I really regret ordering from this company. First of all, the website is quite poor and doesn’t work well on an iPad. It keeps resizing itself in a weird manner so you have to keep reloading it. It’s easy to miss items because you have to keep loading the page for more options and you won’t see all the different colour options until you select a garment and move into the description.

The sizing is a nightmare because they tell you they are European sizes but that doens’t really mean anything as French and German are different, and Scandinavian sizes are usually in accordance with the French way of sizing. So going with my personal experience I decided Small was probably an equivalent to 8 and Medium more like 10-12. I did a lot of research to see whether my assumption matched the measurements given on the Icewear website but there was no consistency and I came up with very weird in between sizes. I once before asked customer service about all this but they told me to measure myself, well that’s a bit of a tall order as I have very weird measurements that don’t fit a standard model. Whether I fit something or not depends on the way the garment is cut, not the chest-waist-hip measurements. So for instance I would fit a boxy, straight cut size 10 but not a slim fitted garment size 10. I definitely would not fit anything size 8-10, for instance. So in order to judge whether I’ll fit something or not, I really need more detailed descriptions of the garment and Icewear doesn’t provide any at all (e.g relaxed it, regular fit, slim fit - descriptions other companies use which do help). Sometimes the material composition is missing, too.

I ended up ordering several sweaters size M and some of them fit well while others are too big. I also ordered a unisex sweater and sized it down to S, which was perfect. In addition, I ordered a couple of men’s sweaters (because I liked the style) and S fit me quite well (only the arms were a bit long). XS which you would think would suit a small person like myself was too small.

I placed quite a big order, and that was a huge mistake. I had seen a notice about getting 20% off but couldn’t find any information and had to ask customer service. They responded after a couple of days and said I needed to create an account. So I did, but I still didn’t get the code. So the next day, customer service tells me to check junk mail for the code. Of course I had already done that but it wasn’t there! At this stage, I was losing my will to live and in retrospect, I wish I had just given up. But I finally got the code from them and proceeded with my order.

I faced a huge import duty despite the fact that Icewear claims on their website that you don’t have to pay it and I paid the £62 to cover shipment and duty. You have to go into a more detailed description, the fine print, to find that it only applies if your parcel is under 5 kg. Well I call this misleading advertising. I just had to swallow it and be grateful the 20% discount covered the import duty. Customer service weren’t knowledgeable about this and asked me to send proof twice before they acknowledged that they couldn’t help my order was over 5 kg... Somehow I just didn’t feel that my efforts to place a big order with them was in any way appreciated.

I should also mention that the 2 for 1 offer wasn’t very clearly marked on my final bill and it was difficult to check the amounts because of the way they separate VAT from the garment price.

So I received my items in the post. Many of the colours didn’t match the photos on the website, which are really poor. I had gone into Instagram to try and get an idea of the products but there aren’t that many photos there. It’s surprising since the company has existed since 1972. For instance, a sweater described as black is actually dark grey, and a red sweater sometimes shows in the picture as a strong red and sometimes as a kind of burgundy. I had to return a couple of Brynja sweaters that were too big and not really of a satisfactory quality (apparently they were hand knitted but just seemed flimsy to me and the shape was awkward). A pair of brown socks were simply a very ugly bright brown (impossible to tell from the photo). I was also going to return a blanket but found that my parcel would cost around £100 to return! At this stage, customer service offered a returns label but no further instructions. I’m sitting there wondering how to send it off. The following day, customer service tells me to arrange the collection myself. I have absolutely no idea how to do that with DHL and cannot find any such option on their website. I’ve exchanged countless emails with customer service and spent over a week or more worrying about the return, and have sadly lost my patience with this company.
Edit: I didn’t get import duty refund due to DHL failing to supply EPU and import duty no!