Review #10: Peacockalorum/Stocking Shock

Ever since I saw my first fawn fur capelet, I was in love. But alas! My practical side is often too strong, so when I've seen collars and capelets on the EGL sales community for $50+ I've always ummed and ahhed and eventually decided against it. Then when I saw the pretty collar on Peacockalorum's Etsy it was the start of a couple of months of internal debate, and I finally succumbed. 

I ordered the collar with ivory ribbon and cream lace, like shown in one of the listing pictures.

And this is my collar, straight out of the postage satchel, wrapped securely in it's little bag.

And this is me trying to mimic the listing picture - seriously, this collar had probably the most accurate stock photo I've ever seen. Pictures speak louder than words, we're told, and seriously, look at this.

A couple of close ups of the lace and the hook-and-eye closure.

As far as ordering goes, Etsy made that easy as the proverbial pie. I placed my order January 31st and it was posted February 12th, which I think is a decent turnaround time for a made-to-order item. I received the collar this afternoon, February 20th, which was quicker than the 10 days I was told it would probably take, so I'm happy.

After I placed my order on Etsy I had a bit of a hunt around the interwebz to see who else had acquired one of these collars, and I found out that Peacockalorum is one and the same as the lolita store Stocking Shock. The collar is a couple of pounds cheaper if bought directly from Stocking Shock, which is fair enough when you take into account Etsy fees and such, so though I did facepalm a bit about finding the direct shop after buying from Etsy it's not really a big deal.

All in all I'd really say if you want fawn fur, get this! I've attempted working in faux fur to make a  collar like this, and it's kind of a bitch. So to get something nicely made and in a good quality fur for under forty dollars [and that included postage from the UK to Australia!] is really phenomenal. All the sewing is very neat with only a couple of hardly noticeable stitches visible. It fits me perfectly and snugly, and I love it.

And lastly, I just wanted to share this picture of Syra, because it's cute.

She must have been tyre'd. Please don't kill me.

Review #9: Bodyline

A couple of weeks ago our household, and especially James and I, had to deal with a whole lot of unpleasantness from the horrible man who "rented" the granny flat of our place. Long story short, it was distressing  and James and I decided to treat ourselves to a little retail therapy.

We got several accessories and a schoolgirl outfit [LDC049 if anyone's curious] for photoshoots as well as two dresses for me and one of their boystyle seperates sets. So, with no further ado, onto the review!

L379, 2L in Black

The biggest question was: get the OP or get the JSK? James was saying I should get both, but it would have been a case where I would have loved one and the other would have sat in the closet gathering dust. I slept on it [what, buying clothes is serious business!] and decided to go with the halter-neck JSK. I got the 2L rather than the 4L even though technically my bust won't fit the 2L. Apparently my waist is a fair bit smaller than the average bust/waist ratio because frequently I have to buy things that are too large for my waist...not that I'm complaining, tending more towards hourglass is nothing but a good thing. But in any case, with this dress ordering a size smaller than my bust was a good idea because it fits perfectly, and a 4L would have been way too large. In person, this dress is cute and nice and it's refreshing to have something of a solid colour in my lolita wardrobe!

This dress is on the better end of Bodyline quality, a couple of loose threads being the only flaw in otherwise quite sturdy construction. The only thing was that it had a really strong factory smell when I pulled it out of the bag which was pretty icky. But a quick wash and all is well.

I tried to take some detail shots but my phone decided that it hates this dress, so I have nothing. But the stock photo is very accurate, so you do get what you expect with this JSK.

L479, 2L in Brown

This dress, according to the measurements, doesn't fit me. But it's one I've always wanted ever since I first started trawling Bodyline so on James's suggestion we got it anyway, and I am so glad we did. It's a perfect fit and is flat out the most gorgeous dress I own. It's just beautiful! The colours are so much darker and richer than they appear in the stock photo, the fit is perfect [even though my measurements are 102/82cm as opposed to 96/88cm, go figure] and it's so lovely! Both the neck and waist bows picture are detachable, however the waist ties are not. It's just do delicate and lovely and princess-y, this is a phenomenal dress.

James got a quick snapshot of me while I was frolicking happily, and as you can see this is actually a really good dress for a medium busted lolita. Personally I like the way the dress sits on me far more than how it sits on the model in the stock photos. This shot is also pretty spot on to the dress's colour in real life, unlike the stock photo.

L493, 2L

Is this steampunk, Barry? Yes, Other Barry, it's steampunk.

Imagine these with a better blouse, hot boots and a big, big gun...cos that's how we're shooting them next week! Yay, steampunk photoshoot! I've actually been thinking about dabbling in boystyle a bit lately, so it was exciting when James was all like "lets get this outfit". There's not all that much to say about this set, they're quite good and really look exactly like the product photo, so no photo from me!

As far as shipping and stuff goes, it took a few days longer for us to get this order than previous times. The packages came on Friday the week after postage  and they normally some between Monday and Wednesday. But still, that's nothing like the delays I've been hearing some girls in the US have been having lately so it's all good.

Review #8: Classical Puppets & One Day in Paradise

Recently I ordered a Classical Puppets bell-shaped petticoat from the Australia lolita store One Day In Paradise. My first petti is a Leg Avenue one I got off eBay and it has served me quite well but it doesn't provide much shape for skirts of heavier fabrics. It's brilliant with light dresses, and gives just the right amount of poof for me, but I needed something a bit more heavy duty as well. As I had heard many good things about Classical Puppets pettis I decided to give them a go, and fortunately ODIP had a black one in stock in my size.

This is the stock picture from ODIP. I didn't like that they didn't have a picture of the actual black petti I was buying, but that's not really a big deal - it is only a petticoat.

This is the petticoat I received, still crunkly from postage:

My phone doesn't like photographing it, but I love it! It's gorgeous and soft and so floofy! The only thing that makes me a little sad is that it doesn't have a line of lace at the bottom, but that ODIP's fault for not having an accurate picture. I put it on instantly and started prancing around, feeling like the puffiest princess ever. It was a great feeling. And so now I'm adding my voice to hundreds of others when I say, if you want a cupcake petticoat, Classical Puppets is the way to go!

Ordering from ODIP was easy. I sent a quick email to Marie, the lady who runs it, just to confirm that the petti was in stock and not a pre-order kind of thing, and she sent a helpful reply very quickly. The pricing was also very reasonable at $50. Given that there was no custom sizing waiting times I don't mind that the petticoat itself cost a little more than it would have been to buy directly from Classical Puppets or a reseller like Qutieland.

However, postage was quite an issue. It was almost a full week from placing my order to it actually being shipped, and as it was just a single in-stock item I felt like that was a little too long. From that point it still hadn't arrived two weeks later, so I sent another email to Marie. It turns out my order had been shipped to someone else in Sydney. Marie was very helpful and apologetic, and found out what had happened within a day of my emailing her. I just don't like mistakes like that happening because they are completely avoidable, and they don't just inconvenience me, they inconvenience whoever the package was accidentally sent to, and create lots of work and worry and fuss all around that would never have happened if whoever packed the package had made sure to triple check the order. So my petti was posted again on February 1st, three weeks and one day after I had ordered it, and I received it today, February 4th, almost a month after ordering.

Excited me this morning heard the postman's knock and dashed out to get my newest lolita purchase, finally. But I was honestly a bit jacked off when I opened the postage satchel and the petti tumbled out, because the little plastic wrapper it was in hadn't been fastened shut so the petti had slipped out and was just lying jumbled inside the satchel. Maybe I'm being too black-and-white here, but if someone dicks me around, I want it to be made up to me. An email apology when they're fixing a problem that occurred on their end doesn't cut it. If there had been a handwritten note of apology in the bag, maybe a voucher for a few dollars of store credit or free postage on my next order [and really, who ever actually uses those?] I'd have felt more forgiving, but I think it's stupid of a business to mess a customer around and not do anything to make amends. Because ODIP has lost a customer in me. I won't say no-one should order from them because I'm sure I'm the sucky case in a hundred where something goes wrong, but I wasn't happy with how they dealt with their mistake so unless I have no other choice I won't be a customer again.

So, just to sum it all up for anyone who didn't feel like reading this whole rambly post:
Classical Puppets: Phenomenal! So, so happy with my petticoat ^__^
One Day In Paradise: Easy to order from, but really messed up on postage and though I got my petti eventually I expect a business to make it up to their customers when they make a mistake like that, so I'm not the happiest of campers.