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Background
The past few years, my husband and I have been attending quite a few weddings. Although the celebrations have been wonderful, trying to plan what attire to wear is not always such a wonderful experience for me. I tend to like to wear the same things over and over…a creature of habit I guess. I love my comfy clothes and have a tough time finding dressy attire I like, especially quasi-formal dresses. Also, most of our friends have seen most, if not all, of my wedding attire already, so the time had finally come! I had to buy a new dress.

Not only was I concerned about breaking the bank (have you seen how expensive ladies dresses are???!), but I was concerned about finding something that I actually liked and would possibly wear again. Most dress prices tend to run WAY above what I am willing to pay. After searching all over the internet for places that would not only fit the above criteria, but also have my size, I fell across Catherines.com. I’m extremely happy I did.


What They Sell
Catherine’s sells items for women who wear size 14 and up (I believe they go up to size 36). Not only do they specialize in plus size clothing, but you can even go so far as to find items specifically for the petite woman. If you are petite, they cut the clothing for a 5ָ” frame. Being 5’ 6”, I was pleasantly surprised to find that they cut their average height clothing for exactly my height. If you are 5ּ”, then they cut their tall sizes just the right size for you.

They have a pretty decent selection of casual clothing, but the styles they carry are just not really my style. Their special occasion wear was exactly up my alley though, so that is how they hooked me. I was also looking at some of their career items, and am thinking I may dive into that once my bank account recovers a bit.


The Site Itself
I found the site very simple to navigate, and didn’t have any problems finding what I needed. I went right to special occasion items under dresses and found a dress for a reasonable price (under $100). Granted, some of the items are quite expensive, but the one I ended up choosing was actually below what I expected to pay. Plus, I found a free shipping offer for any order over $75, so I was in heaven. And if you are an ebates person, you can get percent back. Just something to think about.

In addition to having a toolbar with pretty much everything you need right across the top of the site, with drop down menus of subcategories that appear when you scroll over the category, I found that the site was extremely informative. The help section is wonderful; they have so much information! You can look up your account information (including getting password assistance should you forget yours), privacy policy information (including opting out of third party e-mails…and you can actually do it online instead of via mail!), a frequently asked questions section, shipping options, sizing charts and even corporation information (do you want a job?).

They also have a search feature, but I didn’t use it, because I wanted to browse a category instead.


Shipping Options/Costs
I was fortunate enough to receive free shipping, and my package was expected to arrive in 2 – 5 business days. I received my order in 2 days and was thoroughly thrilled.

Catherines.com will ship to any address in the USA, including Alaska and Hawaii. They also ship to Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands and APO addresses (no additional cost).
They do not ship internationally.

Your choices of shipping methods are:
USPS Express Mail - $20.00
Priority Mail - $6.95

If you qualify for free shipping, they will send your items via USPS Priority Mail (how mine arrived) or USPS First-Class Mail. And by the way, if you use a gift card to purchase an item, you do not receive free shipping, BUT if you buy a gift card (or the Figure It Out book) you DO receive free shipping.


Customer Service
I didn’t have to deal with them once (the way I like it!). I do want to mention that they sent me an e-mail as soon as my order was received, and another one when my order was being shipped. The e-mail had all the information necessary to track my package, including a link directly to the shipping site. I love that! And, should you lose your e-mail with tracking information in it, you can always log on to the site and look up your order and tracking information that way.

Oh, by the way, you can place orders at the site without registering, but I personally was glad I did register. This way I can keep track of all my past orders right on their site, AND manage my account how I want to.


Returns/Miscellaneous
For those of you who like going to the Brick & Mortar stores, they do have a store locator on the website. And, if you buy something on the website, you do have the option of returning it either via mail to the catherines.com store, or taking it to an actual Brick & Mortar store (highly unusual!!!) You have six months to return an item, provided you bring the unwashed, unworn product (with tags still attached) and the packing slip and credit card with you. If you decide to return to the online store, you will have to pay for the postage and insurance costs, but everything else will be refunded. You will also receive an e-mail when your card has been adjusted.