Bodyline order April 2011

I did another Bodyline order last week and today I will be doing another review. I think I have reviewed Bodyline's website and ordering process enough times now so I will skip over this part. The only difference is that this time I got sent an email saying that my items were in stock and next time I can ask before I order to check the stock. I have been getting emails about once a week over the past 2 months from Bodyline saying to check with item availability with them. I did not bother to ask ahead as generally, the Bodyline website is fairly up to date. However, I have heard that if one item is out of stock on your order, Bodyline will cancel your entire order. So those emails I have been getting may be more helpful than I first thought.

This is the first time I have ordered something from Japan since the tsunami disaster last month. I was not at all worried about radiation but I was aware that DHL may have been slower than usual. I placed the order on Monday the 11th. There was a notice on Bodyline's site saying DHL will be held up between the 11th and 14th. I got my tracking email on the 13th. I got a little worried on Thursday the 14th because my parcel stopped moving for about 24 hours. I thought it was going to be held at Japanese customs. Thankfully, it went through the checks and I had no nasty fees to pay. The really strange thing is that my parcel left Japan on the Thursday and I got my package on Friday! It must have zoomed through Germany and the UK customs. I don't think I have ever seen DHL parcels move that fast before. Usually, I would have expected the parcel to arrive on Saturday if it left Japan on Thursday. I was very impressed!

Here is what I got through the door-

I have an issue ordering shoes from Bodyline because they are not sent in boxes. They stuff the toes with tissue paper and put in these bendy supports. Then the outside is just wrapped in more tissue paper. This can cause issues because the shoes can get scuffed and can damage other items. I was lucky because this time none of my items were damaged.

The first item is a pair of red rocking horse shoes (SHOES194 on their site). These are the ones with leather straps and velcro fastenings. I was very happy with these shoes but I would not recommend wearing these to the park! I was fine walking in these up until I went on the grass. Once I started wobbling, I kept wobbling throughout the day! The most important thing is to not lean too far forward. You would think with the little bit cut out at the back, it would be bad to put pressure on the back too but you can put some pressure on the back part. The base felt quite firm. My feet are very wide so I usually buy a size larger than I need. I found out that this is vital with these rocking horse shoes because they are narrow. My only other complaint is that no matter how hard I tied the leather straps, they kept falling down. If anybody has any tips to keep these up (preferably without damaging my socks), please let me know. The shoes with the ribbon leg ties might be easier.

I also ordered SHOES178 in sax blue. The colour is not as bright as you would expect for sax blue. The colour is cooler and is more duck egg blue. I don't think I know many Bodyline shoes which are proper sax blue so be careful. Although I was after sax blue shoes, I was happy I got these. The bows are cute and I like the white scalloping. I only tried these one for a few minutes so I don't know how good they are for long amounts of time yet. They felt quite comfortable.

My next purchase was these socks (SOCKS423) which sadly, only come in one colour. I really like these because they are tighter than normal Bodyline socks. Hopefully this means they wont slip down. They are not that long in length so they ended a bit below my knees. I mainly got these because I am currently obsessed with diamond patterned socks. These socks have a really cute design but I still want to get my hands on some white/black diamond tights.

Possibly the least surprising purchase is this bag. Well, I did mention it on this blog a few weeks ago! This is BAG115 in black. I was unsure which colour to get but in the end I decided on black (after almost getting red or pink!). What I like about this bag is that unlike some other Bodyline bags, it comes with a zip. I like having a bit of security. The size is also quite generous. I dislike the lace but I think the rest of the bag makes up for the disappointment.

A close up of the bows and pearls. The print is very beautiful in real life. This is possibly my favourite recent Bodyline print (please release a dress but use nicer lace!). The roses are a pretty colour and I love all the little jewellery details.

Hiding underneath the pearls is a birdcage. So cute! Well done to Bodyline for putting more effort in to this print. I really love it.

So overall, I think this has been a positive order. I think Bodyline needs to rethink their shoe packaging but using boxes will probably increase the shipping fee. You get what you pay for. Considering the shoe weight, a $20 shipping cost for this order is reasonable.