Quintet of Fairies by BABY

Today I will be taking a look at Quintet of Fairies by Baby the Stars Shine Bright. This series includes 2 dresses, a skirt, 2 blouses, socks, a head bow, a bonnet and a violin shaped bag. 

This is the Dolce JSK. The bodice looks quite well fitted in the photos. The overall shape of the bodice is fine. The straps are a good width for the style of dress and suit it well. The lace along the straps stop them from looking to plain and soften the outer edges nicely.

I can't really see anything that I dislike about the bodice details by themselves. However, I do think it looks a bit fussy when it is all put together. There is quite a lot of different things going on here. Whilst the lace is of a good quality, in places it looks a bit too wide. I think if the lines running vertically up the bodice were a lot thinner, it could potentially look a lot better. The lace along the neckline is also quite wide, but I think if the vertical lace was narrower, it wouldn't look as bulky. I do like the use of ribbon for the lines running across the bodice and topping the lace on the neckline. The gold stripes on the ribbon are interesting and a bit different. I do wish the 2 lower bows were a bit smaller, as I think that would also help with the overall fussy and bulky appearance. I also think the bow shape could have been neater, possibly with thinner middle parts. As we can see in the photo, the middle line of ribbon looks very wonky, with the left side significantly higher than the right. Hopefully this is just a problem with the sample though, and it will be straight on the real thing. I do like the music note charm dangling from the top bow. I think it is very cute and it matches the print theme well. It is not immediately noticeable though, what with all the other details going on.

The back has a panel of shirring, which is concealed by a ribbon corset. The ribbon is done very neatly and gives the wearer more size flexibility. The skirt has a nice, subtle shape to it. It is quite a modest shape for sweet, but it still flares out nicely. It will hold a decent amount of petticoat too. The skirt is kept free of clutter, and so the print is displayed beautifully. The bottom has a line of ribbon, which really smartens the bottom and also helps to tie in with the ribbon used on the bodice. The bottom hem is then finished off with some good quality lace, although the lace used is a bit dull looking. 

This is the Cantabile JSK. The bodice is a good shape. It looks like it fits well too and gives a nice silhouette. This is especially emphasised by the line of ribbon and bow running along the waist, which gives the illusion of it being belted. The waist bow is a bit on the big side. It doesn't look too out of place on this dress, but I think I would prefer it if it was a little bit smaller. The bow has quite a good, firm shape to it, especially when you consider its size. It doesn't appear to droop either and looks very perky. The waist bow and ribbon is detachable if you don't like it though.

The bodice has a raised panel with a scalloped edge. I tend to be a bit wary of scallops, as they can look a bit wonky. They don't look too bad here, but I think that the second layer of scallops underneath (here shown in brown) looks horrible. It makes it look awkward. I imagine it must be very difficult to line the 2 lines of scallops line up correctly. Baby have not done too badly here, but I still dislike it. The raised panel is topped with a ribbon bow. I am unsure I like the overall shape of the bow as I think the middle bit is too wide and the bottom bits look a bit strange. I like the idea behind the pearl chain but maybe it is slightly too long in length, as it starts to look a bit droopy. The dress has polka dot straps, which are a good width for the dress. The material matches the material used for the second line of scallops.

The back of the dress has a panel of shirring, which is concealed by a ribbon corset. I didn't think this looked as neat as it does on the other JSK but it still does its job well. The skirt flares outwards well. I did think the shape looked quite straight and a bit triangular. But despite this, I do think it suits the style of dress. It will still hold a lot of petticoat too. The skirt is kept free of cluttering details, and so the print is displayed really well. The bottom hem is finished with a ruffle made of the same polka dot material used elsewhere on the dress, so it ties in well.

And here is the print close-up. The print comes in ivory, pink, red and black. The colours are pretty standard for Baby and all of them do work well with the print. I think my favourite is the ivory, but there is not much in it. The print is very cute. I love the castle and the piano. The fairies are adorable, but they don't appear to have much detail to them. I really love their little hats with the pom pom on the top! I really love the bows at the top because they are drawn well and look pretty. It's also good how the bows have chandeliers dangling from them, which help to fill the empty gaps. I think the piano keyboard at the bottom is quite fun. I like how it is drawn in a wiggly line instead of straight because it makes it more interesting, with a lot more movement. But whilst I do think the print is very cute, I think it has a very generic Baby look to it. It is pretty enough, but it all looks like stuff I have seen before.

An issue I have with parts of this series is the shades of brown used. Whilst there are some 'warmer' shades of brown used, there is also this very dull shade of brown. I think this blouse best describes what I am talking about. The colour reminds me of dried mud and is almost grey in colour. I personally don't like this colour paired with such a sweet print. I think if I owned this blouse I would struggle to pair it with items which are not a part of this series. It gives it a very limited appeal. 

So I have very mixed feelings about this series. I do like the print, but I don't see it as a must-have series. It doesn't really stand out and grab my attention. I also think that in a few cases, the dress details are a bit questionable. If I had to pick a dress, I would go for the Dolce JSK in ivory. It is fine for what it is, but I have my doubts about it.