The Chic Bride — Local services in Salem

READ THIS REVIEW!

I debated about writing this review for months, but ultimately felt like I should share my experience with The Shabby Chic and, more importantly, their seamstress.

I should start by saying that The Shabby Chic itself was absolutely wonderful. It was the third bridal shop I had went to that day and ended up being where I bought my wedding dress from. My group was the only group in the shop during my appointment, and we had a consultant's undivided attention the entire time. We had independence to browse dress racks ourselves, but the consultant also made a few suggestions and brought out a few dresses herself. I never felt pressured by the consultant to "just hurry up and pick one" or felt like my thoughts on the dresses she brought out weren't heard and considered. When I decided on my wedding dress, the consultant was able to give me multiple discounts due to small flaws in the dress (it was used, of course), which I really appreciated. Altogether I just spent around $550 on a dress that was originally well over $1,000, which I'd say is a steal (not to mention that the consultant gave me a congratulatory gift bag, too)!

I wanted to get alterations done for those small flaws I mentioned, so the consultant recommended I use the in-shop seamstress (Mary Hafner). I couldn't find any information/reviews about her online, but the consultant trusted her, so I went with it. That is where I went wrong. Right off the bat, this seamstress seemed unfriendly and coarse. At both of my fittings, which happened mid-May and mid-June, she was not wearing a mask (which doesn't bother me, but seemed completely unprofessional, given the COVID-19 pandemic). When I gave her my thoughts on what I'd like altered, she was kind of pushy about what she thought would be best, almost like she didn't consider what I'd requested. (Granted, a lot of what she said was based off of her experience as a seamstress, but she also changed my mind about what I wanted my veil to look like, which wasn't cool.) I tried to let this feeling of uncertainty roll off my shoulders by thinking, "This seamstress apparently has a lot of experience, so even if she rubs me the wrong way, I should just trust in her skills", but I was WRONG. (For background knowledge: My dress is mermaid-style with intricate beading on the bodice and a tulle skirt.) There were MULTIPLE errors in my dress when I received it back. There was a noticeable rip near the zipper on the side of the bodice. The bodice was supposed to be close-fitting, but the zipper VERY EVIDENTLY bunched up near my hip, visible in all of my wedding pictures showing that side of my body. The zipper itself would not go past a certain point without SIGNIFICANT pulling. The bra cups added into the dress were poorly sewn (like, I could've done a better job if I'd done it myself). I asked for beading on the edge of my veil and there was none. Mind you, the impression the seamstress gave me at our initial fitting was that the dress/veil would be nothing but flawless in the end; in fact, multiple of the issues I listed above we SPECIFICALLY talked about fixing at my initial fitting. The seamstress also had more than enough time to fix these issues-- I bought my dress early March, my initial fitting was mid-May, I received my dress back mid-June, and I got married late-August. My mom and I ended up calling the seamstress back and asking her about these issues. She gave us excuses in response-- "You have no idea how long I spent on your dress", "I worked on that for such a long time and that's as good as it's going to get", "I can't fix that because the fabric is too fine", things of that nature. She eventually agreed to take the dress back and spend some more time on it, but I noticed no difference. I PAID OVER $600 ON THESE ALTERATIONS. COMPLETELY frustrating. If there is one thing a bride should not feel on her wedding day, that would be disappointment about her wedding dress. I most definitely did.

Altogether, I'd give The Shabby Chic 5/5 stars, and Mary...

I put my wedding dress and three other items on consignment with this business on January 13th, 2015. I contacted the company on October 15th, 2015 and asked to come pick up my items as it had been a while and they had not sold. I received the following response on October 16th, 2015. "Sorry it took us so long to get back to you today. It has been busy here. I pulled up your account this morning and it looks like we have your wedding gown and corset bra on layaway at the moment so as soon as those are paid off we will be issuing you a check. We do still have a formal, and slip on your account that have not sold. It looks like we took them in last January so you have not come to the end of your consignment period with us, but if you want we could certainly pull the formal and slip and have them ready for you to pick up. Thank you for contacting us, just let us know what you wish to do with your items that are still on the sales floor, Elizabeth. I was not aware of this "layaway" policy so I asked what that meant. I was told that as soon as the bride paid off the dress I would be issued a check. I received a check on February 17th for $100 less then the consignment agreement. I called on February 17th to inquire about this. Sara called me back and told me that on 7/15/2015 my dress was reduced to $500 since it had been on consignment for 6 months. I was not notified of this and no where in my consignment agreement that I signed does it say that prices will be reduced at 6 months. I was told that my dress sold in August (been on consignment for 7 months) but how do I really know this since it went on layaway and I didn't even know that it was sold/on layaway until I contacted the business on October 15th to pick up my items. I would love to share a copy of my consignment agreement that I signed. The terms are different then the current consignment terms on the business website. I believe they updated their terms after my dress went on consignment. After many attempts to work this out with Sara I was unsuccessful. I filed a complaint with the BBB and still got no response. I would encourage others to look at this business BBB rating and other complaints before doing business with them. I then had my attorney send The Shabby Chic Bride a letter on April 28th, 2016 requesting the following “Please provide an accounting for my clients items, including dates of all price reductions, ultimate sale price and payments received by shabby chic for those items” “Alternatively my client will accept payment of $72 for the balance of the 50% owed to her from the sale of her wedding dress (50% of the stated price of $700 in the seller agreement is $350). If payment in full in the amount of $72 is received at this office on or before May 15th, 2016, she will forego the additional payments owed to her from the sale of other items. Unfortunately I have still not received the accounting details that I requested or any additional payments towards the money that is owed to me. As a business owner myself I can’t believe that the Shabby Chic Bride would not work with me to resolve this issue and withhold their reputation. I caution anyone considering doing business with...

i found my wedding dress at The Shabby Chic last weekend and am thrilled by both the gorgeous gown and the incredible price! ($1400 new, $650 for me!) the ladies at the boutique were wonderful -- Maddie was working the day i went over for my first fitting and i loooooved the way she let me cruise the racks and stack up a pile of dresses that i liked (versus at some bridal boutiques where they ask about your style preferences then they select gowns and bring them to you to try on ?? that seems so Backward to me!) Maddie hung all the gowns in my dressing room for me to try on at my leisure (i went to David's Bridal for a fitting recently and i felt like we were on a time clock! go! go! go! in and out of dresses, snap snap! nothing like that here -- you can just Relax and Enjoy the fun of it all!) my Mom went with me via FaceTime since she lives 2000 miles away and Maddie was super helpful and held the phone up so my Mom could see each dress i tried on, ha! yay! i met one of the owners, Sarah, on my return trip to purchase the dress and she was lovely as well ~ very positive and friendly. they gave me leads on a good local seamstress for alterations and i also bought a crinoline for my dress for only $35, score! i would give these ladies 10 stars if i could!!...