Claire’s Fashions — Attraction in Lower Chichester Township

I originally gave them a 5 review but after my first time and the experience I had after is the reason for my change. I’m in 2 weddings that are a month and half apart, both dresses were Bill Levkoff and based off of my measurements I was told to order a size 6 and we were all told the dresses would only need minor alterations-if anything and definitely a hem. Us bridesmaids and the bride go to pick up the dresses and I was swimming in it, it was clearly and obviously not right and not one person working there noticed or seemed to care that there was something wrong one girl re-took my measurements and my hip size was and inch or 2 bigger and said they can’t do anything because my weight/size changed.. the problem wasn’t with the dresses fit on my hips. I called there after I picked up the 2nd dress (for the other wedding) which was the same size and that dress fit me fine just needed a few minor alterations and when I called I was told that the 1st dress had a looser fit to it and basically there’s nothing that can be done - didn’t offer for me to bring it in or anything. It took the bride calling and flipping out for us to go back with our dresses to meet the manager she took one look at me in my dress and grabbed the material and said this is definitely not right this looks like a size 10/12——the tag inside the dress and the regular price tag tags said a 6. Then the manager had me try on one of the other bridesmaids dresses that was a size 4 and it fit me perfectly. Unfortunately there wasn’t enough time to have the designer send me a new dress so I got sent to one of their seamstresses to alter the dress to my size and they would cover the cost, when I put it on the neckline wasn’t the same and the top half of the dress was still too big and didn’t fit right but unfortunately I didn’t realize that until we all got ready the day of the wedding and I saw my dress compared to another one. Also 2 girls were told that they needed to pay extra money to order bigger sizes because it’s more material and they both ended up needing the extra material taken off because their dresses were too big and didn’t fit right either. There was so much back and fourth between phone calls and having to go there and then go the seamstress and go back to the store and I don’t live in Delaware. I also sent an email with pictures to show my dress wasn’t altered right and I got no response. I will say the manager was really helpful and kept us informed with what was going on and Dolores is awesome but after that whole experience I’d rather stick to David’s bridal.

ORIGINAL POST FROM 11 MONTHS AGO (5 star review): Went here for the first time with the bride to be and another bridesmaid to pick out the brides dress and the bridesmaids dresses and I highly recommend going to Claire’s they have so many different and unique options for wedding gowns and bridesmaids dresses. We really liked the idea of looking through the books that had all the dresses. I’ve been in 5 weddings now and I’ve never had anyone take my measurements for my dress to ensure that it would fit me correctly, we were told that we would only need to have the dress hemmed and might need a minor alteration or 2- which I hope is true! The consultant who helped us was awesome, she gave us her honest opinions, suggestions and advice and told us what she honestly thought. She was very helpful and consistent and went over the ordering process and timeline several times. She answered all of our questions and if she couldn’t answer one she would ask someone else instead of giving us wrong information which we appreciated. She definitely goes above and beyond. So if you can request Dolores for your appointment you’ll have an...

I bought both my bridal and flower girl dresses at Claire's. Buying my bridal dress was a dream. Everything that a bride would expect and hope for. I tried on beautiful dresses and found "the one" with my mom and dear friend. Shannon Knodel was my bridal consultant and she was great. My mom had to step in and correct the measurements a little, but that was the only gaffe. The flower girl dress was a pretty similar experience except that a couple of the dresses Ariel showed us were out of our stated budget. We did end up going $30 over budget for the flower girl dress because it matched mine so well, but it still would have been nice to see dresses that stuck within our price point. We got the flower girl dress just 2 weeks later and there were no hang ups at all. We ordered her dress 2 sizes too big since the designer would be discontinued later that month (November 2018). As of March 2019, she has already grown 2 inches so I feel okay about that decision. Getting my bridal dress was another story entirely. I don't know how many brides think about this, but my Martin Thornburg dress was apparently made in China. At the time I didn't think about that or think to ask. I just assumed that it would be made in NYC, LA, or wherever the designer is based. I bought the dress on September 8, 2018. On September 26, I got an email saying the expected ship date would be February 14, 2019 and that it would arrive February 28, not quite 6 months. (The maximum wait time in their contract is 6 months.) I literally do not have enough space to tell you about this store. However to recap: my dress was shipped 2 weeks late and I was not informed. Even though their contract says dresses will be delivered within 6 months, it was 6.5 for me. I called a total of 10 times, and had someone call me back twice - a 20% response rate. I was promised a tracking number and got it almost a week later. No genuine apology from Courtney - the head of ordering. I did get one from Sean, who I only spoke to twice. To be clear I do love my dress, and I'm sure on the day it will all be worth it. Shannon, Ariel, and Sean were all great to work with and I have nothing negative to say about them. However Claire's is not the only store that carries Mon Cheri gowns. If you are coming to Claire's because of the no sales tax - Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon also have no sales tax. Try those states. I'm sure you will have much...

I went to Claire's for my wedding dress in July 2021 after my bff getting hers there and getting my prom dress there years ago!! I had an initial appointment with Elaine. She was INCREDIBLE at pulling dresses that matched what I was looking for. She probably had 20 dresses out for me initially to go through and give and initial thumbs up thumbs down to before trying on.

I've seen comments about girls saying you can't look through the racks which is true at Claire's... but I honestly WAY preferred them bringing my styles that matched my taste instead on mindlessly wandering the racks like I did at other places. I narrowed the large amount initially pulled by Elaine to probably 8 dresses that I put on. I had a top 2 at the end of the appt but wanted to continue to shop around in case!

I went to 3 other stores to do my research in 2 weeks before returning to Claire's! The second store, Irini's, had nothing close to my favorites and I just didn't like the consultant/ owner as much. The third store, Van Cleve, was honestly wonderful and had one of my favorites from Claire's but for $500 more! They were also a little pushier compared to Claire's. The last store I went to, Bijou, was nice but at that point I knew it was one of the top 2 from Claire's and wasn't excited by any of the finds there.

I booked a return appt with Elaine to look at my top 2 again and she was just the best AGAIN! The decision came easily since one made me feel like a total bride. Elaine went above and beyond to order a matching veil I saw at another store that they could order but didn't have. She also carefully took my measurements and went through the material options for the dress and fabric colors. She definitely knew her stuff. Their prices are the best around and they occasionally run trunk show discounts!!

If you're going to Claire's, ask for Elaine!! My dress isn't due in until March 2022, so I will update this if there's any issues with the pick-up process. I can't wait to go back and might need an accessories appt once the dress is in! Also my mom loved their Mother of the Bride...