Crimson Reflections

Melty Royal Chocolate is a re-hashing of Angelic Pretty’s previous Royal Chocolate Series. It has the same chocolate bar style print, and then brings in more of the melting / dripping theme that we saw recently in the Drained Cherry and Eat Me series. It will be released on 7/27/2013. It comes in four colors: Ivory, Mocha, Brown, and Bitter, all of which are in the cream-to-brown color family. The previous Pink colorway seems to have been dropped in favor of the Brown splitting into a lighter Brown and darker Bitter, while the original mint colorway is long gone.

List of Items:

• Jacket ¥ 24,990
• Salopette  ¥ 23,940
• Jumper skirt ¥ 28,140
• Low waist jumper skirt ¥ 27,090
• Skirt ¥ 17,640
• Beret ¥ 7,245
• Barette ¥ 3,150
• Tights ¥ 4,200

Oddly enough, these items follow in the footsteps of previous releases in that none of them appear to have shirring, just corset lacing for making them smaller. AP has introduced tights to the series and a lot of asymmetrical side bustles, as well as a more regimental, and slightly less boxy design. While past Royal Chocolate cuts have looked a little Jackie-O, this looks a little more nutcracker. In the past, this series has had a very otome feel to it, however the fuller more fancy regimental style of this re-release makes the main pieces seem like they would be harder to pull off outside of lolita.

The JSK is going back closer to the first release; ditching the almost-underbust-but-not-quite neckline of last year’s release and regaining the melting ruffle at the top. Square chocolate buttons are traded for round, and the gold detailing is much more pronounced.

Last year’s Royal Chocolate low waist JSK has an almost sailor cut meets tennis look to it that seems very summery, while this years is much more cutesy with a bow at the neck instead of a tie and a second bow at the hip.

The salopette is much more simple than last years and honestly looks to better balanced design wise than both of the previous ones. The more regimental cut makes it perfect for the winter holidays as well.

The 2011 cut of the skirt is the one place in the history of the series where we see the asymmetric bustle that has take the rest of the series by storm this season, and fittingly enough, this season’s skirt is the one main piece lacking it. The skirt is much shorter this time around, and clearly not intended to be lolita. As such, it’s got an ETC level of simplicity to it that makes for a nice casual piece.

At the end of the day, I’m still not a big fan of chocolate prints, nor or dripping prints (Innocent World’s Chocolate Fountain being the only exception), but I think this is a cute remix of an old idea, and it seems like a nice series.