Recollections Reviews 20

Three starts for nostalgia. I have been buying from this company since the 90s since it is run by Michiganders. I am one myself. There is even an article about them making handmade customs for HBO. I feel bad people assume they have a Chinese warehouse or that Katie isn’t real. I talked to a few people from the business on the phone. They are a US company and it takes time to hand make outfits. I know they were hit hard by Covid and since they started in 1981, their seamstresses aged up and retired or possibly died, leaving them in a pickle. They probably had a wait for materials and then people got mad at the length of time they were taking and then wanted a refund when the company was putting money into their materials. It is really a shame, the attack on this company, which probably was on the decline because Chinese factories steal designs and then Americans buy them instead of US made. It is too bad the company folded. I only got the best service from them. They even redid buttons, seams and the like for me for free.No question asked.

A local vendor recommended me this site for vintage clothes. I found the perfect gown I needed, placed the order with plenty of lead time for the event I wanted to wear it. I got a confirmation immediately and my card got charged. I patiently waited until the suggested delivery date and nothing! No tracking number, nothing. I started calling the numbers listed on their website, phone lines out of service. I emailed them and never got a reply. So I called my bank and disputed the charges and got my money back. Very disappointing!

Terrible business. I placed an order and have tried to reach out to them multiple different times in multiple different ways and have NEVER received a response. 0/10 do not order from this company. I don’t even know if I’ll get a refund at this point. I’ve read nothing but bad reviews about them. I wish I would have read the reviews before ordering from here.

I never received my order. They charged my credit card. I ordered it 4 months ago and have not gotten my package.

I am still waiting for dress and blouse I ordered in Feb. I was told blouse was being sewn soon and then no response? Phone calls sound like phone not working? What is going on???

I’ve used Recollections for years, and own many of their outfits, which were always handmade in Alpena by Michigan women. I don’t know what has happened to that company, as this new one is not at all reliable.

I ordered a simple camisole in natural fabric with white trim back on July 24, 2025 - and am STILL waiting for that one garment FOUR MONTHS LATER! “Katie” responds to my numerous emails with the same line: “waiting for fabric”. They don’t have plain off-white cotton in stock?? Even Michael’s has that!

I suspect the company has changed hands, and may or may not be sourcing their garments from another country, not Michigan any longer.

Be careful when you order from these people their biggest reason for not coming through with your order is they use backorder? They are backordered on whatever you’re looking for. We had to do a reverse charges on our credit card after waiting a long period of time and all we got out of them is backorder. They would not work with us on going to another like a navy blue or white. The answers were no . You couldn’t get them on the phone very hard to communicate with the new management for this company is really bad.

Well, I've got a similar story.
In my closet I have some past garments from Recollections that are well made, get compliments, last forever, etc. Even if the company was a little slow with shipping.

But now, wow. I ordered a dress for $330 on July 16, 2025 to have by Halloween. My CC statement shows the charge on that same day. "Katie" from Recollections emailed me a "thank you for your order" email on 7/22/25 and gave estimated shipping date of 9/5/25. We had more communication about measurements on 7/25, then nothing until I emailed them for status on 9/11/25 when my order still showed "pending" on their website. I emailed them AGAIN on 9/17/25 to follow up, and on 9/18/25, "Katie" emailed me to say "We are awaiting fabric to complete your garment. We are sorry for the delay in emailing you and for the delay in shipping the item."

Today is 10/3/25 and I've just emailed them again (because I can't get through on their phone#) to ask if they've even started anything, what's the update, etc. I will give them through the weekend and until Monday to respond, after which time I will not only demand a refund and contact my credit card company to dispute the charge, I plan to also contact the MI SoS to see how else I can report this (and reference them to this and other websites I've since found that are full of folks like myself who are in the same situation with Recollections). Time to report this FRAUDULENT activity!!

EDITING TO ADD: There are even more complaints about getting refunds processed from this company on the BBB site, too!

Update: I have filed a dispute claim with my credit card company who are now starting their investigation. Also, I'm submitting a written complaint with the Michigan state AG per their online form.
After Recollections ignored my update requests, I cancelled the order via email with them on 10/7/25 w/request for refund. "Katie" responded to THAT email on 10/9/25 with "We have cancelled the order and will process the refund as soon as possible." I asked her to provide the actual date my refund would be submitted, and have been emailing almost daily requesting the same, with no further responses from Recollections. Still unable to get through by phone.

UPDATE :
10/19/25: I received another marketing email from Recollections since I've been on their mailing list and they always send out marketing stuff despite owing people money - this one was "Shop Our New Beautiful Cotton Prints". So I replied to THAT email with my order # requesting an update on my refund!

UPDATE: Today, 10/20/25: I received an email alert from my CC stating my refund has been issued. I checked my account and the July charge from Recollections has been reversed/credit issued for the full refund amount. I don't know yet if that was a result of the claim I filed or if Recollections refunded on their own, as they've still not actually responded to my requests for the refund update.

UPDATE 12/28/25 - My credit card company upheld my refund (that the bank restored as a conditional while they investigated my claim). I don't know what their findings were, but I received a letter from the CC stating that the refund they issued to me (at my request, not sent by Recollections) is now permanent.
Also, when I Googled "recollections.biz complaints" the first thing that comes up from AI indicates the Michigan AG is investigating them.

2/14/26-**BE SURE TO READ ALL THE COMPLAINTS AND REVIEWS ON THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU WEBSITE for recollections.biz!! It includes the December notice by the Michigan AG and all the complaints/reviews can be read there as well. Since then, the recollections.biz website has been removed. I've seen a few posts here on trust pilot from earlier this February suggesting all of us who were scammed by recollections weren't very understanding. I suggest they read all our very real stories + the AG's action which clearly show the pattern of fraud going on for at least over the past 1-2 years. If recollections was merely having a difficult time, they should have been honest with us about not being in a position to fulfill our orders if they were so backed up. Instead, they were quick to take our money, slack on communications, stall over months and months+ of delays, until we had to try getting our proper refunds for failure to render services paid for.

I had ordered from this company before and received great product. This last order I also received no contact and when I reached our was told that the fabric was on backorder. I will see if I manage to get a refund or just dispute the charge with my credit card company.

I wish there was a way we could all get together and file a class action lawsuit against Recollections for the stealing of our money. I ordered December of last year. After I never received my dress, they would respond that they would send a refund which I never received. Now they don't even respond. They still send adds and still are selling! Absolutely absurd. Shame on them. I ordered a few years ago with no problem. The fact that they are still selling with so many people being owed is criminal!!!

I placed an order for a few dresses on June 18, 2025. The order went through and I was charged. I received a ship date of August 2025 which was accurate since the items would take 6-10 weeks to make. I agreed to a ship date of August 2025. It is now coming up on September and I have not received the items. I contacted customer service a few times through email and phone. No one answers the phone or calls you back. You have to leave a message with your information and then if you are lucky you get an email response from the only employee that seems to exist, Katie. I did not receive a reply to my email until I left a phone message. Then days later I got this wonderful email response "Hello, we are waiting on fabrics to complete your items. The new ship date is October. Katie". October is too late. I never agreed to this date. I am disputing the charge through my credit card company. I want a full refund. So a similar experience to the other reviewers here. DO NOT ORDER FROM THIS COMPANY! Based on the other reviews I do not expect to receive any items. I only hope my bank can get my money back. I will be attending a popular Jane Austen themed event in October and plan on telling everyone there to never trust this website. I will also be checking out companies on Trustpilot more often BEFORE I order anything. I wish I had read these reviews.

On May 5, 2025, I ordered a dress. I wish I had come here to look at reviews before I ordered. They gave me an estimated ship date of June 26, 2025. On July 4, I wrote and asked for an updated estimate for when I would receive my dress. No answer. On July 12, I wrote again. On July 17, they responded that the fabric was on backorder. I wrote back the same day, offering to take the dress in a different fabric. No response. On July 22, I wrote again offering to take the dress in a different fabric. On July 24 they responded that they had no alternative fabrics available. They are still selling dresses and offering sales even though they are apparently unable to fulfil orders that are nearly 4 months old.

They still offer sales every month. They still advertise delivery within 10 weeks. They cannot provide either.
They SAY that they have fabric supply issues. But for two years now? At this point their business model has me reporting them to the Michigan Attorney General for fraud. Some folks report waiting over a year with no dress yet.

My wife's dress was ordered 04/20/25. Still not even srarted.

I ordered a dress in April and eventually after multiple attempts of contact was told that the fabric was backordered. Continued to ask about when fabric would be expected and what was in stock to select from and they never told me what I could choose or reached out to work with me, so I cancelled my order and it appears canceled but I have yet to see a refund and it's now August. They're quick to charge one in full but forget about seeing your money or your order.

(English is not my first language, so please go easy on my writing style)

I first ordered at Recollactions over a decade ago. Back then, I got my huge parcel full of goodness quickly, filled with well-fitting garments and perfect communication (they even wrote back about a size I ordered, proposing another size that would fit me better – and they were right!). As the clothes ordered back then are still in my wardrobe today and are still looking great after all those years, it was with confidence that I made a new big order in February of last year.

And then...nothing.

I wrote once, twice, three times and, finally, I gave them a call – to hear that one of the most experienced seamstresses had resigned and that they were behind on the orders. Furthermore, they were experiencing a shortage of fabric.

Well, knowing that “s**** happens”, I waited a few more months and, finally, a part of my order arrived. The fitting of the Edwardian Walking suit – especially the jacket – was not very good, quality had clearly gone down but, all in all, it was still on the OK side (the Jewelry was nice). A second parcel arrived a few weeks later, carrying a blouse that I had bought from a clearance sale, but that had to be re-made - as they had sold the original clearance-item so someone else. Oh well...I'm definitely out of luck on this one!

Nevertheless, there were still 2 items missing. I then waited and waited again and, finally, after a whole year of waiting, I cancelled the remaining order, asking for a refund. On march 5th, 2025, I got a response, claiming that the order had been cancelled and that a refund would be done as quickly as possible. Nothing came. I e-mailed again on March 29th, 2025 and – again – got a response that the refund will be done quickly and – you guessed it – nothing. My last e-mail dated June 1st, 2025, got no response at all.

I am sad to see what has become of this former great address for remade historical clothing. I thought about taking further action but – at this company is overseas and the remaining amount is not that high – I fear that the chase may be not worth (and more expensive than) the catch. Nevertheless, as the European Victorian Reenactment-milieu is a rather small affair, where everybody knows everybody, I will make sure to warn my fellow reenactors about this company.

…And as for you, as you are reading this, I hope that it is not too late for you to be warned: do NOT order from this company, especially as their pretty website is still online, listing new arrivals and allowing new orders to be made.

So that's one star. Another star has been added for the received items and...well, out of Nostalgia.

I would give this company no stars if I could . I ordered a dress and hat back last December and have been told for months they are waiting on a hat frame and fabric. I said for 9 months? Now I read other reviews and so many people are saying the same thing. I was told I would be refunded and now my emails and calls are not being answered. She takes your money and doesn’t give you the items you ordered. If she would have refunded me I would have been fine. But she kept my money and gave me nothing.

After almost 4 months of waiting and getting the generic "we're waiting on fabric" response every time I asked for an update, I still had bot received my skirt and blouse. I requested a refund and they cancelled my order but never refunded me. After waiting three weeks and getting ghosted on my emails asking about my refund status, I had to call the bank to file a claim in order to get my money back. I got the money back and now I'm trying to find somewhere else that makes Edwardian skirts in time for my event.

I ordered from this company in the past and for the most part, the garments were good for the price (I need a certain historical era for my job). Last year, like others have reported, what was already a long wait time for orders to be shipped became even longer (months, not weeks). I too got the excuse from "Katie" that they were waiting for fabric, yet no other fabric was available to substitute. When I finally cancelled the order, I was promised a refund but it never came, so I disputed the charges through my credit card. This year I thought I would try them again, hoping it would be like my earlier experience with them. I gave them several weeks lead time with my order so as to avoid any problem. But the same thing happened, including me finally having to contact my credit card company to dispute the charges because a promised refund never came. Do NOT order from this company.

I had ordered quite a bit in the past, my last order which I placed in April of this year failed miserably !
There first excuse was power failure and when it still never appeared I called and left messages and they never returned either.I finally got hold of someone on June 18 and they informed me that they had no fabric!
This was for a Parade on June 28th!
Their excuses kept changing, so I don't believe they tell the truth to their customers. Bad business practices to say the least. Too bad since their dresses are good quality.

Once upon a time, Recollections made dresses and sent them out a few weeks late. This was before the pandemic and supply issues. I thought they were a company based in Michigan. Turns out they were always "overseas" (guess where) and simply kept a warehouse in Michigan to say they were "US based". Now I order a dress and the money is taken, but nothing happens. Nothing. If you try to contact them, they will say the fabric isn't even ordered. This was at 7 weeks from accepting my money! I had to contact them to start my order in the first place, because their website was malfunctioning. Stupidly, I kept going with my order, and they did NOT mention there was no fabric for that particular order. If you get angry about your delayed order, they simply cut off contact. I had to go through my bank to get my money back. (Paypal would have made me wait for months! Always go through your credit card) I want to stress this is my third time with this happening, over the course of TEN years. They are NOT improving. It is getting far worse now. Do not order here. Read other reviews easily found online. You'll see the same story.