Dessy's Next Trick

Dessy 1019

Dessy Dresses are a tricky business-- a lot of times you can find a similar look for a little less elsewhere, and my final verdict on their LBD experiment stands: you have to be careful or you're not really getting a deal! They have a new program called Sample on Loan which boasts one upside for the busy bride on the go; they will send you a sample to try on at home! 

There are a few ways this could be a total rip off, so let's check out the details.

The Premise: You pay Dessy $35 to ship you a sample that may or may not be the proper size so that you can hang on to it for 2 days, try it on, wear it around the house, take it to dance lessons, what have you. 

The Ins and Outs: You get the dress (from the After Six Collection) and a pre-paid adhesive shipping label in the mail, you keep the dress for 48hrs. If you haven't returned it in time you are charged an extra $20/day. Dessy MAY be able to send you more than one dress at a time, for another $35. Your size may also not be available, so they will send you the "closest" size possible-- no word on whether that's one size up or one size down, but I would assume one size up.

The Ups and Downs: If you're planning on a budget, $35 to rent a dress for two days may not be the best investment. If you're not planning on a budget, and you're a busy gal, it might be worth it to you to not have to find your nearest Dessy (which for me is anywhere from roughly 8-20mi, ranging 30-120 minutes in travel time one way) and go in to the store, deal with people, etc. If you're going to be wearing a dress from Dessy's After Six collection and you have it in hand and you'd like to do a bridal shoot before the big day, you could always rent a sample to do the shoot in. Though I'm sure major damages would result in an extra fee, it would be a safe way to do your shoot and not worry about getting dust on the hem.

As with the NewlyMaid program, I would suggest really looking around and checking your budget to see if this is the right program for you. You should also contact the Dessy Customer Service BY PHONE to ask if there are any partial refunds available, and what happens if you rip the hem while seeing if your heels work with the gown. I emphasize BY PHONE because I e-mailed them and got a form response which was copy and paste from the website. No extra information, no effort put in to the response at all.