2023 Classical Doll Review
Posted on February 18, 2024
I received my Classical Doll Long OP from Victorian Maiden last week. This is the plus size version that VM has released for the first time. I was hesitant to get the release at first, but someone in the Classic Lolita discord said it would go up to 92cm at the max. At my heaviest (so far), my bust was 90cm so I decided to buy the navy version as soon as the leftover stock became available on the site. Classical Doll is an OP that has been rereleased countless times since 2000. I can find a version of it as early as then on the archived version of the VM website. I ordered the OP on February 1, 2024 from the VM website with little trouble. I usually pay for things through Paypal and received a shipping update on February 6. USPS won't leave the package at my apartment & doesn't have a signature release form like DHL. I had to pick it up from the post office, which is a little hard since the hours clash with my work hours. I didn't get my package until February 13. I tried it on immediately.
I forgot to take pictures in my excitement, but the dress was in a plain cardboard box. Inside, the dress was wrapped in red tissue paper and in plastic. It's a beautiful dress and I wore it around the house immediately. It came with a neck ribbon. The dress has a fabric belt and corset lacing on the back. There are two buttons on the back as well to bustle it. To bustle, there are two thin strings about halfway done the dress that you attach to the buttons to create a bustle. I'd love to use this feature if I can get a petticoat skirt from IW or VM to create that bustle effect. One thing to note is that it's very long on me compared to the model. I'm 5' tall and it almost hits my ankle. I think a poofy petticoat will lift it a bit. I do prefer shorter lengths like what MM does, but I believe VM does that length for their summer version. As of this post, I am about 89cm in bust and 78cm in waist. I think the dress fit very well and the belt, extra panels and corset lacing at the back allows for a better custom fit. I do prefer shirring for a better fit because tying corset lacing on your back is a little difficult.
There are some cons with the dress. At a posted max of 102cm for bust, this dress isn't the most size inclusive compared to Meta. It's in line with what IW puts out as their L size. Another important thing to note is how the dress is zipped up. The back zipper is behind the corset lacing, which makes the dress hard to put on without acrobatics or someone else to help you put it on. I did see the reviews on the VM website noting that, but still wanted to support this release. I'm hopeful VM will take this feedback and make future releases better. We'll see how the new Rococo Bouquet looks when I receive it.
I've included screenshots of the website to show the details of the dress including measurements and other colorways. I'm very excited to figure out how to coord this dress. For now, I'll need to make a couple of navy rose combs. I'll also need to purchase a navy/black hat and a longer petticoat.
