Karen Willis Holmes - Head Office

Worst experience ever.

I recently purchased my wedding dress from Karen Willis Holmes. I would not recommend them to anyone. The manager (also the manager from Zanzis Bridal) was extremely rude and made me feel completely put down and small. After reading reviews online I realise it seems like its the Zanzis store manger that is the problem.

Her first words to me at my fitting were "you couldn't have picked a worse pair of underwear". Turns out it wasn't the underwear it's just the shape of my hips. When I made any queries about the fit or parts of the dress I was told that it either had to be that way or because my dress wasn't custom that those parts could not be altered. I should note after taking my detailed measurements my dress took 6 months to make in Melbourne and with a cost of almost $4,000 you would think they could get the fit a little bit right (so much for supporting Australian designers and Australian made dresses).

I brought up my concerns after my first fitting with the store, I was told that I should have spoken up on the day and they can only fix what I bring to their attention. I thought I did bring things to their attention (but after being told off, ignored and basically talked out of anything I questioned it was a bit disheartening to continue to try). You would have thought as seasoned professionals they would be able to immediately see any issues with the fit of a dress and put forward ideas to fix it. Again I was told the dress was not custom and is made to a particular size only.

When I collected my dress I was able to try it on again, there was one issue but apparently it was done that way to fix another issue and they had left belt loops on the dress they were meant to remove.

I took the dress to a alterations shop (within 15 minutes of picking up my dress from KWH) to adjust a lace KWH top I was adding (the KWH store did not have time do this). The alterations store has bright white lighting and when I tried on my dress I found so many issues, some of which were:
- "bubbles" in the fabric at the back near my waist - from the way the fabric had been cut
- the lining wasn't long enough (so it created a shadow under the dress)
- it was covered in wrinkles
- it was dirty! (I was not wearing any make-up and had scrubbed my hands before attending KWH and re-wiped them with baby wipes on arrival).

I had to pay to get these issues fixed and they were able to alter issues I had asked KWH about but had been told "no" to due to it not being a "custom" dress.

After having the dress altered through the alterations store I brought up my concerns with the KWH head office but was told I should have spoken up sooner and it then became a she said/she said experience. I was told that the $495 fitting cost was for hemming only and any other changes made by them were a bonus.

The lighting in the KWH store is low/yellow "mood lighting" and I was told it is that way because it is more flattering and hides any flaws on the brides. If the lighting had been bright the issues would have been seen before leaving with the dress. I'm not sure what bride gets married or has photos taken in low light.

I am so glad I discovered the issues and was able to have them rectified before my wedding day otherwise it truly would have ruined this magical day for me.

i love the studio - it is awesome, but the gowns and the workmanship compare and all in all you feel very special and have a great wedding gown and experince at the end of it.

My couture wedding dress was everything I hoped for and more, so perfectly me

I had the best experience with this bridal shop. All the wedding dress designs are beautiful and modern and their service is really great. I would really recommend anyone wanting the perfect wedding dress to go to Karen Willis Holmes

I bought my couture wedding dress from Karen Willis Holmes. First of all I just wanted to say after being to so many bridal shops where the sales ladies (and some of the designers) were a bit pushy, Karen was amazing! She designed my dream dress and I can't wait to wear it on my wedding day! Highly recommend her! (So does mum!)