It has taken me over a week to get around to doing this but I feel it would be a help to others to give these two online shops a review. Pebbles has thin, silky hair (so things slip out easily) and she is a small dog (2.8 pounds) so bows that are too big not only look odd on her, but weigh her top knot down and eventually fall out no matter how I tie them in. I have found that I prefer bows with the small french clips, as I can clip them in front of the grooming bands against her head and they stay in for the whole day.
I give M'Lady's Dog Bows a 4 1/2 out of a 5
and I give The Diva-Dog Bowtique a 3 out of a 5. I will explain why.
Marjorie from M'Lady's has the option of letting you pick, not only various backings (3 different types of clips with the addition of the rubber band option) and you can change the bows to single loop as well as create your own bow all together by mix and matching the fabrics she has with the centers she provides. This is great for me because pebbles only really looks good in 5/8
single loop bows, and as i said, I prefer the french clip backs. Also I get to create my own bows that fit my preference. She has some hello kitty ones available that I really like. They are very well made and the center pieces are sewn in instead of being glued on, which means they will last longer. I ordered around 20 custom bows from her and I got them in less than 5 days. Bravo!! The reason why M'lady does not get a full 5 stars, is because i feel the bows are a tad expensive, and I feel it would be better if there was a discount for larger/bulk orders or a discount for YT members. However, they are relatively cheap compared to what you would spend purchasing one of these bows at a doggie retail store--but purchasing a lot of them can add up $$ quickly.
With The Diva-Dog Bowtique there is more of a variety of premade bows, and she is very creative, but the bows in the small sizes I need, DO NOT come with the option of having a clip or barrette backing. Only rubber bands--she is very adamant about this, believing that small dogs will choke on the clips, and will not custom add them. Her bows are well made and the center pieces are also sewn on, but they are very very
hard. The loops of the bows are also very circular in shape, as if made by placing the ribbons around a pencil and not removing them until they are dry. Most of the bows that are available are double looped, which makes them big and heavy, and with only the rubber band backing, i find the bows drooping downward toward pebbles head. The one bow I got that was single looped seemed a lot better, but again I had the drooping problem. Her rubberbands are also very thick and tiny, hard to open and put on properly without feeling like you are going to A. break the band, or B. your finger. Some might see this as a plus, thinking that the rubber bands are of good quality, but for me it just makes them super hard to put on--and I have tiny fingers! Her new hello kitty bows are basically what put her over the top to get a 3. I love the center pieces, more than M'Lady's hello kitty center pieces. They seem more authentic, and the design of the bow is very nice. I really like those ones. I wish I could change the backing of them somehow, then I would be more likely to actually use them. Another thing, what brings her score down was that I did not order a lot of bows from this website, yet I believe it took well over 3 weeks, possibly 4 for them to be delivered to me. I actually thought my order had been forgotten towards the end. I was very disappointed in this aspect of their service when compared to M'Lady, and it kind of puts me off buying from them again.
I am providing some pictures of the bows i purchased so you can get an idea of the quality and looks of the bows. Please excuse my unmanicured fingernails! lol
I hope these reviews are helpful to someone!
1. Assortment of custom made 5/8 single loop M'lady Dog Bows
2. close up of one
3. close up of another one
4. side view, so you can see how thick they are and how big the clip is/how it is attached
second set of Diva-Dog Bowtique bow's coming up next...