Sewing - Wedding Dress Question?

Question

I asked this under crafting and am not getting alot of answers, so I'm trying here.
I've fallen in love with this wedding dress: http://www.davidsbridal.com/bridal_gowns...
Problem is i don't want to wear a sleeveless or see-through sleeve. I don't know how to sew, but the store will put a see-through sleeve on the dress for me, like this:
http://www.davidsbridal.com/accessory_de...
My question:
If I had the store do all the alterations and add the sleeves, could I go to a seamstress and have this sheer sleeve lined with plain white satin?
Or would I be better off buying the dress without the sleeves and going to a seamstress to completely add sleeves?

Call me a bridezilla if you want, but all I want to know is if I should have the store put the sheer sleeves on or not before going to a seamstress.
I've made up my mind that I really want to find a way to get sleeves onto this dress (or else I have to pick another dress). I won't wear a wrap, shrug, sweater, bolero, etc.

gypz - Thank you for an answer that is helpful to me!

Answer 1

I'm unable to view the dress, but sleeveless gowns do not have an armscye designed to take a standard set-in sleeve (the smooth, fitted sleeve of something like Figure 1 here:
http://vintagesewing.info/1940s/42-mpd/mpd-01.html

A petal sleeve or a flutter/butterfly sleeve is relatively easy to design for a sleeveless dress:
petal sleeve: http://www.sewnews.com/library/sewnews/archives/aasleeves.htm
flutter sleeve: http://www.choir-martaccessories.com/formal_wear.html (page down to Juliet dress -- the long sleeved version is a set-in sleeve, with the seam at the anatomical shoulder joint)

There's really no reason why any sleeve couldn't be made of satin instead of sheer unless they're 1) pretty sure they can't find an exact match for the fabric in satin (a common issue), or 2) intending to use a stretch sheer to disguise the fact that the sleeve doesn't really fit the armscye properly.

I am not an alterationist... I loathe alterations, and I'd by far rather sew you a new dress from scratch than alter a finished dress. Nevertheless, there are some very talented alterationists out there that could probably make it work somehow. My very best suggestion is to find your seamstress first and let her look at the photo (or the dress) and tell you what's possible and what would be difficult in her experience.

If you can give me a style number for the dress, and describe your vision of what the sleeve should look like, I may be able to give you a better idea of what would work easily or make some other suggestions. I don't suggest you pay for sheer sleeves, have them taken back out and replaced... that's tough on the fabric, particularly the way some of the shops do things.

Answer 2

I sew and I would rather have the sheer sleeves to take back off and use as a pattern. Hope this helps.