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The Lolita Collective
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Angelic Pretty Spring 2023 Collection

While ChatGPT definitely can’t write a blog post about Angelic Pretty’s latest collection, I just got in my copy of the lookbook, so I can!

Tulip Bouquet

This series just came out last weekend. I really love it, and think the lavender colorway in particular is super cute. There are 3 colors out everywhere: pink, lavender, & green, with an extra 4th color, yellow, which had production issues and may be released more later. I’m skipping it due to the sizing, but otherwise it would absolutely be in my closet right now.

The socks from this series have a sheer ankle, which is really interesting and they are still in stock in white x lavender and in pink. The JSK, OP and blouse are sold out on AP Japan online, but AP USA hasn’t yet released it yet and AP Paris has the OP in mint & pink, the JSK in pink & lavender, the blouse with the pink x sax embroidery, the tulip embroidered hair clip in pink & sax, and the socks in the same colors as AP Japan Online. Most items at AP Paris are the last copy in stock, so move fast if you are interested.

The OP is additionally paired with…

The JSK is additionally paired with…

Given the Love Heart shoes don’t say they are a reference product and they haven’t been released in the past couple years, I’d expect to see a re-release of them later this spring.

Sunny Day Bruch

This is so cute. I love the little bears and the toast. It reminds me a little of like, cream cookie parade, in the tone and the look/feel of it? As well as Strawberry Bread Bakery. It just doesn’t feel like a super OTT sweet print, despite the motif being bears and cute desert toast. It feels a lot more like AP aiming at an ETC sort of look. Which is fine, but I think it’s an odd choice for such a sweet border print. I think it could be styled more OTT sweet, particularly that spring green JSK. I do love the little bear ears on the kerchief headdress, and I know those little knit berries are something a bunch of people are into.

The JSK Model is wearing…

  • Sunny Day Brunch Headbow (5,390 yen)
  • Sweet Strawberry Patch Rosette Brooch (6,600 yen)
  • Pintuck Bowtie Blouse (16,280 yen)
  • Sunny Day Brunch JSK (34,100 yen)
  • Cute Ribbon Cuffs
  • Dot Ribbon Lace Tights (4,400 yen) (Shop Link)
  • Sweet Strawberry Knitted Crew Length Socks (4,950 yen)
  • L O V E Heart Shoes (17,600 yen)

The OP Model is wearing…

  • Marshmallow Bear Kerchief (6,600 yen)
  • Sweet Strawberry Knitted Ribbon Clip Set (4,950 yen)
  • Sunny Day Brunch OP (37,400 yen)
  • Cute Ribbon Wristcuffs
  • Sweet Strawberry Ring (3,850 yen)
  • Dot Ribbon Lace Tights (4,400 yen) (Shop Link)

Lyrical Bunny Parlor

Fruits parlor is one of my all time favorite prints so at first glance I was in love. But, the more I look at this, the more off it seems to me. All the border print motifs are cute, but they are all different scales. Like someone designed a set of stickers or art for something else and then put it all together. It has a clip-art-esque scale problem. It’s also busy in the yellow colorway. The red berries are bold, but the rabbits and some of the more pastel elements get lost.

The clips and the necklace which feature a bunny holding a strawberry look super cute, and I’m berry much on board with those, but I’m on the fence about the print. I’d need to see the other colorways.

It looks like the JSK could possibly be a halter neck cut, but it’s hard to tell with the big peter pan collar. If it is a halter neck, that’s a point in it’s favor for sure…

The OP model is wearing…

  • Lyrical Bunny Parlor Half Bonnet (11,000 yen)
  • Sweet Strawberry Knitted Ribbon Clip Set (4,950 yen)
  • Sweet Strawberry Knitted Choker (4,950 yen)
  • Lyrical Bunny Parlor OP (38,500 yen)
  • Sweet Strawberry Patch Rosette Brooch (6,600 yen)
  • Lyrical Bunny Parlor Emblem Clip (4,290 yen)
  • Lyrical Bunny Parlor Necklace (6,490 yen)
  • Sweet Strawberry Knitted Wristcuffs (6,600 yen)
  • Sweet Strawberry Ring (3,850 yen)
  • Lyrical Bunny Parlor OTKs (3,300 yen)

The JSK model is wearing…

  • Twin Ribbon Lyrical Bunny Headdress (6,050 yen)
  • Sweet Strawberry Knitted Ribbon Clip Set (4,950 yen)
  • Lyrical Bunny Parlor Emblem Clip (4,290 yen)
  • Little Strawberry Blouse (16,500 yen)
  • Lyrical Bunny Parlor JSK (34,100 yen)
  • Lyrical Bunny Parlor Necklace (6,490 yen)
  • Sweet Strawberry Knitted Wristcuffs (6,600 yen)
  • Sweet Strawberry Ring (3,850 yen)
  • Lyrical Bunny Parlor OTKs (3,300 yen)
  • Tea Party Shoes (15,180 yen)

Stripe Girly Cafe Set

This stripe fabric reminds me a lot of the stripe accent fabric from Miracle Candy. I’m really into this. It has 2010 vibes. It’s a 3-piece set of the OP, and Apron and the headbow/headdress

The model is wearing…

  • Stripe Girly Cafe Set (41,800 yen)
  • Sweet Strawberry Patch Rosette Brooch (6,600 yen)
  • Cute Ribbon Wristcuffs
  • Sweet Strawberry Ring (3,850 yen)
  • Sweet Strawberry Shoulder Bag (17,380 yen)
  • Dot Ribbon Lace Tights (4,400 yen) (Shop Link)
  • L O V E Heart Shoes (17,600 yen)

Parlor Doll Dress Set

This is 4-piece set which includes a headdress, the OP, the apron, and a choker. There is also a separate version for the 20 year anniversary lyrical bunny plush backpack.

This is a pretty basic set, it’s cute, but simple. The apron proportions here aren’t my favorite, but it looks cute overall. I think the ability to match with your lyrical bunny (or probably your usakumya) is the main selling point for this.

The model is wearing…

Dreamy Cream

It’s an OTT sweet solid. The collar detail is pretty interesting, and the bows at the hem are nicely shaped. I like the tiered gores above them that look frosting-like, it sells the cake-like aspect of the dress nicely.

The price is a little surprising. It retails for 53,900 yen (~$405 USD), which is fairly high for a solid non-MTO piece. It does have some complex detail though which explains the price point,

The model is wearing…

Blooming Color

This already came out, and it came in 3 colorways: sax, pink and a deep blue. The pink OP is still in stock on AP Japan Online, the blue is still in stock on AP Paris. AP USA has the sax OP, and the blue OP.

This is… fine? But I don’t really love it. It reminds me a lot of the fast fashion type things from DreamV and other cheaper girly Jfashion brands. My partner wears a lot of stuff like this to work, and it’s a cute style, but she’s not paying 38,280 yen for a dress in this style usually. Like it’s fine, and I’m sure AP’s version is nicer, but it’s not what I expect to see from AP and because I associate the look with more fast fashion brands it feels cheap to me? I do really like the shade of blue they used for the blue colorway though.

The model is wearing

Fantastic Heart

Someone put a dress from 2006/2007 in a time machine and converted it into a modern dress from 2023 with really good results. We have a nice solid with twirling hearts, but the twirling hearts are like organdy or chiffon. And they are also on the sleeves. And the lace is a nice modern tulle lace. It’s cute, it’s not me, but it’s cute.

The hair accessory with it is tragic, and the model is not selling it to me. I’m not sure it would look good under any circumstances. It looks like someone cut out a heart too big, trimmed it down, and then didn’t want to waste the extra they cut off. The idea of it is cute, but the reality, it’s just not working for me. I think if they had gone smaller and done heart cut outs in acrylic on an acrylic headband it could have worked? Or fully filled in hearts? but we are just loosing too much of the definition of the heart because it’s not stiff and sharp enough. What do you all think? Is it working for you? Is it just me?

The model is wearing…

Sprinkle Heart Tartan

This is a custom print tartan with little hearts mixed in and it’s super cute. It came out a couple weeks ago. AP Japan Online still has the OP in white and pink and the mini skirt in pink. They also have the socks in pink, sax and lavender. AP Paris has the OP in sax, the drop waist JSK in white, and the socks in pink, sax, and black. AP USA doesn’t seem to have released it yet.

Candy Petit Heart

The Petit Heart series comes back again only this time with pastel rainbow hearts. And I mean, yeah, obviously, this is a good plan. The series was popular the last several releases and this new colorway option is just, very, very good.

The model in pink is wearing…

  • Candy Petit Heart Headbow (5,500 yen)
  • Sprinkle Heart Earrings (4,950 yen)
  • Candy Petit Heart Round Collar Blouse (21,780 yen)
  • Candy Petit Heart JSK (48,400 yen)
  • Sprinkle Heart Necklace (5,390 yen)
  • Sprinkle Heart Bracelet (4,950 yen)
  • Heart Quilted Pochette (17,380 yen)

The model in white is wearing….

  • Candy Petit Heart Headbow (5,500 yen)
  • Sprinkle Heart Earrings (4,950 yen)
  • Candy Petite Heart OP (50,600 yen)
  • Sprinkle Heart Necklace (5,390 yen)
  • Sprinkle Heart Bracelet (4,950 yen)
  • Candy Petite Heart Crew Length Socks (3,850 yen)
  • Walking Ribbon Shoes (15,180 yen) (Shop Link)

Fluffy Puff Bunny

This series is very good. It’s not my aesthetic, but it’s my partner’s and she bought it (and the book came free with her order, which is good because I wasn’t able to buy one? They didn’t go online when they were supposed to…). The fabric for this series has little spots of iridescent glittering material woven in, and it uses shimmer ribbon so it’s got this subtle glitter sparkle like a pearlescent eyeshadow that just goes so well with it. The art is just amazingly cute and good. The whole thing is just very good. All the little plush rabbits too, it’s just, oh, I love it. Seriously, if you are on the fence about this one, get it, you won’t be disappointed. Much of the series is still in stock at AP Japan Online, AP Paris and AP USA, and between the 3 of them, I think you could find pretty much any of the clothing pieces you might want.

Dress Collection Spring 2023

Angelic Pretty’s dress collection is their higher price line. These dresses tend to be MTO only, and it’s not uncommon for there to be at least one that could double as a wedding dress.

This years collection is titled Dear Princess ~Otome no Wardrobe~ (aka Maiden’s Wardrobe)

Cutie Spica Dress Set

The Cutie Spica Dress Set fills that wedding dress niche for this collection. It was already released back in February and it came in white, pink, and lavender as well as the sax shown here. Most of the items aside from the gloves and petticoats are reference products (old items from the brand’s private collection).

It retailed for 98,000 yen (~$735 USD), making it the least expensive of the 3 dress sets. That said, some of the deign choices are a little strange (the middle tier of the 3 tiered skirt has corset lacing?), but in general it certainly delivers on the idea of being extra.

The name is also a little odd. Spica aka Alpha Virgo is the brightest star in the constellation Virgo. However, colloquially in Japanese it’s called the pearl star. This dress does have a lot of pearls on it, so maybe that is what they were going for? There is also an indie brand called Spica which used to be sold at Putumayo, but there doesn’t seem to be any connection to that brand.

Sweet Tiara Dress Set

This set is 3 pieces (the dress, a choker and the headbow) and retails for 176,000 yen (~$1,322 USD). With tiers of lace and sheer material with bows and pearls, this dress reminds me of a wedding cake. It’s a great super sweet lolita bridal or princess styled piece.

It’s pared with…

Ribbon Parfaiteria Dress Set

This set retails for 154,000 yen (~$1,155 USD) and is a set of 3 pieces: the bonnet, a choker and the dress. This dress just confuses me. It looks like it’s tiered organdy, but then it has opaque gingham bows and pearls. It’s like trying to be country and casual as well as floaty and like a selkie dress? It’s just not working for me, honestly.

Its’s paired with:

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