my eShakti experince

(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.