Going Kuro Lolita?

All those wardrobe posts on EGL inspired me to lay out my own wardrobe to enjoy some eye-candy. ~ xD

I don't have an impressive Lolita wardrobe, just a very few treasured pieces. It's not worthy making a post about it - but seeing my dresses laying on my bed one to another, I realized how much Lolita style has evolved the past years.

I'll focuss on the brand "Angelic Pretty" in this entry, but similiar changes also applied to the other big Lolita brands like "Moi-même-Moitié" & "Baby, the stars shine bright".

Comparing my AP dresses, the most drastic change was quite easy to see:

THE LENGTH

Left side: AP Rose Toilette OP, Release in 2007 (my "oldest" dress)

Right side: AP Little Birds Symphony, Release in 2012 (my "youngest" dress)

To make it even more clearly:

That is a length difference of 7cm! 

That might not sound that much, but when worn, it cannot be unseen. =/ 

I'm not that tall myself (1,58m), and the "Rose Toilette" fits me just fine. The seams of the dress come across my knees, and the +2cm of lace do the rest. Perfect Lolita Silhouette ♥

As about "Little Birds Symphony"... the missing 7cm do make a huge difference for me, since my knees are definately showing. It might be okay when I'm standing or walking straight (I'm not that prude that I don't want my knees to show), but when I'm bending over... thanks god for the invention of bloomers. xD" 

Anyways, that's one point that makes me feel uncomfortable. =/

THE QUALITY

This is only my personal opinion, but I feel like especially AP's quality has been constantly going down a little the past years. 

Let's take a look at the last photo again...

The Print.

Both dresses are so called "border prints", which means most of the print is going on at the very bottom of the dress. 

As you can see, the print of "Rose Toilette" does perfectly end up with the seams. Not one single dot is cut off. As for "Little Birds Symphonia", the ribbons are cut off at the seems 70% of the time, all around the dress. It's just such a tiny little matter, but for me, it is very bothersome. =/ 

The Lace.

I love the delicate lace of "Rose Toilette". ♥ It has lots of tiny details, and looks just as fragile as a perfume bottle itself ♥ 

I'm not saying that the lace of "Little Birds Symphonia" is bad, but look at the big netting, and bold lines... it also feels a lot thinner then the lace on earlier AP dresses. Don't misunderstand, it is still a nice quality lace! But definately not as beautiful and delicate as Rose Toilette. =/

The thickness of the Fabric.

I could just say "Fabrics used to be thicker then nowadays" and end this point, but theres some more to it. 

The structure of the fabric has changed as well - unfortunately it's very hard to take a decent photo of it, sorry. =/ 

While the "Rose Toilette" has lots and lots of tiny striations alongside which gives a thicker feel, "Little Birds Symphonia's" fabric is flat like an H&M shirt. And that's also how the fabric feels like... =/ 

Those points all together make me hardly consider if I should really spend THAT much money on a new release AP dress. =/

Oh, since we're already at it... here's one more point that makes me consider that even harder. xD"

THE RECENT PRINTS

It's no secret that AP has recently designed a loooot of dresses with toy / little pet animal / cute sweets themes. I'm totally fine with it, and I love the look on other girls! But for me... that's not my cup of coffee. x___X

I'm mostly wearing Hime Lolita, and I don't like to incorporate toy / little pet animal / cute sweets with that. Cosmetics, butterfly's, flowers and roses.. everything is fine for me. But none of the latest releases match my taste. Q__Q

And then... I saw this:

OMG cute Hime OP by AP! Border Print! With Chandelier! (...me absolutely NOT paying attention to the decoration on top of the advertise)

Even though I already have "Little Birds Symphonia", which is kinda the same style of OP, I was immediately craving for that! >////<

Well. Then I saw the close up of the print.

Cupcakes. Little pet Animals. On a *** chandelier. WHYYYYYYY! Dx

That really spoilt everything. Q___Q

The dress has such a nice design and the print looks so awesome from far! 

Now I'm hardly debating with myself wether to get the Ivory version one day, or not. (Second Hand, of course) In Ivory, the cupcakes and so on are not thaaaat much visible. xD"

Argh. Sooner or later I might just go Kuro Lolita. ~__~

Doesn't really solve the Quality problem, but the print issue! xD (Which is, at the moment, most bothersome for me for obvious reasons. lol)

Please let me know your opinion about the latest prints, and the possible quality changes!

It's such a sweet, sweet life, isn't it?