Bodyline order May 2011

I seem to be doing a lot of Bodyline orders at the moment! I just about managed to scrape enough money together without denting my MCM Expo budget but unfortunately I had to give the new cosmetic print dress a miss this time. Of course, this was not helped by the fact that I had to use EMS instead of DHL.

The Bodyline site appeared to be moving a little quicker when I ordered. It is still slow but it is more bearable. I am sure it still gets slow during busy times but I have been very lucky recently. So, how much did I have to pay for EMS? In this order I had 2 skirts and about 9 $1 bits. I can't show you the $1 bits because it will give a surprise away! At first it looked as though I would have to pay $26 for EMS shipping but then I went to the checkout. For some reason, it jumped to $33 whilst I was in the process of ordering. That was a little sneaky and Bodyline could have done a better job at making the shipping price more obvious. If you are ordering from Bodyline soon, be careful. I am hoping Bodyline will eventually bring back DHL and the $20 flat rate shipping.

I ordered from Bodyline on Sunday evening and it arrived Wednesday evening. So it took about the same amount of time as DHL. For some reason, a lot of EMS parcels get lumped with heavy customs charges in the UK. I was lucky this time but it may have something to do with the fact that the contents value was marked down to a quarter. We don't have EMS in the UK so when it arrived in the country it was handled by ParcelForce. I am not a ParcelForce fan and I have had issues with them before. I was left waiting right until the last minute on Wednesday so it eventually arrived at 5.55pm (they close at 6pm). Bodyline packed the parcel well and the EMS postal bag feels more durable than the DHL ones. But I still prefer DHL!

My order probably wont come as a surprise. I got both the new strawberry skirt and the rose skirt. Here is the strawberry skirt-

I briefly tried it on. I was worried it was going to be a little on the short side after I saw the website pictures. It sits a tiny bit above the knee but the length is not that bad. It looks as though Bodyline have started to use firmer elastic. Despite being well within the site measurements, the elastic cut in to my waist a bit. It can stretch further but where the elastic is firm, it clings tightly. Don't buy this skirt if you are near the maximum measurements because even if you can get it on it might not be comfortable. It will hopefully cling less after a few wears.

When I ordered the skirt I didn't realise the bottom part had these bows on it (shows how unobservant I am). There are a few tiny areas with some small fraying and loose threads but overall, it looks good. The bottom hem on this skirt is a lot nicer than some of my other Bodyline skirts.

The skirt also has some rose lace on it. I thought it was a weird choice considering the sweet fruity print. I really want Bodyline to use some strawberry shaped lace sometime. Despite this, I still think it looks pretty.

I was a little disappointed that this skirt did not come with a waist bow or a matching head bow. I thought it could be another situation like the waffle print where the skirt did not have a matching head bow but the dress did. It looks as though the dress does not have a matching bow either. Yes, there is a matching dress. It is viewable on the Japanese website under 'stock'. I prefer the skirt version anyway.

And here is my other new skirt-

This skirt also had firmer elastic than I am used to. The length of the skirt was around knee length. It was slightly above my knee when I quickly tried it on. This skirt comes with waist ties and a detachable waist bow.

This is a close-up of the bottom. This skirt looks very neat. There were still a few loose threads but I am very happy with it. The lace threaded with ribbon is pretty but wouldn't it have been nice if this had the rose lace from the strawberry skirt? My only real complaint is that the skirt uses black lace but the matching bag uses white lace. It would have been better if the bag also used black lace. I think when you do a series it is good to have a bit of continuation. The bag also has pink pearls on it and maybe the skirt could have had some detachable pearls on it too.

A close-up of the waist tie. It is a good length. The print is used on both sides as well, which is a bonus.

The waist bow is a little on the large side. At least it looks even. The lace has frayed in some places but it is not noticeable. This bow has pink lace. So we have white lace on the bag, black lace on the skirt and pink lace on the waist bow! At least the black lace has some pink ribbon threaded through it. It looks as though the different lace colours mainly affects the black and red versions of the skirt.

I can't show the $1 bits I purchased but I will say I am very happy with them and none of them were missing. One of my friends had missing $1 bits before but I was more lucky.

I would say that this order has been a positive experience but the service is not as good as I expect from Bodyline. They should ensure that all shipping costs are made obvious to the customer and I think Bodyline would benefit from bringing DHL back. Both of the skirts are pretty. The rose skirt could be better but the beautiful print makes up for my small disappointments.

And finally, I leave you with yet another baffling Bodyline advert-

What on earth has the duck got to do with this skirt!? It made me smile. I love how random Bodyline can be sometimes!