h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Barring a sudden mastery of Japanese, I will focus on links to famous actresses who wear kimonos.

First up: Meryl Streep

http://www.over50feeling40.com/2015/03/would-you-wear-it-wednesday-kimonosand.html

Yes, the Japanese handbag contains props from "Meryl Geisha," "Meryl Butterfly," and the Hokkaido Community Theater production of "Streepcar called desire."

I got the Teddy Roosevelt glasses. They're not impressive. Yes, the frames are based on an historical design. But they stuck plastic nose grips on, and the lenses are set in at a modern angle. Basically, nothing to write home about. A somewhat more fashionable (and more expensive) set of drugstore glasses.

About what you'd expect from China. Also, they put clear plastic protectors on the earpieces, which didn't look good, so I removed them. Now I know why they were there: the metal earpieces are a bit sharp. Caution must be exercised when putting them on. They are angled outward, however. And the case is nice. Though I suspect Teddy didn't get his eyewear from 'eyebobs-dot-com'.

"Peterman got what he deserved at one time. This stuff was so successful, he had to expand his business. It got out of control and he couldn't meet the demand. So he declared bankruptcy, and came back with a smaller company - and far more expensive goods. I don't think he wants to sell too many."

Fascinating - a clever business model indeed! Brings to mind 'Dragon's Den' type TV programmes, where people apply for money to expand their businesses - it is a big risk that the business could expand beyond where they want to go... I know a tearoom business that was approached by an investor but they turned down the investment because they didn't want to dilute the brand in any way, and I salute them for that - I also know a tearoom business that went national and the brand was indeed diluted because some of the franchisees were better than others at upholding the ethos of the original company...

Sorry to hear your glasses were cheaper in price because they are cheaper in quality... I took a bit of a gamble buying a shirt in the sale but, as in your case, it was cheaper than the one I'm wearing now and it certainly looked good online... Anyway, we shall see

The shirts are usually a good bet. I haven't had a bad shirt from them yet.

We shall see how the eyeglasses work.

The shirt arrived safely and it is good quality soft fabric The attention to detail in the packaging is also very impressive so I savoured the experience

(I needed to savour the experience, as it turned out that I had to pay 100% tax on it as well as international delivery so it is actually more expensive than the shirt I am wearing now Luckily I could afford to get it released from the mailroom, but that was a bit of a shock...)

The shirt is also very generously cut (42in chest instead of 36in as expected) so it will be too big to wear to work but I shall look rather dashing in smart-casual at weekends instead

Fascinating experiment, but not one to be repeated very often... I will admire the power of this advertising style from a safer distance in future

Who knew about tariffs? That's shocking!

But glad you got a good shirt out of it after all that.

You never know whether your package will be sipped from your own country or some other country. Recently I went on Amazon and ordered some wild blackcurrant tea bags. Turns out it had to be shipped from the UK.

Yes, overall the experience was worth it as I learned a lot (including more than I wanted to know about tariffs) and do have a good shirt

It is funny when products arrive from somewhere unexpected sometimes. I hope you enjoy the UK blackcurrant tea I did know where the shirt was travelling from, but didn't know what it would have to go through to get to me