Jessica London

Full review
Before I begin, Let's call a spade a spade and put "the words" out there...Fat, Overweight, Thick, Chunky, Obese. I'm not going to try and sugar coat the fact that I am overweight. Not pleasantly plump, not big & beautiful...Just fat. Why kid myself? When you're 65 pounds over your ideal weight, it's an unavoidable reality. However, being overweight does not mean being sentenced to a life of tacky clothing and muu-muu's. That being said, let's talk a little about clothing for us "Plus Size" women, Jessica London in particular!

Jessica London Online at JessicaLondon.com is the online companion site to their popular mail order catalog. They specialize in clothing for larger woman in sizes 14W-34W, including petites and tall sizes. They offer different styles of clothing from casual to dressy, nightwear to office attire, with an additional selection of shoes and accessories to complete your outfit.

As an overweight woman in my 30's, I have to say it can be hard to find nice, fashionable clothing at reasonable prices. Most larger size clothing is seemingly made (and sold online or in catalogs) for women in their late 60's who spend their whole day eating Bon-Bon's and watching soap operas or they are made to fit and flatter the so called "plus size" models in the catalog who, in truth, are no more than a size 14.

For Example: What is the point of offering stretch denim leggings in a size 3X? Do they seriously think that's what we want to wear or that we would look good wearing it? It may look "nice" (and I use that term loosely) on the model who is a size 16 at the max, but who are they trying to kid? I've been overweight most of my adult life, so I know that 1) the last thing you want to do is make draw attention to your hips and thighs by stuffing them into fabric sausage casings and most importantly, 2) leggings went out of style along with big hair in the early 90's.

Just last week I purchased 2 outfits and a pair of boots from Jessica London online. I received the items ordered in the mail approx. 5 days after my initial purchase, so I do have to credit them for fast turn around time on shipping, but what I received was nothing short of total garbage. The $75 boots were of such a shoddy quality, I would have expected them to last through maybe 2 wearings before they fell apart. The 2 skirt/sweater sets I bought were of such poor fabric and construction that I couldn't even imagine them surviving one cycle in the wash. They looked NOTHING like the photos online and the fabric definitely was of a lesser quality than described. After looking over the items, I just packaged them back up, filled out the return form and enclosed a note of how disappointed I was in the items I received. I also let them know I would never shop with them again.

I will give them credit in that I did buy an adorable pair of polka dot sandals from Jessica London Online and I love them. Granted I have not worn them outside of my house (the weather is too cold) but they look pretty well made. I guess I will just have to wait until Spring and see if they will hold up!

The one thing that surprises me is that Jessica London is owned by the same company that owns Chadwicks of Boston, Lane Bryant and Roamans Online. I have purchased tons of clothes from their other sister stores and have never encountered problems like I did with Jessica London. If I ever made a return, it was due to me ordering the wrong size...never due to quality. You might be inclined to think that maybe Jessica London is the "discounted" store in the company, but their prices do not reflect that. Their prices are comparable to Lane Bryant and Roamans, but the quality is sub-par.

As with Roamans, Chadwicks of Boston and the Lane Bryant Catalog, their parent company, Redcats USA does provide helpful and friendly customer service. I've never encountered an issue with returning an item and the prompt crediting of my account for the returned items is greatly appreciated. If your return is within 30 days of purchase, they will refund the purchase amount (minus shipping) to your credit card. If your return is after 30 days, they will issue you a credit to be used for future purchases; however, the credit must be used at the same online store to where the item was returned. For example, a Jessica London return after 30 days will give you a merchandise credit for future Jessica London purchases...it is not transferrable to other Redcats USA sister stores. This is the only aspect of their customer service that I would want to see changed.

In regards to the website itself, it is almost identical to the websites of their sister stores. It is very easy to navigate, you can search for items based on color or style and checkout is quite simple. You are required to establish a user login that can be used at any of the other Redcats USA store sites. Jessia London does offer Deferred Billing for their customers, which allows you approx. 3 months of deferred payments. They accept mail in payments, all major credit cards and they offer a Jessica London charge card which can also be used at any of their sister stores.

For any women out there who might receive a Jessica London catalog in the mail and is considering purchasing online, I beg you to reconsider! If you aren't able to head to your local mall and visit Macys, Dillards or JC Penney's (where you can still find nice plus size clothing on sale), please take a look at Roamans.com or the Lane Bryant catalog for better made clothing at reasonable prices.