• Location: Canada

Review: Mashimaro_Girl TaoBao shopping service and Surface Spell brand

First

Mashimaro_Girl TaoBao shopping service

I ordered this coat from TaoBao shop Surface Spell on February 7th and got it today, March 2nd.

Communication - Prompt and courteous. :) Included a nice invoice PDF. I was kind of expecting to have a notice sent to me when the package was actually shipped (maybe with a tracking number) but that's not very important and they didn't imply they would send one, I just assumed from some other transactions I've had.)
Fees - Reasonable. ($5 on items on which 15% of the cost is $5 or less; %15 percent on other items I'm guessing.)
Shipping - Expensive! But that was to be expected, as it was a heavy item and international and everything. But fast! My coat was supposed to take ~15 days to make and then would be shipped as soon as Mashimaro got it. It came wrapped in plastic and absolutely packed into a little box, coated with tape. (See the first pic below)

This is my first time using a shopping service, but I would use this service again and recommend it to others.


Now, the item I got

A Surface Spell review

Link to item: http://item.taobao.com/auction/item_detail-0db1-d35ee5aa937186403a08b8d07d687aa1.htm


What's inside?


Yay~

First impression / materials: nice heavy fabric, but a bit tickle-y (not really scratchy). I'm not sure what it is... It's 100% wool. The lining is very pretty; probably satin. Buttons and sequins / jewels all look good quality. Embroidery and lace are lovely too.

Construction: I'm not an expert about this but it seems well-made. A few things might need to be reinforced (the back bow/buttons, and some of the sequins/jewels) and there were a few (hardly noticeable) threads that need to be snipped.

Fit: Size S. I usually fit a small or medium (US) so I took a gamble here. I didn't see any cm or numbers that looked like measurements on the page. The measurements are at the bottom of the page, where I managed to avoid them completely. :) Unfortunately, it's a bit snug on me especially on the bicep area and bust/shoulders. I was expecting the sleeves might be a bit tight even if the rest fit proportionately because my arms are just annoyingly wide (possibly from past farm-work) but I was saddened that my 34" bust seemed to big - it's usually not a problem :( I had to wear a squishing tanktop to do the buttons up.

Note: It does not include the collar shown in the pictures on their page. I don't know why the white coat cost more than the black version...

Worn:


The last one shows it over a dress.

Details: if you compare with the pictures on the site, see that it matches up to the advertised quality.






^This shows one extra thread. Not really noticeable.












I hope this was useful. Have a good day :)