I made my first Evans order on September 28th. It arrived today! That’s 22 days (14 days longer than ordering from ASOS). I paid £7.50 which is about $12 Canadian for shipping. As I mentioned with my ASOS order shipping costs are a big peeve of mind. $12, I can definitely handle.

I have always loved Evans’ fashions but I chose to order at this time because of the release of the new Beth Ditto line and because I wanted a red winter coat. I’m not a crazy shopper. I put a lot of thought into what I’m buying and how it will fit with what I have. But mostly, I have to love something before I buy. Lack of sleep may lead to an impulse buy (read on).

From the Ditto collection I ordered the heart print hanki hem top, £39.50 (I didn’t fall in love with this tunic length top until I saw it worn by another blogger — can’t for the life of me find the blog or else I’d link to it) and the black extra high waist leggings, £20.00. I also ordered a hooded duffle coat, £49.50, in an awesome bright red and a black jersey jumpsuit, £35.00, (something I thought I would never do and will now blame on the before mentioned lack of sleep. As I’m sitting here I remembered another reason why I don’t like jumpsuits — you have to completely undress to pee). I found a coupon online for 15% off so I saved almost $22. So basically I got free shipping and a bonus.

It was super easy to shop at Evans. Their website is well laid out and since they only sell plus size there were no disappointments as they have a huge size range (14 to 32), great product images and the shopping cart is easy to use. I had no problems what-so-ever placing my order. I paid for my order using Paypal; again with no problem. After my order was placed, I received an email receipt for my order and another email the next day letting me know my order was “dispatched”.

As I said in the intro my parcel arrived today. I was surprised that it wasn’t in a box but a large opaque grey bag. Each item was individually packaged in plastic and the coat and jumpsuit came with hangers. Along with the package came duty, taxes, and a handling fee. Most likely because it was over $100. My parcel contents cost £122.40. Before they can charge the duty they have to convert my parcel contents total to Canadian. On the day of processing the exchange was 1.604900 which brought my total up to $196.44 Canadian (about $50 more than what I had worked out when I made my purchase three weeks ago — the joy of fluctuating dollars). An 18 % duty was applied = $35.35 + HST of $30.13 and a $5 handling fee. To pick up my package from the post office it cost $70.49. I was expecting to pay around $50. And I had to sign for the parcel.

I pretty much love everything. The jacket isn’t bulky, is super soft and has a silky lining. One of the things I liked about it was the fact that it had both the buttons and a zipper; although I’m a bit concerned about the zipper which is plastic and didn’t give me the impression it will hold up to daily use — time will tell. The heart print hanki top is so cute, even the man said he liked it. It’s super soft jersey on top. I thought the arms would be tight but they are super comfortable. I could use a little more room in the chest area where it connects with the patterned material which isn’t stretchy at all. I bought the extra high waist leggings to go with the hanki top. They don’t have a lot of give but I love the high waist and there the added option of folding them over. Now for the jumpsuit. I think it’s really cute but I would never wear it out in public. It will definitely be I’m home for the day outfit — it’s that whole having to undress from top to bottom thing when I have to use the washroom and is not really appropriate for this time of year; too cold.

Overall, it was a good shopping experience. Next time I order I will try to keep my order total under $100 to hopefully considerably reduce expected duty/tax charges. If you are looking for some where new to shop I recommend giving them a try. Sign up for their newsletter to get the latest sale and promotion information. If you have tried them already please share your experience in the comments.

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Topic Links
* Get your own plus size clothing from Evans
* Read my ASOS shopping experience
* Figuring out the exchange between United Kingdom Pounds and Canadian dollars

Moe

Maureen (Moe) Wood has been writing for the Large and Lovely site at BellaOnline for over nine years. Her plus size shopping blog, My Favorite Things, celebrated its fifth anniversary. Read more about Moe on her about page or follow her through her social network links below.

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