About the Dress

There are a lot of places to buy clothing.  I get bombarded constantly with outfits wanting me to buy an outfit.  In addition to the obvious, like Macys, there's Zulily, Ideel, RealReal, and many more.  I can get something expensive yet temporary at RentTheRunway.

We looked at a lot of websites but kept coming back to ModCloth.

Modcloth has a retro style which just struck me as more feminine than most of the other sites.  And sometimes I'd see a page of dresses and think "I could order that page and enjoy every dress" or "if they ever offered a "we'll send you a surprise dress for $25," I'd order four and know I'd spent $100 wisely and well.

So I probably spent way too long looking at dresses, trying to whittle down my choice to just one for the wedding.  I found it.

It's called "Gilded Grace Dress in Champagne" and it's pictured to the right.  Follow the link for the best view.

I was a bit concerned about the see-through lace above the bust ~ I didn't think bra straps showing through would be a good look.  I have worn a strapless bra before and I could again.

I'm kind of on the cusp between medium and large, so I ordered a large.  It arrived a few days later with a couple of little hair clips included as an added bonus.

Often I wait a bit when I get something new until I have a reason to add the appropriate undergarments, like I'm going out (or just coming back in).  This time I ran to the dresser, put on the appropriate underthings, and tried it on immediately.

It didn't fit.

The back zipper would not zip.  I had to admit I needed an extra-large.

I was upset at first; I think going up a size is like a loss and one may grieve a bit.  Then I realised that when this style was "in" I was probably an extra-large ~ vanity sizing and all.

I put it back in the box and went back to the website.

Modcloth has an interesting return policy.  You can exchange an item, or return an item for full site credit (plus $5) or return an item for a cash refund (less $6).

I wanted an exchange.

The wedding was approaching and I spent a lot of time looking for this perfect dress already.

They were out of extra-large.

I decided to focus on Modcloth instead of the hundreds of other sites I looked at over the previous few weeks.  And I wanted to order something RIGHT NOW because The Date was getting close and I was getting nervous.  This meant the order and return would cross in the mail.  I wanted to make sure the price of the dress would be applied to the exchange.  So I joined one of their online chats.  Being used to tech companies, I thought I'd be connected to a limited vocabulary machine.

Oh... it was easy to pick a "runner up" dress and I love the one I chose.

Oh... I keep making it sound like I have this exquisite taste and can find the perfect dress but mostly I picked something and said to Charity "how about this?" and went with her exquisite taste.  Or she sent me a link and that went to the top of my list (or near enough).

The wedding dress, by the way, was the most expensive I had ever purchased, even with a 30% discount the site offered at that time.  It wasn't expensive; it certainly wasn't in wedding gown territory, but for a budget-minded gal....  It was in the equal-to-three-of-my-other-dresses price.  But I loved their dresses and it was to be a special, once-in-a-lifetime day!

I "spoke" to Joanne and she assured me the return would be credited (full price, no return fee) AND the (expired) 30% discount I had used would be applied to my new dress.  She even had me order it (in extra-large, sigh) while we were chatting and she applied the discount through her administrator magic.

I cannot say enough about the superb customer service.  In fact, they sent me a "how'd we do" e-mail and I wrote: I do have one major complaint about my interaction with Joanne....  There's only one of her!  I wish every time I sent an email or started an online chat or customer service call she was on the other end!

I also said, after my wedding I'll put something about ModCloth and my dress on my blog and I'll be sure to mention the phenomenal customer service.

Obligation met. :)

Final comment: they applied the credit as promised.  They applied the discount as promised.  The dress arrived swiftly AND it came with two more hair ornaments.  AND after the holidays they had reams of dresses at a HUGE discount but it's so hard to choose....  Go to the Modcloth site and you'll see what I mean.  And don't get lost in the separates, shoes, or some of the cutest tights I have ever seen!

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