Designer Dresses With Sleeves, Shipped to the USA
Baruni is a luxury occasionwear house in Dubai. We have made nothing but sleeved and covered dresses since 2009, and we ship them to the United States in three to five days. Prices are already in US dollars.
The short answers
What we make: occasion dresses with sleeves. Wedding guest, mother of the bride, evening gowns, festive. Almost everything in the collection covers the arms, because that is the whole house rather than one rail of it.
What it costs: most pieces are between $400 and $800. Tops and skirts start lower. Outlet pieces are reduced by at least forty percent.
How long it takes: dispatched from Dubai within twenty four hours, delivered in three to five days.
What you pay: $30 shipping, free over $300. Duty applies to shipments into the United States and is collected by the courier on delivery. We would rather tell you that here than have it arrive as a surprise.
Sizes: XS to XL for dresses. Kaftans are free size and currently fit up to XXL. Every style has its own measurement chart.
The fit question, answered before you order
The reasonable worry about buying a gown from the other side of the world is what happens if it does not fit, and a return to Dubai is not free.
So we do something almost nobody does. Before your dress is dispatched we write to you to confirm that the size you have chosen is the right one. Not an automated email. A person who has the garment in front of her.
Send your bust, waist and hip measurements to info@baruni.co or by WhatsApp to +971 50 376 0856 and we will tell you which size to take, usually within one working day. If you are between sizes we recommend the larger, because arm width varies between women far more than waist measurement does and a sleeve cannot be let out. Here is how to measure yourself.
Every product page publishes the sleeve length in centimetres and inches, along with the measurement of any slit or opening. Very few websites will tell you that, and the ones that will not are leaving the photograph to do the talking.
Why it is hard to find a good dress with sleeves in America
Not because nobody makes them. Because almost nobody designs them that way from the start.
Most occasion dresses are drafted strapless, because a strapless bodice is faster to fit and sells to more people. The sleeve is added afterwards to widen the market, and it hangs from an armhole that was never cut to carry one. It pulls across the back, it bunches at the elbow, and it lifts the hem of the dress when you raise your arm.
A dress drawn covered from the first sketch has the armhole in a different place, the shoulder seam at a different angle, and the sleeve graded separately as the sizes climb. It costs more to make and it takes more pattern work, which is exactly why it is rare.
Every Baruni piece is drawn that way, because we do not make anything else. We wrote the whole argument out here, including how to spot an added sleeve before you buy.
What we make
Most ordered to the United States are wedding guest dresses and mother of the bride outfits, then evening gowns for galas and black tie, and festive pieces. Alongside them sit kaftans and resort wear.
Our signature is the shirt gown. It has the structure of a shirt and the presence of a gown, and its buttons let you set your own coverage. Because it goes on last, it does not disturb hair or makeup already done.
Sleeves run from a full long sleeve gathered into a cuff, through bell, cape, three quarter, sculptural, dropped shoulder and puff. Each one is named on its product page with its length. We do not make cap sleeves.
Made for long evenings, in any climate
Every garment is lined in something breathable. We design in a climate where a dress has to survive an outdoor ceremony in June, which turns out to matter at a summer wedding in Florida or Texas just as much.
Worth knowing, because every American styling guide gets this backwards: a full long sleeve in a light fabric is often cooler than a short one. What makes you hot is cloth lying against skin. A full sleeve in organza or chiffon holds itself away from the arm and moves air as you walk.
Buying from Dubai, plainly
There is no Baruni store in the United States. The brand is carried online by Farfetch, which ships to the US, and in store by Harvey Nichols in Riyadh and Doha, Rubaiyat in Riyadh and Jeddah, Galeries Lafayette and Printemps in Doha, Tryano in Abu Dhabi and Incanto in Bahrain. The full collection is only here.
You have fifteen days from receiving a piece to return it, unworn and with its tags. Return shipping is arranged and paid by you, which is the honest reason we take the size question so seriously before anything ships. Outlet pieces are returned for store credit rather than refunded. Full terms are on our shipping and returns page.
If you would rather see a piece closely first, write to us and we will send detailed photographs and its exact measurements. We do this every day and we are not trying to sell you the wrong dress.
About Baruni
Baruni is a luxury occasionwear label founded in Dubai in 2009 by designer Fadwa Baruni, who spent eight years as a petroleum engineer before training in art and fashion design at Edinburgh College of Art. Every collection since has been designed by her.
Most garments are made in house in Dubai by a team she has trained closely, several of whom have been with her for more than a decade. The house develops its own colours and custom weaves. Pieces are made in small runs and most are made once, deliberately, so that a dress stays rare.
Baruni has been written about in Vogue Arabia, Vogue Italia, Vogue Ukraine, Vogue US, ELLE Arabia, ELLE Croatia and Harper's Bazaar Arabia, among more than thirty publications. The full list is here, and there is more about the house here.
Questions from customers in the United States
How long does delivery to the USA take?
Three to five days. Orders leave Dubai within twenty four hours and you are sent a tracking number the moment the parcel goes.
Will I pay duty?
Yes. Duty applies to shipments into the United States and is collected by the courier on delivery. Shipping itself is $30, and free on orders over $300.
What do Baruni dresses cost?
Most pieces are between $400 and $800, in US dollars. Tops and skirts start lower, and outlet pieces are reduced by at least forty percent.
What if the dress does not fit?
We write to you before your order ships to confirm the size, so this should be rare. If it still happens you have fifteen days to return it, unworn and with its tags. Return shipping is arranged and paid by you.
Are the dresses sleeved?
Almost all of them. Sleeved and covered occasionwear is the whole house, and every product page states what the sleeve is and publishes its length.
Do you make modest dresses?
If what you mean is covered arms, a higher neckline and a length that does not require managing, then yes, and that is all we make. We do not treat it as a separate rail.
Do you have mother of the bride dresses with sleeves?
Yes, and in a fabric that will hold its shape for twelve hours, which matters more than anything else on a wedding day. Start with the mother of the bride collection.
Can I wear a long sleeve dress to a summer wedding?
Yes, and it is often cooler than a short one. Choose chiffon, organza or fine crepe, and a full sleeve rather than a narrow one so air can move.
Where are the dresses made?
In the brand's own atelier in Dubai, by a team trained in house.
Can I buy Baruni in a store in the USA?
Not at present. In the US, Baruni is available here and through Farfetch.
What sizes do you carry?
XS to XL for dresses. Kaftans are free size and currently fit up to XXL. Every style carries its own measurement chart rather than one generic size guide, because the cut differs from piece to piece.
Do you ship to Canada or Mexico?
We ship worldwide from Dubai. Write to info@baruni.co and we will confirm the rate and the timing for your address.
Is it safe to order a gown from overseas?
The two real risks are fit and returns, and we address both before you order rather than after. We confirm your size with you personally, we publish every garment measurement, and we will send you detailed photographs of any piece on request.
Do you have anything reduced?
Yes. The outlet carries past season pieces at a minimum of forty percent off, shipped on the same terms.