Online Shop Review: ARTKA (TaoBao)

OK so this was a long time coming and I cannot apologize enough that I have promised some people that I would review Artka but it fell on the back burner. I've still been really busy even though I am out of college now, with my job! >__<;;



So yes. ARTKA. The glorious online shop that many have drooled over but few have actually ordered from. It's on the Chinese shopping website called TaoBao.com which is sort of like a gigantic online mall/eBay for China. In order to place orders on this website you need a Chinese bank account to do the money transfer, and also some way of communicating. Google Translate isn't really enough. You need someone who lives in China who can order for you.



Personally, my boyfriend has a connection over there, so that is how I ordered. I e-mailed her and asked her if she could get certain items for me. I paid her with Paypal and she shipped me the stuff. I know the prices seem cheap in USD but the shipping is killer! It's around $25 ~ $40 depending on the weight of your package for EMS. So my 2-3 dresses ended up costing over $100! Still not a bad deal considering the quality and uniqueness of everything.

Anyway. Click the Jump below to read more!



I can't remember the exact dates I ordered and paid for stuff and because I have a middle(wo)man, it's kind of hard to give an accurate representation of things since she was busy with other stuff and had to wait a little while to get my stuff mailed to me. Plus we were still working out payments, so I can't give timeframes. But expect at least a couple of weeks to get your stuff! Especially if you are using a shopping service like TaoBaospree.com but they have charts on there to guide you for reference in how long it will take to get your stuff so just refer to those or e-mail them about it.

Price wise, the dresses I bought were roughly $35 to $45 each.

Here are the stock photos of the ones I own:



My less-than-flattering photo (sorry, night time here!) It's actually navy blue, not black, hehe.




Here is a photo of me wearing this dress from a while ago:
Clicky.


My photo:




Chandelier Skirt. I love this thing. It has a huge pocket and the top black part zips off and can be worn as a separate belt!



This is so simple and yet lovely.

It looks better worn too, curse my terrible photography. X___x;

.................


Quality wise, Artka makes VERY nice quality stuff. Seriously. Nothing about their clothing is cheap to me! It's all made with loving care. They claim each garment is handmade but I think there is some degree of automation to it. ;)


Also you may have noticed they have an Artfire.com shop. DO NOT. I mean, DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES try to place an order with their Artfire site. First of all, the prices are like 75% more expensive on there than on Taobao! It's so weird. And I tried to place an order once and they basically never sent my stuff. So after about a month or so of waiting, I filed a Paypal claim. Luckily I got all my money back, but man, was it weird. They sent me only one confirmation e-mail saying they would mail my items soon, but I never got anything or heard anything back from them again even when I emailed them repeatedly and eventually threatened to do a claim! Yikes. Very scary.

If you want to order on Taobao use a shopping service like Taobaospree.com. It's safe and you won't have to worry about dealing with foreign sellers and attempting to use google translate. ;)

If anyone has any questions please feel free to ask away! :D

I would love to order from Artka in the future, but the shipping is heavy on the wallet, for sure.

"Artka" TaoBao Shop!

Yesterday night I was helping my boyfriend browse for a cheap suit and tie on Taobao.com. And during my browsing, I discovered a really, REALLY cool shop! It's called "Artka" and they have a pretty nice selection of dresses and sweaters. My favorites are mostly the dresses....they have skirts and tops too but really, the dresses are what caught my eye! Here are some of the ones I love the most below.

Tell me which is/are your favorite/s!! :)





I think I might order this lovely red dress. It's the dress that drew my attention to Artka's shop in the first place. :) It reminds me a little of classic lolita and sweet lolita but without too much over-the-top-ness. :D


This blue dress is to die for. Seriously. I love it so much! It definitely reminds me a little of traditional Chinese garb and yet somehow it's also kind of European...like "Gypsy" almost maybe? It comes in white too but blue is my favorite by far!



I am so tempted to buy this dress too. I LOVE sleeves...so unique! And the print with the flowers reminds me of a watercolor painting. :D Here is another shot of it.


Another one on my wishlist for sure...it reminds me a lot of Juliette et Justine or even Millenoirs...both classic/gothic lolita brands. :D I am debating whether to order it or not. My BF said he didn't like the black lace on it. But I adore it. *__*; Apparently this is from their "lolita" collection.


Another one I am positively in love with! It's so lovely...also kind of reminds me of Millenoirs brand. <3 More of a turquoise blue but I still love it! A lot of these remind me of paintings too and I think they were inspired by paintings because if you go to a dress product page it has all sorts of artwork on the top.


A blouse version of one of the blue dress above.


Reminds me a lot of mori girl style! I really want this one but I already own a lot of these colors!! >_<;;


Another one that looks sorta mori/dolly kei.


GORGEOUS black dress! Soooooo much love! <3


Red dress with black accents...reminds me of ethnic garb as well.


I love the belts on this one...I think it might be a little hard for me to pull off though for daily wear.... LOL!


A simple grey and white dress. Reminds me of Juliette et Justine.


I don't think I'd buy this one myself but it's really lovely and worth mentioning. I could see it being used in a really awesome dolly kei coordinate! :D


AWESOME BOOTS. 'nuff said! I REALLY want these but the biggest size they come in is EU39 which is like a US8 ish. I am about a US9 or a EU40/41. =___=;; I think I am going to see if I can get someone who speaks Chinese to ask if they can make them custom for me one size larger. :D These really remind me of Amir's clothing from Bride's Story...I mentioned it a few posts back. It's a manga about a girl living on the Silk Road in the early 1900s! These remind me of her boots. :D Even this model is wearing very similar style boots! I want those too! xD


I really adore this sweater. It's so simple and mori looking and yet has a unique design to it! :)

They have skirts too. Some are long and floaty and some are just...denim!


I really like how they have some basic and casual items which look outdoorsie/mori-like, and then they have CRAZY extravagent looking items...some of which look like they were inspired by Rococo paintings!



The prices seem to range like $40 - $70 US. That's kind of expensive for TaoBao, IMHO, but still cheaper than dresses at, say, Grimoire, or Anthropologie! :) I definitely plan to make an order. I will make another post once I receive my goods with a review of their shop! :)

Oh and unrelated to Artka but my BF found a really cool belt on Taobao that comes in many different colors. He said it reminded him of the Artka stuff. xD How cool!



So tell me what you think, everyone!! Do you like these dresses? Any favorites? I will definitely post pics of whatever I end up getting. I can't get too many because they're not very cheap...so I imagine I will have a very difficult time deciding. >_<;;;