How to buy clothing from a shop that does not take returns, and what we do if something is wrong

We do not accept returns for change of mind, and that is a real cost to you rather than a detail in the small print. It shifts the risk of a wrong guess off us and onto the person paying. We would rather set that out plainly, say exactly what we do cover, and then be useful about how to buy around it, than bury it on a policy page and hope.

The obvious part first

No returns is a disadvantage to you. No amount of explaining the reason makes that untrue, and a shop that pretends otherwise is being slippery.

The reason is structural rather than clever. We hold no stock and run no warehouse, so there is nowhere for an unwanted item to go and nobody to receive, inspect or resell it. Nothing exists until somebody has bought it, which is what lets us carry a long catalogue, and the price of that is no returns desk.

What we can do instead is two things: answer questions properly before you order, and cover the things that are our fault completely. The rest of this article is how to get the most out of both.

What we cover in full

If an order arrives damaged, if it is not what you ordered, or if it arrives later than the window stated on the product page, tell us and we will replace it or refund you in full.

You do not send anything back and you do not pay return postage. There is nowhere to send it, which cuts in your favour here.

Email within 30 days of delivery, or within 30 days of the latest date in the stated window if it never turned up at all. For anything damaged, send a photograph, and we will ask for one if you have not. That is the whole process.

What we do not cover, stated plainly

Change of mind, and an item that simply is not to your taste.

A size chosen incorrectly. The sizes offered are on every product page before you buy, and this is the one that costs people real money, which is why we have written at length about measuring yourself and about reading a listing with no chart.

Normal variation in a cast or hand finished object, because these are not machined parts and no two come out identical. And damage from use, or from fixing a wall mounted object without suitable fixings.

Cancelling, which is the real escape hatch

Production starts after payment, because nothing is made or ordered until somebody has bought it. That means there is a window, usually a short one, in which nothing has been ordered from the supplier yet.

If you change your mind, email immediately. If the item has not gone into production or been ordered, we refund you in full, no questions. Once it has, we cannot, because at that point we own it and still have nowhere to put it.

That window is hours to a day or two rather than a week. Speed is the entire thing, and an email sent the same evening is worth far more than a carefully worded one sent on Monday.

The order of operations before you buy clothing

Measure yourself first and write the numbers down in centimetres. Then read the garment's numbers, if the page has them, and compare the two with the right amount of ease for the fabric.

If the page has no chart, or if you fall between two sizes, email us before ordering. We will go and read the supplier's own measurements for that specific item. This is not a politeness line at the end of a policy: it is the only tool that genuinely reduces your risk, and it is free.

Then buy one thing rather than three. People size three garments off a single guess, and when the guess turns out wrong they are wrong three times for the same reason.

Pick the forgiving thing when you are unsure

Risk is not spread evenly across a catalogue. A fitted woven bodice with a back zip is the highest risk item in any shop, anywhere. Something with stretch, a tie, a drawstring, gathers or a deliberately loose cut is a different proposition entirely.

A coat cut oversized on purpose is a low risk garment, because being between sizes is more or less the point of it and the only dimensions that have to be right are the shoulder and the sleeve.

Lowest risk of all is something with no size. If you want to find out what this shop is actually like before committing to a dress, buy an object. A pair of cast brass bats cannot be the wrong size, and you will learn what our packing and our shipping windows are really like for the price of a sandwich and a bit.

When it arrives

Open it within a few days. The 30 day clock runs from delivery, so a parcel left sealed until a birthday is a parcel whose window is quietly closing. If you are buying a gift, that matters more than the surprise does: buy early, open it yourself, check it, then wrap it.

If the outer parcel looks like it has been through something, photograph it before you open it. That takes ten seconds and settles any question about whether the damage happened in transit.

Then check the item against what you ordered: the right piece, the right size on the label, the right colour. For velvet and anything else that arrives folded, give it 24 to 48 hours on a hanger before judging it, because a shipping crease is not a defect and most of it falls out on its own. For a gift where you do not have the person's measurements, the safest answer is something with no size to get wrong, and a piece of cut steel for a wall has never once been the wrong size.

Questions people actually ask

Can I return an item if it does not fit?

No. We hold no stock and have nowhere to receive a return, so we do not accept returns for change of mind or for a size chosen wrongly. We do cover an item that arrives damaged, is not what you ordered, or arrives later than the stated window, in full.

What happens if my order arrives damaged?

Email us within 30 days of delivery with a photograph and we will replace it or refund you in full. You do not send anything back and you do not pay return postage, because there is nowhere for it to go.

Can I cancel an order?

Only before it goes into production, which starts after payment and can happen within a day. Email as soon as you decide, and if the item has not been made or ordered from the supplier we refund you in full.