Forest Girl Clothing skirt review

It took until I finally wore it to realise that I never did a review of the Forest Girl Clothing/Atelier Heidi skirt I bought at The Great Lace. Probably precisely because I bought it in person, so none of the usual stuff about ordering process, the waiting, the postage, packaging etc. did not apply. But as I believe in promoting indie brands, I am making up for that oversight now.

About the brand

For those not in the know, Forest Girl Clothing is a US-based indie brand whose clothes and accessories cater predominantly to classic lolitas and mori-kei enthusiasts. Florals, natural fabrics, and earth tones dominate their designs, with emphasis on whimsy and designs that look like they are pinched straight out of a “fairytale forest that you’ll never want to leave”. In their own words, the “brand was born from a love of recycled materials and a romanticized vision of spending time in nature.” The owner and designer, Heidi, who is also a cosplayer, had set up the business under the cosplay name Atelier Heidi and the Forest Girl Clothing brand falls under that, explaining what could otherwise be a slight confusion with the labels and tags. The webshop also carries a few other brands, such as Hoshibako Works and some general mori-kei appropriate clothes and accessories. You can find the webshop here and can follow Forest Girl Clothing on Instagram.

The skirt

Let me cast my mind back to late March and to how the Forest Girl Clothing stall was laid out. I remember that the rails were filled with gorgeous clothes, all presented in as enticing a way as one can imagine. Whilst all the skirts had clear tags to mark their individual size, the measurement ranges for each of these was on a separate list hanging from the railing. After a quick conversion from inches to centimetres, as well as briefly holding the skirt against my waist and testing the waistband, I settled on a size L, paying with my card.

It wasn’t until later at home that I searched through the webshop and confirmed that the skirt is indeed called Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary. It is still available to purchase online, in either black or white, at the exact same price of 115 USD – which at the time of purchase worked out to just over 98 GBP for me.

The first thing that I must absolutely commend Forest Girl Clothing on is construction. The size chart is accurate (which I already had a good inkling of given that I could verify that in person) and this is the most comfortable skirt that I own. The shirring stretching all across the back is very generous yet secure, meaning that the waistband sits close to my body without digging in and I can easily stretch it further for comfort. The front part of it, with decorative buttons, sat flat against my torso the whole day, no rolling or folding itself in half, despite no additional support such as boning, which is further testament to good sizing in my opinion. I could get the skirt on with just the stretch, but there is an invisible side zip to aid in that further. It’s well constructed enough that it is invisible and zips up smoothly, though still prone to the same issues as all invisible zips are like getting a little stuck at curves and being so small that it’s hard to find. Additionally, the skirt features three pockets: the decorative one at the front and two side seam pockets, each more than capable of holding a mobile phone (for reference, mine is a Samsung Galaxy A34 with a relatively chunky case and it slides perfectly into all three).

As for the rest of the skirt’s construction, that is kept simple: a gathered rectangle with two rows of lace along the hem and the aforementioned decorative waistband. All of that to let the embroidery on this skirt shine and take centre stage. It is all machine embroidery, and there were one or two threads that weren’t cut closely enough or that still connected individual sections of the design, I do literally mean two or three. The design is so busy that I can see how this may have been overlooked during quality control and I do not hold it against either Forest Girl Clothing or their manufacturer, I simply snipped these and that was it.

I counted ten different flowers, five per row, with a design repeating across each row in embroidered rectangles. The detail of each flower is stunning, with vivid colours where gradients flow into one another and block colours are almost a standout feature of their own. They are also relatively large on their own, around 8cm in height each, so that even from a distance they can be identified as flowers, although some of the lighter colours disappear a little when viewed from a distance, making the stems and darker shades more prominent. This didn’t look to be an issue on the black colourway, where these light colours have a more contrasting background.

Despite the volume of embroidery, all of which is on a layer of soft mesh, they do not weigh it down to the point where it’d drag or droop. Cotton lining keeps the mesh from being indecent, as well as provides a comfortable layer to sit against your body. Although parts of the skirt (presumably the mesh, embroidery thread, and the lace) are synthetic fabrics, they are lightweight and soft to the touch, clearly of high quality. The skirt proved very breathable when worn on a warmer (though not hot) day and although it’s a touch too heavy for me to consider wearing it on a hotter day, I can definitely see it being my spring/summer staple.

Speaking of lace, there are two rows of it along the hem, as well as two rows at the waistband, and a lace trim all around the front pocket, totalling three lace designs. Each is floral in its overall design, though the mid-length lace around the pocket and hem also has a shell-like scallop to it, which probably explains the shell embroidery on the pocket that otherwise doesn’t seem to tie in to the floral theme of the design.

The skirt has plenty of volume in and of itself. I wore it with my (admittedly somewhat deflated) big Aurora & Ariel petticoat, which gave it just enough volume to look nice without overstuffing it. And I dare say that it probably could’ve handled more volume. Not that I personally would want that because I view this skirt as a more casual item that doesn’t need galaxy-level poof, but for anyone out there who likes that massive cupcake look or who prefers those kinds of proportions on themselves, you can safely go bigger with your petti.

In conclusion

Given the exceptionally high quality, the price is far more than reasonable. Even though it took me longer than I would’ve wanted to get round to wearing it, I do already have a bunch of coords in mind for it and cannot wait to wear it more. It fits precisely the gap in my wardrobe that I wanted it to: comfortable, classic, and able to go casual. And since I did take the opportunity to feel up the other stuff at the Forest Girl Clothing table, I can definitely vouch for the quality of their other pieces. Whilst there isn’t much that I am eyeing from them right now (i.e. I am resisting the linen vest), I will be observing their social media closely and won’t hesitate should something catch my eye again in the future. As should everyone else who is also on the lookout for comfortable, classic, versatile lolita clothing with an accommodating size range. Forest Girl Clothing 100% delivers.