Lucienne Dream Arrival

 Outside of cons, I've been trying my hardest to save for the end of this year (heh, some stuff just can't be bought in Japan). However, a few Fridays ago Rachel sent me a sneaky link to the one thing I'd said I would buy before we went. And now Thali and I both have Lucienne Dream to twin! We're planning something lovely, and hoping the opportunity to wear it arises in Japan.

It was my first actual time buying from Closet Child, so I guess I can do a mini review. I say actual because they once stuffed up the price on something, and couldn't honor it so we were refunded.

Ordering was pretty simple for me, but their how to is grossly out of date though only really in system. A lot of the information is the same, it just might be worded differently (in the case of the where are you from, I could select Australia rather than Rest of World) or in different spots.

I think because I bought it quite early in the morning, they ended up shipping the same day I ordered, a Friday. The parcel actually beat me home by a day (I love you EMS) arriving Tuesday. Other than the item or items inside, Closet Child orders are pretty unexciting as a whole. It's a dress in a bag in a box with some paper or wrap. It's a very relaxed affair, haha. 

As for it's condition, apparently it has a tiny spot somewhere. I don't know where, I haven't found it yet. The dress was under retail, though this is actually the only piece of the Lucienne series that sold on release. I don't know how intact the glitter is on the screen print, since the brown is plain but going by close up stock photos it seems to be in pretty good condition.

As for Sydney, I'll probably write something up soon with an instagram digest. I also received a few new little accessories that I'd like to write about. Thankfully, that's mostly the end of convention season for Peppermint Fox! There's just Animaga with PSS and I can rela- prepare for the Peppermint Fox second anniversay tea party!

No rest here!

New Arrival Sweetie Chandelier

I feel like these photos do not do this dress justice at all, but this was the second round of photos and the light was good so perhaps it's just not a good dress to photograph! I picked up Sweetie Chandelier at Supanova last month. Suffice to say, this dress is gorgeous in real life, and I didn't want anyone else to have it once I decided I liked it.  

 

 The print is still sweet, but there is an overall feel of elegance. It feel like exactly the kind of thing I've been looking for, really. This print wasn't originally on my wishlist because AP's stock photos suck and I wasn't sold on the bodice style. I tried to catch the glitter on the print and show off the cute AB jewel decoration, the things that caught my eye the most- other than the print of course.

Thali and I also brought home a pair of matching tokimeki (teitoku no momoiro gabriel) fawns. My pink one pictured here is called Rosie, as Thali insisted they must have names. Her matching brown one is called Little. I picked the one with the silliest face, even though there's probably not that much difference between them!

Melbourne Swap Meet Loot

 We were lucky enough this last month to have a swap meet! It's been some time since we've had one, in fact I think we've only had one since I've been a part of the community. I don't actually think it was a bad thing though, since the quality of the goods on offer was off the charts, over all I think it was incredibly successful and I can't wait for the next one!

In addition to the AP Rose Last Note hat and candy bag, I also traded a friend for Musee low waist- but that's another blog post altogether in the future!

I didn't come home with too much in the end, but I think I'm really happy with what I got. The bag has some small damage, but I think it's fixable (and it was a steal!).

(Thank you so much Bonnie, this ones for you *^*♥)

Rose last note hat paired with an IW blouse that we bought from Jordi! I still do hope to make my own very over the top hat to match Belle Epoque Rose in the future, but I do so adore this one and it will be much, much more versatile! I cannot wait to pretty much wear it with everything ♥

New Arrival Belle Epoque Rose

 A beautiful parcel arrived on my doorstep the other day~

Belle Epoque Rose JSK (and OTKs)!

I was a little surprised about the colour, I expected a much lighter, sweeter pink but in fact it is a dusty rose pink. Now I look at the stock photo though, I can sort of see it (provided I'm at a lower angle) and you can see too that if you look closely the pink of the chest bow doesn't really match at all! I'm going to be uh, taking it apart and remaking it I think, probably without the roses.

I've taken far too many pictures of this beautiful dress, but I hope you like them.

Even though it's not the colour I expected, I still love it. It settled my resolve to try and accquire it in every colour way~ ♥

I really do need more princessy blouses!

Belle Epoque Rose is made with a very different fabric than I'm used to from AP. I tried to capture it by comparing it to Melty Cream Doughnut's chiffon and Honey Cake's cotton. If you look at the top of the picture, you can see the sheen on the fabric- it reminds me a lot of my friends JetJ pieces.

A Present, Lucienne Dream

 The first time I laid eyes on Lucienne Dream, I was pretty sure I wanted it. When I saw it in a less washed out scan I was certain. Unfortunately it of course sold out only in the pink one piece. The exact cut and colour I wanted. So when the sale came around I bought the brown colourway- for Thali.

It's a little bit of a selfish gift, honestly. It's a dress that we could both agree on and liked, so it meant we could one day twin! Now I just need to hunt down the pink one ... when my savings recover, haha.

Thanks for looking~

New Arrival Cameo Window

Not to long ago AP had a 30% off sale. I had some savings set aside so I decided to go for a couple of pieces- one for me and one for Thali. My choice was the Cameo Window skirt in pink. It is so so beautiful in real life (though I'm still not fond of tiered skirts whether they be on skirts or jumperskirts). I think I need to play around with it a bit more to come up with a coordinate I really like, but here it is with the Magic Cat Street blouse for extra princess points.

Thanks for looking~

New Arrivals Otome no Sewing 4 and Misako Aoki's Lolita Fashion Book

I had a few new arrivals, so I thought I would show them here. Two Make-It-Own Pullip's, Otome no Sewing No. 4 and Aoki Misako's Lolita Fashion Book! I really love getting parcels more than I should. The MIO Pullips are going to be a little project of mine, but since I've been so busy we will have to see how that goes.

I think that, from looking at the other three volumes of Otome no Sewing, each is to some degree 'sponsored' by a different brand. This one features Angelic Pretty taking inspiration from their regimental series and AP style sweet lolita. I think it is one of my favourites. You can see the inspired pieces (which have patterns in the book) and below you can see the Angelic Pretty piece.

 

 They included two little head accessory patterns for AP. Since I really love the shape of AP bows, I'm going to try and make some in simple colours and patterns to match with my wardrobe.

As for the Lolita Fashion Book, I chose my favourite page- featuring one of my ultimate dream dresses of the moment, Emily Temple Cute's Patisserie print! How I covet it so! This is the start of a feature section about 'Soft Lolita' or we might be more inclined to call it Casual Lolita. I think I like the term Soft Lolita and the mix of otome and lolita brands featured in the section is exactly what I want from j-fashion. I look forward to sitting down to read the book (slowly) properly. I'd like to read the books take on the fashion.

If you were thinking of getting either book, I would recommend it provided you have a little understanding of Japanese (or in the Otome no Sewing book case, some understanding of sewing in general since the patterns come with pictures and are not overly complex garments). What bugged me about the Lolita Fashion Book was that in all of the tutorials, the hair arrangement I wanted to know how to do was worn in the make up tutorial! I don't care about the other arrangement! Bah! Otherwise it's quite cute, but I think the more original content will be found in the writing in which case it might be better for some to wait to see if a version is made available in English.

Thanks for looking~