Wedding dress right to refund?

dress_shopper

Hi All. I have a situation with a wedding dress. This may become a long post so please bear with me. I bought a wedding dress on sale direct from the designer. The dress was a sample sale dress meaning it was available in one size only, a 14. I am a size 8. The designer assured me that it would be no problem to take the dress in to fit me, for a fee of £200. She measured me and a few weeks later I returned for a second fitting. I requested that she take the dress in more as it was still very loose. I returned for a third fitting a few weeks later and asked that she take it in again as it was still very loose. She responded that she would have to charge me more for any further work to the dress. I was unhappy, but took the dress with me that day as I didn't want to pay her more and she was refusing to store it for me any longer. A few weeks later I emailed her to say that I was still unhappy and she responded very unhelpfully, basically saying "tough, you brought it home" - even though I had no choice but to bring it home. I didn't know what to do next and I work very long hours so the weeks passed by. Now I am getting married in 2 weeks' time and am so unhappy about the dress that I was forced to purchase another yesterday. I am left wondering what my rights are as a consumer. A lot of time has elapsed - approx. 6 months since I first fitted the dress, partly due to the waiting in between fittings - and I appreciate this may go against my case, but all helpful advice/suggestions will be gratefully received. Thanks!

bris

Taking in a dress is kind of the thing they do and getting it wrong twice would be unusual, so I suppose the question really is have you lost more weight in the 6 months since the last fitting?

Buying a size 14 when you are a size 8 is not just a small difference but would indicate that maybe the goal was to lose weight for the wedding.

The other thing is why would you buy a new dress when getting the existing one altered again would be much cheaper? However if what you are saying is the true facts then try the small claims court for the contract not being fulfilled to the agreed terms.

You did have a duty to mitigate the loss however and having it altered may fit this bill, along with the tailor having their side of the story, but if you have a good case then go for it as it's relatively cheap to do.

pmduk

bris wrote: »

Buying a size 14 when you are a size 8 is not just a small difference but would indicate that maybe the goal was to lose weight for the wedding.

Gain weight surely?

mountainofdebt

I'm assuming that the OP is a size 8 yet the only she could find in the style of dress she wanted was a 14 hence the need to take it in.

To be honest I would have thought taking in a dress 3 sizes larger than needed was a risky business anyway but I guess one important question is did the OP lose weight in between the taking of the measurements and the 1st/2nd fitting?

The only thing I can suggest is that you sell it as if the measurements of the altered dress match those taken by then I can't see that the dressmaker is at fault

keyser666

mountainofdebt wrote: »

I'm assuming that the OP is a size 8 yet the only she could find in the style of dress she wanted was a 14 hence the need to take it in.

To be honest I would have thought taking in a dress 3 sizes larger than needed was a risky business anyway but I guess one important question is did the OP lose weight in between the taking of the measurements and the 1st/2nd fitting?

The only thing I can suggest is that you sell it as if the measurements of the altered dress match those taken by then I can't see that the dressmaker is at fault

I thought the same, taking it in 3 times as much seems way to much but then again I am male

bris

pmduk wrote: »

Gain weight surely?

No, my thoughts were that they were a size 8 now but bigger at the time of buying the dress, with the goal to be able to get it altered if and when they lost the weight before the wedding.

SaLoGo

I had a wedding dress taken in from a size 12 to a size 6, so it is possible. My seamstress did a wonderful job. Unfortunately I have no advice for OP other than taking in a dress by 3 sizes is possible!

bris

SaLoGo wrote: »

I had a wedding dress taken in from a size 12 to a size 6, so it is possible. My seamstress did a wonderful job. Unfortunately I have no advice for OP other than taking in a dress by 3 sizes is possible!

Yes, it is possible, I am trying to figure out how the seamstress can mess it up twice and the questions I think need answered is weight loss between fittings.

If it is a case of just bad alterations then there is a case so the questions are important to the OP scenario.

pinkshoes

Your options were to:

A: reject the dress and not to take it
B: accept the dress
C: insist that the person made it a size 8 as agreed in contract.
get someone else take it in, then bill designer given they failed twice to do it.

You have now left it far too late, so option E is to selltit and forget it.

hollydays

I think it's hard to imagine what a dress 3 sizes larger would look
Like when altered. You had one picture in your head, the reality didn't match the picture. I don't think either person is wrong, just different perceptions.

DD265

Is it also possible that you lost additional weight in the run up to the wedding?

My mom used to make wedding dresses and she once said that without exception, every bride would need a fitting a week or two before the wedding because they lost weight (whether intentional or otherwise).