Wardrobe Overhaul Part 2

I realised, after I started planning out my wardrobe overhaul, that the one thing I really lack are flat shoes for everyday wear. I've been living in the same pair of black-and-white sneakers for about three years, and they're pretty limited style wise. Because I'm picky, I don't like ballet flats or sandals or loafers and when presented with a choice of shoes, I always go for heels. But heels aren't practical for everyday use, so I decided that step one of wardrobe overhaul needed to be finding a few pairs of cheap flat shoes to try out some new styles. Cheap being a keyword, because I'm not even sure what styles I'm going to like and use.

So today we went to Payless and thanks to end-of-season sales scored these three pairs for $39!

 

None of the shoes are the greatest quality or the most comfortable, but they'll be good for testing out all these different style.

I was hoping to find a slightly girlier pair of black boots, but these are still really cool. It's also good because I love the aesthetic of combining girly clothes with clunkier shoes, so these will let me experiment with that look. They'll also work for grungier steampunk looks, which make me happy ^__^

My phone didn't want to get the colour of these boots right, they're a really dark wine red, not this orange-y tone. These were an impluse buy because they were $9, so why not? But I'm actually really keen to start using these ones because I love coloured shoes!

Yeah, I know. These ones aren't flat. But I thought they were worth a try since it's yet another style and colour. Again, my phone took this photo lighter than how they actually are, they're really a much richer caramel. I've never actually owned shoes in this colour before, so it'll be interesting to see if I use them. In my wardrobe I'm planning on using darker, rather than lighter, browns so I'm not sure how much I'll use them but still, worth a shot.

So that's the first [physical, at least] step of my wardrobe overhaul. Well, I did go through my existing wardrobe and take out some things to get rid of, but this is the first addition!

Review #30: Innocent World Socks

Look at me, stepping up in the lolita world, buying brand. Well, if you've seen my Angelic Pretty review you'll know I've bought even more burando, but this sock saga [and yes, it is a saga] started back when Loyal Rosette was just a glimmer on the horizon... 

A while ago, when Innocent World updated their website and their banner mentioned a summer sale, I started getting excited. I had my eye on a few things and had decided that if certain things had a certain amount off, I would get them. Well, it turns out none of the things I wanted went on sale, except for some socks that I thought would help round out the classic side of my wardrobe. But I didn't just want to buy socks... until we celebrated Christmas in July, and James got me them as a gift ^__^

Left: Roman Mosaic Overknee Socks in Chocolat/Cafe au Lait

Right: Versailles Overknee Socks in Beige/Chocolat

I placed the order on the 25th of July and received the automated email reply. Ordering from their webstore was incredibly easy, and they have a great guide on how to do so on the site. Based on what I'd read online about IW's response time, especially during sales periods, I was pleased to get the follow-up email on the 31st. I had originally ordered three pairs of socks, but they told me one pair was out of stock and said I could cancel the order or add more items if I wished. I asked to just go ahead with the rest of the order.

On the 1st of August I received the PayPal invoice, which I was glad to see was itemised, and paid immediately. On the 7th I received an email which said it had been shipped on the 5th. They also apologised for the delay in giving me that information and gave me a tracking number.

I got my package on the 8th, which I consider an excellent turnaround time. However, when I opened the package I noticed that they had sent me Marionette Theater OTKs instead of the Versailles pair. I immediately sent an email letting them know, and double checked the PayPal invoice and the one in the package to make sure the order hadn't somehow gone through wrong but it hadn't. I had hoped to get an email back the same day since their English office was open that day but I didn't. On the 18th, after there had been two open office days, I sent a follow up and soon after got a reply to my original email.

Basically, they said that the warehouse had made a mistake but fortunately one of the store had a layby for the Versailles socks cancelled and they were being sent to the head office. They also apologised and asked if I could send the Marionette Theater socks back to them via COD or if not they would refund me postage via PayPal. So I went to the post office in the 19th, but unfortunately you can't send via COD outside Australia and postage was $13, and James and I deliberated, because we weren't sure if they'd be willing to pay so much for postage and I was unwilling to be out of pocket if that happened.

Initially, we decided that the easiest option would be for me to keep the extra socks and ask IW to invoice me for them. Yes, that meant I'm still paying for socks I didn't want but I actually have them and they may make a nice gift for a fellow lolita, or I can sell them. But then I had the bright idea to tell them COD wasn't an option and to check that they were okay to refund $13 for postage. So I emailed them saying that on the 21st and got a reply on the 28th again apologising for the delay and telling me they couldn't refund me for postage in advance but hopefully it would come with a postage sticker so they could refund me when it arrived.

At this point I decided to revert to the original plan: buy the additional socks. So on the 29th I emailed suggesting that and asking about the status of the original Versailles socks. I got a reply a few hours later saying that they would send them out when they received the Marionette Theater socks back. So I sent another email saying more definitely that I would like to buy them, so please send me a PayPal invoice so I can pay and then send the Versailles socks. I was a bit clearer and more polite than I was just then, though ^__^

I received the following on September 8th: "We must be proud if you like the Marionette Theater socks, but are you 100% alright about taking the socks which ought to get through to you originally?" This confused me, as I wasn't sure what would happen with the Versailles socks and after chatting with James I decided to just leave it and not send a reply. I know that's a bit bad of me, but it was stressing me out. So I'll be selling the Marionette Theater socks sometime soon.

Overall, I'm not too happy with their customer service. I am aware that IW have no way of knowing if I'm a scammer or anything and thus wouldn't want to just send me the Versailles socks, but it was their mistake and it annoyed me that it was complicated to fix to the point where I gave up. Having said that, I do know I could have been more trusting and jut sent the wrong socks back. Also, the delays in responses didn't help matters; I do know they are only in on a limited number of days but sometimes several of those days passed between responses. Yes, they probably have a lot of orders and correspondence to get through in those days of which mine is only one, but since I've heard other people mention waits in their processing of online orders I really feel like they should maybe add another day per week for customer service.

I'm leaving the Marionette Theater socks in their packaging, but quality-wise, based on the Roman Mosaic socks, my impression of IW socks is really positive. They are soft and stretchy, and are OTKs even on my tall-ish, chubby-ish legs. The design is really pretty and doesn't distort badly at all. I have to say, even though I baulk at the prices of brand socks both these ones and the ones from my Metamorphose lucky packs are definitely worth the price. Patterned socks I have from taobao or Bodyline are nowhere near as comfortable nor do they look as nice.

I tried to get the colours as true to life as possible, because they are lovely. The brown is very rich, and the soft colours of the flowers are really nice as well. The pattern is so pretty and detailed... I'm really happy with these socks.

So all in all despite the mistake with my order, and the difficulty of trying to get it rectified, all in all I'm quite happy with what I received. The quality is lovely, and since I'm sure this mistake was a very rare occurrence, I'm looking forward to maybe acquiring more Innocent World pieces in the future.

Review #29: F+F Chiffon Lovers

When FanPlusFriend came out with the Chiffon Lovers series, I fell in love with the skirt. But I'm trying not to buy new skirts, as JSKs are far more flattering on me. But I didn't love any of the colours the JSK came in, or more accurately, I loved but wouldn't wear the colour options [except black, but I already have a black JSK] until I remembered that F+F do custom colours. Lightbulb!

I do not have the complexion for pastels...

So I used their contact form to ask if the JSK could be made in the burgundy that the skirt came in and if so, what the price increase would be. Two days later I got a reply saying that they had added the option to the JSK listing, it would be an additional $5 and the lace may be different from the stock pictures. I sent in a thank you and placed my order on the 11th of August.

Since it was a make-to-order item, there was meant to be a turn around time of 2-3 weeks, which I was fine with, but for some reason my order was marked as "Awaiting Shipment" on the 12th, though it wasn't shipped until the 28th, which made me a bit impatient! But it was still in the 2-3 week time frame, so all good. I received the package on the 4th of September.

And inside the package, there was this little bag! That seems to be a new thing, as I've never gotten a F+F tote with a purchase before.

The dress came neatly wrapped in a branded bag...

And the dress itself! It's an absolutely gorgeous piece of work, fully lined, the chiffon is very soft and silky, the lace is of decent quality. It's accurate to the stock picture and the listed measurements and I really like it. There'a a side zip but I recommend just slipping it over your head if you can because I had a hell of a time getting the zip done back up [in the end I had to get James's help with it!] because of the full back shirring. The only flaw I found was a single thread that needed trimming near the zip.

So all in all, I am very happy with this new addition to my lolita wardrobe. I'm falling very in love with solid coloured pieces, and this is an absolutely beautiful one!

Wardrobe Overhaul Part 1

A non-lolita post for once, but still clothing related! I have no idea how many parts this series is going to have, so bear with me... we're going on an adventure!

Lately, I've found that despite having lots of clothes, I don't have that much to wear. Outside of lolita, my clothes are either jeans-and-tshirt casual or very dressy, without much in between. I've got some fabulous pieces, like really kick-ass jackets, that don't match anything and frequently find myself with nothing to wear. Especially when trying to put together smart casual outfits for castings... I have one red dress with a few jacket options which is my go-to and that's it. But I've never really thought about doing a dramatic overhaul until two thing happened recently. The first is that lolita has made me a lot more fashion conscious, especially in regards to colour palettes, and secondly on EGL in a FFA [at least, I think that's where it was] someone shared a link to the website Into Mind, who focus on helping you create a versatile and cohesive capsule wardrobe. And gradually, I've become enamoured with the idea of turning my "normal people" wardrobe upside down.

Already I've made two decisions about how I want my new wardrobe to be: what my colour palette should be and what my "uniform", or standard go-to outfit style, is. Want to see the colour palette?

Black and chocolate brown are my neutral colours while deep red, vibrant purple and soft peach are my main colours. The ivory, pastel pink, burnt orange and spruce green are my accent colours. These are colours that I love an that suit me pretty well, except perhaps the green, but I love it and won't incorporate too much of it.

Deciding a uniform was easy, because it's what I already do: mini skirt/mini dress with a jacket, and my second go-to is either full pants or mini skirt with an interesting top. So far my take on "interesting top" has been a nerdy t-shirt and I still want to keep my geek game strong, but I want some options that are just plain patterns instead.

My next step [and next post!] is to come up with a list of items to look out for that I need for my new wardrobe. I know, roughly, that I'm okay for black tops and all heavier outerwear but I do need some light jackets, non-black tops, pants and new skirts and dresses. So I have a lot or planning and a lot of shopping to do!

Loyal Rosette Outfits

Today I decided that, since I'll soon be parting with Loyal Rosette that if I couldn't wear it, at least I could make some outfits with it! So I did, and then made this imaginatively titled post about it ^__^

First up we have the outfit, or at least the blouse, that I intended to wear with the JSK. I love all the browns with the soft touches of other colours in the hat ribbon and the pearl buttons.

JSK; Angelic Pretty

Blouse: Infanta

Hat: FanPlusFriend

Tights: We Love Colours

Shoes: Bodyline

This outfit is my take on giving the dress a bit of an otome or vintage vibe. The offbrand blouse has lots of nice, subtle lacy details on the bib and overall it's a really simple look which I think lets the dress really be the star of the show.

JSK: Angelic Pretty
Everything else: Offbrand

Lastly... pink! How could I not make a more conventionally sweet outfit with this adorable piece? This is definitely a simple summer outfit with the chiffon blouse, ankle socks and small-ish headbow.

JSK: Angelic Pretty
Blouse, Socks & Shoes: Bodyline
Headbow: Offbrand

I have to say, I really think brown is an awesome choice for this print. I find that without the obvious contrast that comes with any of the other colourways the effect of the print is much more rich and sumptuous. To me it's a bit more cohesive, for lack of a better term, and there are still so many ways you can coord it!

Review #28: Angelic Pretty Loyal Rosette

Well, I suppose I really am a proper lolita now, going into the Angelic Pretty new release fray ^__^ Earlier this year I decided that if AP released a new chocolate print, I'd try and get it. And then that Spoon spread came out showing both the loveliness of the upcoming chocolate series and Loyal Rosette. And as it turned out, Loyal Rosette was released first so that sealed the deal for me. I decided to try it. My first non-lucky pack brand main piece, and my first AP.

Australia is a great place to live for buying from Japan because the release was at 1PM for me, so I was home and awake. I had decided that my plan of attack was to go for the brown JSK, or blue if brown sold out [though according to discussion on CGL brown was the least popular choice] and if they both sold out, the skirt in the same colour preferences. I also on James's advice was going to get the socks in brown. I had an alarm set for 12:45 and started refreshing the page every minute or so as the time crept towards 12PM JST. And then... it was time!

I had heard that the AP website gets pretty bad on new releases but it was awful! Pages took ages to load, and I kept adding socks to my cart only to have them disappear. In the end on James's advice I just checked out with the JSK only rather than risk it selling out while I was trying to get the socks to add properly. It was hectic. It took a full fifteen minutes to check out, with errors and slow load times everywhere. And then it took half an hour to get the confirmation email, which was worrying. But I got it, the JSK in brown.

Not only did I love this design but I was also keen to see if brand lived up to its reputation of superior quality and design. I'll admit, after spending so long in the online lolita communities some of the "brand is much better" mentality has rubbed off, and I do want to have nice things like other lolitas have. However, given that for the price of this one JSK I could buy a complete outfit including shoes from Taobao, Bodyline or F+F I really wanted to see how, in my opinion, it measured up. I do want to have brand, both because I like some designs and for the prestige of ownership, but not if I didn't feel like the price increase wasn't matched by a quality increase.

So I ordered on the 16th, it was shipped to [and arrived at!] Tenso on the 21st and I paid for shipping on the 22nd. On the 23rd I got an email saying it had shipped and it came to me, all wrapped up in a bright pink shopping bag, on the 26th. I didn't take any pictures of the package or the opening, because I was feeling quite horrid after work that morning and wanted to just enjoy opening it up.

Long story short... it doesn't fit me. I mean, I fit measurement wise, it's definitely accurate to what's listed on the AP site but as a tall-ish, fat-ish, wide-ish shouldered Western girl it is not flattering on me at all. As I said to James after trying it on for the second time, I think it would work if I had only two of those characteristics going on, definitely if only one, but I have all three.

However, despite it not fitting me I still got to see what the quality of Angelic Pretty's stuff is like and it was very good. The main fabric was a cotton with a lovely texture to it and it was fully lined. The custom lace [crowns and the letters AP] was attached to the lining. The buttons on the bodice are plastic, but they're the nicest buttons in that style I've seen. The thin gold lace on the straps is quite scratchy, but I think that's inevitable with metallic trims and isn't an issue if you're wearing a blouse. The "ribbons" that make up the straps, the waist band and the detachable waist-ties are all lined as well. The straps are adjustable with a button on the bodice and three buttonholes on the strap itself. And it had the fabled AP pockets, two of them! I didn't notice a single loose thread or flaw in construction. The only "bad" thing I noticed, which isn't even bad, just unusual [to me at least] was that there was no zipper, it's a pull-over-head affair.

And now, photo time!

This is fairly close to the IRL colour. The stock photo is brighter than the dress really is.

Bodice close-up.

Lace detail, and a bit of the crown pattern at the bottom.

However, I'm still on the fence as to whether I think the raise in quality compared to lower-end lolita brands is worth the raise in price. This is definitely a superior product than anything else I've owned: materials are better, the print itself is wonderfully detailed, the fabric choice is great, the construction is flawless, and all the design elements work together perfectly. And knowing how much additional cost is involved in material sourcing, print design and construction I don't think the price is unreasonable at all. But for me, at this point in time, I think I'm probably going to stick with cheaper pieces. The quality difference doesn't matter to me as much as being able to have a wider variety of pieces to choose from in my lolita wardrobe.

But having said that... I think I may become a lucky pack and/or brand sale fiend. I've read online that AP and BTSSB are frequently considered the lower quality brands as far as the big lolita brands go... and if this is the lower end of brand lolita I'm definitely keen to add more to my wardrobe, just not necessarily at full price.

New skirt means new outfits...

Recently I impulse bought an older Bodyline floral print skirt off a fellow Australian lolita on facebook. And I love it! I wish Bodyline was making more piece like this now... though maybe not, or I'd have no room left in my wardrobe!

Anyway, since I haven't posted much recently I thought I'd put together a couple of outfits to show off my pretty new skirt. I have some reviews coming soon, including some about my ventures into burando [exciting!] but for now, please enjoy these two outfits.

First up is a autumn-y casual look. I have to say, I'm totally in love with that jacket [I actually have two of them, the other one is all cream]... so cute, so comfy and so warm!

Skirt: Bodyline
Jacket, Shoes & Flowers: Taobao
Tights: WeLoveColours

And this is a more typically lolita outfit! I'd wear this with some kind of braided updo with the big lace bow at the back... and I swear the reds match better IRL ^__^

Skirt & Socks: Bodyline
Blouse: The Floral Notebook
Shoes: Taobao
Lace Bow: Metamorphose temps de fille