Vintage Inspired Review: Tara Starlet Pedal Pushers

I have a spare ten minutes so can squeeze in a quick post!  The 'Pedal Pushers' trousers from Tara Starlet are available in leopard, black, or orange and white stripe. I purchased the black along with the 'Victory' skirt that I posted about before Christmas. I was trying to channel the look of Christina Hendricks in Mad Men or Christina Ricci in Pan Am - both have worn black pedal pushers and they looked fabulous on both kinds of figures.

Price and Delivery - 3/5
£59 I thought wasn't too bad for trousers. Delivery was next day, costing £5.

Sizing - 1/5
Awful.  I am normally a Tara Starlet size 12 (in both their 'Peggy' dress and their 'Dancing' skirt). But with these trousers the sizing was way, way off - the size 12 was ridiculously small.  I sent it back and got the size 14, which I could just about zip up if I breathed in really hard, but it was honestly still about an inch too small on the waist to be comfortable to wear.  Would I seriously be a size 16 in these trousers when I'm a size 12 in one of their dresses?!  At the price I'd paid I didn't feel comfortable having a go at making some adjustments myself, and the attentions of a professional seamstress would have been an extra £20.  I nearly cried, because otherwise I loved these trousers!

Fit - 2/5
Great fit on the legs, bum - but as mentioned above, the sizing on the waist and upper hips was ridiculously small for a size 14, especially when I'm a 12 in their other garments and my measurements are well within what's on their size guidlines. Nice length on the leg.  These pics below are of the size 12 just to illustrate the huge difference in sizing between this and the size 12 Peggy dress, which fits me perfectly!

Fabric and Quality - 5/5
Lovely fabric with a nice stretch. The quality looks perfectly good, no issues there at all.

Online Description - 1/5
If a garment runs small, it would be really, really helpful to mailorder customers for this to be mentioned.  It would also be nice to see more images of the trousers on a real person, from different angles.  They are also longer than on the model pictured on the website, which was strange because I am 5'9'" with a 33" inside leg, so unless the model is super tall, the trousers have been rolled up for the photograph.


Postage Costs - 1/5
To return an item you have to send the parcel back by recorded delivery. I sent the first trousers back by Special Delivery, which cost me £7, but I wanted the insurance, as the parcel with the skirt and trousers was worth over £120, and recorded delivery only covers you up to £40 ish.  The refund they must have forgotten about, because I had to email them some weeks later to remind them, and then it went through.  The second lot of trousers then I returned by recorded delivery, it was a couple of quid, so all in all I've lost just over £20 in this escapade!

Customer Service - 4/5
Although my initial refund was delayed, the moment I contacted them I received an apology and the refund went straight through then.

Overall Score = 2/5
I'll be grieving over these trousers for a while.