Six Things I Check Before I Buy A Dress Online Now

My sister was caught once by a store with a city name and a warehouse somewhere else. When she rang to ask how I know before I pay, I read her my list. One dress has passed all six.

I am 64, and my sister Christine has been caught once. Last winter she ordered a dress from a boutique with a Wellington name and a lovely website. It came six weeks later from a warehouse overseas, it looked nothing like the photograph, and when she asked for her money back they told her to post it back to the warehouse at her own cost. She never saw the refund. She told the whole bowls club, and I do not blame her.

So when she rang me from Rotorua in October, wanting something for Russell's seventieth, a dinner by the lake in December, the first thing she said was, how do you know, Wendy, before you pay? I said I have a list. Graeme laughed from the lounge, because I do have a list, and it lives on the fridge. I read it to her over the phone, all six, and then I told her about the one dress that has passed every one of them, which is the Sapphire from The Mount Coastal Boutique. I have worn it to two weddings, a sixtieth and a christening. Here is the list.

The photograph on the boutique's own page. What came in the parcel looked like this, which is check number two.

The six things

1. Does a real person write back?Before I pay for anything now, I send one question. Mine was whether the flutter sleeve covers the top of the arm or stops short of it. A woman called Susan wrote back the same afternoon, in a whole sentence, with an answer. It covers it. A store that answers before you pay will answer after. From a woman called Jill, who wrote to the boutique about her own order: "Thank you so much for sorting my order out, I really appreciate your helpfulness and swift reply."
2. Does the photograph show the dress, or a mood?Christine's dress was photographed on a beach at sunset with the light behind it. You could not see the print. The Sapphire is shown close, in a plain studio, from the front, the side and walking. It is a soft blue mosaic, blues and greens with a little gold through it, and that is exactly what was in the parcel. Helen, about a blouse she ordered: "Yes, this is exactly the blouse I was looking for."
3. Is the size honest?I look for a store that tells me the sizes plainly and charges the same in every one. The Sapphire runs S to 2XL, every size the same price, and I took my usual. The waist is softly shaped with no band in it, so there is nothing to be caught by after lunch. Sue, when her order arrived: "The top fits very well. Thank you very much."
4. What happens if it is wrong?This is the one that caught Christine. I want to know before I pay what happens if it does not suit me. Thirty days to change your mind, and if you write before it is sent, Susan will swap the size or the colour, no fuss. I asked. She said yes in the first line. Pat, after a refund: "What a pleasure it is to deal with your company, the money you refunded to me has arrived back in my account."
5. Will it come when they say?I would rather be told the truth than a nice story. It says on the page that delivery is usually seven to ten working days with NZ Post tracking, and Susan answered my question the same day. Mine took nine. I watched it the whole way. Jani, about her order: "received lovely dress in time, thanks for all your personal help"
6. Will I wear it more than once?The last check is mine, not the store's. If I cannot see three occasions for it the day it arrives, it goes back. The Sapphire has done two weddings, Pam's sixtieth at a vineyard and Hannah's christening, and it is the first dress in twenty years I have stopped saving for best. One woman wrote to the boutique after a return that had gone wrong somewhere else first: "My faith in online purchases has been restored and your company will have more of my business in the future as a result!"

Side by side, honestly

What caught Christine	What I checked on the Sapphire
A city name and a website, nobody answering	Susan, who answered my question the same afternoon
A sunset photo where you cannot see the print	Studio photos, front, side and walking, and the dress matched
Told to post it back at her own cost	Thirty days to change your mind, size swaps before it is sent
Six weeks, no tracking	Usually seven to ten working days, NZ Post tracking, mine took nine
Worn once, kept out of guilt	Two weddings, a sixtieth and a christening so far

Laid out on the bed the night before Pam's lunch. Pearls, the tan sandals, and the card I nearly forgot.

About the price

$99.95 at the moment, down from $214.95. I did the sums, because Christine would ask. A printed midi at Trelise Cooper is $229, and the one I nearly bought at Ricochet was $159. Free NZ Post delivery, and if you take two things the stack discount comes off in the cart, so Christine put a top for the morning after in with hers.

The honest bit

Two things. It comes in one colour, the blue, so if blue is not yours this is not your dress. And the sizes stop at 2XL. If you are past that, I would rather tell you than have you order it and be disappointed. It is a dress for a long lunch, a church or a dinner, and it is the best one I own for all three.

What I would tell you if we were friends

Make your own list, and hold every store to it, including this one. Send one question before you pay, and see who answers. Christine did. Susan wrote back to her the same day, and her Sapphire is on its way to Rotorua with the tracking number on her fridge, next to my list.

If you have been caught once, as Christine was, this is the dress that passed all six for me.

— Wendy