Tokyo Rebel Online Shopping Review

After losing my Metamorphose parasol a year ago in China Town (long story) I needed a new one for this upcoming summer. On April 17th I placed an order with Tokyo Rebel for an Innocent World parasol. Not two days later they let me know that they had shipped out my package and reimbursed me for $8 on my shipping because, living only one state over, shipping was not as much as quoted.

On April 22nd it arrived at my doorstep.

It was shipped in a long rectangle box, wrapped in tissue paper and a heavier shipping paper. The parasol was in perfect condition.

They even included the cutest handwritten note.

Overall I would rate my online shopping experience with Tokyo Rebel a 5 out of 5. Shipping was fast, contact was fast, it was packaged great, and they even refunded some of my shipping. I would definitely order from them again.

Review of Qcute/Qutieland: DollscroPs, HMHM, and PrinCutess

On December 29th I made an order from Qcute on their Qutieland website. On February 18th I received my package. All in all things were wonderful, but there were a couple hiccups along the way.

Communication: 5/5
Qcute was awesome with letting me know what was going on. I placed my order for four items over their website, a bonnet, a blouse, a bolero, and a skirt. I filled out my measurements and sent it in. The next day I received an email asking me if I was sure those were my real measurements and for a couple extra measurements, such as height, arm width, and the like. I sent those back and waited.

A few days later they emailed again, informing me that the bolero was out of stock. They subtracted the price of the bolero from my order and sent me a paypal invoice. The three items, custom sizing, and shipping cost $1345 HKD, about $170 USD.

Things went quiet after that as I eagerly awaited my shipping notice. I would check on my order status every couple of weeks on their website and it listed what process my items were currently undergoing. My DollscroPs skirt was finished and shipped to Qcute's warehouse first, but HMHM and PrinCutess weren't far behind.

On February 12 I received my shipping notice and EMS tracking number, a little over a month and a half after my initial order.

Shipping: 5/5
Being shipped EMS, my items only took six days to get to me. The package was labled as a gift, so I didn't get hit my US Customs. It was delayed a day because the mailman delivered my package receipt to the wrong apartment and I had to go hunt it down, not a fault of Qcute at all.

Everything was placed in a large, well-sealed, heavy duty plastic shipping bag. Inside that was a layer of bubble wrap. And inside that were my individually wrapped pieces. Safe and sound.

Click on thumbnails for bigger images.

Construction: 4.5/5
Everything was made beautifully. There were very few loose threads, both the skirt and bonnet were lined, the skirt in this most luxuriant purple fabric. My only issue was the velvet pattern on the skirt. While very pretty, the velvet is rather cheap and while getting the skirt on, it comes off and wedges itself underneath my fingernails. Even wearing the skirt throughout the day I would have to continuously wash my hands to get the fuzz off.

Fit: 3/5
Here's the most important part to me as a plus sized lolita, the ability of a company to make a garment that fits. Unfortunately, both HMHM and DollscroPs failed a little in these regards. Qcute asks for your exact size, saying that the companies will add a few centimeters for your garment size, but I added a few centimeters to my measurements anyway just from past experiences. I'm glad I did or else I'd be even worse off that I was when my package arrived.

I ordered my DollscroPs skirt according to my corseted waist size, as I never wear a high-waisted skirt without smoothing out my belly with a corset. Even wearing my corset and having added a few centimeters to my measurement, the skirt is incredibly difficult to get on. It just fits my corseted measurements and with a lot of pulling and wiggling at that. But once it's on, it's good to go. Also, I need my skirts extra long because of my height, and DollscroPs did deliver on that aspect. The skirt falls right to my knees.

The HMHM blouse, on the other hand, was a disaster. I put it on right away and almost ended up crying. The sleeves were incredibly tight, almost cutting off circulation, and the bust gaped at least an inch, I was barely able to get it buttoned. I either need to sell it and order a new one with larger measurements, or attempt to get it let out a little. It is not wearable at my size.

Overall: 4/5
I would recommend Qcute as a shopping service and the companies I've ordered from. My only issues were with sizing, but I now know better to add even more extra centimeters to my measurements, especially in my bust. It's a little depressing to have to do such a thing, but a blow I'm willing to take for beautiful custom-sized clothes. I will definitely be ordering from Qcute again.

Wearing my DollscroPs skirt with an In the Starlight blouse.
Photos by Caro-chan at FYeah Lolita.
Ignore the doofy look on my face.

Review: Sweet Cupcakes in Boston, MA

The other day I got to visit my boyfriend's sister in Boston. She dragged us all over the city and one of the highlights of the day was popping into the Back Bay store of Sweet. I have always wanted to try a cupcake shop so I was extremely excited about this.

The Back Bay shop is located on a cute street, not far from a rich stretch of town that has gas lamps, a lovely little grassy area, and, I'm told, very pretty gardens in the spring and summer. It being winter I had to miss out on this last detail. The shop itself is very tiny, with seating enough for maybe ten people tops, the display case, and service counter. Everything is pink and white and there are dishes filled with classic candies like cowtails and gumballs, though they're only for display.

The girls behind the counter were a little rushed with a girl ahead of us making an order for a party, but they were still very friendly and helpful. I ordered a "sweet cake" cupcake with vanilla frosting. My boyfriend a dark chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting. We managed to snag a seat and dug in.

The first thing that hit me was the size of the cupcakes. They were standard cupcake pan sized, rather small and underwhelming. And while the amount of frosting on them was awesome, two very large dollops per cupcake, it did nothing to justify the $4.00 each price tag.

Upon the first bite I was once again disappointed. The frosting was very good, I'm picky when it comes to buttercream and I really liked this frosting. But the cake itself tasted no better than out-of-the-box yellow cake. My boyfriend had a similar experience with his dark chocolate cupcake. He told me that, once again, the frosting was delicious, but the cake itself left something to be desired.

So while the shop and the cupcakes themselves were incredibly cute, I don't believe I will be visiting Sweet again anytime soon. If I do, I'll most likely settle for a frosting shot and leave it at that.