I ordered these what now seems like
forever ago. However, even though it's been a while, I thought it was still
worth getting the review up.
Price and shipping
I ordered directly from Soufflesong’s
Taobao page using FreeShoppingChina.com as my shopping service. The blouses
themselves weren’t particularly expensive, at the time they came up to
something like 187.44 CNY each (approximately £19.80-20), so considering that
princess sleeve high collar blouses aren’t that common for that price, I gave
it a go.
The entire order process took a lot
longer than I anticipated because of shipping on Soufflesong’s part. Not being
able to read Chinese (only guessing the simple parts based on my knowledge of
Japanese) I didn’t know that they claimed shipping to take about 45 days!
Overall, it took just under 2 months for the blouses to arrive from the moment
I placed the order. More specifically:
- Order placed on March 1st and paid that same day;
- It arrived at FSC place on March 30th and paid for postage on that same day;
- It was shipped out with EMS on April 1st, and reached the UK on April 3rd – but it took nearly 10 days for Parceforce to let me know that there’s tax to be paid and process that;
- It finally arrived on April 20th, after the usual ordeal of Parcelforce delivering when nobody’s home and making you order a redelivery.
I can’t compare FreeShoppingChina
with other Taobao shopping services, so I’m not sure if they’re cheaper or not.
However, I do find them quite easy to use and I like their search tool. I’ve
also never had problems with them, although considering that they realise their
customers aren’t likely to be able to reach Chinese, they could put a bit more
effort into letting you know about things like unusually long dispatch times
set by the Taobao shops – at least they are quick to respond when you do
message them with a query.
Parcel and item itself
I must’ve opted for them to keep the
original packaging, because once the EMS bubble envelope was removed, a
gorgeous printed box was revealed. If Soufflesong uses that design for all their
parcels, it definitely makes for a lovely ordering experience, plus it
withstood the shipping process quite well, with only one or two minor dents.
The first thing which you’ll
probably notice is that the white blouse is missing its cameo on the photo. I
noticed that instantly too. The good news is that the cameo was still in the
bag – the bad news is that since then it fell of the bow on the navy blouse as
well. It’s not that much of a big deal, as you can simply glue it back on, but
it’s not the best testament of the quality that Soufflesong put into their
clothing.
Despite that minor setback, the
blouses aren’t actually too bad. The lace is on the stiffer side, but not so
stiff as to scratch, and the chiffon is also a little cheaper, not as soft as
for example Infanta’s chiffon blouses (which are so gorgeous to the touch you
want to keep petting them all day), and a little bit see through, so you might
want to wear a camisole underneath if you’re not pairing it up with a JSK.
Considering the price tag of about £20 per blouse, you’d probably get better
quality for your money from other Taobao brands, certainly ones like Infanta
or Magic Tea Party, but it’s definitely wearable and ok (maybe closer to
Bodyline? I’ve never seen Bodyline do chiffon), and as I said, I really liked
the design so I don’t mind that.
And it’s the design that’s the real
winner here. The bow at the neck is detachable, revealing a soft and elegant
high collar, and in all fairness, that neck bow could make for a nice head
piece. However, it’s the sleeves that are the main piece here. They are
fabulously opulent and wide, giving you a truly royal, flowy feel. The two rows
of lace around the bottom of the sleeves are actually two different designs,
the top one being something of a dotted-line scalloped effect (almost
chandelier like) and the bottom one featuring more scallops topped with bunches
of tiny roses. They compliment each other very well, but also allow you to play
the blouse up to different kinds of coords just based on the lace you’d like to
accentuate.
A slight downside is the sizing. As
you can tell, I ordered size L which should fit a bust of 96cm and a waist of
84cm, and it features corset lacing at the back to adjust. My measurements are
more like 94cm bust and recently about a 78cm waist, yet when I tried the
blouse on it pulled ever so slightly on my boobs, clearly wanting to gap, and
it felt just a wee bit tight once I buttoned it all the way down. I’m not sure
how this blouse reflects on Soufflesong’s sizes in general, but if you’re
thinking about getting this one, I recommend sizing up for comfort. Having said that, the elastic around the elbow, where the bell sleeve starts,
is nice and stretchy, it didn’t particularly bother me, so you should be good
there.
The colours are also true to the
stock pictures, although you may not be able to tell that as I took my photos
on a surprisingly sunny afternoon. The white is as crisp as it gets, and the
navy is lovely and deep and rich, exactly like on the stock photo. Soufflesong
definitely made a good decision by creating seven different colour options –
with such a classic cut the variety of colours allow Lolitas of all styles to
pick one which would match their wardrobes best.
When first trying it on, I only put
on one of my circle skirts, but if you’d like to see this blouse in some Lolita
action, simply check out the last Lolidrobe Reassessment Post, where I teamed
the navy one with Crystal Dream Carnival.
In here I only tried to show the neckline and the sleeve as best as I could.
 |
| Didn't have the best face on :P |
Overall
Price: 4/5 – for that price you
could get better quality, but Soufflesong does have some designs which I haven’t
really seen elsewhere
Shipping: 5/5
Item quality: 3.75/5 – I felt like
4/5 would’ve been too generous, considering the feel of the fabric and lace,
and the falling off cameo, but 3.5/5 would’ve been too harsh. At the end of the
day, they’re nice blouses, and had they been a bit cheaper (maybe £15 each?) I
probably wouldn’t have picked on the quality quite so much.
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