V&A Lolita Exhibit

Last month on my trip to London with my sister, we popped by the Victoria & Albert Museum to check out the Hollywood Costume exhibit. My sister had been waiting two years for this exhibit and some of the costumes we saw were really amazing and it's so different seeing them in life rather than on the movie screen. (My favourite has to be the Dolly Levi gold dress from Hello, Dolly!)

There was a 45 min to an hour wait to get into the exhibit, so my sister and I walked around the gift shop and planned to head into the gem room, because we love sparkly things~! However, on our way there my sister got side tracked for some reason while walking by the Japanese antiquities room. I knew that the V&A had a small exhibit dedicated to lolita fashion and how British culture has influenced it, but from what I knew, it was on display from March until August. However, the museum has extended the exhibit until February 2013! So, if you visit the V&A museum before then, you'll see the lolita exhibit in the Japanese section on the main floor! You can't miss it because the displays have pink windows!

Kitty and the Bulldog: Lolita fashion and the influence of Britain

Kitty and the Bulldog explores the way in which British fashion – notably Victoriana, Punk and Gothic – has influenced the development of Japan’s ‘Lolita’ style, a cult fashion movement whose defining feature has been its preoccupation with cuteness, or ‘kawaii’. The display features nine outfits recently bought in Tokyo for the V&A's permanent collections. - http://www.vam.ac.uk/

My camera couldn't make due to the dim lighting in the room and the contrast between my coat at the displays was too great, so the lighting was off! So, I must apologize for the quality of the photos (>_<;)

Left: Baby the Stars Shine Bright, Alice and the Pirates    Right: Innocent World

Examples of Sweet lolita, that venture into classic and a bit of gothic for the AatP dress.

I really love the styling they used for all the mannequins. I also noticed that all the wigs used were from Priscilla. Good to know they didn't cap the budget on wigs since Priscilla wigs are quite expensive. I really like that bag on the BtSSB display. . . Oddly it was on the outlet page on Baby's online site, but it was sold out. (-__-;)

Left: Moi-Meme-Moitie     Right: Putumayo

I'll have to admit I'm not expert on Gothic lolita, but I love looking at Moi Meme Moitie's clothing. There are minute details that you have to see up close that I couldn't capture on film, but the custom lace is gorgeous and the simplicity makes the overall outfit very elegant. 

Putumayo! I don't own anything from the brand, but I always like looking at their ads in my Kera magazines. Their branding is geared towards punk lolita. I also like the Hangry & Angry stuffed doll that's part of the styling!

Left: H.Naoto's Sixh. and MINT Neko    Right: Mamechiyo

H.Naoto has so many lines, I can't remember most of them. Apparently the outfit is inspired by Vivienne Westwood and falls into the punk and visual kei category. 

Mamechiyo has some lovely contemporary works that modernize the kimono. I've known of the designer for awhile since Magic Pony exhibited some of her work many years ago here in Toronto! The description for this display categorized the style as "Japanese Lolita" and is more demure and explores Japanese traditional dress.

I'm really happy that I got to see this exhibit before it went away. It was purely by accident since I didn't know it was extended. It's just interesting and fun to see a fashion/hobby that you're devoted to in a display at one of the best Art & Design museums in the world. 

Also, it also brings lolita to a broader audience and hopefully more people see it as a fashion rather than a costume. 

♥

Happy Holidays!

It's been a busy week filled with lots of good times with friends, family and with work squashed into the mix! I hope everyone has been having a lovely day and a safe holiday!

*Merry Christmas and Happy New Year*!!

Sora shall share some festive spirit with you all!
I hope 2013 will be a great year for everyone, and I hope that I complete some of my goals and resolutions this year too. Here we come, 2013!

To another year filled with lots of good food, lolita fashion, dorkiness, friends, BJD, yellow birds and  whatever I missed! Hehe! @(*o*@)!!

♥

Club Nintendo Gift 2012

I woke up today and found a small package waiting for me. I wasn't sure what it was since I haven't ordered anything lately. It wasn't until I opened it, I realized what it was! It was my Club Nintendo gift for being a PLatinum member!

The nice thing about Nintendo is that if you join their club and buy their products, almost all of them come with registration codes which earn you points. You can redeem those points for online download games or for some other rewards such as pencil cases, cards, etc. You can get something using 10 points, up until 1200. (On average, a game will probably get you only 30 points).

To reach Gold member status, you need 300 points and to reach Platinum you need 600. @(*o*@)''

Club Nintendo Platinum Playing Cards 2012

At first, my reaction to the initial gifts did not appeal to me since there were better gifts in previous years. The options were posters or calenders, or you could get some classic games for your DS/3DS/Wii. I just opted to get the playing cards since it was practical (the calendar was also practical, but was a Gold member award, the cards were Platinum only.) From the prototype picture and description it was Super Mario themed playing cards on clear plastic and it looked fancy. However, I have to be honest, I didn't have too much expectation for it. Plus, I submitted my choice in July/August and it didn't arrive until today. The fine print on the site did say that it would arrive before Christmas though. . .

Mario!

After I opened my package and took out the cards, I was really surprised! The metallic print on the plastic is very sharp and has a great sheen to it. The cards are done on clear plastic and the designs have void spaces in the design to accent that fact. My camera had a hard time trying to capture the designs on the back of the cards!

Mario, Peach and Luigi

Mario, Princess Peach, and Luigi are the King, Queen and Jack, and Bowser is the Joker! I am really amused with these cards and I'm not sure when and if I will use them because I really like them. It kind of defeats the purpose of it being practical, right? >3<;

All in all, Nintendo, you've impressed me! This gift exceeded my expectations and although it took almost 4 months for it to arrive to my house, it served as an unexpected Christmas gift. It's nice that Nintendo awards it's members for their loyalty though. They don't have to but it is a nice gesture. 

Anyone want to play cards with me?

♥

Macaron Journey - Ladurée in London

What is a trip to London, England without a trip to a Ladurée location? It seems to have become a little tradition between my sister and I to visit one of their tea rooms to have our version of high tea or to pick up a box of macarons because I collect their limited edition boxes. 

A couple years ago, my sister and I went on a macaron pilgrimage while we were in Paris to taste the confections from the "holy trinity of macaron goodness". 

(If you must know, they are Ladurée, Jean Paul Hevin, and Pierre Hermé.) 

Ladurée at Harrods, London

 Since I have not done a macaron post in awhile, let's start with my favourite! My sister and I always rave about Ladurée and their macarons. Nothing in Toronto seems to compare to them and some of our friends had been slightly skeptical of their greatness, but they have all been converted by us!

I initially stumbled upon them a few years back when my best friend mentioned she wanted to try really good macarons. I asked my cousin, while I was visiting her in England, where I could find some since I did not know where to get them. She directed me to Ladurée and I've never looked back! (I also brought home a box for my friend, who enjoyed them immensely. (*o*)~

My sister and I have tried pretty much every flavour of macaron they make and we make an effort to try out all their new seasonal flavors when we visit a Ladurée shop, be it in Tokyo, London or Paris. Their macarons are flown in from Paris to all over the world. The flavours that my sister and I like are Vanilla, Salted Caramel and Pistachio.

Laduree, Covent Garden

I'll make multiple blog posts about the different experiences I've had at Ladurée locations, so we'll just stick to London for this one! There are 4 locations in London that can be visited, each has their own little charm to it. The one located at Harrods and Covent Garden have tea rooms where you can dine and enjoy a cup of tea. I wouldn't recommend sitting at the Burlington Arcade location to drink tea or macarons since they have limited seating outside the store and the overall experience we had was a bit fussy. On this trip, I discovered they opened another location in Cornhill (near Bank station). It is a patisserie and only sells macarons and some of their desserts, but also carries an extensive amount of their souvenir items and official merchandise. 

Le Saint Honoré Rose-Frambois

Ladurée - Lanvin collaboration

Hands down, my favourite dessert they serve is the Le Saint Honoré Rose-Frambois, or as my sister and I call it, the "Rose Puff". I missed out on having this desert while I was in Tokyo, so I had to have two rounds this time in London to make up for the loss! Everything about it is infused with hints of rose and raspberries. Even if you're not a fan of rose flavored things, after eating this, you'll be converted. I converted my sister who never enjoyed anything Rose flavoured and it seems to be the only thing we order now. (^__^;)

I ♥ Lanvin . . . and macarons!

Macarons for me!

The fun thing about Ladurée is that they always have fun collaborations with well known designers for a limited time. If there was a designer macaron, Ladurée would be the one to make it! Their latest collaboration is with French designer, Lanvin. When I saw the promotion pictures for it, I knew I had to collect the box and try the new flavour, bubblegum! I love Lanvin artwork, and the cute illustrations on this box were adorable. My sister and I tried the bubblegum macaron while we were at the Harrods location and unfortunately, it was not one of our favourites. It was very sweet and tasted very similar to Double Bubble bubblegum. 

Some previous collections limited the amount of limited flavors you could get for a special box or you could only get the special macaron by purchasing the box. Since I was not ready to indulge myself with another bubblegum macaron, I filled up my box with Vanilla, Pistachio, Raspberry and Cassis (Black-current) macarons. 

Cashmere & Lanvin boxes

The day I purchased the Lanvin set, the sales associate told me that they were launching new packaging the next day for the holiday season. Since I like collecting the packaging I groaned about, because if it was pretty I would have to get it. I opened their seasonal news letter that was at the cash register and gasped at the pictures of the box and showed my sister. It was horrible because we knew there would be damage to someone's wallet. /(>_<;;)\

I have never seen a Ladurée box like this one. Officially the collection name for this release is called "Cashmere". The print was inspired by French textiles of the 16th century and features calico patterns. 

Cashmere, box of 12 macarons

The macarons had a plastic casing to prevent them from jostling around in the box and also has the calico design on it. My sister bought this box set and filled it up with her favourite flavored macarons. Lots of Salted Caramel, Vanilla, Pistachio, Pure Origin Chocolate and Raspberry. She gave me the box to store and to keep (*o*)!! Thank you!! ♥

I'm glad that I only get to visit Ladurée in specific places because I think a lot of my money would be spent on their confections. They have a new special edition box for each month of the year and I'm sure my wallet would cry! You might be thinking, "What does she do with those boxes?" I actually use them to store small trinkets and things, and one set I use to store sets of shoes for my dolls. I'll document all the boxes I have in a future post!

I think if there was a Ladurée in Toronto, it would loose some of it's luster for me. Part of the charm and excitement of Ladurée is that I only get to experience it once a year (maybe..if I'm lucky!) and I enjoy every moment of it because I don't know when the next time I will visit another location. I savour every bite of a macaron, dessert and drop of tea because it's special to me. 

...

However, at the same time, it would be much more convenient to have a location here!

I just can't win in the end.. (^__^)*

Until next time Ladurée!

♥

 

Happy International Lolita Day!

Just came back from my trip to London with my sister earlier in the week..so I have more things to blog about. All in due time! 

There are 2 International Lolita Days every year. One in the spring/summer and the other for autumn/winter. They fall on the first Saturdays of June and December. To commemorate this day, I'll post the coordinate I wore for Hyper Japan Christmas 2012 last weekend! I'm sad that I missed all the lolita fashion events that were on the Sunday, as I went only on Saturday. 

I got stopped a lot for pictures since some people thought my sister and I were in costumes. I made it a point when people asked "What costume are you wearing?" to state I was wearing fashion, and not a costume. (^__~)*

Pic credit: Archangeli

I decided to bring Alice and the Pirates' The End of Immortal Eden with me on our trip. I haven't worn it during any occasion at home, so I figured, why not wear it for Hyper Japan?

Since we were staying with my cousin (who owns many shoes and handbags), a sudden revelation hit me to ask me to borrow her handbag because it was a similar color to my dress. She was kind enough to say yes when I asked *o*!

Dress: Alice and the Pirates
Headband: Alice and the Pirates
Blouse: Bodyline
Shoes: Bodyline
Jewelry: Betsey Johnson, Off-brand, mix of lot of my personal collection
Handbag: Louis Vuitton
 

Until my next post! 

See you! ♥

Super Junior

The postman woke me up today with a lovely package! A few weeks back, I made a pre-order for Super Junior's Boys in City 4 - Paris photo book and also ordered their 6th album, Sexy, Free & Single. It was a birthday present to myself and I had been secretly thinking of getting it when they had announced the photo book earlier on. The photo book was released last week and I got a notice that it shipped on Thursday. Took less than a week to get to me! I was really surprised~!

I ordered through YesAsia since they offered free shipping and somehow it ended up being a lot cheaper than other sites. The cover price of both items were marked up, but it somehow ended up being cheaper because of the free shipping. Other sites killed my shopping cart with their explosive EMS and air mail rates @_@;;!! Although when I received the photo book and album, I realized why the shipping was through the roof! The weight of the books combined were 3.5kg, (about 8 lbs).

I didn't bother taking pictures of the packaging, since it was plain, but the books had 2 layers of bubble-wrap protection and there were no dents or bent corners.

Moving on~~!
Say hello to Sword-bean Shiba!

S.J. in the house!

I purposely ordered the Type A version of Sexy, Free & Single after a lot of contemplation. The album was released back in July and I've held off on getting it because I wasn't sure which version I wanted. There were 3 (@__@;;)! They sure know how to take a fan's money since each version had great extras that the other versions didn't have.

The Paris photo book was released on Super Junior's 7th anniversary (Nov.6th) and is a collection of photos of all the members on their days off when they weren't performing for their concert; which happened earlier this year.

Excuse some of the weird lighting for some of the pictures. I took some pictures during the day time, and others at night at my desk. >_<;

Silver text!

 Let's start with their 6th album! There were 10 random different text color versions of this album, the original is with red text, but I'm quite happy I got the silver one. I was hoping to get silver or gold since it stands out better on the blue background. The album is a hardcover photo book (84 pages) and the main concept for the photos was natural...handsome...flower...boys? (^o^*);;

I can't quite figure it out, but I do like the concept. 

Leeteuk

Yesung

I think my favourite picture from the photobook is Yesung. He looks completely different and I didn't know it was him when they first released his teaser back in July. Plus...he's rocking out his look! He has branches on his head!! (*o*@;:)!!

Leeteuk has a really nice series of photos too.  I was really fascinated with his hair accessory and the make up they did for him. Most of all the members look completely different in this album, at first you can't really recognize them easily.

I think the only shots I don't like are Siwon's. The styling make him look like an odd version of John Galliano and it just doesn't do anything for me. (o_o);

  

Siwon

Kyuhyun!

The trend with k-pop albums is that they come with collectible photo cards. However, it's all distributed randomly and you don't know who you'll get. I like all the members of Super Junior, although I'm a bit biased towards a couple of them. I have to praise the photo card gods, since I ended up getting Kyuhyun, who is my favourite member in the group!! (*O*)! I had a 10% chance of getting his card so I was super surprised and thrilled when I turned the card over to see it was him! The back of the card has the text, Sexy, Free & Single and Kyuhyun's digitized signature on it. 

The back is where you can find the CD and it's just a slot in the back where the CD can be pulled out.

Boys in City 4 - Paris

Onwards to the photo book now! I pre-ordered the normal version which came with an extra postcard book and the poster. The special version came with an extra poster and some other stuff along with a behind the scenes DVD. I only wanted the book, so I opted to go with the normal one. There was an option to get the poster shipped in a tube on another site, but YesAsia wasn't offering that, so that's why I ended up with the folded poster. 

BIC4 Post card book

I'll start with the postcard book! It has 20 different postcards featuring the members individually and as a group and they're perforated so that you can detach them from the book to use as postcards. The back of each card has the corresponding members signature digitally printed. They resolution/print quality is great and they are printed on nice card stock. I don't think I would have the heart to use one!

Boys in City 4 Paris!

The photo book is hardcover and a little bit over 350 pages! The eye candy...!!

The inside has many comments from all the members through the pages. I can only read the English parts of the book since my Korean literacy rate is quite non-existent. I think if I got the Japanese version I probably would have been able to read it...!

Candid

Yesung

The book is separated into 6 parts to highlight the different locations and areas they were photographed at. It's nice to see some of the sights and areas they were at since my sister and I were in Paris a couple years ago. Only minor drawback is that many of the photos have a 'staged' feeling to them, especially if they're indoors, but it doesn't make the photos less appealing. I actually like the odd candid shots when they're not focused on the camera. When they're out and about in the city many of the photos are of them staring off into the distance and it looks like they're absorbing and taking in as much of Paris as they can.

Kyuhyun, Eunhyuk and photographer Leeteuk

There's a series of shots with Kyuhyun, Eunhyuk and Leeteuk, where Leeteuk is being the photographer. The shots are really funny, cute, and oddly amusing since a photographer is taking a picture of them taking pictures of each other.

So handsome! *o*

 I won't post too many photos of the book itself. That would spoil it for whoever wants to buy it. I know people have already scanned and uploaded a large portion or the whole photobook online already and fans have complained about it; that it ruined the element of surprise for them. I tried to avoid it as much as possible and it worked out well.

I'm really happy with this purchase!

Super Junior, Fighting!
♥

Birthday don't stop & October lolita and doll meet!

After I got over my severe cold and stopped being a hermit in the house, Keiko came by to sleep over for my birthday weekend and it ended up being a 3 day affair with cake and fun...which also stretched into the next week! Or maybe it should be that the Cake Doesn't Stop! Seems like I've been eating a lot of cake lately!

Fashion week!

Work it!

Keiko actually invited me to go to her friend's bridal fashion show, Paraezo, for Mastercard Fashion Week. It was a nice chance to dress up and bring out the designer bags and shoes! Since I'm not used to wearing heels...I almost died in my shoes, but thankfully I had brought along flats to change into. 

The show was beautiful and had some really lovely bridal dresses. The styling was very elegant and the designer had used fresh flowers to create head pieces. I wish I could have taken better pictures, but my camera isn't that great and we were sitting in the back row, so I didn't get a decent shot from the show. (>_<;)

Since we were all dressed up I asked Keiko if she wanted to walk along Bloor and maybe check out Holt Renfrew. I just wanted to visit the Shu Uemura counter to get some refills for my eyeliner since I had just run out that morning, but it would be fun to see all the shiny expensive stuff...and pretend we can afford it? (*o*-)'

After trying on some shoes and learning about the steep and insane prices of some purses...she asked me if we should eat a snack at the cafe. I didn't even know Holts had a cafe...! We decided to get some drinks and share dessert. Our waiter was super nice and I think, a bit bored since we ended being the only table at the cafe/lounge in the late afternoon. The result was that we have super service. I had a Holts Pumpkin Martini (Belevedere Vodka, cinnamon, nutmeg, and pumpkin) and Keiko had the Renfrew (Belvedere Vodka, strawberries and balsamic finessed with Veuve Cliquot Champagne.) We ordered a Pear Upside Down Cake caramel to share, and it was delicious! The desserts at Holts are fairly priced at $8 each, but their drinks range in prices depending on what you want. I believe their most expensive cocktail is $22. (Pricy!! >_<;)

Me in Twinkle Journey

After going back home and pretty much crashing for the night because we were both tired, we woke up bright and early to get ready for lolita! It was time for our monthly doll meet and it would be the first time that Keiko came along. Since I think it's always fun to dress up in lolita and go to doll meets, Keiko borrowed a waloli outfit from my closet to wear. Even though it was raining a little bit outside, water wasn't going to stop us from wearing lolita!

This month's meet was at Marché. It's a nice location to go since there is an extensive amount of seating and every person gets to budget their own meal or drinks. We got there a bit late so a majority of everyone was already there. Oddly enough, besides the long table set up for 12, there was a smaller table to the side with 3 chairs. I kept saying it was discrimination since all the girls in lolita were sitting at the smaller table and we all happened to be resin collectors who brought resin dolls (to a Dollfie Dream/Vinyl doll meet.) LOL It was completely by accident, but it was still funny. ^__^'

I hope Alice doesn't get mad that I posted a picture of her! (*o*@)!! I really liked her gothic lolita dress. There was a lot of ruffles and lace and I wish I could have looked at it more closely. Keiko is wearing my Bodyline waloli coordinate I got a few years ago. Apparently, she's always wanted to wear waloli, and she got her chance! I decided to wear my Twinkle Journey JSK since I haven't worn it yet. I really so love the design and dress, the unicorn print is gorgeous.

I didn't take too many pictures at this meet, since we spent quite a lot of time socializing with everyone who came. Also, a lot of my pictures didn't turn out well because of the lighting. My camera just couldn't cope with it, so a lot of the pictures turned out very dark. 

We had quite an extensive amount of girls show up at this meet though! It was really awesome to see all the dolls. There were a few people who came in to sneak pictures of the dolls, which I thought was a bit odd because all they had to do was ask to take a picture. 

Some of the Dollfie Dream dolls at this month's meet

Our small resin BJD corner

Since it was a Halloween meet, I dressed up Lareine in a kimono and Sora went as a sheep! Alice had cute matching outfits for Yukio and Myles, a ladybug and bumblebee! And Keiko's Eliza is wearing a lovely classic lolita outfit. 

Takoyaki Couple!

Alice surprised me by getting me a small birthday/souvenir gift from Osaka, Japan! It's a cute keychain of a octopus (tako) and an octopus ball (takoyaki) that kiss! It's so amusing, I have them smooching on my desk right now. (^__^*)

After the meet ended, we decided to go back to my place for dinner, drinks and cake! Chanel also came by to join in on the cake fest! I picked up my cake the day before and although I paid a pretty steep price for it, it was totally worth it!

Pic credit: Archangeli

Birthday don't stop!

Cafe Michi's Matcha Red Bean cake is the best! I think if I could, I would have ate the whole cake by myself, but I think I would have gotten a severe stomach ache. I gave my co-worker a piece since I was talking to her about it and the next day she told me it was so good...she forgot her name when she ate it!! (*o*@)!!
My sister and I ended up going to Michi again the next week for some afternoon tea and cake. Their earl grey cake was very good and English trifle was scrumptious! Since my friends from high school were coming over and their birthdays just past in September and October, I got more cake to go! 

Back to my birthday weekend! We ended up staying up quite late, mostly because I was spamming Keiko with k-pop variety show programs. Then I showed her AKB0048 and she started to marathon all the episodes into the wee hours of the morning! The end result is that our group has converted another person into a fan of AKB and our cosplay group grows. We just need to make the costumes! (>__<;;)

The weekend concluded with a meal at Shisho Tree Cafe. I have never been before but I have been by it many times because I like to eat ramen at Niwatei (which is next door.) The food is Japanese and Italian fusion, and oddly enough, it works! We shared a dish of okonomiyaki fries and I got myself the okonomiyaki pasta.

Thanks to everyone who kept the party going and for making my birthday weekend an awesome one! 
♥

Lolita Closet: Metamorphose Rose Letter Set

Let's dive into a new addition that is now part of my lolita closet! I have to thank my wonderful friend Keiko for getting me this set for my birthday. Apparently I'm quite difficult to shop for and I had shown this to her asking if she thought the print was nice or not. She told me to not to buy it and bought it for me instead! (^__^;;)

The Metamorphose Rose Letter series was released in 2011, and I suppose they had a surplus of the fabric print over to make sets to sell for a special price and limited sale. I normally don't actively check brand sites often, and I had found out about this sale from another blog that I follow. The only colour left over was actually my favourite of the colours offered, light brown and ivory. The other offered colours were blue and black, and pink and off white. 

Mail! Receiving mail is always nice!

I did not know when the package would arrive since Keiko did not give me a shipping notice or tracking number. I just assumed that it would take a bit for Meta to ship out the item since it was a special sale item. From the day she ordered it, it arrived at my door 3 days later! But I had to pick it up the next day since I was not home for the delivery. 

Metamorphose Temps de Filles

The package was secure and no puncture holes in the outer packaging. You don't have to worry to much about preserving the shopping bag they have used on the outside since they include another bag in the inside of the package (plus the outer bag has tape and all those shipping and customs forms stuck on it. It's impossible to remove that with ease!)

 Inside the parcel was a paper in English thanking you for the order and had the instructions for returning the items if it was damaged or incorrect listed on the paper. Keiko later told me that she had asked them to write Happy Birthday somewhere on the invoice, but either it got lost in translation or they don't do special requests like that.. (^__^")

Rose Letter Set

 Since this was a limited sale set, it came with extra items. It could have varied between a pair of socks, a handkerchief, jewelry, or a headband. I ended up getting a pair of cute socks and a handkerchief that doesn't match this set at all. (>u<*)

The skirt is lovely in my opinion. It's a shame I was loosing lighting on the day I took the pictures because it looks more muted than it actually is. I tried adjusting the color settings to reflect that the print really looks like. The fabric is of medium weight and a nice quality cotton. It is the mini skirt version of the Rose Letter skirts, but I still find that for being "mini", it is still long and just hits right about my knees (and I'm 5'7"). The waist is fully shirred and is versatile for sizing. 

Rose Letter print

The print is stunning. It's a shame that Meta's own promo and sample pictures couldn't do the print justice. There are just so many details in the print to be shown! The theme of the series is 'writing letters', and features stationary and quills and pens. Meta's trademark swans and crowns are integrated into the print as stamps and seals. 

Lace trim

Detail of Rose Letter print

I thought this small portion of the print was very cute. The bottle of "Rose Ink" with the Metamorphose Swans as the label. You can also see the roses and stationary that occur within the print. The raschel lace along the hem is soft and made of cotton as well.

Socks and Handkerchief

The socks I ended up receiving are the Swan and Polka Dot over the knee socks. I was grateful that the coloring somewhat matched the the skirt since I could pair them together if I would like. I still can't place the name of the handkerchief's print series. It seems really familiar to me but I haven't not found it with any success yet. If you know it, please let me know! (*o*@)!

For the price of 6300 yen, I think if you liked the print, it was definitely a great deal. Normally their shirred skirts cost over 10,000+ yen and factoring that their socks usually cost about 2300yen, overall you do save quite a bit of money.
Unfortunately, since last week, they have sold out of this set and the page was taken down a day after Keiko purchased it for me. I guess I was lucky that I ended up finding out about the sale. ^__^"

Thanks to Keiko again for the awesome birthday gift and to everyone else, until next time!

♥