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Showing posts with label the floral notebook. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the floral notebook. Show all posts

Monday, 28 September 2015

Review #39: The Floral Notebook

When The Floral Notebook announced she was opening for orders briefly again in August I was very, very excited. So excited that I ended up ordering three new blouses, her Princess of the Rose blouse in ivory, sax and black.

Like the first time I ordered from her she was lovely to deal with, though she didn't send me my tracking number until I asked if my blouses had shipped. She easily accommodated my request that my black blouse have black buttons. Her prices had gone up slightly since the last time I ordered from her, and at the time, including shipping it worked out to about $70AUD per blouse. And it was totally worth it.

One of my three new beauties.

Firstly, and of course your mileage may vary on this, the colours are perfect. I asked for "black, sax and ivory" and as we all know in lolita sax and ivory can vary quite dramatically. But I got exactly the shades I wanted; an ivory that is closer to white than beige and a sax that is light and bright but still slightly muted. Obviously, that's just luck or coincidence since I was very vague on colours but it made me so happy that they were so perfect.

How neat is that sleeve elastic?

Secondly and far more importantly, the quality has improved since the first blouse I ordered from her. I've only found one tiny flaw so far, which is where some stitching has been unpicked and left those tiny pin-prick marks, but other than that the sewing is impeccable and they are a very polished and professional product.

Pretty buttons and nice ruffles.

Lastly, the sizing is pretty spot on. I got the XL, which is a little smaller than I needed and it fits just like it theoretically should. That is, it fits well, but tightly with a tiny bit of gaping between the bust buttons. So if you are hovering slightly above one of her standard sizes you should be fine to size down, but if you're right between two sizes it'd be best to go up. Button gaping is fine for me because I am a. losing weight and b. mostly planning on wearing them with JSKs anyway.

The black blouse in a dark classic springtime outfit.

As far as timing went on my order I placed it on the 15th of August, and paid the PayPal invoice she sent on the 17th. On the 17th of September I asked when they would be done as I hadn't heard anything for a while and she replied on the 20th with my tracking number and saying they had been shipped the previous week. I received the package on the 25th of September. So all in all that's a pretty decent turnaround time.

Overall I am really glad I got to order from The Floral Notebook again, and am very pleased with what I got for the price I paid. If I am still wanting more blouses when she next opens for orders I will definitely be getting myself some more.

Thursday, 19 June 2014

Review #25: The Floral Notebook

Recently I discovered the new indie brand The Floral Notebook, run by a girl who makes the loveliest blouses. I hadn't seen a single negative review of her products, so since I had sold of a few older pieces I thought I could get one of her gorgeous blouses guilt free ^__^


On the 6th of April I commented on her page asking about available colours, and she linked me to an image of the available fabrics within a day. I mulled it over for a while and eventually contacted her for the order from on May 9th. Then I was lazy and didn't complete the form until the 23rd, and on the 25th I got a PayPal invoice which I paid promptly. I was told it would take about seven days to make and she'd let me know when it was done. On June 3rd I got a message saying it was done and she's post it that week, and it would take about ten days to get to me in Australia. So I was estimating it would get to me between the 18th and the 20th and lo and behold! It was here on the 18th ^__^

All in all communication was excellent; I always got prompt and helpful replies. However, I never was sent my tracking number but I'm pretty sure if I had cared to ask I would have been given it quickly so I don't really consider that much of a deal. Everything happened in the time frame I was told it would and all in all, customer service wise I'm a very happy camper. Though that's kind of misleading, because quality and fit wise I am also a very happy camper! The fit is perfect, the fabric is quite nice and only a little sheer and the construction is very good. There are a couple of loose threads but it's no big deal. I am really over the moon about this blouse, it's totally perfect for me. For $49US including shipping [which was about $55AU at the time] it's fantastic value.


But. Yes, there are two buts. The first one was obvious the moment I opened the bag - the colour is different to the stock image. It's a lovely, warm wine red, like the sleeve that's in shadow in the stock photo rather than the rest of the blouse. However, it's an absolutely wonderful colour and it actually works better for me than the brighter red I was expecting would have. And I also suppose that given that it's obvious that the stock photo was taken in strong sunlight that the colours may not be accurate. It's a difficult colour to catch on camera, my phone entirely refused to get it right, so I got into photoshop to try and make a colour swatch, which is still not 100% accurate, but is close.


Secondly, there are two slight deviations from the stock image. The buttons are small, round and black unlike the red ones in the stock photo: like with the colour, I don't mind at all but it is different. The other difference was that the neckline ruffled came over the buttons, and in fact had a button hole sewn through it, presumably to keep it in place. I thought this was a bit odd [the buttonhole bit, not the ruffle placement] and have taken a close-up photo to show how it looks. It's not bad, and not even noticeable unless you're really looking at that area, but it's another deviation from the stock image.


All in all I love my blouse. It's gorgeous and it fits me perfectly. However, if I was really expecting exactly what was in the stock image, I would have been disappointed. So if colour and small details like buttons are very important to you [which I imagine they are for most people] please talk to the owner before ordering. From my experience she was lovely and helpful, and so you really shouldn't have any issues ordering exactly what you want from her.

I would heartily recommend The Floral Notebook's blouses and though I'm set for blouses at the moment I fully intend on buying from her again when I need a blouse in a less common colour.