I purchased a cabaret style belly dance costume from a vendor in Egypt in 2010 and upon discovering that having it custom made did not mean 'ready to wear', I put it off to the side to be altered at a later date.  About a year later - October of 2011 - I found I was going to need to wear my bedlah for the upcoming Christmas show and asked about a seamstress who could do the alterations.  Several dancers in my class said to take my costume to Mom's Alterations in Arlington as they had experience with belly dance costumes, were inexpensive and had a turn around time of one week.

Sharon brought me to seem the seamstress before class on November 19^th (Saturday) for alterations.  I met with "Mom" and  explained that I needed the costume back and ready to wear on the 29^th (Tuesday).  I was fitted and she marked my set for alterations – a few hook and eye sets would need to be attached, the straps were to be attached to the back of my bra in an X, a bit of Velcro was to be added to the extra part of the belt (for the overlap) and the bra band was to be shortened.  She made noises that seemed to indicate that it would be a bit close to get it done on time but did not refuse to take on the project.  Sharon said she would pick up the set on the 29^th and we left.

On the 29^th, the seamstress was surprised to see Sharon picking up the set and fussed over the lack of a final fitting but asked Sharon to have me bring the set back in.  When I tried on the set, the only thing that had been done was the hook and eye sets (and they were not in the correct place)

No phone call was made to me and no voice mail was left that an additional fitting was needed or that the set was not going to be finished on time.  She also did not make any attempt to turn away my business or indicate that the set could not be finished when I needed it.  If she had a tight schedule, she could have charged a ‘rush’ fee or marked the alterations for me and had me alter one of the pieces myself while her shop fixed the other but none of these things happened.  Despite the urging of others, I made the needed alterations to make the set wearable for performance rather than return to the shop for them to finish the set for me.  I know others have had good experiences with this shop (it is how I was referred to them after all) but my experience was quite different and based on my own experience, I am unable to recommend them.

This is a vendor I found on Tribe.net as Fraya would make posts on some of the tribes that she had new things for sale in her Etsy store.  I decided to take a look to see what all she had for offer since I was feeling a bit uneasy about my purchase from Aurelia's Regalia (see review on LARP Resources) and I ended up purchasing a set – pantaloons, skirt, entari and ghawazee coat w/ free head wrap – and a lace skirt on Feb 6^th.  When I placed the order with Freya, she said that she was moving and finishing up a few projects but that she should have the set by the beginning of March.  I let her know that I didn't need to have it in hand until the beginning of April and she said this would give her time to give my order extra attention and promised to send photos as she made progress on my new set.

On March 10th, with no word from Fraya and no photos or costume, I sent a message to find out how my costume was coming along.  She replied on March 13th that she hoped to start on in by the 15th.  On April 2nd, I got a message from her asking about skirt length which I had sent back in February when I placed my order, and said she hoped to have my order in the mail by the 11th and asked it I needed it before the 15th.  I asked her to let me know if the set was going to be to me on time because if not I needed to put something else together.  She told me she would get to work on it and send photos so I could see how my set was coming along and thanked me for my patience.

On April 7th, she sent word that because she had tried to rush to get things done, mistakes had been made and that my set would not get to me on time.  She apologized and assured me that her perfectionist nature would result in a set that I would be thrilled with.  On April 26th, I tried to check with her again about my order in the hopes that this set would get to make at least one showing for the faire season and on April 27th I received word she was starting on it.  April 29th she again asked about the skirt length and I sent it to her for a third time.   May 14th Fraya messaged me to let me know that she thought she could have all orders out by the 31st and that she'd had 218 orders come in over her move.   June 10th I tried to inquire about my set but got no reply.  July 3rd, I received word that she was finishing up most of my order and that it was finally about to ship.  Most of my order finally arrived in late July with the entari arriving in late August (Yaa Halla weekend).

Pantaloons – were not as full as pictured

Skirt – was almost not dyed both colors (something I paid extra for)  Very full but after one washing, it looking a little frayed at the hem and a few of the stitches appear to be loose on the tiers.  There were small green spots on the blue top part that while easy to hide with a hip scarf were still disappointing to see

Entari – ordered it in ivory and it is white.   I also don’t remember requesting large, primitive wooden buttons for this piece but they are there and I do not like the way they look with the delicate, semi sheer fabric.  I plan to remove them and sew the front of the garment closed.

Ghawazee coat – Does not fit.  I don’t know if it’s because the buttons are too big for the button holes, because she thought she was making it lace up and when she sent me a message to verify the closure type she found out it was to button up (the holes are at the edge of the garment), the large buttons on the entari take up too much space under the coat or if she just cut the wrong size but my ghawazee coat will not button across the bust (and is difficult to button the other buttons) It might fit after I remove the large buttons on the entari but I can't say for certain.  If it does not, I will either need to alter or sell it (and I will need experienced help to alter)

Lace skirt – not as full as it looked in the photos.  It has not been worn or washed yet and I hope does not have the same issue as the dyed skirt

Head wrap – no issues

The issue of not fitting as full as pictured isn’t a big deal (except for the tardiness) but the rest is pretty disappointing.  For me, it’s worse that I got excuses and thanked for my patience when she chose to communicate at all (most of the time, she was silent)  rather than my costume on time.  I think I would find it easier to forgive a few of these things if my order had arrived early or on time but over 3 months late makes it completely unpalatable.  I understand that she moved to a new state and that she has a full time job but that did not deter her from taking orders while preparing to move, during her move and while trying to settle in to a new place.  She always had the option of cutting off orders (I thought when I ordered in February that I was probably just in under the wire for cut off), offering a refund & cancellation to clear out the back log or of hiring help to get the orders taken care of.  I am very disappointed in my experience with Painted Lady Clothier and cannot recommend her to anyone, no matter how long you feel you can wait for your order to arrive

Note: As of 1/15/2012 Fraya does not have a working Etsy store.  Her Facebook page for Painted Lady Clothier has not been updated since August 29, 2011 and comments show that people are still waiting for their orders to be filled