JaponicaMarket Order: Liz Lisa & Bobon21 sukapans

Hi,

This is an order I made back in October and received in November. I had also bought an Ank Rouge varsity grey cardigan, but the fit was so bad it didn't make the closet, and so I thought it was just pointless to write about it here...

Liz Lisa sukapans* (3) & Bobon21 sukapan (1)

*Actually, there are two Liz Lisa sukapans and one Liz Lisa skirt; I considered them all as sukapans though in order to avoid lengthening the sentences.

• Shipped to me: October 7th 2017 (shipping option was registered SAL)
• Received: November 7th 2017

Item #1: Liz Lisa White Polka Dot Sukapan

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- Condition/quality: Great, no noticeable dirt or damage even though the sukapan's white/ivory.

However, you can see on the pictures that the right side of the safety pants is longer than the left side. It doesn't really show when looking from the front, but it's quite obvious (and not really appealing) when looking from the back. I don't know whether it's because the sukapan was damaged or because it's a manufacturing defect.

- Fit: Looks awkward. The whole sukapan feels heavy and falls as so. I strongly believe it's because of the safety pants' fabric that feels somewhat heavy and thick; I'm not sure what it is but it's similar to the one you use for embroidery.

I'm thinking of altering the right side of the safety pants or removing them and wearing separate ones.

Also, the folds of the sukapan fall weirdly, and it's hard to arrange them to look nice. I don't really know why it does that...

But surprisingly, I'm satisfied with this sukapan. I love how it looks (when not on me) so I will definitely do something to make it fit better. 😈

Item #2: Liz Lisa (Tralala) White Polka Dot Skirt

- Condition/quality: Great, the two bows on the sides look like new.
The pattern on the skirt looks washed out, but it doesn't really bother me. Maybe it was made like this?

- Fit: Not bad. However, I feel that the skirt falls too much like an apron (flat surface) from the lack of pleats/ruffles.
I would have also liked if there had been bows somewhere down the skirt; maybe that would've made it look less like an apron. But I can always add my own bows so it's not dramatic.

My apologies for wearing the skirt very short. For that matter, I already ordered safety pants and they should arrive someday...

Item #3: Liz Lisa Brown Sukapan

- Condition/quality: Nothing bad to say. The four velvet bows look impeccable and usually, velvet ribbons/bows are the most prone to be slightly damaged from my experience so far with secondhand clothes. Overall, the details on the sukapan are beautiful.

- Fit: It doesn't look outstanding in the picture but I find it cute.

Item #4: Bobon21 Check Sukapan (size M)

I fell in love with this sukapan when I saw the red one on Pinterest long ago. I didn't know a grey version of it also existed before searching for it on online marketplaces, but I thought it looked as pretty and so decided to buy it.

- Condition/quality: Great, it really looks as cute as in the pictures on the internet.

There's no noticeable pilling and the white embroidery patterns look flawless. The little white bows and white ribbon look a little bit damaged but that's okay.

The fabric is also thicker than I expected, but I don't mind since the skirt does look like one you would wear more in the fall/winter than in the summer.

In general, I was impressed with the item's look and quality as it was my first Bobon21 purchase (although bought secondhand).

- Fit: From the front, it looks amazing; perfect volume and pleats.

From the side though, it looks too voluminous for my taste. But there's no way I'll try to make it less voluminous. I'm just thinking about the plaid JSK from HIMI'Store I ruined because of that same reason. 😭 The waist is also a wee bit loose, maybe I should have gotten the size S...

I recently bought the same Bobon21 sukapan, but in red and size S... I don't really mind having both colors of the same model since I love this sukapan. But I especially bought this one because it was a size S, so I want to see if the waist fits better and the volume from the side is reduced.  I will probably write about it on the blog.

Thank you and Happy New Year.

Bobon21 Pink Pumps With Bows

Two months ago, I bought unbelievably adorable pumps on Taobao here.

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The proxy service I used is Yoybuy. I used the "ShipForMe" service (I didn't use the "BuyForMe" service).
The service was great, except for one thing I slightly disliked: they charged me in "two times" the shipping fees; first time they estimated the package weight (then I paid), and second time they weighed the package for real and sent me the difference to pay (so I paid an additional amount). I would have preferred to pay only one time.
Yoybuy is the first proxy service I use to buy something from China, but I may give a shot at others such as Taobaoring.

Packaging: Really satisfied

The shoes: Gorgeous color and quality

The color is a really soft pink (in some lightings, the pictures sadly give them more of a Pepto Bismol shade).

Attaching them (shoe buckle)
The way the shoe buckle is made is really practical. This is personally a big plus for me as I had never thought about it and found it to be a rather genius idea... I'll let the three following pictures speak for themselves, but basically, you don't need to fiddle with the tongue (the little "needle" that goes in one of the holes is called a tongue -- honestly I didn't know it before searching it on Google right now).

Size fit
I bought a size 36, but they are a little bit big, even with socks. ;_; I believe with thicker socks the space between my heel and the back of the shoe is reduced (see picture bottom right corner), which definitely makes it easier to walk in.
Nonetheless, I feel this mistake was inevitable because I usually wear a 6/6.5 in shoes, and so I would have never imagined fitting better in a size 35...

This was my first time buying an item directly from the Bobon21 store (I did buy a secondhand sukapan from the brand on Fril around that period) and I'm really satisfied. I think the prices are reasonable and the quality is fantastic.

FromJapan Order: Liz Lisa Floral Romper

It's been a while since I've written here. I actually prepared a post for a pair of Bobon21 pumps I bought on Taobao, but since the post lacks some try-on pictures, I cannot publish it now. Meanwhile, I made this quite modest post about a Liz Lisa romper I bought back in July.

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• Shipped to me: July 7th 2017
• Received: August 31st 2017 (shipping option was surface mail - small packet)

Overall, I'm satisfied.

The item was labeled as "未使用", which according to Google translate, means "unused" (I would suppose that "very lightly used" is also comprised). So I was a bit disappointed to see that either the item was not unused/lightly used as claimed by the seller, or its storing may have affected the fabric.

Blue parts of the romper seem to be washed out at some places:

Others little flaws (I don't really mind the stain on the first picture since it's hard to notice, however, it's quite easy to spot the holes in the last two pictures):

To make things clear, I never expect secondhand items to be in (near-)perfect condition even when labeled new/lightly used/no scratch and dirt, and most sellers state so in the item's description (although it was not the case for this romper). All this to say that I believe the item's condition was (in)voluntarily incorrectly labeled.

The fit is actually great. I really like the peplum effect although it's a one-piece, and the pattern and the (detachable) bow are absolutely beautiful.

The fit where the chest is though feels extremely tight. And I had never thought about this since it's the first time I own a romper, but I can imagine that going to the bathroom with it on will be a tedious process. (;ﾟДﾟ)

Ganadara Restaurant

Yesterday, a friend and I went to eat at Ganadara. As you can see on the menu, it's "Korean Fusion Cuisine" (I don't exactly know what this means, but they do have food on their menu that is or looks more Japanese, Chinese or Vietnamese).

Tripadvisor and Yelp probably do a better job than my blog at giving reviews, but I still wanted to relate my experience at Ganadara on here.

I kind of apprehended going there, because I had read a review (in French) in which the critic said she wasn't impressed with the food and would not go back, despite the restaurant having regularly a queue of people waiting outside.

My friend was still curious to go (she had also seen multiple times people waiting outside to eat there) and so we did.

My friend ordered the cheese chicken katsu and I decided to take the curry chicken katsu (mild). And we got bulgogi kimbap (6 pcs) to share.

Food :

Cheese chicken katsu

My friend said her cheese chicken katsu was great. Oh, and as you can see in the upper part of the picture, they give a small bowl of kimchi to each table. We didn't taste it though.

Curry chicken katsu (there are also mushrooms)

My curry chicken katsu was excellent, the fried crust tasted amazing. The inside was only white meat which agreeably surprised me. Usually, I'd expect to bite into some fat/gelatinous stuff, but there was none. The curry sauce tasted good, but there was a spice in it and near the end, my taste buds were starting to get sick of it. It wasn't spicy, but there was a particular taste because of the spice.
But I really liked eating fried chicken, rice, and curry together. It's like comfort food.

Bulgogi kimbap

My friend said she liked it, but I personally thought it's wasn't as good as I expected. The bulgogi was good, but I wouldn't say I'd eat bulgogi in "sushis". And there was this sweet and sour yellow/green vegetable (I believe that was radish) and I thought it tasted weird with the beef.

Service :
The waitress often came filling up our glasses of water, which I appreciated. But our dishes all arrived at different times what the heck. My friend was the first to receive her dish. 5 minutes later, we got the kimbap. Then another 5 minutes later, I (finally) got my dish. The food was warm though.

Price :
I wouldn't say it's the cheapest restaurant but I was really satisfied with the price/portion ratio (FYI my curry chicken katsu was 12.50$ CAD). Also, the restaurant accepts to give us doggie bags to take our leftovers home which is cool.

In sum, I really liked my experience at Ganadara and do believe I will return there to eat. However, I think it would be to eat curry chicken katsu in particular. I don't know if I'd be interested in trying other dishes.

Thank you.

FromJapan Order: Liz Lisa clothes

Well, I'm writing pretty late here considering that I received my order on June 27th, but I was too lazy to properly sit down and take the time to write about it. I think it's also because I was slightly disappointed with the fitting of the clothes, and so I wasn't really looking forward to writing this post. I think I'll make this post brief.

Shipping option chosen: Surface mail (small packet) - the cheapest option
Date shipped: May 16th
Date received: June 27th

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Quite well packaged.


Item #1: Liz Lisa Cream Brown Sukapan (sorry but I'm making up the names since I have no idea what's their official name)

Quality: Really good. I don't think it was worn before because the tag was still attached to the item.

Fit: Great. Probably the best one that fits me out of the four items I bought. Reaaaaally satisfied.

Item #2: Liz Lisa (Penderie) Leopard Cardigan With Detachable Fur Collar

Quality: I think there's dry sweat on the fur:

It's not horrible, but I did feel a little bit disgusted when I tried it on. And I don't think I can wash it...

As for the cardigan itself, I don't really see any pilling, overall condition is not bad (i.e. I'm satisfied).

Fit: Not so good... I didn't know it would be so high waisted and loose. For the high waisted problem (I personally don't like high waisted clothes on me), it's not that bad since I can wear something under to make the top less high waisted (e.g. see picture below). But for the loose fit, I can't really do anything, except wearing something quite thick under to make it look less loose.

I obviously won't go around with my arms like that (thankfully),

but I just wanted to show how loose it is.

Item #3: Liz Lisa Leopard Sukapan

Quality: Two things -

1. I wasn't aware the sukapan would look so orange (on the seller's picture, it looked more like beige/brown). Plus I had chosen this more expensive sukapan over others (that were actually all the same) because I thought the former was more brown. Actually it was just the picture lighting that was different. So I was a tad disappointed.

2. The crotch area:

I washed it and it went away but still... I felt grossed out.

And I only noticed it weeks later, after having tried it on multiple times... lmao

That serves me as a lesson to always check the crotch before...

Fit: Great, but some things kind of irritate me a little -- see below.

(I won't wear this shirt with this skirt!)

Cute pompoms on the sides.

But there's a weird fold from the other side showing -- see yellow arrow on pic.

I think I have to arrange a bit the elasticized waist to avoid having these.

Item #4: Liz Lisa Check Top

The white shirt is sewn to the "tank top".

Quality: It's ok as I thought the shirt would look more used. Only some of the criss-cross ribbons' fabric is somewhat gone, and maybe the white shirt does look "not new" from multiple washes (which is normal).

Fit: Great. I feel the white shirt looks maybe a little bit tight, but all in all I think it looks ok.

I'm not completely unsatisfied of my order, but there are things I would have done differently (e.g. not order this leopard sukapan). But since I'm a real newbie with buying from Japanese flea markets, I can only wish that this is part of my wonderful "learning journey".

Thanksssss!