Tea, of course~ The Silver Teapot review and April Meet

Coord for the day ~<3

Headband: Kidsyoyo
Cutsew: Innocent World
Skirt: BtSSB
Socks: BtSSB
Boots: AatP
Parasol that I forgot to bring: Bodyline

I hosted another meetup last week, and it went very well! The bad news is that I still get too excited to remember to take pictures, so there are very few this time. '>_>

We met at (roughly) 11am at The Silver Teapot in Manteca, which is halfway between Stockton and Modesto in California- without bias the best one I've ever been to. I picked the place because I now go there on a regular basis and know what to expect of the service and tea. The staff is a family of a mother, daughter, and father. They're all wonderful! 

Not only do they use excellent tea and cook delicious scones, but the prices are fantastic. It's $4 for an unlimited pot of tea, and $17 for unlimited tea, a scone, 5 mini sandwiches, 4 mini desserts,  and a platter of cheese and crackers. Of course, there's a lunch menu too. You can also just visit their website for a complete menu. Teamap also reviewed The Silver Teapot #12 out of 325, which is pretty darned impressive if you ask me. Well, there's a reason I go there weekly!

They also have a giftshop containing teacups, aprons, strainers, and all kinds of other unique items. Actually, there's a white iron decorative bird cage I've had my eye on for a while now... *.* 

Before we left they asked for a picture of us, and I asked for one of them for this blog. Upon request they also used my phone to take our group shot, but as you can see unless you've had practice with my camera phone's lag the pictures usually come out pretty blurry.

Van stealing a few more sips of tea before we leave

The hats that you see in the back are for people to wear during parties. There is a whole other section which I didn't get a picture of (you can see a bit of it in the corner in the picture below) that has a mirror and changing screen that has more hats, some scarves, and a black bonnet. 

Blurry group photo, I'm trying not to laugh, but everyone looks so cute!
Top left to right: Elly, Vanessa, Katie, Kay-Dee, and me
Bottom left to right: Alisa and Joann

On our way to the antique store we went to Tipton's, a place which sells stationary and china/tea sets. Someone found this intriguing pop up book which we all loved...

There was a lot of detail, a lot of which I was unable to capture...

I attempted a shoe/print shot Dx

After Tipton's we headed to AAA Antiques and Art where I picked up a brooch. I forgot to take pictures of the place, but it's really gorgeous. You can visit their website, but it's not even comparable to the actual store. They have a LOT of jewelry, and a little section devoted especially to cameos. There is a woman who works there who absolutely loves lolita fashion, and if you're not careful you may end up falling into quite a wonderful conversation!

We went to go see Red Riding Hood for 3 dollars each at the old movie theater... We couldn't resist giving open commentary throughout the whole thing, which made it quite humorous and fun. 

Because this was "the meet the lasted forever" we headed over to a couple of thrift stores while waiting for the clock to strike 7 so we could go to Torii's in Modesto for some karaoke and food. I didn't take any pictures, but I did pose for a knightly shot in this epic helmet I found...

Grrrr!...?

Bodyline Review and Lace Comparison

In the past, Bodyline has been known to toss out quite shoddy items. Askew with poor quality fabric, lace, and composition (a few pieces of which I am guilty of having purchased not long ago), it was almost as should-be-avoided as any other questionable replica company. I read a review from someone stating that their newer items were okay, so I decided to give it a shot. Immediately before they opened their own online store I purchased a high waist skirt and pannier from them through cosmates.jp.

Past experience:
It took three weeks to get the items from cosmates, and they arrived in good condition. Or so I thought. The fabric in front of one (polyester/cotton blend) skirt had torn at the seam of the boning from being sewn too tightly against the plastic. I didn't notice this until I was already wearing it and the plastic piece came out of the skirt and stabbed me .__. I noticed the gaping hole in the front, and panicked when I realized that the fabric was torn near the seam and that it wasn't a simple matter of the seam coming apart. I had to use fabric glue until I could find a needle and thread to sew the hole shut. I proceeded to take out the three other plastic pieces and noticed that the skirt kept its shape okay. The skirt came with an off-white underskirt which was made of cotton. The underskirt is well made enough, and I have worn it many times with all kinds of outfits, as well as in the rain and mud. It has yet to show any signs of wear. The pannier lasted for three months (worn 8-12 times) before losing half of its volume.

This experience:
Okay- now onto the new shipment. It took four days to reach us! I selected quarter value declaration and it spent no time at customs. I split an order with my friend, she got everything in black and I got an envelope print JSK. We also both got bloomers, which were well-constructed as well. The items arrived in a heavy-duty plastic package that appeared to have been handled well. No violent abuse, holes, or stains were present. I took pictures of the opening but accidentally deleted them '>_>


First up is blouse L117.

I had to lighten the pictures to make the details more visible. The blouse is a true black. Overall, I'm happy with my friend's choice, it has a nice balanced composition for a first blouse. Well, I think so anyways. xD

It does have raschel lace on the sleeves, layered softly over the cuffs on solid black fabric. It isn't scratchy at all, and it has a pattern different than that of most lingerie >.< My largest concern is potential wrinkly-shrinkage, but only time will tell.

  

Fan of the horizontal pintucks? Yes. Fan of the rose trim? Yes. Fan of the dot lace? Eh, see for yourself.

The blouse also features cloth buttons, which I'm not a big fan of, but they are sewn on very well. The overall construction of the blouse is decent and most of the material used is of standard quality.

I am the most impressed with a skirt from their March release (L325), which I had been debating upon getting for myself. The cotton is very sturdy, the construction is very sturdy, and the design is very versatile.

It has a lace up front with satin ribbon. The ribbon is finished, as is the ribbon on the blouse, so it doesn't fray or dissolve.

One of the most impressive parts of the skirt (besides the thick cotton fabric) is the lace. That's right, I said it- the lace. Ready?

And compared to Baby on the left and Innocent World on the top:

It isn't as thick as Baby's, but it is an obvious improvement if you know or remember their older things. 

Next up is the petticoat. It's made of a very thick material. It's ACC030, for those of you who are curious.

Petticoat by itself:

Victorian Maiden Skirt by itself- heavy weight due to material and ruffles

Pardon the bathroom shots, there was no one else who could take pictures, and it's my only mirror.

$31 for a crap petti.

Shoes l52 after some of the bows have been removed:

And lastly, I got L223.

The top bow (not shown) is secured with a pin, but the bottom ones are made from the "ribbon" that's sewn all the way around the JSK. The waist ties are double sided. The material is comfortable, a bit stretchy, and stand up well to washing.

I was worried about the lace when I saw the pictures for the JSK online because it was washed out and fairly vague. I had been planning on taking it off until I got it- and was surprised with a crochet type lace.

So, overall, I would give it an 6.8 out of 10. It's worth what you pay for, and if you get a lot then the shipping is a great price too. Shipping is also fast, and the entire process is very easy.


I hope someone out there finds this useful. xD

Thank you as always for reading!

AP mini party- RinRin Carnival pt. 2

To see Part 1, go here.


After the giveaways the staff rolled out a cart that had one of each main item (JSK, skirt, and OP) in each color and then had those of us who were interested draw a number. Out of 30 I got 28 (._.)' so nothing was left. I'm quite glad they set it up the way they did though, as I didn't have a parasol to brandish if things turned ugly.

When the lottery was done they took the sheets off of the hanging items and brought back the displays with other items on them, and most of us began shopping. I bagged some cute items, including the shoes I was originally going to buy to go with the red Canary OP. 

♪ The wristcuffs were tucked away behind the mannequin displays, I saw these right before I got to the register! ♫

❤ I have a weakness for bird cages ♥

✰A cutsew I had been eying online, I was really excited when I tried it on and it fit! Plus it was on sale! ✰

It looks like I'll be getting more items in red from now on. xD

Which reminds me...

My lolita roots are in punk and gothic, but I wound up getting rid of many things that I stopped wearing. Now I find myself regretting that, and it's looking like a new expansion is on the wish list. To me, punk and gothic lolita items are very easy to work in with daily wear (cleaning and being very active aren't very petticoat friendly, in my opinion) and places where you want to try and blend in a little better (awkward work meetings and submitting job applications, for instance) or avoid confusion ("Do you work here?") so they are very versatile. And let's face it, sometimes I just want to let out my inner badass. I'm not the only one, am I? '>__>

Not that there'll be much expansion going on after April, I have to save my money for college this fall. ^o^

Back on track, after I purchased my new things RinRin took a picture of me (did I mention how nice she is? I loved everyone there<3) and we talked for a little bit before Vanessa and I left the shop. On our way back to the parking garage I saw this neat decoration which I made Vanessa stand next to like a tourist. xD

The sun blinded her and then reflected off my screen so I couldn't see what I was taking a picture of Dx

We went to Japan town and, as all sane people would do, did some purikura and went out for dinner. I haven't scanner the purikura yet, so I can't put them up, but I assure you that they were cute. The second machine we went to had a broken pen that I used to spend a good 10 minutes trying to edit one picture, and then a wrong button was pressed at the end so the wrong layout came out. Some of the translated directions were also missing. Cx

AP mini party- RinRin Carnival pt. 1

Hello!

Not many pictures from today's events, unfortunately. (._.) It always happens whenever I have a lot of fun, I forget to take pictures of all the lovely things and people around me... Which might not have been so bad if there weren't so many nice people who kept asking for pictures of me... I feel very selfish.  (>,<)'

Vanessa and I had a lovely drive to San Francisco, including a rather interesting detour to Taco Bell. シ 


We were blessed with Vanessa's wonderful sense of direction and found the store quickly. When we arrived we were greeted warmly by the workers, and I requested to wear the dress which I had ordered for pick-up. It was this Canary One Piece, but in pink since some lucky person beat me to red (I didn't save a picture of the pink stock one):

One of my top two dream dresses. Hard to describe the feeling. xD

It really is a stunning and flattering dress and it would probably look good on anyone, so luckily it looked okay on me. "(>///<)"

I think that the lovely woman who brought my dress out to me was as excited as I was about me trying it on. 


Even though I've only been in the store twice I have received better customer service from AP than I have from any other store- clothing or otherwise. The staff is very attentive, but never even close to annoying. They are also very polite, friendly, and personable. They aren't pushy or aggressive in sales at all, though they do actually care about what you want and that you are satisfied with what you get. ♥


They're also amazing hosts, as I was shown the snacks and served my drink of choice shortly after donning my new OP (and still wearing some cream colored sneakers because I didn't get there early enough to buy a matching pair... m(_ _)m I just keep ita-ing it up) and was regularly checked on with a smile and nod. 


Shortly after I arrived, I was invited to take a picture with RinRin, and I was so nervous (as I am with all people that I meet for the first time outside of work) that I probably seemed a little rude. It came out in our picture together too... I'm making a really ridiculous face. 

I was able to get a picture of RinRin by herself, but the picture quality didn't come out as well as I'd hoped it would.

Such a sweetheart! ♥

The other guests at the mini party  (okay, it was a tad big to fit the title "mini") were also wonderful! I tried to speak to everyone at least a little bit despite being so awkward, and it was really nice. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves quite a bit, and eventually I think I was able to relax.

The first group shot ^^

Vanessa (to the far left) wore a JSK she made herself!

After a few hours of meeting everyone and taking lots of pictures, the AP workers called our attention to a game of bingo. Prizes included catalogues and socks, but since I had to step out for the last half of the game I don't know if there was anything else given away.

These two were running around taking pictures of everyone else xD

Donning their bingo cards and ready for prizes ^o^

Thank you for reading!

Click to see Part 2.

Crafting ~Floral Hair Corsage~

I've been working on a little project lately, and was playing with the idea of putting it on commission. I'm also bringing it to my local tea shop on Monday to see if they will carry some of them! *crosses fingers*

It has been a VERY long time since I've crafted anything... Besides an occasional sewing project, I haven't made anything by hand for about 6 years. '._.

No matter what I did my arm was blocking the light for this shot; no props!

I used grosgrain ribbon and silk flowers. The back has a metal comb for attaching it to one's hair. Despite the pieces' considerable size, it isn't heavy or uncomfortable to wear and is fairly versatile as far as where you can place it on your head. I do plan on making smaller ones too, but I need some more clips of various types to get started on those.