I'm standing up in my SIL wedding in less than a month and the bridesmaids dresses have been a nightmare since we ordered them. They took forever (8+ months) to come in, some were shipped to the wrong locations, etc. So I finally received mine and it is WAY too small. It's marked the size I ordered and I am still measuring like I did when I ordered it so I am convinced the dress is made incorrectly. I was told there was fabric to let it out but after taking it to a very good tailor, I found out it cannot be let out. So, now I'm in a HUGE bind. I need a specific designer (Bill Levkoff) and a specific color and fabric (Victorian Lilac, Chiffon). Does anyone know where I can get one off the rack? Or any websites to buy preowned? Or (shot in the dark!), does anyone have one in a size 10-12 I can buy? I am so upset and don't want to stress the bride out. Any help or suggestions would be sooo apprecaited!
Trust me, I have taken it up with the store, multiple times and they are doing NOTHING. I wouldn't post on Mamapedia asking for suggestions if I hadn't done that already. :) I live in Dallas and the store is in Chicago. Getting new dresses for 7 bridesmaids in 6 states in 4 weeks is not an option. They will not refund the money either. I have discovered that the retailer is under investigation by the state of IL so this is not a new problem. I am less concerned about getting my money back and more concerned with getting a dress that works. No one stocks the dresses because they come in so many styles and colors. I am going to try to buy a used one on Tradesy.com and pray for the best with lots of alterations. Thanks.
I would contact the bridal shop directly and DO NOT touch the dress! Let them know the whole situation and see what they can do.
When my niece got married, the dress (hers) and the same situation, except she had LOST 10 pounds and the dress was too tight! The shop ended up giving her a sample dress (much nicer than the original) as compensation.
Call now and see what they can do!
If you ordered through a shop, and they took your measurements, you may have some recourse through them for a rush order. Or maybe a local shop who sells that designer will help you, if they have the dress charts for that designer and they measure you, they can confirm that you ordered the right size and the dress is made incorrectly, in which case you can take it up with the shop you ordered from. (you should also double check here, which has the size charts: http://www.elegantbridals.com/fashions/size_chart_bill_le...)
Any chance you are maid of honor? You'll have to talk to the bride, but if you are MOH, you may be able to get away with a slightly different - but coordinating - dress compared to the rest of the bridesmaids. Or if it's just too small on the top, but not elsewhere, perhaps you can have the tailor help by changing the top, and then making a small jacket to wear with it so it's really similar.
Maybe someone else here can help with something better! Good luck!
Well, first of all, I'd talk to the other bridesmaids and make sure that you really did get YOUR dress.
Then you should ask for your money back or something because the whole thing has been a fiasco and you still can't wear it. You went to a tailor and you know it can't be fixed.
While you don't want to stress the bride out, you may have to have a frank talk with her about options. Like what if it was a similar style but another color? Or the right color but another style?
Here is that designer's site with a store locator. I'd start calling stores to see what they had on the rack that they might ship you.
Yes, as someone noted, first-- have you talked to all the other bridesmaids and has everyone checked that the right dress went to the right person in the wedding party?
If this is "your" dress: This sounds so very specific that you will end up getting an ulcer as you try to match the designer, the color, the fabric, the size all on your own.
The business that sold you the dress needs to fix this -- not you! Why haven't you called them immediately, told them the problem and then TOLD them (not asked, told) to fix it immediately? Did you contact them and they said there was fabric to let it out and that was the end of it? Not good enough on their part. Get back with them and be very assertive.
Ask for a supervisor. And if he or she is snarky or balky, be clear that as soon as you hang up the phone you will file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau AND the consumer affairs bureau in the state where the business operates, and mention that you will be telling other women not to use them because they don't provide acceptable customer service. Then ask if they'd prefer to fix the issue....?
My friend had a problem where a bridal shop insisted she had to take a gown she had ordered that had a stain on the front when it got to her. She walked in with stamped letters in her hands, addressed to the BBB and the consumer office and said, "You can fix this issue, or I walk out of here and mail these." They got very helpful--very quickly. That was a while ago; these days I might add, "I can mail these, and then I can go on Yelp and other review sites to mention this business's level of service...."
I wonder why, with all this ongoing difficulty, the bride is continuing to use these dresses. If others are also having difficulty I suggest that all of you send them back and go to a local store to find something else.
I understand your concern not to stress the bride but I suggest that you need to tell her of your difficulty. She needs to be involved in the problem solving process. What happens if you can't find what you need and it's too late for the bride to do anything about it?
Who did you buy it from? Presuming you supplied the shop (website, whatever) with your measurements, and what arrived does not fit you and can't be let out, then the shop/website needs to make it right ASAP. It IS possible for them to make your dress in a few days if push comes to shove. Or alternately, they could take back the dress you have in hand and fix it so it fits you. Under no circumstances should this be your issue to figure out, though. Whoever you paid for this dress needs to fix this problem. Don't take no for an answer.
Did you order from a bridal shop or did you order on line? My friend's daughter ordered a beautiful wedding dress on line from China and when it arrived it was terrible-poor quality and odd sizing on the sleeves. Sorry to hear about your problem. Have you contacted the designer?
www.billlevkoff.com Here is the website. Call them--tell them your problem. They should be able to check to see where they shipped one in your size. And then you might be able to call the shop and maybe have them ship it to you. The size charts are there too. Perhaps your dress is not the size you ordered and just mis-sized or perhaps you didn't follow there specific size charts. Good luck UPDATE: HERE IS THERE PHONE NUMBER --CALL THE MANUFACTURER IN NY ###-###-####
It's possible that the dress is tagged incorrectly. This happened to me. We ordered my dress and it came it the "right" size, but I could not zip it. When I brought it back to the store they had me try on a larger size. It was too big. So then, on my request, we compared that same style dress to one of the same size on the rack. Sure enough, my dress was much smaller than it was supposed to be. I live in a metroplex and they couldn't find any stores with the dress I needed in the size and color I needed. So they paid to have a sample dress over nighted and I got it in two days. They had it cleaned and gave me a store credit since I was getting a sample dress.I suggest you talk to the store again and see what they will do for you. If they can't make it right, you need to get your money back.
Talk to the other brides maids. It's possible that someone else is stressing over a dress that is too big.
Check ebay and craigslist...but those are serious long shots.
All else fails, you are going to have to talk to the bride. If tailoring can't be done and shape wear won't make it work...she'll need to know.
Can you go to a store where it was bought n have them measure the dress? To see what went wrong.
The store where you purchased it should fix it for you. If they measured you and counseled you on what size to order, then it isn't your fault. The dress should be remade and sent out express so it arrives in time for the wedding. Just know that it may end up a slightly different shade, since it will come from a different dye lot. Good luck.
For the record... I HATE Bill Levkoff dresses! They are the worst. But at least their chiffon is better than their satin. Ugh.
The store you ordered from should be handling this
Check eBay. I think there's a size 12 in that designer, color and fabric, but I can't click on it at work.
I can tell you that every designer has their own idea of what each and every size is. We get clothes in all the time that say they're a certain size and not one person that comes in can get it on their legs. Or it will fall off if they shrug their shoulders.
Designers have their own ideas. It doesn't matter if they think it will fit your measurements, they don't live in the "real" world.
We get shoes in for the kids in the dance classes. My granddaughter can walk in Penneys, Walmart, Target, any normal store and put on a size 1 and it fits. Her tap shoes are a 3, her ballet shoes are a 2, her hip hop sneakers are a 5. They make them wherever the cheapest labor is. Then they ship them from there and the factory might have used an 8 for a 18. They are usually small 3rd world countries or places where they just don't have any concept of sizes.
In the bridal world they make garments with 1" seams. This way the dresses can be let out a couple of inches if the 2 side seams and the back seam are all let out. If you are trying to have someone unfamiliar with altering bridal garments they may not know how to do this.
I would go to the store where you purchased the dresses and were measured and demand they fit you into this dress. This way they can see what has happened and they'll still have your measurments on file and can plainly see that the wrong size was sent.
Just because someone picked up a size tag and stuck it on the dress as it was being made does not make that dress size carved in stone and correct. People who make the garments are human and do make mistakes.
The people who sold the dress should be liable for this dress not fitting.
Putting myself in your shoes, a few thoughts:
•a good seamstress will be able to find/use matching fabric to "let out" a dress. It doesn't have to be perfect, just O.-day passable. This might be your best bet. Call around to a LOT of alterations places, or take it to a local bridal shop -- if anyone can do it--it's their alterations dept!
•long shots: Craigslist/eBay. IF you find O., chances are it will have been previously altered and you might be right back in the same boat.
•long shot: call every bridal shop within driving distance to see if there is a sample dress in your size.
That's all I got!
Good luck!!!!!!
You need to go to the shop where you ordered the dress. For this reason, we don't step foot inside any local bridal shops but one, especially not David's Bridal...what a nightmare!
We use a "local" shop where the designer herself works there and fitted both of my sisters for their dresses. My husband and I will renew our vows next year and I will also get my dress from there. There are never any problems. But you pay dearly for it. Still, it's worth it.
If you were told there would be fabric to let out, did you perhaps order a size smaller than what you measured hoping you would lose weight? If that is the case and now the dress is too small, that is your own fault.
A friend of mine, for my wedding, ordered a size smaller than what the shop recommended (her chest was measuring at a size 12 and the rest of her measures at a size 6 and the shop wanted her to order a 12...she ordered an 8 and the dress was huge on her, had to be taken in a lot...). Anyway, she ordered the smaller size and the shop made her sign a statement saying she was going against their recommendation so she couldn't come back and complain that her dress didn't fit......
