My experience at Seng Couture can only be summed up as riotously disappointing. Before I go into that, I do want to establish that the process of trying dresses on was made easy and fun by Lily, one of the assistants at the Fanwood location. She's friendly, enthusiastic, and kind. She was the best part of this otherwise unfortunate experience. I'm sure that the owners will see this review and reply with a snarky comment, considering that this is what they've done with every other less-than-glowing review.
I didn't expect to find a great deal of selection for a plus sized bridesmaid, but the boutique only had 3 dresses within the brand that I could try on. Two of them were laughably unflattering. The original dress I was interested in had been sold, or so I was told.l, although it was a try-on, not a ready-to-wear dress. That was the first red flag.
The second red flag was the fitting session. My tailor, Dolly, was unprofessional and rude about my size, and she wasn't transparent about the cash-only policy on alterations. I asked several times what certain alterations would cost, and I never got a solid answer from her until the very end of the session. I was rushed in and out of the little dressing room, and she had some fatphobic comments about how I looked in the dress. (Particularly about looking "too full" while wearing underwear, and "saggy" without.) I don't think I need to explain how I appropriate, hurtful, and unprofessional this was.
When it came time to pay for the tailoring and fitting, my straight sized friend was offered a generous payment plan over the course of the dress fitting dates, while I was offered nothing. I asked after the payment plan and was denied without a solid reason. The owners never specified that this was because of my size, but it was pretty obvious.
When it came to the second fitting, I called ahead and let them know that I would be unable to attend due to an injury and that my friend would be picking up my dress. I assumed that I would not be getting any money back, and I was right! The entire top half of the dress needed to be taped to my chest and back; the only work done was the hemline, while the store had the dress for many weeks.
Overall? This was a trashy experience. I didn't expect it to be all sunshine and rainbows because the bridal industry is still the bridal industry at the end of the day. Size discrimination reigns supreme. I held off on publishing this review because I didn't want mine or my friend's dresses to get sabotaged by salty tailors.
If you are plus sized, whether you're a size 18 or a size 38? Skip Seng Couture. You won't be treated with any courtesy or respect. They will price gouge you and they'll insult you to your face while they do it. If they have a dress that you just HAVE to have? Buy it there but get it fitted somewhere else. This isn't a classy establishment. If you scroll through some of these reviews, you'll see that I'm not the only one who had this experience.
-10/10, do NOT recommend. read more