Rosa Hermetica Dress Review

Hello everyone! Today I'm going to be doing another review for my friend Alis's shop Rosa Hermetica. This time around I decided to buy two items and do a more in-depth review here on my blog as opposed to a first impressions review in video format like last time I ordered from her. So here we go! I'll be rating both dresses on size, quality, shipping, and overall order accuracy.

 The first dress I ordered is the To Alice Strawberry Lolita Dress in the Pink colorway.

Quality:
This dress has an adorable print and is made of soft, yet opaque chiffon-like fabric and has two detachable bows for the collar, buttons up the front, and a removable red ribbon to tie around the waist. All of the bows are made out of grosgrain ribbon and the buttons feel like plastic. There is no shirring on the dress and a zipper up one of the sides to allow for easy wear and removal of the dress. The lace is soft and delicate and the print stands out well, though it is a little blurred due to the fabric's texture.
Size:
Sadly, this dress does not fit me. I double checked my measurements and compared them to the ones listed on the site, but this style of dress runs small. I ordered the largest size available, a Medium, but it's equivalent to about a US small or extra small. I should have remembered that my sailor dress from Rosa Hermetica was almost ten cm larger than my bust measurement and was still tight when I decided to order this dress. Unfortunately this is something that happens with online shopping, so I have nothing against Rosa Hermetica for this, but I did warn Alis so she can make a note in the description to warn future customers that it runs small.

The second dress I ordered was the Alice in Wonderland Lolita Dress in the Pink colorway.

Quality:
This dress was also made out of a soft, opaque, chiffon-like material and has a nice print, albeit a little blurred due to the fabric texture. The lace is very nice and soft with multiple types on the dress. The dress has two detachable bows, one larger for the waist and one smaller for the chest, as well as attached bows on the edge of the dress made from grossgrain ribbon. There is some slight damage to some of the bows on the edge of the skirt, though it's not noticeable from the front of the bows and it looks like it's just the ribbon being burned from sealing the edges to prevent fraying. In addition to the ribbons, the dress also came with two detachable wait ties and a chiffon drape that buttons onto the shoulder straps. The dress is zipperless, with only shirring on the back and it also has adjustable shoulder straps with three different positions.
Size:
This dress fits very comfortably and allows for enough stretch to easily put the dress on and off. I'm towards the lower end of the measurements for this dress and it still fits great with and without a blouse under it. The adjustableness of the straps is great for me and the waist ties are a nice addition for bringing the waist in a bit.
Order accuracy:
Unfortunately, there was some miscommunication on the color of this dress between Alis and the people who package and ship her orders as it arrived in purple instead of pink. Fortunately she got in contact with me very quickly when I messaged her about the mix-up. While her store policy doesn't cover shipping on this, she did send me a gift as an appology for the mistake, which I very much appreciate. It's a cute little flower crown with white to pink mini roses on it. The dress is still very lovely in purple, albeit the print is a bit more subdued than with the pink colorway.



Shipping:
Both dresses arrived about two weeks after my order in seperate packages about half a day apart. This is about normal shipping time for me for packages from China. The packaging for both was a typical white polymailer, both of which were undamaged. Inside the polymailers, both dresses were in clear plastic resealable bags with their attachments. I am definitely happy with shipping time and the condition both packages arrived in.



Overall satisfaction:
I am quite satisfied with the quality of the dresses and shipping time, though I am rather upset about the color mix-up on the Alice dress and the fit of the Strawberry dress. However, I feel that Alis's customer service was very good and helped make up for these. Overall I would give this experience with purchasing from Rosa Hermetica a 4/5. I will definitely be ordering from Alis's little shop again and would highly recomend it to my friends.

What's a Replica?

Hello everyone! Today I will be talking about a fairly controversial topic amongst Lolitas who wear Brand prints: replicas.

Many Lolitas are very much against replicas in all forms and this is reflected in many sales groups and sites as they often do not allow the sale of replicas. So what exactly is a replica, you may be wondering. Replicas are pieces that replicate a popular (or sometimes less known) piece from a name brand such as Angelic Pretty or Baby the Stars Shine Bright. Often times this means taking the artwork (aka print), design, or sometimes both from a Brand dress and making a cheaper version without permission from the original designer. Now this can be where it gets confusing for some Lolitas: Why is that entirely a bad thing? Isn't it useful for Lolitas on a budget? First things first, lets discuss what a replica is in different terms.

Imagine you drew something that you were very proud of. It might not be the best drawing, but you did what you consider to be a very good job for your skill level. So, you decide to share this image online with some of your friends. A few days later, you see your drawing pop up on a site you frequent. At first you're surprised. Then you realize that the person who posted the picture is claiming that they drew it and are selling prints of it to various people. They are making monetary gains off a piece of art that YOU made, without your permission, and cutting you out of it entirely by claiming they created it. This is essencially what a replica is: taking someone else's work and marketing it for monetary gains without giving proper credit and without permission. Now let's change the situation a bit here.

Take that same piece of artwork. You share it online with your friends and a few days later you get a message from a friend of one of your friends. They compliment you on your work and inform you that they have an audience of buyers that would be interested in purchasing printed copies of your drawing. They politely ask if you would be willing to let them make prints if they give you an acceptable amount of the proceeds. You agree to this proposition and you two work out the details of how the proceeds will be split. When they start selling prints of your artwork, they keep their side of the agreement and split the proceeds with you appropriately.

Replicas in Lolita fashion are typically the first scenario given: The original designer has no say in the process of the production. Sometimes replicas will be printed with a design very similar to the original, but with slight modifications or in a slightly different style. Sometimes they'll just print the design exactly as it was on the original, brand name and all. While views on replicas vary, replicas can be illigal in some places as they are essentially stolen artwork and/or designs, similar to designer purse replicas. I highly reccomend doing research before buying a known replica to make sure it is legal for you to do so in your area. If buying a Brand item, always ask for proof pictures (typically a picture of the interior tag on the item with a plush or note that the buyer uses to show that it is their picture, not one taken from an online search). Always be careful to try and avoid replicas that people are selling as brand items and to confirm an item really is from the brand that they claim it's from!

Prints in Lolita: Why I Avoid them

Hello everybody! I'd like to discuss my take on prints that tend to be everywhere in Lolita nowadays. Please try not to be offended as this is my personal take on prints. If you love prints, that's fine! We all have different tastes in clothing and how we perceive things. So let's begin!

The main thing that puts me off of prints is that many of them are overdone. They have large pictures of cakes, teddies, and rainbows covering a significant portion of the dress. A good example would be this Conversation Balloons dress. The items in the pattern are large, covering a large portion of the bottom of the skirt. Smaller pieces from the border are scattered along the stripes on the rest of the dress. I personally feel that the larger prints like this stand out too much and add a bit too much of a childish element to the dress, especially when the print is of toys. Many times I feel that the dress is overwhelmed by the large images in the border, especially if they are very different colors from the dress like in the Balloon dress. These prints can look cute in certain colors, but I personally feel that they wouldn't look as good being worn outside of the catalogs. When I was first getting in to Lolita, I used a site that allowed you to design a dress and order it to play around and make "dream" dresses. Many times I chose prints that had a print that blended fairly well with the main color, like this Soft Cream dress. However these dresses were never anything I'd actually buy, just something I thought would look cute at the time I made them. Looking back on the dresses I designed, I still think they're cute, but have no interest in actually buying and wearing them at this point in time. I still appreciate these prints, but find them to be rather loud and cluttered.

However, not all prints are bad in my sights. There's plenty of prints I could see myself wearing that are simple, or small prints. Some examples would be gingham or a print with a small pattern of flowers or fruit on it. I actually own a skirt with a small pattern of flowers on it that I made and enjoy wearing. When I do wear it though, I tend to keep all of the other pieces of my outfit solid colors so that the skirt stands out and the outfit doesn't look cluttered. I've contemplated making a matching blouse with the remaining curtain, but I couldn't see myself wearing it with the matching skirt or even a plain one. Another take on prints I like is a simple line art printed in a contrasting color on a otherwise fairly plain dress. An example is this Moi Meme Moitie JSK which has an elegant print on a simple black JSK. I love Moi Meme Moitie's method of doing prints as they are simple and elegant. One of my original loves when I was new to Lolita was a dress similar to the JSK above with a white print on a black jumper. Even now I still love still love the simplicity and elegance of Mana's designs.

So you may be wondering, what do I wear instead of prints? My answer to that is: solid colors with lace accents. There are many cute dresses out there that use white lace to contrast against a solid colored dress. I have several dresses like this and plan to make another for myself before too long with one of my thrift store finds.

What's your take on prints? Like, love, hate? Let me know in the comments below! Try not to flame or troll please!

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