Ruined the wedding dress i was going to send back

I can understand why you'd do it for a wedding dress. Can't say I've had any problems with regular clothes though, not for years anyway. I buy a lot of stuff from Next and can't remember the last time I had to return anything. Is it not annoying and time consuming having to do that?

I'd never heard of multiple ordering until I saw it on here. I've never done that. If you read the size guidance and measurements and be honest with yourself there's no need for this.

Don't experiment in the meantime

It isn't cheeky at all, but it is high risk with costly items that can be damaged.

I think I'm in in the minority who don't see a problem with having it spot cleaned and returning it if this can be done imperceptibly, but I really don't. Can you take it to a good cleaner (probably a bit more specialist than Johnson's) and see if they can do anything without removing the labels? Either way you'll have to clean it to sell it so you'd may as well try and get your full money back. Shops will clean makeup off clothing and put back out for sale so I don't see this as any different. Not like wearing it to the wedding and sending back.

well it is her wedding dress, people do much worse ordering tons of items. But I think, OP do you like the dress? Or are you settling? Maybe say what the material is? or ask someone personally like @Cantbelievethatimafoolagain. A good seamstress (if there are any left) can always make a dress work.

Dry clean the dress fgs. Then sell it on vinted etc.

If you know your size it should fit.

Lol! Women’s clothing is notorious for not being consistent in size and wedding dresses particularly so

I didn’t say they should, I said they probably would. Interesting how people apparently have more empathy for a huge company that have shown they’re careless with returns anyway having sent OP a smelly dress, than for a Mum on a budget who has bought objectively cheap wedding dresses and made a mistake. Good on her that shes too honest to return it, my sympathy is with her not John Lewis

I'm quite good at getting stains out. If the dress is white mix white toothpaste with bicarb to make a paste. Leave it on overnight then wash it out. Shaving foam is also very good

Well OP got a dress that reeks of BO so that'd be one reason not to do it. Seems like such a faff as well but each to their own. If you know your size it should fit.

To be honest, I don’t think cleaning the stain and returning the dress is a problem?

Can you post photos of the dress/stain? What is the composition of the dress?

maybe it’s because I don’t wear makeup that often, but I can’t understand how it would soil the dress to an extreme extent. I understand why the retailer may not accept the return but why is cleaning the mark a problem?

If the dress had not been too small would you have chosen it? If so then see if it can be altered and cleaned, like others I would suggest local seamstress.
Information for the future, if you have ordered multiple sizes or dresses on line and collect in store JL will let you try them on in the changing room.

My daughter used this when she got married for make up stains on her wedding dress.
https://amzn.eu/d/fVM0lFR
Amazing stuff.

But really, why should they?

Why on earth is it cheeky to order multiple dresses to try on??? She’s every right to compare styles & sizes. What on earth are you on about??

My advice for what it’s worth is to return the dress to John Lewis and see what they say. They will either accept the return or not. If they do your problem is solved and if they don’t you can decide what to try next. You won’t be the first person to return a damaged item and I’d hazard a guess that many who do don’t say a word about it
They definitely don’t if they mark things in store because it’s not unusual to find clothing on the rails with make up round the neck
A dry cleaners should be able to remove the stain without any issue. Our local dry cleaners did wonders with my sisters all lace wedding dress before she sold it. They charged £80 which also included a small invisible repair to the lace where it had caught on someone’s jewellery. This was half the price a specialist wedding dress cleaning company had quoted and it came back looking as new, even the underneath of the train where the dirt looked to be ingrained.

I really don't think you need to worry about returns being cancelled because a small number of people return damaged goods. The system has been around for a while now.

Can everyone please remember that if the OP tries to return it (whether stained or cleaned) the shop may examine the item and refuse to refund her? In other words, she won't be sneaking it back on the shelves and helping herself to money from the till! And also if they do refund her and resell it, the next person who buys it will have the opportunity to look at it and see if they're happy with it before their wedding day?

People are acting like she's adopted a dog, injured it and is planning to return it.

Eh? How on earth is that ‘cheeky’?!

How would Op know which dress would fit and flatter her before trying on? It’s not as if stores bother to standardise their sizes. You might have half a point if they did, but they don’t, so we have no clue if something will fit before receiving it.

Shops offering an online service save ££££ as they need fewer retail premises. Needing to send customers multiple items in the knowledge some will be returned is just the quid pro quo of that. Shops can’t have it all ways.

OP - you have my sympathy. These things happen.

I'd advise you try a baby wipe as they are brilliant and removing mist stains from clothes.

If that doesn't work I'd risk washing it. I had my wedding dress altered and the seamstress said she washes all her clothing, everything. I washed my silk wedding dress after my wedding day and it looks perfect. Use delicate detergent, be very gentle and do it by hand, of course. You don't have much to lose if the dress is ruined. I'd try just the bodice and see how it goes.

Also agree on trying a seamstress. Mine was amazing and put several little finishing touches to my shop-bought dress that just made it look amazing. If you're in the south east message me and I'll give you her details. She charged £40/hr I think. Most places will give free consultations so worth exploring.

Why is it cheeky?

I bought my wedding dress online while pregnant - obviously sizing was a nightmare so I bought about 8 and returned 7. There was no physical store to go to and I needed to try different styles as well as sizes.

This is a totally normal thing to do. How else is someone supposed to get the right thing online? Was she supposed to order one dress and suck it up if it was the wrong size or didn't suit her?!

So you wouldn't accept a dress that was smelling of BO but you're happy to send a stained dress back for someone else to have?

I'm disabled and trying on in shops is impossible for me so I order several items for size/style online. I wouldn't return something I'd damaged. It would be cleaned/repaired and sent to a charity shop if unsuitable.

I'd be gutted if online sales were pulled because of the way some people here think it's okay to treat buying and returning.

Yes exactly this. I find a lot of mumsnet comments are filled with views that I literally have never come across in a real life person and it baffles me.

Im having my dress adjusted to make the bust bigger by adding triangles of fabric in the seams, straps added, and maybe slightly taken up. The seamstress has estimated it’ll cost between £200-£350 but can’t give an exact quote until she’s seen me in the dress. She said having a corset back would be a lot cheaper so it may not be as much as you think!

If you go down this route, find a seamstress ASAP. Where I am, they get booked up in advance of wedding season even though they don’t do the alterations til 6-12 weeks before your wedding.

Also, for the people saying check measurements, that only works if your body is relatively in proportion! Mine definitely isn’t so nothing comes in my measurements and it’s hard to visualise how a compromise to get something on will impact on the look.

You may be able to claim for accidental damage on your house insurance.

Do you have accidental damage cover on your home or bank/credit card insurance?