How I Got My Dream Dress on Xianyu

Slightly clickbaity title aside, this is exactly what happened: I had a dream dress I've been looking for for ages, learnt how to use Xianyu, found the dress and bought it. How did I buy it? Was the dress worth the wait? That and other questions will be answered in this post, so keep reading.

What is Xianyu?

In short, Xianyu is the second hand sales side of Taobao. Sometimes it's referred to as Taobao2 or 2Taobao, as that's the desktop URL, while I also heard various people refer to it as The Fish App due because of the fish mascot. It is much easier to use and browse using the mobile app, as searching on desktop goes via the main Taobao website and without a good translation software it can get confusing where the listing is hosted. The app on the other hand is easy to use, even with limited knowledge of kanji, and you're guaranteed that all the listings searched there will only be from Xianyu.

How to shop on Xianyu?

Just like with any other shopping on Taobao, you will need a shopping service. Whilst those with a good grasp of written Chinese might be able to try to contact each seller directly to enquire about international shipping and available payment methods (I believe AliPay is one of them), the rest of us will still have to use an intermediary. As I already mentioned, it's best used via the app, so works best with shopping services that also have an app (Superbuy has one). The only way I discovered of converting a mobile link to a desktop one, that shopping services may require, involves a fair few steps. But generally speaking it doesn't differ from shopping from a Taobao storefront: you copy the listing link to your shopping service of choice, checkout there and wait for further instructions to follow.

If you need a desktop link

I'll leave you a quick instructions for those who need it on how to get a link from the app to desktop.

1. Copy the link from the app
2. Paste the link to TaobaoTrends.com
3. Click on This item on Taobao.com
4. Copy the link from the address bar and paste in your shopping service of choice.

Click to enlarge and see it all a bit better.

Of course, if Taobao Trends is your shopping service of choice, then simply proceed to checkout or continue shopping as you normally would. In my experience many other shopping services will produce an error when trying to copy the link from the app into a desktop website. If anyone finds an easier way of converting the links, leave it in the comments, please!

Pros of shopping on Xianyu

The popularity of lolita fashion in China means that Chinese lolitas have a lot of items for sale. This includes both popular releases from Japanese brands, rare releases from Japanese brands and those hard-to-track-on-the-Western-market items from Chinese brands. There are also enough Chinese lolitas who have the mentality of only getting what's popular to wear once, so generally things are in fantastic conditions.

Secondly, there are plenty of absolute bargains to be found there. Of course, just like in the Western market, there are pieces that are sought after or sellers who simply won't budge. However, more like when shopping on Japanese apps like Fril or Mercari, if you're not picky or restricted by size, you can bag things sold very cheaply as people want to simply get rid of clutter. There is also a chance that what may be highly sought after on the Western market could be irrelevant on the Chinese second hand market (this one is not based on personal experience, but more of a prediction based on what does seem to be popular amongst Chinese lolitas).

And of course since it requires using a shopping service anyway, you could easily combine postage with other orders from China.

Cons of shopping on Xianyu

Although you can find a fair few items simply by searching for brand names written in English (particularly for Angelic Pretty), the more proficient you are in Chinese, the more you'll be able to find. Many releases will have their own names in kanji, some of which may be official (i.e. as sold by AP Shanghai) while others may be phonetic or even just describing some key points of the print. If you are looking for a specific release, finding out its name in Chinese first will immensely help your search. With some popular ones, e.g. British Bear, you may be able to copy it from a listing you found when searching just for Angelic Pretty, but this will require a fair bit of trust towards Google Translate.

As the listings are done by individuals, who are usually young people, Google Translate may also struggle with accuracy of translations. People will use vernacular language, as well as jargon typical to lolita fashion, which Google Translate will likely not be familiar with. Stay patient whilst trying to make something out of the gibberish and again, even a rudimentary understanding of kanji will help make the descriptions clearer.

Quite importantly, a lot of listings will only include a stock photo or a picture from official brand social media, if you're lucky. Very few listings include proof pictures, usually only when there is damage mentioned and then they tend to be pictures of the damage only. Always exercise caution, at least glance through the seller's feedback (helpfully there are thumbs up emoji to go by) and ask your shopping service to request some proof pictures for you, as all sales are final and shopping services will not take any responsibility if something is not to your liking with your Xianyu purchase.

The Dream Dress

But that's enough about buying on Xianyu, that's a page and a half already., let's focus on the dress now.

As you'll know from the last Lolidrobe Reassessment Post [], I was finally able to find the Metamorphose temps de fille x Kamen Rider collaboration release called Gold Braid Tuck Pinafore. This release was actually a set, JSK and a matching capelet, and there were loads of listings for all three colourways on Xianyu for the sets. However, I don't envision myself using the cape, so I didn't mind paying a bit less for an 'incomplete set', i.e. just the JSK. Luckily I was already working from home by the time this arrived, so I could get into it straight away instead of having to reschedule delivery.

Here's the unedited photo. Although I must say, that edit really grew on me.

In short, this dress is utterly stunning. As is often the case, the stock pictures do it absolutely no justice, as they don't capture the texture, feel or weight of this fabric. What looks a bit like satin or maybe thick cotton turned out to be a surprisingly light fabric. The tag still says polyester, although the texture reminds me a lot of crepe: it's light, airy, drapes beautifully and ever so slightly see through, though with the lining it looks solid.

The fabric isn't shiny as such, but it has a texture that reflects certain kinds of light in a particular way.

What I love is how this is a collaboration with Kamen Rider, yet looks so elegant and understated. This means that the quality of decorations and materials is exceptionally high. The lolita who owned this before me must've also taken exceptionally good care of it - this 2013 release is in basically brand new condition. The titular gold braid is still tight, not a piece is unravelling, and the decorative fastenings down the bodice (which do open and close, although there's no reason for them to) are still firmly attached.

The neatest pleats that will stay neat forever!

Due to the fabric choice Meta also had to do another genius thing: all those pleats are sewn in. I hate it when pleats are pressed in, because it's a chore to iron them back in. However, a fabric that floats this freely wouldn't hold a pleat for long, so each one is secured with a stitch. It's such a minor detail that I never even considered that now seems like another mark of high quality finishing and attention to detail. This may be just a collaboration release, but the dress is made to last.

The buttons are a bit darker brass, the light hit them particularly strong.

Something I noticed now, that I'm comparing my pictures against stock ones, is that either the re-release changed from the first one or that something happened, because the buttons holding the shoulder straps on my dress are different. Instead of the simple ones that I can see on the closeup stock picture (granted, of the black colourway rather than wine), they're the same elegant brass ones that hold the waist ties in place. The corset lacing at the back is also held in place with a dedicated panel of grommets, so no pulling on delicate lace to tighten yourself in.

That darker patch is simply wet, I couldn't wait to photograph the dress after I steamed out (most of) the creases.

The waist ties have the same pintuck design and braid as the bodice. What I didn't take a photo of is the fact that the waist ties are about as long as the dress in length. They're super long, which I guess I should've taken note of on the stock picture. This actually makes me excited to try some of the fancier waist tie bows I saved forever ago on Facebook.

The quickest coord ever, just to try it on and twirl for the video (below).

Crucially, the dress is exactly the sort of flattering cut that I expected it to be. Although I had to free myself of corset lacing, it's nothing new, I have that with plenty of dresses. They're much easier to put on without corset lacing and since I'm on my own, I can't put it back in, so usually do without. But the waist seam hits at exactly the right place and that neckline works wonderfully for me. There is still plenty of room on the straps if I ever needed or wanted to adjust them, but for now they sit just right. Thanks to how light the fabric is, the dress takes exceptionally well to a petticoat. Together with the nipped in waist sitting at my natural waist the bell-shape effect is exactly as it should be. Although this is one of those dresses that could also be worn with an A-line petticoat for a more traditional pleated skirt look. I like it with bell, maybe one time I'll try both, since there seems to be just about enough room for two fluffy petticoats.

You don't need a lot to make a big statement.

It's interesting how this is such a common detail in East Asian clothing, yet in this dress doesn't read as East Asian that much.

A much more accurate photo of those brass buttons.

As soon as I put the dress on, it confirmed my suspicions that it would be perfect for a coordinate inspired by medieval fashion thanks to the simple design and cut. Trust me, I'm already working on one, though there is only so much that I can do whilst locked in. So for now I have a vision and am gathering inspiration for how to execute that (which specific era of medieval fashion to go for, since that's an entire thousand years to cover!). Hopefully by the time I am able to execute that we will be allowed out and I'll have a grand enough excuse to wear this.

Meanwhile I'm continuing to search Xianyu for the other dresses on my wishlist. If any of you know what Meta's Airline set could be called in Chinese, let me know - I tried a few versions myself, but with no luck so far. And it seems that Xianyu is the most likely place for me to find it.