DÔEN

Every visit to this store brings so much joy! The pieces are timeless and always stunning.

One of the worst shopping experiences I've had. I walked into an empty store with two employees chatting, neither acknowledging me. As I walked by one of them, I politely said hello, but they didn't respond--just walked right past me. When I left, the other employee glanced up but still said nothing. I wasn't dressed in anything fancy, but I certainly didn't expect to feel so judged. In contrast, I went to the shop next door and was warmly greeted right away. I won't be returning to Doen.

My husband randomly did some light legal work for DÔEN a few years back, and I got a bunch of free clothes as a thank you. I picked a couple of blouses that are probably still two of the nicest tops I own, as well as a cute dress and a sweater that ended up being too small for me. DÔEN makes great quality clothes with a romantic, super feminine aesthetic that teeters on the edge between gorgeous and Renaissance Faire, depending on the item and the wearer. The founders are from Santa Barbara, and it makes sense that one of their two store locations is in the Montecito Country Mart (the other is in the Brentwood Country Mart in Santa Monica). The clothes are ideal for rich ladies shopping for breezy dresses. I needed a matron of honor dress for my friend's beach wedding, and I found one of DÔEN's dresses on a list of suggestions for pregnant wedding guest attire that wasn't explicitly maternity wear. In a lucky coincidence, I was going to Montecito for the bachelorette party and was able to tack on a DÔEN visit to a booze run at the Von's next door. I wanted to try on the dress in person to see where it fell on the gorgeous/RenFaire spectrum. The shop was attractive, the clothing neatly, invitingly arranged. The people working there were nice and they let me and my friend share a large, comfortable changing room. I ended up trying on the dress in two sizes and colors. It was quite pretty, and only a little bit milk maidy, and I bought it in a lovely rose color. I didn't end up wearing it for the wedding--I was at a stage where if I hid the bump under a flowy dress I looked huge rather than obviously pregnant--but I have it in reserve for my baby shower. I'd recommend DÔEN if you're in the market for some well-made, breezy, romance heroine clothes, whether or not you're in the family way.

I would save your dollars and shop elsewhere. Their sizing is inconsistent and so is the quality of their pieces. Their customer service is atrocious and their policies are very unfriendly. And frankly the quality of their clothes have taken a nose dive in recent years. TheRealReal will no longer resell their items. By way of further example regarding their customer service I decided to use their "HandMeDoen" service so that I could move on from a gently worn dress. They said that the dress had been "clearly altered" but the him was just tacked up and could have been let down again easily. I told them I would gladly pay for them to return it to me so that I could do this myself, but they absolutely refused and said that they would "be responsible for repurposing it" - which is such nonsense and meaningless to me. So now I am out an expensive dress and will never purchase from the brand again.