When dresses fail...

Some of you may remember my excited post a couple of weeks ago  about my latest My Lolita Dress review. You know, for this dress:

Well, sadly, not all dreams are meant to come true.

 

When I first tried the dress on it felt lovely. The fabric was comfortable and very lightweight and it flowed around me just as I expected. It was shorter than I was hoping for but I wasn't surprised. It lands just a few inches higher up than I would prefer, though it's nothing that a pretty white chiffon underskirt can't fix. The sleeves are the biggest problem, although it's relatively minor. They are definitely long enough and just as loose as the rest of the dress, but they are a bit snug up top across my shoulders and back. Fortunately this is only when I'm really stretching and it fits fine when I'm otherwise standing or walking normally.

Sadly, when I turned around and looked in the mirror, it was a completely different story. I ain't gonna lie, it was not a pretty picture. The entire dress felt like a frilly, frumpy nightgown. I literally looked like the definition of an overgrown toddler and I felt utterly moronic.

I gotta admit, my heart was pretty crushed.

I took the dress off trying not to cry and put it away. To this day I'm still not entirely sure where I went wrong. I do wear pink in my other, non-Lolita clothes and the mature neckline and understated decorations seemed like the perfect compromise between sweet and classic. But something about this dress just doesn't jive.

A couple days later I did try it on a second time. This time, I tied the waist sash at a different spot, higher on my waist than before. That seemed to help a little. I put my hair up instead of down. I opened the window to let some natural light in. All these things (and heaping dose of under eye concealer ) all made the entire picture not quite so frightful.

Still, it isn't enough. I literally dread the thought of ever wearing this dress in public. I briefly entertained the thought of transforming it into a skirt, but given my lack of skill and the fact that this color and fabric just might not ever look good on me, I've since retired that idea. So, sadly, up for sale it must go. I've never tried to sell off a dress quite so quickly before as I usually try to give them a few chances to mesh with my wardrobe, but this time the decision was pretty easy.

Oh well. Some people just weren't meant to look cute.

Bringing home Kassia...

So I know in times of grieving that "retail therapy" is never usually the best solution. But I don't care. Right now I need something new to focus on. Something with instant gratification that I ccan hold and touch and play with. And it just so happened, being tax season in the United States, I actually had the excess funds to do so.

I decided to purchase a new BJD. It's been a very long time since I've added to my collection and although I constantly wish about getting back into the hobby, I never really do. Well, I've wanted a girl doll for years, and as I've mentioned before in previous posts, there has been only one girl who has ever really caught my attention and stuck with me: DIMDoll Kassia.

Ironically, I only purchased her body so far. I knew I didn't want the default DIM body, instead hoping for something a little more delicate and pear shaped. After too many hours of research that doubled as a wonderful distraction, I finally found the Asleep Eidolon 1/3 body. It's absolutely perfect. And by a stroke of luck, I found an amazing seller in the United States who was willing to split their Asleep Eidolon Solstice they had for sale so I could only purchase the body. She arrived super quick, and here she is.

Been such a long time since I've had the excitement of opening one of these...

And the first peek, a little bubble-wrap mummy.

Here she is. Gosh, I feel like it's been so long since I've even handled my own dolls. Just unwrapping her and inspecting her over was such a delight.

Standing all on her own. She's so beautiful and absolutely perfect. As my only girl BJD, it was very important to me to find her a body that I absolutely adored and I didn't want to compromise on that. I specifically knew I wanted a girl with smaller breasts and wider hips, and it was vital she not be overly thin with visible ribs or hip bones. This body is just gorgeous, slender but still with an obvious softness about her.

Overall, I am extremely pleased with her and so happy to finally have my one girl BJD home. Her head is already on its way home to me as well, so luck willing she'll be whole in no time.

Muneca

I think I might be ready to do this. This is my sweet, dearest Chihuahua. Her name was Muneca. On February 12th, 2015, she made her journey to Heaven. She would have turned 16 years old in March.

She was very frail and very sick.

I love her very much. I won't ever forget her.

Farewell for now Muneca.

My-Lolita-Dress Review II

Time for another review!

I readily admit I'm loving My Lolita Dress more and more for their wide range of options, a comfortable range of prices and absolutely excellent customer service. I really wanted to splurge a tiny bit on a dress for Valentine's is it would be my fiance and I's first year anniversary, and what better way to celebrate than by wearing pink? I know, pretty scary right?

But I've never denied it. I LOVE the color pink! I simply lack the confidence to wear it. I don't feel comfortable in overly cutesy things so I know I didn't want to choose something that would only be suitable for sweet Lolita. So while I was browsing I was caught in by this lovely dress.

I was really charmed by the more mature, classic looking collar and wrist cuffs, and the dress came with a matching sash that could be tied around the waist for a more fitted, less flowy look which definitely sealed the deal. Made of chiffon and sprinkled with tiny moons and stars, it was sweet, but (to me in any case) still held an air of elegance that could potentially be even more accentuated by the right accessories and shoes. 

So on January 27th, I placed my order. As usual, the process was very simple through Paypal. I awaited my email to be notified when it was shipped out, but much to my surprise it arrived quite early on February 4th! I didn't choose a special shipping method, so 9 days in total was quite speedy!

As usual I forgot to take a picture of the packaging, but it was all wrapped securely in a Fed Ex bag, and the dressed was placed again in a second bag. Pretty standard and aside from some minor wrinkling (seriously, why do I not own a steamer yet?) the dress wasn't damaged in any way.

As you can see, the dress is pretty true to it's stock photo. A lovely soft shade of baby pink and adorable "pearl" buttons. They don't seem entirely strong however so I will have to keep an eye on them to ensure they don't break, although the dress did come with two extra ones attached in a bag.

The adorable little moon and star details! You can even see the extras like planets and star clusters, it's all so cute but tiny enough as to not feel super overwhelming.

The lace is unfortunately not the best, and I included a close-up of where it doesn't quite match up and there are loose threads in some places. Still, it doesn't particularly bother me as it's very small, and only on the hem of the dress and a small amount on the neckline. It's not extremely scratchy and stiff, but definitely not the best either, but since it's used in such a limited amount I don't find it particularly bothersome.

Overall, I am once again impressed by My Lolilta Dress' level of customer service (I must have bothered poor Linda, the sales representative about half a dozen times and she always answered me back promptly and courteously), and the professionalism of the entire transaction. Their website is constantly updating with new, beautiful items so I'll definitely be keeping my eye on it for the future!

Shopping Services and Taobao

Here is my confession.

I'm scared to use shopping services. During all my years in Lolita I used one exactly once, and that was only because I was determined to get my hands on the Twinkle Journey OP by Metamorphose (which I ended up selling a year later, but that's besides the point). I didn't get scammed or end up waiting for ages. Nothing was damaged or needed to be tracked down during shipping. But. I was very, very anxious the entire process, and I couldn't feel truly relaxed until I had the dress in my hands. From that day forward, I vowed never to use a shopping service again.

Naturally, this limits quite a lot of things I can buy from taobao stores. For the most part I've been okay with this. My-Lolita-Dress is offering more and more from many of the popular indie brands, and there are so many beautiful things to be find from second-hand sales I never felt like I was really missing out.

Then the other day I was reading over at Luna Rain's  blog, where she recently posted a review about her newest taobao order. I was instantly stricken when she showed two beautiful cutsews from one particular taobao store and I could absolutely not get them out of my head. For what feels like a ridiculously long time I have been searching for simple, but elegant knit tops to wear with casual, Lolita-inspired coords and have grown more and more infuriated by the lack of options! I honestly can not believe the lack of cute details in just about every place I have searched, except for-of course, Korean or Chinese sellers on ebay where anyone with a 96cm is listed as a 2XL (and the garment is probably STILL too small).

But as I'm browsing this shop (and per the review discovered these tops would likely fit quite comfortably), I have to admit, I'm wondering if it's time to give the ol' shopping service a try once again. Just take a look at these!

How can you say no to that! I have to admit, every day I am more and more tempted, and once I buck up the courage I may finally attempt my second ever taobao order. Wish me luck!

My first lucky pack!

I am so excited! I have finally purchased my very first lucky pack!

For as long as I have been a Lolita, I have always adored the exciting Lucky Pack posts that sprinkle egl, wondering what goodies awaited inside the many packs from the likes of Angelic Pretty, Baby the Stars Shine Bright and Metamorphosis. I longed to have one too, but many factors always stopped me- I don't like shopping through a shopping service, lack of funds and a general fear of wasting my money on a bunch of items I wouldn't even like or fit into.

So I waited.

Then just yesterday I was browsing through My-Lolita-Dress.com,  and I came upon this:

Oh gosh, so many cute possibilities! And for such an affordable price!

I was super anxious. I had never heard of the brand Pink Up before and my goolge-fu was failing me. Still, with only 100 packs total (and only 1/3 of that in my size), I knew these babies were going to get snapped up fast.

Luckily some other Lolitas were able to help me out a bit and I learned that Pink Up is affiliated with the brand Long Ears and Sharp Ears Studio, which was only a hair more well known. Still, from what little I found, it seemed the brand had positive reviews and adorable options, and I was already chomping at the bit to finally experience what seemed a Lolita rite of passage.

I do admit I am very nervous about the sizing. Because of the lack of reviews, my only clear indication about their sizes is that they ran small. I ordered a size Large as their chart listed a bust of 96-98cm and a waist of 76-78cm, both of which should fit me quite comfortably with a little wiggle room to spare. However, my one review of the Long Ears and Sharp Eyes brand indicated that their L-XL size fit someone with a waist and bust at least 10 cm smaller than that! Oh dear...

Still, I'm keeping my hopes up! While about half their items look a little too sweet for my tastes, the other half is absolutely gorgeous and classic and mature! And as I'm especially focusing on expanding my wardrobe color palette and styles, I'm very much looking forward to what surprises are in store for me. Sadly my order won't be shipped out until the end of the month so there's a bit of a wait time, but I'll keep myself focused elsewhere until then.

I'll be sure to post a review once it arrives. Keeping my fingers crossed for a lucky Lucky Pack!