WARNING: PHOTO HEAVY POST
CausewayMall.com is an online wholesaler that specializes in the romantic, edgy and quirky trends of Japanese, Korean and Chinese ladies fashion.
What I noticed up front about Causeway Mall: Inventory, eye candy, and incredibly low prices.
There are literally hundreds of items to choose from in every category, and all of them are beyond cute. It took me hours going through each category. I pretty much adored about 75% of everything I saw. The other 25%, I will admit was not my style, but was still fashionable, and on trend with what I see a lot of girls sporting on fashion blogs or in Asian magazines. There are items that satisfy every style [I think] I sport: street casual, frilly feminine, romantic, laid-back comfort, trend-conscious Office Lady. As for the prices: unbelievably low. Being a wholesaler, the items are sold either in bulk with discounts, or by individual items to normal consumers like me.
After several hours, I finally chose:
- Blue bat wing cotton sweater.
- Black tank with romantic lace and embroidery collar.
- Black cotton military inspired, pouf sleeve cropped jacket.
- White floral lace mini-dress.
- Black liquid patchwork leggings.
- Black and gold color rings and ribbon necklace.
- Silver twin hearts ring.
- Gold bow & cherry crystal earrings.
Causeway Mall’s PR also sent me:
- Emerald strappy cocktail dress.
- Silver black oval gem and crystals necklace.
View more photos after the jump.
As advertised and modeled, the clothes are adorable and trendy, made of soft, good quality material. Each piece fit well for the most part, and was comfortable.
My favorite pieces are the lace dress, the bat wing sweater and the twin hearts ring. The dress fits me, about a size XS-SM (US Size 2), but if worn tightly could fit up to a US size M. The bat wing sweater is a slouchy, relaxed number, luxuriously soft and warm. The over sized bat wing shape is versatile and forgiving at the same time; I can wear it on normal days and on days I feel bloated and awful about myself. A size XS/S (US 0 – 2) could wear it as easily as a US L could (US 8-10). The twin hearts ring gave me a delightful surprise, too. Made of a silver alloy, not a silver tone metal, it doesn’t leave a nasty greenish, black stain on my finger when I wash my hands. I thought it would fit my index finger, but it runs pretty small. I estimate about a US ring size 4 or 4.5, which is smaller than the smallest ring size offered in most trendy fashion stores.
The rest of the collection were charming pieces I can incorporate easily into my wardrobe.
The emerald party dress is soft, swingy, and glamorous, with adjustable straps. The military jacket fit my shoulders perfectly, and accentuates my waist. The only thing is that the jacket may not fit anyone larger than I am, a US size 2. The black tank’s lace collar was fantastically constructed, and tank fit my body well, but it was really tight around my bust (I’m a 32C), making it shorter than how it was modeled in the picture.
Like the ring, items in the store are one size and are slightly smaller. A shopper has to be really aware of not only the measurements of the item she’s looking at, but her own body measurements as well. The site provides useful measurement of each piece of clothing in the item description, in centimeters, which could prove a bit tedious for US shoppers who want to know proper sizing. I have the tendency to shop a bit haphazardly, so some of the sizing issues I faced were a bit of a surprise. A shopper should be very conscious of the item’s dimensions so she doesn’t end up with a tight (or loose) fit.
Based on only my experience with these items, it feels like some of the clothes in the store are mostly marketed toward the petite and slimmer shopper, much like the Asian retail giant, Forever 21, whose clothes fit small. I will grant that there definitely are some large cuts and pieces, but you have to keep an eye on those measurements to know.
The necklaces I got are a bit chintzy. The silver crystal and black oval necklace was lovely, but the adjustment chain broke the second time I tried to wear it. The black ribbon and gold circles statement necklace is funky, but the pleather connecting the metal bib to the ribbon look like they were hastily cut. The corners are uneven and the two pieces are not symmetrical. That necklace has completely sold out already, however.
Lastly, A few of the clothes had seams where the reinforcing stitching had large threads peeking through the seam to the exterior. Once trimmed, however, the clothes are fine.
Over all, though, the quality of the clothes is quite good, especially compared with the extremely low prices. I’d say the quality of the clothes is on par with Forever 21, Steve and Barry’s and even YesStyle’s. Conversely, the prices are much less than Forever 21 and YesStyle charge, and about the same as Steve and Barry’s did before they went out of business. All three retailers have a few items here and there that fit strange, or had some seam or symmetry abnormalities here and there, but on the whole the quality is quite wearable.
The website itself unique compared to most other shopping experiences, because there is more than the single traditional way to shop. As with all e-shops, there is the usual categorical navigation. Straight forward. Tops, pants, skirts, accessories, yada, yada, yada. Quite standard. The fun part is that Causeway Mall makes it easier by separating out categories by Fashion Style. If a shopper knows her own style sense to a “T”, she can search for items that are “Elegant,” “Romantic,” “Vogue,” “Bohemia,” etc. (My personal favorite? “Cute Sweety.”)
My only other experience with shopping Asian fashion sites is YesStyle.com, which primarily goes the way of customary category style browsing, also separates everything out by brand. However, the majority of western shoppers, unfamiliar with Asian brands, would find this method incredibly time consuming and, perhaps, even confusing. In contrast, CausewayMall offers a solution to this problem by adding several other methods of searching for clothes: by clothing type (i.e., tunic, leggings, cardigan), by color, and by material. With five different methods of shopping, it’s truly easy to find what one’s looking for without a ton of time wasted with sifting.
The items I chose were shipped to me quickly. They took about 4 days to arrive. I should assume the customer service is pretty good, but my only experience is with Causeway Mall’s PR person, who was courteous and professional.
Over the last couple of days I went back through the site. I noticed they have added even more inventory. Hundreds of fall/winter clothes: faux fur vests, leopard leggings, boyfriend blazers. For me, draw of the inexpensive prices for cute, on-trend pieces is hard to deny. Bottom line: the clothes are attractive and fashionable, in line with styles I wear, and because the store is a wholesaler, the prices are unbeatable, and the site is easy to use. I’m quite sure I’ll shopping at CausewayMall.com again.
