After three weekends of shopping and three different friends on “dress duty,” I finally found the right dress.Yesterday, Mish suggested we make the trek down to Queen W. Her designer friend Anne Hung has a wonderful boutique stocking her own unique creations. Mish was sure I’d find the perfect one. She was absolutely right.
Here’s why...
Service: Anne Hung was on hand. In addition to her awesome talent, she has a friendly, bubbly personality that shines through for all her customers.
How many designers are on hand to make sure you’re wearing their creations the way they intended? Anne showed me several different options and offered to change some of the details later if I wanted to give my dress a $20 makeover in the fall.
Off the rack, there are at least three different looks for my dress. Anne even offered to make me a dress within two weeks if I wanted to mix up elements from different styles. Awesome!
When I got home, my dress was full of static cling. I sent Anne an email and she got back to me with two solutions – Static Guard or placing the dress in a garment bag with a sheet of fabric softner - on her day off!
Confession: Anne (and a member of her staff) had to get me out of one of her dresses. I tried it on and couldn’t get it off by myself. ;)
Style: Anne’s creations (mostly dresses) are designed to flatter almost any figure. I watched other customers as they tried on different dresses and every woman looked terrific.
Sizes: Okay, so this may be a marketing tactic and I’m not sure how it all works but my dress is a size 0. I think her largest size is a 4.
Comfort: In addition to looking great, Anne uses comfortable fabrics and her designs are easy to wear.
Affordability: How many designers offer unique designs at affordable prices? My dress cost $298! It wasn’t on sale but still a far cry from the $400 minimum Mimi said I had to spend in order not to see myself coming and going. Bonus, my dress doesn’t require any alterations.
Sales Policy: Well, purchases are final sales. I know I’ve balked about this before but when it comes to boutiques, especially specialty ones like Anne Hung, even I am somewhat forgiving. Small, independent designers/retailers would be unable to keep their costs down if they had to deal with shopping bulimics. ;)
