Vampire Forest by Alice and the Pirates

Well, I said in my last post that I would consider reviewing this series and here it is! There is also a new Usakumya which Baby have just announced. I may review this once there are better images available.

Halloween is a time where lots of lolita brands get all spooky and release a lot of darker prints. Great news for gothic lolitas! Unsurprisingly, Alice and the Pirates is one of the brands which has released a gothic print in time for the end of the month.

This set comprises of 3 dresses, a skirt, a head bow and some socks. To be honest I think the skirt is better than any of the dresses. This is mainly because I don't like a lot of the bodice details. Here is one of the bodice close-up pictures.

I am not liking the random lace panel. It is not a very appealing shape and it is just sitting there looking a little floppy and lifeless. This is probably the blandest of the designs. In my opinion it looks like this one is really lacking something. Too many details can look bad but maybe this one is a little too plain?

Then we have this one-

That lace looks very itchy! It looks like with this design, AatP were trying to make it look like a 2-piece set instead of a dress. I think this bodice could have looked better. If you look closely you will see the start of the skirt has a lot of gathering. The dress as a whole has a nice shape to it. If only the bodice was as good as the skirt part.

Then there is the final dress.

This one is called the Elisabeth dress and there is more of the itchy looking lace! I think the bodice here is an improvement on the other two. On this one the lace makes it look as though you are wearing a separate cardigan. I can't quite decide if the black panel on the front looks good or not.

Here is a close-up of the print-

It is a shame I don't like the dresses because I think the print is stunning. The colour of the roses really stands out. There are lots of trees and castles, but my favourite bit is the bat hanging off the lantern. This set is available in purple, navy, red and black.

I do like the socks for this set.

There have been quite a few socks with rose prints but I am a rose fan :) My favourite pair are the black and red ones. The black and blue ones almost look like Moi Meme Moitie socks.

Overall, I don't think this set is that good. The dresses vary in quality so the skirt is probably a less risky choice. I think it is the lace that lets this set down more than anything else. If anybody was thinking of trying gothic lolita for the first time, then I would try a different set. I think this set would be difficult to wear if you are a beginner.