Did You Know?

We've introduced a lot of new features and we want to make sure you know about them. Please select the general topic that is of interest to you.

Can't find answers? Please leave your question below. Any visitors to this page can offer helpful responses or we'll respond. One way or another, you'll get an answer!

Q & A

Test Studio Elves asked on 10/14/2024

Tested

Studio Elves answered on 10/14/2024 store manager
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Commonly Researched Topics

Reviews & Testimonials NEW

Reviews

  • Check the box at checkout to receive an invitation to review our products and services.
  • You'll receive a simple email with a couple of questions, approximately 5 days after placing your order.
  • There is no time pressure to leave your review. You will only be allowed to leave reviews on products you rented. And you must include a photo (please do your own editing before uploading)
  • After leaving your review, you'll receive a coupon code giving you Free Shipping on your next order! It is valid for 7 days after leaving your review. So, book another rental within 7 days and you'll get free shipping on that order. It does not matter when you book for.
  • Reviews will be visible on the relevant product page and on the Testimonial & Reviews page located in the main header menu.

Testimonials

  • Easy to leave and super helpful. They are publicly displayed and can be found on the home page menu bar under the Testimonials tab.
  • We're looking for Short, Sweet and Honest! These testimonials achieve 2 critically important things. Firstly, they really help new customers (especially) when they're making their choice as to where to rent from. Secondly, we learn what we can do better.
  • Have a look at Testimonials already posted and if you can contribute, please do!

Both these types of feedback are immensely helpful to us.

Please take a minute and share your Gemics experience.

We Thank You!

Gift Certificates NEW
  1. Certificates are available in amounts of $5, $10, $25 or $50, or multiples thereof.
  2. The recipient is notified via email that they have received a gift from you. You will see a record of the purchased GC in your own User Account.
  3. The site will offer to create a User Account during the first visit, if one does not already exist. Doing so is highly recommended. The certificate code is entered in the coupons area of the checkout.
  4. Certificate balances are recorded within the User Account. They remain available for use up to 180 days from original purchase date. Use it or Lose it!
  5. The site automatically offers to apply GC balances to checkout totals.

Rental Bookings, Deposits, Payments, etc

The website is a single resource for all booking processes.

  • Product availability is easily determined by selecting the product you are interested in renting, and scroll down to view the calendar. Highlighted dates indicate availability. Grayed out dates can not be selected. The calendar can accommodate bookings up to 2 years in advance.
  • Every rental product has the option to pay only a 50% deposit. Balances are due a minimum of 7 days ahead of shipping. You will receive an email reminder. It is your responsibility to make this balance payment on time.
  • PayPal and all major credit/debit cards are acceptable.
  • Orders of $50 or more can apply to Affirm for financing. This is completed within the checkout area.
  • We must have a copy of your ID on file before we ship. No ID = No Ship. Please familiarize yourself with the general Rental Process and our Terms & Conditions of service.

Studio Hours & Communication

Sunday - Friday, 8am - Tired & Hungry.

Saturday - Clean, Restock Studio and sneak out to dinner!

Best method of reaching us is early evening via Facebook or email. We're pretty good with keeping up with customers during the day. Sometimes that's not possible and we need to wait until later in the day. But we WILL get back to you!

Facebook , email, and website messaging ( Q & A feature at top of this page ) are all good ways to reach us.

RTS Dress Sales

This is possibly the least helpful section because we cannot provide the answer most people would like. However, we can say :

  1. Roughly, half our work is sold and half retained for our own rentals.
  2. There is no fixed schedule for posting dresses for sale. Nor is there any published plan for sizing and color combinations. We create blog posts announcing the availability of a new dress, which are shared to our Facebook page.
  3. Everyone is afforded an equal opportunity to purchase a dress. There are no deposits or holds offered.
  4. No custom orders are accepted.
  5. Offering RTS Dresses is a free-wheeling creative undertaking and is not subject to outside influences / pressures.
Why is my I.D. so important?

We ask for your I.D. to match your identity to the address to which your order is being shipped to head off any potential issues with the return of the item(s) rented.

Gemics has a responsibility to take every reasonable precaution in safeguarding its inventory. For legal reasons we need to be able to prove to law enforcement and insurance companies that we did everything in our power to protect our inventory and that we acted in good faith.

You will initially only need to send a copy once. Thereafter, you will only need to resend a copy if you move.

Shipping (To & From)

You have two fantastic shipping options when booking. Either choose a flat rate or you supply the label. We will ship to you the Monday before your pageant. We only ship UPS Ground. You can read about the details here

When it's time to return your rental, please read some great advice here. We provide The UPS return shipping label is provided. All you need to do is focus on the timely and safe return.

Searching the Site

The site is neatly organized for an easy search by size or category. The site loads super fast, which makes short work of getting to a specific product quickly. If, however, you'd like to browse other items that share similar attributes then please see below.

When looking up all rental products, you will now see an "Additional Information" tab on the product page.

4 basic product attributes have been created. If you wanted to view other "red" products (for example) these attributes are hyperlinks which are searchable.

Using this example, clicking on "red" will show every product in the store that also has "red" as a listed attribute.

You are can quickly and easily search any attribute listed.

Hopefully this is a useful tool. We see the stats that a lot of people search (very many) multiple pages while on the site. This will help jump between products quickly.

This does not affect the site navigation. This is just an add-on feature for you to use should the whim take you! Have fun!

Glossary of Terms (This section is still work in progress)

These are some regularly used terms which can cause a lot of miscommunication and frustration if not commonly understood. Different people / businesses might define these terms differently and that's fine. All that is important to us is that when you work with Gemics, this is how we define these general terms:

  1. 'Seamstress'
    • A person who proficiently sews and is very knowledgeable about pattern making. A good working knowledge of the behavior of different types of fabrics and how to work with them is essential. The fit and durability of the garment is determined exclusively by this standard of work. A great dress, for example, cannot be created on a poorly constructed base. Put another way, a work of art requires a great canvas. Great seamstresses are by nature very hard working, vastly experienced, exceedingly patient, and not paid nearly enough! If they are good at what they do, they are indispensable. Pure Gold!
  2. 'Designer'
    • A designer is typically, but not always, a good seamstress. A designer will take the basic garment, possibly add further elements, and decorate it. A designer is not a copy-cat and is guided by ethics and his/her creative abilities. A designer creates a body of work that is both unique and original. Recreating someone else's work is totally disrespectful, so please don't! It is also completely unethical to ask a designer to copy another's work. Every designer has a uniqueness, a signature if you will, that makes his/her creations easily identifiable. Taking inspiration from another designer's work is one thing. Learning from each other is great. Copying signature elements is not acceptable.
  3. 'Custom'
    • In times gone by, this term had a very definite meaning. In today's world, "custom" is used far more loosely. Typically, a custom dress is commissioned by the owner and is tailored to precise measurements. It is also usually required by a definite date. As a side note, buying a custom dress second hand does not mean that that dress is custom any longer. It was someone else's vision, and made to someone else's measurements. You might now own a really stunning dress, but it is not your custom.
    • Custom dresses are more expensive. This is due to the extended amount of time that the dress will take to complete. Trims may need to be researched, sourced or created - while in constant discussion with the client. Bringing someone else's vision to life takes a lot of good communication. Great communication takes time. And time is not free. A genuine custom dress will take me double the time to complete. That is why I have taken a break from offering that service. It is an extraordinarily immersive and draining pursuit and I applaud those designers who continue to offer this. I have spent most of my life creating true custom work including bridal, dance, ballroom, theater and now pageantry. It has been a wonderful creative journey for me. More than a little exhausting, but a lot of fun!
How Do I Measure Correctly?

We have an easy-to-follow explanation published here


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