Innocent World Gretel Boots review

I received my Gretel boots today and because many people asked me to do a review and since IW's shoes got very mixed reviews in the past I decided to give it a go.

I ordered them via the lovely chibi_tenshi in august, if I recall correctly. They were said to come out in late september, however at some point they updated their reserve page with a notification of delay due to problems with the factory. I waited paitently until chibi_tenshi contacted me to let me know that she had my boots.
I paid around 300$ in total for item+ss fee+shipping and got them three weeks later because the customs snatched them and clearance and sending it to me took quite some while (I didn't have to pay customs fees because I'm clever at making up stories ;D).

(I won't review c_t's service because she was just awesome like every time. I don't need to review IW's service because I've ordered from them several times myself and have always been very content.)

Up to the boots! I ordered a size LL in navy. My feet are very weirdly shaped and my right foot is bigger than my left and stuff like this, so buying brand shoes is never easy for me. I owned several shoes from Baby and AatP and their L ist mostly too small and their LL too large because my feet are 25.3 and 25.5 cm long. This is my first pair of shoes from IW and I'm surprised that they fit pretty good.
They are wide in the feet area, so people with wider feet could also fit in and my feet fit exactly length wise. It might get uncomfortable after longer wear though because 0.2 cm more would've been nice for my right foot.



First thing I noticed: they looked almost black when I took them out of the box. They are darker than the stock pic though it doesn't really show on my pics (they photograph pretty lightly).
Second thing: they used a different heel, that was shown in the stock pics of the ivory version. I don't mind that too much, I actually like this heel better.



The heel is plastic, but appears very hard and sturdy.



The stitching is very neat and the sole has a bit of profile so it shouldn't be slippery.



The buttons are rivetet and well attached, they are all pretty even and in line. The piping looks pretty good.



more nice, even stitching



The zipper is light going and sturdy, though the ends are not that neatly serged, there are loose thread ends sticking out at the hem and above the sole but that's nothing I can't fix with some scissors.



Here you can see the loose thread ends a little better



The inside. It has a bit of beige pleather on the upper calves part and some synthetic mesh with little padding below.

I could've sworn those were made of real leather, their product page however states it's synthetic leather. It feels really soft though it is pretty thin and it has a little shine.

I originally bought these boots to go with my Rinks OP from Innocent World:



The colours go pretty well with each other what really surprised me. I have so many items from the same brands that have completely different shades of navy that I have to compliment IW on this!

I tried two coordinates with the shoes, my Rinks OP and a pirate-ish boystyle version because I'm moving to wear more boystyle lately and wouldn't keep them if they were only wearable with female styles.



Haha, please excuse my derpface and my missing makeup, it's cleaning day today x)

Now, to the rating:

+ nice manufacturing
+ awesome colour
+ good fit
+ sturdy heel that is easy to walk on (8cm height)
+ sturdy and easy going zippers
+ military design, do I have to say more?
+ very versatile
+ light weight

- long waiting time (delay due to factory problems)
- some loose thread ends

After all, that's a 8 out of 10!

I am very satisfied with my boots, happy that I can keep them and can only recommend them to everyone else!
Thanks for reading my review and feel free to ask any questions ^__^

(crosspostet to egl. Sorry for my absence, I'm pretty much inactive atm because I don't wear lolita and don't have money to buy stuff. I'll write more about boystyle soon!)

Back to black

My last post has been a few days and I am still really relieved.
I already shipped some stuff, ship some more today and from tomorrow on I will be on holiday. I'm not taking a single lolita garment with me! Normal person holiday, yay!

But I promised I won't stop, so (like I said heh) I ordered the black x navy Silent Moon skirt (Niesje, far away twins! *_*) and just got the confirmation from chibi_tenshi. Yay, I am so excited. I will receive a really huge parcel from her in september I think. She still has my Twighlight Circus Skirt while we wait on the socks and last week I asked her to reserve me those boots from Innocent World:


I wanted some navy boots for a while now but AatP's always were a bit too bright for me and those are perfect and will match my last classic piece, Rinks OP:


They really look like they were made for each other, don't they? *__*

I'm sorry that this is more of a "OMG look what I've bought"-post but I promise you won't see them too often, especially since those will be the last bigger lolita purchases for now. I am planning on getting a black pair of AatP Boots and a black AatP coat for winter, but that's it.

This will be my last post before my 10 days holiday on Sardinia but be prepared, when I come back there will be a give-away! Until then, see you!

Pirate Shoes

I've often seen this topic discussed on many boards: how to wear a rather excentric Lolita style without making it look too costumey. Of course, Lolita itself is not the most discreet fashion style, but when it comes to Sailor, Pirate, Guro and the asian Lolita styles like Qi and Wa, it's not easy to make them still look like fashion without losing their recognisability. I often encounter this with the pirate lolita style.

For my first pirate outfit I wore regular budapester ankle boots. It worked, but it did not satisfy me at all.

Since then, my search for pirate lolita shoes started. The first thing I had to detect was: you have a hard time finding those in regular stores. It was nearly impossible, actually. And those costume boots you can buy all over the internet were waaaay to high. I mean, if you're on a sailship you won't wear heels, no? If you still want your pirate lolita to be sexy you could go with shoes like those:














The left pair is not as high as the right one and therefore might be much more comfortable. Also, you can also get them in black as they are from the Vivienne Westwood x Melissa collaboration, which makes them really pricey, sadly. The right ones can be bought an any costume online shop or even amazon for a lot less (but they look more costumey imo).

I'm not saying you can't wear heels with pirate, not at all! I just wouldn't encourage you to wear stiletto heels. You're a pirate, no stripper x)
Best examples come from my beloved Alice and the Pirates, who produce the best shoes out of all brand, if you ask me. I've owned 4 pairs so far and none of them disappointed me. Here you go with some examples of awesome pirate shoes with heels:

The left ones are definitely something to argue about, I think they are awesome!
















Those are my favourites. I own the left pair myself and they are the most comfortable pair of heels that I've ever owned. Right before the pair on the right. I bought them on impulse, sadly they turned out too small for me and I couldn't obtain a LL yet. If you ever manage to get your hands on one of those - get them!

I also looked for other shoes that could work with pirate and again, found something from Vivienne Westwood (and an offbrand pair that you can find one ebay):

I like both of them. They don't scream pirate but could easily be worked in a coordinate, the right ones might fit an elegant style pretty good.

Now, on to my absolute favourite pair of pirate boots. I own them myself and I am the luckiest person ever that I could find them (though a size bigger would be better, mine are a bit tight -_-).
Tadaaa, AatP's Justin Boots!

I love them dearly! Those are the most amazing boots ever and though you couldn't wear them for anything else than pirate (at least I have no idea how) I don't even care. They are very light and soft, i was really surprised when I tried them on the first time.

And, what I recently found at Innocent World made me super excited. They actually released a very classic pair of pirate shoes.


I think they look just like Captain Hook's or the ones Alice from AatP is wearing on their older print illustrations. I was really thinking about getting them but after I've heard some negative stories about IW's shoes I'm hesistant and think about rather saving my money for AatP's winter shoes collection *_*

Acanthus - New IW Series

Though I usually prefer Moi-meme-Moitie or Alice and the Pirates' darker prints for gothic coordinates, Innocent World's new Acanthus line totally caught my attention.


Of course, I can't really use the chocolate colour but flocky prints are a must for me and luckily, this time IW did not disappoint me and made a black version, too.


Sad thing is, it will be coming out in early August and though it'll be my birthday I'm afraid I won't have the money for it before middle of August. But I hope it won't be sold out then.
I just love high waist skirts! It also comes as a JSK, a tote bag, a mirror (sadly not in black otherwise I definitely would've gotten it) , a matching pair of socks and a clear file. This is a must-have!