Bernie Dexter

The dresses are nice but I am severely put off by the way this woman runs her business! I made some purchases online during the Labor Day sale and still haven't rec'd my items and it's October 10th! One of the items I ordered was for a special function on Oct 5th which under normal circumstances meant I had plenty of time to receive the goods but I had no idea what kind of monkey show I was dealing with. The problem in essence stems from the fact that 1.) Bernie fired all her staff shortly before the sale and 2.) went on a 3-week vacation to Japan a week after the sale. So to make a long story short, orders were placed but because Bernie was going on vacay and had no staff to look after the business in her absence, all orders had to wait until she came back from vacation to ship out. Now, I'm not an unreasonable person and I get that stuff happens but seriously I find this unacceptable especially when her official Facebook Page is flooded with pictures of herself boozing it up at nightclubs, getting her nails done and narcissistic naked selfies. I'm not making this up! Everything on Facebook has a time stamp so any idiot can see that shipping out orders to customers was the last thing on her agenda before she went to Japan. And to make matters worse, rather than communicate the issues with PAYING customers via email (which any online business worth their salt would do) she chose to use her social media platform to let PAYING customers know that items would be shipping out after she got back from vacay on Sept 30th. I, like many others, do not hang out on social media every day so I feel this was not the best way to communicate her shipping issues with PAYING customers. By Sept. 30 Bernie was back in town but rather than getting the Labor Day orders shipped out her Facebook page was once again flooded with images of 1/2 naked selfies, getting a pedicure, costume shopping at Goodwill and boozing it up at an 80's night club party! Meanwhile, my special event has come and gone and I still don't have my items. This has left such a bad taste in my mouth that I'll probably just sell the dresses when I finally receive my stuff because I certainly can't get a refund!

I've visited the store in person before buying anything. I've always loved vintage dresses! This place was heaven! All staff are super friendly and even make you feel great while trying on dresses. I found the dresses to fit me well. I am a 3x for their dresses ( 40D, 200lbs, 5'6"). To compare to City Chic clothing Size 18, Old Navy 2x/3x depends on dress style. I couldn't afford the outfits at that moment. The in store staff worked with me and created a layaway option for me! To note I live in Iowa and they will ship me my clothes from Oregon! Super easy to work with :) I would recommend going in-store to try on dresses and enjoy the body positive environment they create! The photos added are the ones the store staff took and posted on their Facebook and Instagram! I highly recommend going in person to try on dresses for the first time. If you can't I highly recommend calling the store to find your perfect fit! They are all lovely people!

I have never dealt with a company that doesn't accept any returns. They will exchange for a different size, but sometimes you just don't want to exchange. Sometimes you just want your money back!

I appreciate the coupon and I would have used it but your company has a HUGE problem.

Start making dress for bigger girls and you'll sell more. Your 4x size is small in comparison to other 4x options like Pin Up Girl brand. You have a 5x listed on your sight but you don't make anything in 5x. Big girls like me are disappointed with the dresses cut for women without large breasts or the cuts that do accommodate like the Paris or Jodi are so limited in patterns and quantity and they sell out or aren't made in those cuts at all and are still a little snug. I got a coupon I thought I would use when I recently had $400 to spend and because I couldn't find a Monet print in Paris or Jodi I didn't buy from you... I spent all that money on PUG and bought 4x items that I know will fit me with room to breathe.
Your pieces are expensive and the ones I have tried I bought second hand on Facebook BTS groups. I had 2,4x zip front dresses that closed but made my chest look completely flat. Like I had stuffed a paperback book into my dress so I sold them again. I am not the only one with these issues.
I saw a Facebook notice that you are having problems with manufacturing and overhead going up... well you are loosing an entire demographic of woman who earn and spend money because you don't take big or bigger girls into consideration. Perhaps you should also consider expanding your manufacturing jobs to the midwest or east coast where people are looking for manufacturing jobs. I've worked in the garment business I was a UNION worker and there are less then a handful of working clothing manufacturing jobs in the area I live in.
Have you ever talked to someone who loves your dresses but can't wear them, someone like me or larger then myself? Women with bigger breasts like me in a 44DDD? My guess is NO you haven't. Well here's a newsflash for you women over 220lbs may have smaller boobs but more then a 41inch waist. I can barely breathe in the ones the Jodi & Paris dresses that I do LOVE, uncomfortably snug. There is no wiggle room. Not enough options for girls larger then size 16 in spite of your measurements. You are loosing money because of this narrow view of a woman's body. Expand your sizing and you will see an increase in sales. This is something your company needs to be aware of. Tragic situation. We have enough social body image problems already, your sizes are NOT helping to change this.
Change the way you measure a woman and you will sell dresses to woman bigger then you are reaching now.

Jennifer Livengood

I find Bernie Dexter dresses to be perfect in every way-gorgeous prints, cuts, medium weight cotton( not flimsy like some blogs are saying) that is perfect in Australian summer and can be layered for winter. Cuts do wary slighly in the way they fit but I find that I am consistently size M. Bernie Dexter is waaaay above many many other repro vintage style brands and her prints genuinely make people think you are wearing a true vintage. And they make me feel fantastic! LOVE

I purchased a lovely dress from Bernie Dexter but it didnt fit which was surprising since I regularly purchase clothing from other vintage-repro websites and know my measurements pretty well. But even if the dress had fit, I was really put off by the quality of the fabric which felt VERY thin and cheap. Cute print but cheap material. Certainly not what you would expect of a dress that costs $156. This is where things get frustrating because apparently Bernie Dexter does not issue refunds, only store credits and exchanges. Not only that, in order to qualify for a store credit or exchange, I would have to send the dress back to her within 7 days of receiving it which is the shortest return time I have ever seen for an online store (if you live outside the USA, thats nearly impossible without paying an arm and a leg for shipping!). Oh and I forgot to mention the 15% re-stocking fee. Most online retailers will only charge a restocking fee if the garment shows obvious signs of wear, has an odor or the presence of pet hair. Bernie Dexter charges a 15% restocking fee on ALL returned items regardless of their condition which is bad because ordering the correct size online can be a bit of a gamble. In my experience, sometimes it takes a couple of tries to get the right size but that 15% restocking fee certainly discourages this notion. So lets see, I originally paid $156 plus $40 for shipping then to return the dress I have to pay an automatic 15% re-stocking fee which is approximately $24, THEN I have to pay expedited shipping to have it returned within 7 days only to have Bernie send me another dress which I will have to pay another $40 to have it shipped to me. In the end, thats a grand total of approx. $260 for a dress that wasnt the greatest quality to begin with. Whats a girl to do when the dress she purchased doesnt fit but also doesnt meet her standards of quality? No matter what other sizes are available the quality of the fabric is just not up to snuff so Im not interested in a pricey exchange or store credit. I just want my money back but thats not even an option which I think reflects Bernies lack of confidence in her product. The icing on the cake is when you see the same dress that you paid $156.00 for (or $260 if youve had to exchange) on Bernie Dexters Ebay store for $25.00! I ended up selling the dress to a friend for a lot less than what I paid just because of the hassle-filled return policy. Waste of time and money. Buyer beware! There are a lot of other vintage reproduction clothing stores online that have a much better quality of clothing and way better return policies.

I was so very excited to get my new Bernie Dexter dress and then it happened. The first thing that happened was I tried the dress on and it didn't fit. I though "Ok. Fine. It's not going to work for me".

Then, I googled my dress and found out that Bernie was selling the dress for $156.00 on her website and then started discounting the same dress I bought on her website in her eBay store the week after I bought it and started the bid at $25.00 on her ebay store. Seriously? Why would you offer it for $156 on your website and $25.00 on eBay? This makes zero sense to me.

I asked her to discount me the difference since most of her dresses ended at $80 on eBay and she said NO. Why would you do that to a customer who could just return it to the store and then re-buy it on eBay? Actually, she does not allow returns on her website (only store credit) but Paypal will let me return it.

This woman makes NO SENSE and I will never again put my money into a person who has nothing to offer the world other than what she eats and wears.

Zzzzzzz... BORING BERNIE DEXTER.

FOR SHAME!

SHAME ON YOU, BERNIE DEXTER!

My advice is to not spend your money to support this woman and her ridiculous habits.

I recently started trying to support USA businesses and decreasing my contribution to fast fashion. I discovered Bernie Dexter in a BST group and after buying a piece, I was hooked. I was hesitant to buy directly from the website due to the return/exchange policy and the shipping costs. However, when Bernie Dexter had a Last Chance sale, I decided to purchase 3 dresses. I used the sizing guides AND the reviews on BST group to determine which sizes I should get. Unfortunately, one of the dresses that I purchased sold out. It was annoying but the BD team reached out to me and asked me if I would like to choose a different dress (I did). My dresses arrived promptly and there even an extra goodie in the package. All 3 dresses fit like a dream (except for one I bought larger specifically for altering purposes). The fabric is a nice cotton. The cuts are very flattering which is a feat considering that I got plumpness in places and areas. Overall, I was pleased with the product and the service.

As far as returns are concerned, it is very typical for smaller businesses not to allow returns or have a small window for exchanges. The reason larger companies can do that is because they underpay their employees and have stuff made for pennies overseas.

Update.

This review was written before BD decided to move production to India. I understand a lot of people have issues with her. My review was strictly based on my purchase as I am not about to follow some random lady on social media.

Ok so I love lots of the Bernie dexter styles but guess what? Those styles I love they rarely make in my size of 3x-4x, I'm actually between sizes in bernies, I wear the Paris dress in a four X but it's too big and the three X too small in the waist, and the dresses ( I paid $180 for a beautiful print but was disappointed bc the dress was thin, had no lining and didn't seem like it was going to hold up to much well, which if your paying $200 bucks for a DRESS, then you usually expect QUALITY that will LAST. This one disappoints a bit I must admit! It's a shame too! Cute stuff