Paint the Skies with Stars

February Doll Meet

2012-02-21T01:58:00.001-05:00

This month's Dollfie Dream meet happened over the weekend at Cafe Princess. My sister invited me along since she planned it on the Dollfie Dream forums. We took the private room in the back which was nice so that we wouldn't get too many funny looks from the other patrons and it was easier to talk with everyone and take pictures.

The girls and one boy!

The room was a nice size for 11 to 12 people. There were 3 tables and some couches lined up in the room. There were windows in the room which provided some nice natural lighting.

I brought Ventus to the meet and he was one of two resin dolls there in attendance. I figured, a doll is better than no doll! Plus it's nice to see the variety and differences between vinyl and resin dolls. He was dressed up in his Ciel Phantomhive costume that he's been sporting for awhile. I thought it was amusing that he was surrounded completely by all the girls :)


PlasticFantastic and Juu-Yuki brought their Yuki and Rena dolls.

I still have a hard time telling who's who with Dollfie Dream sculpts, but I found it nice talking to the girls about sewing and making clothes for dolls. My sister and I, along with my friend Amy showed up in lolita :)

Amy and I spent a lot of time talking about lolita and Japan. We were catching up on things since I haven't seen her in awhile.

Amy's Yo-Tenshi Yuh

I was quite surprised with the food served at Cafe Princess. The prices were not bad at all, proportions were generous and the food quality is good. They only serve drinks and desserts however. Everyone seemed to really like the Red Velvet cake! I can't comment myself since I didn't have any. I just ordered myself a fruit parfait ^__^*

Red Velvet cake and Fruit Parfait

You can view the rest of the pictures from this meet, here,and my sister's pictures are, here.

Until next month! ♥

Lolita Closet - Metamorphose Twinkle Journey

2012-02-20T18:03:00.003-05:00

When I think about the top 5 lolita dresses that I would love to have, sometimes it's very hard to narrow it down just to 5. Mostly because my brain can't comprehend and isolate so many beautiful designs I've seen and I just give in. Recently, one of my fellow lolita friends offered to sell me one of her dresses because she hadn't really bonded with it and it's on my 'Would love to own, Top 5 Unicorns" list. I was over the moon when she asked me if I was interested. So, here we go!

This is Metamorphose's Twinkle Journey JSK in Black.

Twinkle Journey

Black and navy were my favorite color ways in this print. It makes the border print pop very well and accentuates the pattern so much more. I actually fell in love with the print when my friends went to Japan last year and their friend had a Twinkle Journey dress and wore it out one day. I met her when I went back to Japan later in the year and she wore the dress again and I was secretly admiring it. ^__^*

It's one of the most popular prints from Metamorphose and even if I do see it, usually someone else beats me to it.

Front details

The 3 bows on the front bodice are removable, and the largest has some pearls sewn on it. The princess seams are accented with ruffled chiffon which also borders the shoulder straps and the top bodice.

Unicorns and swans!

The print itself is gorgeous, the number one reason why it is one of my favorite prints! The Metamorphose logo is printed like a constellation however there aren't a lot of other fun little details in this print like all the other prints I have from Meta. Besides the swans that are a trademark and hint to a Meta design there isn't a crown or a subtle design detail hidden away. It's focused on the unicorns and the whimsical scene.

The hem is finished with a layer of the twinkle journey fabric and a shorter ruffle of chiffon on top. It didn't really photograph well when I took pictures yesterday since I was loosing daylight.

The swans. (Picture taken under desk lamp lighting)

The unicorns ♥

One of the more interesting things I noticed is the material of the dress. It's not a smooth cotton material, but it has a crepe like texture to it. It's very similar to my BtSSB Clockwork Tea Party dress in material. I suppose it would be a way to tell a replica or a real one apart. The print is very sharp and there are no smudges or blurs with the contrasting background. (It might look blurry in the photo, but it's from my camera which likes to focus on one particular spot.)

Back of dress

Shirring panel

The back of the dress is simple. There is no corseting, but a shirring panel that can allow for some stretch. The straps are adjustable if you move the buttons higher or lower, depending on what you need. The waist ties are removable and have this great chiffon detailing on them. It makes tying the bow a bit more difficult, but looks very pretty.

The dress is lined on the inside and has a built in layer of tulle. I just have to reinforce some of the buttons for the waist ties so that they don't fall off. The dress does come with extras on the inside tag though if you do loose one!

Overall, the dress is very charming and it's one of my favorites in my collection. I can't wait to wear it out! If I have the chance, I would love to own the skirt version of this print in the navy colorway, but I'm more than happy to settle with this one dress. ^__^-

♥

Lolita Closet - Metamorphose Room Print

2012-02-13T22:16:00.002-05:00

Ever since we wore lolita in Japan on our last trip, my sister has voiced that she would probably never own a brand print because sizing by brand companies is non-existent. It's hard for more fuller shaped ladies to wear lolita since most brands have one-size only items. Although most designs feature shirring panels, it's still difficult to find a dress that accommodate you if you're busty or have a fuller shape.

My sister wasn't deterred and still dressed up in the spirit of lolita when we were out and about in Japan. Right now the only brand pieces she owns are from Bodyline since they offer larger size ranges for some of their dresses. I've been keeping my eyes open to find a brand dress that my sister would like and would also fit in. After a few months of searching, I was successful.

Here is Metamorphose's Room Print JSK (Fully shirred)

Metamorphose Room Print Shirred JSK

The nice thing about this dress is that the bodice is fully shirred and can stretch up to 48", perhaps even 50". Even when I tried it on for fun it looked fine on me and I have a 34" bust. I think the border print design of this dress is adorable. It's based on a princess or fairytale room which is a theme that's consistent with Metamorphose.

Detail on the front bodice

Since the bodice is fully shirred, there isn't a zipper. Although you could probably just slip the dress on, one of the nice design details Meta did was to add a functional placket on the front. It's hard to see, but the bows can untie and you can unbutton the buttons to help you slip the dress on easier. The white lace and ruffles frame where the placket opening is.


Detail on the inner part of the placket

Another nice detail Meta thought about was to add a snap at the top of the placket. Since the button at the top is about 1" away from the edge, they added a snap to help reinforce the shape and reduce stress on the top button. They really thought it out well!

Removable bows

The dress comes with two removable bows that are placed on the straps. I suppose if you didn't have the matching head band you could have turned these into hair clips. They're a nice cute shape and subtle within the design of the dress.

Metamorphose Room Print detail

Here's a picture of the border print! True to Metamorphose's designs, they have added many of their trademark swans into the print. They are in the motif on the door frame and the handles on the window frame. Until I looked closer I noticed they also added a pair of swans on top of the mirror frame and as the decoration handle for the drawer on the vanity. The picture frame has an image of two swans looking at each other. It's very whimsical and are classical Metamorphose details!

The print also features a cat and a poodle. It's very hard to spot the poodle since it blends into the background. The colorway is faulty for this because the poodle is more prevalent in the white/pink colorway. In the picture frame on the dresser, there's a photo of the poodle and cat next to each other like best friends!

You can also see that Meta used a simple lace along the hem of the dress.

Back of Room Print

This dress has the thinnest waist ties when compared to the dresses that I own. It doesn't take away from the overall design but it intrigued me to see that they were thin. The shoulder straps are adjustable if you remove the buttons and reposition them to fit yourself. There are two buttons per strap.

The dress features a black lining and has a built in layer of tulle to add some volume which is a trademark of most of Metamorphose's dresses.

Matching headband

This is the matching headband for the dress. It has wire built into the bow so you can adjust and shape the bow to your liking. It's similar to my Swan Lake headbow. There are some pearl accents on the bow and the previous owner added a pink Swarovski crystal in the center for some sparkle.

There is a bit of a nightmare story attached to this dress and I wasn't expecting to have to restore it. The previous owner decided to hot glue gun some rhinestone bows onto the print, and while I knew that it was there I didn't think they were so prevalent. I was not fond of them and neither my sister. (I believe her reaction was shock.) So I took a few days to remove the bows and get rid of the glue from the print. After lots of spot cleaning with water, solvent, tweezers and endless patience, I've removed 95% of the glue but there's still a bit on it that I cannot get out without damaging the print and fabric. Overall the restoration worked out well and you can hardly tell that there was any fault to the print.

The only things I left on the dress were the pink Swarovski crystals that were places on the pink stars/sparkles. It was subtle and didn't take away from the print so I left them.

The dress is ready to be presented to my sister, so I hope she's happy with her first Metamorphose dress!

♥

White Doves

2012-02-07T10:00:00.003-05:00

I really love this song by Young Empires. I heard it on the radio one day and it just really stuck with me throughout the entire day at work. They are a local Indie band from Toronto too. ♥

I think it's about being young and trying to see your dreams and goals through but you always have a place to come back to when you fail, but never to give up on that dream. I've been trying to figure out the lyrics and I think the ones I've typed out are the words that are sung. There are no official lyrics posted on their website or that I could find.

Here is Young Empires' White Doves.

It takes a thousand miles to reach the stars tonight,

and you will find your dreams they come alive.

It takes a thousand lives to save one life tonight,

and you will find your dreams they come alive.

In the sun when you're young, in the sun when you're young,
you find a way,
Back home, back home.
In the sun when you're young, in the sun when you're young,
you find a way,
Back home, back home.

It takes a thousand tries, you'll get it right in time,

(In time)

the answer lies and its the light that shines.

(It shines.)

It takes a thousand miles to reach the stars tonight,

(Tonight.)

and you will find your dreams they come alive.

(Alive.)