[diy] Angelic Pretty French Doll replica

Because I wanted to test my sewing abilities after successfully tackling a pattern from Otome no Sewing 3, I decided to make a replica of a JSK I almost never see resold anywhere (in my preferred cut and colorway), Angelic Pretty's French Doll 2013.

Here is the magazine spread scan. Isn't it perfect? I love the retro polkadots, the tricolor ribbon straps, the contrasting red belt, plus the stripe ruffle. I scrounged around Etsy for navy dotted fabric, but didn't visualize the scale very well from the photos, so my dotted fabric was smaller than the original, same with the striped chiffon. I purchased lace from an overseas Etsy seller, which also wasn't the exact same shape as the stock photo, but approximate (circular for the top bit, wavy for the bodice bits) and that was totally fine for me. The tricolor ribbon was from Michael's, the stuff you use to make medals for kids' competitions.

I used a basic bodice from a Western commercial sewing pattern, used a fully shirred back from Otome no Sewing and drafted the skirt from the amount of fabric I had left over. Extremely easy, almost no changes needed. Why I chose it to be my first replica, honestly. The only thing I could do better was make a skirt lining so the ruffle doesn't bunch up weird at the skirt hem like it does here. From the stock mannequin photos, the ruffle seems to hang as if peeking out from an underskirt, but the magazine photos it looks almost attached to the outerskirt at some point; no one I know owns the dress and can confirm for me.

Full coord photo with Angelic Pretty socks (that had a defect by the way) Bodyline shoes and Japanese thriftstore blouse. The sash was a belt from a regular department store dress, the beret offbrand with a ribbon decoration I pinned on.

The terrible thing was I purchased the Angelic Pretty bow hairclip to wear with this, but the color and size of dots was significantly different from the dress. I made a hairbow from leftover fabric, but cursed forever non-matching whites!!!

Anyway, I thought this turned out perfectly (except for the ruffle hem) and I can't wait to find another occasion to wear it and coord it even better. I have since bought a lot of dresses, but am still considering making another replica of something hard to find/cannot fit!