Metamorphose, my beloved, rereleased an OP this month that I've been drooling over since it was in pre-order. The funny thing is that I didn't pay much attention to releases last year and, therefore, missed the original and its entirely different set of colorways. It's layers upon layers of raschel lace, ruffles, and ribbons, sporting princess sleeves and crossed straps to tie behind the neck, and so much shirring! This year's release comes in black, navy, and white, along with a special pink version using tulle in place of the raschel. For me, personally, the white looks a little bridal and navy isn't my favorite color, but the black...
Why do I love the black colorway so much?
Once it occurred to me that I was only having feelings for the black colorway, everything finally clicked. It all starts with a formative, yet surprisingly lesser-known indie brand.
Back in the day, when I was but an embryonic Lolita and truly knew nothing, And Romeo pieces were those dresses that every scam site and their mother tried to convince you to buy for $50. And Romeo was a brand of pure old-school taste, basing its style on solid colors and the addition of ruffles, lace, and ribbons to add texture. Beautiful pieces! Extremely hard to find the real thing. Even if you do, the sizing runs small.
And yet, it was one of those brands that captured my longing. If you asked me to define Old School Lolita, I'd slap some And Romeo on the presentation. It's gorgeous! It's frilly! It's everything I want out of a Lolita dress! It's-
... Huh.
I remember this dress. I remember being so enthralled with it. The construction has a heavy Rococo influence in the gentle V-shape of the lace on the bust and the imitation of an over- and under-dress. This so happened to be my area of special interest when it came to French and art history, so I was primed and ready to love this.
Now, I'm not saying that Hidden Princess in My Memory is at all the same as the And Romeo Classical Victorian standard, here. The cuts and construction are very different. I find, however, that they strike very similar chords in my nostalgia-infected heart. Princess sleeves, ribbons, tiers of lace and fabric - the vibes aren't all that different to me! Best of all, the Metamorphose OP has a plus-sized option that actually fits my measurements.
I'm a great lover of solid-colored dresses that are loaded down with construction detail. Tiers and lace know how to reel me in. I'm always, always pleased to see brand releases that go back to my early days of Lolita research, when I first fell in love with Lolita. Sharing this and a teeny bit of my own Lolita background felt like a good way to start off this new blog.
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