EN RU FR

Here I’m just going to talk about a few shops. First the positive experiences, then the stories with a completely negative experience. So, let’s begin REVIEWS:

Cou Cou Intimates.

It’s a brand of organic cotton basics and intimates: simple silhouettes, corsets, balconettes, little shorts.
A bit about the brand itself. Cou Cou was founded in 2021 by Rose Colcord, an English girl. She was applying for a Master’s in Philosophy at the time and ended up starting an underwear label instead. The idea came from the fact that we all seem to have two separate drawers: one with pretty lace you barely ever wear, and one with plain comfy knickers. She decided to merge them, so you never have to choose between “comfortable” and “beautiful”. Everything is made from 100% GOTS certified organic cotton. No synthetics, no elastane in the blend, and the pieces are even compostable at the end of their life. The cotton is grown near Izmir in Türkiye. And the labels say Made in Portugal. The brand is also B Corp certified and donates 1% to charity.
And here’s what happened to me: I ordered one thing, then I wanted another. Then another. Moooore! I’ve ended up with a full total black set: two pairs of shorts, a corset top, a bra, briefs and a cardigan. And the cardigan is insane. They look like such simple pieces, they’re sewn so well.
Sizing, though, is not easy. Something slightly big, something slightly small, and I’ve realised you really have to think hard before ordering. At one point I was scared the XXS would be too small, took the XS, and now it doesn’t hug me the way I wanted.
Originally I bought the bra and briefs to replace a synthetic swimsuit, which is why I went for black. Even though when I first found the shop I was eyeing the blue. God, I still want to order again right now… stop it, Nastya. Honestly the only thing holding me back is my upcoming trip, because there’s no way I’d get the order in time.
The balconette seemed tiny to me at first. But then I understood: it only covers half the bust, and that’s the whole point. I actually love how confident it is, even though it’s soft cotton.
The corset is the sadder part. I sized up to S because of my bust, since the XS in the bra is a little snug after all. And now it doesn’t hug me at all, it sits like a little tank top. It has hooks at the front, like the bra, except there are loads of them, and because the fabric isn’t pulled tight they sometimes come undone on their own. And I can’t wear it without a bra. Plus the seam rides up over the bust and I have to keep readjusting it. But it’s so beautiful that I’m going to order a smaller one anyway. I’ll have two, whatever. Yes, these are expensive pieces, but I never return orders, it takes too long. I’d rather give it to someone.
What I’m genuinely wild about are the little shorts with the elastic. They’re brilliant. All of this is coming with me to Mauritius, especially the cardigan, so I don’t get a tan.
I also have a special love for the way this brand exists on Instagram. Girls post these really simple photos in the pieces, nothing special on the surface, lots of light, an ordinary room, no staging at all, and the result is super stylish. It’s a very French thing, when the simplicity is actually completely thought through and that’s exactly what makes it look expensive. Effortless chic, like the person didn’t try at all and it came out better than everyone else’s.
Soon I’ll tell you about my shopping experience at Jaded London and Davines hair care. Because that’s genuinely top tier too. I guess I’m very on-trend, haha, but I don’t even think about it, I just love good things.

5/5

Jaded London.
I don’t remember how I found this shop. The first thing my husband ordered there was a pair of light blue baggy jeans, and I wore them constantly because they’re so comfortable and cool. Two years later I stained them and turned them into a skirt.
Then I ordered three pairs of trousers for my husband as a birthday present. The first pair turned out huge and completely the wrong size, even though I’d checked the size chart in centimetres. Fail… The second time it worked out, hahaha, because by then I was comparing against the failed pair. Those trousers are super. Like classic tailored trousers. And the third pair is just warm trousers, like the bottoms of a tracksuit. I got him a long sleeve top too, it’s sexy, I really like it, though it’s probably a bit strange for him because the style is more for teenagers. But he did wear those warm trousers all winter anyway. This shop has loads of cool stuff for boys in general.
Next I really wanted a tracksuit from there for myself. I bought a set for winter, trousers and a jumper, in brown. It’s just brilliant. I wore it all winter because it’s really warm.
Last summer I decided to order a swimsuit, because their swimsuits are so beautiful. But the size turned out to be impractical, so in the end the swimsuit is only good for photos. This summer I ordered again and this time it’s spot on, because I sized up, learning from last time.
And finally it was time for new jeans. I went for brown ones, because mine was the only size left in the sale. I really like them, but they’re stiff, they’re brand new after all. I should wash them with baking soda or something. brown jeans mekes me feel so autumn.
So that’s the story. It’s a super cool shop. The downside: small sizes sell out fast, which is why when the swimsuit drop happened I ordered straight away, and it turned out to be a really good buy.
Now about the brand itself. Jaded London was founded in London in the summer of 2013 by a brother and sister, Jade and Grant Goulden. Jade had spent two years working as a buyer at ASOS, and their family has been in fashion for three generations: their grandfather was a tailor and their dad worked in the garment district. So she grew up inside the industry. They started out tiny: they drew twenty prints, sampled them at UK factories, and shot the lookbook on their friends in a skate park in Camden because there was no money for a proper shoot. Grant had just graduated and knew menswear and trends better than her, so they made it a unisex brand from the start, which is where the Jaded Man line comes from. From streetwear for their own crowd it grew into one of the most recognisable British brands for Gen Z, with viral drops, Y2K aesthetics and a turnover of nearly forty million pounds.
So there you go, recommended! But be careful with sizes. Next year I’m going to try picking out a dress there.

5/5

zara

After my purchases at Zara I started thinking about natural materials, and about the fact that I want to wear cotton, linen and silk rather than synthetics. I don’t want to write about Zara just yet, but maybe later. The main thing is not to start listing everything I’ve bought there… The only thing I will say is that I really love mules. This summer I ordered a pair from there and now I wear them constantly. So comfortable. Suede and fabric, not leather. Leather would obviously rub.

4/5

UNIF.
This is my favourite shop. When I was living in Russia I wanted something from there so badly, and somewhere around 2021 I placed my first order. I bought a dress and two T-shirts. And I genuinely love those pieces. Though I waited three months for the parcel, which was so long.
Then in 2023 my husband brought me a cute long sleeve top and some thigh-high boots. But the shoes turned out to be poor quality, we got 50% of the cost refunded, and I threw them out.
And recently I ordered two identical little T-shirts, just in different sizes. It’s so cute. I love them. But I won’t be buying shoes there again.

4/5

SKIMS

The first thing I bought from SKIMS was a waist trainer. Based on the size chart, I ordered an XS. It fit well, but it didn’t cinch my waist as much as I wanted, so I later bought an XXS. That one is perfect. I’m happy with it.

The problems started when I bought their underwear.

The quality is honestly terrible. One pair ripped after just two weeks, even though I barely wore it.

I also bought a lace cami and shorts set. Almost immediately, the fabric started pilling, and not long after, the shorts split at the seam. The funny part is that they weren’t even tight on me—they fit loosely.

The waist SHAPE WEAR is GOOD, but based on my experience, I definitely wouldn’t recommend their underwear.

3/5

My review of Miss Rosier

I ordered from Miss Rosier because Google suggested their store, and I fell for it. I was looking for a dress for my sister’s graduation. To be fair, their dresses do look beautiful.

I placed my order on March 25, but it wasn’t shipped until April 3, more than a week later. Today is April 20, so it has taken almost a month. That’s a long time for me.

One thing that confused me was the sizing. On the website, it says the model is wearing a size M, even though she clearly looks like an XS. That made me think their dresses run small. I trusted the description and ordered one size up, an S instead of an XS. Now I’m just hoping it won’t end up being too loose.

I only started thinking about this after placing the order, which also made me look into their return policy in case the size didn’t fit. I asked AI about it and found out that returns are often expensive, sometimes costing more than the dress itself, and can take a very long time. I don’t have time for that, so returning it isn’t really an option.

I did check the size chart, so I don’t expect the fit to be a complete disaster. I just didn’t like that the website listed the dress on the model as a size M instead of XS. Maybe it’s an Asian sizing system. I still have no idea whether their dresses run small or not, but I’ll find out soon. If it turns out to be huge, I’ll definitely be writing an angry review.

Well, the dress saga continues. I complained about the delivery taking almost a month. That was frustrating, but I could live with it. The package arrived in a flimsy plastic bag that barely survived the trip. It wasn’t even delivered to my home because the store chose the cheapest shipping option available, so my husband had to go pick it up from the post office. Fine, I thought. Maybe opening it will make everything worth it.

The website clearly says “100% silk”. The dress itself is actually made of synthetic fabric. The only silk is the slip dress underneath that’s meant to prevent transparency. The website never mentions this slip at all. It only shows and describes the outer dress. So yes, the fabric description is misleading. The dress is definitely not 100% silk.

I took a moment to calm down and thought, “Well, at least there’s some silk in there. The dress is pretty. I’ll let it go.” I almost decided not to write a review.

Then I started steaming the dress and found a hole in one of the sleeves. It’s small, but it’s still a hole, On a new dress.

I contacted customer support. Their automated reply said that every item goes through quality control and everything should be perfect.

Right. A wrinkled dress with a hole in it that’s also made from the wrong material.

I’m honestly convinced someone returned this dress before, and they simply sold it to me again.

I’m not returning it because my sister needs it for her graduation. But the whole shopping experience was awful. I won’t buy from this store again. This store is one of the first results that appears whenever I search Google for “dress.” But based on my experience, I can’t recommend it. The website advertised the dress as 100% silk, but what I received was mostly synthetic fabric. I was really disappointed.

Eventually, we agreed that they would refund me 50% of the price instead.

Four months later they returned 120 euros, i boughts this dress for 240, and now is selling for 80 on the site. wtf? 80 – is normally price for this sintetic dress. At this point, I honestly don’t care anymore. I just don’t want to deal with this company ever again.

If you look them up online, you’ll find that they have a lot of very negative reviews. I can now understand why.

2/5