Innocent World Beatrice Reserve

New up on IW's reserve page is the "Beatrice" series... That sound, kind of like a dull thud, was my jaw hitting the floor. It's like a gothic print with a classic color scheme, and I'm absolutely dying over it. There's a skirt, JSK, and long JSK version of it.



There's a second, nerdier impetus for how much I want this dress, stemming from the name perhaps. From the Beatrice archetype in history, including Dante's Inferno, to stranger, modern incarnations of the name, like The Golden Witch Beatrice, it's a name that I admire and adore.

Also check out how GORGEOUS these socks are. I'm generally a proponent of solid color socks or tights, but these are just too pretty.

Since I said I'd hold off on Lolita for the rest of the year (and failed miserably, see incoming winter JSKs from R-series) I'll wait until the pieces show up in the store itself, probably mid January. Hopefully, I will be working again too that month so I don't feel as bad.

But please, don't let it sell out on reserve! D: Lolitas, want to weigh in on how popular this series might be?

Damn you Innocent World, holding my heart (and wallet) in your clutches.

Baby x AatP x Kuragehime

OMG
Dying a little bit right now. Baby and AatP is doing a collab with Kuragehime, currently on reserve: heeeere(how did I miss this??)

Vampire Forest (Alice and the Pirates)

Print post! The much talked about Vampire Forest samples out and... well, there are very mixed reactions. From what I've seen, the majority (of lolitas in the english speaking community) don't care for it much. There were a few things working against it.



1. It's an all over print. As you can see from the close up, it has some lovely art. But the composition is wrecked by putting it all over.
2. Dress designs are... meh. Not to mention all the samples are in the 'purple' colorway. I might feel different about the red, navy, or black (actually I like the black the best) but now there is no way to tell.



3. The name works against it a bit, because it's apparently an unofficial successor to Vampire Requiem, which remains as one of AatP's most sought after and valued prints. It also happens to be a border print and have very nice dress designs, so there's a lot of overshadowing going on.

What I do appreciate:
1. The bustle skirt design. It's very elegant and I can see it working well in the red colorway as a dramatic gothic piece.
2. The socks. I might actually get those. They are absolutely gorgeous.

In a perfect world I would have... The bustle skirt in black. Oh and the socks. The socks are awesome.

Moonlight Night Print Reserve (Metamorphose)

Well, it's September finally. School is starting, the days will get shorter (but not cooler, for a while yet), and the leaves will turn. So let's talk about new prints! One that certainly does echo with the imminent arrival of winter is Meta's "Moonlight Night" featured in this exquisite antique white JSK design. I love the twin ribbon bodice. In terms of the print itself, it's definitely Meta, but evokes words like "Iron Gate" since it does feature well... a gate.



But it's done in a very subdued way, gold on black or gold on white (or grey on black but that is really hideous in my opinion, see below). It's about 50% gothic, 40% sweet and 10% classic, if I had to break it down. This will probably be very popular with lolitas of mixed styles since it's so versatile.



What -doesn't- work is the grey on black colorway. Or, I think they were going for 'silverxblack' but went too dark, and now it is just not eye catching nor elegant. It's looks... well, mushy is the way I'd put it but that doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Either way, it'll easily be the least popular colorway unless it looks drastically different in person. I don't think it would have been too gaudy to use silver accents, or even just have whitexblack.

In a perfect world I would have... the JSK in goldxwhite ... it's such an elaborate, fun design

Twinkle Journey Print (Metamorphose)

Let's talk about prints, shall we? While I was away it looked like some major brands put out some new reserves. First up is Twinkle Journey from their Autumn Collection



As you can see it features Unicorns, swans, stars, and the fabric is apparently textured too. I feel like this will be an incredibly popular meta print, if only because lolitas have been wanting a unicorn print for a while now. The colorways are interesting too, featuring a standard black, a navy, and a bordeaux. A sweet print in gothic/sweet colorways, I'd say.

And Meta never lacks in variety, featuring 1 OP style, and 3 jsk styles, one with corset lacing and a shirred back, one fully shirred, and one half shirred. Interesting to note that the half shirred only features the print in the middle, that reminds me of the Btssb Marie Antoinette OP cut.

At any rate, this is a great print. The stark white on black and purple is reminiscent of swan lake, but takes different influences. It reminded me a lot of Disney's Fantasia (the original).

In a perfect world I'd have...... the bustle back pinafore JSK in navy (pictured above)

Romantic Rose Reserve (IW)

Brand new reserve up today, a lovely newJSK and skirt launching a new "Romantic Rose" Series.


It features a delicate and incredibly detailed floral print in beige, chocolat, and black. The pink flowers add a jewel like elegance, while the cut is classic with a twist of sweet. It's a halter design which helps it's size versatility and is shirred in the back.

While not really noticeable on the beige, the crosshatch design on the black and chocolat colorways remind me a bit of memorial cake and jewel butterfly. It does make it a little intense on the eyes, which is why I vastly prefer the beige version. The skirt is also very simple, which is great for showing off the intricacy of the chocolat and brown versions.



I think it's interesting how most of the time floral prints are all over, but this is an all over plus border floral print. Also the alternating floral/solid and print/motif designs pattern in releases by most brands. At any rate, this is a lovely summer print for those who like pink, but not necessarily pink colorways.

In a perfect world I would have... the JSK in beige x pink

In other news, incredibly excited about Dream in a midsummer night~ Has anyone put one on reserve?

The dream in a midsummer night skirt (AatP)

The skirt sample is up and I think I'm sold on this print. It is just really too gorgeous to pass up. Especially in ivory. Hopefully I'll be able to snag a reservation.

Midsummer's Night Dream Reserve (AatP)

I can't breathe because this print is so gorgeous.It's a new reserve from Alice and the Pirates, available here From the close up of the print, it is intricately detailed and probably my favorite AatP print to date.

I really don't mind that it is about as inspired by the play as Disney's adaptation of The Little Mermaid (aka very loosely), this print is gorgeous. It has 2 JSK designs and 1 skirt (no sample pictures) and comes in black, navy, and ivory. The windows and the butterflies are absolutely love.

I'm not a huge fan of this JSK design, but that is just my prejudice against bows. The first one luckily only suffers one, and is relatively small. I can see that in ivory being a beautiful classico-gothic affair. Or just gothic, no one ever said it always had to be black. I really wish they had a sample of the skirt up, because I would be severely tempted. If I wasn't going to Otakon and then moving next month... Yeah yeah, cue stereotypical expense woes. But budgeting is a fact of life, and who knows, maybe it will show up on y!j or closet child in a year or so (sob).

The reservation starts on 7/16, I suppose I have till then to contemplate.

In a perfect world I would have the 1 bow JSK in ivory

Metamorphose's Gardening Teddy Reserve Print

Meta has a new reserve print up for their autumn collection here called Gardening Teddy.

It features an all over print of cute little teddy bears and pink doves flit about very serenely. A subdued sweet piece that could work for classic-sweet. And as usual they have a variety of OP/JSK/Skirt designs and accessories to mix and match (I love this about meta). There is an antique white, pink, and brown colorway. Bears also seem to be a recurring theme with Meta, remember the honey picnic print from earlier this summer? If that's sweet-sweet this is the more grown up sweet-classic. Pity we won't see a classic-gothic bear print (or will we?) Also I've completely run out of unbearable puns to make (or have I?).

The brown OP is actually quite lovely, if only the three vertical lines down the middle didn't break it up so much. I like the more defined waist style OPs rather than the high waist (seen here in pink)





I'm actually quite fond of this print, maybe not ready to jump the reserve wagon quite yet, but if I see it pop up second hand I'll be severely tempted. I love classic and sweet-classic hybrids. Here's an interesting accessory they are putting out, a bandana headdress.

Reminiscent of the kerchiefs women would wear, it has a quaint appeal. I think it looks cute in brown, but it might be a little off putting in the other colors. But good on meta for not just making the same headbow over and over (not that there's anything wrong with headbows). For this print, this 'fundiform' headdress matches quite well.
In a perfect world I would have...
The antique white or brown pinafore JSK!

Innocent World Antique Book Series (Reserve)

Innocent World has a new reservation print series, Antique Book. Ohmygosh, my first dream dress is the violin print from IW and this is now my second (following my two big loves- violin and books). Cliched, I know. For Antique book there is a bordeaux and a blue version, essentially the color of the trims.
While I'm really in love with the cut and the color, the buttons are kind of... awkward? I like the long blue dress, but the skirt is also adorable. I love the bow in the back. In the natural light it looks like cream, but with the stock photos it looks like the design is almost green.





















But the real winner of this new print has got to be the book bag. Wow, what I would give for this! I would have preferred it was oriented sideways, like most book shaped bags are, but that makes it unique. Gosh, I am just so in love with this IW line. Well, one more item for the dream list.
In a perfect world I would have... the antique book skirt and bag (ﾉ>w<）ﾉ ┻━┻

Innocent World Georgette and Gina JSK

This JSK went up for reserve a few days again from Innocent World which at the time of writing, is my favorite lolita brand next to Mary Magdalene. This JSK comes in beige, black, and pink. Only the pink and beige have stock photos, but it's pretty easy to imagine it in black.
There are some interesting things about this JSK, first off it has a high babydoll cut, combines chiffon and "sparkly dot" print (although that is probably only apparent up close). It also sports a silhouette that is not cupcake/bell or A-line/princess. And coming in at only 66.8cm in total length, this is not for tall folks. Honestly this is very nightdressy, although I'm sure it works perfectly fine as a lolita coord. It is nice to see a different shape from Innocent World, this looks really cute with a short sleeve blouse and wristcuffs, and absolutely doable for a day out.

Here's the reserve page

In a perfect world I would have...
the pink JSK (because I can't keep white clean, sorry, just bad luck)

While Georgette is a reserve, Gina is a new JSK available from IW. In beige, chocolate and black, this is another solid coloured JSK with a similar shape. According to the description it provides a "a sweet A-line silhouette," but that comes more from the front panel. As seen on the model there is a hint of an A-line, but the sides fall heavily straight downwards, so it has some sort of empire waist/A-line hybrid thing going on there. I still think it is very charming, if that shape suits your frame. For my complete lack of curves, it does seem to go hand in hand for me. It is also closer to the standard JSK length at 88cm total length.

In a perfect world I would have...
The Chocolat JSK, because I love warm tones.