Comming Soon From AP: Dreamy Baby Room
Angelic Pretty apparently just released this in the latest issue of Kera today, but I haven’t a copy in hand yet, so I’m going by what is on the various shop blogs / tumblr, sorry.
This is Dreamyベビールーム or “Dreamy Baby Room”. It comes in pink, sax, yellow, and black. The cuts are listed below:
Dreamyベビールームワンピース (Dreamy Baby Room One Piece) – ¥ 27,090
Dreamyベビールームジャンパースカート (Dreamy Baby Room Jumper Skirt) – ¥ 26,040
Dreamyベビールームサロペット (Dreamy Baby Room Salopette) – ¥ 19,740
Dreamyベビールームスカート (Dreamy Baby Room Skirt) – ¥ 17,640
Dreamyベビールームハーフボンネット (Dreamy Baby Room Half bonnet) – ¥ 8,295
Dreamyベビールームカチューシャ (Dreamy Baby Room Headbow) – ¥ 3,570
Dreamyベビールームタイツ (Dreamy Baby Room Tights) – ¥ 4,200 – White, pink, black
Dreamyバニーリュック (Dreamy Bunny Backpack) -¥ 13,440 – Pink
Dreamy Dotクルー丈ソックス (Dreamy Dot Crew length socks) – ¥ 2,625
I have to preface this with a confession. I don’t like Toy Parade or Dreamy Doll House… I don’t really like many room prints at all. Specifically, I don’t like modern nursery themed prints. It’s just like… why? I don’t even like modern nursery decorations in a nursery. Derpy little 3-legged blobby elephants? No. Make it cute, sure. But keep it an elephant. Don’t turn the giraffes into caterpillar and giraffe hybrid amoeba blobs. So, yeah, anyways… I’m not a fan of things like these:
I have friends who like these things, and that’s fine, that’s cool, you know, whatever you like doesn’t have to be what I like. If you think it’s cute, then that’s all good. I just.. don’t.
I do, however, like old fashioned toys and books in antique-y or Christmas-y prints. So I do like things like these where it looks Victorian or even better yet, a Victorian Christmas Circus, because that would be fantastic.
I also like circus prints (that last one above there is more circus than anything else, IMHO), candy prints, fruit prints, fantasy (unicorn, rainbows) prints, star prints and party prints… and that’s what I like AP for. Their circuses and fruits and candies and fun pop stuff. It’s bright and fun and happy and innocent and cutesy in a way that would still work for stickers for a kid over the age of 2. It’s not nursery themed.
I feel like they must be doing a little throw-it-at-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks, because we have gotten so far this year; rainbows and ice cream in Dream Fantasy (a la Milky Planet), carousel horses in a more mature cut (Little Bird’s Symphonia meets Sugary Carnival), and a cake print that was so underwhelming no one cares what it was called… er.. I mean Whip Showcase, and now a print reminiscent of one of their first “big” prints; Toy Parade.
That said, every time I look at that name. I’m going WHY AP, WHY!?!?! It’s just such a misstep for the international community where there is increasingly more popularity for classic pieces and increasingly more tension on the idea that there is a fetish appeal to AP sweet lolita. I don’t even want to remotely touch on the issue of what people do or don’t do in their private time, so I’m not even going to go there, but still. I know names of prints can be unfortunate (Cherish my Juicy Cherry, for example), but the baby rattles they posed with, the whole set up, just, it’s too much, IMHO. It’s like they tried to do OTT Toy Parade and ended up in a Baby Supply Store, and it just looks, off to me. The way the model is holding the rattle like she’s not quite sure what to do with it, the border print that has a really open print of pretty detailed stuff… I just don’t see this doing very well in the western market; the design isn’t strong, and it’s getting a lot of push back due to current debate. If they had marked it as just cute without touching on the whole baby room concept, it might have done reasonably ok. Weaker than any of their past nursery themed stuff, sure, but still, ok. As it stands, I think this is going to be much more popular in Japan than the US, and even in Japan, I don’t see it being as much of a hit as many other things. It reminds me of Strawberry Parlor, design wise. It just looks too sparse.
If we are going through the full gambit of AP themes, I hope there is another circus print soon. Either a re-release of a past one like Puppet Circus or Star Night Theater, or something new would be super. Maybe by the fall?
On a side note, I guess it does explain the bear socks that they put up a bit ago. I couldn’t figure out why they had re-released the shy bear socks, and then I had this wild hope that they would re-release every pair of socks they had ever made (and I would buy all the socks!), but now it makes sense.
On an even more unrelated side note, today I learned that Grover Cleveland (yes, the former US president) had a friend named Oscar Folsom, who had a daughter when Cleveland was 27. He bought the little girl a baby carriage and doted on her, and when her father died, he became executor of her estate. He then married her when she turned 21. Because I learned that today and because this print has a baby carriage, I will forever think of this as the Grover Cleavland Cradle Robber Print. I probably just cursed some of you with the same association. You are most welcome.
There are aspects I really like about Toy Parade. I don’t mind dressing up and feeling a bit childish and cutesy from time to time (usually just conventions, I can’t wear it out for anything except that, except maybe a meetup or two). This one is going a little too far off the deep end. I know the really childish, baby-themed stuff is popular with Fairy-kei, and it does tie over into OTT sweet Lolita a bit, especially with some of the wearers. But… not so much in the western market where everything a woman does is hyper-sexualized, and I suppose that’s another topic in and of itself.
I’d love to see a print with AP’s mascot characters in more mature forms, like Day Dream Carnival’s ponies. I love Shy Bear and Lyrical Bunny, they’re so adorable. But IDK, after owning Toy Parade, I don’t really want another pastel super-childish print in my closet. It just seems like Toy Parade version 2.0, The original does it better, IMO, especially the design of the JSK. Plus I feel more comfortable saying the name of the print rather than “DREAMY BABY ROOM!!!” I can look past a random nursery block, and an elephant on a string, but slap “Baby” in the name and add a baby carriage and it’s just waaaay too much.
I’ll leave the fact that it reminds me of ageplay wear alone, but I still don’t like it either because it’s not even childish, it’s just babyish. I mean, bunny rabbits frolicking with strawberry-cherry hybrid fruits or even a print of the land of sweets with a giant candy rainbow– they’re not my style, but I can still appreciate them for being cute.
But it’s just the– rattle and the yoke and the big round adult baby bonnet. I’m not fond of the colourways either. I quite like the Toy Parade OP in white because if you put it with some elegant long ringlets, crochet tights, and pretty heels, it could look a bit more grown up and couture– I think nearly all prints look more elegant in white– but the pastel overload of the colourways for Dreamy Baby Room have no leeway at all for elegance, and besides, they’re just boring. AP was doing really well with unusual colours like those bright blues and reds and greens up until now. The cut kind of blends in with every other pastel blob print AP have ever released. too.
The one thing I do really like are the chiffon sleeves on the OP. That’s a really cute idea! I see I’ve kind of gone on a big rant here XD sorry! I guess that I’m just feeling a bit sad too see them going back to this right after they’ve released some prints that I’d kill to own, like Gloria or the Sweetie Chandelier OP in black. Then again, looking at their web shop, there are loads of absolutely beautiful, elegant releases (in fact, everything except Candy Fun Fair is right up my street!) so I’m going to hope this is just an exception!
This is part of them aiming at the girls who wear Fairy Lolita;baby rattles etc are common in fairy kei and fairy kei inspired lolita. I love fairy lolita ♥ and this print is expected to do very well in Japan. I don’t personally like it much because their other childlike prints are more fun and imaginative. With all the other great releases this year idk why everyone is giving this one so much attention.
I personally love it, and really wish more than just the tights were still available, but then again, I have a bit of an obsession with cute little baby things. I can’t help it! The stuff is just so cute! I may be the freak who listens to metal, but I like many things. If you don’t like it, though, that’s just fine. Not everyone does. And I respect what others like as long as they respect what I like.