Review: Écailles de Lune "Forest of Pipe Organ" Special Anniversary OP (2017 version)

Hello bats!  I've had this review sitting in draft mode since September 2018 (oops) and I finally got around to finishing it off.

Today I'll be reviewing a dress from Écailles de Lune, my absolute favourite Chinese indie brand! I've owned nearly every one of their releases and have been consistently happy with the quality, price point, and unique designs. I've always wanted this dress, but I never managed to find it in my size secondhand, so I was thrilled to see that in addition to the original JSK and OP designs, Écailles de Lune designed a special edition OP with a collar accessory to celebrate the anniversary of the print series! I'm still sad that the black x grey 2014 colourway hasn't popped up again, but I'll get my hands on it someday...

I love her so much! She has such a regal face.

I splurged a little bit and bought the OP ($182 CDN) and matching collar ($32 CDN), both in the black colourway. I placed the order with my shopping service on October 31st, 2017. The order arrived to me in June after several delays - first the dress was slated to arrive in late March, which was pushed back to late April, and then to May. They finally shipped the dress to my SS at the beginning of June so by the time I actually received the dress on June 11th I was pretty annoyed, given that I paid on the very first day that reservations opened yet saw many people on social media received their dresses several months before I did. I don't usually reserve dresses on Taobao...is this a normal thing?

Whatever, let's talk about the dress.

The construction is tidy, and the fit of the dress is very good. The bodice fits me perfectly with no wrinkly or baggy spots.  It's super comfortable to wear and has no awkward gapping in the back even when pulled to its tightest. There's a lot of room for a petticoat.

The upper part of the dress features a simple gathered bodice and ruffled lace detailing, with a crucifix sewn to the neckline. The back of the bodice is a little bit bare for my tastes - I think it would have looked nice if they'd used some of the same scalloped lace from the front to trim the back side. There's no shirring or stretchy material, but here's a generous amount of corset lacing in the back, tied with a soft satin ribbon.

The cap sleeves are formed by 2 layers of different types of raschel lace. I wish they had stuck to using the ruffled chiffon sleeves they used in the normal OP, or puff sleeves, or, given the high price point, long sheer chiffon sleeves. Or literally anything else. I love raschel lace, but I'm annoyed that it doesn't match the lace that's on the bodice.

The skirt portion consists of bustled, asymmetric layers of chiffon, rachel lace, and mesh, with a dot tulle overlay over a printed skirt. Unlike many of their previous releases, the overskirt portion is not removable, although the fabric can be pinned up via 2 buttons along the waistline. The printed skirt has a neatly serged hem, and is lined with polyester hemmed with ruffles of dot tulle. The ruffles are even with no lopsided spots unlike some of the other dresses I have purchased from this brand in the past.

The print is beautiful and crisp, and lines up perfectly along the seams. It's unfortunate that there's no way to pull away or detach some of the tulle overskirt so that the gorgeous print could be on full display, although I really love the shadowy effect created by the overskirt. I think that if the bustles could be adjusted with ties like the Atelier Pierrot corset skirts are, or if the overskirt could be removed, it would add some more interesting style options.

The one thing that annoys the hell out of me is the detachable collar. It just seems a lot fuller and darker in the stock photos. I wasn't really expecting to get 2 pieces of lace on a lace tie for $32. It's pretty, but...really?

Overall, I'm happy with the dress, but there are some weird design decisions that stop me from totally loving it. It is well-constructed and uses beautiful materials.

Update: I did end up eventually selling this piece, as I just prefer the look of the original OP and JSK after seeing them all in person. Now if I could find the 2014 black version of the JSK, I'd be one happy goth!

Shopping Experience: 1/5
3 extra months isn't a long time to wait, but the brand's communication of the delays was pretty poor, and I was one of the last people to receive my dress even though I was among the first to reserve it.

Quality: 4/5
Great construction and thoughtful design, but some details could be improved.

Overall Score: 3.5/5

Thank you for reading!

2018 Wardrobe Post

Hello bats, and welcome to my wardrobe post! This is my first time participating in this time-honoured EGL tradition. It's difficult to take photos indoors in winter where I live, so please excuse the questionable image quality. I'm finally at a place where I'm pretty happy with my current wardrobe and I'm eager to start diversifying what I have a little bit.
Click here to see the wardrobe!

Some Winter Coordinates and Snaps!

How many times can I shoehorn this bonnet into a coordinate? Let's find out!

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JSK: Écailles de Lune

Blouse: Atelier-Pierrot

Socks: Moi-même-Moitié 

Bag: Moi-même-Moitié 

Boots: Bodyline

Headpiece: Elpress L

Jewellery: Offbrand

 Just felt like dressing up for no reason at all! This was my first coordinate with Shadow Garden. It's definitely one of my favourite pieces now.

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JSK: Moi-même-Moitié

Blouse: Offbrand

Socks: Moi-même-Moitié 

Boots: Antaina

Headpiece: Elpress L

I'm a doofus and I didn't even realize my pretty silver gate necklace was tucked into my OP the entire time. Welp. Anyway, I wore this to go stuff my face with fried chicken. So elegant rori desu ~

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My first and last time wearing this dress. It's beautiful, comfortable, and the quality is quite solid for an inexpensive Taobao dress, but the cut is all wrong for me. High-waisted long JSKs just aren't made for shorties like me. I feel like I could have incorporated some more red into the coord, maybe with a red and gold brooch on the bonnet instead of the black brooch I used.

JSK: Foxs Feathers

Blouse: Moi-même-Moitié

Bonnet: Elpress L

Socks: Metamorphose

Shoes: Bodyline
Bag: MuFish 
Jewellery: Offbrand

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JSK: Sheglit

Blouse: Ista Mori
Jabot: Marble
Jacket: Atelier Boz

Hat: Offbrand

Socks: Alice and the Pirates

Boots: Bodyline
Jewellery: Offbrand

Simple, comfy coord I wore to go sing karaoke with my friends. I really like wearing all black and then adding a few coloured touches with socks and accessories. I want to add a few more simple black pieces to my wardrobe for more casual outings.

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Skirt: Moi-même-Moitié

 Blouse: Ista Mori

 Headdress: Bodyline

Socks: Moi-même-Moitié

Shoes: Bodyline

Bag: Moi-même-Moitié

Jewellery: Alchemy Gothic, offbrand

This day was beyond windy - I was trying to stop my skirt from blowing up by squishing my purse on top of it. I had also been crammed into the backseat of a Fiat with 3 other people for 2 hours, so my clothes rumpled up pretty badly as you can see!

I wore this to my friend's Mr. Yan-themed oldschool lolita party. I was trying to go for that old-school street snap look, kind of casual/unpolished and simple but still cute. Don't think it quite worked, but I guess hot mess is still a valid aesthetic.

Review: Écailles de Lune "Shadow Garden" JSK

Today I’ll be reviewing Écailles de Lune’s latest offering: the Shadow Garden JSK, a lovely cage dress that could be styled in either gothic or classic. I purchased the black version, since the ivory sadly wasn't available for overseas customers...although I haven't actually seen any Chinese lolitas with the ivory version, so maybe they never released it at all. I paid 699 RMB/$144 CDN total.

Timeline:

•  November: Placed reservation through TaobaoFocus
• January 23: Dress shipped out by TaobaoFocus
• January 28: Dress arrived in Canada (!)

Don’t quote me on this, but I believe that Dark Box, Écailles de Lune, and Krad Lanrete are all sister brands. Given Krad Lanrete’s reputation for less-than-stellar customer service these days, I was a little bit concerned. Thankfully, everything went according to schedule and the turnaround time was very reasonable. So, onto the fun part of the review!

The dress comes in three separate pieces: JSK, underskirt, and cage. The JSK is made of lightweight polyester chiffon with a glittery ivory polyester lining and an asymmetric hemline. I was a little surprised at how delicate and sheer the dress is – actually, it’s a bit too sheer for my liking. The fabric has a slightly crinkled texture with a dark webbed pattern. 

 

 

It doesn’t photograph well, but I tried to show how the glitter in the lining sparkles through the sheer chiffon and allows the webbed pattern to show. It’s lovely and subtle in person. I can’t get over how gorgeous the fabric is. I love how it looks like shadowy tree limbs or veins. In my opinion, one of the most important aspects of gothic lolita is the use of texture, since everything is usually black. 

The cage attaches to the JSK with two buttons and ties in the back, and the actual cage portion only wraps around the front. It’s made of the same textured fabric, just without the glittery lining obviously. I wish the cage went all the way around, but the half-cage still looks pretty. There are decorative silver crosses and grosgrain ribbon bows on the cage.The underskirt has the same lining as the JSK, with tiered ruffles around the front and sides. The elastic waist is very comfortable.

Everything is sewn properly with straight seams, no loose threads, and no bobbin vomit. I didn’t take many photos of the inside of the dress because I didn’t find anything worth mentioning except for one slightly messy part inside the bodice – granted, you won’t ever see this part unless you’re separating the bodice from its lining, so it doesn’t  matter.

I’d also like to mention that the sizing is pretty accurate to the measurement given, and the JSK has no give to it – the only elastic part is in the underskirt.

Overall, I am extremely impressed with the quality of materials, solid construction, and attention to detail, given the low price point. My only gripe is that the material is a little bit on the sheer side for my tastes, but I think that was a conscious aesthetic choice. I would definitely recommend that you pick this dress up if you see it for sale!

Here is what the dress looks like in a full coordinate. The detachable pieces make it really versatile – you can take it from simple to OTT just by adding pieces. I’m wearing it with my Classical Puppets A-line petticoat, although it wold look nice with a slightly bell-shaped petticoat as well.

JSK: Écailles de Lune

Blouse: Atelier-Pierrot

Socks: Moi-même-Moitié

Bonnet: Elpress L

Boots: Bodyline

Bag: Moi-même-Moitié 

Thank you for reading, bats! If you think I left anything out of my review, please let me know and I'll add it in.