We are still seeing shipment and production delays due to COVID-19. This affects most areas of our business—supply shipments are often reaching us slower, international shipments from us to our customers are moving much slower, external production partners we work with might have reduced or remote workforce situations or lockdowns which can cause delays, etc.

Though in many parts of the US this situation is changing recently, there's a lot we're still facing challenge wise as a business on timing due to supply chain issues.

Yes! Though we did stop accepting Etsy orders last year to help focus the business on our own website where everything is easier to manage—just one of many changes we've made to try and make everything quicker and more efficient for our customers.

Yes, to everywhere that is currently accepting packages! We have been seeing quite long shipment delays on occasion with international orders, but as our packages are still making it to our customers, we're still shipping everywhere we normally would.

Right now, we often don't know if an order is going to be delayed until it already has been—we're having the same issues some of our customers are seeing with our tracking numbers for supply shipments being unreliable/out of date, and that means sometimes our shipping estimates can be rough or unsure.

Most of our latest orders still look to be on schedule or only slightly behind schedule based on our normal production times (6-10 weeks). We are also sending out "order delayed" email notifications to customers as soon as we're aware that an order is delayed to try and keep you in the loop. If your order is later than that or you'd like more information about a delay, please reach out to us via email or our chat service and we can get you more information on your specific order.

For anyone who is unaware, this is an extremely small business, mainly ran by myself with help from my girlfriend, Alison, so all updates and communication right now are being done just by the two of us—Alison has been handling the majority of our email correspondence, while I'm responsible for our social media and website updates.

As of right now, we do not have the manpower to respond to social media DMs about order status, so if you've been unable to reach us through our social media I'd really encourage you to send us an email or put a message in our chat service—there isn't a bot who answers you, you'll be speaking directly to one of us. If you contact us when no one is available, the system will ask for your email to send us a message and we'll get back to you as soon as we can. If you don't feel like leaving an email address, you can also come back to the site later to check for a response, but leaving an email is the most reliable way to ensure you see our response.

Keep in mind as well that despite things moving slower during the pandemic, we're receiving more emails than ever during this time so we are working through a lot of requests at any given time. Because of this, it might take a few days (even up to a week) for us to respond to your message. Don't worry if this happens, and please avoid sending a second email to "bump" your request up unless it's been longer than that.

We answer emails in the order they were received, so adding another email to the end of our pile doesn't help to get a response faster, and it can delay other people getting help or cause confusion on our end (I've seen that a lot of these "bump" emails come in with different information than what was given in an initial request) which could mean even longer before getting a proper response.

We're super dedicated about giving people updates and answering all communication we receive from you all, but still have fairly limited resources at our current size—so we really appreciate you all contacting us in the way that we're able to best help you!

Absolutely, though with more care than normal, and this could cause some delay in reviewing your returned merchandise before giving you the go ahead for a return or exchange. Out of an abundance of caution, we're waiting at least 4+ days before handling a return based on the CDC guidelines for how long COVID-19 can be active on plastic and cardboard surfaces. I'm a disabled creator who is immunocompromised and have been sheltering in place since mid-March 2020 to protect myself.

If you have any reason to believe you are sick, PLEASE let us know before returning your package so we can properly sterilize the returns before handling them.

Because we've been quarantining pretty intensely and going above and beyond on most CDC guidelines to keep myself and our family safe, I know our household is safe and virus free, so you can be reassured while receiving anything from us.

Any major updates will be announced on our main social media accounts (instagram, twitter, tiktok), but twitter is really the best place to go for the most current news, since it's the quickest for us to update.

Once we are starting to hit our normal production times without regular delays, and are back to our pre-pandemic timelines, we'll make sure to make a big announcement about this on all of our social media as well as remove this FAQ + other mentions of current delays on our website to make sure everyone is aware of the updated situation. The current circumstances we're in change daily, especially with new variants emerging in various parts of the world, so we probably will not be properly updating everything until we are running at our normal pace for at least a month or two. However, small updates on the day to day situation will still be available on our twitter for folks who want to keep up to speed.

At this time, we are not able to guarantee any shipments in time for events, regardless of when you place your order. In terms of Christmas specifically, news outlets nationally have been warning customers each Christmas since the pandemic started about supply chain delays affecting the holidays as early as September, and we spread that news on to our customer base in hopes that all Christmas gifts were purchased early.

If you are viewing this FAQ in hopes of buying a gift (at any time, not just Christmas) I would encourage you to purchase one of our gift cards or check out our ready to ship section for gifts that can ship more immediately.

In most cases, this is just not possible. If you are placing a late order for an event/gift needed after our listed production times, we are at the mercy of the post office and our production partners to get that product to us in that time frame, and with the unreliable situation we're experiencing right now there's no specific area we can pay to ensure delivery in time. A lot of our production partners also do not have the ability to rush any of their processes.

The best thing you can do if you are hoping to receive an order from us by a specific date is to message us ahead of time letting us know the exact item and color/size you intend to order. There are sometimes pieces we have in stock from various reasons (cancellations, popular items we made a few extras of, etc) and we can check to see if the item is something we have and can ship instantly or give you more information on what we can do to help you, timing wise. We might be able to work out something special for you, or have a combination of in-house and things that would come later that could work for your gift recipient and are happy to talk that kind of thing through with people! However, leaving a note and just expecting us to be able to accommodate you is not a way to guarantee any kind of timeline.

Also just because I feel like people regularly misread our intent in these scenarios: in all of these circumstances we fully want to provide the items and service for you! We just aren't willing to promise something that we can't deliver on, and don't want to disappoint you. If it's something we can't make happen for you, we would much rather tell you this up front so you can make alternate plans.

That's also why we ask folks to contact us first, otherwise we have to assume that you're aware of the situation (another reason we list our production times at checkout!) and have chosen to proceed as normal/at your own risk.

Trash Queen is a two person ran business, with most of the duties being completed by myself, and most of our products being made to order—this means we need at least 6-10 weeks of production time for each order, and with current COVID-19 and supply chain delays, that time can be extended on occasion.

Most of our pieces are made to order rather than us keeping stock, as this allows us to have a large range of sizes and types of items without large overhead costs, and lets us keep our prices low. It also greatly helps us to cut down on waste, which is a large problem in the fashion industry. I think that time is a small price to pay in comparison for the amount of variety and price you're receiving, but please take this time into account before making your order!

Yes! As of right now we ship everywhere the post office will allow us to but the UK, due to recent Brexit related tax changes. If you have any trouble finding your country at checkout, please send us an email and we'll figure something out for you.

Custom charges/VAT may apply for our international customers however, and we're unable to pay them for you and will not ship using any illegal methods that allow you to dodge those fees. Sorry about that! If you are concerned about cost, we recommend making orders with a group of friends and splitting those costs so you're able to share some of that burden.

If you're located in the UK and still really want to purchase from us, I'd recommend looking into a shipping service or package forwarding service, like viabox.

The chances are that the answer to this question is probably yes! I do custom orders fairly frequently, especially for our regular customers who are most familiar with our work/processes.

All you have to do is send me an email through our contact page with information about what you want, and we will get right to communicating with you on making your vision happen! I also take general shop suggestions, if there's a print that you'd love to see in plus sizes that I don't have for sale currently definitely mention it and I'll take a look! 

Basically what will happen is you come to me with an idea, I will inform you on how possible it is and the projected price. Then I will mock up images of the item for you to view to make sure it fits your vision and that we agree on color, pattern placement, etc. After you approve it, I will make you a one-time only custom listing and send you a link to that item, which you can just buy like normal any other item you would get in the store. You can put in your shipping information and all that good stuff through there and then get status updates on your order through that method as well. 

Custom orders also generally don't cost any extra--they should cost as much as the item in a similar silhouette would normally. The only extra cost that might occur is if you are asking for original art to be created for the item in question which could add on an extra fee, or if you are wanting special detailing on your item such as a special colored zipper, embroidery, etc. 

There are a few stipulations to custom orders—one being that they are not eligible for cancellations or refunds of any kind. Once the item is put into
production, it is going to need to be finished because there is a high likelihood that I won't be able to resell it--as it was custom made for you! 

I also reserve the right to list any of the custom orders I make in my shop for regular purchase—there have been a few times I have made stuff for people (new colorways, old prints on new items) that I feel have been so successful that I listed them in the shop on their own, and you should know going in that this could happen. I suggest bringing it up with me up front if this concept bothers you so we can discuss it individually. 

At the moment we aren't seeking long time brand ambassador projects with promoters, but we have reached out recently for a short one time project—our clothes in exchange for your photos!

We usually have some creators in mind up front for this, but occasionally we'll reach out on social media cold for a specific project, so you can always keep an eye out on our accounts for that, and you can also submit one of these applications here to be considered for future projects!

We like to work with models in person on shoots for new items or collections, which is sometimes a process that can take a few months as we plan a collection and order new samples. We like to get model's measurements up front and do fittings before the actual day of the shoot, if possible. All of this is much easier when a model is local.

We're currently located in Louisville, KY, so if you're in the area you can apply to model with us here.

We are not currently looking to hire out for any position, nor are we taking on interns/volunteers. Myself and my partner do all the work for the shop and we are not looking to expand our team any time soon. We have worked with some friends in the past during rush periods to help with fulfillment and smaller tasks, but we do not have budget or deal in the volume necessary to offer regular part time work or full time positions to anyone.

We also are not currently interested in collaborating with artists for prints or designs—my favorite part of the shop is doing our artwork and we're not interested in contracting any of that out. Despite all my goals for the brand in terms of inclusivity and accessibility, Trash Queen is still very much a personal art project for me, and our collections are often fueled by my personal experiences or things I feel deeply about, so please keep that in mind & be respectful!

If we were to change our mind about that sometime in the future we would ultimately prefer to reach out to an artist ourselves to discuss some kind of collaboration, and not to be solicited by artists in this way. Thank you!