Quote - As for grouping, I do that all with material zones. Sometimes I do actual grouping and leave groups in the finished prop, but it seems I have better luck if I make one solid group and just have material zones do all the grouping for constrained, soft decorated, et al. I set these zones up as I'm making the dress in Wings, selecting faces for each material zone and assigning them while I'm working.

in my experience, it doesn't matter so much how you define the zones, as the fact that you have to be careful with actual group names.  for instance, it will mess things up if you want to change how a group is handled if you named it "constrained." 

that said, it's probably better in general to use real groups, not materials, because materials cover polygons, which isn't how grouping works.  grouping works on vertices.  using materials leaves questions, imho, about how borders will be handled when you set up your groups in the cloth room. which group do they belong to?  the one you define first, or the one you define second?  vertice groups are much clearer.