Wunderwelt Review (Positive)

Hey everyone~

Keiko here with my first purchase review!

Because I've been doing a lot of real-life things like moving and such, money for lolita unfortunately hasn't been plentiful. BUT, I did manage to buy a few cool last items for this year before I go on full on buying hiatus until next year. I'll tell you peeps all about those later once they all get in an upcoming haul post. For this particular entry, however, I will keep the items I bought a secret until the very end~

As for the review, this was my first time ordering from Wunderwelt, so I will give my first impressions and a general timeline of events, and then focus on the review of the shop and give my overall impressions at the end.

First Impressions

Wunderwelt is a second-hand lolita fashion seller much like Closet Child. It is fairly recent in comparison, but it has upped its game by advertising to the international community directly --you can see their interesting introductory videos here and here. Wunderwelt is known for selling old school pieces and not really being super in touch with current market value for their products, but it looks like a good place to get gently used older pieces for a generally a good price. 

Like CC, Wunderwelt's page is primarily in Japanese but can be translated to English using browser translators or their own in-website option. The online store has a cart system but, because it sells on different sites (Lacemarket, Yahoo Japan, etc.), you might 'purchase' an item that is actually out of stock. Just go through and buy your items like normal and once you checkout, you can expect a confirmation email letting you know whether the order went through or the item was out of stock.

The process seems simple enough, and a good portion of the website is in English, so buying and browsing are easy.

Timeline

• 7/23/2016 at about 5:30AM U.S. Central Time - Placed the order and paid through Paypal
• 7/23/2016 at 5:37AM U.S. Central Time - Received confirmation email
• 7/24/2016 at 1:05AM U.S. Central Time - Emailed back confirming order review and asking if I had secured what I bought.  It wasn't very clear that I had to respond rather than wait for them to tell me
• 7/24/2016 4:07AM U.S. Central Time - Wunderwelt emailed back confirming that my purchase went through. Staff does not work on Sundays, so they assured me my shipping charge email would come on Monday.
• 7/26/2016 3:21 AM U.S. Central Time - Receive tracking number update email from Paypal. The parcel was sent through EMS.
• 7/28/2016 ~12:00PM U.S Central Time - Parcel arrived!

Review Criteria

• Ease of order: How easy the website is to navigate, for you to place an order, and to pay for the items.
• Communication:  How clear the emails were,  how fast I got confirmation/replies, how any issues were addressed through email, etc.
• Shipping: Shipping costs and speed, how safely things were packaged
• Description Accuracy: Does the ranking system/description of the item match its actual condition? Any extra damages would be listed here

Scores

Each score will be out of five, with each pancake being a point.

• Ease of order: 
• Communication:  .
• Shipping: 
• Description Accuracy: 

Overall

I'd give the order a 4.5/5 in total.

Navigating the site was not that difficult. It's pretty straightforward, actually. The only gripe I really actually had was not knowing that I had to reply to the 'review your order' email. I just did it because I read that it worked for another person. Other than that and being unsure and very anxious of whether or not I secured my purchase (foolishly, since I got a confirmation e-mail), the transaction was pretty smooth.

Shipping was actually free! My order was over 50000 yen, so I got free EMS shipping for my purchase. The parcel was well packaged in a box and the contents were wrapped in bubblewrap and then a plastic bag for protection. I'm still surprised I didn't get hit with any custom fees!

The items were as described. They were both in great condition with no damage, so I'd say the description was pretty accurate. I almost feel like my grade B item could have been a grade A! It only really had the back lacing's loops a bit stretched out.

The package just got here!

Invoice and bubble wrap first things visible

Bubble wrap and a plastic bag underneath for protection

One of the items, a rank S (new) strawberry clip!

--

Have you ever bought something from overseas? What was your experience like? Let me know what you got and how it went below~

Keiko out~

Way-Past-Mid-Year Lolita Goal Review

Hey everyone~

Keiko here!

Today's entry is long overdue. I was supposed to evaluate my lolita goals mid-year this year, but I got wrapped up with moving, getting married, etc., and June and July completely flew! But now that I finally got around it, find below my progress assessment on my 2016 goals:

1. Create and keep a blog - I mean, I kept the blog, I guess. I updated pretty consistently when I had vacation time, but once things got busy again, I dropped it. I'm hoping to pick up the slack again and to start posting weekly or biweekly. We'll see how that goes orz
2. Wear Lolita More often - FAILED! Between the wedding, the move, and the infernal heat of summer, lolita has unfortunately taken a back seat. Hopefully as the weather cools I'll be able to wear it more often. I have some new things I'm dying to wear!
3. More Floordinates - When we moved, all the lolita was packed away for a good while. Even now, things are scattered in the future lolita room in boxes because we lack the furniture to organize things. However, after finally unpacking the main pieces, I realized I have a lot of TLC to do to restore them to all their glory (ironing, lint rolling, etc.). This might take a while, but I really want to use the natural light and our fold-out futon to take some cool outfit snaps.
4. Lolify Room - Because I have moved in with my husband to an apartment, this goal is a little different. We compromised to share a room for both of our hobbies--lolita for me, vintage video game collecting for him. As a result, I get the closet and the back wall to decorate. While it isn't completely a 'lolita' room, I am still excited to get it in the works. Pictures will surely follow once I'm done setting it up.
5. Go to a Lolita Event - I have faced that I will be unable to attend a big event this year. It just isn't feasible for me because of distance and cost. As a result, I've decided to lower the bar a little bit and aspire to attend a lolita meetup in my local comm. Unfortunately, I have had zero luck with this as well. It's convention season where I am at, so meetups have been scarce and the few that have occurred have transpired in days of dismal heat, so I have missed them. I'll attend one, yet! 
6. Participate in ILD -I got married on summer ILD this year, and wore a lolita-inspired ensemble, so I guess that counts? I'm aiming to go all out for the winter one, though! Once I remember the date...orz
7. Wardrobe Post - The wardrobe post has been completed as part of the 30-day lolita challenge. I also compiled a public facebook album of the stock pictures of all the main pieces I own, plus some accessories. I'd now like to update my wardrobe post and get better pictures of the items in order to have it prettier.
8. Practice Makeup - While I've bought new make up and taught my sister the basics of makeup, I have done zilch on this myself. I just feel very uninspired.... I need to pay better attention to this goal!
9. Spend Less money - I'd say this goal has been successful only due to circumstance. Money has just been diverted toward more important/immediate things, but I've still spent a fair bit of money on lolita this year. My next target is to make it until next year without buying new items. I've gone the extra length and blocked all the sales sites and temporarily excited all facebook sales communities so I don't feel tempted to buy. Hopefully I can be up to the task....
10. Lose Weight - My weight has fluctuated a lot...I lost 10 pounds, then gained 15, then dropped back again to my starting weight... It's been kind of frustrating, but I need to keep at it and exercise more, I guess.

Overall, I think the results have been pretty mixed. There's a lot of progress happening now, but it hasn't quite materialized yet. Still, I am very excited for what is to come and to keep updating this blog as often as I can :)

Love you all and hoping you are having a great day,

Keiko~

Music for Lolita - Featuring Ananamaguchi

Hey everyone!

Keiko here~

Today I have a short and sweet post. I want to update you on the music by Anamanaguchi that I'm obsessed with lately. I've been listening to it basically on loop! I find it good for both chilling and for getting ready for the day. I'm leaving a youtube video for one of their albums, Endless Fantasy, below:

It sounds a lot like video game music and I am totally here for it <3 ~

I hope you peeps check it out and enjoy the tunes. If you have any music recommendations for me, please feel free to leave them below in the comments!

Keiko out!

Cool Lolitas from instagram

Hey everyone~

Keiko here and I have resuscitated once again!

I have come back from the land of the inactive to bring you a post about some of my favorite instagram lolitas. I follow a lot of people, but these few stand out to me for one reason or another.

10 Instagram Lolitas

• Taharakeiko – I like her hairstyle variety. She’s a sweet lolita but posts a little bit of everything

• Enen1217 – Taiwanese lolita. She dresses mostly in sweet, with some variety. She has a lot of outfit shots by herself and with friends, as well as some aesthetic shots. Her wardrobe is so cuuute!

• Starmiyas – Lolita from Portland. I love her coordinates and use of color! She’s super pretty and has a good mix of coordinate shots, pictures with lolita friends, and aesthetic pictures.

• _caaake_ - _caaake_ dresses in a variety of clothes that cross the thresholds of different fashions. She seems to be primarily a lolita, but wears otome frequently in her gorgeous outfit shots. I really admire the thematic playfulness in her outfits and her delicate, fluffy aesthetic.

• junie_green – A lolita from San Francisco. My favorite part of her outfit pictures is her detail shots. They bring a depth to the coordinate that you can’t get from afar. She also has some cute art on her Instagram and lots of aesthetic pictures.

• Hmao_owo – This lolita dresses in styles as varied as her amazing artworks. Her pictures are high quality and with beautiful backgrounds, so I enjoy looking at them as a snapshot of an idealized lolita reality outside of mundane day-to-day.

• eleanorrrain – Chinese lolita who also wears nanchatte. She has a carefully curated wardrobe that skirts between sweet and classic and usually posts detail floordinate shots that inspire me to get coordinating!

• baaohaan – Another lolita with an amazing wardrobe. Baaohaan has an amazing sense of style that treads the line separating classic and sweet. Her pictures are crisp and her use of color is very attention catching. I really enjoy looking at her outfit pictures and selfies. She looks like a real princess!

• candy_seraffi - Wonderful coordinates, and neat sense of style and clear pictures are always a good combination. Another lolita whose wardrobe is super amazing and varied!

• laurel0405 - laurel0405 has few posts, but she makes up for it with a sort of natural charm in her poses and pictures. I admire the way she pulls off her looks, even though it's not necessarily my personal style.

Do you use social media a lot for lolita? Have you met people through it, or just followed others' work? Let me know in the comments below and have a great rest of your day~

Keiko out!