Chicwish & Romwe Shopping Experience

It's not very often that I do reviews, but I felt that with the growing popularity of these two brands with fashion bloggers constitutes the need for one. I did TONS of research before actually making the purchases and now I would love to share my experience with you.

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CHICWISH

After doing a shoot with my friend Carissa, I fell in love with the dress she let me borrow. I had always been curious about Chicwish, so it was nice to be able to try on a garment and inspect the quality. I was impressed so I immediately ordered the same dress along with another.

These are the two items I chose for my first purchase:

This is the same dress that I borrowed for the shoot.

Quality:

Very good! Embroidery is on soft, flowy mesh. Gorgeous details. Completely lined. I'm in love with everything about this dress.

Fit:

A bit on the small side. I am usually an XS (0-2), but the smallest they had was a Small. It fit perfectly. It's a tiny bit loose, but definitely not a true small. You might be able to get away with the Small if you a size 4, but I recommend sizing up.

Quality:

 I fell in love with this dress immediately. Excellent craftsmanship. Beautiful embroidery on organza. Completely lined.

Fit:

True to size. This one had an XS option, but I wary of getting it because the other dress ran a bit small. I decided to go ahead and try and it fits like a glove! No need to size up for this one.

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Discounts:

Chicwish offers 30% off your first purchase. Keep in mind that the discount is off the original price and not the sale price, so you won't be saving as much as you though.

Shipping:

This order took 6 weeks to receive. SIX WEEKS. (Keep in mind that it's coming from Asia and will take a 2-3 weeks to receive.)The organza dress was on backorder, but came back into stock a few days after I ordered. It was sent at that time. After no response to my first email, I had to send a few more. My package was finally sent on week 2. There was no tracking number. I still hadn't received it 2 weeks later. They said the reason for being delayed was that one of the items was on backorder. After another email, I got an immediate response that my order had been shipped out. They responded to my email saying that it had been shipped and gave me a tracking number. They also gave me a 15% coupon for my next purchase and promised to do a better job next time. At the time, I was not going to order from this company again, but when I received my items, I fell in love. <3

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I found another item I loved on another blogger. I absolutely did not want to go through that situation again, but ultimately decided to give them another chance...and I am so glad I did!

These are the items from my second order:

Quality:

Again, very good! Nice material and completely lined. Super cute!

Fit:

Large. I bought the XS-S size and the waist is HUGE. There isn't a size tag inside the dress, so there is no way of knowing if the sent a different size. When I read reviews, every person had problems with returning items so I decided to save myself the headache and use a belt.

Quality:

Good. There are a few places in the tulle where it's not sewn straight. I'm a little OCD about that and would have expected the seams to be straight with as much money as it costs. I'm not crazy about the satin material at the waist band. There are tons of layers though and I love the color.

Fit:

This comes in one-size. It fits great and seems to be stretchy. Just not sure about the range of sizes it fits.

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Shipping:

Much better this time! They had my order out with in a few days and it took two weeks to receive. Much better. :-) Kudos Chicwish! 

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ROMWE

I have been dying for this skirt ever since I saw it on polyvore many moons ago. This is the only item I bought.

Quality:

Okay. Just as I would expect for what I paid. Satin type fabric. Unlined. Quality is equivalent to Forever21.

Fit:

VERY small. Do not trust their sizing chart on this one. Make sure you order up. My waist is 24/25, which is a size 0/2 XS. I ordered this in small (the smallest size) and could not even zip it up! The size chart says that a small will fit a 25/26 inch waist. The waist was 23 inches around.

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Discounts:

Romwe offers 60% off your first purchase. Again, it's 60% off of the regular price and not the sale price, so you are only saving a few dollars. I ended up paying $14.

Shipping:

Very fast! The sent out the skirt within one day of the transaction and it arrived a little over a week later.

Return:

A complete nightmare. I read a bunch of reviews on this very thing and I must say they are true. After seeing that the sizing chart was inaccurate and that I would never be able to fit into this skirt, I emailed them (they don't have a phone number) and they got back to me a few days later. They tried to tell me to keep the skirt and they would send me a 60% off coupon for my troubles. I appreciate the offer, but I did not want to buy another of the same skirt in a different size, when I could just exchange it. They said that I would have to pay shipping and that was completely fine. For about three weeks, they tried to convince me not to return and just to buy again with the coupon. I had to threaten them with a bad review and they finally gave in. They gave me a US return address and I mailed back the skirt for about $7. They told me that they would mail another out as soon as they received it. They received the skirt and said they would credit my account with a refund. I informed them that I did not want a refund, but an exchange like they had promised. They responded that they would send the skirt out right away.  This is week 6 of emailing back and forth. I still have not receive a shipping confirmation for the other size and have not received a refund.

Update: 6/7/15 Received my skirt on Thursday. The medium is a bit too large, but fits much better! I can take it a bit.

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Overall:

Even after the initial problem I had with Chicwish, I highly recommend them. They have quality clothing that is certainly my style. Some of the prices are a bit steep but they usually have coupons. I would say that most of my purchases were worth the money spend. The sizing is a bit inaccurate with a few things, but I would say that the clothing is mostly true to the size chart. I will buy from them again. So glad I gave them a second chance. They are now one of my favorite new stores :-)

As for Romwe, I'm not sure. The clothing quality fits the sale price. I definitely wouldn't pay the full price. You can even find some of the Chicwish pieces on Romwe, in which case it would be a much better deal. The sizing is a bit too crazy for me. I don't want to have to guess and then go through the return/exchange process once again. I would say that if you want cute clothes that are cheap and you KNOW what size you will be in this brand, then go for it. I'm not sure if I'm willing to take that risks with this headache I've been going through.....but you never know!

If you were thinking abut purchasing from either one of these shops, I hope this has helped!

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UPDATED: 7/27/2016

I have ordered from Chicwish six more times since this post so I thought I'd give an update!

1st order:  (Two dresses) Fast shipping! One item was a bit big, but I think it was meant to be. Not Chicwish's fault. I decided to keep rather than ship back.

2nd order: (Skirt and sweater) My order did not ship out at all. I emailed them about a month after I ordered and they told me that it was because the skirt I ordered was no longer available in my size. I'm not sure why they did not contact me about this situation. Instead they held up the shipment of my sweater. The money had already been taken out of my account upon purchasing the items. It did not make sense and I was not happy. I decided to cancel the order completely and forgo the sweater since the skirt is what I really wanted (it was heartbreaking, really. I REALLY wanted it.). They did give me a $10 giftcard, immediately refunded my card and seemed sincere in their apology, but what if I had never contacted them? Would they have reached out?

3rd order: (blouse) I used my $10 giftcard on this order. Shipping was lightening fast!!

4th order: (top/skirt set) I ordered right before the 3rd order and received shipping notification. It took about 5 weeks but it finally came.

5th order: (dresses) Received it quickly, but one item had a small defect. They actually refunded me a few dollars to get it fixed!

6th order: Received quickly, but dress was smaller than what was measured online. I shipped it back and they gave me the option of a refund or getting store credit (with a few dollars added). I took store credit :-)

Overall, when I have actually received my purchases (ie. not out of stock), I have loved everything! I've never had problems with the quality of an item and there have been no serious fit issues thus far. Even though a few mistakes have been made, I will continue to order from Chicwish because I'm obsessed with the clothing.

On the other hand, I have not ordered from Romwe again and I probably will not. I still love the skirt I received and the price was right for the item, but I've read too many reviews stating the same problems that I encountered during my order. :-)

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CHECK OUT MY UPDATED CHICWISH REVIEW HERE

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