Fortune Tarot by Metamorphose (and a Quick Thank You)

I would just like to say a quick thank you to Sammi for making us a Lolita Valentine this week! We are number 34- http://loli-valentines.livejournal.com/192451.html#cutid1

Today I shall be taking a partial look at Fortune Tarot by Metamorphose. This series includes 5 dresses, 4 hair accessories, socks, tights, lace sleeves, wrist cuffs, a scarf and a blouse.

This is the Lace Up Pinafore JSK. The bodice looks well fitted and is an interesting shape. I love the deep heart shaped neckline. The straps are a good width and look quite supportive. Perhaps they could have been a little narrower, but I think they looks fine. The straps feature a ruffled design with an additional ruffle on the outside and are topped with gold braid. I do feel this is a little OTT and I would lose the gold braid and the outer ruffle. The waist line features a line of tulle. The tulle sits quite neatly and is quite well shaped. The soft material means it doesn't add too much bulk to the waist area. The bodice features 2 ribbon corsets, which are both lined with gold braid on either side. There is just something about these bodice details which looks a bit messy. Perhaps it is the way the ribbon corsets start quite wide at the top and then get narrower as they get towards the waist. The gold braid lining these details really sticks out and looks crooked. The positioning of the ribbon corsets also feels a bit off and I think they need to be placed further apart from each other and more to the sides. Overall, the ribbon corsets look poorly done. The middle of the bodice features a line of buttons but they blend in so much with the background that there really isn't much point them being there. The neckline features a small ruffle, which has been done subtly and softens the neckline. The neckline is then topped off with a large solid coloured bow. The bow is quite large but I think it actually quite suits the dress. The shape is cute and the bow sits really nicely on the dress. The koshibo chirimen fabric used for the bow is a bit too shiny though. The back of the dress is fully shirred, which is a little messy looking. However, the shirring does blend in a little bit with the all-over busy print. The stock photos show that the skirt has a good amount of volume to it and flares out well. It could perhaps do with being a bit longer in length though. The skirt features a 'gathered' design which pulls up the printed fabric and gives the bottom an interesting hemline. I have to admit, I am not really a fan of this style of skirt when used with prints as it tends to obscure the print. On this particular dress you can still see the all-over print quite well, although I think the gathered parts of the printed fabric look messy. The bottom hem of the printed fabric has been finished off with a ruffle of tulle, which matches up well with the waist area. Underneath the printed fabric, there are 2 layers of the shiny koshibo chirimen fabric. I think the shiny appearance is a lot more obvious on this larger area and I do dislike it. The fabric has been layered reasonably well though and the layers seem to sit okay on top of each other.

Here we have the Button Down OP. The bodice looks like it has a very cute shape and is fairly well fitted. The sleeves look a suitable length and have a subtle, but reasonable amount of puff to them. I think the simple style of cuffs works quite well and it matches the use of solid colour on the bodice. The high waist is topped with 2 small bows on either side. I like that they are kept quite small and subtle, as you don't really want to add much bulky detail to this area. The bows are a cute shape too. The bodice features thin lines of lace, which match up with the edges of the collar and cuffs, so that is a nice bit of continuity. The front middle of the dress has a line of buttons going the entire way down the dress. I feel this button line spoils the dress a bit. The button line is somewhat obscured by the print on the skirt part, but when it runs down the solid coloured bodice, it really sticks out. I am quite glad that there is the bow on the collar, as it really helps to conceal the button line. The bow itself is quite cute with a pretty shape. It sits nicely on the dress too. It is detachable, but I personally would leave it attached to conceal the button line. The dress has a collar. The collar is a very cute shape and I like how the edges have been lined with very thin lace. The lace also accentuates the shape of the collar and makes it stand out. My only criticism is I think the collar is a bit too big. The back of the dress has a shirring panel, which hasn't been concealed with anything. The solid colour does help the shirring to blend in a little bit though. The stock photos show the skirt has a very pretty A-line shape to it. It is a good shape to pair with the bodice. The skirt has a reasonable amount of volume and flare, but not as much as the other dresses. However, I think I prefer this more subtle option as the print is already quite a statement in itself. The skirt is kept simple and the print is displayed beautifully. The bottom hem is then finished off with matching thin lace.

 This is the Princess OP. The bodice seems fairly well fitted. I'm not overly fond of the bodice shape though, as I think it looks a bit frumpy. The neckline is a very basic square shape and the sleeves look awkward. The bell part of the sleeves has a nice amount of flare to them but overall the sleeves feel far too fussy. With bows, lace, tulle and a very busy print the sleeves are overdone. Also, I don't feel a princess sleeved dress works with this sort of print. I certainly wouldn't usually put tarot cards and princesses together. The waist area has a solid coloured panel which I think is a good thing, because it at least helps to break up the busy details a little bit. However, I don't like the waist bow on top of the solid coloured part as I feel it looks awkward and out of place. It also looks too OTT and sits strangely on the dress. The waist bow doesn't have the most appealing of shapes either and the pearl chain dangling from it is poorly positioned. The solid coloured part runs all the way up the bodice and down the skirt, and it is lined with a tulle ruffle on either side. The tulle does help make the edges look neater, but I think the tulle is too wide. On the bodice, the solid coloured panel has 3 ruffles of tulle running across it which are additionally topped with lines of ribbon and printed fabric bows. Again, these details look crowded and too OTT. The bows are a cute shape but need to be a lot smaller. Thankfully these bows are detachable and I do feel detaching them does improve the bodice somewhat. The back has a panel of shirring which is topped neatly by a ribbon corset. The stock photos show the skirt has loads of volume and flares outwards well. The overall shape is quite pretty and despite being tiered, the tiers have been layered reasonably well. I do feel this is one of those dresses where you would have to choose your petticoat carefully though. The solid panel part of the skirt is topped with 3 wide ruffles of tulle. The tulle is layered quite nicely and sits well here and I suppose it does help to balance out the tulle on the bodice. The tulle ruffles to the side of the solid coloured part are topped with 6 small bows. Although I have criticised how OTT this dress is earlier, in this instance I think the dress looks better with the 6 bows still attached here. The bows have a cute shape to them and I just wish they were a little bit smaller. The tiered skirt design actually works quite nicely with the print because the print is made up of squares anyway, so the print is easy to break up in to layers. My only issue is the top tier has been over-stitched instead of under-stitched, which I think looks a bit messy. Despite all the detail, the print is still displayed fairly well at the sides and back. The bottom hem is then finished off with a line of tulle, which at least carries on the continuity of tulle elsewhere on the dress.

Here we have the High Waist Pinafore JSK. The bodice looks somewhat well fitted, although the neckline plunges far too low. The neckline shape is too harsh and a softer heart shaped neckline that ends higher up would have been better. The straps are a suitable width but the way they attach to the dress looks a bit strange. The straps are also very plain looking and at the very least I would have liked some thin lace lining them. The bases of the straps are topped with bows, but the shape of the bow is too simple and they look far too basic. The dress does not have a defined waist line and instead there are lines of thin lace lining the lower chest area. I do feel the lines of lace make the bodice look like a bra shape and it isn't the nicest looking of bodices. The neckline is topped with a double layered bow. I don't think the layering of the different coloured materials works for this bow and once again, the bow shape is far too basic. The bow is detachable but I think the dress looks too plain without it. The back of the dress is fully shirred which means the shirring is quite exposed. But the shirring does blend in a little bit with the print. The stock photos show the skirt is quite full and flares outwards a lot. I don't feel the overall silhouette flows that well though. The skirt design features 3 gathered ruffles at the bottom. At the top of the top tier there is a line of gold braid and small bows which blend in very well with the rest of the dress. The tiers are well spaced out and sit fairly well on top of each other. The very bottom tier looks like it could do with a bit more volume, although that may be due to the petticoat Meta have used for the stock photos. My main issue with the tiers is that from the photos, you can see that the cards in the print have not been lined up that well and some of the cards have been cut in half.

Next up is the Low Waist Pinafore JSK. The bodice is very well fitted, although the shape is quite simple. I also feel the neckline shape is quite harsh and needs to be softer. The straps are a good width and look quite supportive, although I'm undecided about the way they have been attached to the dress. The low waist features 2 lines of lace, which create a 'belted' appearance, although this detail does blend in a fair bit. I think a solid coloured belt would have looked better because it would have made the other solid coloured parts of the dress look a bit more balanced out and it would have also broken up the busy print. The waist details are topped with a solid coloured bow made from more of that koshibo chirimen fabric, which again looks quite shiny. The bow is quite a simple shape, but looks quite cute. I think it could have been placed on the dress a bit better though, as it sits a bit awkwardly. The bodice features many lines of thin lace, which gives the bodice a panelled appearance, although this detail is a bit lost in the print. There are also some small bows running up the centre of the bodice which are well spaced out. However, they do look a bit wonky in some of the stock photos and also, the very top bows are obscured by the massive neckline bow. The neckline bow is a pretty shape but it is far too big. I don't feel this big bow is really needed and the little solid coloured bows on the bodice could have been enough. The neckline is lined with gold lace, although it isn't enough to soften the harsh neckline. The back has a panel of shirring which has been topped very neatly with a ribbon corset. The stock photos show that the skirt has loads of volume and plenty of flare to it. There is the potential to create a very full, rounded shape. I just wish Meta had placed the waist line higher up and done a longer skirt instead of doing this low waist design. The skirt design is kept very simple and the print is displayed brilliantly. The bottom hem is then finished off with a line of thin lace and then a ruffle of the solid coloured material, which looks very neat and matches the rest of the dress.

And here we have the print close up. This series comes in Moonstone and Amethyst. The moonstone colour is a mix of ivory and browns and the amethyst features more purple colours. Both colours are quite pretty and interesting. I think I prefer the colour of the Amethyst more as the purple really adds a bit of extra depth. However, I do wonder if the purple would be difficult to co-ordinate. As for the print itself, I really love the tarot card theme but I think it could have been executed a lot better. The cards themselves have some very pretty designs. I especially find the moons and suns appealing. The only cards I dislike are the ones featuring cats, as I feel they stick out a bit too much. I also feel the borders of the cards could have been more decorative. The layout is also very basic looking and perhaps a bit dull.

I think the blouse from this series is quite possibly one of the weirdest blouses I have ever seen! I am not sure this is the best print to make a blouse from as it is very busy. Printed blouses are an interesting idea, but unless you are wearing a skirt, the blouse is mostly going to be obscured by a dress anyway. Plus if you wore a printed dress the wearer's outfit would be a print overload! So I do feel this sort of blouse has very limited wear. That being said, I am sure some of the more hardcore Meta fans are absolutely loving it!

So overall, I feel the print could have been better and the dress designs are not very appealing. I don't think the koshibo cherimen fabric was the best choice, as it is quite shiny, and the bows look too simple. This is not a series that I would personally buy, which is a shame because the tarot theme could have been very interesting. If I had to pick a dress though, I would go for the Button Down OP as I feel this simpler dress design works the best with the busy print. In my opinion, it is the most balanced of the dress designs. One thing I did like about this series though, was the scarf and I am gutted it sold out so quickly!