American Apparel is one of my favorite online shops, but it is pretty expensive at times. Luckily there are a few replicas that you can buy for a fraction of the price! I sometimes buy replicas if the items are way too expensive for me to feel comfortable buying. I've got AA replica bags and crop tops and they feel really similar in quality to the actual brand c:
Enough with my rambling, this post is a comparison post with links for American Apparel dupes and I hope you enjoy! ♥
HOORAY!!! So the haul is finally here!! This is the end of my Taobao series!! I'm so excited!!~
What I'll do in this post
1) Talk about the package and how everything was packed inside~
2) The items and small reviews/outfit photos
3) Taobao order timeline/pricing
4) Shipping time and advice for what to choose!
5) 15-minute video haul overview!! (wow so amaze my first video oh)
Ok first things first: the package! Bhinerhad a few options that you could do for the package! One of my favorites was about the shoes! Bhiner tries to packages everything in as small a package they can, and to help make the shipping cheaper for you they have a checkbox that you can choose so you can just add your shoes (if you order any) WITHOUT the shoe box! I chose that and I'm sure it made my package lighter and in turn it made shipping cheaper :3
The package came to me on March 19th and I signed for it! This is the package box unopened c:~ It was a nice size!!
After I opened it I laid out all my items c:~
Since I opted out of the shoe boxes, Bhiner placed my shoes in super thing bags and added them in the box with my package c: if you wanted to know my package was 2 kg!! (roughly 4.4 lbs)~
NOW ON TO THE REVIEW/PIC HEAVY PART OF THE POST!!! :-)
The first thing I opened up was my American Apparel Cities bag replica! Obviously, it's not the actual American Apparel one! It's $36 on AA's site, but I got mine for around $6-7!! c:
The bag had two different sets of cities on each side, but it didn't bother me at all! I have no idea if the original has it this way, but I prefer it with two different sets c:
The entire bag is a heavy, thick canvas along with the strap which I was extremely hopeful for! There were no loose threads and the strap is a good length (around 15 in/38 cm) and the bag itself is pretty deep!
The next two items I opened up were my iPhone 4S cases! They were both from the same seller and after finding the Sailor Moon case I've been wanting since I spotted it on JList (for $22, crazy right?) I found a Purin case!! The Sailor Moon case is a knockoff of the official release! It was a little less than $5, while the Purin case was around $4!
The print on the SM case is pretty nice and I'm extremely happy with it! Here it is on my phone!
There's not much to say about either of these cases! They're pretty good quality and cheap! The seller did include a few extras like screen protectors and home button buttons c:~
The next item is one I've seen from some of my fellow bloggers who've shopped on Taobao! (Thank you babes Beckii & Kiyomi!!!) This top has GREAT quality for the price (which is around $5?)!! This is meant to be another American Apparel knockoff and the original is about $30! I am super happy I bought this since I've wanted it for around 2 years or so c:~
I bought a Large size because Chinese sizes tend to be smaller than US sizes! I suppose the equivalent size to this Chinese large is a Medium? No idea! But this fit me perfectly and was quite stretchy and thick!~
I was expecting this top to be thin and super long like the model's photo on the actual product page but it wasn't! It was the perfect length! (I got the shoes from Taobao too, I'm covering them in a bit :3)
I give this top a 5/5!!
The next two items were my white and pink blouses! They were super cute and a little less than $8 each!! The quality on each blouse was pretty good for the price, but the buttons are a bit wonky/loose? Easily fixed, but I might just change them into heart-shaped buttons altogether c:!! The blouses obviously came with a few extra buttons c:
I bought a size Large in both blouses and the fit was nice! Wearing any sort of push-up bra made the buttons open up super easily, so I wore my simplest bra (a demi!) so it'd fit more comfortable/natural!~
The shirts were quite wrinkly out of the bag but I didn't bother ironing them in the photos c:!
I give these blouses a 4/5!!
The next items I got were blue and pink gingham skirts!~ As you can see above there weren't any tags and it came with a sort of slip! I'm still gonna wear my safety shorts underneath them though!
These skirts were pretty ok for the price that was paid for them (a little less the $10 each!) and the print was very, very cute! The band was elastic so it was easy to take off and put on, plus many sizes can wear them! The taobao product page has each size and sizing details to go along with it! I bought a size Large in each skirt! I could've bought mediums, but I didn't want the skirt to be too short!!
I loved the length of the skirts! They were super comfortable and they didn't hike up in the back much! They were also quite poofy by themselves! It was super windy today which is why they're so full, but they were plenty poofy alone c:~
I give these skirts a 4/5!!
The final item I got from Taobao were these Winged Cross Platforms! I've wanted them for a very long time but never got them because eBay sellers and Storenvy sellers tried to sell them for around $45 with $15 (or similar) shipping! These were on Taobao and I got them for less than $20 and I'm in love with them! c:
The wings were kinda bent in from the trip but they were securely on otherwise and extremely adorable!
I wore them in the outfit photos above so go check them out and see them on c:! They are platforms so they were a bit heavy, but I have a few platform shoes already so it wasn't hard to get used to them c:
I give these shoes a 5/5!!
Here's the video overview of all my items :3 sorry in advance for my awkwardness haha!
(if the video doesn't load for you please let me know!! i'll add a direct link to the video below!) ♡
Now it's time to break down the order timeline and price!
February 28th: Added items to cart to get quoted (Bhiner asks seller if items are still in stock).
March 1st: All items confirmed quoted by Bhiner and moved to checkout cart.
March 1st: Paid for items and domestic shipping
March 2nd-March 11th: Items arrived to Bhiner and they weighed it (2kg).
March 12th: Paid second payment (shipping to me)! I used EMS.
March 13th: Bhiner shipped my package and gave me tracking number.
March 19th: Package arrived!!!
That's a rundown of my entire Taobao order! Bhiner was a wonderful service and while the message replies were a bit slow at times, they were EXTREMELY fast when I messaged them on Skype c:~ My first experience with Taobao and a shopping agent was a complete success!
My first payment was $88.23
My second payment was $53.38
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Total Taobao Order: $141.61
I would definitely recommend Bhiner as your shopping agent of choice! Their website was super easy and on Skype they were a wonderful help! I can't wait to shop on Taobao again c:
To learn how to also shop on Taobao using Bhiner I broke it down into a 3 part tutorial! Links are below :3
Today was a request post from one of my adorable followers! She suggested that I give a sort of review about American Apparel skirts because she's been wanting some! I was raving about it on my Twitter one night and she requested it then :> and I promised I'd do this for her! So on with the post!
The skirts, in particular the denim and corduroy skirts, from American Apparel are quite a popular item among people who I follow! Several of my followers have at least one and wear them in very cute ways! I bought my first one last spring and I've been in love ever since! I bought 2 last month and I'm planning on buying 2-3 more! :>
These skirts are very flirty and they're of amazing quality! The denim doesn't have any strings or loose ends EVER and the corduroy skirts are just the same. They're so versatile in the ways you can wear them it's crazy and they're heavy enough so that they won't fly up when the wind picks up on them :>
They also come in lots of pretty colors! These are my favorites c: I own the top left (light blue denim), the burgundy, and the tan (not pictured), but I'm planning on buying the black, white, lavender, pink, and mint colors! I already own all of those color skater skirts, but I've been selling my clothing on a separate Instagram page here! I'm selling my lavender and mint skater skirts actually! And I'm gonna sell my white skirt soon c:
I don't have any big problems about these skirts beside two things! The sizing and the price!
Starting with the sizing, it's really difficult for me to choose between Small and Medium, but I buy ALL my AA skirts in medium. I usually stuff my tops into my skirts, which makes them fit perfectly, but with crop tops and thinner shirts the skirts are a bit big until I stuff my tummy full of food c: I would go for a small, but it's a tight fit on my waist! I wear my skirts high-waisted all the time so it'd most likely fit me above my waist but I'm sticking with Mediums. I'd look at their sizing charts or go try them on at an actual American Apparel!
Sorry for the rambling, but the second problem I have with these skirts are the PRICE! The denim skirts are regularly priced at $46 each, while the corduroy skirts are priced at $48 each! Pretty pricey for some skirts, but they last a long time, are versatile, and are of great quality, so I don't mind spending that much c:~
All in all I totally recommend buying these skirts! You can find the denim version hereand the corduroy version here!
Any questions or comments leave below and I'll get back to you asap! Or for a quicker response go here!
Aliexpress: Top & Skirt ♥ American Apparel: Top & Skirt
