Big Fat Bodyline Japan Review!
Mar 13, 2010 by Violet
Quite a while ago I placed an order with Bodyline Japan for quite a few items as a belated Christmas present from James ^_^
A lot of you asked for a review of the items so here it is!
Website:The site is very easy to use with a standard shopping cart and the ability to pay via Paypal or credit card. Shipping is offered via DHL at a flat rate of US$20 or EMS with a rate depending on your country. The site has a huge amount of items to choose from so it was a little hard for me to stay in my budget! ;) Shipping:I chose DHL shipping to save money. DHL has a rather bad reputation from other people I’ve spoken to, depending on what country you live in *cough*America*cough* they have been known to expedite your package through customs and then several weeks after delivery present you with a bill for doing so. As far as I’m aware this doesn’t happen in Australia and it definitely didn’t happen to me this time. That said if I was ordering again and I was in a hurry I would spend the extra money for EMS because even though the “estimated arrival time” from Bodyline was arriving on a Friday the package didn’t arrive until 4:30pm on the Monday. The package made it all the way from Japan (via a bunch of other countries) to Australia in around a day and a half and cleared the airport customs very quickly and then it spent the better part of 3 days “on route” to my house. Considering my house is around 30min from the airport that was kind of irritating! Anyway not a big deal! XD Here is the package that arrived:
Inside I ordered the following (not the real names but I can’t find half of the things on the site anymore):
James’s mini review of the beannie and hat is “very soft and nice” XD
Ok let’s do the individual reviews! Spotty BowPrice- US$3 Made from average quality ribbon, finished quite nicely.
On the site I thought it was a side bow but it’s actually right in the middle, now looking at it I think she’s just wearing it to the side. The plastic band it’s on is a little flimsy.
Over all: happy with the quality for the price. I’ve worn it several times now.
Short ruffle socksPrice: US$5 The lace is nylon but it’s still very very soft. The actual socks are incredibly soft. I’m really happy with these especially for the price, they are adorable!
Music Note DressPrice: I think it was around US$35-ish I can’t find it on the site now but it was very cheap. This is the packaging. Something about Bodyline’s international packaging has always made me happy.
The dress:
I fell in love with this print. It’s not top notch quality, up close the print gets slightly pixeled and one thing that irritates me is that some of the treble clefs are backwards… but unless you’re staring at it from 2 inches away and are a music nut like me I don’t see it as a reason not to buy.
The quality of this dress is fantastic for the price plain and simple. No it’s not the same quality as AP or BtSSB but it’s still better than the average dress you would pick up at Supre or even Target. All of the seams are finished well and though there is no lining every stitch is in it’s place. *edit* I also forgot to mention that this jsk comes with bow ties for the back and shirring with ribbon so the size is quite adjustable. The bow ties are not detachable unlike other brands. The quality of the lace was as good as any brand piece I’ve seen, no nylon at all.
It came with 2 detachable bows on the collar which I totally love. They are the perfect size to use on my beret or just in my hair. The only problem I had (and this is really nit-picky) was the clips were put on backwards compared with everything else I own so I put them o upside down a few times out of habit ^_^
Eyelashes:Price: US$1-3
I was really happy with the lashes, here in Aus lashes are usually $8-10 which I think is quite unreasonable. These are a great price and decent quality. They also offer many many different styles. This was my favorite pair:
Diamantes!
Shoes with bowsPrice: US$37 I can’t express how happy I am with these shoes, they are exactly what I was hoping for! I bought them so I would have good walking shoes for Melbourne, the reason I chose these ones is because the front platform is almost as high as the heel so there isn’t as sever slope as appears. Apart from rolling my ankle once they did their job fantastically and I didn’t have any major dramas.
I picked the non-shiny version. They are very sturdily made and surprisingly light. I went through two airports with them and didn’t set off security so I imagine they are made of hollow plastic.
The heels are thick and the bows on the back are so cute!
One feature I really liked was the fact that the top buckle is on a snap closure. This means when you have ridiculously long nails you won’t have problems with putting your shoes on :D
The tread on the bottom was a nice touch too that a lot of these style shoes seem to miss out on.
The only problem is that being white they do scuff quite easily. That’s not a design flaw, it’s just how white shoes are so if you’re going to get some you should get some shoe polish too.
Stripe Candy Tote bagPrice: US$6
I was a little disappointed with the colour of this one, on the site it looks like a very pastel blue but in reality it’s about half way between my photos and theirs. The pattern is so cute!
For some reason the straps are made from a shiny slightly stretchy almost cheap vinyl fabric. It’s a very strange choice because it feels so much more flimsy than the rest of the bag. That said I used it to carry my heavy laptop to and from Melbourne and all around the place and it still hasn’t broken. It hasn’t broken yet but I still think I want to replace the straps just to be safe.
It’s lined with pink cotton. For $6 you can’t really go wrong though.
So what does it all look like on? Well it looks like this…
The skirt of the dress has lots of room for a good sized petti. Without the petti it is the perfect shape for hime style.
And co-ordinated slightly differently. Also don’t worry I haven’t forgotten that you all want a tutorial on this hair style, I’m just a bit behind at the moment *_*
Overall I’m happy with my purchases. I think it was great value for money and I was able to buy a lot more items than I was expecting. Bodyline had such a stigma in the Lolita community because of quality issues many years ago, since then they’ve worked hard to change their image. Yes you will still find maid style items and no not everything there is good BUT if you are prepared to do your research and study the pictures carefully it can be a great place to pick up well priced lovely items. I will definitely be ordering from them again :D Yay Bodyline Japan!
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Lovely! The outfits are so you. Those lashes are VERRY cheap too! I bought some yesterday from Okadaya from 300-500 yen. But am hitting Harajuku today, so will defo vsit Bodyline :) I know what you mean about the platforms – so comfy :)
Yay for Bodyline, I love their Harajuku store, it was really pretty and the shop staff were super lovely! I hope your eye is feeling much better now and you had a great time last night <3
wow!! awesome review!!
i like the music notes dress!! it’s so cute!!
and the shoes too!! :D I love wedges sometimes as you said there isnt much of a difference between the front platform and the back heels! perfect for ppl like me who only wears flats and needs the occasional “lift” :D
you know its a good thing guys dont really review fashion items or their shopping sometimes.. coz all you get is: it’s soft and nice! hahahaha XD that was such a good “review” from James. lol
I totally heart the music note dress, if fantastic to just throw on when I’m feeling lazy because it’s so comfy :D I know what you mean about wedges, heels are awesome but the pain that goes with them isn’t XD Haha poor James and his clothes reviewing skills, yet he can write pages and pages about cameras!
So cute! I love the music note JSK. If you hadn’t said that some of the treble clefs (as well as some of the notes) were the wrong way round i wouldn’t have noticed even though I learnt piano for quite a few years. Haha. I think it’s really a great bargain at USD35. I like the short ruffled socks as well!
So did that jsk fit you perfectly? In the previous post, when you went to try on those dresses, they had to clip it around you right?
Haha yes the backwards notes irritate me but when I’m wearing it I can’t see them so it’s ok! Yeah it was a great deal :D Yep last post they had to clip me in the dresses, this one is maybe slightly too big but it has ties on the front and shirring on the back so I can tie it quite tightly. Generally speaking I’m the right size/slightly small for Japanese brand clothes but because I’m curvier I still have to be careful on the cut of the clothes ^_^
I have the same shoes in off-white, and I ove them! They are so comfy, but it’s still easy to twist your ankle in them, that happened to me the other day! I have that same bag too, I like the blue because it matches the skirt I wanted it to match, lol. I don’t like to put too much stuff in it because of the thin straps. If you replace the straps on it, would you mind doing a tutorial on how to replace straps? That jsk looks os cute on you!
Thank you! Yes it is so easy to twist your ankle in them! Ah you’re lucky the bag matches your skirt too, I still really like the bag but the colour is definitely not quite what I wanted. Yep don’t worry I’ll do a tutorial on replacing the straps, it’s basically my laptop bag so I need it to have better straps!
Aww, that music dress is adorable, very you!!!
:D thank you!
Lovely things!!
And sooo cheap too! I am considering buying things there ^^ maybe as a gift for myself at the end of the schoolyear ^^.
I actually love the colours of the bag more than the photo on the site. And I LOVE the dress!! Hopefully I can find it, I want it !
forgot something to ask, where did you get a petticoat or did you make one yourself?
I can’t find tulle around here so I bought some organza to try it out … but I’m too scared to try it *teehee*
I’m not actually wearing a petticoat in the pictures ^_^ I make all of my petticoats, I have 2 cotton ones which give the best shape and are the most durable and I have 1 special event one made of several kinds of soft bridal tulles and organza. That said I don’t really wear lolita much anymore so they all are kind of just gathering dust. Meta used to sell an Organza petti which was supposed to be really good, so it should be fine to use :)
I knew you weren’t wearing a petticoat in the pictures, I was just wondering :D
Oh you made them all yourself? and with cotton? I never thought of that … I just assumed you had to make one with tulle :D
Did you use a tutorial?
Nope you can make one with anything you want, cotton is actually what traditional petticoats were make of so they hold shape much better than tulle and are (arguably) cooler in summer. You can also starch them as much or little as you need. No I didn’t use a tutorial, I used to be a seamstress so I just made up a pattern. If you google or check the EGL archives you can probably find one though :)
It’s a great place to buy gifts for yourself because you can spend very little money and get lots of cute things ^_^
Found the music dress : http://www.bodyline.co.jp/bodyline/showProduct.asp?id=2975&pageNumber=1&pageStop=stop_8&noSubType=N
Ah fantastic, I’ll add it to my post ^_^
Another shopping site to add to my ever growing list. Yay!! Good to hear the review also and very detailed thank you :-D The dress is way cute on you and I was impressed with your shoes when you came down to Melbs.
:D Thank you! I’m glad it was detailed enough too ^_^ I was very envious of your dress at the tea party you need to start giving up your shopping secrets haha! That or we’ll just go shopping when we move down! Not much longer yay!
yay for Bodyline~ <3 Great review!
Thank you! Definitely a yay for Bodyline!
Oh, it’s all so pretty! I had a look at the site, it looks so fun! Even though I don’t dress Lolita style, I saw some Lolita shoes I’d love for me! I really love shopping through Asian places, because it’s easier to buy small shoes, small bracelets, etc, without having to resort to buying kiddies clothing *blush*
Thank you for this!
I know exactly what you mean about the kiddie sizes, it can be very embarrassing to have to by kids shoes >_< I love that things in Japan actually fit me! And the variety of shoes etc is much better than here. I hope you find something nice!
I just recently went on a limb and bought from bodyline too! I was really amazed at the shipping time, took about 4 days to get from Japan to outback aus! I almost thought our bags were the same (other than the colour of the straps) but I bought this one
http://www.bodyline.co.jp/bodyline/showProduct.asp?id=2417&pageNumber=1&pageStop=stop_1&noSubType=N
It’s a really lovely colour IRL but yeah the straps seem a little flimsy, I’m too scared to carry anything TOO heavy, the rest of the bag however, I friggin LOVE the feel of it!
May I ask about the shirring in the back of the dress? I’m a couple of inches chubbier than the dress so I was wondering if the back shirring was at all forgiving? Thanks for the review though, I am definitely considering some of their eyelashes now (I wasn’t sure about ordering eyelashes from overseas… not sure why I thought that either!)
Ah! I almost bought that one but I changed my mind last minute XD Yes the straps are definitely much too flimsy for my liking I’m going to make a tutorial on how to switch them! The shirring on the back of the dress is quite forgiving actually. I don’t know the exact measurements but there is quite a bit of stretch there, the ribbon over the top of it has enough room to still tie over as well. The actual fabric has a little stretch in it as well so you would probably be alright, even if it didn’t fit you could add in a second shirring panel with no problems ^_^ Hope that helps!
Thanks Violet! I might hold off until I shed a few more kilos (It’s in the works and I’m making progress, slow progress) Bodylines cheap prices however are so desireable!
No problem ^_^ Bodyline’s prices will always have me coming back XD
Holy Smokes… thank you for this post! I used to buy so many cute cheap accessories in Japan and wondered if there is a good online store – and there IS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks heaps.
PS your outfit looks adorable as do you! You look like a perfect anime character (no offence I just meant super cute!)
BV
Haha no worries! There are lots of stores like this online but Bodyline is probably the best for prices vs quality. Thank you so much for your lovely compliment! Thnks for reading and commenting!
Awesome review♥ just out of interest, how long do you think it’ll take for them to ship to England??? Thank you :D
I’m so glad you found it useful! I honestly don’t know how long it would take to England, when you order there is generally an estimated shipping time down the bottom of the site though ^_^
I look at this post all the time! That dress is just…wow, I LOVE it!
Go Bodyline! They have a great selection of clothes at such good prices.
Kat Cupcake
x
You look at it all the time? Aww you are too sweet!! I love the dress, it’s still perfect after being thrown in the washer many times! I love Bodyline!
thankyou for the review! I wasn’t sure if I would buy from BodyLine
but you convinced me to (^^)
I’m very glad to help Yuu!
I’ve heaard their sizes can be a bit off sometimes… do the clotheees run small? Especially the shoes, do they run small? Or there is no need to buy a bigger size?
*the outfit is lovely btw. ^^*
Thanks Kiki! I can’t speak for any of the shoes other than the ones I ordered but those didn’t seem to run small at all. The measurements provided were accurate. I would suggest measuring your foot by the Japanese scale to make sure it’s a correct fit. :) If you are really worried I would buy maybe a half size bigger.
I actually read that they run a bit big if you go by non-Japanese sizes. I ordered a basic pair of doll shoes and they’re a teensy bit roomy, but for the most part they’re a comfortable fit. c:
Thank you for the review of the extensions/ponytail, I wanted to buy some but I wasn’t sure if they were crappy or not! xD Are they working out for you?
I’m actually a really big fan of this site. I love the quality for how much it costs, especially as a broke teenager *_*
I’m a little shocked though that colors on the bag are so dark o.o I have the same exact one (I love that print too! :3) and mine looks just like the photo…
They are working really well for me :D I was really surprised with the quality, very happy with them! My latest post is all about what I did with the pink ones, I absolutely love them! The bag is quite dark but I still really like it.
Do you happen to know if their hair pieces are real hair/heat resistant? o:
No they are just synthetic.
My daughter has been ordering Bodyline for almost a year now, and we have never had any issues with quality or with the shipping. DHL at $20 flat rate for as many items as you want is such a great deal PLUS they usually get here faster than UPS or FedEx does (and that’s stuff shipped within the US). Overall my daughter has been very pleased with everything she’s ever ordered, and after researching some of the other Lolita clothing sites I have to say that I had no idea what a great bargain we were getting until I saw the prices at other stores (yikes!). Amazing these dresses are cheaper than what the standard jeans are that teens like here (it’s not uncommon to pay about $80 for a pair of jeans). So we’ll keep ordering from Bodyline until they close up shop.
By the way, it takes about 3-4 days for our stuff to arrive, so that’s really great for an impatient teen.
Got to love express shipping!
That’s good to know! The quality has definitely improved over the last few years. Glad your daughter has had good experiences too :)
I love bodyline! I got a wa-lolita dress from them and it was really good!
That’s awesome!
I love your posts <3 you are a great inspiration for me to how I should coordinate my clothes, and you give me new ideas ^^
I really like BodyLine <3 I discovered them when i was in japan and have been in love with them since ^^ they have amazing clothes that are quite cheap + great quality ! I just love the skirt I bought there this one in pink (isn't it lovely?) : http://www.bodyline.co.jp/bodyline/frame01.asp?doc=showdetail.asp?back=yes
I was really pleased to discover their online site too ^^ so I ordered quite a nice pack of clothes (2 blouses, 1 jsk, 1 cosplay, 2 pairs of shoes, 2 pairs of socks and 1 petticoat)
All of this for only 170000 yen (156 euro ship included):D <3 using DHL and it got to me (I live in belgium) in only 2 days <3
But to my great surprise, 1 week later I got a letter saying I had to pay DHL 93 euro of taxes ;A; ! (that's 60% of what I payed T^T)
I called them and they told me to send them a mail, which I did and didn't get a reply ever since. I think it has been about 3/4 weeks now :(
Did something like that already arrived to you ? I'm really sad because I forgot to buy some other stuff i wanted and now I'm scared to get such a big bill to pay again :'(
Do you think that I should try EMS next time ?
Hi Auymi! Thanks so much for your comment ^_^ As far as I know the tax charges aren’t put via DHL, they are by local government so you will need to check what your countries laws on that. Australia doesn’t have extra tax charges until it’s over $1000 worth of goods. I believe you can ask Bodyline to mark your goods at a lesser value to avoid taxes like this but you run the risk of being caught and facing a larger fine. Again it depends on your countries laws so I suggest calling your local authorities to check :) Sorry I can’t be more help!
I loved your Bodyline review. I just recently ordered and received some boots from them and I LOVE them!
One question though… did you get a sizable Cash-On-Delivery fee? I did… about $25! Ouch!
Nope I didn’t get a COD fee, I think that’s generally down to the customs department of your country and DHL. Maybe next time get shipping via EMS? Or if you google the shipping company you might be able to find more information on the charges.
I ordered the same jsk and I love it…the only problem I had was that my chest was too large
Aww it’s always frustrating when clothes you get online don’t fit!