Violet Fane Otome Nostalgia Unboxing and Review

I imagine that by now you’ve all seen photos of this print, as it seems that it was precisely what everyone wanted. So many people I know bought it, both during the first release and when it was ready in stock later.

About the Shop

Violet Fane should need no introduction, it’s one of the most popular indie brands currently around - and this is a fact, as proven by the brand reach survey on Rufflechat! They are based in Barcelona, including vending their goods at the physical J-fashion shop there called Madame Chocolat, as well as at Atelier Pierrot shops in Japan. For everyone else you can shop directly from their website, where you will find things that are quite spooky, things that are quite quaint, and a whole bunch of unique flair.

Order Process

This was not my first time purchasing from Violet Fane, either online or in person, but the process is as easy as previously. Even easier this time as I have by now set up an account on there, knowing that I will be coming back for more in the future. However, this is not a requirement, you can check out as a guest, like on most webshops. I placed my order towards the end of the original pre-order period, on September 18th, and then waited. Notification of postage arrived to my email on December 8th - by that point I had already seen some people receive their orders, so I assumed that they were being fulfilled in the order they were placed, which reassured me that mine would be slightly later. However, once it was posted by USPS, it didn’t take long, even despite the expected Christmas post delays, as I had it in my hands only two days later, on December 10th.

What I Got

Why so late with this review then? Mostly out of laziness, but I also felt that if I thoroughly tested the skirt I received, it would add something that I obviously couldn’t mention in the unboxing.

Yes, I have purchased the skirt, after much deliberation and deciding that despite what I was trying to convince myself of, I would wear it more than the OP. I also took a chance and threw in a mask with the Charming Town print in, while a friend ordered the letter set. All of it arrived in brown paper, everything was fully recyclable, which made disposing of the packaging a whole lot easier. I’m very happy that Violet Fane is doing that, hopefully we will see more companies do the same.

The letter set is what you’d expect - since it’s not mine, I did not unpack it and can’t comment on the quality of the paper, but it is 100% adorable. Just looking at it made me want to start writing letters, though without working at the office, post office trims are too cumbersome for that. And the mask is great to have to match with my Charming Town skirt, as well as neutral enough to add a touch of cuteness to regular outfits. These are the folded square types, which I haven’t used before, so I’m very sad that this particular shape doesn’t agree with me very much. Maybe I need to give it another trip, one that doesn’t involve huffing and puffing whilst carrying heavy stuff and wearing a corset, though that shouldn’t make a difference. The fabric used for the lining is, according to the listing, medical homologated antibacterial water-repellent fabric, and I have heard from various sources that masks with double layers are better in general. So I’ll give this another go - maybe I simply put it on in too much of a hurry. If you find this shape of masks comfortable, then I do recommend them because they are well made, the medical layer is soft against the skin and the designs are cute. At €10 plus postage it may not be substantial enough if you live far away, but if you were going to buy something from Violet Fane anyway, it’s worth adding these to your order.

The postcard and stickers were included as free gifts with my order. Can't wait to save them for something special and never deem anything special enough, as tends to happen with all my stickers.

Now that the extras are out of the way, let’s bring our focus back to the skirt. I ordered mine in white - or as it’s called in this series, short cake cream white. As much as I loved the red one, I felt that with such a colourful print a colourful background may end up making coordinating hard as it would involve more precise matching. Whereas the white allowed me to play with the colours of the print itself more freely. Having said this, I would say that the colour is more of an offwhite or even ivory than white, though there are purer whites within the print too.

It looks like it has a pink-ish hue, but that's mostly because so much of the print is in that tone that it catches a bit of it in natural light. But the print easily picks up other colours.

This belt buckle reminds me of bakelite jewellery.

Way back in April 2020 now I wondered whether it was possible to feel nostalgia for something that we haven’t personally experienced. Although I know that manga and anime around the 80s and a bit into the early 90s looked like what we see on this print, this isn’t the kind that I personally read or watched. Yet this print evokes exactly the feelings of nostalgia that the series name promises. Have I absorbed all that through my degree in Japanese Studies and spending so much time in Japan where I learnt what shōjo manga looked like before I came to know it? Or is there something universal, like a combination of colours and drawing styles, that evokes nostalgia in everyone? Suffice to say that I, a child of the 90s in Eastern Europe, look at this print and feel this tug at my heartstrings that creates a longing for happier, simpler times, for reclaiming the innocence of early teens when having cute lunches and notebooks was all you and your friends cared about, yet at the same time started taking an interest in subtle makeup now that your parents finally decided you’re old enough for a bit of lip gloss.

Thus print closeup is also a great closeup of the fabric texture. It's a poly-blend that feels nice to the touch. I'm curious to see how breathable it might be in summer, the Charming Town skirt does well then.

Forever lunch goals.

Although some people lament the disappearance of border prints, this series wouldn’t work in anything else but an all-over print version. It creates that impression of kitsch, cute mish-mash of your favourite things - like a young teen’s bedroom wall or journal cover. You can keep looking at it for hours and still find something new. In the time that I’ve owned this skirt already I still don’t think that I’ve truly been able to see everything there is to it! With so many elements, motifs, sources of inspiration, this will no doubt lend itself to all kinds of fantastic coords. And if you look up the #OtomeNostalgia tag on Instagram, you will see an absolutely wonderful variety and diversity of examples that will only keep growing.

In the past I did some translations for Kewpie Japan and I've never had a translation task wreck me emotionally so much. So now I love Kewpie, even though I don't really eat mayo which they're most known for.

Tell me this doesn't look like the scrapbook we either kept in our early teens or wished that we could keep?

Cute mugs, cute doodles and the OG emoji (I remember that one particularly vividly from my first year of uni).

With such a busy print, Violet Fane did right to keep the trims simple. The skirt is fully shirred, with this shirring being quite wide, so that in itself can end up being an almost ruffle above the belt. The hem is adorned with a heart-shaped lace trim, simple yet very effective, perfect for the romantic and nostalgic feminine feel of the overall design. And inside the lining is also printed, just like it was for my Charming Town skirt. Somehow I was convinced that this skirt had pockets, like those that look like two scoops on top of the skirt rather than the in-seam ones, but that must’ve been an illusion because it has none. So if this is some sort of Mandela Effect and you also thought this series had pockets - it doesn’t.

This is a stretch, but what if this heart lace is a nod to the days when we'd dot our i's and j's with hearts instead of dots?

Printed and way nicer to the touch than most other lining. I will never not hold Japanese brands to a higher standard because of this little detail that Violet Fane gave us that I never before knew I needed.

Having worn this skirt for Christmas Day, as well as the days around that, I can confirm that it is supremely comfortable and easy to take care of (did well in a cool machine wash cycle in a laundry bag). The skirt came in two sizes, XS-L and L-XXL, relying on the shirring to stretch, and having gotten the smaller size, I’d say it stretches beyond the advertised 90cm max. I’m a touch over 100cm in my hips and not only can easily put this skirt on over my hips, I could squeeze another slim person inside there with me, stretching the elastic as far as I can. The hem sits comfortably at knee length and while I’d say that the skirt is best with a daily petticoat, like my Classical Puppets one, it feels like it could handle a little bit more. I wouldn’t be surprised if it could handle something as big as the Aurora and Ariel one, though I might hold back with my hoop for now. [LINK] However, the belt doesn’t have any stretch to it, so while the skirt is plus-size friendly, the belt definitely isn’t. It also suffers from the most common problem with this belt type, that is the belt slides out of the buckle with movement, since there are no belt holes to keep it in place. This means that if you want to wear them together, you will spend a good portion of your day adjusting it or looking for discreet ways of pinning it in place.

Nothing has ever worked with this tacky vintage Christmas cardigan as well as this skirt!

If you’d like to see some first reactions, as well as moving closeups of the skirt and moving worn images, then make sure to watch the unboxing video. It was filmed upon receiving the skirt, so this post is much more in depth and comprehensive as a review, nonetheless sometimes you can’t beat seeing the items in movement.