Thursday, September 29, 2011

VAMPIRE REQUIEM REPLICA REVIEW!!

Hello everyone!
It's been a while! I have been SO busy with school and personal stuff that I haven't had a minute to make a post! I'm so sorry about that. I will try my best to catch up. Right now I want to do a quick review on an item that came in the mail this morning before class!

Dream of Lolita's VAMPIRE REQUIEM REPLICA!!! 

I can't tell you all how excited I am that this is finally in my possession! Let's move on to the review!
I'll be reviewing several things: Loli-Loli Paradise's shopping service in general, the group ordering process, the JSK, and the headpiece that came with it. I apologize in advance for all the wrinkles!

**Feel free to skip this part**
Loli-Loli Paradise and the Group Order Process
I joined the group order for the JSK on July 24th through a shopping service that's run through facebook called Loli-Loli Paradise. She has run many group orders for DOL dresses and was absolutely amazing through out the entire process. I would definitely recommend her service. The samples of the dresses were not released at the time of ordering. I was a little bit worried about this but I was more interested in getting the replica and just couldn't wait til the samples were released! This was my first time ordering through Taobao so I wasn't sure what to expect. She answered all my questions very quickly and kept the group updated as DOL made the samples and provided more information.
The first payment was due on July 27th. I originally ordered the short version in red in a custom size. After seeing the sample pictures of the dress, I decided to change to the long version of the JSK. Loli-Loli Paradise was very sweet and allowed me to change, even though my dress order was already put in with DOL. I paid the second payment on August 20th and was told that the dresses would take another 20 days to arrive. On September 14th, I was told that the dresses would be shipped out in another 10 days. I was starting to worry because I needed the dress before Anime Weekend Atlanta (September 30th). Four days later, I was told that my dress had arrived at her house and would be shipped out on that following Tuesday. I decided to upgrade my shipping to EMS so that it would definitely make it in time. I received my dress on September 27th with a sweet little gift! A pair of red tights!
The Dress!
The dress was packaged very neatly in a shipping envelope. I couldn't wait to open it so I ripped right through the package! The dress itself came in a clear plastic bag with the headdress and tights sitting on top. 


When I first pulled out the dress, I immediately noticed the fabric and the weight of the JSK. The fabric is VERY thick. You definitely can't see through it one bit! Kim Joon also recognized how course the fabric is. I'm hoping that over time it will become softer. Another thing that I noticed how big it was. Now, I'm not a tiny girl by any means but I was still surprised. I had to get custom measurements so I was hoping that everything would turn out okay. I found out that the dress had a small shirring and corset panel which definitely helped the fit when I tried it on.

The Print.
I've seen the actual Vampire Requiem up close several times and I can say that DOL's copy of the print isn't as good. It's not bad but of course, the original is always better.

The print itself isn't blury! That was just my camera :)
Here are a few close ups on other parts of the dress :)



This can easily fit a variety of sizes! I'm guessing that the standard size would also be able to do the same. I have to pull the ribbon very tight for it to fit comfortably.
 When I flipped the dress inside out, I immediately saw a few pieces of thread that weren't cut properly.


I also noticed a very long thread by the shirring panel.

The dress is lined with a shiny, bright red fabric.
 
 I found a zipper that I didn't notice when I originally tried it on!  Of course, like all DOL zippers...it's terrible! I had trouble unzipping it when I flipped it back to the right side.

I also ordered a headdress to go along with it! Rococo Soul was supposed to make them but was unable to. A lovely reader figured out that this came from the taobao shop FoxCherry333! You can find it here:
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=12447523951

 The only problem that I had with this was all the strands of hot glue all over the roses.





And here are some pictures of it worn! Please excuse my derp face and the wrinkly dress! Kim Joon was trying to make me laugh! I put this on really quickly and didn't even bother with my hair -.-



Well, there you have it! I'll be wearing this dress to Anime Weekend Atlanta! Speaking of conventions, I promise to write a post about all the conventions that happened this month! I've been so busy with school and work that I haven't had time to sit down and make a post! 
Thank you all for reading! If you have any questions,comments, or suggestions, feel free to comment below or shoot me an email!