Yesterday I shared my thoughts & observations on Volk’s newly released Sailor Tulle Skirt Set (and I just added a couple more pictures of the outfit to that post!), and today I’ll share my observations of the Lace-Up Top Set (DDTK-179). This was a very popular set and sold out very quickly at the Osaka 7 DP after-event online, and for good reason! It’s such a cool outfit – I would wear it myself! ^__^” Here’s Lily modelling it – she’s a DD3 with an L-bust. This outfit will fit M and L bust (although I imagine the black top would be loose) and also the DDdy.

In my personal option this set was one of the best values of the sets released at the Osaka 7 DP (retail price is 6615 yen) since it came with so many components!

The long-sleeved over-shirt is made of a very light-weight ribbed jersey. The grey trim on the collar is lined with white on the inside. An interesting feature is that there’s a useless piece of elastic sewn into the inside seam the sleeve at the bottom. It creates a casual gather of the sleeve but does nothing to improve the fit. The cord that laces up the front of the shirt is black leather cord (or fake leather? I’m not sure), not ribbon.

The tube top is made of black patterned cotton (if you purchased the Argyle Cardigan set, or own the Cherished Rose set, you’ll recognized the fabric! ^__~”) and is fully lined in white cotton on the inside. Care was taken to finish all the edges that would touch a doll using white thread and this is particularly obvious in the back. The tube top fastens in the back with 3 metal snaps and one hook & thread-loop. None of the white threads are visible once the tube top is worn. I checked Lily after wearing the top for 5 hrs, and again 24 hrs later and there was no sign of any staining. [EDIT: Jadepixel said that she noticed some staining from the black lace trim on the top. Her doll is a DDdy – I’ve personally only used this top on M and L bust so far. The stretching combined with warm weather and humidity may play a factor so be careful!.]

The skirt is a brown tone-on-tone plaid with black lace trim. It closes in the back with only a zipper and has a white lining halfway down the inside (up to where the frills begin).

When I first took the brown stockings out of the package, my first thought was “Good grief these are thick!” and compared to most Volks cotton socks they are quite thick! It’s almost the weight of a thin sweat-pant type fabric. The inside of socks are woven with white thread, however the brown folds over at the top with a bit of the black elastic trim. I checked Lily’s legs after wearing the stockings for about 5 hours and there were no signs of staining, which was a good sign. At the 12 hour point, I noticed a very faint black stain at the back of only one leg from the exposed black elastic. I removed the stockings after a total of 30 hours on the doll. The tiny stain I noticed earlier didn’t get any worse, and there were no other stains on the other leg. I checked the feet carefully for stains (since they were jammed into the boots) and there was no marks at all. Since these stockings are already very thick, adding a bodystocking layer would add more bulk and could make wearing some shoes very tight, so I’d suggest putting a small piece of tape at the back of the stocking where the elastic is, or a tiny piece of cling film nor even white tissue paper. I’m going to give these stockings a wash before I use them again and hopefully that will help prevent further stains.

The pair of hair-ties are made of the same fabric as the skirt, and attach using a hook and thread-loop. There is quite a bit of stretch to them so it should fit most dolls with twin-tails.

This outfit also comes with a very nice belt that measures just over 1cm wide. It is a brown leatherette with an oxidized brass coloured buckle. I found it a bit finicky since my belt was a tiny bit too wide to slide easily into the buckle.

Here’s what the black top looks like on it’s own. I tried to photograph the texture of the fabric, but you can see that it’s not just flat black cotton. I hooked the 2 hair-ties together and made a choker out of them for a different look too!

I’m really glad that I was able to get this outfit! It will be available from VolksUSA in a few months, so if you missed out you’ll have another chance there! I’m pretty impressed that the top didn’t stain, and I expected the socks to stain much more than they actually did.

Stay tuned for more outfit reviews!

– ♥ Archangeli

[Disclaimer: I bought this set with my own money. I don’t work for Volks, am not affiliated with them in any way, nor do I get any form of compensation from them. I’m writing these reviews just to share my observations.]