finding my real life grown up adult style (an eshakti review + an outfit post)

outfit details: 

dress: c/o eshakti 

shoes: target (old, thrifted)

necklace: gift (originally from macys

glasses: zenni opical

its been a long time since ive done a proper outfit post. and judging by the quality of these photos and how long it took me to edit them, james and i have gotten a little rusty when it comes to outfit post procedures. 

but were just going to ignore that and move on because thats not what were here today to talk about. 

see, i didnt want you guys to think that just because ive been gone all summer and ive had a big fat case of the lazies, that i havent been dressing cute and have just been flopping around in yoga pants and a stained sweatshirt all summer. oh heck no. (actually, i threw away all my old stained sweatshirts so they wouldnt even be an option, but thats a discussion for an entirely different day). 

in fact, id like to think that ive been dressing (and by extension, feeling) nicer and more attractive than ever before. because.... drumroll please.... SOMETHING CLICKED AND I FINALLY FOUND MY REAL LIFE GROWN UP ADULT STYLE AND ITS THE MOST AWESOME THING THATS EVER HAPPENED. 

ok maybe im exaggerating. but if youre going to hang around with me, you better get used to hyperbole. if you cant, we cant be friends. im sorry. 

but seriously, ive come a long, long way from where i was when i first wrote about my style struggles, and my early outfit posts just make me want to barf. but after purging my closet no less than THREE (!) times over the last couple years (and not really buying much to replace what i took out), and taking a step back to look at my wardrobe choices objectively and pragmatically, rather than potentially or theoretically, i can confidently say, ive figured out this whole "personal style" thing:

black, white, stripes, nipped waists, flared skirts, plain tops, skinny pants, bold pops of color and dainty, feminine accessories are here to stay, while novelty tshirts, empire waists, florals, sneakers, drapey knits and anything beachy/bohemian are definitely out. 

i wont say im 100% there yet with my wardrobe, seeing as i still frequently pull things out to get rid of, but im to the point where it takes me no time at all to get dressed in the morning, and nine times out of ten i feel really good about my outfit. which, coming from where i was not even a year and a half ago is a freaking miracle. 

especially considering what happened a few weeks ago, when eshakti offered to send me a dress to review. if this had happened back when i wrote those other posts, theres a pretty good chance i would have picked something awful because "i liked the idea of it" or "maybe this will work", just like every freaking time i went shopping for like two years. BUT NOT THIS TIME. 

i knew EXACTLY what i was looking for. 

and when the AMAZING airplane print dress that i wanted had a neckline i wasnt thrilled with, it wasnt a problem at all because eshakti lets you customize the necklines, hemlines, and sleeve treatments of whatever dress you pick. (unfortunately since this whole exchange happened while james was out of town i didnt have anyone to measure me so i could take advantage of the custom tailoring, but since everythings buy one get one free right now, maybe ill try it sometime soon and get a dress thats NOT super tight in the shoulders). 

ordering from eshakti was totally easy (and i love how you can browse the site by style!), shipping was exceptionally fast, and overall im really pleased with the quality (both fabric and construction) of the dress. definitely on the nicer side of what youd expect for the (retail) price point (im used to buying my higher end stuff used/on sale though so the price seemed high to me, but you really get what you pay for). 

the only thing i didnt like was the red fabric belt that came with it, but as you can clearly see, its plenty cute without it. 

so yeah, eshakti is a pretty great place to get dresses. especially right now. because, buy one get one free. 

*disclaimer, eshakti DID provide the dress sample for me to review, however i did not receive any additional compensation and all photos, views, and opinions are my own*