dress shops that dont tell you what dress your looking at...

butterfly20 Posted: Aug 17, 2003 08:34 PM

dress shops that dont tell you what dress your looking at...

ive heard a few girls on here say they tried on dresses and the dress shop would not tell them about them... and i just read about this......

a federal law the textile fiber products identification act of 1963 requires all apparel(including bridal) to be properly labeled. this must include the name of the manufacturer(or registered number with FTC, 202-326-2222, the fiber conten and country of origin.Federal and state law forbid the remoal of these..
the loophole that they can remove it as long as they substute it with a tag with their name and the information required. many stores dont even bother to replace the tag
more info availible at www.ftc.gov if you find a place not revealing this info, then you can report it to the ftc.

franksbride Posted: Aug 17, 2003 08:45 PM

Re: dress shops that dont tell you what dress your looking at...

I hate stores that do this...but, for us who do our research know what dresses are made by which designers...they think they're slick.

butterfly20 Posted: Aug 17, 2003 08:53 PM

Re: dress shops that dont tell you what dress your looking at...

thats the thing sometimes they sell knock offs and try to pass them off as the designer(charging more than they should).... thats why its important to see that information....

allure Posted: Aug 17, 2003 08:55 PM

Re: dress shops that dont tell you what dress your looking at...

Crazy

Nora101004 Posted: Aug 18, 2003 01:11 PM

Re: dress shops that dont tell you what dress your looking at...

What happens when we order our dress. Do they stick a fake tag in dress for the designer?

kelly6273 Posted: Aug 18, 2003 01:13 PM

Re: dress shops that dont tell you what dress your looking at...

That's really good to know. So many places do this!

Teri Posted: Aug 18, 2003 01:21 PM

Re: dress shops that dont tell you what dress your looking at...

there are many places around here that do this. My shop did - I should have taken that as my red flag to go elsewhere

LImom Posted: Aug 18, 2003 01:21 PM

Re: dress shops that dont tell you what dress your looking at...

I was told by a company rep from Eve of Milady that many stores carry knock-offs of their gowns. One giveaway is if they tell you to order 10 - 12 months in advance. Bridal Reflections or Kleinfeld's are authorized dealerships and they get Eve gowns made in 4 or 5 months. That too can be a lie; who knows any more? I've decided you can't trust anyone and go with your instincts about who you want to order from.

dbcrosby Posted: Aug 18, 2003 01:35 PM

Re: dress shops that dont tell you what dress your looking at...

wow! i never would have thought that the dress places would sell knockoffs and try to pass them off as the real ones. now im a little sketchy about dress shopping. how do you know if its the real thing? what dress stores are lagit?

dawnie Posted: Aug 18, 2003 01:37 PM

Re: dress shops that dont tell you what dress your looking at...

Actually besides selling knockoffs..the reason they rip the labels out are so you can't find the dress somewhere else. If you do not know who makes it and fall in love with the dress at the store you will be forced to buy it at their shop. The internet and search engines have helped us brides alot.
If you are allowed to know the make or model of a car or any other item to make a comparison on the prices at other places..there should be no difference when shopping for a bridal gown.
These shops are very sneaky!

LImom Posted: Aug 18, 2003 02:52 PM

Re: dress shops that dont tell you what dress your looking at...

dbcrosby, I can only tell you what my daughter did.
Because we were getting information from some shops that didn't quite make sense, we went online and found the phone number of the manufacturer's customer service dept. We phoned and asked for stores authorized to carry Eve of Milady gowns. We did receive quotes on my daughter's gown that was $200-300 less than Bridal Reflections, but she just decided not to chance it. We didn't like when a store said they could get the one she wanted without seeing it in there in front of the salesgirl. We were told to try it on elsewere, come back for measurements and put down half the amount in that store. What if the dress came in 6 months later and was not the same? Typos, miscommunication, whatever? What if the color was not exactly right?
I'm not trying to worry you needlessly, but I'm sharing what we went through the past couple of months. If you know the designer that you want, just phone and ask what stores they recommend.
Good Luck.

Maribelle7777 Posted: Aug 18, 2003 03:02 PM

Re: dress shops that dont tell you what dress your looking at...

This is the only 'universe' I know that does this. I mean, you would NEVER expect to go into Macy's or JC Penny's and have the tags ripped out because they're afraid you'd find a cheaper one at TJ Maxx or Marshall's!! It's totally illegal and they know it but they chance it. Maybe the FTC doens't really bother procecuting the wrongdoers because there's so many of them and they feel that it's just not important considering the other types of fraud out there (but it IS important!!)

I got this book out of the library - it's a godsend - it's called Bridal Bargains. It comes out every year or every other year. I have the 2003 edition. They have a website too and they used to put designer reviews on it (there's reviews in the book for wedding gowns and bridesmaids gowns) and also a whole chapter about the gown industry and other options for buying a dress (like a discount bridal service). Plus is also gives tips on everything else wedding related like the hall, the dj the invitations, flowers, etc etc. It's a great book, I recommend it fr anyone that wants to know more about how some salons rip brides off.

(shameless plug - no I don't know the books authors!) Their website is www.bridalgown.com (no plural on the gown)

Niecey Posted: Aug 18, 2003 03:41 PM

Re: dress shops that dont tell you what dress your looking at...

I was so mad at the service at this one bridal shop that I filed out something online to report them for this...it was so long ago that I can't remember what site it was but I did it. The store was definitley ripping out the tags and if you straight out asked they still wouldn't tell you - saying they didn't know. I said isn't that illegal not to tell..and they wouldn't answer me. Anyway, I found the site online and reported them (I know many places do it but besides this the place treated me very poorly). Do you know the store closed within a month of that and had been in business over 30 years? I know it wasn't because of my complaint but I always felt so guilty after that!