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Attire & Accessories Forum
bb2016
member
Union Station Bridesmaid Dresses
Hi Everyone,
I came across Union Station that allows you to both rent or buy their bridesmaid dresses. I was wondering if anyone has used this website and if they could offer any feedback?
Thanks!
Also, it looks like it used to be called "Little Borrowed Dress"
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Union Station Bridesmaid Dresses
DO NOT RENT FROM LITTLE BORROWED DRESS / UNION STATION!!! THEY ARE THE ABSOLUTE WORST!!!
*Sizing:
My friend was getting married and I am her curviest bridesmaid. 38DD, normally a 12 or 14 dress size, but LBD’s dress sizes are terribly inaccurate! Check the measurements! I did, and, to my fear, their “16/18” dress size was not large enough for my bust. I called them (I’m in CA, they’re in NY), explained my sizing situation, and asked what happens if I rent their largest size and it doesn’t fit? The girl on the phone says that I can exchange it for another size… But if I get the largest size and it’s too small, how can I exchange it for a larger size? Idiot. I asked if they had larger sizes. They told me they do not, and THEY GET ASKED THAT QUESTION ALL THE TIME AND HAVEN’T MADE LARGER SIZES. So, basically, they do not care if you’re curvy at all. I asked if there was a way that they could send me a dress just to try on that I could send back immediately, just to be able to see if I could squeeze into it. No. Do you have any stores on the West Coast? No. Is there any way I could try it on somehow??? No. So if I rent, when will the dress arrive? 2 weeks before the wedding. She said that if it doesn’t fit, I could turn the $75 rental into a $200 purchase and have it altered. 2 WEEKS BEFORE THE WEDDING I’M SUPPOSED TO HAVE IT ALTERED?!?!? That’s insane. I asked if there was any kind of price break, since the rented dress would be used? Nope. You purchase at full price a dress that someone else has sweated in. Gross. The only option I saw was to purchase the dress at full price, so that it would be a brand-new dress and it would arrive a full month before the wedding. I ordered the Hillary dress because I figured the strapless was my best bet at having enough space for my cleavage. (I wanted something with sleeves, but they don’t have any sleeved dresses).
*Shipment:
I received a tracking number that my order was ready to ship. I waited. A week went by. The tracking number said that my package had never been picked up, only the number had been created. I tried calling. No one answered, no answering machine. I tried email. No response. THEY NEVER CHECK THEIR EMAILS. After a week of calling, I FINALLY got a hold of someone – it turned out one of their employees SIMPLY DECIDED THAT MY DRESS WAS A RENTAL AND NOT A PURCHASE SO THEY WEREN’T GOING TO SEND IT TO ME UNTIL IT WOULD BE 2 WEEKS BEFORE THE WEDDING INSTEAD OF THE MONTH I WAS PROMISED. INSANE!!! Thank goodness I was able to finally get a hold of someone!
*Quality:
When it FINALLY arrived, I could squeeze into it just enough to make it work, thank goodness. But it was not pretty. (Thank goodness I bought a miraculous longline bra from Strut in LB.) The workmanship was ABYSMAL! The breast padding was sewn in badly so that the top rolled down, the hem at the bottom of both types of material was disastrously crooked – for a $200 dress sewn to order, it was pretty cheaply made. And ALL of the dresses in the bridal party were like that. A couple had really crappy zippers that we had to struggle with too. Also, the dress length on their website is called “regular” and “long”, and being short at 5’3″ I ordered the “regular” – but it would be more accurate to call the lengths “long” and “longer” – it was a trip hazard for everyone in the party! Only the 5″ heels that I bought would have made the dress length workable. I decided to do a temporary hem instead. The only good thing about the dress was that the color was beautiful (plum).
*Fellow Bridesmaids:
Everyone else rented (except for one bridesmaid who hit “purchase” by mistake, and LBD wouldn’t turn it into a rental so she was stuck with the purchase. Lovely customer service). But only 1 of the other 5 dresses arrived on time. Thank goodness I called, because it sounded like THEY HAD FORGOTTEN TO SHIP THE OTHER DRESSES!!! They said that they would ship that day and we would receive them the next day, which means they had to ship them overnight BECAUSE THEY FORGOT!!! The other bridesmaids who had sent emails never received a reply.
*Rating:
The one star is because Rachel was nice enough to turn my purchase into a rental since I wasn’t going to alter it. She also sent me some extra fabric: I wanted to make a bolero (and basically make my own “sleeves” since they don’t have a dress style for that).
*Advice:
If you absolutely cannot convince your bride to choose bridesmaid dresses from somewhere else, be sure to keep a close eye on your order. Call, do not email (not once did any of us ever receive an emailed reply, I don’t think they even monitor their email account). If you’re bustier than a 38DD there is no way in hell the dress will fit you. I highly recommend Hollywood Fashion Secrets Temporary Hem Tape so that you can hem the dress to the proper length since you’re not allowed to use any kind of pin or safety pin in the dress. And I suggest Hollywood Fashion Secrets Fashion Tape to ensure the fabric sticks to your skin. Good luck.