Little Dreaming Sailor by Alice and the Pirates

Today I am looking at Little Dreaming Sailor by Alice and the Pirates. This series includes 3 dresses, a skirt, 3 hair accessories and socks.

First up is JSK I. The bodice seems well fitted and the shape is quite interesting, although I am not sure I like the waistline. Something about the waistline just feels a bit 'off' to me. The straps are a decent width and look quite supportive. I adore the sailor details that top the straps. It has been executed so neatly and the braid and lace looks amazing. This sailor strap detail is probably one of the best ideas I have seen AatP come out with recently. The bodice is broken up in to panels and sadly the print does not line up that great along the seams. The bodice also features 6 buttons, which have a very appropriate anchor design on them. In the stock photos, one or two of the buttons don't seem to be positioned that well, but here is hoping this will be corrected on the actual dresses. There is a bow on the neckline, which sadly is a bit shiny. It is a cute shape though, and the size is nice. There is an AatP charm dangling from the bow too, which is a nice touch. The back has a panel of shirring, which has been topped neatly with a ribbon corset. The stock photos show that the skirt has an alright amount of volume and I like the slight bell shape. The skirt is then kept very simple in design, so the print is displayed perfectly. Although the bottom hem is very neat, with just a thin line of lace, I would have liked AatP to have done something with the trim on the straps along the bottom hem. I think that would have given the bottom a nice little pop of colour and it would have shown great continuity as well.

Here we have JSK II. The bodice material looks a bit loose and puckered in places and I also think the bodice shape is a bit dull. It is too square and boxy looking. The straps look a very supportive width and I like that they have been neatly lined with some thin lace. There is a 'belt' at the waist, which helps to nip in the waist area. I am not overly impressed by the gathering and the incredibly dull buckle on the belt though. The gathering just looks like a crumpled mess and the buckle is just a basic plastic circle with no interesting details to it at all. There aren't any details on the main part of the bodice. I can understand AatP maybe thought too many details would look too much with the chest area details, but some simple details such as pleats could have added a bit of interest to the bodice without looking too OTT. The bases of the straps have 2 bows with a line of pearls dangling between them. Whilst I think the choice of ribbon has a pretty design, I don't think it is the best choice for these particular bows. It isn't the best choice for creating a great bow shape. The pearl chain is a good length. Maybe there could have been a double chain? The pearls then dangle downwards slightly on one side, which is then finished off with a really cute anchor charm. This chain is detachable, but I think the dress looks too plain without it. The back is fully shirred, so there is plenty of size flexibility, but it isn't so attractive to look at. The stock photos show that the skirt has a good amount of volume and it flares outwards well. In the stock photo I chose it looks as though there maybe isn't enough fabric at the bottom of the skirt, which causes the bottom of the skirt to curve inwards. I have a feeling it may have been the choice of petticoat used for the photo though, as the skirt shape looks alright in the other stock photos. The skirt is again kept simple in design, so the print is displayed excellently. The bottom hem is then finished off with a thin line of lace which is so thin, it is barely there. 

This is the OP. The bodice looks a bit baggy in places and I am not fond of the bodice shape, which I think the sleeves are responsible for. I feel the sleeves need to be a bit shorter and a bit puffier. It just looks a bit frumpy as it is. I do like the way the sleeves have been finished off with the stripy tricolor part of the print though. The bodice is mostly kept very plain, probably because AatP wanted the focus to be on the sailor collar and the print. I do feel the bodice needs a bit more than just having a simple line of pearly buttons running up the middle though. Some thin lines of lace could have easily livened up the bodice a bit. The sailor collar itself is a cute shape and I love the neat line of braid, but it is perhaps a bit too small. At first I didn't like the shape of the neck tie, but it has grown on me. It is quite a mature looking shape. The fabric used for the neck tie is still really shiny though. The neck tie part is detachable, but I personally feel the dress looks too plain without it. The back offers no shirring, so size flexibility is very limited. From the back, the sailor collar is a neat square shape. I think the triangle of the neck tie poking out underneath looks a bit messy though. The stock photos show that the skirt has a reasonable amount of volume and it flares out well. It should hold enough petticoat to create a decent shape. The skirt is one again kept simple in design, so the print is displayed really well. The bottom hem is then finished off with a line of braid and some thin lace. This is how I feel the bottom hems on the other 2 dresses should have been done. It looks a lot better.

Finally, here is one bit of the print...

... and another bit. This series comes in yellow, rose pink, blue and black. I think the yellow version is absolutely vile. I guess they were aiming for a slightly golden tone, but at the risk of sounding a bit crude, the yellow colour reminds me of a slightly dehydrated person's urine. The other 3 colours are a great improvement and at least work well with the print. As for the print itself, it seems to be a load of objects copied and pasted on to a plain background. It doesn't feel as though a great deal of thought or effort has gone in to the print. Also, some of the objects in the print feel a bit random. There are the usual marine themed items such as anchors and ships, but then there are items such as the teddy bears and musical instruments which look very out of place. The print also looks really grainy, which is probably due to the fabric choice. On a more positive note, I guess the tricolor at the bottom looks okay. I don't think this has been used in the best possible way either though.

Sadly, this series is a bit of a mess in my opinion. This post started off on a positive note with the cute sailor straps on JSK I, but it sadly went downhill from there. There are things I would change about each dress design and I really dislike the print as well. So I think it is safe to say that I wont be getting this series. My top choice would be JSK I in black (as I quite pleasantly surprised by how nice the black version looked). Overall, this series feels really lazy. It is a shame, because Alice and the Pirates have put out a couple of decent sailor themed pieces before. So this series really feels like a disappointment.