eShakti Dress Review

Do you guys remember back in 2014, when I reviewed a dress for eShakti?

Well, they emailed me recently to see if I'd like to do it again and I said, sure! I thought it made sense to take another crack at it, since over the years my style has changed a little bit, leaning more towards the modern now than strictly vintage-obsessed, my size has gone up, and I could now take the opportunity to try out their customizing features, since I hadn't in my first review.

If you've not heard of eShakti, they are an online women's clothing retailer with a wide selection of designs on offer that the customer can then further customize to her preference. Oddly, the dress I picked to review (from a small range of pre-selected items) seems to no longer exist on their site, but I've cobbled together a bit of information I could find to tell you about it!

This little thumbnail shows the original style of the dress as designed, the Snowflake Beaded Poplin Dress. You can see it has cap sleeves, a slight scoop neckline, and the skirt is knee length.

It's winter here in Virginia, and, even though we don't get crazy arctic temps, I still knew I wanted actual sleeves of some sort. Plus I tend to like the way short sleeves look on me more than cap sleeves.

In selecting customizing options, I added short sleeves and went for an even more scooped front and back neckline. I kept the length at the knee, but could have gone longer or shorter with it, which is a nice feature! The site also takes into account your height in the customizing section.

The skirt is pleated with in-seam pockets and the bodice meets the skirt at a separate waistband, which I'm usually a fan of, but I think this kind of looked rumpled on me -- perhaps I could remedy this by taking in the waist a bit for a closer fit. The fabric was not something you could customize, so, I got their standard cotton poplin fabric that happens to be the same fabric that the first dress I reviewed for them was made from, too.

This is, sadly, what makes me not want to reach for this dress in my closet more often, though. The cotton poplin fabric is lightweight but a bit stiff and, in black, tends to attract lint and cat hair easily. It seems to constantly look a bit rumpled and disheveled rather than crisp, even on the parts of the dress that are more fitted. I really wish that the customization extended to the fabric type, even if it was limited to this simple cotton poplin and , say, cotton sateen, or something like that! I think a different fabric would have really elevated this dress.

The beading on the front is cute, but not over the top, and I appreciate that it feels a bit more modern in design -- it's not just polka dots or cutesy snowflakes.

Pockets!

I  styled it with polka dot tights and pointy-toe bow flats, which I felt took things in the quirky, retro direction, to go with the vintage-style neckline. You could just as easily style a dress like this with solid tights and a sleek heel for a different, more modern look. I will say the really nice thing about eShakti's dress offering is that there is something for virtually every style. They have categories broken out by occasion and aesthetic, and so many of their dresses have interesting details you just don't find at your local Banana Republic or other run of the mill shop. 

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These are my favorites that I wish had been available for review! Though I don't love their cotton poplin, I'm so into the little scallops on that retro neckline and I think the lines of the dress (elastic shirred back waist and paneled--not pleated--skirt) would work much better with the poplin. I'm also interested to see what the cotton knit is like -- it looks great on that gold-spotted dress!

Back to my dress, I do really like the look of the scoop neckline on front and back as well as the raglan sleeves. And, any designer that knows the importance of pockets in dresses is good in my book! All in all, I may not be totally in love with the particular dress I received, but I do like the way my customization selections came out, and I would recommend eShakti for their wide range of interesting, customizable dress styles, though they do have other clothes (separates! jeans!), too.

If you're thinking of giving eShakti a try, go for it! You can get $25 off your first purchase just by registering on their site.

You can find eShakti on all of your favorite social media sites (facebook, instagram, twitter, pinterest), and check out other reviews from regular people like me by following their #eShakti and #realfashionforrealpeople hashtags.

Disclaimer: As also mentioned in my last eShakti review, I was provided with a free dress of my choosing, but was not otherwise compensated for this review. All delightfully insightful thoughts and opinions are mine.