Swan Lace by Metamorphose

Time for another print discussion! Today I am taking a look at Swan Lace by Metamorphose. This series has 3 dresses, 2 skirts (one short, one more standard length), a blouse, a head bow, a headdress and socks.

This is the Chiffon Frilled Pinafore JSK. The bodice appears to be well fitted, but that might just be the illusion the the "corset-style" part gives. 

I guess the strange corset, apron thing would be a good place to start. I really don't understand this design. You have the "corset" part with the criss-crossed ribbon, which in itself, is not too bad. But then there is the weird chiffon part underneath which looks like an apron. I think it looks very peculiar, especially the wider part at the front centre. We can also see in this picture that it ends abruptly at the sides. Although I don't like the dress design anyway, I wonder how much better it would look without the chiffon apron?

There is also another chiffon part on the top part of the bodice. This part looks a little nicer but I thought the panel looked a bit too wide and maybe a slightly lower neckline would have looked better. There is also a bow on the neckline, which is a nice shape, but I would have made a tinier bit smaller and left the chiffon bit off. The straps are a nice width and have a very cute chiffon ruffle on them, which gives a softer appearance. Although you could argue that this dress already has enough chiffon on it! The back has a panel of shirring, which is concealed really well by a ribbon corset. Meta have used duller ribbon, so it doesn't look too shiny, which is a bonus. The skirt shape is very flared and unfortunately, the top of the chiffon apron part makes the waist area look bigger than it actually is. The skirt is split in to two tiers and I felt that where the tiers meet looked a bit droopy. I think in this case, the dress is going to need a decent petticoat to give the bottom tier a nice shape. Along the line where the tiers join, there are some bows, but they blend in a bit too much and are almost concealed by the chiffon apron. They don't really add anything to the design. The bottom hem is finished off with a soft chiffon frill. I feel that overall, this design is very unbalanced and the spacing is a bit off. Also, I think the weird chiffon part needs to go!

This is the Princess Sleeve OP. The bodice looks a nice shape and well fitted. The original sketches of this dress suggested that the sleeves on this dress would flare out a lot more than they do in these pictures. I am really hoping that these stock pictures are not being too deceptive. In this picture, they don't look too bad. Although I dislike the wide raschel lace on the sleeves, I admit that it matches the rest of the dress. Yes, this dress has the dreaded raschel lace on it, but it has not been used too badly on the sleeves (I am still not a fan of it though). The waist has a nice chiffon frill to it. It makes the top half look like a separate jacket and I am actually surprised Meta didn't think of making a jacket like this because it is the sort of thing they would usually do! Apparently, the buttons on the front are decorative but I haven't seen any close-up pictures of that. I am a bit unsure if I like the shape of the chiffon ruffle along the neckline. It doesn't look that bad, but I think it could have been nicer. I am not fussed by the matching choker. It does match the dress well, but I don't think I would wear it.

The back has a panel of shirring which is concealed by the ribbon corset. If you look at the edges of this shirring panel though, they look a bit wonky. It could have been done a lot neater. The back also has this neat chiffon bustle. The chiffon tiers are spaced well and it doesn't look like it sticks outward too much, so it wont give the illusion of a larger backside.

The skirt has a nice bell shape to it. It flares out nicely and doesn't have that typical Meta shape to it. It will also hold a decent amount of petticoat underneath. The skirt has been kept clutter free, which is good. The raschel lace on the bottom hem looks awful. It is very wide and just doesn't look very nice. I wish Meta had used a chiffon ruffle at the bottom instead.

This is the Pinafore JSK with collar. The bodice is a nice shape and well fitted. I like the shape of the neckline. The waist area looks a bit wonky, but that might just be the stock photo. This dress is very simple in comparison to the other 2 dresses. I think some people will say it looks too simple, but I think this dress is the nicest of the series. The waist could have possibly done with a bit of detail, even if it was something small like a thin belt. I like the military style detail on the bodice, but maybe it could have been spaced out a bit better. It looks very squished together at the top. The collar part looks very pretty from the front and has a nice shape.

However, I am unsure about how the collar looks from the back. It would have been better if the back part of the dress went all the way up and met where the collar is. I think the way that the collar meets 2 straps and then joins the dress is odd. It just looks a bit awkward. The back has a panel of shirring. I wish this dress had the shirring concealed with a ribbon corset like the other 2 dresses do. I thought the dull finish ribbon blended in very well on the other 2 dresses and would have worked on this dress as well. 

The skirt has a very plump bell shape to it. It flares out quite a lot, like you expect from Meta, but the roundness stops it looking too straight or triangular. It will also hold a decent amount of petticoat. The skirt is kept simple and the print is displayed well. I really like the bottom hem on this dress because the line of ribbon and satin frill finish it off neatly, but also softly, so it doesn't look too harsh. The satin is slightly shiny, but not too bad.

And here is the print close-up. This series comes in ivory, pink (which doesn't actually look that pink to me) and blue grey. I think that both the ivory and pink colourways look pretty, but I am unconvinced by the blue grey. If, unlike me, you like the chiffon frilled pinafore JSK, I would probably stick to ivory. I think the ivory chiffon blends in a bit nicer on that dress. The print makes good use of the swan logo and I think the large lace swans are pretty. The emblems are also nice. As soon as you see this print, it is pretty obvious it is Meta. All the typical stuff associated with Meta is right there in the print. It is a nice enough print, but I wouldn't go crazy for it. If you are after something a bit simpler, it could be a good choice though.

The socks for this series are quite pretty. I wouldn't mind owning a pair because it is the sort of style that would match lots of different Meta prints. I think it is good from time to time to have a pair of socks that could be used in a variety of outfits, and not just the series that is was released with.

I think this series had the potential to be a nice, modest Meta release. However, the dress designs spoil it for me, with the exception of the pinafore JSK. I wont be going buying this series, but the print is nice enough for what it is. If I was buying this series I would go for the pinafore JSK in pink. I am tempted to get the socks in ivory just because of how versatile they are. I can't see this series being a big seller and I predict it will be appearing in lucky packs in the future.