Closet Child Haul and Coords

I've been wanting to expand my cutsew and outerwear collection, and when a minor dream item of mine popped up on Closet Child, I decided to add some of these things to my order.  The dream item was Metamorphose's Bubble Bath frill skirt in lavender.  I still want a version of this series, in lavender, with the print on it, but I love how toned down the frill skirt is.  I now have 3 Meta skirts in the same cut, which are not the print version, in lavender.  They are all slightly different shades, but still, I think I have an obsession!

Here is the haul:

Metamorphose Bubble Bath Skirt:

This is in such nice condition...it doesn't even really have a feeling of wear, except for the wrinkles!  I love that I can pair this with pink...but I'm also thinking it would be nice to match the blue of the bubbles!  Even though I have several blue tops, none of them are this shade.  That's something I will have to keep an eye out for.

Emily Temple Cute black cutsew:

This was ridiculously cheap for how good of condition it's in...maybe ETC cutsews aren't very valuable.  At any rate, I had really been wanting a plain, but loliable, black short-sleeved cutsew all summer, and now I finally have one!

Metamorphose Jacket:

I wanted this specifically to go with my American Dream skirt!  This isn't the original American Dream jacket (I kind of doubt I will ever see that up for sale), but it's close enough to the design that I can get the look I'm going for.  I can also see myself wearing this outside of lolita, if I ever have occasion to.  Perhaps to a con, or other nerdy event in the fall or spring.

Baby the Stars Shine Bright mint cardigan:

This item accomplishes my goal of getting more mint stuff, and getting more cardigans.  It's also my first Baby cardigan, and I am so enamored with the quality and style.  It's super-thin, and also rather small, though I think the short length will work well with lolita.  I have few main pieces that can actually go with mint, however...that's something I want to keep in mind as I choose colorways for new main pieces that I may want.

Innocent World sailor collar cutsew

This item was deeply discounted, I presume because it is missing the detachable navy bow that goes at the neckline.  I should be able to replace it with something similar if I ever feel it's necessary.  I mostly ordered this for the price, because I don't have any cutsews in this color, and because I really like wearing last's years sailor-collar cutsews from IW that I bought on sale.  The sax used is kind of hard to match, but I do have a handful of pieces that it will work with.

After admiring my items, I wanted to get right to work putting together quick coords for each of them!

First, the Meta jacket and ETC cutsew:

Jacket, skirt: Metamorphose

Cutsew: Emily Temple Cute

Headband: offbrand (possibly Japanese indie brand)

Shoes: Secret Shop

Socks: taobao/ebay

Naturally, I wanted to use the jacket and cutsew exactly as I envisioned: with American Dream!  The socks are also something I bought specifically for this skirt.  To tie into the music theme, I used a headband that I got a while ago that has a music not attached to it (not easy to see in this pic).  The seller claims she got it in a lot of accessories from Japan, but it contains no tags whatsoever.  I think this outfit has a 50's vibe to it, and I wonder if I could get away with wearing it for some kind of non-otaku and non-lolita event.  Time will tell...

Skirt, blouse, socks: Metamorphose

Cardigan: Bodyline

Headbow: Infanta

Shoes: Secret Shop

For my main piece coord, I wanted to tie in the dark pink in the skirt with a Bodyline cardigan I have which doesn't match many pieces (the pink is just too harsh).  When the cardigan does match, though, it really pops!  The night carnival socks match both the pink and the blue of the skirt, even though they are such unique colors.  I love when brands have some consistency, even across release years!

Cardigan: Baby the Stars Shine Bright

JSK: Bodyline

Headbow: Infanta

Shoes, Socks: Secret Shop

Okay, so I have such an obsession with pink and mint paired together, that I might need intervention!  Unfortunately, items of that nature make up probably less than 2% of my wardrobe!  I wish I had a higher-quality JSK to go with this look, but this will have to do for now.  I would love to have a solid pink JSK from Baby, though!  I think I would probably wear a white blouse with this outfit too, but I didn't feel like arranging one into this photo.

Skirt, bag, headdress, socks: Metamorphose

Cutsew: Innocent World

Shoes, wristcuffs: Bodyline

One of the pieces I have that matches my new IW cutsew is this 2003 skirt from Metamorphose.  It's a shame that it is so terribly faded, and is probably the worst condition item I own, but I am thankful just to have it, since it's so old.  The bag is the most faded of all, and the headdress still has most of its original color, so it's kind of a mismatched set, but the fading on the skirt as actually what makes it match the cutsew!  I chose other items that may have been seen in 2003, like wristcuffs, lacy knee socks, and white shoes matched with white socks.  I really did not think it was okay to match white shoes with white socks until I realized just how common this was in old-school street snaps!  I think I might like to use one of the detachable white bows from the Meta blouse in my coord above with this cutsew, since it is supposed to have a bow at the neckline (though it was a navy one).

I am incredibly satisfied with my Closet Child order.  The items are in such amazing condition that they don't even feel used, and I didn't find any stains on them!  The price and condition were much better than I usually get from other sources (especially Wunderwelt, where I often get items with stains that won't come out).  One disappoint from this order is that I also ordered a lavender cardigan from Fi.n.t that I was told was out of stock...they had sold it through one of their other outlets.  It would have been a nice addition to my collection at only 1500 yen, but I'm very happy with the items I got!

Metamorphose Pretty Egg Set and First Aatp/Baby SF order!

Today I'll be showing some stuff I got lately!

First up is this year's summer set from Metamorphose, Pretty Egg.  I chose the JSK set in powder blue:

The set came with the JSK, the OTK socks, and the headbow!  I started laying out this coord pretty much as soon as I ripped the package open; I was just so excited and had been planning out this coord in my head ever since Meta announced the set!  For the rest of this coord, I used a cutsew from Bodyline, shoes from Secret Shop, offbrand earrings and some handmade bracelets.

Compared to last year's Egg Art set (which I also own in the black medium-length JSK cut), this set is less of a value since it does not include a blouse.  However, it is worth noting that the Egg Art set used a print that was a re-release, whereas this is a new print.  Being a quarter Russian myself, I love Pretty Egg and Egg Art since they have such a traditional Eastery feel with their Russian-style eggs.  They always release them after Easter is over, though...oh well.  The cute critters on this dress really do make it seem more like a springtime release, but I am going to wear this coord this summer at least, rather than waiting until next Easter!

The OTKs in this set will be super useful in my wardrobe, since I have alot of pieces with sax elements and the gold mixed in makes them more unique than most sax/offwhite socks I own.  The headbow won't be that useful with other coords...but it is really nice, with wires that allow me to make just the right shape.

A little while after I got my set from Meta, I received my very first order ever from the Baby the Stars Shine Bright store in San Francisco!  I have order from Baby NYC once before (after all, I am much closer to NYC than SF), but this dress was only available from the SF store.

Alice and the Pirates Labyrinth of the Clockwork World JSK I in navy:

This was an instant dream dress from the moment I saw it...I'm so glad I was able to get it in the colorway I wanted most, though I love every colorway of this release!  I could gush about this dress for a long time...I think my favorite thing about this dress is the ladder lace which is kind of an old-school thing.  The print is not old-school at all, but I get that vibe from the lace at the hem and on the straps.  And the lavender details are my very favorite shade of my very favorite color (purple)!  I hadn't really noticed that there were music notes on the dress until I received it, but I was really excited by that since I love music themes (though I don't have many accessories for that theme...or for the clock theme).  

As shown in the picture, I also got 2 pairs of OTK socks from Baby, which I added to my order so that I could get free shipping.  The first pair, Arabesque Trump, I thought would go with the dress because of the gold accents and because card suits are often associated with Alice (even though this particular dress does not feature them).  The second pair I got because I love the colors and star themes, and also because Kumya-chan's glitter Milky Way is another dream dress of mine (only in navy, though...which is sold out everywhere).  Even if I never get that dress, I will still use these OTKs...in fact, I have already planned out a coord with them for the upcoming 4th of July weekend!

My service from Baby's SF was absolutely phenomenal.  I got my order in 2 days, and I live on the other side of the country!  They also included a beautiful Alice and the Pirates shopping bag, and included a really cute illustration on the package!

Dream Item GET: Metamorphose American Dream Skirt

Recently I got an item I never, ever thought I would see for sale, let alone acquire, Metamorphose's American Dream skirt in pink!  This skirt was released in 2004, and when I bought it, it was the first time I have seen it for sale in the year I've been into lolita.

Metamorphose American Dream

And here it is!  I was so excited I took my pictures (and even wore it) before even getting the wrinkles out!  Even finding pictures of this skirt is really difficult, and I wasn't able to find any worn photos of it for coord ideas.

This skirt is not very full, and rather short for a lolita skirt too.  It is able to fit my Leg Avenue petticoat, which I only have for the purpose of filling out older skirts that can't accommodate a modern petti.  I threw together a quick coord using stuff I already have, but I want to come up with something better.  I just need some inspiration!

I'm excited to discover what else I can do with this skirt, and to just enjoy actually having it, and not always thinking about it and looking for it anymore.

Metamorphose Spring Set

Today I got my Metamorphose Spring Set in the mail!  The ad for the set is shown below.  The only thing I was able to choose was the cut and color of the dress; the rest of the items came in random colors, except for the tote bag which only comes as shown.  Let's see what I got!

I choose the off-white puff sleeves OP dress as my main piece.  Here's what I hoped to get from the rest of the set:

Cardigan:  The blue or green.  Last choice would be white
Socks: The cream or white
Hat: The red-ribboned version
Necklace: The red version

Along with the dress set, I also ordered two of their Elegant Necklaces, which were on sale, in pink and blue.

These necklaces will get alot of use, since my lolita necklace collection is very small right now. That's something I need to work on, and these necklaces will help get me there!

Now, let's see what I got! (Aside from the dress)

As you can see, I was sent blue stuff!  I was super, super excited about the blue cardigan, since that was one of my first choice colors, and was the part of the pack I was most interested in!  The fabric is just amazing, it's so soft and comfy and it is sparkly which makes it so unique.  I loved the uniqueness of the green cardigan, but blue was one of my top choices too since it will match several pieces I own.  I also got the hat and necklace in blue, which weren't my top choices, but I do have a beautiful cardigan to pair them with now!  I was excited to see the socks were white because I know I will get alot of use out of them.  I have a similar pair from Bodyline that I wear all the time, but they aren't that nice so I've been wanting a fancier pair.  The tote bag is pretty big.  I'm not sure yet what I will use it for.  The bow with the daisy on the hat is removable, so it can be worn with just the blue ribbon, which increases the number of coords it could go with.

After admiring my new blue stuff, I tried on my dress!

Here it is, the Candy Bottle Puff Sleeves OP in off-white.  I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the dress and realized that the off-white color is actually a light dusty pink.  It doesn't appear that way in photos (and is not listed as such), but it goes alot better with the pink ribbon details, which I thought clashed in the stock photos.  In fact, it is because of those pink ribbon details that I didn't buy this dress when it was on Meta's 50% off sale (and now I'm super glad I didn't cause of the Spring Set)!  The dress has tons of shirring and is really comfy.  The fit is a tad loose, but it does have ribbon ties in the back which make it just right!

Next, I tried the full set together!

I don't think I would have chosen to coord this dress this way, with all the blue, but as far as sets go where there are many color possibilities to get, it's not bad.  I would prefer to see the dress with a pink cardigan and accessories like the necklace I just got with the pink stones, and these accessories together with a dress with more blue in it, but there will be plenty of time to use these items that way!  For tonight, I decided to just enjoy my dress set as it came!

Overall, I am very happy with the set I got!  It was definitely worth it, and I am just in love with the cardigan.  I wish I had it in every color!

Old School Acquisition: Meta Music Note Skirt

Today I got in the mail an old school piece from Metamorphose, a music note skirt in sax from 2003.

 The skirt was being sold as a set with the matching headdress, which is in excellent condition, and the matching bag which is very heavily stained.  The bag was included for free since it is in such poor condition.  I will try to spruce it up, but I'm not getting my hopes up.  At any rate, the skirt was listed as being in very good condition, but in reality it is quite faded.  This is especially noticeable when compared to the headdress, but especially when compared with the fabric sample (which the seller still had, somehow!), as seen below.

 I was really disappointed by the fading, but I really didn't spend that much on this set, and I still think the price was fair given it came with the headdress in such nice condition, and given that it is 14 years old.

The reasons behind why I wanted this set are somewhat personal.  This is now the oldest piece I own, trumping my Innocent World music notes embroidery JSK by about 4 years.  I am an older lolita, and I just got into the fashion last year.  However, I am a hardcore otaku, and I have known about the fashion for many years, since high school or maybe junior high.  Had I gotten into lolita when I first found out about it, this set may have been one of the things I would have worn.  It came out around the time when I think I would have been ready to start buying brand.  I was starting my first part-time work and getting started with my first credit card and checking account.  I think this is the kind of coord I would have worn as a high schooler.  I am the same size as I was then, and my hair is the same too, so with my face blocked out, it's not hard to imagine that this is about how it would have looked.

The shoes may not be accurate for the time.  I have a pair of rocking horse shoes, but they are black, so they wouldn't match.  The skirt is on the shorter side on me, and also includes a built-in hard tulle petti which I think looks like the right amount of poof for a street fashion lolita piece of the era!

In reality, I didn't have many cute clothes as a teen.  I had no means of transportation to get to conventions, so I had no need to cosplay or dress up.  Perhaps me buying this set is me trying to make up for lost time, but regardless, I love these pieces and even with the fading, the skirt is wearable.