Dear Celine Magic Book OP Unboxing and Review

My quest for a long sleeve OP continues, this time with this beautiful piece from Dear Celine.

Taobaotrends

This was the last order that I have done with Taobaotrends. Part of the reason why I switched onto Superbuy was that I noticed the quality of Taobaotrends’ service going down a little, which got me worried. These, unfortunately, continued during this order.

At first everything was fine. I was able to place my order during the preorder period, I paid the full amount and just waited, knowing that this series wouldn’t be available until summer. As we got nearer, I saw some people on social media from North America show off their OPs, so I messaged them asking for updates and was told that the dress would ship out to them within 2-3 days. I waited 2 weeks without any news and when I finally messaged, only then did I get notified that the dress is in the warehouse. I paid for airmail, which took roughly another 3 weeks (advertised ETA was 7-20 working days, so it did manage that) before I finally received it.

Like I said, this wasn’t the first time I have had issues with Taobaotrends communication. So I have already been on the lookout for another shopping service – Superbuy’s no service fees and the inclusion of proof photos (which was what attracted me to Taobaotrends in the first place) simply won me over. The order still got to me and there were no problems with anything else being processed. I’m also a fairly lax and easy-going person when it comes to when I get my stuff, however, when I start seeing other people wear their preorder items, while mine seemingly hasn’t even reached the warehouse, that does tick me off.

The Dress

But let’s move on from that, it is now behind us, and focus on this gorgeous dress itself.

Full dress in all its glory.

As soon as the first previews of Dear Celine’s Magic Book series came out, I was in love. I umm’ed and ahh’d over it for a little bit, double checking the measurements, as well as trying to decide which colour to get, before placing an order for the OP in navy. I ordered a size XL, which has advertised measurements of max 100cm bust, 36cm shoulders and 86cm waist, which is definitely true to measurements. At max 94cm bust and 80cm waist, this fit well, though as my shoulders are more like 38cm this was definitely noticeable and I can only lift my arms so much. It’s not massively uncomfortable, simply means that together with the invisible back zip, which is next to impossible to close on your own, it won’t necessarily be the ‘easy to throw on and wear to work’ that I had hoped it would be.

Besides the zip, I have no complaints about the dress whatsoever. The material is pleasant to the touch and the whole dress is heavy enough to be great for cooler months, despite it being lighter polyester fabric. There is a pocket, which I completely did not anticipate, and both the waist ties and the bow are detachable.

Although we all know that this is all about the print. And that is simply stunning! The navy is a very dark shade, one that in worse lighting could be mistaken for black and one that may be tricky to match. Having said this, there are plenty of other colours in this busy print to easily create some interesting outfits, e.g. using reds, greens, browns, purples, golds, ivories and probably more. I loved discovering all the various places that Dear Celine has managed to insert their logo and there are lots of interesting bits besides the books in there that could make for a nice additional theme to a coord. While this wasn’t my plan originally, part of me now wants a witch hat to really go for those magic book of spells and secrets vibe.

I do wish the collar was more ivory, though I see the appeal of a contrast with stark white.

Having said this, I appreciate the cuffs meing the same fabric instead of a contrasting one.

The quills with ink pots are so darling next to the books.

Sometimes the brand name is in full and sometimes it's initials, keeping things interesting.

I love how you get to see both the fronts and spines of the books, it creates a much more interesting pattern.

That emblem is everything, I would love a brooch with it. 

Even though I sold British Crown, I can still enjoy crowns with this dress - win!

The dress arrived protected by a plastic bag, a box and another plastic packaging. The parcel also included some generous freebies which I completely did not expect. However, to see those you will have to look at the unboxing video, where you can also see how the dress fits.