Couture, bespoke or ready-to-wear: what the price actually pays for
Two dresses can look similar in a photograph and differ by ₦400,000. Here is where the money goes, line by line.
The studio, 8 September 2026
We are often asked why a ready-to-wear gown costs ₦245,000 and a couture gown that looks similar on Instagram costs ₦485,000 or more. It is a fair question, and the honest answer is that you are buying different things. Price in fashion is mostly time, and the two kinds of garment use time very differently.
Ready-to-wear: time spread across many women
A ready-to-wear piece is designed once, graded into standard sizes (at GlamGirl, UK 6 to 20) and made in small batches. The pattern, the sample, the fabric sourcing and the decisions about embellishment are shared across every woman who buys that style. That is why it costs less and ships in days rather than weeks.
What you give up is fit to your body specifically. A good ready-to-wear block fits a wide range of women well. It will not fit a long torso, a sway back or a narrow shoulder perfectly, and minor alterations are normal.
Couture: time spent on one woman
A couture commission starts with a consultation and your measurements. A pattern is drafted for you, a toile (a test garment in cheap fabric) is cut and fitted, and only then is the real fabric cut. There are usually two or three fittings. Embellishment is applied by hand to your pieces, not to a batch.
Where the money goes, roughly, on a heavily beaded couture gown:
- Hand labour: the largest share. A bodice edged in crystals can take 60 hours of beading alone.
- Fabric and materials: bought to order for your piece, which is why a deposit is taken before cutting.
- Pattern and toile: drafting and testing a pattern that exists only for you.
- Fittings: studio time, or video time for clients abroad, with a fitter who adjusts as the piece is built.
- Finishing: linings suited to the climate, internal boning, hand-finished hems and closures.
Bespoke sits in between, and the word is used loosely
In Nigeria, “bespoke” can mean anything from a fully drafted pattern to a standard style adjusted to a few measurements. Neither is wrong, but they should not cost the same. If you are comparing quotes, ask three questions: Is a pattern drafted for me? Is there a toile? How many fittings are included?
Why we publish lead times and deposits
A lower quote with a shorter timeline often means fittings get skipped or beadwork gets outsourced in a hurry. We would rather tell you four to seven weeks and a 50% deposit up front, in writing, than win the job and miss the date. The quote you receive is valid for 14 days and is priced against your actual brief.
The cheapest way to buy occasion wear is to buy it once, correctly, and wear it more than once.
Which should you choose?
Choose ready-to-wear when the event is close, the style suits standard sizing, or you want something beautiful without the process. Choose couture when fit matters more than speed, the occasion is significant, or you want a piece nobody else will be wearing. Both are made in the same Lagos studio, by the same hands, to the same finishing standard.
