OK—so we are now familiar with the search for the Mother-of-the-Bride dress.  And we have a couple of other weddings coming up.  Basically, I need a few new dresses.

My constant complaining must’ve hit a nerve with Bonaparte because shortly after our trip to Lord & Taylor, he took it upon himself to peruse the internet to find some place, any place where I could order a dress to customize to my measurements and taste.

Remember the dress with the floral bottom and the black knit top that I liked but A. it was too short and B. Oona thought it too casual for the wedding.  Well, I loved that dress and apparently, even though it was a bit short for the husband’s liking, he found a similar dress.

Remember this dress from my MOB post?

What he found was a site, eShakti—their motto being, We Design.  You Customize.

Not gonna lie.  The dress he found was stunning.  But—could this be a reliable site?

Here’s the eShakti dress Bonaparte found–leave it to a Frenchman–huh??  It’s similar but not the same as the dress above it!

With Bonaparte paying, and me handing him a tape measure, we went to it with measuring and customizing.

By the way, this came as a freebie with the dress I ended up ordering–read on…

Dress chosen, I added measurements and my height.

For the faint-of-heart when it comes to measuring–the site has step-by-step instructions!

I changed the neckline, the sleeves and the length of the dress—all to my specifications.

The height inquiry really piqued my interest—that’s something that dress manufacturers never take into consideration!

We placed the order and waited!

Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect.

The dress arrived much earlier than anticipated—less than a week, in fact.  The box large but not huge. It was an excellent example of pragmatic packaging.  I carefully opened it and when I took the dress out—I was shocked at how beautiful it was.

Here’s the box the dress came in–this pic was taken AFTER I practically destroyed it.  But I’ll tell you, I was impressed that there was no wasted space in the box the dress was delivered in!

It wasn’t shoddy. It was well-constructed.  The zipper was sewn in perfectly.  The detailing was fine!

And when I tried the dress on, I felt like a princess.  Have a look why doncha!!

I really should have changed my hair but I was just so excited about the dress!  The fit is gorgeous.  You can see how I changed the dress a bit.  I made the length a bit shorter, and I changed the deep-V neckline to a boat neckline..

The dress pictured on eShakti’s site has the sash tied in the back. I prefer it tied in the front!

The top comes down at my proper waist.  I love that because way too many dresses are made for the short of waist!

I am seriously in love with the sleeve length–and I love the look separates in a dress!

The length of the dress is below the knee and with a higher heel, I’m feeling very vintage!

Pockets!!!!!!!!!!  I think I’ll wear my Jamison wig with this delightful party dress!  Or perhaps a longer wig in an updo!

At a price of around 69.00 including shipping and customization, this was well-worth it!

Here’s a sampling of more dresses–there are a ton of dresses on the website to choose from–in  fact, eShakti offers shirts and skirts too!  Click on the link to the site–but pour yourself either a glass of wine, or a cuppa tea or a mug of coffee because you’ll be looking for a while!

This is on my wishlist.  I would change the sleeves to just above elbow and I would definitely wear pointy-toed heels!

Got a party?  Or a special event?

I tell you, if Oona was getting married in the fall or winter, THIS would be my Mother-of-the-Bride dress!  It’s tons nicer than the dresses I saw at Nordstrom and over $100 cheaper!

Today I received an email from eShakti containing a $20 coupon to be used toward my next purchase—and I can assure you that coupon will be used very soon!

Now that Winter is over and Spring is officially here, I’m somewhat making the transition to springtime clothing.  That means bare legs and, as my daughter calls it “badly faked tanned legs”. As far as the legs go, I don’t care if they are a bit streaked because I’m always in a hurry when I apply the product.

My St. Patrick’s Day outfit.  I’ve worn this sweater every year since my Da passed away.  It was his favorite and he got it in….Ireland!  I even wore ginger hair!

However, my pasty-white legs do look better with some color!

I went with Ocean Potion self-tanning lotion fron Walmart this week!  

Here’s what I wore so far this week with the farewell to Winter!

I wore black velvet pants and my plaid J. Crew Lady Jacket on Monday. I kept my Irish hair!  

Tuesday I went red and gray–and the red matched my bloodshot eye. I think I’m allergic to a new skincare product that I started using last week.  Either that or I’m working too hard!! 

Yesterday I went with an old reliable outfit–my leopard-print skirt!

And today, I shopped in my closet and wore this J.Crew dress that I’ve had for years!!!!

This was last Saturday’s ensemble and I think I’ll wear it for Jeans Friday tomorrow!

And on a last note, eShakti sent me a referral code so if you would like to order, just follow the instructions below then when you order you can get a referral code and so on.  It’s a good deal if you decide to make a purchase!

Say mah name, say mah name–and get an additional 15% off your initial order!  The code is my name in caps!

Easy-to-follow instructions –at the end of your order look for the Apply box and add the CATHERINELARTIGUE code!

A nice party dress–or any decent dress for that matter is a daunting search but thanks to my husband, I was able to find a dress that I love and it’ll be appropriate for Oona’s wedding shower!

If you check out the site, let me know what you think in the comments below!  We’ll talk about it!  XOXOXOXOXOX