Monday 31 March 2014

Mon Petit Chouchou by Baby the Stars Shine Bright

Today I am taking a look at Mon Petit Chouchou by Baby. This series includes 3 dresses, a skirt, 2 hair accessories, a blouse, a bolero, tights and several pieces of jewellery. Also, there is a further collection called Mon Petit Loulou which includes a dress (not a print), a blouse, 2 hair accessories, a bag, wrist cuffs and 2 pairs of socks. I am only focusing on the Chouchou part of the series today, but the Loulou part is worth checking out too. I am especially fond of the Loulou see-through socks.


This is the OP. The bodice looks reasonably well fitted but I'm not so fond of the overall bodice shape. It feels a bit slouchy and frumpy. I think the sleeves could do with being a bit more puffy and shorter. However, I do like how the sleeves are finished with the wide lace and ribbon bows. They may be heavy with detail, but it matches up with the detail at the bottom of the dress. The ribbon used looks pretty and it would appear to not be that shiny, which is a bonus.The waist area is topped with a lacy belt. It helps to nip the waist area inwards, although I am not sure why the belt randomly cuts off at the front. I think a belt that went the whole way around the dress would have looked a bit better. The neckline is decorated with very wide lace. The lace used is very pretty with plenty of detail to it. It sits well on the dress too, and I think it is a beautiful way to finish off the neckline area. This is then topped off with a very decorative bow. The bow is quite big, but fits in well with the rest of the dress. The ribbon and the lace used for this bow work well together and the end result is very pretty. The ribbon with its gold accents is especially lovely. I also like the use of the charm in the middle of the bow. The back doesn't have any shirring and is quite simple looking. I'm not really a fan of the waist ties, which are a continuation of the belt from the front. I think they look a bit too big. However, seeing as they are the only way to alter the size of this dress, I consider them necessary. The stock photos show the skirt has the potential to flare outwards beautifully. I like the high waisted design and the overall silhouette in the photos. It looks like it has plenty of volume. The printed part of the skirt is kept simple and the print is displayed beautifully. The bottom hem is finished off with gold braid and then 2 layers of lace. The lace is layered neatly, although I am not a fan of the lace they have used. The gold braid is topped with small ribbon bows. I would have maybe spaced the 2 bows a bit further apart from each other, but apart from that I think they finish things off nicely.


Here we have the Doll JSK. The bodice could have been a bit better fitted, although it is hard to tell underneath all that detail. The ribbon straps are a good width and are very decorative, especially with the tulle ruffle. They match up well with the bodice details too. I think the waist area could have been better defined and more fitted. The waist area is topped with a large bow. The shape of the bow looks a bit droopy. Even with the gold braiding on the bow, it also blends in to the dress quite a lot and doesn't stand out much. It is detachable though, which is what I would probably do if I got this dress. The wide lace and ribbons on the neckline are very OTT, but this is quite an OTT series. The lace is of a good quality, as is the ribbon used for the bows. I do however, feel these details are a bit messy looking. It sort of looks as though they have just been shoved on the neckline wherever there is space. The back has a panel of shirring, which is concealed well by a ribbon corset. The skirt is an interesting OTT shape but I think it is a bit lumpy looking. The printed fabric sits reasonably well on top of all the chiffon and I like the way it gathers at either side and is topped with a ribbon bow. I do think the printed fabric to chiffon ratio is a little off. I think there needs to be more of the printed fabric to help balance things out. As it is, there is a lot of chiffon and if you removed a tier it would still be a very heavily detailed dress. I do feel the chiffon layers are very beautiful though, and if the skirt was a bit more balanced I would really like it. The bottom is then further finished off with pretty lace.


And this is the Frill Long JSK. The bodice is well fitted and a pretty shape. The straps are a suitable width. They are decorated neatly by the line of lace that goes along the neckline and then sits on top of the straps. The lace is very pretty and it sits well on the dress. The neckline is finished off with gold braid and a ribbon bow. I am once again impressed with the ribbon used and the bow here is a good size. There is a line of pearl buttons running down the front of the bodice. The buttons are very decorative and are spaced out well. On either side of the bodice, there is a ribbon corset with gold ribbon used. At first, I wasn't sure about the gold ribbon, but I now think it is a good idea. If the ribbon colour stood out too much, then this dress would probably look a bit too overloaded with ribbon. But by using a colour that blends reasonably well with the print, it stops it looking too OTT. The ribbon corsets are reasonably well spaced out and there is thin lace used to conceal the edges of the ribbon corsets too. I think Baby have done well to balance out the bodice details and it looks beautiful. The back has a panel of shirring which is concealed very neatly with a ribbon corset. The stock photos show the skirt has a good amount of volume and flares out well. I feel the skirt is a lot smoother and flows a lot better than the other JSK. There is a decent amount of the printed fabric too, although I still feel they could have gotten away with one less tier of the chiffon. The ribbon bows at the end of the printed fabric are nicely spaced out and there is a good balance of bows on this dress. The chiffon and lace layers are again very beautiful looking. I feel this JSK is much more well put together than the other JSK.


And so, on to the print close up. This is one part of the print...


...and here we have another part! This series is available in ivory, sax blue, light green and brown. All 4 colours seem to be quite promising. I think my favourite has to be the sax blue though, as I love it teamed with the red ribbon. The brown version is also very lovely. As for the print itself, it looks like a sweeter version of Baby's Searching for Baroque series. It still has a classical feel to it though. I like the nostalgic feel of the print. The frames are drawn beautifully with plenty of detail. The furniture in the print helps to break up the frames so it doesn't look too repetitive and dull. As for the pictures, I think the teddy bears and Victorian dolls fit in perfectly. However, the cat picture looks incredibly creepy! If the cat was replaced with something else I would probably like the print a lot more. I also feel like the pictures could have been mixed up a bit more because most of the pictures are next to the same picture. The floral and stripy background helps fill in the remaining space without taking too much attention away from the foreground.

So I feel this is a very interesting series. It is maybe not to my personal taste, but I can see why it has wide appeal. I am glad to see that Baby have gone for OTT long dresses again, although the Doll JSK is a bit of a let-down for me. The OP would be a good option for somebody who wants something slightly less OTT but still fairly elaborate. The print is very pretty, although the cat is a real deal-breaker for me. Would I buy this series? No, I wouldn't, although that is mainly because it is not my usual style. If I did, I would choose the Frill Long JSK in sax blue.



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