Tuesday, October 8, 2013

A Review of My eShakti Experience

I was pretty excited when eShakti contacted me and offered to send me a sample from their fall collection to review. From seeing so many other bloggers rock their dresses, I was curious to learn more about eShakti, especially their many customization options. You're able to order a standard size or enter your measurements for a more precise fit, and they offer sizes 0 - 36W. Depending on the style, you can also specify skirt length, sleeve length, and neckline style.

After browsing the site, my favorite dress was this drop wait ponte dress...


...but I had already determined I was going to go with a sheath silhouette to take full advantage of the customization. Normally, when I try on a fitted dress, the top is too big and the bottom is too tight. I was hoping eShakti's customization options would solve that for me.

It came down to the graphic print colorblock sheath dress and the colorblock graphic print knit sheath.


I liked the neckline options of the black and white one better, but I wanted long sleeves, which that one didn't offer, but the red one did. As a tall woman with long arms, actual long sleeves are hard to come by. I had visions of looking like Jennifer Lawrence in her Prabal Gurung dress from last year.

Source
After asking a friend's opinion, I decided on the black and white one with 3/4 length sleeves and a boat neck.

My dress took 7 business days to arrive, right on schedule, and I received a text from DHL the day before with the tracking number and instructions for if I was not going to be home when the package was delivered. Of course I wanted to try the dress on the second I got home and ripped open the box.

I was surprised to find that eShakti had sent me two dresses. At first, they looked identical, but my husband guessed that one was probably a different size. I didn't believe him until I tried them on - one was noticeably more fitted than the other one. While the slightly looser one skimmed my stomach and better camouflaged anything I was self conscious about, I felt a little frumpy in it. I didn't want to have to wear shapewear, but after trying the smaller dress on with some not-too-uncomfortable Spanx, I was in love. It was exactly what I wanted, and it fit better than anything I could find in a store. I could definitely see myself ordering something else from eShakti in the future.

Dress: c/o eShakti; Shoes and Sunglasses: Payless; Bracelet: c/o Wantable; Bag: Badgley Mischka via T.J.Maxx



You can check out eShakti on Facebook and Pinterest. I especially enjoyed looking through their Real Fashion Real People board on Pinterest to see how other customers wore their purchases.



In case you're curious, because I sometimes am, here's how I measured up, using the graphics on their website to figure out where to put the tape measure. I took most of the measurements myself, but my husband helped with the shoulder and the upper arm. I rounded up on some of these because they didn't have half inches.

Height : 5'11"
Length of arm: Long
Upper arm: 13"
Hip: 46"
Waist: 33"
Under bust: 34"
Bust: 40"
Chest: 37"
Shoulder: 17"

10 comments:

  1. Cute! I think you made the right choice going with a sheath; drop-waists usually only work on girls with minimal curves.

    I had such bad luck with the two off the rack dresses I ordered from eShakti that I swore to myself to never try again. My measurements matched their size chart *exactly* for one of the sizes, so, I figured I should be fine ordering that size without ordering customization. I have never had a dress fit as poorly and weirdly as they both did even when my measurements did not match the size chart. I wasn't expecting it to fit perfect, but I was expecting it to fit the same as, or better than normal off-the-racks. If you are curious here is a post I did with photos of me in the dresses: http://flyingpurplehipposcom.blogspot.com/2013/04/review-of-eshakti.html

    I am sure if I ordered a customized dress, it would fit better, however, I already lost enough money, and their prices are on the high end when not on sale.

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    1. Thanks!

      Yeah, I hear ya. I remember your review, which made me a little nervous about the outcome of my order with them. I think it's worth doing to try entering your measurements next time you order from them whenever there's sale or a good coupon. It's possible since they take more measurements in the customization form (in addition to bust, waist, and hip) that the fit might work a lot better doing it that way.

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  2. What a great dress! Good for you for taking full advantage of the customization! You and Jennifer look hot!

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  3. This dress looks amazing on you! I often have the same exact problems with the fit of dresses and have always been intrigued by eShakti and their customizations. Its nice to hear that you had a good experience.

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  4. This looks great on you!!! Great pick girl!

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  5. Yay! You look amazing, Rebekah! I love that silhouette on you, and the print is so pretty!! I ordered an eShakti dress a few years ago and wore it in my brother-in-law's wedding. It was perfect!!!

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  6. What a beautiful dress! I think you definitely succeeded in pulling together a look that resembles the one Jennifer Lawrence wore - and I love the pop of red from your shoes :)
    xox,
    Cee

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  7. Ooo... That dress looks amazing on you! I love that you got your inspiration from Jennifer Lawrence. She's one of my all time favorite actresses.

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  8. Love it! This dress is very flattering on you.

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