Axes Femme global shop & dress - review

At the start of October I saw @go.kishi on Instagram promoting a jumperskirt from Axes Femme, that I sort-of instantly fell in love with. I couldn't be sure that it would fit me nicely at the moment because of my pregnancy but I weighed the chances of this showing up second hand later and me liking it so much and decided I will buy it new. I never ordered from Axes Femme before, even though they have an global online shop in English, so I was excited and decided to write a review as well for anyone who is thinking of ordering from their global shop.

About Axes Femme

Axes Femme, as you probably know, is a Japanese brand/shop that sells elegant and 'kawaii' clothing that are very close to the elegant lolita fashion, mostly towards the classic style. It features frills and bows, with a bit of a vintage look. I have visited their physical shops several times when I was in Japan and that one time when it still was in Paris. Although sometimes their clothes don't fit me (either too wide on my waist or too small on my bust seeing as I have a hourglass type body), some of it does and I really like the style so I often also check second hand things at Closet Child. 

Second hand, their clothes are very cheap and affordable, but I guess that also says a little bit about the quality of it, although it may be a hit or miss, it is still some kind of fast-fashion I think (or semi?) and their prices reflect that, although new it is not as cheap as H&M for example, but it is at least about half the price of some lolita brands, nowadays even a lot cheaper. I already own some shirts, a cardigan, and once modified a dress from them to fit me.

Buying from the global shop

Anyway, back to the shopping. The global online shop works basically like any other online shop: you browse through a category/style, choose an item its colour and add the item to your cart. I have noticed their stock photos are different in quality. For the dress I bought, the modelling was done in a non-natural light and not high resolution so it looked actually like someone took photos for instagram and put those on the website. The stock-photos themselves were made without petticoat and with less light so it looks actually darker than on the model. I wasn't really sure about the colour because of this and since what I saw on instagram was a lot lighter, but I liked the print anyway.

The size was listed including length, bust, shoulder width and waist and I think that is very convenient for Western people also to check if it might fit or not.

I put it in my cart and after some browsing I went to the cart to check out. There it showed that not everything was translated. The top of the cart still is in Japanese kanji since it is an image, not text. The list itself is in English though. The price is in US Dollars, but tells on the item page that it is actually calculated from Japanese Yen, so if you are going to pay, you pay the price in Japanese Yen (to whatever it converts in your country).

Now when I wanted to check out, it became a bit weird. I already took the effort to create an account just in case I could check what I ordered or wanted to order something again, so my address was already filled in, but it did not calculate the shipping costs at all, so something was off. I refreshed the page a few times but it didn't change. Then I tried closing my browser and opening one up again and try again and now it did work, luckily.
The shipping price calculated was ¥3350, which is about 27 Euro. I think it is a standard price if you order a package from Japan. The cheapest method isn't available at the moment because of Covid-19. On the website it doesn't tell a lot about the shipping methods, only that it is delivered either by EMS ot International parcel. Since it got here within two weeks I think EMS was used.

Then the next hurdle came: paying. The website states you can pay with either Paypal or Creditcard. I use Paypal a lot, so I opted for that but every time I clicked it, it gave me an error, which was pretty annoying. So I had to use our creditcard after all. I filled in the details and that also gave an error, but at least it said something was wrong with what I filled in. Turned out they didn't want to use the dots between the letters for the (pre)name. After that everything went alright and it was ordered!

Shipping

I got a mail with the order information, shipping address and item details (without photo though), it was simply a confirmation of the order. Then one day later I got a mail with a "notification of shipment", that included a tracking number which means they had shipped it out. It didn't give a link how to track it but luckily I know you can just fill it in at the Japanese post website. One day later it already arrived at the airport, and three days later it was dispatched overseas. It arrived (or was registered) in The Netherlands five days later. I filled it in in our national post app on my phone and it showed that it would be shipped to a post office (or parcel center) the day after that (so I can pay my customs, sigh). Anyway, shipping was very fast and I'm happy with that!

It came in a coloured/patterned Axes Femme box, the jsk was wrapped in plastic and a simple print-out of the order was attached. Some extra buttons were attached to the jsk and the waist-ties were seperately packed in plastic as well. I didn't know about the wais-ties (or forgot about them) so I was happily surprised with that.

Summary for the shop(ping) review:

Online shop experience: ★★★✰✰ 3/5
Although the shop is easy to browse, there was the hassle with checking out and the payment (method). You also can not choose your method of shipping, but that might also be because of Covid-19. I also think they don't state a lot of details/info in their FAQ or mails, making it a bit untrustworthy-looking for foreigners perhaps. It feels almost like that part of it is like a small person running an online shop for the first time, not thinking aout the client experience.

Shipping: ★★★★★ 5/5
It was shipped out the next day and arrived within two weeks, which is very quickly, especially if you compare it to the state of shipping because of Covid-19 (I still did not receive my dress from Canada after 1,5 month..)

Quality of the dress

Of course the jumperskirt was a bit wrinkled from the package, but that is normal. I know Axes Femme is a bit of a cheaper brand (jsk was ¥6900, which is about 56 euro) so it didn't surprise me that the dress is totally made from polyester fabric. Because of this at least they lined it, else it would be way too thin. At least what is nice about polyester is that the print is very crisp. 

I compared it with the dress I bought from them two years ago, but the fabric is even thinner unfortunately. And while the older dress had a nice trim on the bottom of the upper layer, this one just had a normal seam (sewn a bit too tight even I think as you can see a bit of wrinkling here). The bottom layer has a soft tulle ruffled trim to it, which I think looks nice but also is prone to rip easily, I would have been happier with chiffon instead. I also found some loose threads near the gathering of the fabric near the waist. Not that that is uncommon (when I sew things myself it happens often), but it least they could have cut it more neatly. So it feels a bit cheap, the quality went down in total.

The top part fits me nicely even with my bigger cup size now because of pregnancy, so I was very happy with that. That is because the back is fully shirred, it is quite comfortable to wear because of this. For people that are small in size I can imagine it might even be a bit too loose, but hey had a different version of this dress anyway (another one was an OP with a casual plain-colored top. I really loved the buttons for the waistties and the lacing/ribbon on the front. 

A bit of a downer though is that they didn't really consider the placing of the print on the top, as you can see I have two keyhole-elements of the print on the left side of it, one is even right next to the lacing/ribbon. Would have been better to just only have the fleur-de-lys pattern on it. I kind of like the small tule trim of the front seems and upper bust part as I don't see that often in jsk's, but when I wear it, it does poof forward a bit and doesn't stay neatly 'attached flatly' to the fabric so to say. It doesn't bother me too much atm, maybe it would stay flat with a smaller cup-size.

What I really liked and bought this jsk for is of course the print and the lacing on the top and that is neatly done. The color is a bit darker than I expected, the photos show a bit of a true color (at least on my monitor), while in the modelled picture it looks like the red/purple goes a bit higher, which I would have liked more, but I still really like the print anyway. What is also good to mention is that the shoulder-staps are adjustable in height, for those who are a bit taller. 

Summary dress-quality review

Quality of material/sewing: ★★✰✰✰ 2-2.5/5

Unfortunately, it just looks and feels a bit cheap, even considering the Axes Femme is not a major quality brand like AP/Baby. They have done things that are better for the same price. Considering the price though of 56 euro, I guess that reflects it fairly, but because I know some of their older things are better, I did not expect it.

Overall dress look/cut: ★★★★✰ 3.5-4/5
The full shirring, waist-ties, adustable shoulderstaps and the lower print/cut itself make me still like this dress a lot. I think I'll just have to be careful while wearing it. Here is an outfit I made with it for the online Summer Tales Boutique halloween meet:

I hope this review was a bit useful for anyone who considers buying from their global shop, I wonder if their Japanese shop is the same or not. I still consider Axes Femme a nice brand to buy from once in a while, especially for their shirts and cardigans, but I know now what to expect from their dresses in the future. 

Book review: So Pretty / Very Rotten

A short while ago I came across a post on Instagram of somebody who bought this book with comics and essays about Lolita Fashion and 'cute culture'. It interested me because I like comics that have to do with lifestyle or are about slice of life / drama. Even more because it's about my Lolita Fashion of course. Unfortunately it was not available as ebook, so in the end I bought the real deal (from Bookdepository).

So Pretty / Very Rotten is a paperback of the size of a thick manga omnibus, the same kind of paper, it's about 300 pages long, which is quite a bit! It was written and drawn by Jane Mai & An Nguyen and has a contribution by and interview with the well-known Novala Takemoto (writer of Kamikaze Girls). It contains both short comic-stories and several essays on the fashion and the culture.

It starts off with some general explanation of the fashion and some examples of sub-styles. Then follows a comic, that I don't really see much connected to lolita fashion, except for a page where the person in question (one of the writers actually) buys Lolita clothes to do 'research' instead of actually working on a comic, but it's nice to see something that tells a bit more about the writers (possibly?). Luckily most other comics are indeed about the fashion and lifestyle and they are interesting to read.
Sometimes just more or less examples of what happens in the subculture, but sometimes also rather absurd and with a hint of macabre. Most of the time very recognizable.

When this book arrived at my home, my husband asked: "So, you as a lolita are rotten?" This "rotten" part comes from a quote from Momoko from Kamikaze girls, and relates both to the inner and outer demeanor of lolita's, plus that it is indeed still quite materialistic. Within both western and Japanese communities this is sometimes a bit of a sensitive subject, and this is talked about a bit in the essays and comics. But as lots of lolita's think: if it makes you that happy, then what does it matter? It reminds me of one of the reasons why I also like wearing lolita: if I wear this outside for the day, I feel like this world is my world. That I can choose to do what makes ME happy, despite of what others think (and that it isn't cheap), it's a wonderful feeling.

There are several comics about girls that are new to the fashion and are interested in it and it reminds me of when I got into it, I think it's a precious moment that lots of lolitas recognize and treasure...I wonder if people who don't wear the fashion could understand it truly without trying it out.

What I do miss a bit though are pages about for example the issue of the size of the clothing. Because I know there are girls out there who'd love to wear it but can't (not even only about being to large to fit, but also longer people in Europe that feel that it doesn't suit their body because it doesn't look as cute). Next to that, there is a part about online communities in one of the essays, but I do miss the influence of things like secrets/Behind the Bows and 4chan in the comics, or actually what really happens, and how rotten that actually is (but maybe that is also offline I guess, but just not so spoken of). I wonder if they didn't mention it on purpose.

Illustration by Jane Mai
(from her website)

The part that I find very well-written is what role the fashion plays for people and how that is explained. Not just (alternative) clothes, but a way to stand against the 'normal', a way to still keep that cute pure feeling of when you discover something so wonderful that suddenly the world changes, and that you can still keep that by buying, creating and wearing this fashion. But that it is also something that might pass at some point.

Another interesting subject that is captured well is how communities and social media play a role, how one can start to look up to these online persons while their view of them might not be realistic. How well-known people are just still very human.

But besides some of the more darker side of it, it captures the tenderness, wonder, sensitive and pure kind of happiness that comes with this fashion pretty well too, and all of it is a great read!

Bunny House Petticoat Review

Some months ago I ordered a new petticoat. My 'old' Classical Puppets petticoat wasn't just that poofy anymore and I decided to buy a new one. I saw some good things about the ones from Bunny House, which is a Vietnamese business. I decided to try that one out.

Ordering

Bunny House does not have their own website, they use their Facebook page for all their information. The description of the photos there describe how you can order it. They use a Google form for their orders.
It is custom made for you, so you can choose your own preferred size (within certain limits of course). Which is great, I could now choose to let it be made a tiny bit shorter ( because my waistline is a bit lower than most waists of my dresses).

I ordered their "super large white bell-shaped petticoat" on September 15, got a payment request the next day and got a mail that it was sent out (including tracking code) on October 6th, so that costed them only less than 3 weeks to make and send, which is super-reasonable especially seeing as I ordered it during a sale.

Petticoat

The petticoat itself is made from shiny organza fabric. It has about 4 layers on top that spread out in several more tiers of double layers.

First, I wasn't so sure if I should order large or super large size. If I think about 'super large' I think of the petti's Angelic Pretty use for their Japanese shows or something, but in fact this Bunny House petticoat isn't super-duper large. It's more like the right size, spreading out the fabric of my dresses nicely. But I don't feel like it's too much at all, so if you are a wearer of sweet lolita and need some cute happy poof then go for the Super Large size.

Something that didn't make me super-happy was that there isn't a layer of cotton (or any soft fabric) between the most inner layer and your legs. They did use a sort of opaque-polyester fabric, but it isn't very soft and I still felt the organza fabric around my legs when I walked around. That same polyester fabric is also used for the waistband, which I wonder how it will feel if it would be directly on your skin for a day. I usually tuck my blouse or top/shirt in it so to prevent that but yeah that can stretch out sometimes.

Let's hope it can survive more train-traveling and chair-sitting than the Classical Puppets one though. Honestly I did not expect it to be deflated as fast, I only have it for 1,5 years and I think maybe wear it for 1,5-2 days a month or so? Most of the meets I go to are about 2 hours travelling away though, so I also have an extra 'sit' on it besides the meets themselves. I would not recommend Classical Puppets for daily wear, but with that many layers I think the Bunny House one must live a bit longer.

I also made a short video about it so you can see some things upclose. I hope you find it useful if you every plan on buying a new petticoat! What kind of petti(s) do you wear and are you happy with it?

Thanks for reading, if you have questions or things to share or anything then please let me know in a comment below! See ya!