(I received free product from eShakti in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.)
Clothing and I have a love/hate relationship. I’m a girl, so
of course I love it, in theory; as well as shopping for said clothing, in
theory. However, being nearly 5’10” I’m on the tall side for women so dresses,
pants, shorts, and sleeves are never long enough. Also, I barely even know what
size I am for anything anymore since my weight has fluctuated so much due to
having four kids over the past six years. Plus, in a world of bare legs I don’t
wear short skirts, dresses, or shorts. Then, let’s say I do find something to
try on, the chances of me dragging my children into a dressing room with me so
I can try things on while simultaneously trying to keep my kids from crawling
under the changing room door? Yeah, not going to happen. Can I get an amen?!
All of this is why I am so excited about today’s post. Have
you heard of
eShakti? They’re an online clothing company that offers sizes
0-36W, as well as an array of custom sizes and styling options. They’ve been on
my radar for about a year now, pinned to one of my Pinterest boards with “After
I have the baby, I'm treating myself to a custom dress from
eShakti! Cute
dresses that I can make sure are long enough and have sleeves!” written in the
description. So when I received an email from one of their representatives
offering me a free clothing item in exchange for my review, I was overjoyed.
I’d like to talk about this review in two parts—a review of
my experience with their company, and the dress itself. First of all, my
interaction with Jane from their media relations was very pleasant. She was
always very helpful, even as I took far too long picking out the item I wanted.
I finally picked out a version of their
Isabel dress that I absolutely adored.
I had my husband help me take my custom measurements, sent off my sample order
form, and eagerly awaited my email saying that my order had shipped.
- eShakti tip #1: You only have to pay an extra fee of $7.50
for custom options, but if you are going with a custom clothing option, either have
someone else help you with measurements, or be sure to measure twice so you can
ensure the custom, tailored fit you’re hoping for.
I daydreamed about that dress just about every day, seriously.
Sadly, after nearly two weeks I received an email saying that they apologized for
the delay, but there was a problem with my dress when it was sent through their
Quality Check and there wasn’t enough fabric left to construct another one, so
would I like to pick out another dress?
- eShakti tip #2: Their stock of fabric can be limited, so
once they’re out of something, they’re out. If you have your eye on something you
love, don’t wait too long.
It took me a looong time to pick another item; I think it
was just hard for me to accept that the dress I picked out and loved so much
wasn’t available anymore. Finally, I picked out a second dress, but instead of something
that was so obviously “Justine”, I stepped out of my comfort zone a little bit and
got something in a color that I normally would never choose. Again, I waited
eagerly for the email saying that my dress was shipped, although admittedly, not
as eagerly as the first time. 11 days went by and still I hadn’t heard
anything. I was starting to feel disappointed thinking that I would never get
my dress, so you can imagine my surprised when I received an email on December
22 saying that my dress had been shipped and the tracking number revealed that
it was supposed to arrive on Christmas Eve! Just two days to ship to California
from India?! I couldn’t believe it!
- eShakti tip #3: They use DSL shipping which got it here fast
and I had no trouble with, however, some people have reported that they’ve had
serious delays in shipping with DSL because of them having issues getting into
locked apartment buildings, etc.
I was so excited to receive my early Christmas present, but
really nervous to open the box. What if the fit was totally off and I wasted
all this time with nothing to show for it? Now, here is my review of my actual
dress…
My first impression of the dress was relief. The color was
just as pictured, and I love the lightweight fabric. Everything seems to be
good quality and all of the stitching seems to be just fine. No wonky seams or
stitches or anything. The detailing on the top part of the dress is great too, just my style. The real test came when I tried it on. As far as fit goes,
it’s okay. Not the spectacular, tailored look I had built up in my head, more
like the fit would be in something I bought off the rack. However, this could
very well be my fault. First of all, although I’m pretty sure we took all my
measurements correctly, we might have made a mistake somewhere. Secondly, with
all the changes my body is going through right now with losing baby weight and
nursing I think a perfectly tailored fit would have been nearly impossible to
achieve. To their credit, when I let them know about the fit being slightly off
in some areas, they were more than happy to work with me to make things better.
Since customer service is big with me this is a huge plus. I ended up deciding just
to keep my dress as-is.
I love the versatility of this dress and I experimented a
little bit with dressing it up or down. I’ll most often be wearing it to church
so a simple cardigan and a cute pair of heels (these are some of my favorites!!) is all I need to complete that look. I feel like the style of the dress gives it
more of a casual vibe, so pairing it with a denim jacket and some flats is a
perfect way to dress it down a bit while still maintaining a put-together look
for those days when my standard jeans won’t cut it.
Finally, although not a typical color I would wear, I am in love and think that it is perfect for a date night out with my hubby, especially with Valentine’s Day coming up. With my black clutch in hand and paired with a nice suit jacket and black high heels, this dress is ready for a night out.
My final verdict? I was very pleased with my
eShakti experience.
I definitely plan on ordering more items from them—once I’ve lost all this baby
weight again. I was happy with the quality of my dress, as well as the customer
service. I don’t know if I would bother getting custom measurements again, but
the big selling feature for me is being able to customize the length, sleeves,
and neckline of just about every item they carry.
Interested in trying
eShakti for yourself? They always seem to be having some type of a
sale or special going on, but on top of that, I have a 10% off code for you!
Use the code
littledovecreations in the promo box at checkout to receive an additional
10% off your order!*
You can also check out
eShakti on their
Facebook,
Twitter,
Pinterest, and of course my favorite,
Instagram.
*Offer valid from 1/18/16 – 2/18/16. Code has to be entered
in the ‘promotional code’ box. It is
not case-sensitive. Code can be used any
number of times until the validity period. It can be combined with any other
promotional offer, gift coupon or gift card in the same order unless explicitly
specified otherwise in the offer conditions. This discount code is not applicable
on clearance, gift cards & overstock categories. Not applicable on previous
purchases.
Labels: clothing, review, sponsored
