Girli Girl Prom and Pageant — Local services in Buford

I purchased a homecoming dress for my daughter from girligirl and I don’t think I’ve ever had a more terrible shopping experience. The dance fell on the weekend of my daughter’s 16th birthday. I wanted the night to be special, so when she found a dress she loved, I decided to go for it even though it was over $500 (plus tip). The attendant helped her try it on and make sure it fit perfectly. We had waited over an hour to get help, but the dress was beautiful so we left happy.

Unfortunately, the beautiful dress didn’t make it past pictures. Before she got inside the dance, the zipper on the back split open. My daughter called me frantically. She wasn’t able to hold it up without help from friends. Several parents also tried to help. Eventually, we were able to locate a sewing kit and sewed her back up as best we could. By then, she had missed part of the dance and had to spend the rest of it trying not to move for fear of it busting open again.

I called the shop on Monday. Instead of apologizing or sympathizing, the manager, Bridget, immediately minimized the situation: “These zippers get stuck all the time. All you had to do was tug at it. You must not have pulled hard enough,” she said. I have dealt with a stuck zipper before. It was not stuck. It had split apart.

When I later went to the shop to show her the dress, she was with a customer. She abruptly left them, grabbed my dress bag while I held on to the other side, and quickly pulled us towards the dressing room. She examined the dress and continued trying to gaslight me into thinking we were somehow at fault. At one point, she found a piece of thread the size of an eyelash, and declared that if we would have just noticed and removed it, the zipper would have never split.

She offered to replace the zipper, but I said I wanted a refund. She seemed horrified that I would expect a refund for a $500 dress that didn’t make it more than a couple of hours. I asked her to please try and see if there was something more she could do. The next day, she called to confirm they would only replace the zipper. I asked to speak to the owner. Instead of saying she’d have the owner call me, she said it was not possible for me to speak with them. I asked for the owner’s direct line and she said she would not give me her “personal number.” I never asked for a personal number! I asked for the owner’s name, and she refused to tell me that too. I became frustrated, told her if she wouldn’t tell me the owner’s name I would find it myself on the secretary of state’s website, and hung up. A few minutes later, she called back to tell me since I was making threats (by asking for the owner’s name?!) and not happy with their offer to replace the zipper, I needed to come pick up the dress immediately. I explained I wasn’t threatening anyone. I simply wanted to speak with someone who had authority to make actual decisions. She said that was her. I said I hadn't realized this because she looked relatively young. She then said she’d have me know she has a college degree in fashion marketing. My head was spinning. She told me I should have appreciated their generous offer, especially since we had cut the (already broken) zipper to get my daughter out of the dress and it would cost $100 to repair. I have no idea how much it costs to fix a zipper, but when she said this I started to panic. The last thing I wanted was to have to throw more money away. I apologized and said I would take the repair, but she said it was too late and the shop had made a final decision. I pleaded with her but she stood firm that they would do nothing for me. I hung up and couldn't help but cry. In my opinion, this company does not stand by their products. They hide behind a “no returns” policy instead of taking accountability when there is a problem with one of their dresses. Worse, the lack of empathy and rude treatment I received was unnecessary and honestly slightly...

“FAT” SHAMERS!!! “FAT” GIRLS GO UPSTAIRS!!! PLEASE DO NOT GIVE THIS STORE ANY OF YOUR MONEY!!! UNBELIEVABLE IN 2019?!? REALLY?!?

My daughter and I had the MOST HUMILIATING EXPERIENCE EVER at Girl Girl Boutique in Buford. We will be SCARRED FROM THIS EXPERIENCE FOR THE REST OF OUR LIVES!!! When we went to the front desk the girl gave us the “layout” of the store since this was our first time in the store. I immediately felt uncomfortable I knew we had already been “sized” even before we walked in the door. She then stated that “sizes 10 & up dresses are located UPSTAIRS” which was EXTREMELY AWKWARD and humiliating. So we were lead upstairs and forced to walk IN FRONT of other (

Arrival: Girli Girl is easy to get to and on this Wednesday afternoon there was a lot of parking available. I was surprised there was a wait (10 minutes) considering the time of day. It was busy! Obviously weekends and school holidays are even busier.

Getting started: You fill out a card with your info and budget and style interest. The shop was on a wait so we were able to go through the store and see dresses in my daughter's size that she wanted to try on. The tags have prices on the dresses. Don't forget to go in the room with the black and gold dresses to the left.

Trying on: Once they were ready, Isabelle came and met us and she pulled the dresses my daughter had found while we waited. We went in with one style in mind and came out with a completely different dress in every way.

Mom's / entourages stay in the shop area and the girls go back to try on in a private area. The girls come out with the dresses they want to show you. There are floor length mirrors everywhere. I would not say there is a ton of seating -- in the main room -- 3 loveseat type seating areas.

Checkout: Our dress needs bead repair (they found the thread losing beads inspecting the dress at checkout!!!) and the shop is handling it. They have a seamstress that you can make an appointment with at purchase time which we are using to do the repair and hem the dress.

Also they have the option to pay half and half later. You leave the dress and pickup at final payment. (I don't know all of the details on this -- so don't quote me).

No returns whatsoever. They have multiple signs. You buy it -- it's yours.

Pro Tips:

Before you go, it is helpful to know what size you wear in Sherri Hill or another popular brand -- YOU pick what you try on. Everything is organized by color then by size. Keep in mind you might be able to wear a corset style dress -- in a different size than a fitted zip all the way up.

Selection wise - They don't have every size in every dress -- some can be ordered.

Go before end of February. Maybe Christmas is the best time? By end of February, many styles were sold out -- and could not be ordered.

Size 16 and up are upstairs if you need those sizes. There is a try on room up there.

Overall a...