Running a tailoring shop for nine years, Rene Hill saw some horror-story wedding dresses come in for alterations.

“Dresses bought online can be really tacky,” said Ms Hill, of Rene Hill Originals. “A lot of times, the fabric is cheap and the lace in the dress looks like something from your grandma’s tablecloth. Often the dresses do not have proper boning in them. If, like a lot of women, you have back fat or bulges, good boning keeps that in.”

To provide more on-island options for local brides, she has just opened Oh-Zone Boutique, a bridal store in Hamilton.

“We will be able to put brides in something affordable that will fit nicely,” she said.

Average prices are on par with the United States, ranging from $1,500 to $4,000 for brands such as Morilee Bridal, and Clarisse.

She is running the Oh-Zone Boutique with Bermudian designer Taijhaun Hollis, who will have his work available in the store.

Mr Hollis began designing clothing in his late teens, and made his debut at the Bermuda Fashion Festival in 2018.

Oh-Zone Boutique is meant to be a tribute to Ms Hill’s partner, Hector Watson, who died suddenly in March 2023.

At first, Ms Hill was so heartbroken she considered closing everything down altogether. She and the accountant from Barbados ran Rene Hill Originals for nine years.

“In 2016, it was Hector who really wanted to add a retail arm to our alterations business,” Ms Hill said.

However, she was not immediately sold on the idea, thinking they did not have the resources for it.

“We battled about it for a little while,” she said. “Then Hector began researching bridal gowns, bridesmaids dresses, shoes and accessories.”

In 2016, they ordered their first bridal dresses to sell.

“It was February, a little late for the season,” she said. “We did a wedding dress expo the next year, and continued to do that and word spread.”

However, space in the alterations studio was always too limited to expand their retail line very far. Much of their stock was kept in a storeroom.

After Mr Watson’s death Ms Hill learnt from one of his friends that Mr Watson’s dream had been to open a bridal dress shop.

“He never said that to me,” she said.

It made sense though. His mother, Thelma Watson, was a seamstress and designer of wedding attire. Mr Watson grew up helping her dress bridesmaids, while doing minor sewing.

“He often had to run out to purchase proper underwear for his mum’s clients because she did not want any panty lines showing through her creations,” he said. “He still believed in proper-sized undergarments and would get me to have ‘the chat’ with our female clients.”

She called the store Oh-Zone Boutique, as a nod to her days writing Lifestyle at The Royal Gazette.

“On my first day in the Lifestyle section, my colleague, Nancy Acton, gave me some flowers and said welcome to the Oh-Zone. That is how we always referred to it from then on.”

She plans to wind down her alterations business by next March.

Oh-Zone Boutique is open by appointment only by calling 535-0154, and is located on Old Cellar Lane at 47 Front Street in Hamilton.