Fashion, Retailer Reviews

Review: Talbots Petite Dresses

Talbots is a brand that I, quite honestly, always associated with older women. Maybe it’s because my mom used to shop there quite a bit, back when Talbots had retail locations in Montreal. Despite the fact that they have an extensive petites section, it was never a brand that interested me much; their styles just felt dated and somewhat dowdy.

But I was browsing for some spring dresses that I could wear for upcoming travel plans next spring where I knew I’d need some more conservative clothing that covered the shoulders and the knees. And I came across a few pieces on clearance sale on Talbots’ website. Despite not being familiar with their sizing, I took a leap of faith and decided to order two dresses to try them out.

The online shopping experience

Talbots used to have numerous stores here in Quebec, but closed them years ago. Now, the nearest retail location is in Ottawa, more than two hours away. I opted instead to order online.

For Canadians, the shopping experience is a bit frustrating. They charge a flat $25 US shipping fee to ship to Canada, and all prices are in US dollars, so you have to factor in the exchange rate. Furthermore, they ship via UPS, which charges the highest customs brokerage rates of all the shipping carriers. As a result, my order, totalling $135 USD, ended up costing me over $300 CAD once taxes, duties, customs brokerage, and exchange rate were factored in. Not exactly the clearance deal I was after!

What’s more, these items were on clearance, which meant they were final sale — no refunds, no exchanges. And, even for merchandise that isn’t final sale, Talbots makes returns extremely expensive and complicated for Canadians, requiring us to either ship the items back to the US at our own expense, or return them to a “local” store that may be hours away. The latter option would also mean we could not reclaim the taxes and duties paid, either.

For these reasons, I have to put a giant red flag beware on shopping online from Talbots if you’re Canadian. If you do want to shop with them, I’d recommend instead getting your items shipped to the border.

But more importantly, how were the items?

Linen popover shirtdress

I bought two dresses in petite sizes. First was this linen popover shirtdress in chambray denim blue with a tie-belt front:

Dress: Linen Popover Shirtdress, size SP, $61.59 USD (reduced from $149)

Linen is trending right now, and is very breathable in the heat. I thought this would be a cool comfortable summer dress that would be very versatile. The petite sizing, waist belt, and split collar gave me hope that this might be a flattering style on my petite pear frame. But alas, in real life, it was just awful. Take a look:

It looks like a potato sack. A really ugly potato sack. That’s pretty much all I can say about this.

The light chambray washes me out. The dress is more of a shift silhouette than an a-line, and thus a bit too tight at the hips while being too loose at the top. The length is awkward. Basically, everything about this is bad.

I would’ve sent it back in a heartbeat if it weren’t final sale. I guess I’ll list it on Poshmark or something. Lesson learned.

Yellow floral midi dress

The other dress I picked up was this yellow floral print midi dress in a stretch crepe fabric:

Dress: Stretch crepe midi dress, size 4P, $72.79 USD (reduced from $169)

I actually own a very similar yellow dress already from Jones NY, which I love. Mine is sleeveless and hits just above the knee, though, making it less practical for occasions where I need to make sure my shoulders and knees are covered. So I bought this in hopes that it would serve the same purpose, but with a more practical length and sleeve length.

Here’s what it looks like on me:

It’s honestly just okay. The midi length hits mid-calf, which is a bit long on me. I was hoping for something slightly shorter, just below the knee. The short sleeves have more of a gather to them than I could see from the photo. And the sweetheart neckline with button-down top is a little awkward. I can’t point to a specific thing that’s wrong with this, exactly. But the overall effect isn’t quite right either. Is it wearable? Probably. Do I love it? Not really. But it will fill a niche in my wardrobe and serve a practical purpose, and it’s cheerful and bright and springy. So yeah, I’ll probably hang onto this.

The verdict

Unfortunately, I had a pretty negative experience overall with Talbots. One of the dresses I ordered is a complete write-off; the other is nice enough that I’ll get a bit of wear out of it, but it isn’t something I would have paid $150 for. Given the challenges with the online shopping experience, and the difficulty returning or exchanging items, I sadly can’t recommend Talbots to petite Canadians.

If you do like their styles and happen to live close to a retail location, then it might be worth visiting to try on styles in store. One thing I will give Talbots is that nearly all their retail locations in Canada still have in-store petite sections. But there are only a handful of stores in Canada concentrated in four provinces. If you, like me, don’t live near a retail location, I’d say give Talbots a miss.

1 thought on “Review: Talbots Petite Dresses

  1. May, 2024 For Canadians – simply phone a store that is nearest to you and they will ship it
    out to you. That way you can avoid any potential customs and duty charges. I signed up
    just before Mother’s Day and received a 30% discount and a 10% discount for becoming a member.
    The shipping took about 10 days. Ordered the petite sleeveless denim dress and it is a perfect fit except I will have to shorten it for my 5 ft 1 in height. Otherwise delighted with it.

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