Want to buy mother of the bride dress in NYC

dollywops

We are going to New York soon, and as DS is getting married next year, I would like to try and buy my outfit there.

There are the obvious stores, Macys, Bloomingdales, Lord & Taylor, but I am really looking for specialist shops.

Does anyone have any experience of this and any suggestions.

I found 2 great websites but neither of these have a retail outlet.

Any suggestions and advice would be greatly appreciated.

richardw

If you are looking at specialist shops then you might easily go over your tax free allowance of £390, were you hoping to spend less?

dollywops

richardw wrote: »

If you are looking at specialist shops then you might easily go over your tax free allowance of £390, were you hoping to spend less?

I am sure I will go over the tax free allowance - I want something different at a more reasonable price than I will have to pay here in the UK.

bb69

Hello
Have a look at Loehmanns - they sell wedding dresses they may also sell mother of bride dresses.

There is one in Manhattan. Also have a look in Saks and Barneys

Edit - They do sell mother of bride dresses - I am sure they will have a better choice in store.

http://www.loehmanns.com/Mother-of-the-bride/mother-of-the-bride.htm

zagfles

dollywops wrote: »

I am sure I will go over the tax free allowance - I want something different at a more reasonable price than I will have to pay here in the UK.

Remember to factor in the 20% VAT plus customs duty on import. You have to pay the import VAT on the whole amount, not just the amount over £390, and for a single item you can't use two peoples' allowance even if two people are travelling. Also there's sales tax in the US which often isn't included in the advertised price, and I don't believe you can reclaim this at the airport as you can in some other countries.

Accounting for all this plus the airfare/hotel costs are you really going to save money, or is it just an excuse for a jolly

jacques_chirac

Mother of the bride is a very general term - what kind of thing are you looking for? Age, size etc?

dollywops

The holiday was booked long before DS decided to pop the question. Whilst I am there, I thought I would look for something to wear.

I have found a couple of places to go to

Dress Empire & RK Bridal - They both seem to stock all of the designers and styles that I have seen that I like. I am 4'10 (without heels), a size 12 and generous on top. I am no good with strapless, unless I can find a dressmaker here to build a bra into the dress, and I must have my shoulders covered for the ceremony.

I was only enquiring if anyone had any knowledge of any places where I might pick up a bargain.

jacques_chirac

Depends on what you class as a bargain - £100, £500, £1000?

Personally I would enjoy your holiday, and if you happen to come across something suitable, that is a bonus. You are not going to make the kind of saving you would have done ten years ago, plus you've got the issue of alterations - there is no guarantee the item will look the same once they're done.

If you want something really special, I would have something made in the UK. Is there anyone you could ask for a local recommendation?

antrobus

zagfles wrote: »

.... Also there's sales tax in the US which often isn't included in the advertised price,...

Details of the NYC sales tax can be found here - looks like it's 8.5% for items over $110.
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dof/html/business/nys_sales_tax.shtml

marsman802

Interesting point in all this.

Who has been stopped coming back from a flight to USA by customs?

Nobody I know has and I've seen an extreme number of iPads making the pass through.

As long as you dispense of all tags etc then you should be fine. And if u can keep to one suitcase then all the better but I think even with an additional you'd be fine as the large number of business and first class travellers will oft travel with multiple bags.

zagfles

marsman802 wrote: »

Interesting point in all this.

Who has been stopped coming back from a flight to USA by customs?

Nobody I know has and I've seen an extreme number of iPads making the pass through.

As long as you dispense of all tags etc then you should be fine. And if u can keep to one suitcase then all the better but I think even with an additional you'd be fine as the large number of business and first class travellers will oft travel with multiple bags.

Never happened to me, but it does happen. A colleague had their bag searched when going through the green channel off a NY flight (she didn't have anything that needed declaring but they had a good look at everything).

Customs aren't thick, if they do do a search they'll spot a new expensive designer dress, they can probably tell from the care labels etc that it's from the US, and if you're off a US flight they'll ask you to prove where you got it from and may even confiscate it till you do.