We discovered that the dress only had about 1cm more in the bust and for the waist I was right on the mark. For the record, I have 93cm bust and 80 cm waist. Since the extra large would be both too big and too long for me (I am only 5' 4"), Martin offered to have him send it back and get 2cm added to the waist and 1 cm added to the bust so it would fit comfortably. I wasn't charged any additional fees to do this. I agreed and after many months of waiting, I finally received the dress yesterday. Yes, it took 8 months from the time of my order to me receiving it.
So shipping time on DOL's end: 1/5
Once Martin received the dress it came to me in less than 2 weeks via registered airmail. The package came in a very cute black and white polka dotted bag and was sealed very tight with tape covering the entire package. I actually had to cut it open with scissors.
The dress was wrapped in 2 layers of plastic and received no damage in transit.
Right off the bat, I noticed that the fabric of the border had a strange plastic-like texture which I'd assume is from how the design was printed. The striped fabric was about bodyline quality.The cotton is a bit thin, so any brightly colored bras will be visible. But white and nude shades seem to be okay.
The lace on both the collar and the hem is a very nice embroidered net type. It's soft and the only complaint is that the brown doesn't quite match the color of the chocolate parts in the print.
Both of the detachable bows are fairly well constructed. I had thought that the longer bow for the collar would be an actual neck-tie, but it's securely made so I have no complaints.
Both bows have the top part on one side and the bottom part lined with the striped fabric. Why they didn't just double side both parts with the matching fabric is a little strange. But I'm not about to nit-pick about how the back of my bows look. Both bows have the pin sewn on so they attach securely.
I didn't see any flaws with the print, but I wish there was a little more contrast between the white and the mint parts. The brown parts look like they're floating a bit. The gold has a little bit of shimmer to it which is nice.
The buttons for the collar are cute and not too difficult to get through the button holes. There were a few loose threads around the button holes.
Unbuttoned.
At first I thought there would be a zipper in the back, so I got a bit confused on how to put it on when I didn't see it. I later found that there's a side zipper and you have to unbutton the collar to get it on.
Like all DOL garments, the waist ties are lined with white fabric. The print was nicely centered on the ties.
Sorry for the blurry picture. The side zipper is located under one of the sleeves on the seam. It's an invisible zipper and it gets stuck quite a bit. The waist ties are sewn in.
close-up of the zipper and waist tie.
The skirt of the dress is lined with a slip and then a short layer of tulle sewn on the other side.
The entire bodice aside from the sleeves and yolk is lined as well. I didn't find any other loose threads on the inside.
Worn:
There is a lot of petti room. I have 2 small pettis on in the picture, but I could easily fit another one in there, maybe 2. The fit is great and it has enough extra room to be comfortable even when wearing a regular bra. It's not too tight at the sleeves either.
Overall:
Construction: 4/5
Shipping (Clobbao): 5/5
Communication: 5/5
I'm extremely happy with the dress. The only 2 major flaws I can tell would be the fabric quality and the zipper getting stuck a lot. I would recommend Clobbao as a shopping service. Very polite with communication and responds to emails very quickly. I really felt like he wanted me to be satisfied as a customer.
I am unsure if I would order from DOL again because of how long they took. I know my dress got stuck in 2 major back logs because of holidays and other print releases. I may order again if they release something that I really like, but I would do custom sizing from the beginning. I did that with my Fantastic Dolly OP and it came in 2 months. If you're a bit between sizes I'd recommend doing a custom order.
I hope everyone enjoyed my review.