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Lolita Fashion on Taobao (Part 2)

/ lolitaland / 1 Comment

Here’s Part 2 to my guide to Lolita Fashion on Taobao! It’s going to be really simple: a list of lolita fashion shops I own items from. Check out Part 1 for tips for shopping on Taobao and keywords you can use when you’re browsing and searching.

Here are brands I’ve purchased from (please note most of these I didn’t buy from Taobao, since I purchased them secondhand, and for the ones I purchased directly from Taobao, I used a shopping service):

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The tights (and bottom of the dress) I modeled

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This Dear Celine cutsew matches my Angelic Pretty skirt & half-bonnet so well!

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Blouse from Yilia

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JSK and Headbow from Magic Tea Party

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Bonnet from Elpress L

  • FoxCherry – They have really cute accessories! I purchased some wrist cuffs from them recently, and also have a hair clip I got secondhand years ago.
  • Flower Field – I purchased a hoop skirt from them last year.

I think that’s it for Taobao lolita brands I’ve purchased from, although I’m pretty sure some of the accessories I bought secondhand came from Taobao (but when I purchased them, the original owner wasn’t sure of the brand, and without tags, no idea where they came from). I’ve also purchased socks from Secret Shop and shoes from Secret Shop secondhand, but I can’t seem to locate their shop on Taobao anymore.

I was going to add in wig shops here too, but I think I’ll make a different post about wigs and keep it separate from this section.

Do you have a favorite Taobao brand? I’d love to hear about it!

 

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Lolita Fashion on Taobao (Part 1)

/ lolitaland / 4 Comments

Hey everyone! One of my friends recently got into lolita fashion and wanted a guide to affordable lolita items. I still have my MBOK guide up, I wrote up my first experience with Taobao, and I wrote a post for a Lolita Blog Carnival prompt about Favorite Taobao Shops & Pieces, but I never created a guide to great places to get lolita items on Taobao.

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So, what is Taobao?

Taobao is like a Chinese eBay or Amazon. There are tons of different stores and sellers!

Since the pricing is all in Chinese Renminbi (also known as Chinese Yuan), you’ll need to check conversion rates to see how much it’ll cost in your own currency. Definitely keep in mind shipping fees and shopping service fees, if you choose to use a shopping service. I heard there’s a way you can purchase from Taobao directly now and have them forward packages to you, but I’m still most comfortable with a shopping service since they can help answer my questions about products and give me peace of mind.

In my own experience, I’ve purchased clothes (lolita as well as non-lolita), shoes, wigs, false lashes, cosplays, and accessories from Taobao. I’ve also purchased a bag from Taobao too (my beloved Japanese-style school bag that was my go-to convention bag for over a year)!

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Wig from Taobao (fashion wig I used for my Sara Crispino [Yuri on Ice] cosplay)

Taobao is a lot of fun to browse, but can get overwhelming. I’ve definitely spent way too much time browsing Taobao… For example, being on Taobao and looking at all the things I want to add to my wishlist, and then I glance at the clock and wonder how the heck it is already past 2am?!

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Wig from Taobao (photo by theamazingknight)

Another thing that took a lot of time to figure out is… navigating! I speak Teochew/Chao Zhou, but not Mandarin (and I never learned how to read or write Chinese; I only know how to read numbers and a few characters). It was really difficult at first and I literally put things through Google Translate. Of course, Google Translate only works so far (like how it translates “product” as “baby” since the character for “precious item” is also “baby,” and products are listed as such). And Google Translate does not work on text within images. Most of the time, sizing is displayed in an image, so here are some sizing-related translations to help (Chinese (simplified) is on the left, and English is on the right):

  • 尺码 — sizing
  • 高 — height
  • 胸 — bust/chest
  • 腰 — waist
  • 臀 — hips
  • 长 — length
  • 宽 — width
  • 围 — circumference
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Skirt from SurfaceSpell

Something else that confused me when I first browsed Taobao was the number of “deposit” or “reservation” items there were. I didn’t realize this meant they weren’t currently in stock. 定金 (deposit) and 预约 and 预定 (reservation) mean you have to pay a deposit to be able to eventually get the item. From my understanding, you need to purchase the item from the reservation page before you’ll be able to purchase the item on the 尾款 (post-reservation, I guess? the actual item) page. I’ve never purchased something from Taobao that was a reservation since I was always paranoid about not paying the shopping service in time for the post-reservation item page. If anyone has experience with reservation items on Taobao, let me know! I’m curious to hear what the actual process is like. I remember once I tried to buy an item from the 尾款 page and my shopping service said I can’t since I didn’t participate in the reservation.

Here are some useful terms you can use while searching for clothing and accessory items relevant to lolita fashion on Taobao:

  • Dress (OP): 连衣裙
  • JSK: 無袖洋裝
  • Salopette: 背心裙 or 背带裙
  • Skirt:  裙 or 裙子 or 半身裙
  • Blouse: 衬衫 or 女衬衫
  • Petticoat: 襯裙
  • Bloomers:安全裤 or 南瓜裤 or 燈籠褲 or 灯笼裤
  • Cardigan: 小外套
  • Bolero: 短外套
  • Capelet/short cloak: 短斗篷
  • Lolita shoes:  洋装鞋
  • Round headdress: 丸 型发饰
  • Bonnet: 系带帽子
  • Gothic headdress (usually with veils!): 哥特头饰
  • Flower crown: 花环 头饰
  • Beret: 贝雷帽
  • Straw hat:  草帽
  • Lace socks: 复古蕾丝短袜
  • Lace gloves: 蕾丝手套
  • Wrist cuffs: 蕾丝手镯
  • Parasol: 洋傘

When I search, I also add in “lolita” sometimes to see what shows up.

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Cutsew from Dear Celine

Here are some style terms that were fun to use for Taobao searches too:

  • Gothic: 哥特
  • Victorian: 維多利亞
  • Rococo: 洛可可
  • Country: 田园
  • Punk: 朋克
  • Steampunk: 蒸汽朋克
  • Retro/Vintage: 复古
  • Sailor:  水手服
  • Floral: 碎花
  • Oil painting style (those classical painting prints!): 油画风
  • Lace: 蕾丝
  • Tartan/Plaid: 苏格兰格子
  • Cross/Crucifix: 十字架 粉

If anyone wants stuff added to this list, just let me know! I’m happy to update this. Over the years, everything I learned about Taobao were from a trial and error through Google Translate and Chinese dictionaries, lurking on LiveJournal, reading blogs, and browsing Taobao-related things on Tumblr. I did pop over to CGL on 4Chan for a bit to see if I could learn about Taobao but 4Chan really scares me and the posting format confuses me so I spent barely any time on there.

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One of my fave purchases from Taobao: a JSK from Chess Story!

I will definitely write another guide after this one, so stay tuned! My next one will be simple: a list of my favorite Taobao shops that are relevant to lolita. I’ll note if I’ve purchased from them before, or not yet. Stay tuned!

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Favorite Lolita Coords of 2016

/ lolitaland / 4 Comments

Here are some of my favorite lolita coords of 2016! This post will be very photo-heavy.

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This coord was from the local Valentine’s Day Meet in February 2016. I went for a red x white color scheme! I absolutely adore that heart cookie necklace from Sweet Mildred.

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Here is one of my dream dresses! It was a lucky find on Mbok as part of a set of random Metamorphose items. I wasn’t sure which cut it was (it was hard to see in the photos), but I’m so glad I took the risk! I also got some other cute Meta items in that secondhand set too.

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Terry, who I refer to as my Lolita big sis, dragged me along to Japan Festival Boston 2016! I was skeptical about going since I was in a lot of pain. I spent most of my spring time on and off with using a cane and sometimes being wheelchair-bound. Lots of bad spoonie flare-ups during this season. I fight Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome daily, and it’s not fun, but I am glad I can still do things that I enjoy. I’m in pain all the time, but that’s out of my control.

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My classmate Alex and I did an independent study on the visual storytelling of Alice in Wonderland and this work’s influence on Lolita fashion. This is what we wore to our presentation at the Celebrating Collaborations conference.

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PC: Astro Zombie Photography

I was really glad to have the chance to shoot this with Kel! I had shot with him in cosplay before, but this was the first time we got to shoot fashion. I hope we’ll have the chance to work together again! This is one of my favorite dresses, and I analyzed the print for one of my essays in my Victorian Mourning course. That is definitely one of my favorite essays that I wrote during college!

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I’m pretty sure this was my first (and only) time attending a summer International Lolita Day meetup. This OP is very dear to me since I bought it during an Angelic Pretty summer sale when I studied abroad in Paris. I got to meet Maki and Asuka during my time in Paris! I also love how big and roomy this Evil Live bag is.

 

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PC: Rick Joseph

This was a summer shoot I did for a wig sponsorship, but this marks a big day in my time with Lolita fashion since it was my first time wearing Lolita in my hometown. I was always too scared to wear it because my town is conservative, and my family always warned me against “standing out.” But I got the courage to wear this outfit, walk from home to the local library, and shoot outside. Of course, lots of people stared and there were some unwanted comments, but one lady I met was excited and complimented my unique sense of style. It felt great to wear what I love and feel confident! It was extremely hot that day though and I ended up ditching my petticoat and wig after the shoot.

 

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PC: Xin Lolita Photography

Here’s my coordinate for day 1 of RuffleCon 2016! It was my first year going as an attendee. I was really nervous about my coordinates at first since I had just moved and wasn’t able to bring my full wardrobe with me. I can’t afford an apartment yet and I obviously can’t afford a house, so I’m just renting a small room at the moment. (The only furniture I bought was a bed, table, chair, and mirror… still living out of my suitcases and re-using cardboard boxes and bags to stay organized.) I was scrambling to figure out what to wear, to be honest. At first, when I packed this, I wasn’t sure how it would look together (and it was also my first time wearing this dress). I love how this dress fits though, and I can’t wait to wear it again and again! I did have a scare with the hair comb falling out and getting lost… but I found it at the front desk later that day. Thank you, anonymous person who returned my lost headpiece. ❤

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And here’s my outfit for Sunday of RuffleCon! Saturday was mostly casual since I was in the fashion show. But on Sunday, I was excited to wear this gorgeous Les Mis-inspired AATP JSK paired with a brand new Triple Fortune bonnet! My friend who had a VIP pass got me the bonnet. I’m so happy to finally own a Triple Fortune item! I should probably invest in a hat box at some point though… Currently storing it in a bag but I’m so paranoid about accidentally stepping on it or something.

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This was my outfit for my very first fashion walk! It was the Harajuku Fashion Walk in NYC. It was a pretty chilly day, so I was wearing a coat for most of the walk (but I took off my coat for these photos). This JSK and headbow set are my only Magic Tea Party pieces, but I love looking at their designs online. I was glad I snagged this secondhand set from Lacemarket last year! I definitely want more nautical-themed items.

 

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Here’s my coord for my very first Broadway show! Andrea took me to see Aladdin and it was so amazing. Before we went to the show, we went to Alice’s Tea Cup (where this photo was taken) for a delightful tea. The scones were heavenly.

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PC: Brian Ngai

For my first day at DerpyCon, I wore this book-themed coord! My biggest memory wearing this outfit was not a fun one: an adventure changing in a cramped bathroom. I had to bring my suitcase into the bathroom with me and I somehow fit both myself and the suitcase in a stall. And had to open up my suitcase, dig through it to find items for my coord, and put everything on. I did my makeup by the sink, but staff came in to clean the bathroom while I was still getting ready. It was definitely an interesting experience (and I hope I never have to repeat that again).

For Sunday of WinterCon, I wore Drosselmeyer’s Wonderbox. This is one of my favorite pieces I purchased from Erica (and I’ve bought quite a few things from her; she has great taste). I love tartan prints, and I especially love this holiday toy border print.

And that’s all for my favorite coordinates of 2016! Do you have a favorite look that I did last year? Please do share! I would also love to see your favorite looks of 2016. I hope you all have a very happy 2017!

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