Glitzy Wonderland – Review

I placed an order with Glitzy Wonderland for Infanta’s Gold Playground OP in blue. I’d been after it for ages and when I saw not only did they currently have a discount off all items but offered free shipping too I couldn’t resist. I couldn’t find too many reviews at the time and still don’t know of too many people that buy from there so I thought I would do a review.

Disclaimer: Like with all my reviews I have not been asked to do this and the company did not give me a discount or know anything about my blog or the fact I would do a review etc. I’m just doing an honest review as a genuine customer that may help others looking to buy.

Website: http://glitzywonderland.com/

Glitzy Wonderland sell lolita clothing by various taobao brands like Infanta, Surface Spell, Magic Tea Party, Dream of Lolita, etc. They offer free world wide registered shipping and regularly have discounts on items plus the website is all in English and the lovely girl who runs it all speaks English too. There was an offer on when I placed

I placed my order on the 29th June through the website, it’s all in English and the site is really easy to use and has large clear images of the products. I put the item in my basket, signed up to get an account, checked out with paypal and chose the free shipping – all standard and really easy. I received an email confirming my order, it stated I would get another one confirming when the item had been dispatched which would also have a tracking number in it. The page for the dress said the item was in stock, handling time would be 7 days and shipping time 2 weeks, almost 2 weeks passed and I hadn’t heard anything so I sent them an email. I had a reply really fast that said Infanta can take a while to send the items but it should be dispatched within the next week. I assumed wrongly that in stock meant Glitzy Wonderland had the item but I think it means Infanta have it in stock. It seems they work like a shopping service so you order via them and they then get it from the particular store and send it on. Anyway, I got an email on the 17th July saying the item was dispatched and it gave me a tracking number and the dress arrived with me on the 21st July (I’m in the UK).

The dress arrived inside a standard postage packet, inside the dress was folded up inside a clear packet with the detachable bows. I didn’t take pictures on the day it actually arrived which is why its already opened. I will do a review on the actual dress too in another post.

Sum Up:
Counting from the day I placed the order to the day it arrived at my house the dress took just over 3 weeks. Considering she had to get it first then ship it to the UK from Hong Kong I think it’s pretty good, especially as I opted for free shipping. There was even a discount running on the site when I placed my order. The dress from Infanta on taobao is ¥528.00 (about £53), I paid $107.91 (£65.38) for mine from Glitzy with the discount but it’s usually $119.90 (£73.81).

The usual price may seem on the surface to be a fair mark up on the original but when you consider it needs to be ordered direct first at a cost, shipped worldwide for free and needs a bit of profit added on as it’s a business so that’s how you make it work it’s not all that bad. Especially as it didn’t take too long to arrive and is all in English. I enquired about buying the dress from Infanta direct early this year and the quote they gave me was around £75 including shipping so it’s basically the same anyway and that would have been without the use of a shopping service! If you use one of the many shopping services instead to buy from taobao you still have a fee to pay them and shipping to pay, plus it can get complicated with translations, if anything goes wrong and with customs if your item gets stopped. This just seemed so much easier and if you are lucky enough to buy when there’s an offer on its even better.

I would score them 4/5

HJ Fashion Show

This year Hyper Japan had a whole area dedicated to Kawaii as they teamed up with ASOBISYSTEM (who produced Kyary Pamyu Pamyu) to bring a range of Japanese models and street fashion to the UK. You can learn more about it in this special feature programme as all the features at Japan Expo in Paris were also here in London at Hyper Japan.
Part One:
Part Two:

 
Hyper Japan did a post asking for people to take part in various fashion projects – showing off your own street fashion styles, being a model and taking part in a photo book. I submitted a photo, hoping to get chosen for a small part as I thought it would be nice to be able to show off a style I’m passionate about especially if I could feature some of my handcrafted items too. Anyway the event got really close and I hadn’t heard anything so I assumed I wasn’t picked. Eventually though I got an email and it turned out I’d been picked for the main show and would be modelling actual Japanese brand clothing! I never expected to get chosen as an actual model, it caught me totally off guard and filled me with slight panic which wasn’t helped due to the lack of information provided and how last minute it was (1 week before event). I also couldn’t make it to the run through the night before as I couldn’t get down until Friday lunchtime which didn’t help my nerves.

 
Anyway, after a few emails back and forth (they asked to confirm some stuff and send a natural hair pic) it got to Thursday evening (the day before the event) and all I knew was go straight to the backstage area for a dress rehearsal when I arrived Friday. It was really confusing trying to figure out where to go and who I needed to talk to, I found the fashion bit but didn’t want to just walk through the door as I wasn’t 100% sure it was the right bit. Typically everyone who came out only spoke Japanese and couldn’t understand me but luckily I eventually spotted a London model and she took me to who I needed to see. Unfortunately the lady sorting things only spoke Japanese too and the translator wasn’t around so trying to understand what was going on was difficult but eventually I did the dress rehearsal – I was so flustered though that I put the top on back to front first. Ooops! So embarrassing, she must have thought I was a right idiot.

 
This was this first time I got to find out exactly what I was wearing. It was by the brand SPINNS and was a sailor moon themed oversized short top and skirt. Not only was the skirt A LOT shorter than I usually wear but I had bare legs, short ankle socks and platform shoes. I’m quite tall and was on a raised stage in platform shoes too – I was terrified that people would be able to see up the skirt if I wasn’t careful and that I may fall over. It was also pale yellow and white which are not colours that particularly suit me. Also because they had asked to see a photo of my natural hair I assumed it meant I couldn’t wear a wig, though a couple of the other girls did so maybe it would have been ok, it all got too last minute so there wasn’t chance to check. I really don’t like my natural hair, I feel really self conscious as it’s very fine and flat plus it frizzes in the rain/damp atmospheres and I’d got rained on slightly on my way there (typically!). Wigs definitely give me more confidence. So yeah to say I was nervous was an understatement! I’ve always had issues with confidence and how I look and I just felt really exposed and out of my depth/comfort zone. Plus I just felt so out of place against the other models who were all so pretty, I felt like a clumsy oversized giant, with massive clown feet and chunky legs. I’m sure if I’d submitted a different picture I wouldn’t have been picked. Anyway basically I was really nervous and when I went out on stage I saw the way some of the audience looked at me, like with an expression on their face of how exactly should she be modelling and I lost my nerve and did a horrible performance. I just looked so awkward on stage and went the wrong way and couldn’t decide how to pose or anything 😦 It was bad.

Still I did it and I feel that’s important. It’s too easy to hide away from things that scare you and to let others put you down. I’d been chosen, rightly or wrongly, so I tried to keep that in mind on the Sunday and I think I looked a bit calmer and more confident – I still didn’t do a great job, clearly being a model isn’t for me. It was also really important to me that I didn’t just quit/back out, how can I write my blog telling people to ignore comments from others and embrace/express who they are no matter what they look like if I can’t do it myself. I really want you all to believe in your self and to try and battle your nerves/confidence issues, its ok to fail at something but its much better to at least try than to run away from it. It makes me really sad that we live in a world where society places so much judgement on others over appearance and that we then inflict these sorts of thoughts back on ourselves 😦

I’m sorry the photos aren’t great, the lighting is not good in the venue, my phone doesn’t take the best pics and I can’t see myself when taking the photo so I need to guess plus I was comfortable about it all.

This was Fridays hair and makeup:

Sunday’s hair and makeup:

Outfit Rundown:
Oversized short-bodied top in pale yellow with print on front and back
White skirt with sailor moon print
Red choker with gold star
Small pouch (to put your phone in?)
White ankle socks with a flower on
Platform white sandals with see-through base (which were not actually my size)

I don’t have any photos and can’t find any online (thank goodness) but there are these two videos:

http://vimeo.com/101977874

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TmJA6b4qWc

Busy, busy, busy…

Hello Everyone,
First of all I apologise massively for still not having done all those backdated posts I promised. I will still be doing them but life keeps getting in the way – been so very busy lately. The good news is I should have some free time coming up soon so I can actually get some posts finished off and put them up. I’ve bought a couple of things lately so will have a few more reviews, I went to the latest Tea Party Club anniversary Lolita event so will post from that and a massive Steampunk event as well as outfit shots, more wig reviews, tips on accessory storage, etc. Lots to come! Please bear with me.

Here’s a sneak peak of one of the many reviews I will be doing: