Meshki
It seems like there’s a great new brand with lovely glittering crop tops, lace bodysuits, or PVC leggings every time you check onto Instagram. Sadly, just because a dress appears beautiful in a photo taken by your favorite influencer doesn’t always imply it will look fantastic in real life.
About a year ago, when I was lamenting how no company had been able to replace the vacuum that the original Nasty Gal left in my closet, my friend Maria introduced me to Meshki. She also gave me the recommendation for Oh Polly, which I have tried and adored.
Back to Meshki. However, their website wasn’t particularly user friendly at the time, and it still isn’t. Additionally, the majority of their selections were bikinis and club clothing, both of which I liked at the time. But when I was shopping for new clothing for vacations to Brazil and the Philippines earlier this year, Meshki had a nice beachy two-piece set that I liked, so I decided it was time to give them a try.
I bought this crop top in leopard print and this two-piece purple outfit. I didn’t receive it in time for my vacation to Brazil because shipping ended up taking a bit longer than intended. However, since it is coming from Australia, I sort of anticipated it.
The purple outfit did fit, but the top felt a little strange because the straps were so long. Of course, I could tie them up, but they were so large and weighty that doing so resulted in the entire shirt drooping, which was uncomfortably unflattering and ripe for a fashion mishap. I choose to send it back.
Even though it was considerably shorter than I anticipated, the leopard shirt was still adorable but it was much more like a bralette than the somewhat modest crop top I was expecting. It felt a touch snug on my breasts as well, but considering my thin band and large cup sizes, that is very normal for me. Even though I probably wouldn’t have bought the leopard shirt if I had initially tried it on in a shop, I made the decision to not return it since I didn’t want to swap it for anything else. The second bodysuit I had my eye on was sold out in my size. And when I finally had my shop credit posted to my account, it took 18 days to do so, and I couldn’t find anything else on their website that I wanted that wouldn’t need me to spend additional money on top of my store credit. I eventually had to wait till I came across this red turtleneck tiny dress while shopping one day. The dress was much more attractive in person and the fabric was decent in that it wasn’t see through, but it still appeared much cheaper in reality than it did online, almost like spandex. I didn’t completely appreciate how short the dress was until I was wearing it and was having to pull it down since it kept riding up as I moved around.
I opted not to return it since, once more, I didn’t feel like returning it and looking for anything else to replace it for. If I had tried it on in a shop, I’m fairly sure I wouldn’t have paid $55 for it, but that’s how online retailers hook you, right?
And. If you don’t want to read everything, here’s a synopsis of the major topics…
Pros
- You may make returns from your home.
- Everything I purchased fit well. If anything, it was slightly smaller than I was hoping.
- Adorable collection of fashionable items,
Cons
- You may only return for shop credit, they don’t provide full refunds for returns.
- Exchanges for store credit are more bothersome than they would be on a bigger site with more alternatives because they don’t have a lot of inventory on their site and there seems to be a bug where you can’t access all of their inventory.
- I’m 5’7 or 1.73m for non-Americans, so it appeared like a few inches of cloth were lacking from everything I purchased. The shirts were more like bralettes than crop tops, and the skirts were really short. Although it wasn’t the worst thing in the world, it wasn’t what I had anticipated based on the product photographs.
Information You Should Know
Shipping back is your responsibility. Although the price wasn’t as high as it was at some stores, like Oh Polly. I still paid roughly $10.
Although the craftsmanship wasn’t terrible, it appeared a touch poor quality in relation to the price. Although the pricing were higher, I would say that the quality was comparable to brands like Forever 21.
I am 5’7 or 1.73m, and both of the skirts I purchased were quite short. They are wearable, but they don’t seem very on-trend. They made me think of the little dresses I used to wear in 2009, especially the purple one, which I had to constantly pull down while walking.
I thought the size was accurate, but I’ve heard from friends that it was drastically off. Given that many of these businesses get their apparel from various wholesalers, I guess it varies on the goods.
Overall, unless I spotted a style that was very adorable and distinctive that I couldn’t get anyplace else, I definitely wouldn’t shop at Meshki again. I was a little put off by the returns policy and the mismatch between the quality and pricing. Of course, I could return if they decided to provide better quality, lower costs, or modify their return policy! There is still hope because Dolls Kill finally updated their return policy this year!
I suggest checking out Missguided (cheaper + always has deals), Boohoo (free returns + cheaper), or Oh Polly (better quality + same price point) if you’re searching for apparel that looks like Meshki but don’t want to them a try.
