Frocks

Our experience buying my daughter’s grad dress was fantastic. We had tried many other places and if they were a 1 or 2 on a scale of 10, this would be a 10. I cannot recommend it highly enough! Plus lots of street parking which is always nice.

The merchandise they have on the floor don’t even come close to what comes in from the order it’s like ordering something off eBay or a China website. I am writing this review on behalf of my cousin… She went to try one dresses there and came across this one super adorable lace animal detailedly lined dress and spent over a thousand dollars on it. Little did she know when it came in the mail it wasn’t close to what it looked like the seams weren’t even straight. On top of that the animals didn’t even look like animals just lint balls.
What’s worse is the associates did not even admit to the bad quality of the dress they made excuses and dismissed what my cousin was implying, until my cousin cried… That’s when someone did something about it. They offered to remake one and ship it down to where she lives…
Anyways the second one that arrived didn’t turn out good either… Waste of money waste of time.

This was my first stop on my quest to find a wedding dress, and I’m so glad that I started here and not in New West. I was really anxious about wedding dress shopping, and the pressure to find the «perfect» dress and say yes on the spot as we see in a certain popular TLC show.
If you are looking for the antithesis of the big, poofy, satin, blinged-​out ballgown, Frocks has got you covered. All the dresses were soft and flowed and were very comfortable to wear. My consultant was very patient and not only let me pull lots of styles but also pointed out others that she thought I would be interested in but may have walked by (it’s hard in a sea of white!). The consultant was very patient in letting my MOH take lots of photos of me in the dresses and let me try on my favourites multiple times when I was struggling to narrow it down. I also thought the price point was reasonable-​I think all the dresses I tried on were under $ 3000 (with most coming in under $ 2000).
I didn’t feel rushed or pressured at all-​at the end of my appointment the consultant didn’t even mention making a purchase, she had a card ready to go with the styles and prices of my favourite 3 dresses so I could go home and think about it. Ultimately though, I felt the dresses here were a bit TOO plain and very «sweet» looking. Perfect for a certain style of bride but not quite what I was looking for.
Also, one thing-​I came here on one of the first really hot days of summer and the store had NO AC. I got really hot in the dresses and felt pretty bad that the consultant had to try and clip dresses to my clammy back, ugh.

Frocks provided me with the worst of my wedding experiences. I had the experience of ordering my wedding dress that the store OWNER ordered for me, which was supposed to be in my size. The dress was huge on me. Like seriously huge. And ended up costing over $ 600 to alter. But the kicker was that when I was ordering my dress in the first place, I had asked the OWNER how much I should expect to pay in alterations, since I have no frame of reference (I’m not sure how many new brides have any idea of what alterations cost. There isn’t a whole lot of information out there on it). The owner told me I could expect to pay $ 150. I had asked specifically for the maximum amount I should expect to pay. $ 150 was the answer, even when she knew what dress I was ordering. When the dress came in, their in-​house seamstress told me it would cost $ 250 for hemming alone. So the $ 150 quote was pretty much BS. So I was stuck with a $ 600 alteration bill, since I couldn’t return the dress at that stage, and couldn’t wear it without alterations. That’s a pretty mean thing to do to a bride, when you’re trying to be on a budget and expect you to give an honest quote when you ask for one.
I ended up taking the dress to Simdy on Davie for alterations, since I didn’t want to give Frocks any more of my money. Simdy did a great job, and I’d go to her again. Simdy also said I could have (or really, Frocks could have) gone a size down in terms of the dress, since it needed so much alteration work. So did Frocks order the wrong size on top of everything? Maybe. I definitely wouldn’t put it past them, based on my experience with them.

First off, I hardly think writing a long (but accurate) review is a good use of my time at this point, but the way I was treated at Frocks was so appallingly beyond the pale I simply hate to think of another bride being subjected to a similar experience.
Maybe they’re great for bridesmaids. I don’t know.
First impression: called to book an appointment and got voicemail (saying leave a message if you want to book an appointment). Left a message saying i would like to book an appointment to try on WATTERS brand dresses, that I was a bride to be, that I was currently undergoing cancer treatment and so would likely only have the energy to try on one or two dresses so it should be a very short appointment. I left my phone number and requested a callback about appointment availabilities (mid-​week too, not weekend, basically any time between Tuesday and Thursday any time of day.) No one ever called me back. At all. zero reply. Crickets. I should have left it at that and called another salon.
Second impression: called again, someone answered and I booked my appointment for a Wednesday. I specified that I was interested in viewing a specific designer only and that i would only be able to try on a couple of gowns due to my cancer treatments. Response: crickets
Third impression: arrived for appointment, sales associate had no information about my appointment or special needs or that I was interested in a specific designer so I had to repeat the whole thing again. Trust me when I say, telling a stranger you have cancer isn’t very fun, but was necessary to explain some physical challenges I have, and since I had originally said all that on the phone I was hoping she would already have the Coles Notes on me.
They didn’t have the dress style I wanted but I tried on a similar one from the same designer and collection to see how it fit and decided it would work. I tried on one additional dress just for fun and that was that. Sold. But first they had to check delivery dates for the dress I wanted and check the price of the rush fee.
Fourth impression: received a call the next day from the owner or manager of the store, Antonia, saying the dress I wanted wasn’t available for my delivery date. I said I would pay any rush fee, she said it was impossible and did I have a second pick. As disappointed as I was, I just kind of thought, «well this is the kind of year I’m having.» I gave her my second pick, but said I needed a couple of days to think about it before completing the sale. She told me that if I didn’t place the order THAT DAY I wouldn’t get the dress in time.
I went online and looked at dress #2 on the Watters website again just to solidify it in my mind that it would be okay and it was one of the dresses listed as being available for 3 week rush delivery! Bonus! I sent the manager the Watters web page that showed my dress was available with 3 week rush delivery and she said no. I would have to pay the rush fee and it would arrive in May — three months later. What? I was trying to do the math, but it didn’t make any sense. How does 3 weeks turn into 3 months?
My friend managed to track down my dream dress a day or two after I settled on dress #2. Through a store in Calgary and the distributor they suggested simply cancelling the dress I ordered, they would send the sample through frocks, I would pay the difference (my dream dress was almost double the price). I would get my dress, Frocks would still get paid, everyone would live happily ever after.
We ran this option by the manager at Frocks and were told absolutely not. And not, «I’m sooooo sorry, I would love to accommodate but…» It was more like, «you talked to the distributer? Where did you get the dress? No you can’t switch it. It’s not my fault.»
Well my friend got the dress from Calgary fedexed directly from the distributor. Huge shout out and big thanks to Watters distributor who said they do extra-​rush service for special circumstances like mine all the time — she had never been told about my situation. But I’m happy, I got my dress never mind Frocks.
Final impression: Now it’s mid-​May and my second pick dress arrived at Frocks. I very happily went in to get the dress. I don’t plan to wear it for my wedding, but I have the dress I really wanted and that’s all that matters. When I went into Frocks I had planned to look at accessories (a sparkly belt and a veil or headband), but when I gave my name and said I was there to pick up my dress, I have never in my life experienced such frosty service. Now that I’ve written this review, if I went back in there, I would expect the snotty, humiliating service I got. She basically shoved some paperwork at me to sign, which I did, handed me the dress and swung away from me so fast she nearly hit me in the face with her ponytail extension.
I’ve considered contacting the owner but at this point I’d rather just look forward to my wedding and put this behind me.

Worst experience ever. We had some challenges around the dress and there was some drama (we wanted a certain dress, paid for it, and then were told the next day that they couldn’t get it. The bride ordered a different dress through Frocks Vancouver and then through divine intervention, I found the dress she really wanted and bought that too). We were totally not fussed about it and were willing to let it go since this is meant to be a happy experience.
The woman working in the shop (some name that starts with an A) was absolutely horrible about it. All she cared about was herself and that she wasn’t to blame. I insisted that we were putting no blame on anybody but she still insisted going on and on in a very aggravated aggressive tone about how it was not her fault. I finally had to tell her that I refused to continue the conversation since I had already spent the last 10 minutes saying that we got what we wanted in the end so we were not upset or unhappy and since the dress was already paid for the shop wasn’t losing anything so I really did not see what the problem was. I said there was no problem. I’m the customer so if I don’t have a problem and you still get paid then there is no problem — except for her very bad attitude and possible the worst customer service experience ever (which I kept to myself at the time).
We went today to pick up the dress from Frocks that the bride won’t be wearing (we’re going to try to sell it on Craigslist or something) and that same woman was there but instead of greeting us she gave us the frostiest reception ever. No niceties. Hardly any eye contact and tons of attitude. Thanks for nothing.
This should not make a difference but it does to me. The bride has cancer and is going through a difficult time. The last thing she needed today was that nasty woman giving her attitude over nothing. You should seriously be ashamed of yourself. While you have lovely dresses, your service is downright ugly.

Really poor experience. They made me book an appointment even though I told them I knew what dress I wanted I just had to try it on. I gave them the style number, color, designer, everything! They took down all the info but still made me book an appointment. When I went in for my scheduled appointment they had no idea what I was talking about! Nobody even looked to see if they had the dress in store (which they didn’t) ! When I paid for the dress (that I never got to try on) they scared me into paying extra for «super rush». It still came later then they said. When it finally showed up they gave me a specific time to come pick it up and AGAIN had no idea what I was doing when I showed up. No communicate and no responsibly for their mistakes.

This boutique thoroughly aggravates me. I am a bride-​to-​be in the States whose sister lives in Vancouver… As if that isn’t challenging enough for planning purposes, when my sister went to this shop to look at the dresses I had in mind, they let her try on but would not measure her unless she gave them a down payment. Measuring literally takes 30 seconds. Horrible customer service!!!

I was happy to see there were both short and long dresses in my $ 300 price range. Wish that more examples of colours were available in store though.

Went shopping with my sister for her wedding dress and had an amazing time! The people working there were attentive and sweet, they answered all of our questions and knew exactly what my sister wanted to try on, they knew her taste perfectly. We had an amazing time and I’ll be shopping there every chance I get!

I popped into Frocks on a whim after a really discouraging trip to the wedding strip in New Westminster and was pleasantly surprised by their selection, price point and sales team. We didn’t have an appointment but they accommodated us (unlike every other shop we tried) and had plenty of beautiful, modern and unique wedding dresses to choose from. I have yet to decide on a dress, but I would definitely recommend Frocks for brides who are looking for a refreshing change from the bedazzled, poofy, princess dresses that seems to have a stronghold on the industry. Thanks Frocks.

I have to thank Micah at Frocks for all her help for fixing my bridesmaid dress situation.
I was so fortunate to have her be so helpful and reliable to help me get my situation resolved, considering I only had a few days to get my dress fixed prior to the wedding. It was a situation that was out of her control, but she did everything she could to fix it and make me happy.
I know problems may arise for any situation — especially a stressful wedding, so it was great to see her work with me to get it resolved. The dress was fixed at the final hour, and I had a dress to wear at my sister’s wedding.
Thanks again Micah. Your help is greatly appreciated.

This was my very first stop on a hopefully short hunt for my perfect wedding dress (es) as I LOATHE dress fittings and all things frilly. I also have an insane fear of inevitably evolving into a bridezilla the size of a monster turd. In short, I would much rather be at a bar drinking a pint.
Instead, I booked an appointment at Frocks for myself and a family entourage of five to find that illusive «perfect dress». Cat and her team were wonderful from the very beginning to very end of a long 2 hour process of trying on dresses. My sister-​in-​law ran out for a big bottle of bubbly to calm my irritated nerves (God bless her) and off to the races we went.
Just to give you an idea of what the ladies at Frocks had to work with, I went in there with my Spanx on backwards and inside out. I didn’t want frills, I didn’t want sparkle, I didn’t want to wear a bra. Megan really listened to my likes and dislikes and she wasn’t pushy at all about me having to make a decision to buy a dress, even though I tried on something like 20 dresses and then went back to try on the ones I liked all over again.
Through the course of all of this, Megan and Cat were actually able to being out the slumbering princess bride in me and I actually found myself enjoying trying on dresses! In fact, I fell in love with not one, but TWO dresses! Imagine that, no one woulda thunk it!
I love that this ain’t Brides of Beverly Hills. There is no pomp and pretentiousness here. This is a small local boutique with reasonably priced frocks. The service is friendly, personal and casual. My experience was definitely note-​worthy and I hope to get my dresses here.

After making an appointment to search for my wedding dress at Frocks, I was excited to see what unique dresses they had. I expected some kind of service, unfortunately received nothing that would be even considered bare minimum.
I was hardly greeted when I walked into the store with my friends/​bridesmaids. The sales rep seemed disinterested — didn’t ask me what kind of style a dress I was looking for, or at least find out where my wedding was going to be held so that recommendations was going to be made. I had to provide the information to her. When it came time to trying on dresses, I along with my friends pulled dresses to try on, and each time I needed to have the dress clamped to see the fit, I had to call out to the sales person who was in the backroom. Where was the attention?
I finally just gave up and left. Perhaps it was just my luck that I had an disinterested and unhelpful sales rep. So unless there’s been an overhaul in how they treat their clients — there’s no chance, I would ever recommend this store in the future.

Same as some others who’ve posted on here…
Frocks told me to order a bridesmaid dress that is almost two sizes too big. ²⁄₄ of our dresses fit, the other two really didn’t. They said they could order me a new one if I paid the rush fee… after paying $ 250 for a pretty basic dress, I wasn’t about to pay another $ 80 or so to get a new one, I’d rather pay the $ 60 it cost to someone else to alter it.
The place I got the alterations done at said they get a lot of Frocks dresses (this is NOT the place Frocks refers you to because I’m pretty sure they get a cut of those), this place said she thinks Frocks does this on purpose.
It’s pretty lame… weddings are already so expensive; to take advantage of people on such a special occasion is bad karma.
But of course, I signed a contract saying that I agree to the size they ordered.,. I guess I’ll know now to double check my own measurements if I ever need another bridesmaid dress, or someday a wedding dress, but unfortunately because of this experience I likely won’t be getting either at Frocks.

Nothing short of phenomenal!
Was having a bit of a dress crisis, called in the day before to let them know the challenges I was having and explained what I needed and when.
I arrived the next morning right as they opened and the friendly sales girl was already pulling dresses for me that fit the description.
Very helpful, not pushy, and really knew her stuff!
We didn’t end up choosing a line they carried, but if we did I would order from them in a heartbeat. Great experience!

Great Simple Service,
I was searching for a black tie dinner dress and the lady at the store pulled out some suggestions from the rack and from the back. She found a great dress that I probably wouldn’t have tried on my own. I was able to pick out a dress in 45 minutes. Once again, these kind of dresses tend to look sad and droopy on a hanger, and need to be tried on before being judged. Come prepared with heels and wearing some hardworking underwear. I would say the store is more formal than funky, which is what I was in the market for.

I truly wish I would have followed the advice of my friends and not gone to Frocks. After my dress arriving almost ago with the wrong colour sash, Frocks made the decision to send it back and get a new one. Over the span of 3 weeks I called every few days to the reply of it should be here any day now.
Finally I spoke with a different sales person who said that there was a note on my order saying that I had been called about the mix-​up and that the dress was returned. With only 2 weeks before my wedding the dress finally arrived.
Following the suggestion of Frocks I took the dress in to be altered and since I trusted Frocks to take proper measurements I trusted the size that needed to be ordered. The dress is 2 sizes too big and now the cost of fitting the dress is twice as much as the original cost of the dress. Best part… I signed a contract so Frocks gets to wash their hands of me.
For a $ 200 dress I really didn’t expect to have to pay $ 580 in alterations because the entire dress needs to be rebuilt because of the oversizing.
Thankfully Simdy on Davie Street is amazing and she is fixing Frocks lack of professionalism.

So we’ve all been there before: you’re asked to be a bridesmaid for your friend’s wedding (the honour!), but you later find yourself walking down the aisle in some periwinkle monstrosity with a flower growing out of your butt (the horror!). What’s better, the bride will say something like «oh, this looks great on you! You can *totally* wear this again after the wedding.» Give me a break.
No fear, ladies, Frocks is here to change all that. My best friend is getting married in the new year, and she recently took her sister and me into Frocks to try on some dresses. Fortunately, she’s going for a very cool retro Mad Men-​esque feel to her wedding, so she had us try on some 50’s era-​inspired dresses. We found exactly what we were looking for, and I couldn’t be more pleased.
After trying on a few different dresses, we came across Alfred Sung’s bridesmaid collection. Oooh, designer name brand –pricey, right? Wrong. We ended up finding the perfect cocktail-​length a-​line dress for a very reasonable $ 165. That’s not too shabby, especially considering I WILL actually wear this dress again. Gladly.
While meandering through the store, we came across a small bridal section. Considering that Frocks specializes in bridesmaids’ attire, I was impressed by their well-​edited selection of wedding dresses. It spans a total of one small rack, but it’s worth checking out.
I’ll end this with a few pieces of advice:
1. Make an appointment
2. Ladies, don’t wear your extra lacy see-​through lingerie. You WILL need to strip to your skivvies to be measured, and we all know that experience is awkward enough as it is. Learned that the hard way.

Oh Frocks, when you first opened nearly 6 years ago, I thought you truly lived up to the name… the dresses in your store really did seem like simple frocks. The dresses seemed to be all made of the same stiff raw silk and the patterns unimaginative. Very ‘bridesmaid-​y’ indeed: plain, spinster-​ish and nothing that a person would wear twice. I think I developed an allergy to that fabric (I wish I could remember the name) as a result of my first visit…
When my dear amigo, the bride-​to-​be decided that we’d start our bridesmaid dress shopping at Frocks, I wasn’t keen (but I’ll do anything for the bride). I thought we were in store for more boxy, boring stiff numbers. Well, I’m happy to say that I was mostly wrong. Their website showcases a host of adorable dresses from a variety of designers and in a plethora of fabrics. Yes, they still do have a good deal in that stiff stuff (words can’t describe how much I dislike it) but beautiful, flowy numbers abound as well. They’re not cheap by any means, but some of them I would actually wear again. Imagine that? I was liking that idea.
When we first arrived, we were coolly greeted by an awkward staff person who allowed us to come in, but not to try on clothes, because they had an appointment coming in. I admired their dedication to their clients (really I did), but I felt they could have treated us with a bit more warmth. We felt like we were hugely inconveniencing them… and seriously, we’re customers. The girl was new, so fair enough, I’m sure she’s just learning the ropes, but dang, she’s not very friendly. Whatever, I’m just a customer service whore.
It turned out that their appointment ended up canceling, so it worked out perfectly that we’d dropped by. I adored a few dresses (each $ 350) but the price didn’t work for the whole wedding party, so we passed on them. It was funny because the brides dress cost her $ 400 (it’s gorgeous) so spending close to that amount felt a wee wild. I realize that Canadian designed/​made clothing costs heaps more to make, but that’s not the point: brides, bridesmaids, heck ANYONE has to live by their budget. Buying $ 300+ dresses just doesn’t work with many a pocketbook.
Still, there’s 3 dresses there that I’m pining over. PINING!