Dye lots? Is this a thing??

Yes dye lots are a thing, but you don't need to worry about it for dresses. Last time I was a bridesmaid we all ordered our dresses from the local store, and 1 girl in another state ordered her dress from her store. They were all the same color.

Dye lots can be a deal in colors like Navy blue. My bridal shop waited until everyone had dresses picked and measured to order. My wedding is/was navy blue or Midnight blue as they call it. Our dresses came from Davinci and Impression. Apparently they are brothers and use the same factory so it worked.

The shop we ordered bridesmaids dresses from waited until everyone was measured and paid before they placed the other so it would be cut from the same lot. All the dresses looked exactly the same. We have a lighter color, so I think that if they were cut from a different lot, you'd notice a slight difference.

For my wedding, the salon held all the orders until everyone had theirs in and was size to guarantee that they came from the same lot (lavender dresses). My cousin got married over the summer and his fiancee had her bridesmaids order from online (cream colored dresses) and they did come in with noticeably different colors when the girls was standing next to each other.

***Ordering Bill Levkoff dresses, too. We just ordered from a store close to me and my OOT BM tried them on at a place in her area and then called the salon with her measurements and the dress number. Once they received her deposit (she was the last to order) the dress order was placed. When hers comes in I will go pick it up and ship it to her since it would be cheaper than having the store do it***

With dye lots there could be a very slight difference in color, yet still the same color. I think of dye lots more with yarn...I remember when my grandmother would knit something, you could really tell if done with different dye lots.

Yes, it is real.

@Maltese do you know the price range that Bill levkoff dresses are in? there is a long one that i like but i am not sure i trust the prices i have found online (as in if they are knock offs or not)

It's totally real and it's bullshit that your store told you that. Even a minor difference in dye can make a huge difference in photos.

@Surfergirl....Each of my 5 bridesmaids picked a different dress. All floor length chiffon...pricing ranged from $190-260 for the dresses that were picked. One each at the low and high ends and the other 3 dresses were right at $220-230

@maltese Thanks! :-) thats what i was thinking it would be around, i am liking the floor length chiffon dresses too

From working seeming bridal and bridesmaid dresses it's a real thing. Sometimes you get lucky and no issues other times you will see huge differences. For the most part you can only tell the differences when they are standing next to each other which in weddings tends to happen a lot. As long add they order the same company at the same time you should be fine but if one girl orders then a couple months later others order that's when you might start to get the differences showing

I had never heard of this before!! I love all the little things I learn on WW.

Thanks, ladies! I guess I will find the shop with the best prices and have them all order from there!

Yes, dye lots matter. Sometimes more than others. It can be manufacturer/fabric dependent.

Even if the dye lots are an exact match, variation in light can make them appear to be slightly different colors. So... You have to decide how much you, personally, care.

AND, for some dresses, it won't matter if you order them together or not. Not all makers will wait for an order to start production on that order. In some cases, manufacturers have certain dresses in continuous production. That means that, even before you order the dress, that dress in that size/color is already being constructed because the maker has a high degree of confidence that it will sell. When the order it placed, they pull a dress (already made) out of inventory and fulfill the order with no/little attention to dye lot.

Further, particularly if you are ordering different styles of dresses, you have the added complication of "batching". This is where the manufacturer takes all the orders they've received in a certain time frame and they make all the dresses in color #1/style A, then all the ones in color#2/style A, then color#1/style B... and so on. There is more risk for dresses at a lower price-point due to "stack cutting" (fabric is stacked and a machine is used to cut multiple dresses at once) as stacking helps reduce costs.

So... really, you have to decide how much it will bother you AND how much trouble (and expense) you are willing to go thru to get an EXACT match.