St Mary Holy Card by Baby the Stars Shine Bright

Today I am looking at St. Mary Holy Card by Baby the Stars Shine Bright. This series includes 3 dresses, a skirt, 4 hair accessories, 2 blouses, socks and a wrist bouquet.

First up is the Lily JSK. The bodice seems well fitted and the shape is simple, but looks lovely. The straps look a fair width and quite supportive. I like that they are lined neatly with lace on the outsides too to stop them from looking too bare. There is a waist bow, but I am not 100% convinced I like it. It is hard to pinpoint the exact reason why, but I think it might be that the shape is quite basic. Also, there is a lot of lacy detail on the bodice and I suppose I find the waist bow a bit basic in comparison? Thankfully the waist bow is detachable. The bodice features a lacy chest panel, topped with a gathered ruffle going across the bust, a bow and a line of wider lace. This detail is probably not going to sit well on somebody with a large bust. But from a purely aesthetic point of view, I think these bodice details are beautiful! The choices of lace are wonderful and the ribbon used for the bow looks pretty too. There is also a cross made up of golden lace, which is topped with an actual cross charm. I personally wouldn't have bothered with the cross charm, as I think the lace cross is enough by itself. It still looks pretty decent though. The back offers a panel of shirring, which is topped neatly with a ribbon corset. The stock photos show that the skirt has a fair bit of volume and will flare outwards enough. When looking at the photos of Midori modelling this dress, I thought the skirt shape looked really pretty. The skirt features an open front design, which has a few over-stitched ruffles near the bottom. I think the over-stitching works well in this instance, as it adds a little bit of extra ruffle to the area. However, I was a little disappointed with how shiny the fabric used for this part of the skirt looks. Maybe it looks better in person, but in my opinion it doesn't photograph very well. Despite the open front design, you can still see the print very clearly at the sides. The bottom hem is then finished off with a ruffle and a wide line of gorgeous looking lace.

Here we have the Frill JSK. The bodice looks quite well fitted but the overall bodice shape feels a bit lacking. It is very basic. The straps look to be an okay width. They are topped with a line of golden trim (which also goes along the neckline) and a ruffle. I am not convinced by the ruffles on the straps as I feel they look a bit too sweet for this design. They also didn't look that well shaped in the close ups. There is a waist bow, which is a bit on the large side. I don't like how the bow looks as though it is sagging. Thankfully, this dress also has the option to detach the waist bow. I think the dress looks a lot better with it removed too. The bodice is mostly kept plain. I think it would have been nice to have some thin lines of lace running up the bodice, just to help break it up. The neckline then features a very wide line of lace with a bow and cross charm. I really hate the choice of lace used. It looks cheap, like something you would see used for net curtains. I also dislike how the lace hasn't been tapered at the sides, so the lace looks a bit untidy. Although the ribbon used for the bow is nice, I don't think much care or attention has been put in to shaping the bow. I do think the cross charm is pretty though. The back has a panel of shirring, which is topped neatly with a ribbon corset. The stock photos show that the skirt has a fair amount of volume and flares outwards plenty. It appears to have a decent amount of length to it too, as this skirt is designed to be a bit longer. The skirt is generally kept simple, so the print is displayed okay. However, I absolutely detest the gathering of the printed fabric at the bottom. It looks messy and warps the print at the bottom. I don't feel this sort of detail works as well with printed designs. The bottom hem is features a ruffle of lace fabric and a tulle ruffle layered underneath. I think the width of these details helps to balance out the design, but perhaps they could have layered multiple lines of lace instead of having one massive line of lacy fabric. The lace here looks a bit flat and I also don't think it is the most attractive looking lace either.

This is the OP. The bodice looks reasonably well fitted and I think the bodice shape is lovely. I think the sleeves suit the style of the bodice. Although the neckline shape is a bit simple, I think the details in this area really compensate for that. The waistline features a lacy belt design which is finished with a bow. Usually this kind of detail would really help to define the waistline, but because of the full chiffon over-skirt it makes the waist area look wider than it actually is. This is probably not going to be the most flattering of dresses to wear. I really love the lacy bodice details though. There are many lines of wide lace, a gathered ribbon ruffle with a bow and a sheer panel with cross details (just like the Lily JSK). All the different trimmings sit well on the dress and have been well layered. I also like the choices of lace and ribbon and they seem to be of a fairly good quality. I could take or leave the lacy panel and cross details on this bodice though. I think the dress could have worked just as well if the neckline finished where the line of ribbon is. The back offers no shirring, so size flexibility is very limited. The stock photos show that the printed skirt underneath seems to have a good amount of volume and it flares outwards well. But the thing that really catches the eye is the full chiffon over-skirt. As I mentioned earlier, the over-skirt does sort of make the waistline look wider than it actually is. I also think the over-skirt looks a bit out of place. After doing some lovely details with lace on the bodice, I think it is a shame that something lacy wasn't done with the bottom half. There is quite a harsh contrast between the textured bodice design and the dominant chiffon over-skirt, which is mostly smooth. The chiffon over-skirt also means the print is quite obscured. So it does frustrate me a little that the listing seems to suggest that you cannot remove the over-skirt. This dress could have had a lot of potential, but I think the chiffon spoils it. The main dress underneath is finished off with what looks like a line of lace and then a gathered ruffle along the bottom hem.

Finally, here is one part of the print...

... and another. I thought I would include this picture too, seeing as it has the lily in it. This series comes in ivory, sax blue, pink and mint. All of the colours are quite pale and there isn't a great deal of difference between them. I think it would have been good to have at least one slightly darker colour for a bit of variety. There is no denying that all 4 colours appear to work very well with the print though. As for the print itself, it is set out fairly neatly and the frames around the pictures have some interesting details to them. I was a bit unsure about how some of the rows of pictures are slanted at first, but it has grown on me. The pictures are drawn well and look pretty intricate. I am really not a fan of religious imagery though, so this print is really not to my tastes. I do really love the flowers though. Those are beautiful.

So overall I think this series is a bit hit and miss. Perhaps I am a little biased, as this is really not my sort of series anyway. To me, the print looks well drawn, but it also looks similar to some other previous Baby prints. There are things that I would love to change about each dress design too. I really think it is a shame that the OP has that chiffon over-skirt. Otherwise it probably would have been my favourite dress cut. I think it is safe to say I wont be getting this series. But if I had to pick, my choice would be the Lily JSK. As for the colour... ivory, I guess? There isn't a whole lot separating the colours in my opinion, so it is hard to pick a favourite. Despite my lack of enthusiasm, I suspect this series will still have a fair fan base and will sell reasonably well.