Starlight Carnevale by Alice and the Pirates

Today I am looking at Starlight Carnevale by Alice and the Pirates. This series includes 3 dresses, a skirt, 2 hair accessories, 2 pairs of socks, a few pieces of jewellery and a hair clip.

This is JSK I. The bodice looks well fitted. The bodice shape is interesting, but I feel the scoop neck goes too low and wont suit as many wearers. But it would look lovely teamed with a fancier blouse or neck piece. I feel the straps could have been slightly thicker as it would look a bit better balanced. The front of the bodice has a ribbon corset. The ribbon used is slightly shiny but otherwise looks fine. I think the ribbon spacing looks well done and not too bunched together or crowded. The corset is topped with a large ribbon bow. The bow has a beautiful shape to it and it is lovely how the solid ribbon is layered with sheer gold patterned ribbon on top. The size is a little big but it really suits the dress. However, if you dislike the bow it is detachable. Aside from the low scoop neck, my main criticism with the bodice is the gold lace used to line the neckline and inside of the straps. I find this gold lace to be very cheap looking. The back has a panel of shirring which is concealed neatly with a ribbon corset. The stock photos show the bell shaped skirt has plenty of volume and flares outwards nicely. The overall shape is lovely. The skirt is kept very simple, so the print is displayed very well and is the main focus. The bottom hem is finished off with pretty gold lace which is much nicer than the neckline lace.

This is JSK II. The bodice shape is cute. It generally seems well fitted, although in some of the stock photos the material looked a bit baggy in places. The straps are very thin and kept plain. I feel they could do with being a little bit thicker, but not by much.

The main area of bodice is kept plain and so the focus is on the heavily detailed neckline. The dress would probably look too OTT with a waist bow but maybe a thin belt would have livened things up a bit without being too distracting? However, the neckline is very pretty. The 4 bows at the base of the straps add a lot of interest. Four bows may seem a bit excessive, but they are made of very soft, floaty ribbon. They sit nicely on the dress and are positioned well, so I think the dress looks fine with 4 bows. I feel the really pretty thing here though, is the lace used for the neck line. The lace used is heavily detailed but the details are crisp. And the pearls hanging from the lace are pretty too. The pearls are a good size too.

The back is fully shirred, which means there is nothing covering it up. Great for size flexibility, but maybe not as appealing to look at. The stock photos show that the skirt has a lovely shape. It has a good length to it too. It looks like it has plenty of volume and flares out well. The skirt details are again kept simple, so the print really does stand out. The bottom hem is then finished off very neatly with more of the pretty neckline lace.

This is the OP. I was really disappointed when I saw the bodice shape in the stock photos. Something about the shape just doesn't look right to me. I can't quite figure out why that is! The lower waist line with the V shape doesn't look very appealing either. The sleeves are a good length but I feel could do with being just a tiny bit puffier to make them look a bit less lifeless. The sleeves are finished with lace and ribbon bows. Whilst the sleeve bows are very pretty, I feel they need to be a lot smaller and add too much bulk. The lace on the sleeves is also a bit wide, but at the same time it does match the dramatic looking lace on the bodice.

I have very mixed feelings about the OTT lace on the bodice. The neckline lace itself is nicely detailed and of a very good quality. It also sits well on the dress. However, it also feels very fussy looking and a bit frumpy. I am also not sure I like that neckline shape. The neckline is finished off with a large ribbon bow. It is done in the same way as JSK I with the 2 different ribbons layered on top of each other and the bow shape is again very pretty. However, I don't feel this bow sits very well on the dress where it is positioned. It also looks a bit too big. The neckline lace makes such a big statement already that maybe the ribbon bow is not needed at all. I would also lose the 2 lines of lace running down the bodice to the waist line. They just don't seem to work.

The back of the bodice has no shirring and looks very plain. The skirt shape is very pretty, but I feel the waist line spoils it a bit. However, it has plenty of volume to it and should hopefully flare out quite well. The skirt part is fairly simple, so the print is displayed well. The back of the skirt has a chiffon bustle. The bustle tiers are a good size and well spaced out. The tiers are layered well and the softer material means it should hopefully not add too much volume to the wearer's bottom. The bottom hem is also finished off with a simple chiffon ruffle.

And here we have part of the print close-up. This series is available in sax blue/orange, navy/pink, black/purple and red/black. The combinations make for some interesting coloured skies. I personally found the colours of the sax blue and orange version didn't flow and blend together as well as the 3 other colour ways. My personal favourite is definitely the navy/pink version because it makes for a pretty twilight sky, although the black/purple is definitely a close second! As for the print itself, I love the buildings because I feel they have been drawn really well. The river and the street are also lovely. It reminds me of a painting I saw in a gallery once. I am a little uncertain about the characters in the print though. The masked cats look a little out of place next to the more human looking figures in the print. The clothing and masks the characters are wearing though are very pretty. I like the starry background and the way it introduces golden accents in to the print. However, I feel the confetti flying everywhere spoils things a little.

I really don't know how I feel about this series. The print is very pretty but I doubt it is something I would wear. The colour combinations may be a bit overwhelming for some people's tastes. This series probably wouldn't be a good option for a less confident or beginner lolita. As for the dresses, I was a little surprised by how casual the JSK designs are but actually, I think this may be for the best. I think the JSKs would look lovely teamed with one of Baby's more OTT blouse designs. The OP offers a slightly more dramatic option but I am really not a fan of that dress design. Would I buy this series? No, I probably wouldn't. I would go for JSK I in navy/pink if I did. I feel this series had a lot of potential but in the end, I am not convinced by the final product.