Stocking Shock Tricorn Review- Positive

Today I am going to review the tricorn I recently purchased from Stocking Shock (A.K.A Peacockalorum). You can order from their etsy store, but I placed my order through here- http://www.stockingshock.co.uk/
The Etsy store can be found here- https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Peacockalorum?ref=l2-shopheader-name

Ordering Process

The website is quite easy to navigate and the layout is simple. The payment buttons are big and easy to spot. However, it is not immediately obvious how long your items will take to make and I ended up having to go on the Etsy store to get a rough time estimate. The other issue is I am unsure how good the seller is at communication. During my order, I got the Paypal email and then didn't hear anything at all until the item was shipped. I was hoping to at least get some acknowledgement from the seller that they had seen my order and were in the process of making it. So communication could have been a bit better. My hat took approximately 2 weeks to make, which is what I expected from reading her Etsy information. I get the impression that the owner prefers orders to be placed through Etsy, as that is where you get the best information.

Shipping

As Stocking Shock is a UK seller, it took just one day for my hat to arrive. I had been given a tracking number as well but in the end I didn't really need it. It will probably prove more useful to those in different countries! I suppose it is nice to have that extra peace of mind though.

The hat was packaged in a sturdy cardboard box and was taped up very well. It was very secure. I did give the box a gentle shake to see if the contents moved about inside, and they didn't. That may be because the box size was a bit of a tight squeeze to fit my hat in. But thankfully, the hat arrived safely and wasn't squished.

Inside the box, the hat was wrapped in a layer of bubble wrap and then a further layer of tissue paper. I love the colour of the tissue paper!

And here is the hat! I ordered the Dauphine hat in ivory with cream lace and ribbon. It costs £30 plus shipping and I think for the price you get a decent quality hat. I ordered this hat after seeing Sammi model it at Frock On last year, so I had a rough idea about what to expect. I noticed the colour seemed a bit darker on the website pictures,  but I was happy to see my hat was the colour I wanted. Stocking Shock offer a wide variety of colours, so there are many different combinations you could make.

The ribbon rose is such a beautiful shape. The ribbon used is of a good quality, as is the lace. I love the feather too.

I did notice a slight crease in the ribbon here, but with the style of hat I guess this is to be expected. It is not really noticeable.

The hat is secured in place with this plastic comb at the back. At first I was worried that the plastic comb wouldn't be enough to hold it in place but the comb is very firm, and it felt quite secure on my head. I do wonder if the comb may feel a little uncomfortable after a while, as it is very stiff. I found I was able to place the hat on my head very easily and it didn't move about. The sizing of the hat is good as well.

The stitching is very neat and I couldn't see any flaws with it at all. The lace sits nicely along the hat rim. It does sit a little strangely on the corners, but not enough to really stand out or look bad. Overall, I would say the hat construction is of a good standard.

Although I already have stuff from Stocking Shock, this was the first time that I had placed an order online through their store (previously I have either been given their stuff as presents or brought from conventions). Aside from the quietness of the seller, this was a very positive experience. The item was made in the time frame I expected and was packaged very well. As for the hat itself, I am very happy with it and I feel it has been made very well. Tricorn hats can be expensive too, so I think the £30 and shipping price tag was worth it. I would definitely recommend Stocking Shock, but it might be worth placing orders through the Etsy store instead, as I found out afterwards that the Etsy store was more informative.

Stocking Shock review

Recently there has been a lot of talk about the old-school style of lolita and how the fashion used to look. It seems some people dream about a return of the older trends. However, there is one item that still appears to divide a lot of people- the rectangle headdress.

Some people associate rectangle headdresses with cosplay or itas. They are big and bulky, they make you look like a maid and they usually have a lot of OTT lace and frills. Admittedly, a lot of cosplay lolitas do wear this style of headdress but I personally don't like to automatically categorise every single one of these items as ita. A lot of thinner styles of rectangle headdress have been spotted recently and because a lot of lolitas are wearing bows right now, this sort of style makes a nice change. Despite being a bow sort of girl, I have always wanted just one rectangle headdress. So when Christmas came my husband purchased a pink rectangle headdress for me. I will leave it up to you to decide how good my husband's choice was.

My husband used an English based company called Stocking Shock. www.stockingshock.co.uk He purchased the Daisy headdress which costs £7 in the pink colour with white lace. Sadly, I cannot personally rate the Stocking Shock ordering process but my husband seemed to be happy with the process. The website is easy to follow and you can pay using Paypal. It would perhaps be more helpful if there were some more photos showing more of the colour options. Over December the UK was hit with very heavy snow and the headdress still arrived without any problems. When you consider how much a big company like Amazon struggled to get their items out (people were still waiting for orders on Christmas Eve), it is good to see such a small company providing a decent service.

And now for the headdress itself. I apologise for this very dodgy worn photo. I was using the bathroom mirror to see what angle to position the camera and my husband was at work.

As you can see the headdress is quite wide but it sits on my head quite well. To help balance out the width of the headdress, I will probably have to add some volume to the back of my hair. The main part of the headdress has slight padding which I am guessing is interfacing material. This makes a lot of difference because it means the headdress is not floppy which in turn, helps to keep the headdress in place.

Once I give it a little ironing, I think it will look quite good. Although it is white lace and not off-white lace, it is not too bright and I am also pleased to say that the ribbons are not that shiny. There is a lot of lace here. If there was any more lace, it would definitely be too much for me.

A little close-up of one of the ends and a bow. You can see the daisies on the lace here.

And the store label on the back.

My main criticism is there are a few areas where the lace is untidy as if it has been roughly cut. They are not too noticeable unless you are looking very close-up but it gives the impression that the headdress was rushed slightly. I also noticed a few loose threads. The rest of the stitching is very neat and well hidden. The seamstress seems to know what she is doing but there is still a little room for improvement.

Overall, the headdress is good with a few minor faults. I was very pleased that the bows are not shiny and it is definitely better quality than some Ebay costume seller items. The product you get is worth the £7 price but it is not the best rectangle headdress I have seen. I don't regret asking for this headdress. There will be some people who dislike it but it is worth having a look on the website because there is also a selection of bows available. This headdress will probably not become one of my most worn items but as I said above, sometimes it makes a nice change to wearing a bow. I do not intend to buy any further rectangle headdresses but I am happy with the item I received.