Dream Dress review: Whipped Cream Kitty

I do consider myself to be a very lucky person, generally but also as a Lolita. Not only have I managed to acquire the majority of my dream dresses, but the latest addition has been a present from my fantastic boyfriend. Way back around late 2014/early 2015 he said that if I got a 2:1 for my degree, he’d get me a Lolita dress – I didn’t want it to be just any random dress, it had to be one of the ones I wanted most, and after months of hunting (and a few unsuccessful first attempts because of the dresses being too expensive), it’s finally here!

This one I acquired from a fellow Lolita on Lacemarket, but for a long time I didn’t even know it existed. I only learnt of Haenuli and Korean brands in general fairly late, and I must’ve randomly spotted this one somewhere, most likely on Facebook, and have fallen in love with it immediately. So as far as dream dresses go, this one is the youngest, the one I’ve been pining for the least amount of time compared to when I managed to get it.

And it does have everything, doesn’t it? There’s sweets, there’s cats who are also matryoshka dolls, there’s this gorgeous royal blue mixed with true red and white… All of those bits together and every one of them separately stole my heart.

It arrived so much faster than I expected it, in 6 days actually! I asked the seller for untracked shipping, so I assumed it’d take a while since when I bought things from North American Lolitas in the past I’ve been waiting around a month (give or take a week). I also expected to pay some custom fees, but either the UK and the US have some special arrangements or I’ve been very lucky indeed because they didn't want my money this time.

The fabric on it feels different than on most dresses I own or had a chance to inspect in person, which I can only describe as if cotton could have a slightly silky feel to it? Not sure how to phrase this better, but I expect that with a material like this it might be cool in warmer weather.

What really stunned me though are the details. I’m sure I noticed that on stock photos and simply forgot, but discovering that the thinner vertical white stripes are just columns of cat silhouettes made my day, and I felt an extra bit of sweet when I noticed that the bottom lace is heart-shaped. The variety of sweets framing the matryoshka cats makes me hungry even now, and each of the cats is so unique you can feel the different personalities in them. It’s just one of those prints I could stare at for ages and still be excited and in awe at finding new details to adore. It inspires me to try new things when coordinating it (maybe an apron?) and things which I probably wouldn’t consider to add to Lolita at all (e.g. a shawl or headkerchief with traditional motifs). Especially the matryoshka motif appeals to me: I know I’m Polish, not Russian, but those cultures do share a lot, and I’d love to maybe find a way to, excuse the awful pun, Polish this JSK up in some way, show off my heritage. The only less positive realisation I’ve had is that I now understand why a lot of Lolitas don’t wear the waist ribbon: since it’s not attached to the JSK in any way, it tends to ride up instead of sitting at the seam. I’m sure it could be pinned in place somehow, but it may also be more effort that it’s worth, so we’ll see how this goes.

Last, but not least, when trying the JSK on to make sure it fits, I put on a red vintage blouse which I snapped on eBay only days before (a treasure in itself: the photo was bad, but the blouse is stunning!). I got it specifically with that dress in mind, although it would go nicely with my other pieces as well – and I’m so, so happy that not only it goes well with it, the red is an exact match for the red accents on the JSK!

This leaves only two dream dresses that I am yet to acquire, with an outlook into making it just one. I know that I want Innocent World’s Revival Sweet Teddybear in blue, I’ve fought off so many temptations of nearly getting it in brown and still sigh at the mere sight of it that it cannot be any other way, but while I love the look of Mary Magdalene’s Paulina JSK (and it’s my namesake too!), I am worried about the sizing. Though if someone was selling it, I could always ask if it would stretch beyond what’s listed on Lolibrary.

Wish me luck in my hunt, and if you’re trying to hunt a dress down I wish you all he best of luck as well!