1955 in 2015

If you've been paying attention (and I know that read this blog is all any of you do!), you would have learned the following things about me:
1. I love dresses.
2. I am glad to live in 2015 as a Talmud-learning feminist, but from a fashion perspective, I wish I lived in the 1950s.
3. You can always get me if you give me pockets
4. I am all about combining modesty with my own personal style, and not letting it ruin my overall esthetic.

Enter: eShakti. Do you know about them? If not, here's a brief overview. They are a clothing company based in India that does custom dresses. They have a great vintage feel to them, which makes me love them even more.
Here's basically how it works: They have many dresses, skirts, tops and the like on the website. So you browse through and see what you like. Let's say you like a dress. but it's too long, or too short, or doesn't have sleeves. For $7.50 extra, you can customize your dress. Yes, really! And once you are customizing, you can make as many changes (e.g. sleeves, neckline and skirt length) as you want for that $7.50 cost. For example, this dress was shown as sleeveless, but I added elbow length sleeves so I wouldn't have to wear it with a shell or a cardigan. Or, if you want, you can also choose to enter your own measurements and have the dress custom made to your body! And every dress comes with pockets!

I know what you're thinking. These dresses must be crazy expensive. But no! They start at around $50.  Okay, so are they using sweatshops? I did some research when I first heard of them, because I did not want to be responsible for children being forced to sew my clothing. But my research shows that they actually have good labor practices. So sign me up!

Ok, I look sort of demented. Ignore the face and love the dress.

I got pretty hooked last summer, and ended up with more eShakti dresses than could really be considered reasonable. I pared down a bit by selling a couple on eBay, but these are still going to be go-to summer dresses. I get tons of compliments every time I wear them, including many for this one when I wore it to synagogue today.

I have already converted my sister Sarah. Want to join us? Let's bring the 50s back! (For fashion only, I promise.)

Some things to know:
1. Because they custom cut every dress and then ship from India, the process takes a while (about 3 weeks in my experience.) So this is not great if you're in a big hurry. And shipping, not surprisingly, is a little pricey, but it balances out in the end.
2. They ship via DHL, so you need to be there to sign for the package. Consider shipping to work if you live in a house or don't have a doorman.
3. They run a little smaller than most of the other clothes I buy. For example, I almost always wear a 4. in dresses, but the dress you see above is a 6, and as you see, it fits me like it was made for me. So if you're between sizes, order up. (And trust the measurements they give on the website.)
5. I have a couple of friends who were not happy with eShakti's quality about 6 years ago. I have been nothing but happy with what I've gotten from them. The only problem I've had is buttons falling off every once in a while, so you might want to hang onto the extras that come with the clothes. The fabrics are also mostly lighter weight, so they're better for the summer months.
6. If you're not happy with your purchase and decide to return, you can get your money back for the base price of the item, but not for the customization fee. (That $7.50.)
7. Right now, you can get a great deal! All new customers can get $40 off their first order right now, and everything on the website (other than the overstock section) is buy two get one free, or buy three get two free. Free dresses! Click here for more information.

That's all from me for now. Happy weekend, friends!

What I'm wearing: eShakti shirt dress (similar here), Franco Sarto sandals