With the most recent Lolita Meet-Up, I was finally able to claim the items I ordered in a recent Taobao group order. As I was not the one placing the order, I will not comment on anything about the shopping service (we used TaobaoSpree), but I will comment on the items I ordered.The bulk of the items I ordered were blouses, as I currently only have one long sleeved blouse in black. I am not going to post anything other than the stock images, just because there would be so many images otherwise, but if you want to see a close up of anything, just ask.
The first blouse was a long-sleeved one in white from Surface Spell Gothic. I really like this blouse. I ordered an XL (I ALWAYS order blouses larger due to the size of my chest and shoulders), and it fits nicely. There is plenty of room for my shoulders to reach, and it does not pucker much at my bust. The blouse has a corset lacing in back, which helps. The fabric is a little sheerer than I would have liked, but it is soft, and the lace is very pretty. Also, the bow around the neck in the picture is a detachable strip of fabric, more like a tie, and I think I could potentially wear the shirt with it, without it, or even unbuttoned at the very top and folded down for a regular collar (not sure on the last one yet, I will have to see how it looks like in an outfit). The item washed very well, and does not show much wrinkling or pleat folding. Overall, I am very pleased.
The next blouse was from CM Loli, and I actually purchased two of them, one in white, and one in beige. I ordered these in XL as well, though I probably should have ordered one size smaller. However, these also have corset lacing in the back, so it is not that big of an issue. This fabric is much thicker than the Surface Spell blouse, but it washed a little more wrinkly, and some of the front pleats folded back, as did most of the ruffles, so these will take more ironing. Blah. The buttons are pretty though, and it fits fairly well. The only major issue I have with the fit is that the sleeves are pretty tight around my arms. If it becomes too uncomfortable, I may try to add a strip of fabric with another button on it to make the sleeves wider, but for now it is manageable. Arm strength is something I am working on though, so they may grow a little larger. Time will tell.
The only “main piece” items I ordered was a set from Yolanda. I was really excited about this skirt and caplet set, but I am a little disappointed. I ordered the set in Large, which is supposed to fit up to a 74cm waist. I currently sit at about 72cm (at my largest), and this is TIGHT. I have only tried it on with a tank top so far, so I will have to see how it looks with a blouse, but as it is now, it is likely too tight to wear (glad I did not commit to a nautical themed meet-up this weekend). I know that it will fit soon, but I was not expecting it to be so tight. It is also a big shorter than I would prefer. The outfit is cute though. I really like the matching trim in reverse colors, and the buttons are cute. The cape does fully unbutton in the front, though I may replace two hidden snaps; they came in a plastic snap, so I may change them to metal.
Finally, I ordered some wrist cuffs from Pumpkin Cat in brown and tan. I thought these would go well with my Infanta Sleeping Beauty JSK, and I really like these. The bows face the correct direction, they fit well, and they are soft and very comfortable to wear.
In addition to the above items I received, I also wanted to make note of one item that I did not receive. I ordered this cutsew from Dream of Lolita. As a group, there were a few items holding up our order, one girls dress, a couple other larger items, and this. I made the call in the end that if this item had not arrived by the time the other items did, I would cancel. We placed the order with the shopping service on June 25th, everything else arrived at the shopping service and we canceled this item on October 7th. Three and a half months for a cutsew, and I still had to cancel it because we were waiting. I really like this item, but I doubt I will try to order it again.
Unfortunately, I also recently placed a Clobba order for a skirt from Dream of Lolita. When I placed the order, I did not realize it was the same seller, so now I am nervous. Generally my Taobao orders would have shipped (and possibly been received) by now, but I have not heard anything yet. I tried canceling the skirt, but no-can-do. Clobba told me it will not take 2-3 months as this item had, so hopefully they stay on top of them, but we shall see. I placed that order on October 23rd, and it only contains that skirt, and an Infanta JSK. Hopefully this skirt will not disappoint me, but either way, I am not going to order from Dream of Lolita again.