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!
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January 2022 by 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.
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June 2021 by Kelly Jew
They have moved to 711 E. Garvey Ave. Monterey Park, CA 91755Helen 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!
