Review #2: Personalizationproduct

EDIT: I've since done an updated review of the two items from this store, which can be found here. 

Today I came home from uni and what did my boyfriend have laid out on the bed for me? Another lolita dress! Just like my first eBay lolita purchase, this dress and underskirt set is from Personalizationproduct and I am totally and utterly in love with it, especially because my hunny bought it for me.

After a little bit of looking around [and shameless, helpless drooling] on hello lace I found out it's a replica of this dress. And it's a damn good one too!

Again the dress is sturdily made of a nice thick cotton, and the underskirt is a lighter cotton with a good, thick elastic waist. As well as secure ribbon lacing up the back there is a hidden side zipper that moves smoothly. The dress is a little large even though I'm at the large end of the range of measurements listed, but with the back lacing that's not a problem at all. The elastic on the poofy sleeves is comfortable and all in all it's a very good dress. 

I only noticed two flaws in the dress, and it's quite likely they will both be fixed when I give it a good ironing. The skirt puckers a little along the seams, but this could also be because it's a very full skirt and designed to be worn with a more powerful petticoat than the ones I have. Also the lining on the right side of the neckline refuses to stay tucked down completely. I will update when I have ironed it and have a better petticoat and see if that fixes things. Also, the ends of the ribbon lacing haven't been finished in any way and will potentially start fraying, but a little clear nail polish will fix that so no biggie.

This time my wonderful man gave me a super quick mini photoshoot in the garden so I could show off my new dress but when I was putting the dress on I realised the white underskirt [and it is white, even though it looks kind of creamy in the product photo] really didn't work for me. But as I am a crafty bugger sometimes it just so happened I had a lolita-style tiered underskirt in cream with some cute eyelet lace that I made a couple of weeks back that I slipped on instead. So that's the underskirt I am wearing in the photos.

 

 

I do just want to put it out there that that was a literally five minute photoshoot just for this blog. I didn't even brush my hair, and I edited them with pixlr-o-matic because photoshop has broken on my laptop. But we plan on doing proper lolita photoshoots soon!

Just in case anyone is curious, here is a terrible photo of the underskirt that came with the dress.

It's a very serviceable skirt with no flaws that I noticed but for me personally the white/burgundy combination didn't work. I'm not quite sure what to do with it, especially if I get more dresses from this store, because a number of them come with what looks like the exact same underskirt! Maybe I can dye it....

The Pros:

• Sturdy construction
• Decent fabric, and having the underskirt separate means you can mix and match
• Cheap! Again only $45AU including postage

The Neutrals:

• Puckering in the skirt and awkward neckline lining - will see if it comes out with ironing!
• Unfinished ribbon that is easily fixed.

Honestly, for under fifty dollars from eBay this is a fantastic dress. Given materials and time and effort I doubt I could make it for that price, so it's a buy I am very happy with. I'm wearing it to a High Tea this coming weekend and I'm going to feel very, very fancy.

Review #1: Personalizationproduct

Something I see frequently when stalking various lolita blogs online is big warnings all amounting to this: never buy lolita on eBay! Everything is a terrible quality replica, a scam and most of the time, it's not even lolita! Sometimes, I'm sure that's true, especially the part about it not being "proper" lolita but most of the time the bargain hunting eBay lover in me gets really annoyed at that. So I intend to review every item of lolita clothing I purchase on eBay to provide a more accurate view of things.

EDIT: Please, no more comments about it being a coat. It was labelled as a dress on the eBay site and I thought it was designed to be able to be worn as a dress OR a coat, and I still think you can do that. Also, I am very aware that neither this nor the second dress I got from this store are of phenomenal quality, but this coat/dress is sturdily made of decent fabric, and to me that makes it "good".
EDIT 2: I've since done an updated review of the two items from this store, which can be found here. 

About a month ago I ordered this dress from an eBay store, Personalizationproduct.

As you can see by the watermark-over-another-watermark, the dress obviously is a replica. And doubtless that first maker was doing a replica of a brand item. I'm sure I've seen the bunny eared hood somewhere. But that's a far as the usual lolita decrying of eBay holds in regards to this dress.

I got the package first thing this morning, neatly folded and wrapped, exactly 18 days after I paid for it. Given international postage that isn't bad at all. And the postal sachet thing was so securely taped that my man had to scissor it open for me.

Then there was...the opening!

I almost died of squee. So much ruffle butt! The fabric is a nice thick cotton and the lace is mostly cluny lace, and both are better quality than I was expecting. There are no construction flaws that I can see and their sizing is generous - I bought the large because I'm at the upper end of their bust and waist measurements but there is room to spare so if this is indicative of all their clothing I'd advise buying smaller rather than large if in doubt. I can update on that soon because we have another of their dresses coming in the mail shortly....

Of course, I had to get my sleepy arse into it immediately so ignore the sleeping braids and derp face. Also I forgot to actually make sure the bunny ears were unfolded. Ooops.

I am really, really happy with this dress.  My only issue is that the buttons don't go all the way down the front so it has the potential to flap open at inappropriate times. However, that's easily fixed by wearing an underskirt or petticoat and also makes it possible to wear the dress open as the most adorable coat in existence.

The Pros:

• Good quality fabric and decent lace
• Sturdy construction
• Cheap! Only $45AU including postage
• Fairly quick postage for international purchasing

The Cons:

• A little on the large side
• Doesn't button all the way down the front

Also on a lolita-esque note, my hunny just restored a nice little mirror for us! It used to be a boring pine-brown and the mirror was damaged, and now it looks fantastic. Photoshoot prop? You bet!

Welcome to the world of tomorrow!

Or at least, a small section of the interwebz world where you can read my ramblings. Tomorrow. ^__^

Hello!

I'm Roli and as you might guess from the name of this blog, I tend to ramble. A lot. My actual name is Caroline, but when we were young[er] my BFF decided I needed a nickname and dubbed me Roli [caROLIne].  It stuck.

This blog is most likely going to cover a hundred and one topics but the things I know for sure there will be lots of stuff about photography [expect many photos! And ramblings about photography], fashion [so there'll probably be rants about clothes, links to more clothes, photos of still more clothes, reviews of new clothes and maybe even some DIY and tutorials if I can remember to take photos while sewing], games [including the obligatory game rage] and general nerdiness.

Enjoy!