Disclaimer:
I do not want to start a debate on replicas here! Discussion is OK, but please keep it civil.
For those who must know, I generally don't support replicas EXCEPT in the case of shoes and bags because they get more wear and tear. Replicas DO take away from the Brand image, so I prefer not to buy clothing replicas of Brands I support (namely BABY, THE STARS SHINE BRIGHT and Innocent World). That may be seen as a double-standard because I bought a replica of an AP print, but Angelic Pretty just doesn't "speak" to me like BABY and IW do!
I don't judge others who buy replicas, and would appreciate you don't judge me :) It is a personal decision and as long as there is a market, replicas will exist. It happens in the real world, and so it has happened in the Lolita world.
First, here is a link to the product I bought on TaoBao (red colorway):
IW Strawberry Purse
And here is a link to the original:
Original Strawberry Purse
Just based on the photos, it looks like a pretty stellar replica. According to the local Lolitas, Dream of Lolita purchased the original to base their copies off of. Clever. I have included many photos under the cut!
All photos are clickable thumbnails!
Front
The seeds are embroidered on and the pleather is good quality-feeling. The purse is sturdy and free-standing.
Strawberry top is a clasp!
Flower zip pulls. The opening is wide enough that you don't need to open the clasp to reach the inside, which is useful!
Back with zipped pocket
This is as deep as the triangular pocket goes. My hand is in as far as it can go! It can hold a lipgloss and a few keys - that's about it ^^;
The clasps for the straps (both long and short) are the rotating kind; meaning you will not have the issue of a twisted strap! This is awesome news :D
This photo is trying to show that the edge of the green portion is finished with a colored paste (I forgot the technical term - I swear I learned it in Fur and Leather class!) to seal the edges, but the red portion is not. I wonder if the edges had been left raw because the sharp angles in the leaves would have made it hard to turn the edges under like the red portion of the strawberry is finished?
Trying to show the inside ^^; No inner pockets. It is fully lined in black lining fabric. This purse actually holds quite a bit for a shaped purse! Everything does get sort of mixed up and banged around because there are no separators though, so keep fragile cameras or phones in their cases!
Length of the short strap
The heart shape is not quite as clean as the original Innocent World purse, but it is still definitely a heart!
Other notes:
After shipping I paid NT$500/~US$17 for this purse (remember, it was a part of a GO!)
The shape and angle of the bag makes it most flattering carried on the right side of the body as shown in the TaoBao product pictures, but two of the local Lolitas had this purse in pink and it looked fine carried on the left side, too. The back pocket will just be angled funny!
The colors are vibrant in real life - not sure if that really shows in the photos ^^:
The long strap has 4 holes in it for adjusting length, but is soft enough that you can punch your own holes in it.
Overall, I am very happy with this purchase and get giddy just looking at it!
I hope that this was helpful to some of you :) If you have any more questions, feel free to ask!
