Cutie Pie Kawaii: Amuse Products

Cutie Pie Kawaii

Hi cuties~! Today Im happy to introduce something a little new to my blog~! Typically I work with indie designers and crafters and review their items but this time around I'll be promoting a different kind of shop... Cutie Pie Kawaii! Cutie Pie Kawaii is a United States based shop that sells online as well as at different East Coast conventions. Their shop offers everything anyone invested in kawaii culture could need! They specialize in obscure and fun Japanese candies that not only taste good but are also fun to eat. Although in addition to that Cutie Pie Kawaii has a range of products including Korean Beauty Products, Anime Merchandise, Plushies, and then tons of other kawaii goods such as stationary, decoden supplies, bento boxes ect! They essentially have many different products you can buy that help you live a full on kawaii lifestyle!

Today though I'll be talking about something very special that Cutie Pie Kawaii offers..... Official Amuse products! Amuse is a Japanese toy company that creates the ever so famous AlPacassos! Now, many people have seen these cute alpaca plushies and I bet a lot of you even own a few! What makes this such a special opportunity though is the fact that floating around on the internet there are quite a lot of fake alpacas for sale. Probably even more than the originals! I wouldn't go as far as saying AlPacassos are "rare" per-say, but they definitely a little harder to come by outside of Japan compared to other kawaii characters such as those made by Sanrio (Hello Kitty, My Melody, Little Twin Stars, ect) or even San-X (Rilakkuma, Korilakkuma, Tarepanda, Mamegoma, ect). The biggest difference between Amuse and the other companies mentioned is that AlPacasso's were originally only sold through UFO Catchers (UFO catchers are the crane games which we typically just call "crane games" or "claw machines" here in the US c:). With their growing popularity, now it's much more common to be able to buy these cute characters online rather than just winning them in an arcade game. Although because of their undeniable popularity many more generic toy companies have been mass producing alpacas of their own, and they are nearly identical. Sometimes when buying online or even buying in person (at a convention, for example) it can be difficult to tell the difference between what is a real Amuse product and what's made by a different manufacturer.

I have a decent amount of knowledge when it comes to telling the difference between a real and fake although most of that information I obtained through the internet! Instead of just rewriting the guides that I've learned from I'd prefer if you took a look at them yourselves~ For a couple of reasons! First they are much much more knowledgeable that I am. And besides the fact that it would take so much more time than I have I feel like it's only fair to read their information since that is where I got it from eheh. Anyway I would recommend checking out The F-yeah AlPacasso tumblr because they have a great deal of sources! And then another great one would be this blog which has a whole guide as to how to tell the difference!

If you aren't interested in reading those blogs thought, to sum it up, one of the biggest things to note (which you will see in this review) is how many tags that the Alpaca has~ Typically Amuse products will have between 2-4 different tags on them instead of just one! This is only one method of determining the authenticity though so I definitely would recommend looking at those links for a better understanding!

Anyyyyway! What is great about Cutie Pie Kawaii shop is that they are an official authorized US distributor of Japanese Amuse products! They buy them directly from the company which is a plus in many different ways. One being that they are definitely a trusted seller! You can expect that you will definitely be receiving an official Amuse product verses a fake so there's no reason to worry! In addition to that there is a huge bonus regarding price which I will discuss later.

For now though, I'd like to share with you all what Amuse products Cutie Pie Kawaii has to offer! They graciously sent me a few to review and talk about so I will be able to share my full experience with you so you can get a better understanding of their shop.

Cutie Pie Kawaii offers Amuse's popular AlPacassos in a couple varietys including (but not limited to) their Goodnight AlPacasso, Girly Kid AlPacasso, AlPacasso Corps, ect. Amuse is always coming out with new AlPacasso series so I assume whatever series Cutie Pie Kawaii offers right now is destined to change in the future!
Whats great about Cutie Pie Kawaii though is they offer more than just Amuse's AlPacassos! Although the alpacas are probably the most popular of Amuse's characters they have many more cute animals. Cutie Pie Kawaii carries goods from many of their other collections including Poteusa, Tsuchineko, and more!

When discussing what to be sent, I requested that Cutie Pie Kawaii send me their Alpacasso Lovely Bag and the Poteusa change purse. I felt that the wearable Amuse products would appeal more to all of my followers that are interested in the fashion side of Kawaii Culture~ Cute plush many not be as essential for some street fashions such as Lolita or gyaru, but for my personal favorite style, decora, cute plushies are almost a necessity! After reviewing each item I'll talk about some coordination ideas! (Ah gosh, I don't want to overload you all with too much information at once! ;x; Im trying my best to organize this all ehe)

So now! Finally! Onto what Cutie Pie Kawaii shop has sent me~~!!

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Shop review
 

 

My package from Cutie Pie Kawaii was shipped out in a standard large envelope which was lined with bubble wrap on the inside~ The owner of the shop included cute sticker tape on the outside of the package which is always nice! I love finding cute packages in my mailbox c:

 

 

 

 

The front had a Creamy Mami tape on the outside, and the back was sealed with a chocolate themed tape! The inside also had cute confetti in it (...which I neglected to take a picture of..) so when I opened the package up I had a cute little surprise!

 

 

 

In addition to my goods Cutie Pie Kawaii sent me a hand written note, a business card and a little extra gift!

 

 

They also included a cute little Sanrio memo book which would be an example of the type of other "kawaii goods" that the shop offers! They have a lot of different stationary options which you can find here~~

Now onto everything else I was sent~! As I said earlier I was sent a bag, change purse, and a few surprise goodies! I'll be reviewing the bag first though~!

 

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The first thing I was sent is Amuse's AlPacasso Lovely Bag! The lovely bag will be perfect for styles such as fairy kei and decora!

 

 

I received the bag in the pink option with the red bow! Originally when I first pulled it out of the package a small wrapper was wrapped around the back of the alpaca to keep the strap safe in sound in its travels (....although it seems I neglected to take a picture of that too... hmm come on Prince pull yourself together!)

 

 

All together the bag is very cute! The Alpaca measures at 29 x 22 x 12 CM and has a little strap on the back. It's priced at $17USD which is fantastic price and it can either be used in coordinates or even just as cute decoration in your room!

 

 

The Alpaca has cute little eyelashes and a red bow tied around it's neck which you can always change out for a different color! It also has a pale pink blush on its cheeks which unfortunately my camera did not pick up ; A ;

 

Even though the Alpaca is technically a bag the zipper pocket in the back isn't too roomy which to be frank is expected of a plush bag. Typically character bags have little too no room and are just for show. Although even though its a squeeze I can still fit my phone and wallet in the back. (though if you have an iphone6 your phone will be a little too big for it as a heads up!)

 

And to give you just a better idea of its size here's what it looks like when Im holding it~! It makes quite a nice little hand purse! Again it holds just about my phone and some cash in it so its definitely a nice statement piece for a coordinate you're wearing out! (I would recommend bring an extra bag with you though if it'll be a long trip haha!)

 

Now lastly what's really important when buying Amuse products: The tags! Tags are always a great way to confirm the authenticity of your purchase. In this case the AlPacasso bag came with four tags total! It has the series promotional tag featuring an alpaca as well as two other paper tags!

 

 

Then on the butt it has it's "AlPacasso Lovely Bag" official cloth tag c:

 

Overall I'm very happy with this bag c:

 

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Next I'll be talking about one of Amuse's lesser known (but just as cute!) characters, Poteusa. Poteusa is Amuse's cute bunny character! Cutie Pie Kawaii shop sent me the Poteusa coin purse (which unfortunately does seem to be out of stock at the moment but CPK still offers a couple of other Poteusa plush!)

 

I received the white version of the coin purse and... oh gosh its SO cute! If you know anything about me you know I have quite a weakness for bunnies and goodness does Amuse make a precious bunny character!

 

 

 

The coin purse plush has a pear chain attached to it at the top with a little clasp so you can hook it onto things! I've also found that the chain is large enough so you can wear the purse as a wristlet as well c:

 

Unlike the AlPacasso bag, the coin purse is definitely much smaller as far as space is concerned because well, it is a coin purse. It may not be able to fit a phone in the back but it definitely is large enough in the back to store change, bills, and even bank cards, gift cards, ect!

 

 

Although the purse part is small, I wasn't expecting the actual plush to be so large! I know that the website did state the measurements but I was pleasantly surprised at the size of Poteusa c: I was expecting it to be more key chain sized but, hey Im not complaining! 

 

Now onto the tags! The Poteusa coin purse came with three tags!

 

 

The cloth tag is located on the side of Poteusa right beneath the bow! It reads (c) AMUSE and then made in china!

 

The Poteusa coin purse also came with two paper tags! One of them is the promotional tag for the series and err.. The other one well I wasn't too sure what it said because it was all in Japanese ; A ; but I assume that it's just about the manufacturing of the purse!

 

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 Lastly Cutie Pie Kawaii sent me one more Amuse product as a surprise which made me so happy~!

 

 

I was also onbe of the Attack on Titan inspired Alpaca charms! Honestly this was such a pleasant surprise because I've been eyeing up the Attack on Titan AlPacassos for a while now but they usually sell out so fast when I see them at conventions! So I was definitely very pleased c;

 

 

So! This little cutie is priced at $7USD, measures at 8 x 6.5 x 4.5 in centimeters and has a gold strap attached to the top! It can be used as a cell phone charm, bag charm, or really wherever youd like to put it! He hangs out on my bag right now but I think I might be putting him on my Christmas Tree later ;^;

 

The little Alpaca wears an "Alpaca Corps" poncho which is inspired by the coats that are worn by the characters in Shingeki no Kyojin! The Aplaca symbol even has little wings on it which is very similar to one of the SNK designs~!

 

As far as tags are concerned this one came with four! It has the promotional image of an actual Alpaca wearing the SNK poncho as well as other two paper tags in Japanese. Then on the Alpacas back side it has an "AlPacasso" cloth tag.

 

The most charming thing about this keychain is definitely its size! Being so tiny makes it all the more cuter!

 

I cant stress how happy I am with this cute alpaca!

 

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And now here are they all together! You can get a better idea how their sizes when you compare them next to each other c:

 

Typically after the end of each post I include an "overall shop review" with different categories depending on what I received! In this case my closing will be a little different considering that Cutie Pie Kawaii is a seller of goods verses a crafter or designer. So instead of using a point system of x/10 and so forth Im just going to talk about a few more things I noticed about this shop which might be helpful for your shopping experience!

 

Shop Layout

 

This is a category I've been meaning to add to all of my reviews but quite honestly Ive just been too lazy to do so. I have limited time when working on reviews and always try to cram so much into said timespan but... I do think shop layouts are important! Navigation, Clarity, and Imagery can really aid or harm a shopping experience! Anyway~ Cutie Pie Kawaii has a very cute and easy to navigate layout. Their design is very suited for their name- The background has a donut pattern and the rest of the shop is pastel colored and very appealing! I found the font easy to read and the descriptions were very clear. The only thing to keep in mind is that the website (at least on my computers) did take a decent amount of time to load. So please be patient!

 

Product Diversity

 

I found that Cutie Pie Kawaii has a very large selection of goods! I really like that they offer a variety of kawaii goods instead of just specializing in one thing. I think nowadays Japanese street fashion is very accessible online but as far as the Japanese cute/kawaii culture in general it can be difficult to find everyday things without having to search all over. Well CPK offers everything from makeup, to food, to office supplies, and more! As far as their diversity goes considering their Amuse products (because well, that is the focus of this post!) I was very pleased! At the moment they only have to pages worth of Amuse goods but I was very happy that they offer multiple Amuse characters and not just AlPacassos. With that said though I think the diversity within the Aplacas is also nice! They offer quite a few of different series.

 

Price

 

Price is something that I definitely wanted to mention for this review! I'm not incredibly knowledgable when it comes to general kawaii goods but I definitely know a few things about AlPacasso prices! I must say that absolutely none of the Amuse products on CPK's site are overpriced. In fact, CPK has very very reasonable prices for AlPacassos. When you attend conventions is likely that you will see fake Alpaca plush sold for three times the value of the original goods. Even legitimate standard size Alpacas can run over $35USD which frankly is way too expensive. Typically in the case of conventions I assume that those reselling legit Alpacas have to go through a few different sources or the legitimate sellers as well as fake sellers just increase the prices dramatically because they are at a convention and know people will buy them. Well quite frankly if youd like to save your money I don't recommend buying convention AlPacassos. On Cutie Pie Kawaii's shop they're selling the jumbo Alpacassos for between $25-27 which is definitely a good price. To give you some more perspective, a medium sized AlPacasso that I bought at a convention last year had costed me $35 which is unfortunate considering a medium is much smaller than the jumbo sized. Anyway! Before I lose you all and continue to ramble I'll just reiterate that these are very good prices! 

 

Authenticity

 

Lastly, I know I've mentioned this multiple times before but I'll wrap this all up by talking about Authenticity one last time! Cutie Pie Kawaii does in fact offer official Amuse products so the biggest plus to shopping there is that there should be absolutely no doubt when purchasing that they are the real thing!

 

 

So overall Cutie Pie Kawaii is definitely a shop that I would recommend- and I would recommend it to many different people. Their shop has so many different things to offer and would be a great place to look for cute holiday gifts!

 

I hope that this blog post was helpful to everyone~~! I have a few more things to discuss regarding coordinating plush toys that I'll put below ! But for the most part everything regarding Cutie Pie Kawaii shop will just be above! If you'd like to stick around and read a little longer though I have a few more things to share! I know this has been such a long post ;_;

 

 

Coordinating Plushies

 

(all photos that are not my own are taken from TokyoFashion.com!)

 

Alright so now to give you a quick idea as to how to coordinate plushies in street fashion! As stated earlier the most common fashion wear plush goods are used is decora. Eventually Im going to create a whole decora guide but for now, decora is a colorful Japanese street fashion which literally means "to decorate" or "decoration". The idea is to decorate yourself in cute motifs through the use of hair clips, accessories, ect. In this case plushies are very important. More often that none you find plushies being used as bags but they can also be used in a few other ways!

 

 

 

 

 

If you create some sort of clip or attachment for them plush goods can also be used in your hair ! In this case a plus cake is being used as a headpiece~!

 

 

Another good use is turning your plushies into necklaces! That's always incredibly cute. c:

 

 

And lastly another way to coordinate plushies would be to literally just attach them to yourself! If the plush already has a strap you can loop it through a belt, you can pin them to yourself, or you can create a strap for them yourself!

 
 

 

It might not seem purposeful to just attach plushies to yourself but to be quite honest there is no purpose or function to decora fashion. Its really all about having fun and wearing what makes you happy! Plushies are not only cute but are definitely fun so they always add a little something else to your coord.

 

 

If you're not interested in actually wearing the plush goods or altering them to fit your coordinate theres always the option of cute plushie key chains! I've attached both my new Poteusa change purse and my SNK AlPacasso to my purse! Now... my purse is... ridiculous, to be quite honest. I like keychains a little too much! One or two plushies would be perfectly enough to spice up your looks a bit but I just... tend to go over the top with everything, I guess!

 

 

 

 

 

It was just a short blog segment but I hope it could give you at least a few ideas! Again im going to do a big blog post in the future about decora but probably in the form of a youtube video c;

 

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Well, that's all for now everyone! This was probably one of my longest posts yet so I'd like to thank everyone who read all the way through the end! I hope I was able to be a little useful this time around and you were able to take something away from this post~!

 

Anyway next up! Look forward to another review from Holley Tea Time coming up c;

 

Happy shopping!

 

 

~ Cutie Pie Kawaii ~

Tilly Me: Sweater Review

Two reviews in one week! Incredible, isn't? I guess at least I'm trying to busy myself with my blog ;A; Today I will be reviewing a store that probably some of you remember.... Tilly Me! Previously I had reviewed one of Tilly Me's crouched collars, but since then Tilly Me has gone through a whole brand transformation and I'm excited to show them off!

Tilly Me is an indie brand which is located in Melbourne Australia! They make streetwear which is inspired by the 80s and the 90s and feature art by the owner~ What rocks about Tilly Me is their completely unique style that appeals to men, women, and everything in between~ This review will feature one of their rad triangle sweaters!

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Alright so onto the review~! The package shipped out in a standard envelope and took a reasonable time to arrive. Something to remember when ordering is that Tilly Me does ship from Australia so unless you're local it will usually take at least 2 weeks to arrive. 

What was inside pleasantly surprised me~ Typically when receiving a package online shops will wrap your items in bubble wrap, paper, ect, but Tilly Me took this a step further and wrapped my garment in their own original packaging! 

Even though this may seem like such a little thing I was really blown away by the new branding that Tilly Me has done! I feel like even something like this really shows the progress their brand has made in just a year since I've last reviewed them~

Their original paper includes their logo, candy hearts, food, and cool mascots wearing their clothing! Tilly's art is very nostalgic and reminds me so much of 90s cartoons while still keeping a modern and fresh vibe.

Included in the package were also a couple more goodies! Instead of receiving just a business card like some shops, I received two postcards and two magnets! The postcards have Tilly's classic "Where's Mah Beans" girl featured on the front and then also cute magnets which I think I may actually give to my parents for christmas c; (Its all about the food with my family!) I really like the idea of including these goodies instead of just giving business cards because quite honestly- I may love business cards and collect them but for most people they can get lost or disposed of after opening their package. Giving a postcard and magnet instead is an interactive way to promote your brand because these are things your customers are likely to hold onto and get good uses out of! Anyway... Time to talk about the actual sweater, huh?

After unwrapping the sweater I can honestly say I was even more excited than before! This pullover is just as- and maybe even more- beautiful that it appears to be online! I'm genuinely just thrilled to have received it because Tilly's work is incredibly inspirational to me and really fits with my aesthetic. So! The deisgn of the sweater... This particular sweater is a dark pink base with blue detailing on the cuffs and then yellow triangles printed throughout. Now this sweater is a hand screen printed sweater so a lot of love when into making it!

I am quite impressed with the craftsmanship of this pullover! For being hand printed the quality is truly phenomenal. The triangle images are crisp and there are no flaws throughout the whole design~ They are also very vibrant and I feel as though they will be very durable as well.

The inside of the sweater has a Tilly Me tag sewn onto the collar~! I love when indie clothing has its own brand tag and not a generic tag because it makes the clothing feel so official ^ u ^ Even with just the design of the logo you can really feel the 80s inspiration with the colorful triangles but in addition to that it feels very Tilly Me. I think something I love about this brand is that they have a very clear vision and although you can see some of their inspirations in their work they are still very much unique and themselves in their own way.

As far as sizing is concerned, the sweaters run in mens sizes so they are a bit larger! I requested a mens medium and to give you an idea, I am 5'9 and the sweater fits beautifully! 

When it comes to the construction of this sweater, again I am also really happy! I took a lot of pictures of the seems and insides that I will be sharing on this review because I find construction of garments to be incredibly important! 

I'm just so amazed about how cleanly sewn this sweater is! There are no loose threads and the construction of it overall is incredibly professional! Something I'm also a fan of is the materials its made out of. You can't tell by the outside of it but the sweater is so incredibly soft!

It's not just cute but it will also keep me warm in the winter! For styling I'll probably pair it with a collared shirt underneath in colder weathers and then when its warm out it will just look rad ties around my waist!

 

Lately the way I've been styling this pullover has been in a masculine decora fashion! The bright and vibrant colors mixed with the triangular print is really great for decora and makes a great statement piece while styling it in a masculine way.

 

 

 

 

Now onto the overall shop review! Last time I had added the category "price" to the breakdown of my review and I believe its something I'll keep doing in the future! I think price is definitely something to consider comparatively to the product c;

 

Shipping: 10/10

If I could give shipping a 10/10 I would! Everything was packaged carefully and arrived on time! I'm still so impressed by Tilly Me's originally paper and just thrilled that they took the extra step to make everyones shopping experience more exciting. The only possible downside would be the fact that shipping from Australia can be expensive and take a decent amount of time but with that said! That is not at all related to Tilly Me as a company and is something they cannot change. Actually, if you shop right, Tilly Me will often have discount codes that will grant you free shipping! So keep an eye out for that.

 

Design: 10/10

The design of this sweater is fantastic! I'm quite a fan of the color choices especially. The pop of yellow on top of this pink then paired with the blue cuffs makes the sweater very vibrant and fun. I especially love the printed triangular pattern as well! The design of the sweater is clearly inspired by 80s and 90s fashion but I still feel as though it has a place in modern fashion and is not too much of a throwback. Another positive thing about the design is its versatility. I love that the sweater itself is in men's sizes because that means it's a little oversized and great for layering! Overall the design of this sweater is- dare I say, perfect!

 

Construction: 10/10

The construction of the sweater is another thing to be proud of~! Considering that the design is hand screen printed I'm quite impressed with Tilly Me's work. The design is crisp as well as evenly printed through the sweater. The sewing of the pullover is also fantastic! All of the seams are sewn straight and there appear to be no sewing errors or loose threads. In addition to that the way the sweater was hemmed is incredibly professional. Overall, the construction is great! I've worn the sweater multiple times already and it's definitely holding up beautifully!

 

Price: 10/10

This Tilly Me sweater is priced at $75, which is actually less than the original price which I believe was around $95. And let me tell you, its still worth 95 in my opinion! The quality of this sweater is genuinely out of this world. I find there are many sweaters just in the mall that are priced undeservingly at 75 and here we have an indie designers hand printed sweater priced the same! I believe not only is $75 reasonable, but it's actually a steal!

 

Overall Customer Satisfaction: 10/10

I can honestly say I am blown away by the quality, and professionalism of Tilly Me. It's been such a great experience to see their brand grow and change and to have the opportunity to review them at two different stages in their career. Everything about my current experience has been essentially perfect! From opening the package and seeing their rad custom paper, to discovering how amazing the sweater is that they sent me. Honestly I wear it nearly every day! I would highly recommend this sweater and everything else Tilly Me offers so please check them out!

Thank you all so much for reading and don't forget to check out Tilly Me!

Holley Tea Time: Skirt reviews

Hi cuties! Long time no blogging, huh? My life has gotten a little crazy lately so I apologize on the lack of my blogging but I do have some exciting news! I have partnered up with a new business and I am SO exciting to be promoting their products and modeling for them. Now I will be working with the ever so adorable Holley Tea Time!

Holley Tea Time is a small independent business which creates cute clothes and accessories for people interested in kawaii fashion. The owner, Holley, is a skilled graphic designer and draws postiviely adorable designs and then sells them on wearable goods! Now, I've been following HTT for quite some time now. In the past HTT had created cute goods such as socks, skirts, and shirts but has now expanded her business! Holley's website now offers a great variety of styles such as skirts, dresses, crop tops, leggings, and even cute hand crafted accessories! In addition to that every style has different versatile designs as well as versatile colorways depending on your own personal style.

I'm very honored to now be working with Holley because again, I have been a fan of her work for quite a while now. Her brand was one of the first brands that I had truly fallen in love with, and well, I do have quite a lot from her shop which I've bought on my own! (two pairs of tights, knee highs, two skirts, a JSK, and a handful of accessories... to be exact...). Since I've always been a fan being able to promote her new merchandise and model for her site has been a dream come true!

In this review I'll not only review the skirts themselves but talk a little more about Holley's business and share a few of the pictures from my photoshoot!

To start off, typically I began all of my reviews by talking about the shipping but admittedly enough, while I created my video review for Holley I opened and got rid of the packaging so this review will truly just be on the skirts.

But! Not to worry~ If you are interested in how the shipping went and how my skirts were packaged, please feel free to watch my video review on Holley Tea Time!

Now onto these skirts~~!!

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The first skirt I received from Holley Tea Time was their Saturn's Wish Skirt! The Saturn Wish skirt comes in lavender, pink, blue and black. I received the purple one~!

As far as sizing is concerned, the skirt comes in sizes S-2XL ! 

My waist is a 31-32" inches but I requested a large because I am on the taller side~ I recommend if you are like me and a little in between to go for the larger size! I found that even though technically I could have fit the medium after trying on the large its a much more comfortable fit than what the medium would have been :)

So~ Here's my skirt! As you can see the skirt is quite large! An advantage to the shape of this skirt is how much volume there is to it. The type of skirt it is is called a circle skirt. A circle skirt is just like it sounds- a skirt which is actually shaped like a circle. This makes the skirt very large and flowy (for a lack of better words). The advantage to this is that there is plenty of room to put a petticoat or even two underneath! If you prefer a larger skirt you could wear a few pettis whereas if you are going for a more casual look you can always just wear it plain as is.

The design on the skirt is quite lovely as well! The skirt I received is the purple colorway and personally I believe the stock image given is a fantastic representation of its true color! The pattern itself is a space theme which is quite popular in kawaii fashion nowadays. It has classic colorful shooting stars on it but also has a planet which looks like saturn that has rainbow rings! Something that I think makes this skirt even more appealing is the balance of the pattern. Technically it is an all over print but because the larger Saturn is situated at the bottom of the skirt it makes the print feel very natural and has a great flow to it! A lot of skirts such as these could easily look too busy if the design isn't balanced well but I feel the skirt has a nice flow to it! Im also a fan of the colors used! They appear very vibrant in person and the quality of the printing is phenomenal. Quite often with indie designs I find a big flaw can be that the pattern didn't print dark enough but these skirts are so vibrant! For this pattern in particular the purple makes a nice backdrop for the pink, sax and yellow accents!

On the inside of the skirt Holley Tea Time now has official brand tags! I was so excited by this little addition! Brand tags on the inside is just a little touch but it makes your shopping experience just a tad more exciting because it then feels like a true brand! 

Holley Tea Time also attached a paper tag on the outside with one of their logos on it, the size, price, and their website! Again, this makes it all the more official and is a bonus for people like me who collect tags and business cards!

Next for the quality of the skirt regarding sewing and the materials its made out of! Holley Tea Time doesnt sew the skirts themselves but instead sends the designs in and has a company make them for her. This has many pros to it- hypothetically for someone that may not be able to sew they can still make cute clothing! Plus, once you find a company that is right for you, you should be able to guarantee that your items will be high quality. I definitely love the company that Holley decided to work with! All of the seams are sewn incredibly evenly, are straight, and there were absolutely no loose threads! In addition to that the fabric of the skirts is SO soft! The material is a nylon and spandex fabric and because of that it has a bit of a stretch to it! The stretchiness of the skirt gives it a little bounce when you walk which is completely adorable! 

Overall I'm very pleased with this skirt!

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The next skirt I received from Holley Tea Time was their Twinkle Heaven skirt! This review will be a little shorter than the above because much of the information concerning quality and structure remains the same.

All information regarding the sizing of the skirt is the same as Saturn's Wish so please reference the above c; As far as design is concerned, Holley Tea Time has actually released a skirt with the Twinkle Heaven design in the past. The first generation of the skirt was much different though! It was made with a cotton material and had a completely different cut. I own both skirts so it was a great experience to be able to compare them. For a detailed comparison please watch my youtube video.

Just like the above skirt, I was very pleased to find that the color of the skirt in person was a near perfect match to the stock image displayed on the website. My favorite thing about this skirt I think is how vibrant the colors are while still staying soft and whimsical. The pattern itself consists of a sax blue, lavender, and pink background with puffy clouds and moons with wings on them~ Even though the colors of the skirt are bright, the design itself is gentle enough that you could coordinate this skirt in a variety of different styles ranging from fairy kei to cult party kei and beyond.

Just as Saturn's Wish skirt did, Twinkle Heaven had both a sewn in tag and a paper tag attached~!

When it comes to the quality of the skirt, this one was just as incredible! All of the seams were sewn straight and evenly and the fabric of the skirt is soft and durable!

This skirt is just so incredibly cute and I am so happy with it~! My favorite things truly is its versatility when coording so its definitely a must have for any wardrobe!

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Now for the break down of my overall shop review! Since I am reviewing clothing and not accessories, my categories will be a little different this time c;

Quality and Construction: 10/10

The quality of this skirt truly is something to get excited over. I'm so satisfied and excited over the company Holley decided to work with! Neither of the skirts had any visible flaws and after quite a few wears the quality was still top notch. All of the seams were even and there were no loos threads. In addition to that the fabric that its made of is quite soft and very stretchy. In addition to that the shape of the skirt makes it petticoat friendly. Quite honestly, the quality and construction couldn't be any better ^ u ^

Design and Print: 10/10

Holley's art is positively adorable and wearing it always brings me great joy~ Her designs always appeal to so many different types of people in the kawaii community but in addition to that they're drawn really well. The images themselves are crisp, the color choices are smart, the designs are trendy but still unique, and the overall composition of the skirt is well balanced and appealing. I also can't stress enough how accurate the color is displayed on the stock image on her website. You definitely can trust them and know what you're buying! Overall the color just excited me because its so vibrant and not dull at all. I definitely am overly satisfied with the design of these skirts.

Price: 9/10

Price is an interesting subject to talk about because it's definitely more subjective that the other categories but I feel like it's still something that needs to be discussed. Any time a small indie designer releases new clothing price is always a hot topic in the community! Since I've bee following Holley for a while and was very interested in these skirts after the release I did follow the reactions of the community as well. Many were definitely positive but I know a lot of people were concerned with the price believing it was too high for the skirts. Clearly because I rated price a 9/10 I tend to disagree. Of course anyone would like to pay less- thats just how things work. But I think 75$ is by far a fair price! When it comes to pricing garments there are many things to keep in mind: conceptualizing the idea, drawing the print, talking with the companies, the cost of material and work to make the skirts, and then of course making your money back and trying to make a profit. I find that this can be a very expensive progress and typically people forget about the time and work it takes to actually draw the original image. I bet many people now are sitting here like "but Prince- that's easy for you to say these skirts were sponsored!" Well! I actually fully intended to buy and review two of Holley's skirts, because I am in fact such a big fan, before she asked me. That was just a stroke of luck :') Anyway! This is much longer than needed~ All I can say is that I believe it's a fair price and if you don't think so nobody is forcing you to buy them c'

Overall Shop Review: 10/10

Holley Tea Time never ceases to amaze me~! As someone who has been following her work for years now, I'm just so excited by how much Holley's business has grown. Not only has her art improved but the quality of her products has also improved as well! The designs were cute and crisp, the skirts were well made, and overall they are such a great addition to my wardrobe~! I highly recommend not only checking out these skirts but also seeing what else Holley Tea Time has to offer c;

Thanks for reading cuties! And happy shopping~~!

You can use my code "mahouprince" at check out on Holley's storenvy to receive 10% off your order~

Some more of Holley's cute goods aaaand maybe some reviews to look forward to in the future c;