Brand quality discussion

So far, in my experience newer angelic pretty had the best quality in terms of fabric and construction. Their blouses offer more removable bows.
Innocent World is nice, but it sometimes doesn't come with lining, and some bows are not made, but simple ribbons that you have to bite yourself every time.
Metamorphose has good quality, the skirts are more comfy, the shirring is very good, but the fabric is rough. Skirts don't come with extra bows. Perhaps more sturdy than AP.
I tried some of their blouses and I find them awkward to wear and not comfy

Baby is cute, but my old dresses are not even lined, and I've read that the quality of modern dresses is not so good. I have one old red dress that bleeds out dye.

I have tried to buy Random ebay bows, but I am never as satisfied as with AP bows.

In general I am more satisfied with my AP pieces and meta skirts

One of my Meta dresses is made out of a really weird material. It feels sturdy but also weirdly stretchy? The construction itself is good but the material choice is weird. It feels a bit like a crossover between cotton and jersey knit.

I only buy taobao blouses and by far my favorites been my Dear Celine one. Its really soft and the lace is fantastic. The buttons were actual metal instead of plastic

A question about Meta: Does anyone else have problems with their zippers? I own two Meta pieces (a secondhand JSK and a brand new skirt) and their zippers are incredibly stiff and tend to get stuck a lot, I'm actually hesitating to buy more Meta because of this. The rest of my wardrobe is IW and Baby and I've never had any problems with their zippers, btw.

>>9018864
I have that same issue with IW, not a fan of their bows not being stitched together (if they come undone, you better know how to tie a perfect bow or else you're on your own)

>>9018923
My one Meta skirt zipper tends to get a bit stuck regularly, but nothing too bad. I never have to wrench it to get it to go.

>>9018923
Hmm I haven't had a problem with the zippers my meta stuff at all (I have stuff ranging from ~2003-2010) and have had more problems with baby zippers plus one vm dress (probably because the fabric was so thick). That being said they're reasonably roomy on me but they've all felt beautiful quality.

I have a kind of new baby dress (2014) compared to the old baby dresses that were really bad quality and it's the best dress I own in terms of quality. It's fully lined and just amazing. It is a non print chiffon dress though so maybe that's why it's so well made?

I own a dress from the Taobao brand Candy Rain (not lolita, just general J-fash) and I was actually quite surprised with the quality for the price. Pretty nice fabric with cute little swiss dots, a nice tulle overlayer on the skirt that doesn't obscure the print, and it's even lined on the inside and has a bit of shirring on the back. My only complaint is that the dress is a bit short even though I'm fully within the measurements (and also a very short person) and that the elastics on the arms are a bit snug.

>>9019361
I've noticed that brand tends to be nicer when it's not a print, maybe it's just the pieces I own but non-print stuff seems to be comfier and better constructed.

>>9019419
Can't speak for other brands, but non print AP is usually made domesticly in Japan which may explain the higher quality. I think they also use local fabrics (live in Japan, have seen the fabrics used in stores).

>>9019375
Really? Sounds pretty good for a taobao brand. Maybe I'll get some of their stuff in my next order
>>9018923
I have the same issue with my meta zippers. No broken ones yet though

I used to hang out at the AP shop in Shinjuku 101 back in 2013 a lot and what I noticed is that the quality def doesn't match the prices.
The yen was really low compared to the Euro yet even during summer sale, a simple salopette they had at least 10of each color hanging there, was over 200€ and that was already a reduced price. Socks sold about 45€ and so on. I see that dresses and blouses might be expensive, since you not a lot of material and it's just taking more time to make them (especially blouses), but 45€ for fabric made in china socks? wow no ... just no

AI also heard that LizLisa quality went extremely downhill since then. aka knots falling off, fast pilling, lots of polyester and acryl thread instead of cotton and so on.

No matter which brand itt is, to me, if sth isn'T made out of cotton or any other kind of natural material, the price that I'd pay for the specific piece lowers a lot

I feel like it's already a bit of a general consensus that "burando quality" is just something veteran lolitas make up to justify the price to newbies. You're really paying for the name and company image like you are anywhere else in life. Iconic fashion brands like AP, Milk, Liz Lisa become famous for the styles that they pioneer, not the quality of their clothes. The quality tends to roller-coaster over the years (looking at you, Baby) and you can definitely find comparable quality pieces from taobao for much less.
That being said, Angelic Pretty has great quality almost all the time. I love BTSSB style more, but I can't deny how neat and soft everything I own from AP is.

>>9020108
Anon I appreciate your input but that was so full of typos I am having trouble understanding what you're saying
>>9020135
I feel like some brand pieces are definitely worth the price, main pieces and coats in particular. The things brands tend to overprice is jewelry and accessories (looking at you AP with your plastic jewelry)

The best quality brand blouses that I've found are Atelier Boz's. They're comfortable, nicely stitched, have a good sizing range to them, and I'd say the amount of material plus the sewing standard as put them as my top for blouses. I own bits from AatP from five years ago, and it's much better quality than the styff I bought from them last year. Their fabric quality and trims look very poor quality these days, especially compared to the inflated prices. I've always been pleased with the IW pieces I've bought. My only real complaint with IW is the shirring on their skirts is insanely strong, meaning that even if you're several cm under the max measurement, they're a nigthmare to zip up.

Looking at my items, my VM and MM items are really nice quality, I would say my baby, aatp and innocent world dresses are about equal. My long ears sharp ears dress (indie) has really good quality fabric but the lace is quite stiff. Last I would put putumayo, the fabric is thin and tough it still looks nice you can just tell the quality is much lower.

In my opinion
mm>vm>btssb=aatp=iw>lese>putumayo

>>9020140
Some of Putumayo's non lolita stuff is decent quality

>>9020138
oh god, I'm really sorry for this! I wrote this on my mobile and the section where the keyboard is is destroyed. I'm really sorry.

Lomg story short:
>I think APs price don't match their overall quality; especially since lots of their products are 'made in China' these days
>lizlisa quality went down hill since 2013
>I hate polyester and other synthetic fabrics

>>9020135

Actually, the most important part of your comment are the words "veteran lolita". There was genuinely a time when the quality of lolita indie brands were so low, if your taobao item didn't arrive as a Milanoo cosplay piece of fug, then it was considered good and you were considered lucky. Whenever anyone says an indie item is actually better than brand, it usually turned out they were comparing the bestest quality indie item they can find, to the worst quality brand item they can find.

That's how big the gap was between the quality of indie brands and "burando" brands at that time, the best indie quality only ever beat the lowest quality burando. So the idea isn't made up, although the gap has closed a little bit nowadays.

As for today, if you really want to see the difference between indie brands and burando brands, buy their prints in black. The indie brands tend to use surface printing, and their blacks tend to print as a very dark grey rather than true black. A little snag, a pulled thread out of place and you get white spots from the unprinted parts of the thread being exposed. The major Japanese brands don't have this issue, on most AP and Baby dresses you can turn the fabric over and see the print lightly on the reverse side. And their blacks are generally black, not grey.

As an aside, even veteran lolitas tend not to include gyaru brands in the list of high quality items. In fact, the further back you go, the more likely you'll encounter lolitas entirely writing off the whole gyaru fashion as "cheap" fashion that's expensive.

>>9020140
>>9020144
I own a few putumayo dresses and I've never had any quality problems though. (I also adore their prints and the fact that my boobs fit into their stuff.
And the prices are affordable

>>9020139
I had an IW skirt with back shirring, the elastic was so tight it didn't give as much room as official measurements.
I love IW's construction but I'm sad I won't be able to wear most of their skirts. Also their tube like bodice can be a big disadvantage on certain dress cuts.

>>9020139
Same issue with IW here, it happens with the JSKs too for me. I'm well within their measurements but I find I have to pull pieces away from my body in order to zip them up, and that makes me worried about possibly ripping or snagging something.

I will say that IW is probably one of the better quality brands you can get for a reasonable price though.

>>9018923
>>9018980
>>9019141
>>9020052
Rub a pencil along the zipper teeth. The graphite in the pencil lubricates the zipper allowing it to move more freely. You might need to do it 2-3 times but it should get easier after each time you do it. Worked for me.

>>9020519
I always use a candle to make zippers go smooth. I'm a horse back rider and zippers there won't move if they're closed once

>>9020140
Love Putumayo but definitely agree that some of their stuff is low quality, however it's cheap, plus size friendly(not everything but some pieces are) and I'm not too worried about damaging it.

>>9020519
Thanks for the tip, anon!

>>9020545
No worries, if that doesn't work, try >>9020522 's tip.

>>9020108
Idk what conversion you're using, but AP socks are always around 3000¥ = 30ish€

>>9020135
Eh, there's some pretty good taobao stuff, but most of it is still a little subpar compared to brand. It's often a better value for the money because it costs so much less, but the lace and fabrics and construction are rarely as good or consistent as what you'd find from Innocent World, etc.

>>9020786
This. I have a lot of really cute stuff by taobao and indie brands, but I can usually find at least a small defect. (Other than Krad Lanrette) I usually can't one in brand dresses.

My Dear Celine blouse is my absolute favorite. The lace is soft and the chiffon has a nice thickness.
The two Floral Notebook blouses I have a really well constructed for being an indie brand. The chiffon is def on the thin side, but that's fine with me since I have to contend with Texas weather.
My favorite dress is from AATP 2011 and the construction is great, It's held up so well. I have one of their dresses from last year and I don't feel like there's much difference between the quality.

Putumayo is not trying to be AP/Baby/whatever. They make things to be durable and easy to care for. Because of this, they use more casual materials than might seem more cheap.

Baby's quality recently is terrible. I've had to have a seamstress fix more than one of the pieces I've gotten recently because of errors that shouldn't have passed quality control.

AP and Meta are both on the higher end of average brand quality.

Innocent world is quite nice, as is JM and Excentrique.

Older JetJ is nice, newer JetJ can be hit or miss.

AaTP is definitely the worst quality of any brand pieces I've owned. The shirring is ridiculously strong to the point where it doesn't fit several cm under the max bust measurements, often their dresses aren't lined, their bows are often wonky, and the dyes they use bleed, especially their reds.

Otherwise most of my wardrobe is AP or older Baby. Older Baby I've had no issues with, and I like AP even though their prints don't line up at the seams. I have had the odd wonky bow from AP but I buy most of my items secondhand so I can't say for sure whether that was AP's fault or the previous owner's fault.

I find I really like the styles of indie brands more, and from what I can tell with my wardrobe, the quality is about the same for most average brand pieces I own.
I'd say IW tops my list for quality.
Krad and Leif are definitely up there as far as indie brands go, but just random taobao shops can be pretty sub par.
I bought a blouse that I'm making a bunch of changed to to make it worth wearing.

I'll post some quality opinions that I have of indie/Taobao stuff since I have more of that than brand stuff.
I absolutely love the long-sleeved blouse I have from Bunny House. The craftsmanship is well done, and the buttons haven't become loose yet. The cotton fabric they used is good quality, too. I've had it for almost two years now, and it's still in great condition. I hope to get more blouses from them very soon.
Infanta is a very close second. No loose threads from what I have from them, and the fabric they use isn't low quality.
I absolutely adore the JSK I have from Haenuli, too. The main fabric is super soft, and my favorite part of the JSK is the trimming. The only complaint I have is that the back lacing ribbon it came with is way too long.
Soufflesong is the only Taobao/indie brand I'm not very impressed with. When I received one of their JSKs in the mail, one of the buttons immediately fell off. I hadn't even tried it on yet, and I was handling the dress as gently as possible. I even saw some loose threads hanging from the final product.

I haven't owned every single piece of brand, but from my personal experience Baby/AATP, while it has some nice designs, the pieces I've owned just felt flimsier and not as high quality. AP seems to be all over the place - some stuff is really great, others not so much, but the pieces I do own are nice. I appreciate that many of their dresses have pockets! I only have one moitie piece, it seems pretty average. For me, meta is the best quality I've seen so far; everything I own from them just feels really sturdy and they have interesting fabric choices and design choices. I like that the buttons are on the straps and the buttonholes are on the jsk - so instead of straining the straps and having a button pop off the jsk, the strap will just unbutton itself. Shirring is nice and very comfortable. A lot of the extras are removable which is nice (like pins, bows, etc. I like that on my jsk's I can remove the bows and switch them around or not wear them at all to change things up).

Haenuli I think has grown in quality - some older pieces were average, but I think their newer stuff is nice, or at least the re-release of enchanted fawn is nice. Taobao also greatly depends on the store of course. The best taobao dress I own is probably Nameless Poem - it just seems really sturdy, the design is nice, the fabric is great (I love crepe fabric) and overall is just a solid dress.

came here just to say my Chess Story op is so fucking cheap, the liner is like a camping tent and makes noticeable plastic noises when walking. The bodice yolk is also strangely large and an overall weirdly designed bodice. I've found older Metamorphose (2002 and a 2006) piece to be very very nice, although the built in petti is "crunchy" which is a bit annoying.
Can anyone give some descriptions of Maxicimam items? Is their price worth the quality (new items, not their older stuff)?

>>9021058
I have a hair accessory from them, it's pretty meh tier, I regret buying it.

>>9020740
idk maybe they've changed prices since then. When I was there, there were between 4500-5000Yen

>>9021153
Do you mean tights maybe? Because AP socks have never been that expensive

>>9021214
I'm 100% sure it were them otks and socks.
I never took a secret photo though since I never thought of it getting relevant again, I thought it was normal for them to be so fucking ovepriced.
But even 35€ is too expensive for made in china socks, just because they match a dress, I wouldn't even pay that much for tights

But, as I've realised with other lolita stores as wells, the prices for the things varried enormously depending on their location.

Usually 101 shops of a brand were wayyyy more cheap than the ones at laforet.

>>9021058
I've got a bolero from Mam, it cost as much as an IW one I got on sale and quality is better imo. The lace is beautiful as are the details and despite being burgundy the colour never so much as even stains the water when I wash it. My only complaint would be it's lovely sized and though I have a 100cm bust it's still a tad baggy on me

File: details.png (3MB, 1200x1482px) Image search: [Google]

3MB, 1200x1482px

I put together some picture comparisons of some main pieces I have out of curiosity/ocd/ things like that.

Baby and AP for me are most comparable. They both use quality, detailed material and have good construction.
These pieces have multiple types of lace, trims, and unique buttons. They are lined, although some of Baby's are lined only in the skirt portion.

I adore Innocent world but am more interested in them for their prints than overall dress cuts, since they tend to stick to simple silhouettes.
They also use multiple unique laces and trims, but more often use plain buttons than special ones. I appreciate the small details they put into the simplistic dresses, such as stripes lining up immaculately. Their dresses are also typically fully lined or come with a lining skirt, and they use a variety of interesting textiles instead of just cotton or polyester.
One thing that I hadn't noticed before for some reason is that IW consistently uses lapped zippers instead of invisible ones, which other brands seem to favor. I don't know shit about sewing so I'm not sure if this indicates anything, but I kind of prefer the look and feel of invisible zippers on dresses.

These brands pictured also use nice quality ribbons for their decorations and corset lacing.

File: details 2.png (3MB, 640x2340px) Image search: [Google]

3MB, 640x2340px

>>9021425
Cont

The bodyline dresses are both fine and look nice enough when worn. They definitely lack the details of brand dresses and you can really tell where they cheap out in the construction. The dresses are unlined and don't really feature any notable trims, just grosgrain ribbon and plastic buttons.
The material of both of these is pretty nice and substantial for the price though, especially if bought on sale. They also used lapped zippers.

The Dear Celine dress succeeds in details with its variety of trims and nice looking lace, piping, and unique buttons. It has an invisible zipper and side pocket as well and is lined in the skirt.
The things that irk me are the stripes not quite lining up and the thinness of the material, so it wrinkles easily.

The Inori dress has a nice print quality and the different laces are both pretty. The detachable bows and pearls are a nice touch too in addition to the metal bow buttons. It is also fully lined.
The material however is a weird textured polyester which makes it look cheap up close. This dress also lacks a zipper!

CEL skirt is lined and has nice textured fabric and an invisible zipper. The lace is very detailed and intricate, but I find the print quality to be not as crisp as brands' are typically.

The baroque OP quality seems somewhere between taobao and brand tier. It's lined and has really interesting lace and a nice crisp print, but the material is that polyester that I find cheap feeling.


I guess taking everything into consideration, and thinking about the prices too (with the brand pieces around $200-$250, bodyline $50 and under, taobao about $100, and indie for a similar price to brand), buying brand seems to make the most sense for the best quality at a good price and construction+materials that allow for reasonable longevity. While taobao has become nice for prints as well I don't think they are on par with brand quality wise.

I'd love to see some detail shots of MM, VM, and other brands too!!

>>9021243
Here's Lolibrary for 2013 socks
http://lolibrary.org/apparelsearch/results/field_brand%3A%22Angelic%20Pretty%22%20field_items%3A%22Socks%22%20field_year%3A2013
As you can see, all but like 2 pairs of otk are ¥2310
Perhaps you mistook the price or conversion rate.
Also, the same store with same stock will have same price regardless of location, unless that store is having a sale or promotion. An AP onepiece will be the same price whether Osaka, Tokyo, or Sendai store

>>9020108
Just checking on the website, salos are around 175€, I doubt that during the summer sale they would cost more. The yen was also a whole lot worse in 2013, so it would have been even cheaper. I don't think you have your facts straight anon.

Out of everything I own, I'd say that the biggest problem I've had are buttons falling off (I'm looking at you AP).

Apart from that none of my main pieces give me any trouble, except for one IW dress that has temperamental straps.

My Haenuli dresses feel the sturdiest and thickest, and the shirring always feels the best on them, so I'd rate them better than any Japanese brand that I own. Haenuli dresses are definitely worth their price.

I have a chiffon skirt from AatP (Funeral Procession Of Rose) and I was really underwhelmed when I got it. The fabric is "meh" and the print is really blurry. Definitely not worth the price at all.

When compared to chiffon items I have from AP (Holy Lantern, Celestial etc) it really does not compare. AP chiffon is really soft and pretty, the printing is crisp and the construction overall just looks nicer.

Hell, I even have a JSK from the Taobao brand Precious Clove and it blew me away, it was super soft and the print was really vibrant and crisp! Much better than the AatP skirt.

I recently bought an older (and cotton) JSK from Baby however, and it is stunning.

I own quite a few pieces from reputable taobao brands ( Ista Mori, Krad, Dear Celine) and indie brands (Baroque, Lief) and not a single one of them is on the same level as my brand.I'm not saying that there is no taobao brand that is on par and I'm not stupid enough to think brands can't produce wonky stuff, but maybe it's my taste or whatever.

Stuff that I found to be most problemtaic with indie/taobao:
- lace not having the exact same color as the fabric (reason I don't order 90 % of taobao chiffon blouses)
- lace not being as intricate and soft, almost no custum lace
- trims being shiyn and plastic-y
- fabrics don't have such a nice texture or are thinner and wrinkle faster
- bodice construction seems wonky (I'm looking at you, Lief)
- not as many nice details, or if there are many details the balance is off (too long lace, too long ruffles. cheap pearls, etc)
- blacks are almost never true blacks when it comes to prints

maybe I'm just unlucky with taobao stuff I got (nothign was cheap or completely unwearable, though, as I'm very picky in the first place) and lucky with my brand items, but I never had the "omg it's so beautiful!!" feeling with any of my taobao pieces.

To give a few examples: a dress I was especially disappointed by is the rerelease of Sacred Night. The fabric feels cheap, the bodice is just a rectangle and it's lacking in nice details. I thought the fabric would be thicker (even though it's heavy) and the construction nicer. I know the deisgn is pretty simple, but I also own simple IW dresses and with them, every detail is perfect and everything just feels so nice.
I was also disappointed by the Krad blouse I got (the Flora blouse), as the lace just wasn't as nice as brand. The fabric itself was pretty nice, though.
Dear Celine also has not as nice lace and the blouses I got never had the described color...all my cream/pffwhite blouses form them are pretty much stark white.
My favorite brand piece: Btssb Michael's Blessing.Fucking beautiful.

>>9021460
The buttons and little details like chains are definitely more unstable on AP. I've had a similar experience with Meta. At least Meta gives you an extra button.

>>9020140
I've found Putumayo to be better quality than a few things I've gotten recently from Baby. Their blouses are especially lovely.

Victorian Maiden - God tier in my opinion
Angelic Pretty - Meh. It ranges depending on the dress.
BTSSB/AATP - Also god tier, every dress is so ornate and beautifully detailed and I've never had any issues with them.
Innocent World - Cheaply made a lot of the time, quality can be pretty piss poor.
Meta - Not too bad but not ~amazing~ either.

>>9021679
>Innocent World - Cheaply made a lot of the time, quality can be pretty piss poor.
Wow, I'm really shocked by this! I only have a coat to base their quality on though, I guess. What pieces are you judging from? I was thinking of getting one of their blouses.

>>9021756
we have a shop in my city selling IW and I'd agree to >>9021679 it's 50/50 chance that sth is good or not. some dresses fabric is so low....

>>9021558
I own plenty of nice taobao stuff but fuck, the Sacred Night re-release is horrid. The pattern for the bodice is garbage. I own nicer pieces that cost half as much.

>>9021679
>AaTP being god tier
Just out of curiosity, what year range of theirs are your dresses? I've owned newer AaTP and have been surprised by how awful it is.

>>9021058
I have an old MAM OP from about 2002 and a blouse which I'm unsure of the release year. So bear in mind their quality may have changed since then.

The OP has no lining, but the fabric is a nice thickness and is textured. After all these years, the elastic on the sleeves hasn't stretched out. The skirt seems to be made of 4 panels of fabric, which means there are two seams down the front. The print doesn't line up, which is particularly annoying with so many seams. It comes with two spare buttons.
The blouse has nice lace, and the ribbons/bows on the sleeves are sewn into place so they don't come undone. The custom buttons, while very pretty, feel like they are sewn on quite loosely and could very easily come off. The blouse does come with a spare button though.

MAM seems fond of detachable features as the blouse has detachable sleeves and tie, and the dress has detachable sleeves, waist ties and collar (although mine no longer has a collar). So their clothing is always pretty versatile

Anyone know what the quality of Nile Perch is like? Their stuff is pretty pricy so I'd hope it would be decent. Also those Milk heart bags, worth it or no?

>>9021558
I've also found that when buying taobao blouses that blacks aren't 'true' blacks so to speak, but on top of that, there isn't as much detailing on taobao blouses as there are on brand blouses.

I don't know whether dipping taobao blouses in black dye will make the lace and fabric match better. It's a small thing but still annoying.

Crisp prints are also something that brands really excel at. I've recently received Luminous Sanctuary jsk and Baroque's Antique Frames and Royal Jewellery op pretty much on the same day, and I have to say that there is a discernable gap in print quality.

>>9021243
Alright well it's quite obvious at this point you're just talking out your ass. AP socks are very rarely that much unless you go and buy from the US website or second hand popular socks.

>>9021970
Nile perch always look like babby's first fairy kei handmade/hand modified worn clothes with questionable lace because they can't afford any better. The only good thing is they're very pastel but doesn't justify their price at all. I am surprised they last this long.

>>9021428
I have that same Inori dress and mine didn't come with those metal bow buttons. It has clear plastic flower shaped buttons there instead. I wonder why I got different buttons than you.

>>9025840
That is weird, my dress even came with extra buttons. My dress is the just waist cut from the third reservation period if it makes a difference?

>>9021970
Its average, I have a duck printed skirt from their brand, mind you I bought it from Closet Child so it is second hand.. but its nothing special.. to be honest, just seems like a regular printed skirt you would pick up in an offbrand store..

>>9022046
This. To be fair, I have no idea what they cost brand new, but the skirt is cheap shit and looks like something someone whipped up in 30minutes on a sewing machine.

>>9018973
meta blouses have this issue, in the case of bow ties that you have to tie yourself, while AP and Baby often have the bows made ready to pin on

>>9022046
>>9026096
Well that's disappointing. Some of their stuff is really cute. Thanks for the input

>>9020135
the few taobao I own has been hit and miss
for bows quality always burando has reached the mark
Just look at how sad and helicopter-ish taobao bows look on dresses.

File: inori_the_maiden_of_versailles_jsk_11.jpg (43KB, 700x457px) Image search: [Google]

43KB, 700x457px

>>9025911
Mine got the extra buttons too of the clear flower ones. I got mine during the 2nd reservation and got the high waist long version. I guess they decided to change the buttons on the 3rd reservation.

And I just realized that neither of us have the same buttons as the stock photos.

>>9021679
Wow, our experiences with Baby/AatP and IW are complete opposites. Baby/AatP has been pretty meh in construction (loose threads sticking out, very loose buttons, awkward zippers) in my experience whereas IW has always been flawless. Do you think print/solid makes a difference? All my Baby/AatP are prints whereas all my IW is solids.

>>9020882
What AatP dresses have been unlined? I've never experienced that. Not even with special sets. At least the bottom has always been lined afaik.

>>9020164
I have an AATP print that has been distorted by snags. Ragnarok. My fucking dream dress snagged and the print got distorted. I know this happens to stuff like 3F and baroque, I can't believe baby used this shitty fabric

First and foremost, fuck AatP's corset lacing. Seriously. Whoever decided it would be good to use lace has probably never even tried to wear that shit. Whether it's decorative or not, it's fragile as fuck. Combine that with their shitty boning, and you have one annoying garment. I've owned pieces with corset lacing from both Meta and IW from roughly the same time period, and both of them have much sturdier construction. Meta had little slits in the back of the garment that the laces went through, so it didn't put stress on the lacing holes or the back of the garment. IW has little loops of a stronger cord sewn in for the lacing to go through. it looks nice, but I think that Meta might have the better construction in the long run, since I'm not sure how the fabric will age.

My most recent AatP skirt, La Prière~The Glimpse of a Dream through the glass window~, has a nicer lining, but for a eethrough skirt, I think we were owed at least that much. This is the first higher waisted skirt that I have from them with a lining in the waist and no awful boning. I've owned Queen's Coach, Grimoir of the Moonlight Forest, and Jewelry Box, and can say that I like the feel of this one much more when worn. I don't see too well, so I can't vouch for print crispness. The only fabric of a skirt from them that I hated was that of Trick Hat Pricked Heart. It just felt like it would pill easily and wasn't as nice.

I've had a few IW pieces and would agree with the anons who said their elastic and shirring were super tight.

I have a brocade dress from JetJ, and that is definitely the nicest piece that I own. It has the smoothest, most luxurious lining out of all of them. It has fewer little finishings, but I feel like the brocade pattern is so complex that this is a good thing. I wish they'd do more pieces with woven fabrics rather than painting dresses.

>>9027702
And I'm surprised no one is mentioning the buttons! All baby and aripai 's cardigans and blouses buttons are so badly sown, they fall after two minutes of wearing. I would be surprised if I am the only one with this experience, since 100% of my baby/pirates items have had a button malfunction.

>>9028177
I have a recent-ish baby blouse and it's very well made, buttons have no problem. But on my non cotton dresses the buttons all seem like they will fall off in the next minute.

Good point on the corset lacing, baby is also hit and miss. I have a second hand dress from ~2013, while the dress itself looks great, the lace used as lacing hoops are fucked. It annoys me so much because you can't do anything about it! If you don't tie it nice and neatly it will look like the ribbons are hanging on your back. If you do they stretch the lace out in no time. I genuinely worry my newly received aatp dress with same lacing design will destroy itself after one or two wears.

>>9028177
>aripai

>>9028177
Anon you're replying to. I've never owned any of their cardigans. My AatP blouses are holding up just fine so far. I have four of them from different years. The cotton on my VM one is nicer though.

>>9028461
I had one secondhand Queen's Coach skirt with messed up lace in the back. I was so scared for it. Luckily, I am far enough under the measurements that it wasn't as worrisome, but I kept my back ramrod straight just in case. My other Queen's Coach came with messed up boning that the seller didn't even notice. That's a bit careless, but Baby makes it so easy to fuck it up too.

File: DSC090032.jpg (202KB, 777x600px) Image search: [Google]

202KB, 777x600px

>>9029042
I went back and dug up pic related to illustrate. (Sorry for the smiley, I was trying to be positive while getting my partial refund.)

In terms of sturdiness, Moitie has the best quality from my experience. You can throw most of their stuff (apart from the screen prints) in the washing machine and don't have to worry about bleeding, pilling or loosening threads. There are some dresses I own for over 6 years which I wear almost weekly and the fabric still hasn't worn down in the slightest.

Atelier Boz and Atelier Pierrot both have excellent quality from my experience. High quality fabrics, amazing construction, their stuff will hold up forever.

From the otome brands I would say that Jane Marple is the worst. Sure, they use some amazing fabrics but of every dress that I've owned from them so far I found a ripped hem or some other parts falling or ripping off only after a few wears. ETC may be inferior in terms of fabric quality but they have better construction and their dresses actually last for a couple of years.

File: image.jpg (41KB, 320x320px) Image search: [Google]

41KB, 320x320px

>>9028177
>aripai

Because of Baby's shitty lacing is always just take the ribbon out because I'm so afraid of the lace ripping

>>9028661
>>9029149
Can someone tell me what aripai is? Google isn't bringing anything up

>>9029506
retard speak for Alice and the Pirates.

>>9029503
I mean if you tie the lacing loosely that shouldn't be a problem

>>9029512
It would be if she's fat.

>>9027148
Different anon but Gathered Chiffon and Versailles Rose are both completely unlined. Most baby/AatP I've handled is only lined in the skirt portion. And even then it's done pretty badly, I've got skirts where they're thin enough they need lining, but the way AatP did it is complete shit.

>>9029510
>>9029149
>>9028661
Why the fuck is there so much salt over someone using Aripai? It sounds silly to English speakers but it's just the Japanese shorthand for the brand since they don't use AatP.

>>9029661
>>>/weebland/

>>9021460
I really like AP's attention to detail. But I'm always finding myself sewing on buttons, pearls etc. When I got Dream Marine last year, I pulled the headbow out of the package and one of the pearls had fallen off, probably even before it went in the bag because I couldn't find it. Thankfully I had some beads on hand that were identical in size/color and was able to fix it. I've had a few other things that came to me either directly, or brand new in packaging (new with tag seller deciding to part with it unworn) where buttons would just fall off effortlessly. I noticed some other shoddy construction on different recent pieces from within the last few years.

I don't buy directly from them as much lately, due to getting some older wishlist items instead of new releases. The last thing I purchased, Shadow Dream Carnival special set seems much better than some items I've gotten more recently that have had issues. So maybe they've been addressing this issue or I lucked out this time?

Normally I have to make sure I give all the buttons a good tug before I even wear anything.

AP is probably my favorite brand, but this is really irritating. I'd be okay if buttons were falling of second-hand items, but new in packaging directly from Japan. lol.

Never have those issues with Meta, Baby, or IW. But Baby will do some really weird things sometimes construction-wise.

>>9029514
Buy more ribbon or something. It's not like anyone would notice that if it's similar in color.

>>9020161
I don't mind some synthetic fabrics but polyester can go fuck itself. I bought a thin poly cutsew for summer that was supposed to be breezy and lightweight but it starts smelling of sweat after one wear. I don't even sweat that much. Viscose is okay though.

>>9029942
Baby seems to like cutting corners with their construction. A lot of the main pieces I have from them have unfinished edges, especially around the zipper area. And everyone loves to hate on their boning, but with the ones I have they're not even in channels, they're literally just glued beside the seams.

VM and MM forever man. Classic brand construction is superior.

>>9029985
Do they ever put their boning in channels? I've never owned a piece where they did. I'm the anon bitching about boning above. Luckily, I haven't really had the issue of the boning ends puncturing the fabric, but I've heard of others who have.