Cotton Candy by Metamorphose

Today I will be taking a look at one of the 2 new Meta prints. Brilliant Princess discussion should be coming up next week, but today I am looking at Cotton Candy. This series has 3 dresses, a salopette (yes, they have jumped on the bandwagon), a skirt, a head bow, hair combs and socks.

This is the short sleeve OP. This dress has a very high waist but the short bodice looks well fitted. It has a waist belt which has a very cute heart shaped buckle. However, the vertical stripes on the belt are wider than the stripes on the dress and I think it looks a bit strange. Maybe a solid colour belt would have been better here. The front has 3 bows. The 2 smaller satin bows are very shiny. The larger bow is nicely structured and layered nicely, which gives it more depth and makes it more interesting. I love the way it has been folded to give it extra movement. Although I personally don't really like the 2 small bows being there, I don't think the bows look too over-crowded, which is surprising considering the length of the bodice. I think they are about the right size. The neckline has a very pretty shape to it which is lined with non-distracting thin lace. The neck ties are also a nice touch, but are detachable if you don't like them. The sleeves have a nice slightly puffy appearance and they look decently stretchy too. The back has a shirring panel, which is concealed by a ribbon corset. It looks a bit crowded and untidy, but it doesn't draw that much attention.

And now, on to the skirt...

I thought I would show the model wearing it because I found it interesting. I don't know if it is just the stock picture, but the skirt looks huge! The model is probably quite small and the dress swamps her frame. Meta are known for making skirts which flare out a lot. It is good for when you want an OTT sweet shape because it will hold a lot of petticoat, but I think Meta have gone a bit too far with this one. In the worn photo, I also thought the skirt looked a bit triangular in shape, but that might be just the way it is being worn. The skirt has a line of tulle lace running halfway down it with small bows dotted along it. This helps to break up the very large skirt, but I don't particularly like it. The sheer size of the skirt is OTT enough! There also appears to be a lot of gathering which conceals the print a bit. The bottom hem is finished with a simple frill and another line of tulle lace, which looks a lot better when placed here and would look better without the other line halfway up the skirt.

This is the high waist pinafore JSK. The bodice is a good shape and well fitted. The waist ribbon is maybe a little too large but has a good sturdy shape to it. The waist ribbon is lined with tulle lace which looks pretty, but adds unnecessary bulk to an already large bow. The main part of the bodice is quite plain with just 2 thin lines of tulle lace running vertically up to it. Then we reach the neckline. There is a double layer of gathered chiffon running along the neckline, which is hard to miss. I don't mind the chiffon but I think it sticks outwards quite a lot, especially to the sides. It is a nice idea, but I don't think it has been executed well. The chiffon is topped with a cute, nicely shaped stripy bow. Having both the chiffon and the bow together is maybe a bit too much detail. The straps are a decent width. They are lined with ribbon and then finished with more tulle lace. The darker colour on the ribbon acts as a bit of contrast against the paler colours, which I suppose matches the ribbon on the skirt, but I am very undecided about it. The back has a large panel of shirring, which is very exposed because it is not covered by anything. I also hate the way that the chiffon along the neckline ends abruptly when it reaches the shirring, because it looks messy. Again, the skirt is very full and flares out well. The length is a bit short (don't be fooled by the stock photos) and if you puffed this out to the max it will definitely end fairly high up the leg. Thankfully, the skirt on this dress has been kept a bit plainer than the OP. There is the line of contrasting ribbon near the bottom which I mentioned earlier. The ribbon is a bit shiny, but it is made of satin so it should be good quality. The line of ribbon is topped by 2 bows, which are a bit big but are not too distracting. The bottom hem is finished with 2 layers of frilly chiffon which looks soft and doesn't stick out at an odd angle like the neckline chiffon.

This is the shirring JSK and possibly the closest to a standard lolita shape in this series. I am sorry about the picture used, but the Meta site did not have any better ones available. The bodice is not as tightly fitted as the other 2 dresses but as the name suggests, this dress has a lot of shirring in it, which gives the wearer a lot of stretch room. It is no that easy to spot, but the bodice is apparently tiered. The waist has 2 small bows placed on either side, which are very sturdy and well shaped. The front also has a panel topped with lots of small fiddly looking bows (you can see one in the photo poking upwards at the neckline) which I think looks a bit too fussy. However, it wouldn't be too hard to remove these if you wanted to and I still think this dress is the best option. The neckline has a good shape and the straps are a good width. Both are lined with thin lace which is thankfully, quite simple but at the same time I thought the lace looked a bit messy. The back has a panel of shirring, which is very exposed. However, if you are buying the black colourway then the shirring is barely noticeable. The skirt on this dress is my favourite of the 3 because although it still flares out a lot, it doesn't take it too far. The shape looks a bit less triangular and OTT. It will still fit a decent amount of petticoat underneath as well. The skirt is quite plain and there is not as much gathering, which means this dress displays the print best. The bottom hem is finished with more thin lace, which doesn't really grab the attention.

This is the print close-up (shown in black here). This print also comes in light blue and pink. I think the print looks best in black because you can see the print a lot clearer than with the other 2 colours. The print has very soft colours and they look a bit washed out and dull when it is not on a dark background. I find the print very underwhelming. It looks like an AP reject print and there is nothing that exciting or fresh about it. All the items in the print are made up of fluffy looking candy floss and there are some very odd items in there. For example, I think the cotton candy clock is strange when paired with sweets, bunnies and generally sweeter items. I also thought the cotton candy macaron looked odd and doesn't really work. And what is with the random squares flying out of the tea cups? My favourite bit of the print is the inclusion of the swan logo (made from cotton candy, of course!).

So I find this series to be disappointing. I think my main issue with this series is the inclusion of unnecessary OTT detailing on the dresses. If I had to pink a dress, I would go for the shirring JSK, but I would skip the dresses altogether and go for the skirt instead (which looks a lot nicer). This series makes me feel a little sad because I feel it has been a long time since Meta released a "must-have" print. Here is hoping my print discussion for the other new Meta print (Brilliant Princess) is a little more positive!