Antaina Shoes Review

Over the years I have purchased many pairs of Antaina shoes and am on the fence if I would recommend this company. I don't have a lot of options for lolita shoes as my feet are size 12 womens (28.0cm), so I have bought quite a few pairs of shoes from Antaina. I have purchased shoes both directly and through shopping services. Here are my thoughts on the company...

Things I like about the company:

1. They offer custom size shoes in large sizes

They are a great option for people with large or wide feet that don't fit average sized shoes.

2. They offer many different designs, colors, and styles

They also offer their shoes with different heel heights as well as in flats, which as a tall girl I can appreciate. I usually go for the 4.5cm heel as it makes the shoe look nicer without making me 7 feet tall. 

3. Their shoes are marginally better than Bodyline

Bodyline offers some styles in size 270mm or 27cm, but their shoes are more uncomfortable than Antaina. I have owned a few pairs of large sized Bodyline shoes and they all caused blisters and some even caused my feet to swell when worn for the day. Although Antaina shoes are not anything amazing in terms of comfort, they don't generally cause blisters and can be worn for many hours before they start to become uncomfortable. 

Things to be aware of when ordering:

1. Their sizing is a bit strange

When I first bought from them I ordered a size 43 as this is my normal Euro size. However, even though the numbers look similar Antaina goes by Chinese sizing which is different than Euro. This makes me a size 46.5 in Antaina sizing. I ended up recieving a few pairs of shoes in the mail that were way too small before I realized this. The most helpful conversion guide I have found is My Lolita Dress' Shoe Tips. If you are near the top of the ranges given, I recommend sizing up.

2. The shipping is expensive

When you initially look at Antaina's shoes on Taobao they seem quite cheap but keep in mind that you will be paying around 30 USD per pair of shoes for shipping due to how much they weigh. Group orders may make this slightly cheaper, but not by a lot.

3. The company makes a lot of mistakes

I have been sent the wrong color shoes quite a few times as well as the wrong style of shoe. Overall Antaina has been good for giving me a partial refund when this happens but you won't get all your money back because half of the money is shipping and they won't refund that part. Be as explicit as possible when you put in your order to avoid these mistakes.

4. Some of their styles are not good

Some of the styles they offer look really bad as large sized shoes. If you order one of the standard sizes off Taobao (and don't get it custom made) sometimes they will be way too wide or just overall funny looking. Keep in mind that most of the stock photos are of an averaged size shoe.

5. It is really hard to sell second hand shoes

A lot of the time with lolita we purchase things with the thought in the back of our mind that we can sell it later if it ends up being the wrong color or the wrong size. Don't rely on this with shoes, especially for custom made ones. If you do sell them second hand you will lose a lot of money even if they are new. I have tried to sell shoes that didn't fit second hand in the past and usually ended up either giving them away to a friend or donating them to a second hand store because nobody would buy them.

Buying from Antaina

Creating a Taobao account and buying through Taobao is probably the safest way to buy from this company as buying through email and buying through a shopping service won't guarentee you get your money back if something is wrong with the shoes you recieve (due to not being protected by Paypals buyer protection). Using a shopping service is the second best option. In my experience it costs more to buy directly through email as shopping services often have shipping discounts.

To put things in perspective I have probably ordered about 10 pairs of shoes total from Antaina and have only kept 4 of them. Some of the ones I kept still had things wrong with them but I decided to just accept it so I didn't have to go through the hassle of reordering. The reason I keep ordering from this company is simply because I don't have many other options for lolita shoes in my size.

Conclusion

I wouldn't recommend people order from this company unless they also have large or wide feet that don't fit averaged sized shoes, and don't have any other options for places to buy lolita shoes.