Quick Taobao Order Review

Let’s start this review by prefacing how amazing Superbuy is as a shopping service. Whilst the delay in me receiving this order was partly my fault (I paid for shipping too late and it hit the Lunar New Year holiday), partly it was due to governmental directives aimed at preventing further spread of the coronavirus. Throughout that process Superbuy kept me informed through pop-up announcements and internal messages, including estimated dates when shipping would resume. I was never in a particular rush and received my order in plenty of time, besides, I’m of the mindset that there’s no point lamenting something that’s outside of anyone’s control. So I’m glad that the parcel is here, even if later than I would’ve liked. And maybe that delay will motivate me to stop procrastinating and get on with things?

My order consisted primarily of crafts materials of various kinds. As these are not strictly lolita, I won’t review them individually. Having said this, I will give a special mention to two shops: Purple Dream Home and fanfanDIY, where I purchased some more traditional crafts materials like ribbons and findings. Their domestic postage was swift and their products are great quality for what I need. In particular fanfanDIY has a fantastic range of materials appropriate for a range of crafts from jewellery making to sewing. So if you find yourself in need of something and were going to do a Taobao order anyway, check their page out for things you could add.

Now, moving on to my more lolita-specific bits (even though not all of these were from lolita-specific shops). This time I’ll cover them from largest to smallest items, and they will also move from lolita-specific to general fashion shops.

After seeing Lovely Lor’s video on blouses, I jumped on the chance to buy this Sentaro blouse. Truth be told, I almost bought it once in comm sales, however, the owner said that the colour was more true red than wine. Maybe Sentaro has updated their colours since they got this blouse, because on Lovely Lor’s video it looked wine enough for what I needed, so I took the plunge. Actually, they had to have upped their colour offerings because the listing has a whopping 19 different colours on offer. The wine on Sentaro’s stock photos is much redder than it is in real life. The shade is still not as deep as I might like and does photograph brighter red than it is, but I’m happy to say that it is a red-based wine and not a purplish one, which is what I needed. The neckline, despite looking shirred, is not, it’s simply ruffled very heavily, so no off-shoulder looks with this, if you were planning any. The babydoll cut means a fully shirred waistline, and the cuff adding shape to the sleeve is also fully shirred. The blouse is made entirely out of polyester, although the bodice is lined. The outer fabric feels on the cheaper end of the polyester scale, it feels more like a shower curtain than the nice polyester that Infanta, Yilia or Chess Story use. However, the inner lining is softer, providing a bit more comfort of wear, as well as keeping the blouse opaque, so you could totally wear this with a skirt or pants. Whilst those who genuinely need blouses made out of more breathable fabrics would still find this uncomfortable and sweaty, it’s good enough to justify the price of 288 CNY (approx. £30 at the time of writing). Unfortunately, the fit is on the smaller side. This blouse comes in one size only and although it is fully shirred, the shirring isn’t actually that stretchy. Moreover, the bodice is cut pretty high, so the elastic sits at the same level as the bottom of my bra, so with any movement it’d ride up unless held in place by a very tight JSK or waistcoat. The elastics holding the sleeves are also very tight. My arms are fairly average, yet even I found the elastics too tight to wear. You don’t really need them, to be fair, because up to the bell at the bottom the sleeves aren’t very loose and cut pretty straight (and again, if your arms are larger, you might even find these tight, as there is no stretch to this polyester fabric). Despite the fit, I feel like this is a blouse I’d repurchase in another colour – might as well take advantage of this range – even if judging by the difference between stock photo and actual product it may be a little hard to colour match certain shades. However, if you are plus size in any part (bust, shoulders, arms), I’d consult with someone who owns this first before buying.

All that ruffling reminds me a bit of the Krad Lanrete blouse (you know which one I mean?).

This is the closest I could get to photographing the colour - and in fact in real life it's still a little darker than this.

Witness that sleeve!

Next is a pair of simple berets in navy. I was surprised how hard it was to find navy berets on Taobao! There were plenty in other colours, like black or red, and of course lots of ones that are already decorated from shops like Cutie Creator. I also found lots of berets in the wrong shape, the ones that are more like flat caps. Maybe I simply used the wrong search terms (I basically used Taobao’s own search function with Google Translated key words) or maybe it genuinely isn’t a popular colour. In the end I found what I needed on a shop that Google translates to Rat Eating Raddish (happy year of the rat anyone?), which also had these in other colours. They appear to be out of stock for now and the shop is a whole mishmash of various things, from fashion to home items, so it’s probably best browsed with either endless patience or a good page translator to avoid scrolling through irrelevant pages. There’s nothing else I could add to this, really, they’re your typical beret that you might purchase on eBay or AliExpress for a £1, except that from a shop on Taobao.

Simple, timeless staple. And the shade of navy is just right.

Next is probably my favourite item of the whole order: this stunning necklace. Available in gold and silver, it came from a shop called Official Silver Jewelry Store. Even though I saw the stock pictures and then the proof photo sent to me by Superbuy, I did not expect the necklace to be this gorgeous! The gold is darker than pictured, while the gems shine and sparkle beautifully. This feels very well made and is on the heavier side, which I guess is understandable for the size. It’s certainly not a casual piece, though it’s also enough to instantly add that bit of detail to a more OTT coordinate without having to wear loads. Part of me wishes that this came in other gem colours, as I’d love to add more things like this – but my wallet is certainly grateful that it doesn’t. Even though at 37.50 CNY this was not expensive, and even at full price of 69 CNY it’s not too bad, I could easily have gone overboard without meaning to. Maybe one day I’ll brave scrolling through the whole shop’s offering to see what else is available…

One of the most beautiful necklaces that I've ever seen!

Still can't believe that this was sold alongside the most normal normie jewellery you could imagine. This is also a better reflection of the shade of that gold metal.

Last but not least I bought a navy ring. Or more specifically two of the same ring because the price was so low (1.22 CNY!) that I bought two sizes in case one was too small. Turns out that I didn’t need to worry as size M is already a little too big on me and L is just massive – but that’s alright, I’ll probably give the other one away to someone. The shop’s name is Qingdao wonderful decoration industry foreign trade jewelry and they seem to specialise in fast fashion jewellery aimed at foreign markets. The rings were packaged like something you’d see in Primark or H&M, attached with a plastic strip to a piece of cardboard backing, but I bet those fast fashion shops probably charge at least a £1 if not more per unit, thus making around £0.80 profit per unit. The stone part of the ring is a little bit smaller than what I would’ve wanted, although still large enough for the colour to come across if the light is right. It feels comparable in quality and size to my Primark gold rings, which is what you’d expect. It makes for a nice filler piece and I’m sure I’ll get plenty of wear out of it, so this was worth every penny spent on it (of the 20 or so pennies that it cost me lol!). Again, maybe one day I’ll brave browsing through the shop’s entire catalogue – whilst most of it will be typical modern fast-fashion jewellery, there may be more hidden gems like this which would make the search worthwhile.

Excuse my bone dry hand, it was hard to get the ring photographed so that the blue would show up.

Whilst I had a few other lolita pieces, they were purchases for my friends, so I’m not going to review them properly here. Everything else were my crafts materials, which I will share in due course once the actual crafts are finished.

I’m enjoying discovering these various shops on Taobao that I otherwise wouldn’t have come across. Of course, when looking for pieces that are specifically lolita, it’s best to stick to the tried and tested brands that will fit the quality tick box. But for anything smaller, be it craft materials or jewellery, or even other miscellaneous items, it’s sometimes worth using Taobao’s search bar. Together with Google Translate it can be easy to search for common terms, even if some more specific ones will likely require at least a rudimentary understanding of kanji. Having said this, you could just as well keep trying various combinations of words and phrases with Google Translate’s help until something sticks. After all, until you hit buy, you’ve not committed to anything and it’s a good way of getting yourself familiarised with Taobao as a shopping platform and finding the best deals for yourself.