Royal Kingdom - My Hits and Misses

If you don't know already, Baby the Stars Shine Bright have updated their site with their latest series, Royal Kingdom (or Kumakumya Royal Kingdom), which will be available to reserve on the 13th of this month. 

The first thing I want to talk about is the name of this series. I feel as though Baby have been going a bit mad with the aul long names for releases. As pretty as "Wonder story comes in the rose blooming night ~ Alice's Halloween through the Looking-Glass" is, it's a mouthful, and it's only one of many long-named prints that Baby have brought out in the last few years. I hope this is the beginning of a trend, I like being able to remember the names of prints!


Hits

Here I'll be gushing over my favourites from the series that I'd love to be reserving myself

First, we have the Type I JSK. 

 

Between the detachable collar and the regimental button details on the bodice, I'm sold. The soft pleating in the skirt really makes the print pop a lot more visually than gathering would, and the gold trim give the whole garment a very polished look. Now, let's talk about the print

Is that a Queen's Guard kumakumya and two kumakumyas with a horse and carriage? You bet it is! Relatively simple portrait prints like this are a real staple of Baby's, featuring is many of their and AATP's prints to date. It's not overly busy, and yet it's full of detail, a great balance.

Royal Kingdom Frill blouse

At first glance it may seem plain, but the smaller details are what made this stand out for me. The gold buttons and the subtle gold lace make this a luxurious-looking piece.

The design of the cuffs is gorgeous, I'm particularly loving the variety of lace used for the edges, it's quite charming!

Misses
Not all pieces in a series are created equal, that's for sure.

Kumakumya Tie

                                         
I'm probably a bit biased with this one since I'm not a big fan of these "lolita ties", but I'm just not feeling it at all. Even as lolita ties go, I feel like Baby could've done a lot more with this, and that it would've benefited from a bigger emblem, perhaps an embroidered one or one with gold detailing. While I'm sure it would look great as part of a bigger picture, it falls flat on it's own and really doesn't stand out at all.

Ribbon Blouse

This blouse just doesn't do it for me. There are far too many frills on the neck area, and the lace used to edge the frills just looks cheap when used in such quantities. 

Even the cuffs are disappointing on this one. There's no real sense of elegance, more a sense of urgency about the placement of the lace on the cuffs, and overall it looks awkward I don't think I'd go for it at all.



Well that's my rant over, what do you think, will you be reserving from this series? Have I insulted the piece you were drooling over (oops!)?
The reservation page is here, and remember, reservation starts on Wednesday, the 13th of this month!


Until next time!