Have you ever ordered a suit from a boutique owner – US, India, Canada – and there always just something that’s just off? Literally my life story whenever I order a suit these days; something is always off! Sometimes it’s the color, or measurements, or just the whole thing in general. I have some tips to help you avoid this in the future (hopefully!)
Prep for your Order
Understanding what you want is the first step. This means knowing what fabric you want, inspo pics, what style of suit you want made. I typically use my notes app on my iphone to make a list of things I want and to combine any inspo pics I find! This is helpful because if you have multiple suits in 1 order, you can easily see which picture was for what. This is the time I usually try to figure out what look I’m going for or my vision. Sometimes, it’s really clear for me like when I made my white gharara. Other times it’s a bit harder cause I don’t see anything I love but I need a suit asap!
Ask all the questions
One thing I am always guilty of is being shy or hesitant when asking about prices. I know it’s hard for a lot of us to ask, but honestly, ya girl has a budget she is not trying to go over. Be sure to articulate what your range/budget is once you send all your prep work over. This step also allows for your suit lady to let you know if your order can be done in that much or not.
Another good question to ask is turn around time. I feel like boutique owners usually do things quick like in 2 weeks or take 2 months. I typically give them a 3 week heads up even if my event is a few months away. The one time I didn’t, my suit arrived the day before my event and I was so stressed.
I also always ask them for their opinion on my idea. Sometimes they see something you didn’t or maybe you realize hearing from someone else that something may not work. I always find it helpful cause sometimes we come up with something even better than before! This definitely applies to my suits that are coming for my cousin’s wedding in October!
Confirm Finishings
So usually, your suit lady should send a pic of the product during manufacturing. Super technical words, I know. If she does send one during, confirm the color you want of the suit! I cannot explain how many times I’ve had suits come in a color that is like 1 or 2 shades off: including the one I have on. Best way is to ask for a sample to be dyed so you can confirm the color. Another thing one of my suit lady’s forgot on a backless suit was a dori. Not a big deal but my whole back was about to be out at a wedding and we couldn’t have that. That also leads into having latkan attached; sometimes they’re hella ugly but I know you can make your own and order from etsy!
What to do if your Suit doesn’t come out as you wanted
If after all this, you suit still is not what you wanted, you have a few options. The first would be to reach out to the suit lady and tell her what you actually wanted. I usually have my mom do this cause I’m a baby and don’t like talking about why they couldn’t do a good job. From here they can either fix it (if it is fixable) or go to the second option.
The second option is to reach out and ask for a partial refund. I know a lot of people are against this but if you’re paying over $300 for a suit, there should be something they can do.
If someone is really stubborn about it, I think for me it’s just learning a lesson. I know that my trust is broken in them and the likelihood of them getting my business or my friends is not high. I hope this quick little checklist helped!! My suit is from Punjab Couture House and shoes are TBD; check insta stories for details!
