Review #14: Fan Plus Friend

James and I did a little bit of retail therapy after Syra left us, and bought a few things from F+F. I've always been really happy with all the things we've gotten from there, and this time was no exception. We got a few things for us personally as well as a bunch of jewellery, a couple of hats and a knee length cage skirt for the model wardrobe - keep an eye on our photography facebook page if you want to see all that gear the instant we use it!

For some reason though, I've really struggled with writing up this review. Not sure why. So if this is a bit more haphazard than my usual writings then so be it. 

Steampunk Lolita "Fire Balloon Adventure" Corset Lacing Up Dress

Lolita and steampunk together is the ultimate winnage. This dress is almost a weird choice for me, because given the choice I normally tend towards darker colours but this was both James's and my favourite colourway. I love steampunk that isn't gear-heavy, so this dress really suits my preferred steampunk aesthetic. I know that from a lolita perspective the plunging neckline is a bit of a questionable area, but I love it. I'm sure if I make sure to label any picture of myself in this as "Steampunk Ero Lolita" I'll cop less flak, because I don't intend to wear a blouse under this ^__^

As far as fabric and construction goes it's pretty good. The skirt fabric is a really lovely, heavy, textured,  canvas-esque fabric, and the bodice is a much lighter cotton or poly-cotton blend. The little bow and cameo on the front is detachable, which is how I like it! The head bow doesn't seems quite so tall as the one pictured [but maybe that's just because I haven't fluffed it up properly yet] and is mounted on a nice wide fabric covered headband. Construction wise it's quite sturdy and there's only one flaw - the hidden zipper at the side isn't as hidden as it should be. It's under the arm, so it's never really going to be noticeable, but it's not a particularly good zipper job. But other than that, this dress is perfect and I love it.

Yes, I know this is a terrible photo. Shush.

Rococo Lolita Tri-layer Trimmings Stiff Half-head Bonnet

I've been harbouring a secret love for bonnets recently, and have made one for myself for a photoshoot that has yet to happen. This bonnet is what actually started this order - I was having a trawl through F+F's website and my thought process literally looked like this: "$20 bonnet, hell yeah! But their shipping is expensive...maybe I should see if James wants to buy anything..." and it went from there ^__^

This bonnet is a lovely piece of work. I'm not a bonnet expert but it seems to have just the right balance of everything - enough stiffness to keep it up but not so much that it looses the soft vibe. There's lots of lace and ruffling but to my mind all the materials used are lovely. Ten out of ten for this. However, Blogger doesn't like my full photo of it so here's a close up of some of the lace on the back and you'll have to take my word that it's brilliant.

And you know the best part? It perfectly matches my new Bodyline L479 ^__^

We ordered April 4th. received an email that it had been shipped on the 22nd and our big-ass package arrived on Monday April 19th, which is really reasonable given that the breeches we ordered for James were [perfectly] custom sized. So all in all, another good lolita online shopping experience.