First up today is Dream Marine. This series includes an 2 dresses, a skirt, a head bow, socks and tights.
This is the OP. The bodice is a bit baggy but with chiffon material you don't want it skin tight anyway. I think the bodice shape is quite nice and the sleeves have a very pretty shape to them. The sleeves are super puffy and soft looking. I wouldn't normally like this sleeve length but I think it works here. The sleeves are finished off neatly and then topped with ribbon bows. I think the bows here could have been a little bit smaller but they are a cute shape. The waist area is topped with a large bow which is made from some very shiny material. I don't like the size and to be honest, I think the bow looks completely out of place. It sits really awkwardly on the dress. The dress could have worked really well without the waist bow there at all. I also feel the lace running vertically up the bodice isn't needed but it doesn't look too bad and the lace does suit the dress. I do however, love the neckline. The lace along the neckline is beautiful and it has been layered well. It sits so well too. The neckline is then finished off with a ribbon bow with long tails. The main bow part is cute, but I think it looks a bit small in size compared to the ribbon tails. The ribbon is also a little shiny but otherwise the bow is quite cute. It also sits nicely on the dress. The back of the dress offers no shirring, so the size flexibility is a bit limited. There is a zip running up the back which is a bit exposed near the top because there is a small sheer panel. I don't think the exposed zip goes with the soft floaty dress style but thankfully it isn't too noticeable. The stock photos show the skirt shape has lots of potential and suits the rest of the dress. There is lots of volume and it has plenty of flare to it. The skirt design is kept simple and the print is displayed beautifully. The bottom hem features a sheer ruffle with a lot of gathering. It creates a floaty bottom with lots of movement to it, which is quite a good match for the dress theme.
Here we have the JSK. The bodice is a very pretty shape although I think the neckline shape could have been a little softer. There are 2 sets of straps. The halter neck straps look a decent width and fit well with the shape of the rest of the dress. I think the other set of straps are a bit pointless though. The halter neck straps are detachable but I think they look better when they are used. Perhaps I would tuck the other straps in and not use them. The bodice design is kept very simple because it is dominated by a large bow at the neckline. It reminds me a lot of the Dream Sky JSK. The bow may be big but I think it works very well with the dress. The bow has a cute shape and I like the drop charms hanging from the bow. The material used is again a bit shiny though. The back is fully shirred which means that the shirring isn't covered by anything. The back is quite short though, so the shirring doesn't stand out too much. The back of the halter straps finish off with a generous amount of fabric to tie a big bow. The stock photos show the skirt has plenty of volume and flares outwards generously. The overall shape is quite cute and the skirt has lots of potential. The skirt is made up of many tiers but with an all-over print, you still get to see the print fairly well. The tiers are well spaced out and sit nicely on top of each other. The tiers don't affect the overall silhouette too much either, so it doesn't look too lumpy. The bottom of each tier is finished off neatly with thin lace.
And finally, here is the print close up. This series is available in white, sax blue, lavender and navy blue. The white version is a little unusual, but I think all 4 colours work very well with the print. As for the print itself, it is definitely growing on me. At first I thought it was a bit peculiar looking and was basically a shell version of Dream Sky. But the shells are well drawn with plenty of detail to them. I love the use of colour on the shells too and the multiple colours give the shells extra depth. The bubbles, fish and coral fit in nicely around the shells. Everything in the print really works together and nothing really stands out as being out of place.
So I have to admit that I like this series a lot more than I initially thought I would. The dress designs are cute and the floaty chiffon is such a good combination with the shell themed print. Nothing in the series, down to the dress details and colour options, looks out of place and everything compliments each other. Would I buy this series? After taking the time to properly look at it, I would definitely consider buying it. It wont be going on the wishlist just yet but I wouldn't mind owning it. I would choose the JSK in navy. I think the colours on the navy are absolutely gorgeous. It does not surprise me that this series was a 'made to order' after it sold out so quickly.
Next up today is Marine Kingdom. This series includes 3 dresses, a skirt, a head bow, socks and a bag.
First up is the OP. The bodice looks well fitted and the overall bodice shape is quite cute. I love the sleeves. I think they are the perfect length and the shimmery overlaid fabric gives them a cute amount of puff. I am not usually a fan of scalloping, but the neckline scallops have been well shaped and are kept fairly subtle. The scallops really match up with the print theme anyway. The thin neck ties help to pull things together, although I don't feel they are really needed. They are detachable if you don't like them.
In this picture we can see the bodice details better. You can see just how much of a difference the overlaid fabric on the sleeves makes to the shape of the sleeves. The sleeves are finished off neatly with pretty lace and topped with bows. I don't think the bows are really needed but they have been kept fairly small. There is a large waist bow which has been made from slightly shiny fabric. The bow is a cute shape and holds its shape well and I like the little pearl details on it too. But looking at the bodice in its entirety, I don't think the waist bow is really needed either. The bodice has plenty of detail without it and I actually think the waist bow looks a little out of place. The bodice is divided in to panels, which has been done neatly with lace. My only complaint here is that the line cutting across the chest area needs to be a bit lower down as that is going to cut awkwardly across the chest of any larger chested wearer. The centre of the bodice has some generous ruffles of lace. I think the amount of gathering and shape that the lace creates here is perfect for the dress theme. It sort of mimics frothy water. The top of this lace where it meets the chest panel is topped with a small ribbon bow. Again, the bow material is quite shiny. Otherwise, the bow is a cute shape and size. I like the pearls that top the chest area. I feel they are nicely spaced out and not too overdone. If there had been more pearls than this I think it would be too OTT for the already heavily detailed bodice.
The back is fully shirred which means there is a good amount of size flexibility, but the shirring doesn't look too attractive and is very exposed. The stock photos show the skirt has a lovely full shape to it. It has loads of volume and flares outwards well. The skirt design is kept simple and so, the print is displayed beautifully. With all that bodice detail it is good the skirt is kept simple too, as it would look very overdone if the skirt has too much detail. The bottom hem is then finished off with the most beautiful shell themed lace. The shell shaped lace is one of my favourite bits of this series!
Next up is the Tiered JSK. The bodice looks fairly well fitted but not very bust friendly. Perhaps the scoop neckline sits low enough that it wont be an issue. The straps are a decent width and suit the style of the dress. Both the straps and neckline are topped with lace, which sits nicely on the dress. There is an added extra bit of lace around the shoulder area which gives it a nice bit of extra shape. There is a ruffle on the inside of the neckline as well which gives an extra added bit of detail, although I don't feel this was entirely necessary. The main part of the bodice is kept simple with just some lines of lace breaking up the empty areas and giving a panelled appearance. The neckline is topped with a large solid coloured bow. The bow material still has a slight sheen to it, although it doesn't look as bad as the bows on the OP. The shape of the bow is quite nice and it doesn't droop much. The lace along the edges of the bow is a nice touch and I like the raindrop shaped pearls hanging from the bow tails. The bow is finished off with further pearls, although in the stock photos the pearls look quite poorly placed. The back is fully shirred again, which means the shirring is very exposed. The stock photos show the skirt has a beautiful rounded and full shape to it. There is loads of volume and it flares out excellently. Although the skirt is tiered, the join has been done so smoothly that there are no obvious bumps. The join has been covered with a line of pretty lace, which also sits very flatly on the dress and again looks very smoothly done. The join is then topped further with some small bows which are a cute shape and size. The thing that bothers me about the skirt design is the random large printed bow which appears near the top of the skirt. The bow may be well made but I think it looks very out of place and it isn't needed at all. Thankfully, it is detachable and I would definitely take it off. Despite the skirt detail, the print is still displayed very well. The bottom hem is then finished off with the pretty shell shaped lace again.
This is the Standard JSK. The bodice seems well fitted and the overall shape is quite nice. The straps look a bit thin and flimsy but the thinner straps suit the style of dress. The straps are lined neatly with lace on the outsides. They are also topped with bows, but I think this is a little too OTT and fussy. The waist line is lined neatly with pretty lace. The lace is very soft and sits well on the dress, so it doesn't really add any bulk to the waist area, which is a bonus. The waist area is also topped with a ribbon bow to one side. The bow is a cute shape and size and decorated with a couple of pearls. However, unlike the other JSK, this bow is not detachable. I think this bow works a lot better than the bow on the other JSK though. The bodice features a ribbon corset. The ribbon is well spaced out and the edges are topped neatly with some pretty lace which helps to conceal everything. The chest area switches to a solid coloured part. Again, it might possibly cut across the chest or sit awkwardly on some wearers. The chest part has a ruffle at the bottom which works fairly well. I feel the bows are a bit too OTT though. There is one larger one with 2 smaller bows above it. The bows are cute but I would have preferred either just the bottom bigger bow or just the smaller very top bow. The neckline is finished off neatly with lace, which gives it a softer edge. The back features a panel of shirring which has been topped very neatly with a ribbon corset (finally!). The stock photos show that once again, the skirt has loads of volume and flares out well. It will hold more than enough petticoat. The skirt design is quite simple and the print is displayed very well. The bottom hem is then finished off with the shell lace again.
And finally, here we can see the print close up. This series is available in pink. lavender, sax blue and navy blue. The colour choices are not really that surprising and all 4 colours work well with the print. As for the print itself, I feel it is beautifully drawn, but perhaps there is a bit too much going on. I don't feel the non-border part of the print with the rows of gems, rows of pearls and bubbles needed quite so many big details. I would have been happier with just the bubbles and some of the pearls. The border part is also quite overwhelming. I love the mermaids and the seahorses and the frames around them are well shaped. I love all the shells. Perhaps the castles were not really needed though? Or maybe the castles could have been smaller. The pearls and bows at the bottom of the print are beautiful and it is such a neat way to finish things off.
So overall, this series is quite a contrast to the much simpler Dream Marine above. I actually feel there is too much going on. Everything looks so beautiful but there is just too much of it. I would have preferred a simpler print and I also feel there is too much going on with the dress details too. Would I buy this series? Probably not, especially with the Dream Marine release. I can see why this series would be popular though. If I had to go for something I would choose the Regular JSK in sax blue. I would have possibly gone for the OP if it wasn't for the waist bow.
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