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Unveiling The Truth About
Wedding Dresses
from
www.ConsumerAffairs.com
The Federal Trade Commission is trying to make sure
that brides-to-be get what they pay for when they
buy a wedding dress - including all the information
that federal law requires on wearing apparel. The
disclosures -- including the manufacturer or seller,
the fabric, the country where the garment was made,
and cleaning instructions -- must be included on
every garment offered for sale, says the FTC. But
they're particularly important on wedding dresses,
arguably the most expensive and memorable purchases
of a lifetime. "There's no question that most
brides-to-be look at the price tag on the outside of
the dress before they look at the information on the
inside label," said Jodie Bernstein, Director of the
FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. "But brides are
telling us that they want the 'inside' information
and that it's missing from some garments." Bernstein
said the emergence of discount ordering services --
either through toll-free telephone numbers or the
Internet -- has spurred some retailers to remove
disclosure labels from their gowns.
It is not against the law to remove manufacturers'
labels and replace them with a store's own labels,
she said, but it is illegal to sell or show a gown
that doesn't have the required information at all.
The FTC has issued a new brochure, "Wedding Gown
Labels: Unveiling the Requirements," to alert
manufacturers and retailers about the following
disclosures required by law on all clothing offered
for sale, including wedding gowns:
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the identity of the manufacturer, distributor or
retailer, either by name or by registered
identification number (RN). The FTC issues the
RN, which consumers can use to identify a
company should they have a complaint or a
compliment to share. The FTC maintains an RN
lookup service at its web site:
www.ftc.gov
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the garment's fiber content. "This information
is important to any shopper, and especially to
brides," said Bernstein. "Who wants to pay the
price of silk if the garment is polyester?"
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federal law requires that clothes carry a label
that identifies the country or origin.
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all garments must carry permanently affixed care
labels telling consumers how to clean and care
for them.
"We hope that bridal
gown businesses will refer to our business education
brochure to make sure they're complying with the law
and providing brides-to-be with the information they
deserve," Bernstein said. Copies of the Facts for
Business, "Wedding Gown Labels: Unveiling the
Requirements" are available from the FTC's web site
at
www.ftc.gov and also from the
FTC's Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600
Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580;
202-FTC-HELP (202-382-4357); TDD for the hearing
impaired 202-326-2502.
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