Tassos Andreas of Woodbridge Designs Special Wedding Gown

Written Nancy Sasso Janis, Naugatuck/Bethwood Patch Mayor

WOODBRIDGE - Tassos Andreas, a fashion designer, artist, and painter from Woodbridge, has given his mother the ultimate gift for her upcoming wedding. The talented 20-year-old artist has designed a one-of-a-kind wedding gown for her to wear on the big day.

Andreas’ mother, Dr. Kristen Aversa, is getting married on June 17. The bride is the daughter of Ellen Aversa and the late Dr. John Aversa and the wedding will take place at her parents’ Center Road home.

Dr. Aversa told me that since this will be her second marriage, she originally wanted a very simple wedding gown. “Then one day, Tassos came up to me and said he wanted to design my wedding dress. How could I say no?”

The prospective bride showed her son her simple dress idea but “that was a non-starter.”

So the two decided that she would wear a simple dress for the reception and dancing, and something very romantic and detailed for the ceremony and cocktail hour. After a few discussions and a few different sketches, Andreas placed the sketch posted below in front of his mother and said “Here it is.” Dr. Aversa told me, “My heart jumped out of my chest when I saw this- and how beautiful it is.”

Mother and son had the dress that he designed made at Modern Trousseau in Woodbridge. The two had a fantastic experience with the store’s owner and their seamstresses, allowing Tassos to participate in making his design vision come to life.

The owner of Modern Trousseau is Callie Tein and her seamstress that made Tassos’ dress is Monika Plaza from Poland. Dr. Aversa told me that “they were the dream team!”

The one-of-a-kind wedding dress was constructed in white crepe fabric with an Aleçon lace overlay. The dress features an accent belt that the young designer bought from Mood Fabrics in New York City, where the designers shop for fabrics on television’s “Project Runway.” As the catchphrase goes, “Thank you, Mood.”

The bride-to-be told me that “The dress is really beautiful, but I think the story is even better.”

On his website, Tassos Andreas writes: “Since as early as I remember, I have been drawing. As a young child I would carry pens and pads of paper with me everywhere I went. A few years later, this passion would turn into my love of fashion design as I started drawing outfits.” His grandmother Ellen proudly told me exactly these details when she described him as a young child.

Tassos Andreas' mother, a practicing obstetrician/gynecologist in Hamden, shared that her son was born with complex congenital heart disease (hypoplastic left heart syndrome) and has had three open heart surgeries and many procedures. “He is a walking miracle,” Dr. Avesa said.

At age 13, the young artist began to attend after school classes at New England Fashion and Design Association in South Norwalk, Connecticut to further his education in fashion design. “Here I learned to sew, make patterns and bring my designs to life,” he says.

During his high school years, Tassos Andreas continued his art education while attending Educational Center for the Arts in New Haven, Connecticut in 9th and 10th grade. “It was here that I discovered my love of painting. I took a painting class in abstraction and ever since I have been experimenting with abstract watercolors and acrylics.”

Tassos Andreas earned a merit scholarship to Parsons School of Design in New York City as a fashion design major and is currently attending the renowned school for artists. The up and coming designer is the nephew of Dr. John Michael Aversa, Jr., Dr. David Aversa, and Monica Aversa.

The bride has promised to send me a photograph of her wearing the dress that I will add to this post.