Dvorah C.

I ordered 5 dresses from Sara Sims, Vintage Opulence for my wedding. I based each design off of dresses that she and previously made with some changes in color and length. I sent her detailed measurements, heights of wedding party and colors and styles they wanted. I had to have her re-dye and change 4 of the dresses as she seemed to be having trouble following directions. She only delivered one dress that was what I asked for but still looked a bit plainer than her original design.
She sent the 5 dresses stuffed into a box the size of a phone book. The dresses were very wrinkled and I had to pay $9.00 in additional postage. They did not look like the dress designs she had posted. The green was way darker than the example I sent her, the burgundy was lighter than her design. Only one was the correct size and color. All were incorrect length.
I ordered the following:

Tiel Green size 4 -I received dark green size 10
Burgundy size 12 -Color okay size 4/6
Aqua size 14 -Color fine, size 4/6
Purple size 12 -Plainer than design but okay
Wedding dress size 14 -Size correct underlining of dress a complete disaster
After many emails she offered to make the dresses that were too small again but after seeing her horrible workmanship or lack of: holes in all 4 dresses, lace sewn haphazardly onto dress connecting wherever, crookedly instead of sewn into seams.
Seams not finished. All stitching very crooked. Loose threads, rotting material that frayed and came unraveled. My wedding dress was so crooked that one side of the skirt went up under the overlaying lace while the other side hung way down making the dress look like a drunk cupcake. When I tugged at the underskirt it frayed and came almost completely unsewn. I have pictures.
Sara took no responsibility for her terrible work or making the dresses the wrong sizes. I sent her pictures of all the holes and crooked lace, etc. I sent two dresses back before the wedding and sending a third back because the dressmaker told me it would cost more money to fix the green dress that was too big than to go buy a new one. We had to buy 3 new dresses plus buy a new under dress to wear under the wedding dress she made, after I took out all the lining and skirt.
I was so surprised she made them so quickly. I chose her because I like her designs and that she takes old lace and slips, etc., to make new dresses. The problem is she does not know how to sew. She tacks her dresses together so they look beautiful on line but in real life they look like a drunk made them. The worst part is she does not care that she is a bad seamstress and takes no responsibility and no refunds. If a mechanic messes up my car and three of my neighbors cars, I am not going to trust him to re-fix the problem on my car. That is how I felt about her making me new dresses.
I asked her for 50% refund. I thought I was being rather generous. No word from her since August 5th. I got married on August 27th. My last communication with her was on August 18th when I let her know I send her 2 dresses back and wanted 50% refund or my husband would contact his credit card company and ask for a full refund.
My husband went on line to find complaints and they were very hard to find but they were there and were comparable to mine.
In my correspondence with her before I paid she was very polite and accommodating, supposedly doing what I asked but in reality she did what she wanted, and did it poorly. At one point I asked he if we could talk on the phone because it seemed she was not understanding me. No comment.
She is messing with peoples special occasions and that is not okay. Everything about my wedding worked out wonderfully except her and the dresses.