Thuy Huynh Tresner’s modest storefront popped in to Rancho Cordova last October with little fanfare. During a time when many people were watching their pocketbooks with concern, her small bridal shop in the fledgling town didn’t garner as much attention as it might have in years past. Tresner, however, is hoping that will change soon; her rags-to-riches-to-rags fairytale is depending on it for a happy ending.
Tresner, 39, opened Elegant Designs Bridal on Sunrise Boulevard near White Rock Road as a last-ditch effort to stay afloat in her adopted country. Her now ex-husband brought her to America as his bride just 13 years ago and treated her to a life she could never have imagined in her small Vietnamese hometown.
Tresner’s beginnings in Vietnam were humble at best. As a child she didn’t have any toys to play with, so she would draw her own paper dolls and draw clothing for her hand-made models to wear. Years later while attending Huong Duong, a school in her hometown, she rediscovered the passion she’d once had for making clothes for her paper dolls.
“I was thinking, ‘Wow, I can make clothes for doll, I can make clothes for me!’ That’s how I started,” she said in a still thick Vietnamese accent.
In 1996 she got an opportunity of a lifetime. Her former husband sponsored her and brought her to the U.S. to be his wife. Seven years later they had a daughter, Angelina, who is now 6 years old.
“It’s a fairy tale, a very beautiful story,” she said, “but it just didn’t work out the way we planned.”
The Tresners lived a lavish lifestyle, far removed from Thuy’s humble roots in Vietnam. Together they owned several houses in the Sacramento area and operated several businesses, including Fitness System, a 24-hour fitness center in Lodi. Last July, however, her husband filed for divorce.
Tresner isn’t entirely sure what happened between them. “I think he is getting older and he wants to experience someone other,” Tresner postulated.
The divorce has left her with little more than memories of the privileged life she had been brought in to from Vietnam. “We used to live in an 11,000-square-foot home,” she said. “He took over everything and I have absolutely nothing right now.”
Despite her setbacks, something good has come from the divorce. Once her husband filed, she felt prompted to try and live her dream of being a professional designer.
“When we separated I had no money coming in at all,” she said. “I decided I would open a wedding store and designing store because that’s what I’m good at.”
Tresner choosing Rancho Cordova as the location for her new business was no mistake. Her daughter’s school and friends are located in Rancho Murieta and Tresner wanted to be close enough to take her to and from school.
“I want to base it on my daughter’s life,” she said.
Getting her name known as a designer has been difficult. When she first opened, she made business cards with a coupon on the back and passed them out to businesses around her shop. She also placed ads on Craigslist to try and make her business known in Sacramento’s competitive bridal market. One cold Saturday earlier this year, Tresner could be seen in a hand-made white skirt hammering small cardboard signs into the grass in front of her store.
Tresner is hoping her small attempts at advertising will pay off, but she knows that the recession is making it difficult for her to recoup her money.
“Not enough to pay rent yet,” she said about her income. “I have to put up my money to pay the rent and the bills.”
Her mother, whom Tresner sponsored after becoming a U.S. citizen, has been helping her with her dream in any way she could.
“It’s pretty tough but I have to get through it,” she said. “My mom really been by my side the whole time. I’m lucky enough to have friend and family support.”
Tresner charges less than her competitors even though it is difficult for her to make ends meet on her income.
“I love to meet people, and I love to help everybody out right now,” she said. “Especially because of the economy, I try to pass on most of the savings for everyone.”
So far, though, she has found so much satisfaction in her work that it makes the struggle worthwhile.
“I don’t make nothing right now but it makes me feel good. I am doing something good,” she said.
One thing that has surprised Tresner is how happy she is to help the people who come in to the store, especially after they have bad experiences elsewhere. One woman came to her, desperate to find anyone who would be willing to make her a custom dress. She presented to Tresner a picture of a red dress with a sheer, flowery top that Halle Berry had worn on the red carpet.
“She went to five stores and nobody would make it for her because it’s kind of hard,” Tresner said. “She found me and I made it for her, and it only took me like two hours to finish the whole dress.”
The dress Tresner made looks exactly like the picture, down to the texture of the fabric she used.
“I love to see everybody smile when they walk out of the store,” she said. “It makes me feel really good if I can make somebody’s dream happen and come true for them, because then it comes true for me.”
Tresner’s fairytale has gone from poverty to unimaginable wealth and back again. For now, her hopes are riding on her small, unassuming storefront to make her ending one that will be happily ever after. In the meantime, she’d like to give a little advice to anyone who might be going through something similar.
“I want to leave a message for all the women out there: Be strong and don’t give up your hope.”
