Wedding dress ruined by seamstress

hollyjessicamitchell

To cut a long story short I bought a dress two years ago from Coast and have lost weight since. I paid approximately £180 for it a real bargain and then took my dress to a seamstress to be altered after a recommendation as it needed the shoulder straps adjusting and also some length to come off the bottom.

She charged me £30 which I thought was quite reasonable, and told me the dress would be ready to pick up this week. I want to point out now I am approximately 6 weeks away from my wedding. I collected the dress and tried it on in the alterations department and looked down, the dress looked fine and fit me on my shoulders. I asked a family member if the dress looked ok and they said yes - pointing out it was my grandfather who wears glasses. Satisfied that it looked ok I looked down to check the dress at the front and the seamstress showed me the back in the mirror while I was perched on a stool so balancing was precarious at best and could only catch glimpses of what I looked like.

I left the store and took the dress on and showed my mum who has had training as a dress maker herself but as it was my wedding dress didn't want to take the risk of altering it herself. Once I got home and was able to look in a mirror properly and have family members look at the dress I realised with horror my dress had been massacred. There's no other way to describe it.

I asked for the length of the dress to be all one length so the seamstress cut the dress instead of hemmed it up but the lines are all wrong on the dress and I have longer pieces on the left than it is on the right. It's also longer in the front than it is in the back there's no longer a train. In short the dress is ruined. Because she's cut the dress there's no way to rectify the error.

I can't wear the dress at all except by asking it to be cut short to knee length but if I ask her to do that I am skeptical she will do that right to after the way she's ruined my dress so far. I didn't want a short wedding dress either it's the reason I chose a longer length dress.

My question is what can I do as far as getting compensation to buy a new dress goes because I'm going to now have to buy an entirely new dress and with 5 weeks to go before the wedding it's an expense I can't really afford? Am I entitled to claim compensation for the poor workmanship of my dress because the state it's in? I can't wear out at all let alone to my wedding. I could ask her to cut the dress again but I don't have the faith in her to do that properly either and if she takes more of it off I'm still going to be left without a suitable wedding dress but with even less time before my wedding.

Seeking advice please as soon as possible. Thank you for reading!

Kim_kim

Why don't you post a photo - minus head.

cashewnut

Take lots of photos of the bad work and complain to the seamstress.

Maybe try claiming through your wedding insurance? If you're not happy with it now being cut to tea length you should consider getting a new dress.

Do coast still do your dress or could you find it again on preloved/ebay?

Have a look at Monsoon's stunning wedding dresses, there's a new range just out, free returns and usually a 10% off voucher somewhere if you google. Good luck!

irishjohn

I would suggest taking your Mum, the person who recommended this seamstress, your grandfather and the dress back to the seamstress and have a round table discussion on how bad the dress is and how it could be adapted to meet your needs for the day.

£210 is not a great deal of money in the grand scale of things for a wedding dress when compared to the outrageous sums many women pay to "look like a princess" for one day. I am presuming you have been very moneywise and not been spending foolish sums on any other elements of your happy day, and are looking forward to making lifetime vows to be with the man of your choice for the rest of your life.

In 30 years time that dress will probably be history or wrapped in tissue in a box in the loft. My suggestion is to put it down to experience, ask your family to club together a couple of hundred pounds to replace it with a nice up to date dress which fits your new slimmed down size, enjoy your day and don't give yourself added stress.

Topcat1982

The seamstress will have insurance for this.

Yes, you should ask for the £210, you may need the receipt for the dress.