Latex Kensington Dress & Bow

For those of you new to buying and wearing latex/rubber clothing, below are a few pointers to help you care for your pieces.
 
When your garment arrives it will appear matt and have a talcy covering, this is to finish the garment, seal the glue, and is the best way to send out items as they will be folded in the post.
 
You may choose to wear your latex/rubber like this, ie non-shiny, but if you want to shine up your latex as it is in our pictures, you can use a silicone polish or spray. The silicone polish is easy to use, and best applied with a lint free cloth. It is easier to polish clothing flat as opposed to whilst worn, you can purchase our polish here. Instructions for use are on the bottle. The spray is best applied as the garment is worn.
 
As you put your garment on for the first time, it will be lightly talced inside which will help, you may wish to use more talc, or alternatively a latex friendly dressing aid/lube will really help slide into the garment if it's rather tight or doesn't have a zip. A little applied to the skin and inside the garment will make all the difference! You can find William’s ‘Slide Inside’ lubricant here. A little goes a long way!
 
Be careful when dressing with jewellery and long nails as the rubber can tear, so try not to dig fingers in. Pale coloured latex can also discolour so avoid contact with make-up, fake tan, jewellery etc. Prolonged contact with metal and a lubricant or polish will accelerate the staining so it's best to remove piercings completely when worn if possible. Staining from metal left on the skin, can then be transferred to the garment, so it best to wash the area of the body thoroughly before dressing, if you have just removed metal accessories from the body.

Some of our clothing has metal fastenings like zips and press studs. Black latex will not stain or be discoloured by these, but if your garment is a coloured latex, then it is best to keep metal components wrapped in tissue paper when not worn, especially after using polish. Pale coloured latex can discolour quickly when in contact with metal after polishing.

We would suggest hanging coloured latex clothing separately in clear plastic garment bags, as colours can be transferred onto each other when latex is polished. This will also protect your clothing from the risk of colours transferred from other clothing.

To launder your latex, use a little gentle soap in luke warm water, move the garment around in it so that the water moves in and around the garment, attempt to remove stains with your fingertips. Then wash in clean luke warm water, you may wish to repeat this to be sure to remove any soap. Leave your garment to drip dry in the shower or over a bath for long enough that it is completely dry inside and out. You can then talc the inside and polish the outside to keep the rubber moisturised.

Latex will melt in heat and can discolour in sunlight, so avoid storing (or drying) on/near a radiator or window, in a wardrobe is perfect! Also hang as flatly as possible to avoid creasing. Kept like this your latex clothing will be durable and ready to wear again and again and again! For further info or advice, please don't hesitate to get in touch.

We currently have studios based in Manchester and London (England), and are very happy to offer worldwide delivery.

All of our latex clothing is lovingly made by hand to order, so please allow up to 14 working days* before despatch, (this does not include weekends and bank holidays). Smaller orders will often be much faster, and we always strive to complete all orders as soon as possible. Please get in touch before ordering if you have a deadline, as we may be able to speed your order through production for you, depending on order volume at that time. All orders are sent via 'Tracked' and/or 'Signed For' delivery, and a tracking number will be issued by email on despatch.

*Sample Sale items, Liquids and selected fabric items/stockings are in stock, and will be despatched shortly after the order is received. If an order for these items also contains 'made-to-order' pieces, then all pieces will be shipped together after production is complete, timescale as above. We can of course discuss splitting your order, separate postage can be arranged and will be charged when necessary.

UK SHIPPING:

Delivery is FREE within the UK on orders over £250. We use Special Delivery with Royal Mail as standard, this is a guaranteed next day service, (before 1pm). *Delivery will not be guaranteed on Saturdays, it is quite likely to arrive, but orders despatched on a Friday will not be guaranteed until the following Monday. £8.00 will be added for UK shipping on orders under £250. (Next day delivery is not guaranteed for the day after your order is received, as each item is made to order, only the day after your order is despatched.)

WORLDWIDE SHIPPING:

For orders destined beyond the UK, £18.00 will be added to your shopping cart for P&P. You will see this added automatically at the checkout after you have entered your delivery address.

International delivery with Royal Mail will usually take between 3 - 10 working days, but the official guidelines for the International 'Tracked' and/or 'Signed For' services that we use, are to allow up to 28 working days for delivery. (We almost never hear of it taking this long!!)

We are required by law to add the cost and description of goods to each overseas delivery. Customs charges may therefore be applied, this will be decided by the destination country, and unfortunately is beyond our control, we are not able to advise on how much these charges may be. (As a guide, most shipments with a value less than €150, should not be subject to customs duties on arrival in the EU.) Please contact your local authority for accurate guidance.

20% VAT will not be charged on any order due to be delivered outside of the UK, this may help compensate for any customs charges incurred, but local VAT charges may be applied on arrival in the destination country. 

As of 1st January 2021, a customs label will be required for deliveries to countries within the EU. Customs charges and VAT may apply as above.

If you have a deadline and live outside of the UK, we can happily offer prices and timescales for express delivery with our courier. Please do give as much notice as possible for us to organise this for you.

NB: We have found that unfortunately a significant amount of deliveries to the United Arab Emirates have been returned to us, when using our standard delivery service. For this reason we now only ship to Dubai with our express courier, DHL. This will cost a little more, but will avoid disappointment in the event of your package being lost or returned to us, (and is a faster delivery service!). The cost is approximately £45, and will be added automatically at the checkout, when shopping from this region. In order to ship with DHL, we will need a phone number to ship your order, please add this along with your shipping details when ordering, or email it to us at the studio with your order number. We can not ship with DHL without your phone number.

NB: If your delivery address is in Turkey or Portugal, please include your Fiscal Number in your order notes, (or alternatively just drop us an email with Fiscal and order numbers after purchase). We will not be able to process delivery without this info.

NB: If you delivery address is in China, please include your Resident ID Number in your notes, (or alternatively just drop us an email with Resident ID and order numbers after purchase). We will not be able to process delivery without this info.

RETURNS:

Each latex item from William Wilde is carefully made-to-order, so please allow up to 14 working days for production as above. We will always endeavour to produce and despatch as soon as possible. You will be informed if there is a significant delay.

As each latex piece is made-to-order, we unfortunately cannot accept returns or offer refunds, so please get in touch if you have any queries first, we are very happy to help with your purchase however we can. You can also find latex sizing information here. 

Made-to-order fabric clothing is also not returnable, (whether or not a fabric item is made-to-order is outlined in any applicable product description), please get in touch if you are not sure before purchase. 

Some of our fabric clothing is in stock and ready to ship, these items can be returned for a refund or exchange, in accordance with government guidelines. We need to be notified of the return within 14 days of your receiving the order, the item(s) must then be returned to us within the next 14 days, (28 days in total for us to receive your return). Items must be returned in good-as-new condition, and return postage is paid by the customer. (Delays with post will be taken into account regarding international returns.) 

Whether an item is 'made to order' or 'in stock' is clear within each listing, but please do get in touch if you are unsure before purchase.

Each order is delivered gift wrapped, simply message us here with your order number if you would like to alter the delivery address, (but please note that the automated despatch email may not show this alteration). There is no receipt or other paperwork included in our deliveries, (though the value will be shown on the customs label for delivery to countries outside of the UK).

We despatch orders in either shiny foil envelopes or gift boxes, if for any reason you would like plain packaging, please email us with this request, and your order number, after checkout.

REFUNDS: If for any reason we need to refund your order, payment will take between 5-10 working days to clear back into your account.

You can get in touch with any further queries here.