Revelry Purchases Reviewed

Now that Revelry is well and truly over, I have had time to sit down and have a proper look at the items I purchased during the event. So today I will be doing a review of the items I got.

First up is this birdcage headdress that I got from Shinku Rose. I have to admit, this was a bit of an impulse buy and I wasn't too fond of the price tag. I was a bit concerned about how I was going to transport it home though! It was wrapped up in one of those cardboard cupcake boxes and it didn't fit in my suitcase. Somehow, I managed to get it home without damaging any of the fragile parts. The birdcage part itself feels very firm. Despite being made out of some sturdy wood, it still feels very light when worn. It feels good to know that it has this solid frame, although I think the wood could have been lined up a bit neater. I'm also not a fan of the random pink beads used to attach the veil, as they stick out quite a bit with the ivory and cream colour scheme.

The veil itself is made from standard netting. It is no better or worse than what you find on a lot of vintage hats. The veil is nicely shaped. I really like the lace used to fill in the birdcage gaps. It has got a pretty design to it. The lace also seems to be of a good quality. The fake roses remind me of the ones you can get quite cheaply in Hobbycraft. But aside from the roses feeling a bit cheap to the touch, they look quite pretty. I like how the bottom of the cage has been filled with rose petals so the base doesn't look too plain or boring. There is a random brown petal in there. Whilst it does match the colour scheme, it does sort of stand out a bit. Luckily, the sole brown petal is hidden a bit.

Inside the cage there is a bird perched on a swing. The swing actually moves. On the one hand, I like that it moves because I personally think it looks more interesting. On the other hand, it could prove a bit annoying when worn as it may randomly get caught on the lace or rose petals.

My main issue with the headdress is the clip that is used to attach it to the head. To be fair, the clip has been neatly concealed with ribbon. However, the actual metal clip is smooth with no rough grips. It means there isn't very much to "grip on" to the hair and hold it in place. I found the birdcage moves around quite a lot and slips downwards. I am definitely going to have to replace the clips as I found it near impossible to keep the headdress on my head when I tried it out (hence why there are no worn photos. It would not stay in place long enough for me to take one).

If I am being honest I do regret buying this headdress. It is a bit expensive for what you get and there are some things that do need improving. I am still going to use it once I have replaced the clips. I have heard some very mixed reviews about Shinku Rose's quality and I can understand why some people may be a bit put off by their designs. I don't feel this headdress is a complete disaster but I don't think I will be buying from Shinku Rose again unless some improvements were made.

Next up is Sweet and Tiny!

Sweet and Tiny is a store run by Mini Mo, who many of you in the UK Lolita Community may be familiar with. She used to make stuff a while ago but then went a bit quiet for a bit. But she is now back and I am so glad she has returned! I seriously could have brought everything at her stall. In the end, I limited myself to a ring and a necklace. I got this macaron ring which is quite big in size, but I like it! I love how crisp the Sweet and Tiny logo is. It is a very classy looking logo as well and it definitely reminds me of a French Patisserie. The whipped cream has been piped so neatly and everything has been placed so well.

The filling inside has also been piped with care. I love the little pearl details inside the filling too! Mo makes some of the nicest looking sweet jewellery I have ever seen. It also looks quite realistic and even as I am typing this post I am getting hungry looking at these photos!

I like how Mo has also chosen a slightly fancier looking ring base as well. The gold design is a bit fancier than your standard cheap ring bases. Also, with a wider ring base it really helps to balance the heavy design on top.

I also got a matching necklace. I love the little Eiffel Tower charm! You can maybe see that the filling is spilling out slightly but overall, I am very impressed.

Last up is the butterfly tights that I purchased from Himitsu by Syrup. I was very excited about these tights and the £17 price tag was a nice surprise too. These printed brand tights can go for a lot more than that.

So here is a worn photo. The material is a nice thickness and feels lovely when worn. I think the size is quite standard for Japanese "one-size" tights. I am about 5'4'' and even with my bottom-heavy thighs I found I was able to wear these tights quite comfortably. I think these are just a slight bit more comfortable to wear than my Juliette et Justine tights. I wouldn't want to stretch them much further though, so if you are tall then these maybe are not the tights for you.

I was worried that when I put the tights on it would stretch the print and make the pattern look strange. However, as you can see the print is still very crisp when worn and the colour is still bold. This definitely makes these tights better than my JetJ ones. They do start to look a bit faded when they reach my thigh area but not enough that it is that noticeable. And I will be wearing these tights with knee-length stuff anyway! 

They even have a cute bow design on the ankle. Apologies for the dodgy photo angle!

And finally, it just wouldn't be brand tights without some random stuff going on at the crotch area! This lovely little slogan is displayed on my bottom when I wear these. And now that you know the slogan is there, you wont ever be able to forget about it whenever you see anybody wearing them!

So overall I am quite pleased with my small haul. I strongly recommend Sweet and Tiny and Syrup. I really regret not buying more from these stalls when I had the chance. The Shinku Rose birdcage was a bit disappointing though. I really hope that Syrup come over for another Tea Party Club event in the future. Next time I am determined to save up even more money so I can truly splurge on their stuff! It is definitely worth it.

Revelry!

I have finally recovered from my massive weekend in London! So on Saturday the 20th it was the Tea Party Club's 7th Anniversary event called Revelry! Shalisa, Sammi and I went for just the Saturday event. We decided to make a little mini holiday out of it, so we went down to London on the Friday and stayed until the Saturday. We wondered around some vintage shops on the Friday, although I don't think any of us were that impressed by what was on offer. Sunday was a pretty fun day as well. We went around Chinatown and I ended up buying this cute little doughnut plushie in Artbox. But anyway, back to the Revelry event!

I arrived at Gray's Inn nice and early because I went for the model rehearsals. After helping Kyra unpack boxes full of lots of lovely items, we got down to business and practised our walks. Later on we got sent back out again to queue and stuff.

My outfit for the day was in honour of the main guest, Ms Taira from the brand Metamorphose. Fairy Tale is a print which has very special meaning to me so it made sense for me to wear this skirt. Fairy Tale is a Meta series which never really got that much attention but I love it. I teamed it with navy blue and white. Some day I will wear something other than navy blue to these big events! I just happen to really love lavender and navy blue combinations. I wanted the outfit to have a princess feel to it, so I wore my princess sleeve blouse from Baby the Stars Shine Bright and made myself a navy over-skirt based on the ones by Lady Sariel. The over-skirt took me a week to make as I had to do it by hand (chiffon is a real pain to work with!) and unlike the Lady Sariel ones, I stitched a hem the whole way around the edge to make it look neater. The butterflies on the bonnet were also handmade, although I am not sure I like how they turned out in the end. They also got a bit bashed in my suitcase on the way home so I doubt I will be using them again. My new obsession is wearing gloves with lolita. In recent months I have purchased several pairs with varying quality. I wore a crochet pair this time and covered the lacy wrists with Bodyline wrist cuffs because the lace on the gloves was a bit cheap looking. Overall I have mixed feelings about this outfit. I like it, but I loved the outfits I wore to Frock On and Enchanted a lot more. I am going to have to work extra hard next time!

We got inside pretty quickly and whilst everybody else seemed to head upstairs, we decided to go right to the Bring and Buy room. Straight away, Sammi found a cute blouse for a really decent price. I wasn't quite so lucky though. I have been super picky with my wardrobe lately, so I didn't buy anything unless I was absolutely sure I wanted it. I did come very close to buying a lavender Glass Doll skirt by AP and also an Emily Temple Cute macaron print dress but in the end, I held out. It just means I have more money for Sweetie Violet, which I am currently trying to hunt down. 

During the Q&A all the guests introduced themselves. Ai (in the green) later held a presentation about what it was like to be a lolita in Japan. I missed most of that talk as I was recovering from modelling! I haven't heard any more about the talk, so I have no idea how good it was.

Ms Taira from Metamorphose! I can't thank her enough for letting me model for my favourite brand. Some very interesting questions were put forward about how each of the designers come up with ideas for their pieces and whether they ever have any creative blocks. It turns out that all the designers were very confident in coming up with new ideas. It will be interesting to see if any of them got any inspiration from their visit to England and from meeting the international lolita community. The editor of the Gothic Lolita Bible also got asked about an English edition (I don't think the question asker realised this had already been attempted) and whether an online version could be made. Shalisa and I also had our photo taken for the GLB. Neither of us are confident that our photo will actually get picked, but who knows!

Then it was the fashion show (photo credit- Meshya Nightingale). There were 2 models for Grimoire and 6 for Metamorphose. I think it is a shame that the Grimoire models didn't get more of a chance to pose and be on stage because I know a lot of people were interested in the London special early release dresses that the models wore. The 6 Metamorphose models had to stand on stage whilst Ms Taira went in to detail about the dresses we were modelling. I was the first Meta model on stage and I was wearing a brand new print which had never been shown before. I forget what the official print name is. I think it might be something like Night Carnival? As I was standing on stage it felt like there was this really massive pause before Ms Taira started talking (I heard afterwards that the pause before my outfit was longer than it was for the other models!) but I suppose it is a good thing that everybody had enough time to take photos of the Meta models. Dani and I modelled the first new print. We both got given tights and I was pleased to discover that I do fit Meta tights! I think the tights were my favourite bit of my outfit. There was also another new print (I think it is called Moonlight Astrology but don't quote me on that because I was backstage at the time) which Michaela and Manda modelled. Their dresses had all these beautiful details up close and it is definitely going on my wishlist, especially if it comes in navy blue. I don't care who I have to fight to get hold of it- it will be mine!

My friends were hiding up on the balcony and managed to get a few shots of the whole modelling group. 

Shalisa, Sammi and I took full advantage of the photo booth on offer. We had about 4 VIP vouchers and I think we did about 3 goes. This was by far the best of the photos we took. I am so glad we managed to get Old Spice Guy in the photo!

The goody bags had the usual fliers and discount codes inside. We also got given lace badges, mirrors from Syrup and meta, some Meta badges, hair flowers and a poster. Both the poster and the tote bag were designed by Madeleine, who is a part of the Oxfordshire Lolitas. I really love her swan design! It was very appropriate for Metamorphose.

A little close-up of some of the goody bag stuff.

After Ai's presentation we waited around for the raffle. The way the raffle was held was a lot more efficient this time around and we even got some say in what prizes we got. I got 2 prizes because James' ticket won as well (my poor husband was on photographing duty). I picked a white bow with dangling star from Cherie Cerise and because my second ticket was the last of the small prizes, I got given a pack of stickers as well. I really wanted the macaron charm that Shalisa picked but she got picked before me. It turned out that Sammi had made it! Now I just need to persuade Sammi to make me one too! (Sammi, if you see this, I will totally pay for you to make me one!)

And here is a photo of my haul from the day. I have decided to do a full review of the items I got in another post, as this post is already getting a bit long. So look out for a post on these items soon (probably next week).

So overall, I feel this was a very fun day. I still think Frock On has been the best TPC event but I did enjoy Revelry as well. I have made some new friends and got to see a lot of old friends as well. I can't believe another event is over! I am going to have to start creating some meets myself to get over my post-Revelry comedown!