[Bodyline Review] Cut-out Lolita Boots (S506)

Cut-out Lolita Boots [link]
S506
("dbrw" aka dark brown)

Heel height: 2.3in (6cm)
Total height from heel: 11in (28cm)
Front platform: 0.6in (1.5cm)


When Bodyline first released photos into their "new" section on their Rakuten site these were instantly popular. The style was cute, unique, and very detailed for a pair of Bodyline shoes. I knew that I wanted to try them out as soon as I could buy them. They were super cute! I had been wanting to purchase a pair of lolita boots that were no the usually knee-high-with-a-couple-of-bows style many "lolita" boots tend to be, I was even pondering ordering some of the wedge-heeled ones (though I wasn't totally in love with them) so these dropped at the perfect time for me!

I ordered these on the 9th of February via AIR mail through Bodyline and received them on the 26th. The tracking actually said the package was still in customs on the 27th lol. So I'm starting to wonder just how accurate tracking can be. So long as my stuff even makes it into US customs I'm pretty happy ^^;;

Now onto the actual boots!
(*Note* I had to leave the tissue and foam supports in these boots to take photos of them due to how soft the material is.)

[Bodyline review:] Knee High Rose boots (SHOES225/s503)

Knee High Rose boots [link]
SHOES225
("owh" aka White)

Heel height: 2in (5cm)
Height from heel: 14.6in (37cm)

The boots were shipped, often as bodyline does, without a box. They were wrapped in tissue paper with a rolled foam insert to keep the shaft of the boot more rigid during shipping. I highly suggest you save the foam for when you store these boots!

I'll cut straight to the chase and say it now: THESE BOOTS ARE EXTREMELY STIFF! The material they're made of is NOT forgiving at ALL and will hurt your ankles if they wear in the "wrong" way D:
I decided to replace my laces with ribbon as the lace felt cheap and waxy to the touch. I figure there is  good reason for this but aesthetically I also prefer the ribbon. I have never worn the roses on the boots themselves as I found the clip backs will leave marks in the material. I have clipped them into wigs and on headbands though and they look very cute that way! I also received one of the roses with a missing hinge piece and thus couldn't even use it :T

The zip on my boots are sometimes fussy and require a good tug to get them up all the way. I also suggest that if you have larger calves that you do not purchase these boots as the top straps have zero flex and only a little room to velcro them larger. The tongue also has very little material to it so it will not be able to cover any gaping if you have large calves.

*note* I've discovered after many wears of these boots that one of the tongues isn't correctly placed within the boot so it causes just the bottom part covering my foot to slide sideways and pop out of the lacing a bit. It's more than annoying as, again, the material is very stiff and it starts to hurt the top of my foot :

Rose clips, how they work, and the broken one...

Dream Sky Stake Out: PART 2/2

I got it!! I can't believe it I actually got the items I wanted! ! But before this, let me tell you, there is a funny story about my purchase.

I had woke up about three hours before the shop I'm japan was to open. Having some time to kill I decided to watch more Merlin (my current TV show addiction.) All the while I was still refreshing the page and watching the world clock I had set to Japan time on my phone. I believe I got at least four our five episodes out before the dresses went up on the site. At that time I had refreshed the site one more time and got up to check my phone. According to the clock there was still enough time for one more episode before the store in Japan was supposed to open. However after checking my phone I went back to my computer and upon seeing the screen I started flipping out! THE DRESSES WERE OUT AND I WAS AWAY FROM MY COMPUTER!! CRAP!! I went to sit down and nearly fell out of my chair!! However I was able to catch myself and quickly got to refreshing the other pages I planned to buy things from; while they were loading I went to work adding the jsk I wanted to my cart. The accessories I was a wee bit worried about though as I was going for wrist cuffs and I expected them to sell out quickly. I added: a blue jsk, blue wrist cuffs, navy wrist cuffs, and a navy skirt to my cart. I was only trying for the skirt to see if I could get it however it sold out before checkout- as well as the navy wrist cuffs. But the blue pieces were still there! I was able to pay and then sat anxiously for the confirmation email before I started to celebrate. I knew cancellations after payments happened and, again, I was worried about the wrist cuffs being pulled. But everything cleared and all was well!! *PARTY!!*

Peter had already managed to snag me one of the hair barrettes while pages were being prepared Friday. So although I have to pay extra shipping for that alone to know I got what all I really wanted is OK. Much better than paying scalper prices.

Although, speaking of, I do hope to possibly snag a scrunchy from the US release tomorrow as the more I keep seeing them the cuter I think they are. I might try for a skirt but all the other pieces are going to be grossly over priced ;/ I'm not sure if I like any of the jewelry though as its all plasticy stuff for such a high price... however I have a few hours to decide to what to go for if anything else.

I'm pretty darn excited I was able to do this though. I was seriously worried the site would crap out on me :<

Now I get to sit and wait patiently for my order to be shipped... I'm pretty sure they got at least 100 orders within that 5-10 min window where things were up... crazy.

Dream Sky re-release

It's happening. They're re-releasing dream sky. This is legit happening!! :'D I wonder what changes will overall be made (if any.) I see that there is no pink colorway this time and black seems to be left out. All blue toned colors this go-around! Sax, royal blue, navy, and an interesting looking purple/lavender that I hope is an odd printing in the scan I saw because wow it looks kind of ugly... Dare I attempt to even try to get it? Dare I...? Yeah I'M GUNNA TRY!! (good luck to me~~) *DREAM BIG*

Marshmellow [sic] Bunny

 I was never crazy about this dress. It was always just kind of cute to me, but at the same time really rather ugly; it reminded me terribly of Easter in wall the wrong ways. Bunnies and pastels: two things that practically MAKE sweet lolita what it is. However the over all motif just seemed so ugly and weird; and I can't quiet put my finger on just WHY. Maybe it falls under "busu kawaii" for me? Where something is so ugly it becomes cute... lol.

 Really though the only color I was not a fan of was the pink- which often happens. My favorite is black with blue and ivory coming in second. The ivory looks too yellow though against the white bunnies. But I suppose making it white would make the bunnies pretty much just creepy floating eyes/boys/noses... thought maybe that'd be kinda of neat in their own way.

 Some weird power possessed me to buy this dress. I don't know if I'll regret it later or not (and boy do I hope I don't) but I ended up getting the ivory. Black and blue were sold out and like hell I'd buy pink lol. I think black might end up being the ONLY colorway of this dress I end up liking in the end...

BUT IT'S SO UGLY!!

Seriously why the frak did I buy this thing?! I already regret it and AP already sent it out... ugh ~_~;; Maybe I can sell it? I'll steal the pattern off it first though lol

Day Dream Carnival

Scans from a fashion magazine showing Angelic Pretty's two newest prints have been circulating on the internet for a short time now- and even better pictures have finally been released. I'm not sure if AP has announced anything about it but I do know a good deal of girls whom are ALREADY contacting shopping services to procure one of the dresses for them! All they are going off of are some magazine scans!... but really I can see the hype with the print.

It's being referred to as a more "mature" or "grown up" version of Sugary Carnival- which I can see. But at the same time all I am seeing in this dress is the similarity with Bodyline's [fairly popular] carousel dress. Now I'm not saying that Angelic Pretty is copying Bodyline at all- not by a long shot. But the two prints are very similar in a lot of ways: the framing around the carousel, vertical multi-tone stripes, stars on the stripes, and even somewhat the ponies themselves (from what I am able to see.) This isn't intended to be a "who did it better" sort of comparison but you can't deny how similar they are in the raw basic aspects of it.

I will say thought that overall construction wise I KNOW AP's will be done a lot better. The cuts and seams are always done well whereas Bodyline is put together in a much more mass-produced way (side panels not cut so much on the bias to be able to use more fabric, same cut/pattern used for many dresses, not lined, etc etc.) I know AP's will definitiely look more lovely worn but it's really hard for me to NOT see the similarities. I suppose I shall wait until AP updates their online shop before I judge so much though ;x

A lot just seems so over the top and costume-y about this dress that it's really hard for me to like it. I almost get the feeling like it's just much too busy overall- too many elements going on. And I'm not a fan of the colors- in fact the white is the only one I like so far.

Personally I think Gloria was a lot prettier than this dress. And I wasn't a huge fan of Gloria because of the giant gold cross printed directly onto the front of the skirt (also the fat baby angels) but the constructive design of the Gloria dresses looked so lovely and regal. Whereas Day Dream just looks like a little girl's princess dress.

It's pretty but it's not for me at all. One more dress for other girls! Haha
I'll stick to working on acquiring Chess Chocolate :3



BTW scans are NOT MINE. I found them on 4chan... >_>;;

Lolita Resolutions for 2013

So I saw Pawawanpi make a post like this and I really liked the idea! A post about the direction, dreams, an aspirations for my lolita wardrobe. I have a lot of things planned in the future as for lolita but am also flying by the seat of my pants a bit ^^;;. So I think putting things into a list, or even just this post, is a good idea so I can come back and reflect, or just remind myself, of where I want to go and what I want to do with my collection

My goals for lolita in 2013:

~ Obtain at least 2 of the print pieces I really really love.
I have a few of these and while I know it seems almost showboat of me there are reasons I really love these dresses. To me it's not about popularity or anything of the such, as I know a good deal of them are indeed very "popular" by lolita standards. (Chess chocolate mint/ivory jabot jsk, Dream Sky navy/lavender jsk, etc etc) But it's more of me loving the print itself. It's like art to me. If I could just have bought fabric of it I would make all the things!

~ Fully construct at least 3 of the dresses I have doodled out designs for!
It's almost an addiction for me that, ever since I first discovered what lolita was 10 years ago, that I would doodle out designs for a "lolita" dress. Of course so many of them by today's standards would be considered "ita" to a lot of people: lace everywhere and large headdresses (lol). But that's what was popular back then. How -now- I have come up with some seriously cute ideas! Stay tuned for those though (Angelic Pretty should seriously hire me.)

~ Sew my own blouses.
Lolita blouses, in my opinion, are one of those things that are just so insanely prices that it boggles my mind. I've broken down the cost for a dress and so a, newly bought, brand dress generally has a "reasonable" price given costs, labor, materials and such. But a blouse, unless full of details, is just pretty fabric marked up due to a brand's name. And to be honest I don't often find blouses I actually like! So I plan to start sewing my own. This way I can cut and style them better for my body and not run the risk of measurement A or B not fitting right on a bought blouse.

~ Sell off unused/unwanted items
I have a lot of unworn skirts hanging in my closet that I didn't like for one reason or another- generally the waist band's elastic is too strong (curse you bodyline!) and I'm a bit too lazy to alter them. It annoys me because I like the prints a lot but I just can't see myself wearing the skirt at all. This has happened a lot and I need to become very diligent on selling off the skirts and shoes that do not fit either in measurements or style. Lee impulse buys and more LOVE buys!


I know this isn't a remarkable list. But goals are still goals no matter how small :) and I've got to start somewhere!

Chocolate Design

So. I really like doodling out lolita dress designs.

And there's a local meet up on the 19th to go to a chocolate festival together! I wanted to wear something "chocolate" themed because I thought it'd be cute. I know a lot of others girls will probably do the same but that's OK.

Then I remembered... I don't really own anything chocolate themed! ;A; CRAP!
A few hours after realizing that last night at work I doodled out a really cute JSK design! It's simple but interesting enough that I've now become almost obsessive about making it!

I hope to get the fabric this weekend. If not then next weekend- though that may be cutting it close as it won't give me too much time to finish everything *sigh*
Best of luck to me! :D

Stay tuned!

Last Minute Change!

Well. I'm not sure exactly WHY they decided to do so but now I don't have to work New Years Eve!! :D I'm so excited!! I don't have to worry about crazy drunks on the road and I can be somewhat rested after NewCon! ^-^

So that's a huge relief!

That also means, though, that I'll have two 4-day weekends in a row. Which honestly after having... I'm not really sure if I'll want to go back to work >_>;; Seriously. It's going to be really hard to do so.


In other news, speaking of NewCon. I picked out my outfits to wear in the lolita fashion show. I'm thinking that Fruits Parlour (mint) will be a good choice as most girls on the page are showing outfits that will be black and brown based. I know others will do pink as well since that's a very popular lolita color. But so much black? Come on :( there are so many cute dresses in OTHER colors!

Here are the ones I picked out. Not 100% sure about how Sugary Carnival is put together though...

I'm probably going to try out some cream colored socks in my stash to wear with Sugary. For fruits I'll wear light pink tights. I just don't want Sugary to be PINK PINK PINK.

Actually wait... Here we go. I like the cream color!! Now I can't choose what shoes though... light pink or black :(

Augh! I need to update more!

I can't believe I haven't written anything in 6 months or so. I plan to go through and finish up a lot of entries to started and to also sort of "fill in the blanks" on all the other things that have happened. Maybe this won't net me many views or reads on those entries but I hope to at least keep a bit of a record for myself this way. I post so much more on Twitter and on Facebook than anything... but I miss blogging like I used to.

I used to update EVERY DAY after school. But now that my life is just working it doesn't happen so much. Things are still happening but why... why haven't I been adding anything? Maybe it's just as though I feel like I don't have the time to? Even though I often find myself thinking I need to find something to do. Maybe it's the thought that no one even reads these things *laugh* Which to me is a double-edge sword in a sense.

I want my privacy and to be left alone... and yet I want to be noticed and praised. I've got to find this happy medium in there- does it exist? Hmm... well... DUH ^^;;

Quick news is that I'm sick and slept pretty much all day Saturday. I only really got up to use the bathroom twice but I never ate. Not until nearly midnight. I know this isn't healthy in it's own sense but at the same time after all that sleep I do feel a bit better. I'm guessing I have strep due to my tonsils/throat being swollen and my voice sounding like I'm talking with my mouth full of food @_@

I hate being sick. I blame my co worker. He was coughing and hacking and not covering his freaking mouth! Ugh. I would blame public transit but I do my damnedest to not touch anything on the buses. I know how little those things actually get cleaned >_O (once a YEAR. Way to go TriMet)

Anyway I have a bunch more reviews to post. A lot of Bodyline things for shoes and even some wigs. I've noticed my post mentioning the Stocking wigs gets a lot of views due to the links/photos there. I have about 3 now from different stores that I'll be writing a review about so look forward to that :)

If you want to see any of the cosplay goodies I've been up to there's always Facebook and my DeviantArt.

I'll update more fairly soon... >_>;;

Deep thought (dream dress)

I was recently browsing the Livejournal lolita comm sales and saw a post that caught my eye. A lot. Quiet a bit. SO VERY MUCH.

My dream dress. My ~*DREAM*~ lolita dress is being sold. In amazing condition. And no one has said anything on the post. Mayhaps it's because the dress is generally so expensive (even second hand) but this one is in amazing condition. The girl bought it off of Mbok and it still had it's tags on it! Was never worn! It's the 2009 release as well.

Yep. Sugary Carnival JSK in black.

There it was: my dream dress on sale, in amazing condition, staring me in the face. I have the needed funds to purchase it but I'm not sure I want to drop so much on a DRESS. A stupid dress!! Pay nearly a month's worth of rent for a STUPID LOLITA DRESS.

I suppose girls are only willing to pay as much as they deem something worth. Is this dress really worth so much to me? I'm not really sure. I do love it so very much and would gladly purge 98% of my wardrobe for it (need to keep some blouses and shoes to wear with it after all!)

But seriously. I've got to give this some thought. I'm going to try and talk the girl down a bit in price as she -has- removed the tags and worn the dress a few times. I think that warrants at least a bit of a price reduction in my opinion >_>;;

right?


I guess we'll see... I've got a lot of thinking to do.