KELAPA Twist Back Dress
Ratna - Mata Dewi



















- Description
- Size & Fit
- Care
- Shipping
- Returns
This dress is designed to give you those Bali feels and tropical vibes.
KELAPA means coconut in Indonesian, and I’ve always found these trees to be true miracles of nature - pulling water and energy high up into the sky to create such nutritious sweetness only to drop it back down again onto the ground.
I remember my 8th grade science teacher Mr Wallis telling me that coconut trees use soooo much energy to make a coconut, and that they really don’t make much sense at all compared to how most things grow and work in nature. I never forgot it. Lol.
I’m sure coconut tress if given a gender would be female! Making no sense to anyone except their creator! And Coconut palm trees since that day have always fascinated me and been a little wonder of my universe. Every time I see one, I see inefficient mini miracles and I smile & send the tree so much love!
Anyway, back to the dress. Over ten years ago now I bought a dress from a ‘Amilita’ and I literally wore it to death. So I used a similar pattern for this KELAPA dress. I think it’s so nice to just throw on for the beach and it’s the only dress I ever wore and occasionally just let my boobs hang loose with no bra. I’ve got dd’s so it was something I never did (especially since they sagged a lot after breastfeeding) but with the cut of this dress I always felt comfortable and even liberated to be braless. So, I thought producing this dress with this cut, combined with its fun, bohemian tropical vibe might also give you the same liberated feels.
Please note: the neckline on this dress can be a little tricky. It’s not one of those dresses that will potentially sit perfectly on everyone. I remember having to adjust my original amilita dress with my tailor. I’ve tried this dress on many women now before releasing it and honestly, it fits about 70% of women fine, and on others probably needs minor adjustments/straps shortened slightly etc. It seems to fit better if you have a b cup or higher. And may need some adjustment to the strains up you are a a-b cup. I just want to be as honest as I can with you. I have many dresses I have bought and adjusted to my body shape, and you might find you might be in the 30% of purchasers that will need to make slight adjustments to this dress.
This material is produced traditionally using the ancient batik screen print method. It takes 2 screens and 2 colors to hand print this material. Made by humans, not machines. You may experience some minor inconsistencies, which should not be considered at flaws but only confirm it’s hand-made process. This is part of our #slowfashion commitment to honor tradition and keep skilled artisans in jobs. It’s riskier and more expensive to make the material this way, but the romantic in me insists this is how it must be produced. Human and imperfect, the material carries the energy of all who have helped make it and that romance I believe transcends to the wearer.
Taller blonde model (Malin) is a size 8-10 Australian sizing & 177cm and wears a S/M size in the pictures ( beach shots). 2nd blonde model (Layla) is a size 8 Australian & 172cm and wears a XS/S size ( indoor pictures).
XS/S - 8-10 Australian
S/M - 12-14 Australian
Please note: the neckline on this dress can be a little tricky. It’s not one of those dresses that will potentially sit perfectly on everyone. I remember having to adjust my original amilita dress with my tailor. I’ve tried this dress on many women now before releasing it and honestly, it fits about 70% of women fine, and on others probably needs minor adjustments/straps shortened slightly etc. It seems to fit better if you have a b cup or higher. And may need some adjustment to the strains up you are a a-b cup. I just want to be as honest as I can with you. I have many dresses I have bought and adjusted to my body shape, and you might find you might be in the 30% of purchasers that will need to make slight adjustments to this dress.
Composition: 100% Viscose.
We recommend you hand wash or dry clean your item. If you hand wash, use minimal amount of chemical and do not soak longer than 15 mins. Rinse in fresh water before drying flat in shade. Iron inside out. For best results lightly spray with water prior to ironing. Direct sunlight will fade your item. Avoid rubbing this material. It will cause material to ‘pill’ (form tiny balls).
Steaming your clothing is best. Otherwise, Iron inside out. Ensure your iron is set to appropriate setting for the material. Use a handkerchief in between the material and iron to avoid any scolds from the iron. For best results lightly spray with water prior to ironing.
Your item will be expressed shipped using EMS Shipping International direct from our Bali painting house. The item is fully tracked and requires a signature upon delivery. Delivery times fluctuate between countries but in general parcels are received between 3-7 business days from the placement of your order.
Tracking information is sent via email 12-36 hours after order is placed.
For more shipping information, please click here.
Order Cancellations: For in stock items we must be notified within 24 hours of an order being placed to cancel and refund your order. After this time frame it is likely your order has been packed and shipped and we are unable to reroute your package. For pre-order items, we must be notified within 48 hours in order to cancel and refund your order. This is due to the scheduling of our production cycle and ensuring we can have the fastest delivery possible for all of our customers.
Returns and exchanges for online orders will only be accepted where the product has not been worn, altered, washed and have all original tags attached. Sale items including Beautiful Disaster items are final sale and non-refundable.
Although very rare, Items inspected and considered ‘faulty’ will receive a refund in full for the original cost of the item and reimbursed for any postage incurred to return the item to us.
Return requests must be received within 7 days of receipt of your order. We must receive return items within 14 days of returns being initiated. We are not able to cover return postage at this time unless the item is deemed faulty. Return postage is reimbursed via PayPal or as store credit should items be deemed faulty.
Normal returns will be refunded in full minus the cost of any Bali customs charges (Please note that the percentage charged by customs on returns to Indonesia is quite high - around 30% - 45% of total cost of product. You may wish to carefully consider the price to return your item before returning. You can enter a value between $39 and $69 on items to attempt to avoid customs charges on your return package, however we are not customs and we cannot guarantee that entering a lower value will have any success in the amount you will be liable for in paying customs charges. All the custom charges are at the expense of the customer. So for instance, if you return an item to us that cost $379, if customs does not charge you for the return you can expect that we will refund you $379 - $35 for the original shipping cost from Bali and then prices your exchange If customs do locate your package and charge you you can expect to be refund roughly $379 - $35 - customs fees (25-35% cost of original item/s). Unfortunately there is nothing we can do about this which is why we try and make this information clear so you customers can carefully consider their purchase before buying from us and also before returning anything to us.
Once a customer returns a package to us, they cannot ask for the item to be returned to them if customs issues fees. The package will continue to be delivered to us. Again, the same applies as above. Even if the customer refuses to pay the customs fees issued by Indonesian customs our company will pay them and the customer will be refunded under the same terms as above. The customs fee and original shipping fee will be taken out for the item/s and the remainder refunded to the customer.
Exchanges: In the event of items being exchanged it is the responsibility of the customer to pay for the return postage, any customs fees, and full postage of the exchange item back to them. Full postage for exchange items is charged at $35AUD. Any customs fees incurred into Indonesia when returning will be paid by the customer. Please note that the percentage charged by customs on returns to Indonesia is quite high - around 30% - 45% of total cost of product. You may wish to carefully consider the price to return your item before returning. You can enter a value between $39 and $69 on items to attempt to avoid customs charges on your return package, however we are not customs and we cannot guarantee that entering a lower value will have any success in the amount you will be liable for in paying customs charges. All the custom charges are at the expense of the customer. So for instance, if you return an item to us that cost $379, if customs does not charge you fees for the return you can expect that we will calculate your exchange at $379 and then the process with your exchange will continue where you will be charged $35 to post back to you your exchange item. If there is a difference in pricing for the exchange item you will be refunded or invoiced the difference. If Indonesian customs do locate your package and charge you you can expect to be refund roughly $379 - customs fees (25-35% cost of original item/s) and the exchange would be worked out from there. Unfortunately there is nothing we can do about this which is why we try and make this information clear so you customers can carefully consider their purchase before buying from us and also before returning anything to us.
We reserve the right to refuse any returns where the products are not in new, unused condition. Products sent for return or exchange that are not in new condition can be sent back at the customer’s expense or may be picked up from our offices.
We are unable to accept returns and exchanges on sale items, special orders or any item sold at a reduced price.
If this item is avail for pre-order, in general you can expect your order will be made and delivered within 2 – 14 weeks of your order date. In some cases it will be delivered earlier if possible. To help you understand, If your order is avail for pre-order we would have already ordered it and it is in process OR it will be ordered on the next avail order date. We place orders on the 1st of each month. From the order date, the items usually take 4-7 weeks to complete. Please email us if you really wish to know a more approximate time frame for your particular kimono.
It is good to pre-order as if there is a wait list for the item, pre-order will place you on this list and give you priority. You are required to pay for your item in full as a pre-order.