My daughter found the gown of her dreams at Abbey. They said the dress was their own private label and was not available elsewhere. Except for one very helpful young lady (Kasey), we didn't find the staff there very friendly on our first visit, so we tried to find the dress elsewhere, but couldn't. So, we ordered it from Abbey. They measured my daughter OVER her winter clothing. Despite my protests that they were ordering a size too large, they insisted. When the dress came in, it was more than a size too big.
My daughter is busty, and we expressed concern about this strapless dress having enough support and coverage. They assured us that it would. After the alterations, my daughter tried it on again. She sat down to make sure she wouldn't pop out the top, and the top of the dress literally folded down, exposing almost half of her breasts. We said this wasn't acceptable, and the saleswoman said, ""That's how all the girls are wearing them. It's fine"" and walked away. This hadn't been a problem when my daughter had tried on the sample; I think the manner in which they did the alterations caused this to happen.
Each time we made an appointment for a fitting, we had to work around the seamstress' hours, yet she was never there when we arrived. Instead, someone else would pin the dress and said she'd give it to the seamstress. I have enough sewing experience to know that the person doing the alterations should see the dress on the person so that she can understand any problems with the fit.
When we arrived for what was supposed to have been our final appointment to pick up the dress, there was a large black smear on the bodice, the loop for the hook at the top of the buttons was ripped off, there were several beads hanging by a thread, other threads were pulled, and the bustle and hem were uneven. Fortunately, this time the seamstress was actually there. She was very nice and indicated that she had had a difficult time getting things right on the dress since she had never actually seen my daughter it.
We were told we couldn't pick up the dress for two more weeks. I requested a 10 a.m. appointment and was told it would have to be 10:30 because they need one-half hour to bring the dress up from the basement. (What? They can't bring it up the afternoon before?) When we finally picked up the dress, it was in a dirty garment bag that had several large rips in it--very unprofessional!
We have since found out that my daughter's dress is a brand name gown from which Abbey had removed the label. It is my understanding that it is illegal in Massachusetts to sell clothing with the label ripped out.
Other than Kasey, the salespeople, including the owner, are civil at best and often rude. They spend more time standing around the counter and talking than assisting customers.
We went to a number of bridal shops before my daughter found this dress at Abbey. We loved Bella Bridal in Amesbury. If only we had known then the brand of the dress my daughter loved, we would have purchased it from Bella in a minute!
Pros: Kasey
Cons: Everything else
more