Black Level mini skirt in vinyl XL: review

Black Level mini skirt in vinyl, in brief

Black Level miniskirt in vinyl — Vinyl skirt in the manufacturer’s own naming — is a black, heavily flared miniskirt in patent shine with a two-way zipper in the middle front and a small buckle on each side of the waistband. Black Level is a brand from the German Orion, which sells the skirt under article number 28509741052 in size XL. This review applies exclusively to this size, with EAN 4024144152704.

The specification is short but significantly more complete than what is normal for patent garments. Orion states the material as 100 percent polyester with a polyurethane coating, publishes a complete size chart with bust, waist, and hip measurements for each size, gives the weight as 343 grams for XL, the package as 20 × 6 × 38.5 centimeters, the country of origin as China, and a consumer price of 59.95 euros. In addition, there is customer information in a PDF with care instructions for patent. In this market, the XL variant is sold by ORION.

What can be reviewed for a garment of this kind is the material declaration, what the word vinyl actually means in this specific case, how the size should be chosen, the construction details, and the care. There is no electronics, no battery, and no IP rating to report. However, there are a couple of interesting discrepancies between the manufacturer and the stores—about the material, about the buckles, and about the weight—which are shown further down.

Size XL — and how the EAN number confirms it

The skirt comes in four sizes, S, M, L, and XL, and each size has its own article number and its own barcode. Orion’s wholesaler page links article number 28509741052 to size XL and the barcode 4024144152704. The three smaller sizes have 4024144152674 (S), 4024144152681 (M), and 4024144152698 (L).

Product data from four stores indicate the same size under this number. Two stores use 4024144152704 as the barcode on their XL variant, and one store lists 28509741052 as the item code. Another store lists 4024144152704 as the gtin13 on its XL variant. The product page in the store's product flow is the XL page. The only thing that differs is that one store uses a different item number: it writes 28509741050, meaning the same number series but with a different last digit. The size on the page is still XL, and nothing indicates that it is a different product—but it is the barcode, not the article number, that identifies the item.

One skirt, five names

Anyone comparing shops should know that the same garment is sold under several names. Orion calls it Vinyl Skirt in English and Rock aus Lack mit 2-Wege-Reißverschluss vorne in German. One retailer sells it as Minikjol Av Vinyl, another as Black Level – Vinyl Skirt – Black, another as Minikjol Wetlook, and another as Lack Kjol Wetlook. Vinyl, lack, and wetlook are therefore used interchangeably for the same material. What those words mean—and what they don’t mean—is the next section.

Material: 100 percent polyester with a polyurethane coating

Orion states the material on both its product pages, on the consumer site orion.de and on the wholesale side: 100 percent polyester with a polyurethane coating. The wholesale side’s Swedish product text says the same thing with the words "100 % polyester, polyuretanskikt". It’s a polyester fabric that has been coated with a thin layer of polyurethane, abbreviated PU, and it’s that coating that gives it the shiny patent-leather look.

The shops reproduce the information with varying precision. One retailer writes "100 % polyester with a polyurethane coating", which matches the manufacturer’s statement word for word. Another writes "polyurethane-coated polyester" in the product text but only "Vinyl" in its specification table. Another lists "Vinyl-Lack" in its material field. Another states only "100% polyester" and doesn’t mention the coating at all—an omission that isn’t wrong about the base fabric, but that leaves out exactly the part of the material that makes the garment patent-leather clothes.

Is the vinyl skirt made of PVC?

No, not according to the manufacturer. The word vinyl is used in the clothing industry as a marketing term for shiny patent-leather materials, but it is not a material declaration. Orion’s declaration doesn’t mention polyvinyl chloride, meaning PVC, but polyurethane. Those are two different plastics.

The difference is relevant for one concrete reason: plasticizers. Kemikalieinspektionen (the Swedish Chemicals Agency) describes that phthalates are used as plasticizers, primarily in plastics, and that almost all use of phthalates in products is as plasticizers in PVC. In soft PVC, phthalates can, according to the authority, make up up to half of the material, and some phthalates can affect the hormone system and reproductive ability. Kemikalieinspektionen’s textile page also mentions that plasticizing substances like phthalates can occur in plastic parts and faux leather.

What can be established is that the declared coating is polyurethane and not PVC, and that PVC is the material where the phthalate issue is most relevant. Orion, however, doesn’t publish any information stating that the material has been tested for phthalates or other substances for this article, and none of the four shops does either. No material certification, for example Oeko-Tex, is mentioned.

What’s the difference between wetlook, patent leather (lack), vinyl, and latex?

The four words describe a blank surface, but they mean different things in the material. Wetlook is often used for elastic textiles with a shiny finish; for example, Orions own Cottelli Collection Wetlook Mini Skirt, which is described in parallel here on the site, is declared as 92 percent polyester and 8 percent elastane. PVC and vinyl are used for coated materials with a very glossy, smooth surface — as in this skirt. Latex is something completely different: natural rubber without a textile backing fabric.

Orion describes the difference in its own material guide. Latex clothing lacks textile reinforcement and therefore tears more easily than, for example, vinyl clothing, and latex can cause allergies with skin contact. In this overview, the skirt contains no latex according to the declaration, and the person who is latex-allergic therefore has nothing in the material declaration to worry about. That two of the stores call the skirt wetlook, on the other hand, is misleading in one respect: it has no declared elastane share, which the elastic wetlook skirt from Cottelli does have.

What EU textile labeling requires

Fiber composition is not a voluntary marketing requirement. EU’s textile labeling regulation states that a textile product must be labeled with the name and weight percentage for all fiber types included in descending order. That is why “100 % polyester” is on the garment, and it’s also why the coating is stated separately: the polyurethane layer is not a textile fiber but a surface treatment on the fabric.

This also means a limitation in what the declaration says. How large a share of the garment’s weight consists of the coating, and how thick it is, Orion does not publish. The material declaration tells what the garment consists of, but not how strong the PVC surface is — and therefore not anything about how resistant it is to abrasion and creasing.

Weight and packaging: 343 grams for XL

Orion’s wholesaler page publishes weight per size, which is unusual. Size S is given as 320 grams, M as 335 grams, and both L and XL as 343 grams. The packaging is 20 × 6 × 38,5 centimeters, and Orion delivers 13 skirts per outer carton to the retailers. Whether the weight refers to the garment alone or the garment in the package is not stated on the page.

There is a small discrepancy in the retail channel. One retailer states the weight as 0,32 kilograms in its specification table for the XL variant, and the same packaging dimensions 38,50 × 20,00 × 6,00 centimeters. 0,32 kilograms is exactly what Orion states for size S, not for XL. The reasonable explanation is that the same weight has been entered for all sizes in the store’s system. The manufacturer’s information applies: 343 grams for XL.

That L and XL weigh the same according to Orion is in itself worth noting, because a larger size normally means more material. What can be established is that the figures are rounded or that the difference is too small to show up on the gram—Orion does not explain it. Country of origin is, according to the wholesaler’s page, China, and the customs tariff number is stated as 61130090.

Fit and size guide: a complete size chart

This is where the Black Level skirt differs the most from many other PVC garments. Orion publishes a size chart for women’s ready-to-wear clothing directly on the product page, in both the German and the English versions, and it’s detailed: international size, garment number, and body measurements in centimeters for bust, waist, and hips.

What measurements correspond to size XL?

According to Orion’s size chart, XL corresponds to garment size 48/50, a bust measurement of 107–118 centimeters, a waist measurement of 91–102 centimeters, and a hip measurement of 113–121 centimeters. For comparison, L corresponds to size 44/46, with the waist 82–90 and the hips 105–112 centimeters. For a skirt, the waist and hip measurements are what matter; the bust measurement is included because the chart is shared across Orion’s women’s clothing.

One shop shows the same figures in a table on its product page—but under the heading "Cottelli Storlekstabell", meaning the name of another of Orion’s brands. The figures are identical to Orion’s own chart for the Black Level skirt, so the information isn’t wrong—just mislabeled. Another store writes that the skirt is available in standard sizes S to XL "adapted to international sizes", but it does not publish a chart. Other stores only list the sizes.

There’s also a gap here. Orion does not publish the garment’s own measurements—skirt length, garment waist width, and width at the bottom, and none of the stores does either. So the size chart describes which body the size is intended for, not how long the skirt is. For a mini skirt, the relevant measurement is the length for how much it covers, and that measurement is missing.

What happens if you’re between two sizes?

The material determines the answer. Polyester with a polyurethane coating, according to the declaration, contains no elastane, and a coated material without an elastic fiber won’t give in the same way as a knitted wetlook quality. What can be concluded from the declaration is that the waist measurement of 91–102 centimeters is what matters, because the waistband is the part of a flared skirt that sits against the body. The hips have air in a skirt that is already wide from the waistband.

One store describes the skirt as high-waisted, with a waistband that sits at the natural waist or just above the navel. This is a store claim, but it matches Orion’s product photos, where the waistband appears as a separate, straight piece above the flared skirt section. A waistband that sits high in practice means that the waist measurement—not the hip measurement—is what should be compared to the table.

Are the buckles adjustable?

Here the sources contradict each other, and it’s worth being careful. Orion describes the buckles as "kleine Schnallen seitlich" on the waistband—small buckles on the sides—and says nothing about them regulating the width. The wholesaler’s Swedish text says "små spännen på sidan", just as neutrally.

The stores disagree. One store writes "adjustable buckles at the waist for a perfect fit", and another says the buckles allow you to customize the fit. Another store, on the other hand, says that the side buckles are decorative and "normally do not need to be touched." So the manufacturer does not state any adjustability, and two stores promise something that the manufacturer does not describe. Therefore, don’t count on the buckles being able to compensate for choosing the wrong size—choose based on the waist measurement in the table.

Construction: two-way zipper and flared skirt

The construction is simple and, according to Orion, consists of three elements: a wide, flared skirt section, a waistband with small buckles on the sides, and a two-way zipper in the middle front. The delivery includes one skirt. No belt, no garter straps, and no lining are stated.

What does a two-way zipper do?

A two-way zipper has two sliders on the same zipper, so it can be opened both from the top and from the bottom. Orion describes exactly that function: the front zipper can be opened and closed quickly both from the top and from the bottom. In the product photos, it appears as a silver-colored metal chain running all the way from the top edge of the waistband to the hem, with a slider at each end.

It has two practical consequences. One is that the zipper is the garment’s closure—the skirt has no other opening—which makes it easy to put on and take off without having to pull the garment over the hips. The other is that it can be opened from the bottom and create a slit at the front, which is the function that both Orion and the stores highlight. A fully continuous front zipper is also the garment’s most sensitive part: it bears all the strain on the waistband, and if it breaks, the garment can’t be closed.

Flared A-line without elastane

Orion describes the skirt as extremely flared—"extremely flared" in English, "weit schwingend ausgestellt" in German. Another shop calls the shape a flared A-line. The product photos from Orion, where the skirt is shown on an invisible mannequin both from the front and from the back, show a skirt section cut in a wide arc that falls in soft folds from the seam of the waistband.

In practice, the shape is the reason that a material without elastane works here. A tight pencil skirt in coated polyester without an elastic fiber would be difficult to move in; a flared skirt does not need to give way because it does not fit snugly against the thighs. Compare with Cottelli’s wetlook skirt, which is body-hugging and therefore contains 8 percent elastane.

Care: hand wash and hanger

The care instructions are well described, and they are the manufacturer’s own. Orion’s product page recommends gentle hand washing with a mild detergent and that the PVC surface is polished with a lint-free cloth. The customer information as a PDF, linked to the specific article number 28509741052, is more detailed and has its own section with care advice for the PVC.

How do you wash PVC clothes?

According to Orion’s customer information, the garment should be cleaned by hand after each use with clear, lukewarm water and a mild detergent, and then rubbed dry with a soft, lint-free cloth. Larger garments should be laid out on a towel to dry, and the inside should dry before the outside. Zippers and details should be completely dry. Orion also advises washing the garment before first use, washing only garments of the same color together, and always wearing underwear when trying it on.

Orion does not state any wash temperature in degrees, or any explicit prohibition against machine washing, tumble drying, or ironing — the advice is hand washing, and the rest follows from that. Another shop is more categorical in its own care text: never washing machine, never tumble dryer, no bleach, no chlorine, and no alcohol-based disinfectants, which the shop says dries out the PU surface. These are shop details, but they do not go against the manufacturer.

Orion’s material guide adds an item that is relevant for anyone who uses body oil or massage oil: strong cleaning agents and massage oil can damage PU. The guide says this about PU coatings in general, not specifically about the skirt, but the material is the same.

Storage: why the PVC skirt should be hung up

Orion’s customer information states that PVC clothing easily becomes wrinkled and recommends hanging the garment on a hanger after cleaning. It should be stored clean, cool, and dry, without direct sunlight and without high air humidity. Two pieces of advice are less obvious: the garment should be stored separately from products made of other materials to avoid chemical reactions, and it should not be stored together with garments in other colors or in dark plastic bags, as this can cause discoloration. If needed, Orion recommends a cotton garment bag or a soft fabric or tissue paper between the garments.

In practice, that means the skirt should not be left lying in a dresser drawer together with other PVC or latex garments, with weight on it. Another shop gives the same advice in its care text and adds that vinyl garments that are pressed tightly against other plastic garments for a long time can stick together.

What wears out first on a PVC skirt?

Orion does not publish an expected service life. What can be said based on the material and construction is where the wear will be: in the coating where the material creases or rubs, and in the zipper, which is the garment’s only closure. Orion’s own care text points out wrinkles, sunlight, moisture, and contact with other materials as things to avoid, and the material guide points out oil and strong cleaning agents. Mshops care text warns that the PU surface can dull, crack, or flake with hard use without the right care — a store reference, but it matches what the manufacturer warns about.

There is no manufacturer warranty published by Orion for the item. One shop promises 1 year of warranty on its product page as its own store commitment. Regardless of what the store promises, in the EU and EEA the seller is liable for defects that exist at delivery and appear within at least 2 years (the legal guarantee), which is handled at the very bottom.

Black Level mini skirt in vinyl compared with the alternatives

Three comparisons are relevant, and all three are for garments from the same manufacturer, Orion. Two are Black Level garments in the same material, and one is a wetlook skirt from Orion’s brand Cottelli Collection. The material details come from Orion’s own product pages.

What is the difference between the vinyl skirt and the Cottelli Wetlook Mini Skirt?

The Cottelli Collection Wetlook Mini Skirt is the direct competitor for the same buyer: a black, short skirt with a glossy surface from the same manufacturer. The difference lies in the material and the shape. Orion lists the Cottelli skirt as 92 percent polyester and 8 percent elastane, with no coating specified, and describes it as body-hugging with ruffling over the butt. The Black Level skirt is flared, has no elastane, and has a polyurethane coating.

Instead of an elastic wetlook quality, the Cottelli skirt has a high-gloss surface, plus a two-way zipper and buckles on the waistband. If you want a skirt that follows the body, the Cottelli skirt is the one designed for that; if you want a glossy PVC finish and a skirt that flares out, then it’s the Black Level.

Compared with the Black Level vinyl dress with a flared skirt

Black Level’s vinyl dress with a flared skirt is likely the closest option within the same brand. Orion lists the same material: 100 percent polyester with a polyurethane coating, and describes a short, sleeveless dress with a deep neckline both in front and back, a figure-hugging top, and a flared skirt section. It closes with a zipper at the back — not at the front, like the skirt.

Orion's consumer price differs between the dress and the skirt, and the comparison applies to different sizes and should be read with that reservation.

Against Black Level vinyl trousers

Black Level Vinyl Trousers are a completely different garment in the same material: tight trousers in a five-pocket model with a snap button and a zipper at the front, and zippers at the ankles. Orion indicates 100 percent polyester with a polyurethane coating here as well.

The comparison shows above all what the skirt is: the cheapest way to get Black Level’s patent material in a garment for the lower body. The trousers have a tight fit where the lack of elastane makes choosing the size more important. A flared skirt is more forgiving in that respect.

Sold by ORION.

In this market, the skirt in size XL under EAN 4024144152704 is sold by ORION.

In this market, ORION sells it for €59.95, in stock.

The price is €59.95 at ORION, and it was in stock on 26 September 2026.

Shipping costs and delivery options can differ between retailers, so check the delivery cost in the cart before buying.

When the stores contradict the manufacturer

The review of the four store pages and Orion’s two sites resulted in four deviations that are worth presenting together.

The first applies to the material. One listing states 100 percent polyester without mentioning the polyurethane coating, while Orion (and other listings) mention it. The second applies to the fasteners: some describe them as adjustable, Orion describes them only as small fasteners on the sides, and other listings call them decorative. The third applies to the weight: one listing lists 0,32 kilograms for XL, which is Orion’s weight for S—Orion lists 343 grams for XL. The fourth applies to the Adult size chart, which shows Orion’s correct measurements, but under the heading “Cottelli Size Chart.”

None of these differences means that any store sells a different product—the barcode is the same for all four. But they show the same pattern as in many other reviews here: the store text is a worse source than the manufacturer’s data sheet, and where they contradict each other, the manufacturer’s information applies.

Who is the skirt for—and who is it not for?

It’s for you if you want a patent-leather garment with the manufacturer’s material declaration and a proper size chart. That Orion publishes body measurements per size, weight per size, and care instructions linked to the item number is more than most patent-leather garments in this price range include. It’s for you if you want an flared shape, where the material’s lack of elastane matters less, and who appreciates a zipper that can be opened from both sides.

It’s not for you if you want to know exactly how long the skirt is before you order—this information isn’t published. It’s not for you if you want a garment that can be machine-washed; the care is hand-washing and hanging on a hanger. It’s not for you if you need to be able to adjust the width at the waistband, because the manufacturer doesn’t describe the fasteners as adjustable. And it’s not for you if you want a body-hugging skirt with stretch—this is where the Cottelli Collection Wetlook Mini Skirt, with 8 percent elastane, is built for.

Complaints, the 14-day right of withdrawal, and the health & hygiene exception (plus the seller’s legal liability for defects for at least 2 years)

Orion states no voluntary manufacturer warranty for the skirt. What applies are your statutory rights. In the EU/EEA, the seller is liable for defects that exist at delivery and appear within at least 2 years (the legal guarantee)—a defect that already existed at delivery, for example a zipper that doesn’t work or a coating that comes off the fabric without the garment having been used improperly. Normal wear and tear is not a defect.

For distance purchases, consumers in the EU and EEA generally have a fourteen-day right of withdrawal, starting when the goods are received. Under EU rules, sealed goods that are not suitable for return for health or hygiene reasons are exempt from the right of withdrawal once unsealed. The exception is written for sealed goods and is not a general exception for all clothing—whether a skirt is covered depends on how it is delivered and on the store’s terms.

The stores handle the question differently. One store states a 100-day return window, but excludes underwear for hygiene reasons and specifies it as garments worn on the lower body, such as panties and tights; according to the store, dresses and tops can be tried on and returned in the same condition and in the same packaging. Another store offers a 100-day return right on the product page. Orion’s own customer information urges you to always wear panties when trying it on—a piece of advice that’s also worth following to avoid losing the opportunity to return the garment. Read the store’s terms before you order. In this EU/EEA market, the product is sold by ORION.