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

Celebratory outfits!

Haha well, that title may be a tad misleading, but I am celebrating and there are outfits.

Firstly, in celebration... this blog had hit 40k pageviews! That's a lot ^__^ I know I haven't been updating much lately but I'm starting to get back into the swing of things. Part of that involved deleting nearly all my old non-lolita related post, because I realised I want this to be a pretty much lolita centric blog. Occasional bits of other stuff, but not much. If you want to keep updated on my photography and modelling work, you can like Soul Capture and Caroline Roli Cherry on facebook.

Secondly, I decided to do something I don't normally do to commemorate those awesome 40k views... outfits! The typical "I've laid lolita clothes out on my bed" kind of outfits. Normally I prefer putting outfits on but I've been really sick lately so that's a no go. This is actually my first time doing outfit shots like this, and it was kind of fun. Kind of annoying, but kind of fun.

First up we have a casual sweet-with-a-hint-of-sailor outfit! Blouse is F+F, skirt is modified from a Bodyline JSK, shoes are Bodyline, wrist-cuffs are handmade and everything else of offbrand. I would probably do plaits to go with this, maybe with pink ribbons on the ends if I felt like being extra cute.

Second is a classic [or maybe a bit gothic] lolita outfit, with the beret from the first outfits sneaking in at the top! The blouse if by The Floral Notebook, the socks are from my recent Taobao haul, the necklace that you can't see too well was made by a friend of mine, the bracelets are offbrand and everything else is Bodyline. I'm actually really keen to wear this outfit out, though hopefully I can find a hairpiece in a red that matches.

I have a question, readers mine: When I get back into the swing of blogging more regularly, what kind of posts would you like to see?

Review #27.2: Taobao Haul

And here is the second part of my Taobao/Yoybuy review... the items themselves! You can read about my experience with Yoybuy here.

I got a blouse, skirt and velvet bolero from Magic Tea Party, a Classical Puppets a-line petticoat, a coat/jacket thing, four pairs of those ubiquitous t-strap with bow heels, assorted socks, three different clip-in bangs and some coloured make-up. And some red velvet for lining a coffin...

I'll start with the Magic Tea Party stuff and, long story short, they're great. Picture spam time!

This skirt is made of a canvas-y feeling fabric and is nicely thick and heavy with a slightly rough texture that I love. It is very sturdily constructed and I love it! The only thing I'm not much of a fan of are the buttons on the waistband, but they are easily removed. It's very accurate to the stock picture.

Why rotate this Blogger, why?

The bolero is also quite nice, though since I'm tall the sleeves are short. I'm going to cut off the ties across the chest because I don't like how they look. The lace trim is decent and the velvet feels nice. The crown lining is really cute as well!

The blouse is really nice, especially for the price. The fabric is smooth enough and the laces all feel like cotton and are nice and soft. For lack of a better way to say it, it feels like a cheap blouse but a nice cheap blouse. Quality wise I'd put it way above Bodyline, maybe on par with F+F's nicer stuff. For the price I think it's rally good. The construction is sturdy and the design is really nice. And the sleeves are long enough!

Overall, my comments on the blouse can be applied to all the MTP items - they don't feel expensive or super high quality, but they are really nice for the price and they are certainly all pieces I would recommend.

Next up, the gorgeous hoodie jacket!

This thing is absolutely gorgeous! So soft, so warm, so comfortable! It's really well made and the materials seem quite nice as well, the lining is a bit thin and shiny but it's just the lining so no biggie. However, unless I misread things horribly this is smaller than the indicate measurements, as I can't close it and I should be able too. However, it's adorable open so I'm okay with it. Also, I think the fur is really rabbit fur, which I know some people care about.

And the next thing, all the bangs from this store.

Stupid Blogger and your stupid rotation...

I'm not really a wig expert, but these bangs are fantastic. Thick, smooth, only shiny in a natural way, an appropriate length, well made, neat and they clip on easily and stay secure on my head. I've already worn the far right pair in a photoshoot that'll be up on our facebook page soon and they look perfectly natural. I did get the colour slightly wrong though, they are all darker than my own hair so I'm going to see if I can lighten them at all.

Then we come to the shoes. The ubiquitous t-strap bow shoes that everyone and their mother has ^__^

They are still a bit crumpled from postage here, but as you can see both colour and style are accurate to the stock photos. They are bit cheaply made, they aren't super comfortable, and there are a few flaws, such as the strap being a bit too big for the buckles, but for the price they are really quite good. But I screwed up the sizing [I'll learn one day, I swear] and got them too large, so I'll be listing them to lacemarket soon. However, I'll be swiftly replacing them with ones in the correct size, because I think they're great shoes.

This review is already very long, so I won't go into the Classical Puppets petticoat, the socks, the make-up or the velvet but overall I had a very enjoyable first taobao experience and plan on making another haul as soon as I can!

Review #27.1: Yoybuy Taobao Shopping Service

Recently I placed my first Taobao order. I did lost of research into the different shopping services and found conflicting opinions of all of them. In the end what prompted my choice of Yoybuy was the comparative ease of their shopping cart and checkout. So I went ahead, added all the things and went for it. This is a review of Yoybuy, a review of my actual items will come soon!

My initial order, minus the Magic Tea Party bolero.

The first thing I noticed was that the ordering system/checkout was different to how they describe it in the "how to order" section of the site. Basically, you add items to your cart and when you go to checkout it estimates the weight of your parcel for international shipping and adds the service fee. You also have to pay a percentage cost depending on your payment method. I used PayPal for the security and that adds an extra 4%. So basically, you pay all costs, including shipping from Yoybuy to you, upfront, unlike how their tutorial says you pay for the items first and then organise it into a parcel to be shipped and pay for that later. I'm sure if there is a discrepancy in what the actual postage cost is and what you are billed it is taken care of when the time comes to ship your package.

As far as ease of use goes, I thought Yoybuy was great. The site is very simple to use and though I didn't take advantage of this feature, there is live chat available to well, chat about items you're interested in. However, sometimes the add to cart function is a bit glitchy, and will add more of an item than you actually want and when you try and delete extras from you cart it's confusing so you may have to attempt adding something a few times before it add correctly. This was frustrating, but I still prefer it to filling out a spreadsheet!

Once I had placed my order, everything showed up in a neat list showing if it was processing, arrived or packed. There was a chat function for each item, which Amy [my...person, not sure if there's a proper word for shopping service employee] used to update me on any changes, which there were a few of which I'll go into now.

I placed my order on the 5th of June, then logged in on the 7th to check the status to find three new messages. Two were in regards to the shoes, telling me I needed to pay an extra 16CNY in shipping and that they would take five days to be made. I said that was all fine and was told I would pay the excess when the time came for my order to be shipped. The third message was regarding a skirt I had ordered, telling me that the seller was offline and that Amy would "contact continuously". I sent back: "That's okay. If you can't contact them by the time the shoes are ready can I cancel this skirt from the order?" The skirt was promptly removed from the order and I was refunded. I was a bit annoyed, but I could have been clearer in my message and also wasn't super in-love with the skirt so I didn't really mind. The refund [made up of the skirt price, it's domestic shipping and it's portion of international shipping and service fee] went to my Yoybuy account, from which you can withdraw money to PayPal, a credit card or other payment methods so it's not lost money. However, this was a miscommunication and so if you are using Yoybuy be very specific in messages.

On the 10th I checked my order and there was a message that Amy had received only four pairs of the harlequin socks instead of five and that she would refund the amount. I said that was fine and asked which pair it was, and she let me know. However, I didn't get the refund immediately, I actually got it when all the items were with Yoybuy and ready to ship. I had to pay a little more for the shoes's shipping and the refund was processed as I paid the extra.

As for shipping, there were several options [I don't remember all of them off the top of my head] but I chose EMS. It was marked as sent on the 13th [through my tracking didn't start updating until the 20th] and I received the gigantic box on Tuesday 24th. So it wasn't even three full weeks from placing my order to getting my items, which I think is a fantastic turnaround. I confirmed receipt of my package on the Yoybuy site and received some "Yoybuy points" which can be redeemed for credit to your account, which I thought was a nice touch.

All in all I was really happy with Yoybuy, the website was simple to use and all communication was prompt. However, it would pay to keep an eye on the totals you're paying, as I got confused with all the changes with my refunds [also, the weight of the parcel went down, then back up and I'm not sure if I was charged anything for the changes] and there is a chance I may have lost a few dollars by not keeping a close eye on things but I honestly don't know. So it may be a good idea to take screencaps of your order totals if you want to keep an eye on things as once there is a change you can't see the previous totals.

So, in actual conclusion I like Yoybuy. It's a straightforward, if imperfect, site to use and they are easily contactable in regards to your order. Their fees seemed comparable to other taobao shopping services and unless something goes wrong I'll be using them from here on out.