As we’ve become fully entrenched in cooler temperatures, I’ve been on the hunt for more winter-friendly pieces. Personally, my winter wardrobe tends to be my summer wardrobe with tights and a cardigan. But, now that we’ve dipped below freezing a few times, I’m keeping my eyes out for sleeved dresses to ease the blow a bit (but a dress nonetheless. I am still ME after all). Because I have such a long torso, I often struggle with finding dresses with sleeves that don’t feel constricting. As I’ve said many times in the past – enter a site like eShakti, where customization is the order of the day…
I was thrilled to work with eShakti again on this post, because I love the evolution towards personalizing clothing. None of us are a standard shape and size, so why should our clothing be? If you haven’t heard of them before, eShakti is an online retailer that offers a range of amazing styles that can be customized – you can provide personal measurements, but also change the hemline, sleeve length, and neckline and basically order a dress that is exactly your style and custom made for you. You know how you will sometimes see a dress and say, “That’s so cute! If only it were longer….” Poof! eShakti makes it so. Literally, it is my Happy Place.
So, after a quick perusal of their site, I fell in love with the Birds on a Wire Cotton Poplin dress. I’ve actually seen this on eShakti before in another colorway, and it sold out before I could get it. So, I was super excited to finally get my hands on one of these beauties!
I’ve reviewed the piece below in terms of fit, flare, and my overall experience.
The Customization
As with my last dress from eShakti, I ordered a custom size instead of a standard size. Personally, when a retailer offers the option, take advantage of it. Although it can sometimes seem like a lot of work to get your measurements, it’s really worth it to have a garment that fits you perfectly (and will save you time when you order a second one. Just sayin’). Plus, if you (like me) venture down the vintage rabbit hole more than once, knowing your measurements becomes hugely helpful when deciding if a vintage garment will fit you.
If you haven’t taken your measurements before, eShakti very helpfully provides detailed descriptions of how these measurements should be taken – I recommend getting someone to do them for you if possible. It can be really hard to get some of these measurements on yourself with all of the twisting and contorting that needs to go on! So, I handed Mr. Dressed the tape measure and let him get to work. Just for your reference, my measurements are (rounded to the nearest inch):
- Bust (Around bust): 37″
- Chest (above bust): 36″
- Under Bust: 34″
- Shoulder: 15″
- Upper Arm: 12″
- Waist: 27″
- Hip: 40″
- Height: 5’9
They also offer the chance to include these optional measurements, recommended for those of us with Amazonian-long torsos:
- High Point Shoulder to Bust Point: 10.5″
- High Point Shoulder to Waist: 19″
- High Point shoulder to Knee: 45″
Although it seems like a lot of measurements – imagine a world where everything you own is tailor made to suit you. No longer do you have to decide if you are a “S” or a “M”, an arbitrary “12” or “14” (which means nothing). eShakti reminds me that my standard size is not an arbitrary number, but Size “Me”.
Although you can customize further by changing the neckline, sleeve, or skirt length, removing the embroidery or pockets (though why would you ever???), I chose to keep the dress as is cause it seemed pretty near perfect as far as my style goes. My only request would have been to have the option to make the skirt even fuller, so I could layer up my crinolines to my heart’s content! It is full, but definitely not a full circle. I’m learning my definition of full is not on par with most people’s definition of full. And I’m okay with that….
The Fabric and Fit
The Bird on a Wire Cotton Poplin dress is a deep navy made out of a woven cotton. It is definitely not a heavy fabric and has a nice, crisp feel to it. I can tell this will be a great transition piece as well, because the lightweight fabric will mean it can easily be worn in the Spring when I get to shed the tights and embrace the sun again. I was also really happy with the fit, which was pretty spot on to the measurements I provided.
The skirt is made out of multiple panels (7 to be exact) to give it a flared shape, with a 100″ hemline sweep. As I said above, for my personal taste, I would have loved the option to add in a few more panels to make it a full circle. In these photos, I’m wearing my Handmade Petticoat, but would have loved the option of rocking a fuller one when I feel so inclined (and I am often inclined). Something I really appreciated in this dress, though, was the fact that despite the multiple, panels, the embroidery was perfectly aligned all the way around. Often times the way to tell the quality of a garment is how well patterns and prints line up – and this definitely passed the test.
I was also really happy with the fit – it was roomy in the bust with the pleated bodice (with no danger of the dreaded uni-boob), with a nice fitted waistband. Because of the ruching at the back, it also allowed for a bit of flexibility with fit. It doesn’t feel super restrictive – unlike a super cinched waist without any give, this is a dress I would be very happy to eat pizza in (and isn’t that how we should judge all of our clothes?)
The Facts & Figures
The Bird on a Wire dress is available on eShakti and retails for $54.95, with an extra $9.95 per garment for customization, which I find to be super reasonable given the quality and the fact that it is, quite literally, made for me. And you can register on their homepage and get a $25 coupon and free shipping on your first order (and this one would be so cute for Valentine’s Day). If customization isn’t your thing, they offer all garments on their site in a range of standard sizes as well (0-36W).
They currently ship to a range of countries (see the list here) and have an amazing turnaround time. I ordered my dress the day after Christmas and it was custom made for me and delivered within 12 days. Much like my last experience, I was super impressed that a custom garment was delivered so quickly, even over the holidays.
In addition to their website, you can also keep up with eShakti on Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook and be the first to know about sales and promotions. They also have an app (for Apple & Android) where you can check out new styles.
So, have you taken the plunge and tried a customized eShakti dress yet???
xoxo
Outfit Details:
Dress: c/o eShakti
Necklace: Gift (similar)
Tights: Jonathan Aston
Handbag: Beleza Vintage (similar here & here)
Shoes: Anthropologie (similar here)
Lip Color: Short Circuit
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