Thread: Magical Fashions

I ordered a bra & belt set from Magical Fashions/Krishna Dave and asked many questions before actually placing the order and sending the money.

She explained that all sets are handmade and no glue. I ordered a tribaret set, paid for it and told her I needed it by a specific date for a specific performance. She said it would not be a problem. This was at the beginning of the year. It did n;t arrive in time for my performance and she took forever to respond to my messages if at all.

When it finally arrived I was disappointed at the quality of the set. I honestly could have made this exact set for waaaay less than what I paid for it. It looked homemade, not professionally made. This set cost me the same amount as a new Hannan bedlah and there is no beading on this and everything is attached to an unlined lingerie bra. She even left the bra straps and band and added material that I'm supposed to tie over the bra straps to hide them. Why not just cut them off and make real straps? I almost cried. I was and still am surprised that she would charge so much for something that is low quality.
The next thing is that there was supposed to be belly drapes and a matching head piece. Neither of which were included in the package. I sent her a message telling her about the missing items and explaining my concerns about the quality and she responded very nasty and kept insisting she has many happy customers and ignoring that things were missing. I sent message after message for months and it took her 3 months for her to respond, she said she was in India and not working, but yet I know that others were ordering from her and getting items. I watched her Facebook page. She also vended at a few festivals, so why hadn't I received my missing pieces? Ugh!
I almost gave up on it when myself and another dancer posted on a Facebook group about it and all of a sudden she came out of the woodwork and said that she would send my missing pieces, that she found them. She said she had lost them.
She sent them to me last week and they don't match the costume, wrong colors and trim. I messaged her again, she said she made them out of what was laying around. Might I also mention, that the headpiece is glued together. She insisted that she doesn't glue anything.
I told her I wanted it to match and she said "I didn't realize you want matchy matchy. I make it to accent." *sigh* so, here I am, still waiting for a headpiece. I asked her about the belly drapes and she sent me what looks like broken necklaces and told me "you're a seamstress, you can sew them on".

(continued below)

In the meantime, I have worn the bra and belt set 3 times, that's it, and it is already falling apart. Trim is coming off, pieces popping off, seams coming apart. I am not hard on my costumes at all. I baby them in fact. But for what I paid it should last longer than it has.
I will never order from her again and will never recommend her. She has terrible customer service and the quality of her items are definitely not worth the price tag.
The scary things is, she told me it was a sale price. So how much would it have costed if it wasn't on sale?
I have made some costume stuff in the past, I am no professional seamstress. Not even close, but I could have made this set, if not better.
Very upsetting, frustrating and disappointing.

sorry for the long posts.

I am sorry this has happened to you. You have done the best you can warning others of potential hazards ordering from this merchant.

Sounds like the experience I had with her. I had purchased a few items from her at a convention, so I felt comfortable purchasing a skirt from her online store. However...

I was looking for a specific color for my skirt and had to ask some questions in order to get an idea of the color. She was too busy to send me pics of the actual skirts, so I sent her a pic of the item I was trying to match. She said it would be a good match. (Not the best way to go about it, but I had an event coming up). So I order the skirt online at her store. Then she emails to say that she can't ship to me unless I pay more "because you are in Canada". First off, that is bull. For only one skirt, it wasn't that much of a difference and it was more than covered by the shipping charges calculated by her website for my country already. I work with carriers/freight forwarders on almost a daily basis, I do have a frame of reference. I asked her what her shipping policy was for Canada, since it wasn't listed on her website at the time, and the shipping was already calculated according to my Canadian address (there wasn;t any mention made that a shipping quote would be sent for orders out of the country.) She promptly launched into an email tirade in which she expressed that I was a difficult customer and asking why I was giving her such a hard time. ??? And then she proceeded to tell me that a troupe in my area was purchasing from her all the time and to "just ask them". All I had asked for was her shipping policy. Why would I ask her shipping policy to her clients? Didn't make sense to me.

Anyway, the skirt arrives, much later than indicated. It was not damaged, in spite of the packaging being shredded. (She had mashed it into a flat rate envelope.) The color wasn't bad, but the cotton was so flimsy that you could see my pantaloons underneath through the weave. Worse, after 2 wears, the bottom tier is starting to fray and come apart at the seam.

cont...

And the kicker? The extra charge and delay was because she had sold her only skirt in the color I wanted to someone else, at a convention, *after* I had placed my order. So she got another one from her stock and shipped it to me from Vegas (post marked days after she said she had shipped it btw). Had I lived in BC, that would have been great, but I'm all the way across the country and paid accordingly. Incidentally, the girls from the troupe mentioned above also had all sorts of problems with her as well, from vests in the wrong sizes to belts that would take months to come *after* payment was made in full.

Purchasing from her at an event is fine. She is very sales driven though, and when I asked for a pair of beaded disks in a certain color range, she said "ATS is not all matchy-matchy". Seeing her items first hand and knowing what you pay for, and getting the item right there is a much better proposition than dealing with the website. She does have a lovely selection of Turkoman pieces and some great Kuchi pieces. But I can't say that dealing with her was pleasant and I wouldn't recommend her online store to anyone.

Sadly I have heard of similar problems. You might want to inform the BBB. I heard she vended in Las Vegas for the Belly Dance Intensive, then Atlanta when Suhaila taught followed by Miami the following weekend. If you will be in NJ for Rakkasah East you might could return the third or fourth tier costume and exchange it for something you actually want. Or even demand a full refund. If you paid via credit card maybe you could contact them regarding the misinformation.

I'm currently waiting on an order from them for my troupe!

have a tracking number
I will let you know quality once the order arrives. - but knowing this - I probably would not have ordered.

Originally Posted by essex leaf

I'm currently waiting on an order from them for my troupe!

have a tracking number
I will let you know quality once the order arrives. - but knowing this - I probably would not have ordered.

I know that another dancer ordered a custom length skirt and it came 10" too short. Then Krishna said it was the customers fault, not hers. It took months for the dancer to get a refund and that only happened after posting about it on Facebook.

I hope you don't have any issues with your order. Please let us know how your order goes when you receive everything. :-)

I'm glad I saw this thread -- while I don't think I'm going any further into tribal, I know a lot of people who are into tribal, and this is one of the vendors I've heard recommended.

Looking at her site, you can actually see some of the things you mentioned in the product photos. There's a tassel visibly coming loose on one photo of a bra and belt set, and a photo of a headpiece where you can see the sheen of extra glue holding on some of the trim (I am guessing it was just completed, hence the shininess, but that's definitely glued-on trim).

That is **SO** disappointing to hear! I have some of MF's skirts, and they are by far the highest quality 25 yard skirts I have ever seen... but I have only purchased from a local vendor who orders wholesale from MF and haven't dealt with them directly. Makes me want to go buy a couple more from the inventory I *know* is good, just when I was thinking of ordering something. Yikes! I really hope this is something that can be fixed, since I am in dread of loosing access to the high quality skirts I've had from them in the past!

I've never been tempted by their other items/designs, so I can't speak to those- only the jaipur and veg dye skirts

Oh no, this should never happen

Would you mind showing a pic of the set?

Bye,
Shirin

A year and a half ago I attended an event at which Magical Fashions had a booth set up. I noticed that most of the clothing costume items she had looked awfully familiar and were way too expensive. When I got a chance to get back on the 'net to do some searches, I found that almost everything she had was identical to Mode Mystique stuff, but Magical Fashions was several times the price. What I have bought from Mode Mystique has been worth the lower prices, but not the inflated MF prices. I suspect MF was buying from MM and marking up.

I don't know now if MF has the same items as MM, as I haven't seen an MF booth in awhile. And I did not compare the jewelry so can't say about that, but I KNOW the clothing was the same. Maybe not every single item, but definitely a lot of it.

Originally Posted by Darbla

A year and a half ago I attended an event at which Magical Fashions had a booth set up. I noticed that most of the clothing costume items she had looked awfully familiar and were way too expensive. When I got a chance to get back on the 'net to do some searches, I found that almost everything she had was identical to Mode Mystique stuff, but Magical Fashions was several times the price. What I have bought from Mode Mystique has been worth the lower prices, but not the inflated MF prices. I suspect MF was buying from MM and marking up.

I don't know now if MF has the same items as MM, as I haven't seen an MF booth in awhile. And I did not compare the jewelry so can't say about that, but I KNOW the clothing was the same. Maybe not every single item, but definitely a lot of it.

I am glad to know I am not the only one that thought most of the Magical Fashion garments resembled Mode Mystique. Khrishna and her husband Chuck claim to import items direct from India but the similarities in inventory does seem strange.

I have never ordered skirts from Krishna/Magical Fashions so I cannot compare or comment on quality or if they're worth the price. But after all of this I never will. I will not give anymore of my money to someone who treats their customers this way. Not when there are literally hundreds of other vendors and websites I can order from.

I have ordered numerous times from Mode Mystique and have not had problems. Kajal is very sweet and easy to deal with. The prices are great and the shipping is fast.

Originally Posted by showtime

I am glad to know I am not the only one that thought most of the Magical Fashion garments resembled Mode Mystique. Khrishna and her husband Chuck claim to import items direct from India but the similarities in inventory does seem strange.

Mode Mystique is in India.

Originally Posted by Darbla

Mode Mystique is in India.

Indeed. Sorry, I was not clear. Krishna tells people they have people in India that sew for them exclusively. I have heard them state they do not work with anyone that supplies other vendors.

She told me that she sews it herself.

Irrelevant comment...Bra and belt combos look like explosions in a lampshade factory.

Originally Posted by lplmuk

Irrelevant comment...Bra and belt combos look like explosions in a lampshade factory.

the one I ordered was supposed to look more "tribaret" with some sparkle and fringe. I was expecting real fringe. Instead, she used yarn fringe that looks like it would go on a lamp shade.

I am very disappointed in the quality of construction and materials used.

order/payment was placed on Sept 12th.

I contacted them again on Oct 1st as I still hadn't received a shipping date.
They shipped on Oct 5th & I received on Oct 10th.
Shipping cost was higher than initially quoted but I didn't object because it was only a few dollars more.

The quality is less than I was expecting as I had seen the merchandise the last time they were vending at a workshop I attended.

Acceptable but... I probably would not order from them again.

AND Canada Customs winged me the whole 14% on top.

AND - now that I've had a chance to go through the box.... the colours are not true to monitor. Hopefully my troupe mates aren't too upset about the additional costs and the inaccurate colours.

I received an email from a non-Bhuz dancer re a shipment from Magical Fashions. She stated all trims were glued, most was sloppy with glue residue visible. She said bits of the bras and belts were loose in the pristine condition box when she opened it. Krishna told her to make a claim with USPS. She told Krishna the glue was obvious on the loose bits, in spite of their sizable troupe order having a request for no gluing, only sewing. From what I was told all terms were agreed to via email so USPS is not an issue. Hopefully they will manage some type resolution. Seems the attention to detail is not improving.

Originally Posted by showtime

I received an email from a non-Bhuz dancer re a shipment from Magical Fashions. She stated all trims were glued, most was sloppy with glue residue visible. She said bits of the bras and belts were loose in the pristine condition box when she opened it. Krishna told her to make a claim with USPS. She told Krishna the glue was obvious on the loose bits, in spite of their sizable troupe order having a request for no gluing, only sewing. From what I was told all terms were agreed to via email so USPS is not an issue. Hopefully they will manage some type resolution. Seems the attention to detail is not improving.

Krishna kept insisting to me when I made my order that she only sews and never glues, and yet when I received my order it was obviously glued. She is lying to customers! I was so upset, I paid the same amount for a lingerie bra glued with stuff that I pay for a sequin & beaded Egyptian bra/belt set.

I rest my case with the link below! I dont believe how some of you have so much time to trash other people.You got free stuff you got great deals and still you are not satisfied writing pages full of negative stuff. One of you got an apology for the delay and gave you a free head piece to make up for it. And one of you said tier ripped?????? Did I read that right? I did not build up over 9000 fans on face book by selling skirts that rip. Read what people have to say about my skirts by clicking or copy pasting the link below. Also none of my bra belts are glued that is another lie. They are all hand made and hand beaded. Head pieces are made with hot gluing embellishments on them and never claimed that head pieces had all hand sewed embellishments. If I have made an error with some ones order I have apologized and more than made up for it because I am human. Anyways HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL and may the new year bring positive vibrations your way and always remember that what goes around comes around! I always do!
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Hey ladies,

I just wanted to say, that I was a little put off of MF after reading your reviews,(I am from Canada) but because I was having difficulties finding what I really wanted outside of MF(let's face it her colors are to die for), I placed an order anyway. For the record, she was really helpful and even offered to pay the difference in shipping so that I would get the best ship rate. It is good that you shared what your experience was and I was extremely cautious and thorough about certain shipping details. I think it had become a fine company to deal with. My two bits.

Originally Posted by Krishna

I rest my case with the link below! I dont believe how some of you have so much time to trash other people.You got free stuff you got great deals and still you are not satisfied writing pages full of negative stuff. One of you got an apology for the delay and gave you a free head piece to make up for it. And one of you said tier ripped?????? Did I read that right? I did not build up over 9000 fans on face book by selling skirts that rip. Read what people have to say about my skirts by clicking or copy pasting the link below. Also none of my bra belts are glued that is another lie. They are all hand made and hand beaded. Head pieces are made with hot gluing embellishments on them and never claimed that head pieces had all hand sewed embellishments. If I have made an error with some ones order I have apologized and more than made up for it because I am human. Anyways HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL and may the new year bring positive vibrations your way and always remember that what goes around comes around! I always do!
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Oh my.