Terrible Name, Amazing Dresses

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You know how there are fashion bloggers that make everything look fabulous?

Is it because of their thin, waif-like body? Or their innate sense of style? Or their ridiculous fashion budget? Or is it simply all the free stuff they get?

Probably all of the above. And that’s what I had in mind when I asked my husband to do a photo shoot of me in my new dress.

I envisioned looking wistfully away from the sun as my hair draped delicately over my shoulder. I imagined standing with my ankles slightly crossed in the way that makes celebrities look so flattering on the red carpet. I thought I would playfully romp in the grass with my puppy and everyone would be like, Fadra, you should be a model!

Instead, I ended up with a few pictures like this.

Wow. My husband knows exactly how to capture my essence. Namely, slouched over in the backyard swing, half washed out in the blazing sun and half shaded so it looks like I have weird mottled skin.

After he took quite a few photos, he handed me my camera and told me to let him know if he did a good job. I took the camera inside, promptly reviewed the photos, and informed him he did, in fact, a lousy job. Either that or I just look that bad.

So I suggested we wait for the magical hour of sunset when perhaps I could still pull off the bathed-in-sunlight look and make this dress seem, you know, fashionable.

And that’s how this photo came about. It’s a dress I picked from eShakti.com. It’s a clothing website that sells tons of dresses of some other assorted clothes but I was mainly interested in the dresses and here’s why.

When you have a less-than-model-like body, not everything out there fits you correctly. I’m short. I have medium sized hips. I have a not-slender waist. And I’m considered fairly well-endowed.

Those aren’t self-criticisms. Those are facts. I know my body type and sometimes it’s not easy to find something that fits and flatters. Especially when it comes to dresses.

eShakti’s claim to fame is that they offer a wide variety of clothes (especially dresses) that you can buy right off the rack.

OR… (and this is the cool part)

For the same price, you can get the item customized. And by customized, I mean that you provide your exact measurements and they customize the dress to your size. Which is exactly what I did.

First, I went out on a limb and picked what I called the “Lucy Ricardo” style dress. In hindsight, I’m not sure it’s the most flattering style for my short body but it IS a cute dress. Then I measured everything. Arms, waist, bust, below the bust, hips. Whatever you could measure, they asked.

And in exchange, I got a custom made dress with very few of the typical problems I might see with this type of dress.

 

Very little bra showing by the armhole. No spillage in the front cleavage area (by the way, this dress style makes me look WAY more endowed than I am). And my waist looks like a waist thanks to the petticoat underneath that puffed the dress out.

The elastic band around the high waist made it comfortable for all day. I wore it to a baby shower (although we all agreed I needed a big hat and a mint julep in my hand) and late into the night at the neighbor’s African feast next door. As it got cooler, I pair it with a white denim jacket and it made it more casual and less Kentucky-Derbyish.

I’ll admit that it’s sometimes weird to attend an event, have compliments on your dress, and tell everyone, “Thanks, I’m reviewing it.” They get a kick out of it. Or else they look at me like I’m crazy and walk away.

When they asked me who I was reviewing it for, I told them eShakti.com! And then I had to spell it and explain it. It got the conversation going which is probably what eShakti wants but I’d really rather say I got it at CoolCustomDresses.com or something.

There’s my full honest review. Great site, great customization options (you can even change the sleeves on the dresses), great dresses. Terrible name.

Disclosure: Even though I ripped on their name, I’m appreciative of this dress that eShakti.com sent me for review. I love the material. It’s wash and dry (which I really did and it didn’t ruin the dress) and the shipping was amazingly quick. They provided me this complimentary dress but I’ll definitely go back when I’m looking for a quality dress that fits.