Fair Trade Shanti Dress

I love the dress, and everything about it, and know I will enjoy wearing it for a long time. The pluses - it is cotton, which drapes well over the body without clinging anywhere; the batik design is very soft and pretty, and of course, it will always wash well. The only downside is that one would need to iron the dress after washing and air-drying, Not too much of a problem, especially these days when so much clothing looks polyester-ish and cheap. This dress looks “quality” and is attractive on my over-seventy, 160 lb. frame. The only caveat to my loving this dress, is the awful smell that came with it when I took it out the plastic package. Was it dye from the batik, or perhaps sizing? Either way, I had to air the dress outside for a couple of days, on a hanger, then wash it in cold water on gentle in the washer and airdry it again, to make the smell disappear. Hence, I need to iron the dress before I can wear it for the first time - would be good it I could have used it right away. I would definitely recommend the dress, and hope they can figure out a way for it to just smell like cotton when the customer unwraps it.