April's 10 Online Finds

01: Madoka & Homura nighties
(Taobao Link)

I've said this once and I'll say it a hundred times more if need be- I LOVE cosplay-inspired "regular" clothing items. These are just too pretty and I would love to see someone do a cute cosplay photo shoot with them :)

02: Rice ball Pouch
(Taobao Link)

Cute tiny pouch for storing things! I do recommend using cute tiny pouches like these to keep your purse or bag well organized. This one seems just the right size for things such as lip balm and small things like nail clippers and such. Though due to it's depth it could probably fit a fair bit.



03: Love Live UR purse
(Taobao Link)

Uhm, cute! Perfect purse for any Love Live cosplay! I want to see tons of these at cons. The detailing and lining is such a nice touch and I am so tempted to buy one despite how small it seems. It's just wonderfully fun for cosplay uses ^^;;

04: Chiffon Maxi Skirt
(AliExpress Link)

I've been really loving chiffon maxi skirts for this coming spring and summer season. I made sure to check reviews for a ton of similar skirts and this one seems like a really great deal! Free shipping and 15 different colors as well make it hard for me to choose just which one to get. Though of course I'm totally drawn to light minty blue (color 14) I'll probably go for a darker blue or neutral color to get more wear out of it.

05: Pokédoge Purse
(AliExpress Link)

Mash-ups tend to result in overly hilarious and endearing products. I don't know who would buy this and why- other than as a gag gift. But it made me chuckle enough to include it in this month's list.

06: Sailor Moon Pocket Watches
(AliExpress Link)

Cute an functional fandom merch!? My fave! (as I keep saying lol) Though I don't expect a lot of people to carry around conventional watches of any sort anymore I do think it'd be a cute addition to any Sailor Moon cosplay :)

07: Love Live Acrylic Keychains
(Taobao Link)

I know TONS of people that love buying fandom keychains and especially ones with fanart on them from artist allies at conventions. These ones are super cute not only in style but also for the fact that they have so many different outfits unique to each girl <3






08: Poof Ball Ice Cream Cone Purse
(Taobao Link)

SO CUTE. SO FLUFFY!
I'm almost certain this would be real fur though (usually rabbit) because of just how fluffy it looks. So keep that in mind if ordering!


They also come in purple and have a shoulder chain strap. Seriously cute and whimsical but they also look really small.






09: Holy Lantern Bows
(Taobao Link)

Cute small handmade bows that match all the different colors of Angelic Pretty's "Holy Lantern" dress series.

Considering the official accessories and hair accessories can be expensive and difficult to find second-hand this is a super cute alternative~

(This particular shop also has a lot of other cute accessories!)

10: School Uniform Ties & Bows
(Taobao Link)

A must-have for any participant in the nanchatte seifuku style as well as useful for various cosplays; and overall cute accessories in general!

Not included in the photo here are ones that have chocolate block patterns in pink or brown that are super adorable! I don't dress nanchatte but I love these little ties and hope to get the chocolate ones. I could see the blue, green, and red striped ones being used for Love Live school uniform cosplays as well to add a more realistic touch to the outfits~

2016: [ Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec ]

March's 10 Online Finds - I love shoes edition!

Shoes shoes shoes! Cute shoes everywhere!

01: Literal Ballet Flats
(Taobao Link)

Not the simple slip-on shoes so common in American fashion. Yes- actual, literal, made to look like ballet shoes, flats.

I don't know how easy or difficult they are to walk in but I love the idea of them so much~!

02: Cut-out Detailed Ankle Boots
(Taobao Link)

Simple, sophisticated, and yet still cute! I love all the little cut-out details and how versatile these possibly could be in all the given colors. Really attracted to the red but they totally wouldn't fit into my wardrobe :( regardless I do find them tempting but maybe in a lighter color.





03: Constellation Shoes
(Taobao Link)

Lots of Sailor Moon vibes with these! I honestly think of Luna when she turns human in the movie. An over-arching theme in my wardrobe is stars so I instantly found these cute when I was scrolling through Evol Day's shop!

04: Moon Princess pearl heels
(Taobao Link)

I know they're not actually supposed to be Princess Serenity style shoes but they're just so pretty and remind me of her dress so much :) The shoes come in pink and blue and both colors are just lovely!

05: Strappy Platforms

(AliExpress Link)

I know that platform style shoes have been back in style for some time but I personally always thought a lot of them looked too, how to put it, chunky? Huge? Almost like clown shoes...
But these? I think they're actually cute! I like the wrap-around straps and much more airy look :)

06: Who did it first?
(Taobao Link)

Antaina are already incredibly well-known among lolitas but I just wanted to point out that they have an exact style of shoe that Bodyline carries! And for cheaper still! I find that one of the best parts about Antaina is just how willing they are to make custom styles/colors- so with that in mind I am actually pretty darn tempted to order these in mint green from them.

07: Sweetheart Square Toe shoes
(Taobao Link)

Ballet-vibes for sure with the subtle square style toe but with the added details of the material cuts on the toe box and the cross straps and bow. I really find these interesting to look at and wonder how they would look with a lot of outfits. The site -does- have worn pictures but very few ;/

08: Strappy Wedge Lolita shoes
(Taobao Link)

I'm not usually a fan of wedge shoes but these just looked too cute~ I like the strappy style typically seen on Western wedge shoes for summer. I could very much see these being used with cute strawberry-themed and country lolita coordinates.

09: Glitter Party heel replicas
(AliExpress Link)

Turns out these are Secret Shop shoes! For the free shipping and price they're a super great deal~! I'll do a longer review on these shoes in a dedicated post (as well as #10's shoes) So check it out when it goes up!

They also make your legs look A.MAY.ZING!

10: "Soft" Glitter Party heel replicas
(Taobao Link)

I am in love with these shoes. They are so incredibly pretty- I almost like them better than the original Angelic Pretty "Glitter Party" heels. I refer to them as being "soft" considering they don't actually have any glitter on them at all! The material has a foil aspect to them instead. (Check out my huge full review for more pictures and info!- coming soon)

2016: [ Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec ]

February's 10 Online Finds

I decided to start a new series of monthly blog posts dedicated to the things I've found via Taobao and AliExpress. Lot's of the items found will be things I have NOT purchased myself but are still things I find interesting, want to purchase, or even can't stop laughing at. If I've bought anything I will be sure to review it and add a link as there ARE a good number of things I actually want as well! :)

If you purchase or have purchased anything from any of the lists let me know and I'll add a link to your review :)

[Taobao Review] MichikoCat Magic Book Purse (red/blue/natural)

(Upon checking MichikoCat no longer carries these purses so I have removed the direct link this specific item. However I have been able to find them on My-Lolita-Dress.)

I have been wanting a cute "book" bag for a while! I always really liked the look of them but actually could not find one I liked enough to buy. A lot had to do with Alice in Wonderland motifs or something fairy-tale like that wasn't subtle enough for my personal tastes as I was hoping to find something I could not only wear with lolita fashion but also in normal clothes. Although I did want one in a more neutral color I instantly LOVED these magic books bags I spotted when I came across the shop MichikoCat on Taobao!
The bags were on preorder so I had to wait some time in order for everything to be processed. I was kind of over zealous with my purchases and, being unable to choose which one to buy, I bought all three colors they were available in with the idea I could easily be rid of whichever one I didn't want in the end. I love the blue one most of all due to the color scheme of blue and silver- a combination I have always been attracted to. I mostly bought the red one to use as a functional prop when I cosplay Jibril from "No Game No Life" as her character art has her holding a red-toned book ( I also really love functional costume pieces like this ^.^;) but I knew it could easily function as a statement piece of sorts since the gold and red combo is really eye-catching!

[Real vs Replica] Angelic Pretty's Melty Moon purse

Top row: real Angelic Pretty purses. [lolibrary link]

Bottom row: Taobao replicas

Angelic Pretty's Melty Moon shoulder bags have been immensely popular since the 2013 advertisement of their re-release of the Dream Sky print series. The purse showed up in the photos but no mention of it in any price sheet or release announcement was shown. Many people however were gushing over just how cute and even unique the bags were. There was speculation that it would be released along with the dress release but it was all just hopeful talk. The purses didn't get an advance announcement but were simply added to the online shop and, very quickly, sold out afterwards. To my knowledge AP only did one rerun of the series of bags, though it would not surprise me one bit if they end up doing more! Personally I'd love to see new colors such as white, silver, or gold.

Am I a real lolita now?

I finally caved and ordered myself some petticoats from Classical Puppets. I've been using crappy Leg Avenue ones this whole time and while I was OK with the poof they gave me the petticoats just were so meh quality and the elastic would start to hurt after a while ~_~;; I'm tempted to alter the new ones so the waist band size is static and just add a zipper in. Too much elastic against my body as it is when wearing lolita dresses! In the end I got 2 a-line: one black and one white, and their cupcake petticoat in white. I might get one in black considering I have a ton more black lolita dresses but I suppose white can still be worn under them, but a black petticoat under a light dress might look a little strange ^^;;

In the end I did a small order off Taobao in order to make the EMS shipping worth it. So on top of the petticoats I also got some replica melty moon bags :o *le gasp!* and NOT the ones from Loris! (That just have a cloud on them instead of melty bits) though I might order those sometime soon too because they have other colors like silver and white. And I've also heard that they are larger than the Angelic Pretty bags? Which would be nice because they're so tiny!

I guess we'll find out how good or bad they are once I get them. The stock photos look pretty good but that doesn't mean the materials won't be odd or sticky. So here's hoping they turn out good!

Small Taobao Order: Star themed!

I made a rather small order using Bhiner to test them out. I plan to do full reviews of each item but for now here is a list of the things I got en route :)

- Loris shooting star bag in light yellow:
[shop link] [review]

- Loris star handbags (purple and pink):
[shop link] [review]

- Blonde+pink lolita wig (for Sheryl Nome cosplay!):
[shop link] [review]

- Sentimental Circus pass cases (bunny and elephant):
[shop link] [review]

The galaxy school uniform had to be ordered in 4 separate pieces (two tops and two bottoms.) At the time I got these they were immensely popular so I got a few different sized things. I always ordered up a size when I had the chance though!

School Uniform top (blue size & purple size XL):
[shop link] [review]

School uniform skirt (blue size M, purple size XL):
[shop link] [review]

[Taobao] Trying a new shopping service

So this new shopping service I'm using is called Bhiner. I chose to try them out as they only charge a 5% fee and I've heard a few people talk good about them. I usually used Taobaospree but decided to give a different service a try this time around (TBS also charges a 10% fee).

I've come to find a few good and bad points about Bhiner:

• BAD: I -have- to choose my shipping method before they start buying my items. The bad side to this is that I don't fully know just HOW much my order is going to weigh! My shipping option I choose could end up being vastly more expensive than planned/hoped! Also they say they will charge you a small fee if you decide to use a different shipping method after you make your order.
• BAD: They don't offer SAL as a shipping method. Also the cheapest method's price is raising on FEB 22nd (2013). The method that will then become cheapest takes 15-30 days to arrive as opposed to the current time of 7-14 days. Lame.
• BAD: There's a 4% fee to move money from your Paypal into your "Bhiner account". The whole idea of have a separate account weirds me out as well. However the other Paypal option is to send them money as a personal gift and Paypal charges MORE for that than the 4% (at least it did with my order.) I also don't feel very secure sending them money as a gift.
• GOOD: Items arrived SUPER quick! I paid for them on Thursday (China's Friday) and everything was with Bhiner by Tuesday. I ordered roughly 10 things though they were only from maybe 3 or 4 shops.
• GOOD: The cheap fee. They also say they have a 44% discount for EMS shipping (which I intend to try the next time around if I do use them again)
• GOOD: The cart system is super easy to use and all the items will get confirmed for stock within' a days time :)
• GOOD: Bhiner automatically takes pictures of the items as they arrive and uploads them online.
• GOOD: Website has a shipping calculator that shows you the price for each method or shipping and will automatically highlight the cheapest method. Very helpful!

Overall it seems to be a decent service to use. I've been thinking about trying another service for my next order but I will say that I have yet to find a cart system that is as stream-lined as Bhiner's is. I like how they have things set up and the shipping calculator is helpful. I suppose I will give them another shot.

New Taobao Shopping Service

I'm finally ordering some super cute lolita bags off of Taobao and decided to try a new shopping service this time around. I haven't even MADE the order but so far I'm finding this service to be frustrating >:/

The shopping cart style is great but what is putting me off so quickly about it is the fact that I have to choose my final shipping service already when I haven't even paid for the items. I feel like this could have been done a bit better. Why not make it a 2-step format where I choose later? They'll already have to notify me when I need to pay the shipping and that's essentially a 2-step process already... so why not just lump the "choose shipping option" there? That way I know the actual weight, and therefore shipping cost, of said items?

I did end up deciding against some shoes I wanted though. Just adding the 2 pairs in raised the price of my order by nearly $100!! I've been eyeing these shoes for over a year now and ,while I'm surprised they haven't sold out yet, I'm still really paranoid about spending so much on some shoes that I don't know if I'll like the look of on my actual feet.

I hate buying shoes online! But I love shoes and there are so many cute shoes online!

One giant conundrum my friends >:(  lol