Axes Femme (1st order) & how to register - Lace up ankle boots & Axes Femme Kids x My Melody dress and bag

- Jump to "How to register" section -

I've admired Axes Femme items from afar for a while and finally went into a few stores during my last Japan trip but didn't buy anything for myself. At the Lalaport Funabashi store, we did end up purchasing a little dress from the Axes Femme Kids line for my S's niece.

She had liked the Axes Femme Kids x My Melody collab items (see above) but we weren't willing to spend that much at the time (as a trip gift). Instead, we got a different dress on sale which we thought was a better choice given that we weren't sure of her exact size since she's never had Japanese sized clothes before.

I've been checking into the Axes Femme online shop every so often when I've had some free time after missing out on getting the dress she really wanted for S's niece back in August, and I finally found that the collab stuff was actually on a little bit of a sale! Her birthday was at the end of October and I figured that although it was too much money to spend on a trip gift for her, we didn't mind spending the money on her for a birthday present. Luckily, the dress we wanted to get was still in stock in her size.
Axes Femme Kids x My Melody collab My Melody OP in white
（キッズ）マイメロディパネル柄ワンピース  -

(Sorry I forgot to grab a stock photo of the dress earlier and by the time I went back to the webstore, the listing was gone!) This dress came in white and pink but S and I preferred the white version best.

If I could wear this little dress, I totally would, but I guess it's good that I don't fit it lol wtf. Honestly I feel like it's only cute as a little girl's dress and would look a bit silly on me as an adult woman haha. But I still totally love it! I like the ruffles at the top, the stripe lace heart print covering the majority of the dress and then the My Melody and friends motif at the hem. And the back is just as cute as the front with snap closure.

While I was at it, I couldn't resist also getting the little My Melody die cut bag as well! This made the total for her birthday gift a little high, but I figured I could save it for Christmas or something. OR KEEP IT lol wtf.
Axes Femme Kids x My Melody collab My Melody design bag in pink -

This bag also came in red but it was sold out and I thought pink matched the dress better anyway. It's an adorable size, just right for a little girl. It doesn't hold very much but I guess it would be good for snacks or something like that. (I'm not sure what little girls would need to carry on their person haha.)

My dad said that from the back the bag looks like a hand flipping someone off (which I can't help but agree with), but it's a children's bag that clearly has a front that should be the exposed side lol. It looks so, so cute with the dress, I can't stand it. I almost wish I could just keep both even though I have absolutely no use for either myself wtf.

Aaaaand since I was making the order anyway, I decided to look around if there was anything I wanted for myself. Because...why not lol. I've never had anything from Axes Femme before so I didn't want to risk too much money on something that might have a weird fit, but I settled on these boots:
Axes Femme lace up ankle boots in pink -

I've never had boots in this half-calf length before but I liked that you were able to fold down the top to expose the shearling and create a slightly different look. I also liked the pink color!

Truly, I have no idea what I'm going to wear these with. I ordered them in size L and they do fit but seem a bit big. They'd definitely be a pretty good fit for a US size 7.5. And I didn't even think about how impractical the shearling detail would seem in Hawaii wtf. (Usually things like that are a huge concern to me but I let it slip my mind I guess because I just really wanted to purchase something for myself.) I'm not completely sure if these boots would be better with someone else so I haven't really "worn" them yet even for coordinates while I decide if I'd be wasting them by keeping them. I feel like these would be great for a number of lolita coordinates actually. I do think they're very cute (in the stock photos and in person) but now that reality has sunk in a bit, I'm not sure these are the best choice for me and where I live. I do own several pairs of boots already and rarely get to wear them :|

 

I know I'm really late to the Axes Femme game (and there are much stronger fans of the brand than I am) but I've gotten questions about ordering from the website before, so just so there's a record out there somewhere (in case you didn't know), you can order directly from the website yourself and use Tenso or another company as a forwarding service. Axes Femme does not ship internationally.

Here is a VERY brief introduction to ordering from their online shop. I admittedly do not know as much about the brand as I could, so this is just a general outline of what I found during my personal experience about ordering. Unfortunately, I cannot answer too many specifics about the brand itself but I know there are likely many other people out there who can.
As always, if you have little or no Japanese (reading) knowledge, it will help you to use Google Chrome or any service that permits full page translation to the language of your choice.

This is their official online shop.

And this is their outlet venue. You can navigate between the two using the link in the top right. The text is in English.
You can put items from both the regular online shop and the outlet as well as items from all the different AF lines (Axes Femme, Axes Femme Poetique, Axes Femme Kawaii and Axes Femme Kids) into the same cart and make one purchase.

Look carefully at some of the items in the outlet because the Kids line products might be sprinkled in there along with the rest of the stock and you don't want to buy something intended for an adult and end up with a tiny version. There is an indication in the item name "（キッズ）" but you might miss it if you're just so excited about the item because the kids line is so cute wtf lol. A big giveaway is usually the sizing options. Kids items come in S, M, L and XL whereas most adult items don't have so much variety.

My advice, as per usual, is to register before you try to check out. Idk if it's just me, but I usually find that easier. Even if I don't purchase anything in that moment, my address, etc will be ready in the event that I do want to make an order and I don't have to fuss with it - all I'd have to do is log in. The registration is the "hard" part for most international customers anyway.

Near the top center of any page on the website, go to "New member registration". Read the terms and conditions. If you agree, click on the button on the right.

Next, you need to fill out your member information

Start with your last name and first name in English (as you entered it with Tenso/your forwarding service).
Then enter your last name and first name in hiragana. If you don't have a Japanese keyboard or don't know the transliteration of your name, google "english to hiragana" and try a website like this that will just spit out something kind of close to your name. This is a required field for AF so you just need to put something there, but afaik Tenso doesn't care about this too much as long as your English name matches your account and you enter the rest of your information correctly.
Enter your date of birth, select your gender and enter your email address. Be sure to type your email address correctly because this is where your order confirmation will be sent and it will also serve as your login username.

(scroll down)

(Enter your email address and) Re-enter your email address.
The next few blocks ask for your address information. Go to Tenso and login. This should take you to your "My Page" (https://www.tenso.com/en/my_page/). At the top of your My Page is your Tenso address. You will be using that for reference. I did my best to break apart the address into the appropriate blocks so you just need to copy and paste certain portions of it. The "State" (都道府県) block is a drop down bar, so select "Tokyo" if you're using page translation or "東京都" if you're not. (This may populate automatically if your input your postal code correctly)
Note: Copying and pasting some of the numbers may not work because of the "font" that Tenso uses so you may need to manually type those in. 
After you finish filling out your address, the next two entries deal with receiving the mail magazine from Axes Femme. If you want to receive it, check the "Hope" box (the only option). If you do not want to receive the mail magazine, leave it unchecked. If you checked it, select one or both of the first two options in section below that. If you left it unchecked, you need to check the third box.
If this is your first time purchasing from Axes Femme and have never visited a store in person, you likely do not have a membership card from AF. Leave the membership number entry blank and for your member card number, just put "0".

(scroll down)

(Leave the membership number entry blank and for your member card number, just put "0".)
"Best to use deferentially store" I think is essentially asking you which store you'll be most likely to purchase from. For most international customers, that will be the last option in the drop down bar which is "online shop". This is a required field but answering differently/incorrectly isn't going to screw up ordering. I think it will just change what kind of emails you receive (if any).
Lastly, enter a password of your choice that includes both letter(s) and number(s) and at least 7 characters but less than 15. Re-enter your password and then click the button on the right.
Note: if you did not fill out the form correctly, the website will stop you from moving forward. Google translate will likely be able to help you figure out what the error is. If it's anything to do with half vs. full width characters, it might have to do with copying the numbers from your Tenso address. Delete just the numbers from your address and phone number (if they were copied and pasted) and use your My Page for reference to manually type in those numbers.

On the next page, double check your information (you'll want to do this now instead of second guessing yourself every time you make an order), then click the button on the bottom right.

When you reach this page and receive the confirmation email, your registration is complete.

I'm not going to walk through the entire shopping and check out process with pictures because I'm not personally going to make a new order at this time and didn't document it at the time of my original purchase. It's essentially pretty self explanatory and the google translation of the pages aren't too terrible (for English. I'm not sure about any other language). Some of the navigation buttons do not translate, but the green one on the right is used to proceed.
Browse the website and add items to your cart as desired. When you're ready to check out, click on the green button on either the top right or bottom right of your cart page (and log in to your account if you haven't already).

This above page might be the only part that's a little confusing looking but since you already registered, you can essentially leave everything as the default. On the right side, it's asking for your delivery information and you want it to be "Order Information Address" and you do not need to specify a specific date or time for the delivery. "None specified" will give you the quickest delivery. Click the green button to proceed.
On the next page, you enter your payment information. My US credit card worked fine. Do NOT choose COD/Cash on Delivery if you are using Tenso because Tenso does not provide this service. You need to pay for the item yourself using a credit card. Click the green button to proceed.
The following page will be the final one before your complete your order. Confirm the information on the screen. Order cancellations are not accepted, so be sure of what you are purchasing, the amount you will be paying and where you are sending it to before your click the green button on this screen.
Then your purchase should be complete and you will receive an email with your order information! Tenso will receive and process your package and you will complete the rest of the international shipping through them.

Sorry the end/check out part was a bit more lax, but I believe that you'll be able to figure it out. If you've purchased from any Japanese webshop with a forward service before, this one is not much different. I don't really think this necessarily needed its own tutorial but I have gotten a question about it before and I had the opportunity, so I decided a quick how-to couldn't hurt. Again, I'm personally not fluent in Japanese and the information provided here is only based on my personal experience and what worked for me. Any issues/questions about ordering/the shop can be directed to the brand itself or Tenso if that's where you're experiencing the problem. I have no official or unofficial affiliation with either company and also do not have any extraordinary knowledge about them. I'm simply one customer trying to help other (potential) customers. Thanks!