Brides-to-be race for wedding dresses at Filene's Basement
(Brian Jackson/Sun-Times)
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Running of the brides
They came from across the country. They wore ribbons, hats, sparkle wigs, bunny ears and T-shirts sporting their ad-hoc team names. Some had elaborate battle plans.
They had one mission: bagging the perfect bridal gown.
The strategy?
“Assault and battery,” quipped Ruth Woodall, a 21-year-old bride-to-be from Birmingham, Ala. “We’re going to get in there and grab as many as we can and guard them with our lives.”
Welcome to “The Running of the Brides” — the annual bridal sale at Filene’s Basement in the Loop. Hundreds of women waited for hours outside the State Street store Friday morning, so they could get first crack at the dozens of racks of designer gowns offered at marked-down prices when the store opened at 8 a.m.
Unlike its bovine namesake in Pamplona, Spain, no one got gored or trampled at this run. But with plenty of sharp elbows and the adrenaline in high gear, the sale is still not for the faint-hearted.
After spending an hour finding a dress in the chaos, one Downstate Bloomington bride said she needed a drink.
“Compared to last year, this is insane” said Katie Medeiros.
Medeiros, 31, came in from Boston to help her cousin, Kelly Patterson, 31, a non-profit worker fom St. Louis, search for her bridal gown. Medeiros bought her own here last year.
To keep tabs of one another in crowd, they wore green “Kelly’s Krew” tank tops.
The sale originated over half a century ago in Boston. Chicago’s Filene’s Basement has been hosting its version for about a decade.
To these brides, the bargains are arguably worth fighting for. Gowns costing up to $9,000 were priced between $249-$699.
“I tried on dresses a week ago at Brides by Demetrios. A couple were $2,000.00,” said Lydia Ruelas, 25 of Cicero. “I’m hoping to spend less than half of that here.”
Frantically seeking out sizes, shoppers nearly tackled Pat Landon, a 47-year-old registered nurse from Cincinnati who was sitting on top of a mound of dresses she nabbed for her daughter to sort through.
“I grabbed too many. I’ll just sit here until my team members come back,” said Landon, who like others, did her homework. To prepare for the sale, Landon studied YouTube videos, read articles on past events and arrived a day early to study the layout of the store.
Looking more like a bazaar than a department store, women traded dresses with one another, shouting out sizes and styles, seeking out the right one for their bride’s desired look.
After trying on nearly 30 gowns in about 90 minutes, Patterson found the one for her, a Mikaella-designed ivory strapless for $249. Her triumph prompted applause and cheers from her six-member “Kelly’s Krew.” And that was the signal for other teams to move in on dresses that didn’t make Patterson’s cut.
“They heard the screaming, so they know. They’re like vultures,” joked Medeiros.
Despite the mayhem, brides cherish the experience. Rebecca Pernic braved the sale with only her mother. The 22-year-old from west suburban Hinsdale snared what she described as a “huge poofy dress with a huge train and beads” for $250. The original price was at least $800.
“It’s the one I always wanted,” said Pernic. “I’d rather do this than sit in some boutique.”
