Seamstress continues to alter wedding dresses
After a national bridal store declared bankruptcy and closed this month, a seamstress the company contracted decided to keep altering dresses, even if she might not get paid.
Rozetia Ellis, a Tulsabased contract seamstress for Alfred Angelo’s Oklahoma City and Tulsa locations, is still doing alterations for brides who already purchased wedding dresses from the company before it filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and closed all its stores July 14.
Ellis said she hasn’t received a paycheck from Alfred Angelo since the first week of June and has had to file a claim in bankruptcy court to try to get the money she is owed.
“I spoke with an attorney, and they told me nine times out of 10, I’m not getting a penny,” Ellis said. “So therefore, to keep my brides happy, I’m continually doing the gowns, taking them to Oklahoma City, delivering them to the girls without any payment whatsoever and not foreseeing a payment.”
Ellis said she wishes
Alfred Angelo had handled the situation better. She said she wasn’t told anything until the day the store was closing and then she was told to pick up the rest of the dresses at the store in need of alterations and take them with her.
She said she wants the brides to be happy and that it is unfair for the brides to get a dress that isn’t completed — or get no dress at all — when they’ve already paid for it and the work.
“Even though I’m not getting paid for it, my conscience wouldn’t let me go without having completed the work as promised,” Ellis said.
Ellis said she has about 60 dresses left to alter and get back to the brides.
‘Pretty panicked’
Stephanie Huey is one of the brides who was affected when Alfred Angelo closed. Her wedding dress wasn’t there, but two of her bridesmaids dresses were.
“I was obviously pretty panicked, but then there are definitely worse things than losing a wedding dress or a bridesmaids dress,” Huey said. “But at the time, it’s not very comforting to hear that the doors are locked and your dress is inside.”
Huey said they found out Ellis had the dresses through Facebook and were able to get in contact with her. Ellis confirmed she had the dresses and would drive them down to Oklahoma City, Huey said.
However, she said Ellis was going to get a hotel room to do the deliveries out of. Huey said she didn’t think Ellis should have to pay her own money to help them out, so she called around and the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Oklahoma CityPenn Square donated work space for Ellis.
“She got to see some very relieved brides,” Huey said.
Huey said the first time Ellis came to Oklahoma City she had only about five dresses with her because the other dresses weren’t finished yet.
“I just was dumbfounded,” Huey said. “Just getting the dresses in the first place was a good enough deed — and then for her to insist on doing all of this at her own cost — was just really amazing to me.”
Ellis said she’s honored that a lot of people are thankful for what she is doing. She said she takes a lot of pride in her work and it’s important to her to keep her brides happy.
“My satisfaction is just seeing the girls in their gowns and they fit them correctly,” Ellis said.
In addition to the brides being grateful, Ellis said she has received tips from some brides and Huey started a GoFundMe campaign for her, which she wasn’t expecting.
“I just want them to have a great day, and whether or not I get paid or it’s acknowledged, I know that I will be blessed in the long run,” Ellis said.