Hi everyone! I'm sorry for the radio silence, I've been so busy with preparing for my competition at Anime Boston and my own full-time job. But I'm here with a review that I've wanted to do for a while now! This review is for the Cafe Maid Nico Yazawa (Love Live) cosplay from UWOWO Cosplay As I prefer to make my own costumes both for the craftsmanship and enjoyment, I don't often buy costumes so this was a bit of new experience for me.
***Disclaimer: This is my honest review. I have not been sponsored for this review, nor was I sponsored this costume by UWOWO - I bought it with my own money.
This costume retails for $59.00 on their site. I bought it for around $25 during their Black Friday 2017 sale.
The package was shipping using JCEX. Shipping did take a while (about a month) but as it was coming from China that is what I expected so I can't complain. It came packaged in a large bubble envelope that was in good condition and not crushed or ripped or damaged as can happen with packages shipped internationally. It had some minor marks on the outside, but nothing major.
The costume itself comes in a large ziplock bag. The larger items like the dress, large back bow, and stockings were folded neatly. The smaller accessories look like they were jostled around a bit in transit, but that can't be helped.
My shipping and packaging rating: 10/10
The Costume Itself
This costume contains 19 items: 2 hair bows, 1 hat, 1 treble clef pin for the hat, 1 neck bow, 1 dress, 2 gloves, 2 wrist cuffs, 1 large back bow, 1 side chain, 2 stockings, 1 garter, 2 leg cuffs, 2 leg bows. The shoes and the wig are not included, but UWOWO does sell them separately.
The craftsmanship of the sewing seems very good. The dress has a hidden zipper on the left side which is sewn beautifully. All seams are finished properly and looked good. Button holes on the dress are properly done and neat. Bows are sewn nicely, and the ones for the hair and neck are made of a nice velvety material. White fabric on the bodice is thin, but not overly so and is what you'd expect a dress or similar blouse to be made from. Patterned fabrics are thicker and allow the skirt some body while still being nice and floofy. The stockings are a sort of spandex material with elastics on the top and are intentionally not the same length.
Also worth noting, the model who is wearing the costume on the site is wearing 2 red wrist cuffs. The costume came with 1 red and 1 blue, which is accurate to Nico's card.
My sewing quality rating: 10/10
The side chain attaches with small claps to loops on the side of the skirt. I noticed immediately when I took the costume out of the bag that some of the plastic beads had chipping paint or were cracked entirely, like the picture below.
My next issue is with the hat. The hat is attached to a plastic headband, and you attach the metal treble clef pin to that. The hat on its own is flimsy and wouldn't stay upright on it's own. Once the treble clef was attached, it would completely collapse backward under the weight as the pin is pretty heavy. In order to keep it's shape like in the photo below, I stuffed it with about 20 tissues.
The leg cuffs close with Velcro, and you attach the leg bows to them with Velcro. This Velcro isn't industrial strength and is pretty weak, and I was concerned that the leg bows wouldn't stay attached as they move with I would walk. Rightfully so, because I lost one of them at Anime Boston immediately after my photo shoot. I would recommend replacing the Velcro with industrial strength, attaching snaps, or sewing the bows onto the cuffs.
My accessory quality rating: 5/10
Sizing
Here's UWOWO's size chart for this costume:
UWOWO has different size charts for each costume, which is really nice and very helpful as not all costumes fit the same. Sizing is in cm on their chart so just pull up the conversation tool on Google. I ordered a size medium for this costume, and I'd say it's very true to size. I'm always a little nervous when I buy things in Asian sizes as they are notoriously small and I worry about whether it will be the proper fit. I was pleasantly surprised with this costume! I will say it is VERY short, and I would never wear this without shorts underneath. I'm short (5'0") so a pair of bike shorts did the trick, but you'll definitely run into some difficulty if you're taller. As far as I can tell, UWOWO does not offer custom sizing on their site (I can't attest as to their Taobao store as I don't use Taobao). They also do not offer any sizes bigger than Large, so if you're a plus size cosplayer you unfortunately will have to look elsewhere.
My size rating: 9/10
Overall Thoughts
I was impressed by the quality of sewing and the construction of the dress. All seams were nicely finished and even. Sizing was great as well, as Asian to American sizing can be tricky. However, the accessories do leave a lot to be desired both in construction and durability. Some of these issues can be fixed, but my general attitude when buying costumes is I shouldn't have to go in and fix stuff. Knowing what I know now, had I paid the full $59 retail price I'd be more annoyed, but for the $25 I spent I can let some of it slide.
My final review: 6/10
Photo by Bombeii Cosplay and Photography
That's all for now! Thanks for reading!
- Birdie 💚
