July 2017 Haul- Pre-Birthday Edition (picture heavy)

I always find the period just before my birthday a bit of a strange time with regards to shopping. As my mum was going away around the time of my birthday she gave me my birthday money a few weeks beforehand. But I had to be very careful what I brought in case anybody had gone ahead and brought things for me! There were a couple of things that cropped up that I knew I was unlikely to get as presents, so I had a bit of a shopping spree. I suppose I just wanted to use my birthday money to treat myself, so that is what I did. The majority of today's haul is Larme influenced, although there are a couple of Baby necklaces in the haul as well.

Firstly, I noticed that New Look was having a sale, so I decided that this would be the perfect time to order a couple of skirts that I had my eye on. I also got myself these really awesome lilac coloured jeans (not pictured, but you may have spotted them in my birthday blog post) in the sale too. I am sort of still trying to figure out what sort of Larme style I would like to wear and I liked the look of this skirt in the stock photo. As it was so cheap, I got 2 colours! They are made of a crepe style fabric, which gives them a very interesting texture. I really like how it feels. The colours of the skirts were exactly what I was expecting and looked similar enough to the photos on the website.

They have these little side strap details which I think help to stop them from looking too plain.

The zip line was done neatly and well concealed. I have to admit I did have a little trouble undoing the zip at first, as it was a bit stiff, but it seems to be getting easier with time.

I am really pleased to see that the skirts are lined. The stitching on the skirt is done neatly. I feel these skirts were definitely worth the price paid.

Here is a worn photo. There is just one slight issue with the skirt- where I have lost weight, my waist measurement is now considerably smaller than my hip measurement. So this means that I had to order the size based on my hips and the waist is a little bit baggy on me. I found the skirt looked better once I had fiddled about with re-positioning it, but you may be able to see in the photo that it is sitting lower than my waistline. I am not too concerned about this, but there is no way for me to wear a belt with the skirt. This is something I am going to have to consider when ordering in the future. Luckily, New Look offers free returns so I am still able to order with confidence.

Next is a BTSSB necklace that was on my wishlist. But before we get on to the necklace, look at how massive the box that Japonica shipped it in was! I am holding the necklace up to the box for a size comparison. It is no wonder Japonica charged me so much for shipping! I find it a bit wasteful, but there wasn't really anything else on auctions or Mercari that I particularly wanted. The awkward thing about having a smaller wishlist is that things can pop up out of nowhere but then it will be ages before you find anything else. So it makes shipping stuff a bit of a pain, because if you combine orders you have no idea how long it will be until the next item comes up.

Anyway, here is the necklace! I have wanted the Chained Berry Memoir necklace ever since the series came out. This is maybe the second time I have seen the necklace appear on the 2nd hand market, so it doesn't seem to be that common. 

I absolutely love the design. The antique silver colour is so lovely. It really suits the CBM print as well. The strawberry charm is so cute. It makes a slight jingle noise as well, which one of my budgies approved of! 

The chain is of a decent length and there is a bit of room to adjust the length as well. What I really like though, is the small Baby logo charm on the chain. I thought that was a really lovely finishing touch.

Next we have another Baby necklace, this time purchased from Closet Child. I had a bit of a dilemma about purchasing this. Those of you who are familiar with my wishlist on Facebook may be aware that I really wanted the Twinkle Constellation and the Stars of Confeito necklace. This necklace is similar, but it is not the same one (I think this one is called Kitty Constellation or something along those lines...). The main differences with this necklace is that there are fewer stars, the edges of the stars are more pointy and there is a big ribbon on it. So I had to decide if I was happy to settle for this necklace, or wait and try to get my wishlist necklace (which very rarely comes up and usually sells quick when it does). As you can see, I went ahead and got this necklace and I was really pleased that I did. The design is really cute in person. In actual fact, I have made getting the Twinkle Constellation necklace a very low priority now, as I am really content with this necklace.

Going by Closet Child's description, I would say the condition of the item was as expected, maybe even slightly better. My only complaint is that the ends of the ribbon are not properly sealed, so there is a slight bit of fraying. That is easy to seal up though. The stars are so cute and they look a whole lot better in person than they do in my photos. I love to multi-coloured beads as well. It looks really pretty when worn. I am so glad I took a chance on it.

In the same Closet Child order I got this Katie badge. It still had the original Katie packaging and price tag. Although the box was a bit battered, I was still pleased that CC included it when they sent it to me. The original price tag was a bit scary though! I love Katie, but I feel their prices can be a bit steep sometimes, so I am always keeping an eye out for good deals on the 2nd hand market.

The badge is absolutely perfect and looks brand new. There are no scratches or damage anywhere. The design is crisp.

The back has a simple pin. There is no glue residue visible anywhere. So I am pleased I was able to add this to my order. I am still reluctant to pay retail price for Katie though!

Next we have an Aliexpress order. It's been ages since I have ordered from there because I wasn't that impressed with the service last time. But I decided to give this shop a go (I think it is called Adomoe? I will try and find the link) as it has some pieces which can work very well for Larme. There are even a few Mon Lily replicas (including this skirt) on there. I don't really wish to promote buying replicas, but as Mon Lily is by DreamV and I have mixed feelings about their quality (especially for the prices they charge for some things) I didn't feel as guilty about buying this replica as I would usually. The skirt I got is very shiny, but you could see that from the stock photos anyway, so I knew what to expect. The materials are a decent quality for the price paid. However, the only issue is that the material creases really easily, as you will see in the worn photos.

The details on the side were executed reasonably well. They could have been better, but they also could have been a lot worse! I like the use of velveteen for the bows. It offers a fun contrast with the shiny main material.

There is a small shirring panel, which is really well hidden underneath a ribbon on the outside. This panel is not overly generous, but it is nice to have it there. I found the sizing guide on the product listing to be pretty accurate.

The stitching is quite neat. I could find no obvious flaws on the skirt.

And here is a worn photo. Do you see what I mean about the creasing? I haven't checked to see if you can iron this skirt, but my guess is you cannot. Creasing aside, I am otherwise impressed. The skirt was comfortable. It hugged my waist well without being too tight.

I think the ribbon topping the shirring emphasises the size of my bottom a bit more than I would like, but overall I am very happy with the skirt! I just need to get those creases out!

Finally, I got these 2 lacy tops from the same Aliexpress store. They have a cute heart cut out detail. I am not that blessed in the bust department, so I have always been a bit wary of the cut-out trend in Larme, but the hearts on these tops are small enough that it isn't really an issue.

The heart cut out was done quite well. The edge is neat and you can easily make out the heart shape. Although the lace quality is a bit questionable, it actually feels surprisingly soft. It is not itchy at all! 

There is a small ribbon loop on the back to make putting on the top a bit easier. I thought that was a nice touch.

The stitching is very neat and once again, I found no obvious flaws or mistakes.

The size guide on the product listing was spot on and I found the right size easily. The top is comfortable and feels nice against the skin. I like how the neck doesn't cling too much and the way the ruffle around the neck looks when worn. As you can see, the heart shape is easy to make out too. I love that it is subtle and sits well above my bust. The only thing I am going to do is cut out the labels inside. Having a see-through top means the labels stick out like a sore thumb.

And so that is my latest haul. I am really pleased with every single thing I got. My larme wardrobe is really starting to shape up now, and I have added some nice accessories for lolita as well. I am really looking forward to extending and experimenting with my style a bit more and these pieces are really going to help me achieve this. Plus I got some absolutely fantastic birthday presents from my friends as well (thank you!!!). I am feeling very spoilt right now, but also very loved. This has been a really positive time in my life and I can genuinely say I am feeling happy. This is mostly due to the wonderful experiences I have had lately, although a little bit of retail therapy can be good from time to time!

Removing The Logo From My Replica Bag

I would just like to start off by saying that it is not my aim to encourage people to buy replica bags and I am not judging people who choose to buy replicas. I just wanted to show everybody what happened when I tried to remove the fake brand logo on my bag. I tend to keep replicas in my wardrobe to a minimum but I am not 100% anti-replica. However, I personally really dislike it when replicas have copies of brand names on them. I find it dishonest (that is just my personal opinion). When I wanted a generic gold heart shaped bag, I looked everywhere but could only find replicas of the Milk heart bags. I am yet to find a replica of these bags in gold which doesn't have the fake Milk logo on them. Feeling a bit defeated, I decided to settle for the replica and then attempt to remove the logo. This is how I got on.

To remove the logo I needed acetone. The best thing I could find, which I already had in the house, was nail polish remover. I am not sure how strong the acetone in my nail polish remover is, but the product I used was a cheap drug store's own brand. I found it was strong enough to do the job.

I used cotton buds to apply the nail varnish remover because I wanted to be able to control how much product I was using. I also had tissues nearby, just in case. Here is how the fake logo looked when I started.

Straight away, you can see the black paint coming off on the cotton bud.

After a while, it looked like this. It did take a bit of time to get to this stage. However, I still wasn't happy because at this point all it had done was just faded the logo. So I kept at it until I couldn't see any black left on the bag.

And this is how it eventually turned out. There is a bit of a smudge and you can see the gold is a slightly different colour now. But the logo is gone! Unless you are purposely looking for it, the smudge isn't too obvious. I experimented by taking photographs from different distances and in most of the photos the smudge doesn't show up.

I feel this logo removal was fairly successful. I could have perhaps done it a bit neater but I have never had to do something like this before. It is not too bad for a first attempt. I would still encourage people to try to track down the authentic brand bags rather than buying replicas but I understand how tricky the gold Milk bag can be to get hold of sometimes. I wasn't actively looking for a Milk replica but just a gold heart shaped bag, but I feel a lot more comfortable now I know the fake logo is gone.

Innocent World Vs. Replicas

Just a quick note before today's post- from now on, all comments on this blog will be screened. This is after I discovered a few sneaky spam comments. Quite frankly, I should have done this sooner! Please be patient as I verify and publish your comments.

Please note I am not against replicas. The reason I am writing this post today is because I was very interested by a post made on EGL- http://egl.livejournal.com/18346910.html

It would appear that Innocent World are voicing their opinions on replicas. If you think about it, there are not really that many IW replicas about. However, as it has been pointed out on EGL, Innocent World have every right to voice their opinions. Although it might not change much (people will still buy replicas and some people will always be against them), all IW are doing is trying to is defend themselves.

I have to be honest... if there was a Lotta replica made then it would be very difficult to resist it, especially when you consider how hard Lotta is to get hold of. I can't help but wonder what IW means when they say they will punish customers who buy IW replicas with the knowledge it is fake. If you walk in to Innocent World's shop and you were wearing a replica, would you be banned from the store? (Although I think that even if you don't mind replicas, walking in to their shop like that would be very rude anyway!) Will replica makers be targeted?

This small statement by IW might not seem like it will change much, but it could easily start something off if other brands decide to join in as well. It is a bit naive to think that because some brands sell out of everything anyway, that means they are happy to let replicas exist. If other brands see that Innocent World have made this statement, they may feel more comfortable and confident about addressing the matter. And that could change the current replica situation. It feels like as soon as a new print comes out, immediately somebody will ask for a replica to be made. Will that be so easy when the replica makers are being targeted? So don't think that it is just Innocent World replicas that this affects.

What do I think? Regardless of my stance on replicas, I know Innocent World's statement is very true and well done to them for standing up against something that could threaten their company. At the end of the day, they are a business and their view is not at all surprising. If I was in their position I would probably be upset about my art being stolen too. However, at the same time I can sympathise with replica buyers who are unable to buy brand. I might have been interested by a Lotta replica, but IW's words have admittedly scared me!

What initially seems like a small statement could progress further. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for any news. Up until now, the big brands have kept fairly quiet so this is certainly an interesting development!

Sugary Carnival aftermath

Saturday the 26th of March 2011- I was preparing for a frilly day of fun with my local lolita group. I was all dressed up in my dream print and had such a great time. I was completely oblivious to the increasingly frenzied activity happening online. I came back home roughly 7 and a half hours later. What do I find? Yes, you guessed it- Angelic Pretty had re-released Sugary Carnival and had already almost completely sold out.

I think this just shows how immensely popular Sugary Carnival is. It only took just over 7 hours for the news to spread and for Sugary Carnival to come and go. Why do these things always happen when I go out?

But what exactly has this re-release done?

I guess the people affected the most by this event would be those who paid an excruciatingly high amount to get hold of this print. Suddenly, people were buying Sugary Carnival at retail price again. My sympathy goes out to you if you are one of these people. A re-release usually affects the re-sell price as well. So has the value of Sugary Carnival lowered?

The answer is probably no. I had a quick look online and I found a Sugary Carnival set (JSK, bow and socks) being sold on a Japanese auction site. The starting price for this auction is 80,000yen. That works out roughly at £590 or $952. Of course, we would need to consider that the seller may not be able to sell the set for this price. Another seller was selling just the OP with bids starting at 33,000yen. It is currently at 33,500yen with 2 bids on it but it still has a lot of time to go. The retail price for the OP was 27,090yen. So the OP seller is still selling above retail price and already has bids on it. It will be interesting to see how much higher the OP auction will go.

Although some people may be annoyed that they spent a lot of money only for the print to come out again, it is worth noting that you may have missed out on getting the print cheaply anyway. I don't know the exact quantities that were available for the re-release but there are still lots of lolitas out there who have been left empty-handed. These people will probably end up spending a much larger price anyway. The most important thing to do is look around. Some people may have purchased this dress intending to sell it straight away at a marked up price. Just look at the 2 auctions I mentioned above- the prices are very different (I should point out I am not suggesting that the sellers from these 2 auctions are marking up their prices deliberately).

Another interesting part about Sugary Carnival is the recent replica released by Dream of Lolita. I feel it is important to mention to any replica haters out there, that despite this replica being made, Angelic Pretty still managed to sell out of this print for a 2nd time. I am not going to go in to the replica debate right now but if this event has proved anything, it is that Angelic Pretty is a strong enough brand to withstand some replicas being made. Angelic Pretty has many loyal fans. I am NOT trying to justify replicas but Angelic Pretty's sales have not been dented by the replica. If we were talking about a different brand, the outcome could have been different.

So if Angelic Pretty have managed to sell well, what about the replica sales? For starters, there was a group order event held for the Dream of Lolita version. Whether you like it or not, some people are never going to pay for the original regardless of the retail price. Dream of Lolita's version has had some mixed reviews but I know there has been some positive response. Due to how quickly AP's version sold, Sugary Carnival fans could start considering the replica. It depends how many Sugary Carnivals become available on the sales community. Sugary Carnival is so popular that I doubt Dream of Lolita will be affected either.

So Angelic Pretty have been successful with their print re-release, the demand for the print will probably only decrease slightly and Dream of Lolita is also likely to make a lot of sales. It is far too early to see the long term effects but in my opinion, it doesn't look as though much has changed. You will probably end up paying a similar amount if you wanted to buy 2nd hand Sugary Carnival now than you did before the re-release. AP and the people lucky enough to buy Sugary Carnival last weekend are the winners here. If you would like to own Sugary Carnival too then have a look on the EGL Sales community for people offering Shopping Services. AP is holding a party soon and Sugary Carnival will be available there. After that party, who knows what will happen? I will be keeping my eye on Sugary Carnival in the upcoming months.

Finally, I mentioned the Dream of Lolita replica above. Whilst I am a bit impartial to replicas, I disagree with replicas which still have the original brand logo printed on them. DoL's Sugary Carnival has Angelic Pretty written all over it. Most people can probably tell the difference between originals and replicas anyway but I can't help but feel this is very dishonest. I think it is a shame that DoL have done this.

In response to my recent AP post...

I smiled when I saw this picture featuring the AP print I reviewed a few days ago. It seems that off-brands are not the only ones making replicas. Brands make dresses which are similar to others and there are only a few little differences. What some people may not know is that off-brands will sometimes buy the exact same fabric as the major brands. So you are essentially just paying for a clothing label hidden away on your waist band.

My opinion on replicas is that whilst it is unfair on the original designer, some people cannot justify saving for the bigger name. If I prefer the replica's take on something, I would not be ashamed to buy it. Big brands seem to be coping with the replica market because some lolitas will only ever buy the original. When I weigh up the guilt of brands losing some money with that of spending a month living off so little money that you can't see your friends/family or go out with your partner, I know which option I would choose. Please don't hate me!