Having seemingly run out of things killed by DOGE to report on, it appears that the CBS Evening News have expanded this favorite doom genre of news reporting. This new subgenre deals with the adverse reactions to tariffs across society, with tonight’s focus on…wedding dresses.
Watch as correspondent Janet Shamlian struggles to cobble together a narrative of China tariffs as an accelerant of bridal gown purchases:
JANET SHAMLIAN: The big day isn't until September but after she heard tariffs were coming, she's anxious to say yes to the dress. More than 80% of dresses are made in China.
When you heard about tariffs coming, how did that impact your thoughts about buying a dress?
JESSICA STONE: I definitely wanted to make sure that I bought a dress immediately.
SHAMLIAN: Try to avoid the tariffs?
STONE: Yes.
SHAMLIAN: We met the 28-year-old as she was shopping with family and friends at Stephenson’s, a small Elkhart, Indiana specialty store doing big business in bridal.
What did you think when you heard the word “tariff" this time around?
DANNY REYNOLDS: Oh no, here we go again, I guess.
SHAMLIAN: Owner Danny Reynolds told us he had to raise prices in 2019 during the first Trump administration, when 25% tariffs were enacted on textiles and apparel.
REYNOLDS: I'm seeing more in the $1800…
SHAMLIAN: This time he doesn't know what will happen.
REYNOLDS: The difficult original decision is going to be in the hands of the manufacturer. They are going to have to decide how much price increase they can absorb and what they need to pass on to us, which ultimately would get passed on to the bride.
Granted, this story is far less goofier than “DOGE will get you eaten by bears” or “DOGE will ruin your Yosemite vacation”, but it runs in that same lane. The idea is to try to create and showcase a victim of a Trump policy. In this case, the Bridezilla who has to shell out a couple hundred dollars more for her wedding dress.
One thing this report inadvertently did was to demonstrate why President Trump seeks tariff policies in the first place: to trigger the reshoring (or nearshoring) of industries that left the United States over the course of the past decades- including manufacturing.
By no means is the media's well dry on victimhood stories related to Trump fiscal policy, but this one kind of scraped the bottom of the barrel.
Click “expand” to view the full transcript of the aforementioned report as aired on the CBS Evening News on Tuesday, March 11th, 2025:
JOHN DICKERSON: American brides are caught in the crossfire of the trade war. Tariffs on imports from China will raise the cost of gowns.
MAURICE DuBOIS: So Janet Shamlian in Indiana reports there is a rush to the bridal store.
JANET SHAMLIAN: Finding the perfect wedding gown is something Jessica Stone told us she’s dreamed of since childhood.
JESSICA STONE: Right here. Right here.
SHAMLIAN: The big day isn't until September but after she heard tariffs were coming, she's anxious to say yes to the dress. More than 80% of dresses are made in China.
When you heard about tariffs coming, how did that impact your thoughts about buying a dress?
STONE: I definitely wanted to make sure that I bought a dress immediately.
SHAMLIAN: Try to avoid the tariffs?
STONE: Yes.
SHAMLIAN: We met the 28-year-old as she was shopping with family and friends at Stephenson’s, a small Elkhart, Indiana specialty store doing big business in bridal.
What did you think when you heard the word “tariff" this time around?
DANNY REYNOLDS: Oh no, here we go again, I guess.
SHAMLIAN: Owner Danny Reynolds told us he had to raise prices in 2019 during the first Trump administration, when 25% tariffs were enacted on textiles and apparel.
REYNOLDS: I'm seeing more in the $1800…
SHAMLIAN: This time he doesn't know what will happen.
REYNOLDS: The difficult original decision is going to be in the hands of the manufacturer. They are going to have to decide how much price increase they can absorb and what they need to pass on to us, which ultimately would get passed on to the bride.
SHAMLIAN: These dresses are manufactured and imported by companies like Justin Alexander, which sells to 700 bridal stores nationwide.
JUSTIN WARSHAW: We have around 10,000 dresses at a given time...
SHAMLIAN: We met owner Justin Warshaw at his New Jersey warehouse.
You can't just shift wedding dress production to the United States?
WARSHAW: No, it's impossible. The labor force does not exist to make dresses here in America.
SHAMLIAN: Once they arrive from overseas, workers inspect them before they go to the store. The company did move some manufacturing to Vietnam and Myanmar during the last round of tariffs. It wasn't enough to blunt their impact.
WARSHAW: But a dress like this takes hundreds of hours to hand bead this.
SHAMLIAN: The average dress, Warshaw told us, has increased in price from $1300 to $1800 over the last five years.
REYNOLDS: I love the stretch lace.
SHAMLIAN: That could trickle down to retailers such as Danny Reynolds. And for better or worse, to the nation's brides.
An extra 10%, 12%, what would that do to your budget?
STONE: It would definitely change the dress that I would pick.
SHAMLIAN: In the bridal boutique: love, lace, and potentially levees.
CUSTOMER: Are you saying yes to the dress?
CUSTOMER: Yeah, this is it.
SHAMLIAN: And the dressmaker told this flip-flopping on tariff policies is making it really difficult for him to run his business. Meanwhile, that clothing store owner in Elkhart, Indiana, says concerns over the economy has many of his brides running right to the sales rack.
DICKERSON: Janet Shamlian. Thank you.
