Why, Brands?

Have you ever been in a situation where you’ve been looking forward to a release (brand or otherwise), admired the print, either saved up for it or were mentally preparing yourself to spend that kind of money… and then that release is not quite right? I feel like this is me right now.

 

I consider myself to be in a lucky position of being able to buy Lolita on a monthly basis. Thanks to living at home my expenses have been significantly reduced, leaving the majority of my earnings to myself. However, recently I’ve been rather disappointed with what the Japanese brands have been bringing out – not because the releases themselves are bad, but because every one that I’ve been looking forward to turned out to have something small, yet important not quite to my liking, which meant that I had to pass on it.

It first happened with Alice and the Pirates’ A Snowy Christmas Eve Mysterious Gift series. I fell in love with the print since I first laid my eyes on a preview. It’s so lavishly Christmassy, but in a classy rather than cutesy way. The print reminds me a lot of the Nutcracker (if it isn’t actual scenes from the Nutcracker, which is also set during Christmas too – it all fits!) and every colourway does the print justice, as well as fits my wardrobe (except for black) with all the gold and red background details. Yet even though there were previews of the cuts, when the reservation page was opened I felt let down with what was on offer: none of the cuts would suit me and the only thing I like the shape of is the headbow. The Ribbon JSK, whilst I like the ribbon detail at the top, is too boxy and I doubt that the empire waist would flatter my figure, whereas the Napoleon JSK is cut a little too low at the neck, a little too low at the waist (although Sheherazade seems to be of a similar cut and looks alright) and that bow at the back is totally out of place and would just create a bulge under any outerwear. The skirt is alright, but the only skirts I wear with Lolita are highwaisted, plus I don’t have even the slightest chance of fitting this one based on the listed measurements. I don’t want to settle for a JSK cut which I don’t particularly like, so it’s only sensible that I pass on this one, but I still feel a little cheated. I wanted to throw my money at you, Alice and the Pirates, why did you have to do this to me?

Just when I thought that this was a one off – boom! Angelic Pretty has done pretty much the same thing to me with Museum Rose. This was another print that I was eyeing for quite a while: I’m still on a lookout for a nice floral JSK and as much as I’d like to get something like Romantic Rose Letter, the chances are slim. But since AP tends to release fairly similar prints, I knew that my chance would come at some point and Museum Rose was meant to be that chance. Yet when they announced that this is going on sale, once again I faced disappointment. This time I love both JSK cuts (and both would fit me), it’s the colourways that (grudgingly) put me off it. I was hoping for a sax version, which didn’t happen. Instead there is ivory, pink, mint and lavender – of which pink I don’t wear, mint version I don’t like at all (it looks quite washed out to me compared to the other ones), ivory is still too pink limiting my coording options… That leaves me with the lavender one, which I like most of all of these (probably because there’s no pink in sight, although I think the amount of lavender would nicely balance the pink), which I can’t justify as it’s not a colour that features in my wardrobe at all. Yes, on stock photos it looks a very bluey lavender, but there were AP releases where stock photos didn’t accurately portray the colour and people ended up with something different in real life than what they expected. And that is a risk I can’t take, considering how already I’d have to buy a lot more things to match and they would only match this one dress. I can pray for a special set in sax, although then a lot would depend on the cut, as I really like the cuts of both the tiered and the regular JSKs – a special set would have to come pretty close for me to get it.

Given what’s happened here, I’m almost scared to look forward to any release now. Having to miss on these isn’t a big a deal as such, I’d much prefer to keep my money for something that ticks all the boxes rather than settle for something that I don’t love 100%. At the same time, for someone who falls in love with prints, missing out on two that I really liked a lot because the brand didn’t deliver what I had hoped they would is a bummer. I’m not entirely sure what else is in store before the end of the year, but I simultaneously look forward to it (because at the end of the day they’re still brands bringing out inspiring new series) and am scared to know (what if the same thing happens again – or worse, after an nth one like this I do indulge in an impulse buy which I really shouldn’t get?).

How have you been finding the recent releases? Do you like any of them? Did you get anything or are you getting something soon? Or have you found in a similar situation to mine where you’ve felt let down by a detail which was important to you? Let’s share our disappointments and have a little group therapy in the comments.