Sock Changes

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Hello! I wanted to write this post to announce that Dandy Puppeteer has recently changed sock manufacturers and will be updating our sock designs going forward. I wanted to give insight into sock manufacturing and give context to why the change happened.

Sock Manufacturing

To manufacture socks is a very expensive process. Generally, sock manufacturers use high-powered automatic machines that knit socks on their own. They produce massive amounts of quantity in a short time frame and they tend to be within a standard size range. This means that for a small fashion brand like mine, where I’m often ordering less than 100 pairs of a single custom size and color with complex artwork, there’s not a lot of manufacturers who want to work with such a small business when they can produce bigger quantities for more money in the same amount of time. So sock making becomes a product often out of reach for small businesses without a lot of financial capital. So far, I’ve done 3 sock pre-orders and none of my pre-orders have broken even on upfront production costs so every time I make socks, I am paying a lot of upfront costs on my own. Dandy Puppeteer is very much an indie shop and only run by one person.

Backstory

Back in October 2023, a customer reached out to me regarding their pair of socks from the previous silver thread sock bulk order. Their pair was regarded as defective and as a result, I posted PSAs about it on social media to alert of the potential defect others might experience. The defect could be described as excessive silver loose threads that appeared after wearing the socks. Like with all socks, pilling and thread pulling is normal due to the friction of the socks against feet, shoes, and general movement. This defect however, was very extreme and affected only the silver thread. I proceeded to repeat my initial stress tests on some of the remaining inventory.

With all my products, I generally try to go through stress tests, meaning I try testing the sample/product to see the range of damage it’s able to tolerate and if this limitation can be controlled. When it comes to socks, my stress tests involve extreme long-term stretching, noting where pilling happens most, how the design warps, and so on. During my final stress tests of the final samples of my silver socks, I deemed there was within an acceptable range of loose threads after normal wear. My old manufacturer and I talked about it extensively and my manufacturer promised additional steps taken to reduce the issue further. However, with the discovery of this defective pair, I did further tests of the bulk order and found inconsistencies in the quality of the socks. Some would be totally fine after wear & extreme stretching, while others would pull the silver out immediately with the same tests. It would be completely random and as this defect can only appear after wearing, there was no way for me to confirm the full extent of the problems and quantity of the affected pairs. And when communicating this with my old manufacturer, we were unable to reach an amicable solution. They essentially took issue with me choosing to use silver thread in the first place, that I should have already known it would be a difficult material for socks.

Despite my proof and many photos showcasing that the quality was not consistent on the many pairs I tested or my samples, we could not reach an agreement for compensation or remaking them. The unwillingness to work with me or acknowledge the problem completely broke my trust with them. And unfortunately, this also meant I had to regard the entire rest of the bulk order as unstable because the problem can only appear after wearing them. I decided to stop selling them and ended my partnership with this manufacturer.

This caused my shop massive financial issues. I’ve been transparent about how expensive producing socks are. In addition to customizing the size to specifications that will cover a wide range of sizes, I also pay for minimum order quantities of each size and of each color. This is thousands of dollars and as mentioned above, my pre-orders have never broken even. I am still recovering from this situation but I did not want to give up on making socks, not when I can see how important it has been for everyone to finally have inclusive legwear for fashion.

It took many many months and new samples, along with failures and sometimes being ghosted. But I fortunately have found a new manufacturer to make my sock designs going forward. Their communication is great and quality is excellent, they’re very skilled and recreating my artwork more accurately, as well providing good color options. The material percentages have changed but results in a bit of a more durable sock. The size range is very similar to the previous socks we have released but with a more notable difference between Size 1 & Size 2 as we’ve increased the length of Size 2 from 55cm to 80cm to accommodate taller heights. I’m really happy with this new manufacturer and new socks so I hope you will all enjoy them too.

So what about the silver socks?

I want to remake all of the silver thread sock designs but this time I will be proceeding with normal color thread in the designs. This new manufacturer is capable of making metallic silver lurex thread socks but after testing samples, I just think the silver does not add anything anymore and there is still some pilling like what happens with other metallic thread socks. I want to prioritize design integrity so the socks can last a long time and many wears. I’m starting with the most popular designs first so Glorious Funeral has been remade first as Glorious Funeral Resurrection OTKs. These are now available to purchase in the shop. We had a few hiccups of production issues with them (some that resulted in unexpected under the knee socks aka Glorious Funeral Casualty UTKs) but I’m overall very happy with the new manufacturer and quality. I will try to remake RIP Dandy next for Halloween and then proceed down the list of previous designs as I acquire the funds to do so. While my crowdfunds this year have gone well, the money is used for production costs. This year hasn’t been good for sales in the shop and combined with the previous financial hit of the unstable bulk, I just can’t afford to remake them all just yet so thank for you for waiting.

The previous silver thread socks will be relisted for discounted sale sometime in the future and clearly labelled as potentially defective. So if you like the designs but want something much more affordable and shiny than the remakes, they’ll be available.

What about Candy Shoppe OTKs?

I’ve moved around a lot the last 2 years so the remaining inventory of the first bulk product of Candy Shoppe OTKs I produced was in storage. I’ve now settled into a permanent address once more and since then, have recovered my inventory. So Candy Shoppe OTKs are finally restocked! However, once sold out they will be gone forever as I will no longer be working with the old manufacturer for the stated previous reasons. Any new diagonal stripe socks I design will be a different construction and fit, along with a different product name. So if you liked the Candy Shoppe OTKs, please make sure to take advantage while they’re still here in this form. Again, they will be restocked but will never be remade.

In conclusion

I’m terribly sorry if the original sock batch caused any issues for anyone. I’m still learning about manufacturing processes and how to advocate for myself. More than anything, I care about designing quality products with a high standard. I sincerely want there to be more size inclusive options for lolita socks so I will continue to develop better quality and interesting designs. Please look forward to them. Thank you!

Dandy Puppeteer’s 3rd Anniversary

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Hello! Today is 10/10/23, which means it’s Dandy Puppeteer’s 3rd anniversary! We wanted to share a post to give an update regarding our upcoming Carnival Puppet collection and reflect on the last year.

We first previewed this collection on Instagram back in October 2021. As you may or may not know, Dandy Puppeteer is run by one person. We started off by the owner making handmade laser cut jewelry and have expanded into manufactured bulk goods as well, with clothing being our biggest goal. It’s a time consuming process that takes many stages of sampling and iteration and after this time, this collection is around 75% complete!

Here, you can see the dress, vest, pants, bonnet, blouse with detachable sleeves, mini hat, head bow, wristcuffs, and head bow. There were considerable changes to the designs from the first time I previewed them but they’re almost there! I had spent some time looking for a good alternative to the first samples’ polyester and found a lovely 100% Tencel fabric that was a similar color. I’m also developing matching over knee socks, a jewelry set, and an embroidered brooch, thus bringing the entire collection number to 13 individual pieces. I’ll be working on the Black x White colorways next and then testing the size chart over the next few months.

I’m tentatively anticipating that around March/April 2024 will be when I’ll be able to launch the Kickstarter but, of course this can change. I’m currently funding this collection (and sampling all my projects) through the shop’s sales and to be honest, 2023 has been a difficult year. The continuous increase in cost of living has been rough on everyone, but I want to keep working as best as I can at my own pace. I know this new estimate makes around 2 years since I first previewed the collection but I hope you will please wait just a tiny bit longer and please support the pre-order when it happens.

For everyone who has ever bought something from my shop, thank you so much! I always read the notes you leave and love seeing the photos you tag me in. It really means the world to me to know that there are people out there who really enjoy my designs. Please continue to look forward to our new projects as we approach year 4. Thank you so much!

Strawberry Meow & Fatal Cupcake Collections

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Today, we have released our newest collections: Strawberry Meow & Fatal Cupcake!

Strawberry Meow is inspired by silly shaped fruit and imagination. It introduces Dandy Puppetrois’s first mascot, Meow, the jester cat! It features 2 ring designs and 1 necklace design in 3 colorways.

Fatal Cupcake is a special birthday collaboration with Rochester, NY based pop boutique Sweet Poison Cupcake Boutique. SPC is known for their unique scented deco cupcake jewelry and boxes! This collection features 2 jewelry designs in 2 colorways (Sweet & Poison).

All pieces are currently availible for Made-to-Order while supplies are availiable. For more information about our Made-to-Order process, please refer to our FAQ.

Otherworldly Desserts Collection

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We’re happy to share our newest collection: Otherworldly Desserts!
The Otherworldly Desserts collection is inspired by silly puns and a dessert theme that doesn’t show up quite often enough in Lolita jewelry. This collection features two ring designs: Angel & Devil variants.

Both rings will be available via our Made-to-Order process which you can find out more about in our FAQ.

The rings features a new wide steel ring base, which will be the standard for our rings going forward. This collection is smaller than our previous collection and will represent a pattern of having smaller collections in-between more major releases.

Our newest collection is also part of the Winter in the Woodlands event co-hosted by Bay Area Kei & Rosé Forêt. Please check out their websites for the event schedule and to check out other participating brands. Thank you to both organizations for letting us participate in our second brand event!

Please note that Made-to-Order items are not anticipated to arrive before 12/24 due to COVID-19 global shipping delays, as well as holiday season shipping delays. Estimated MTO shipping times are January 2021.

Vampire Stand – Blood Treats Recipes

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Curious about how to make your own bloody good treats this Halloween? For our Vampire Stand photo-shoot, we were tasked with making the playful sweets our jewelry collection are based off of! It was a lot of fun so we thought, why not share? So without further ado, the Vampire Stand recipes!

Blood Lemonade

  • Bag of lemons
  • 6 cups of water
  • 1/4 cup of sugar
  • Red food coloring (of your preferred brand)
  • Cutting board
  • Knife
  • Pitcher
  • Large Spoon

First you’ll want to properly wash your lemons to prepare them for cutting. You’ll want to cut at least 7 lemons into 4 equal pieces each.

Pour in the 6 cups of water into your pitcher. Then, squeeze 4 lemons worth of your newly cut pieces into the pitcher for the sourness (Should be 16 pieces). If you’d like your drink to be more sour, please feel free to add more! Mix well and then add 1/4 cup of sugar into the pitcher. (You can add more sugar if this amount isn’t your desired sweetness) Mix thoroughly until the sugar is dissolved.

Once that’s done you can begin adding the food coloring. Depending on the strength of your food coloring, you might want to add more or less. We added 12 drops of our brand to get it to our desired hue. Mix well.

Once the food coloring is added, take the remaining lemon slices and add them to the pitcher. The drink will continue to get more sour over time!

Once it’s mixed and the lemons are added, set the pitcher into the fridge to chill and you have a bloody good drink! It’s a nice match to the ring right?

Blood Candy Apples

  • 1 cup water
  • 6 apples washed, stickers removed, and de-stemmed (we used Honeycrisp apples)
  • Wooden sticks
  • 1/2 cup light corn syrup
  • 3 cups sugar
  • Red food coloring
  • Candy thermometer
  • Wax paper
  • Metal sheet pan
  • Saucepan
  • Oven mitt or heat protecting glove
  • Metal spoon

For this recipe, we were inspired a lot by this candy apple recipe from Just A Taste. The recipes are pretty much identical with some applicational differences to make the treats more bloody. Start by washing and removing the stickers from your apples, as well as removing their stems. Then insert the wooden sticks into the tops. You can paint your sticks in advance like we did with any color or pattern you decide! Place wax paper onto the sheet pan, spread out the apples, and set the pan aside.

In your saucepan, add the water, the sugar, and the light corn syrup. Mix together while bringing to a boil. Use the candy thermometer to constantly measure the temperature. You’ll need this mixture to reach 300-310 degrees at least once. Make sure to wear an oven mix or other heat protecting glove while mixing and checking the temperature.

Once you’ve reached 300 degrees, turn off the heat and remove the pan. Carefully add red food coloring to avoid making splashes as the candy apple mix will be scolding hot. (Please continue to wear your oven mitt or heat protecting glove) Depending on your brand of food coloring, you may want to add more or less for your desired color. We used 2 tablespoons in ours.

When the coloring is mixed in, you can begin dipping! Take an apple and carefully dunk it into the candy apple mixture, twisting the stick to cover the entire body. Then with your metal spoon, dip into the mixture and pour over the top of the dunked apple. This is how we make the drippy “blood” lines to give the apples an extra spooky look! Set each apple back onto the wax paper so they can begin to set.

Once all apples are coated, set the apples into the fridge to chill and harden. And once they’re complete, simple take and enjoy! A nice spooky match to our ring!

We hoped you enjoyed these recipes! If you make any of them, please don’t hesitate to tag us on social media! We’d love to see what you create!

Brand Launch/ Vampire Stand Collection

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Hello and welcome to the launch of Dandy Puppetrois! Dandy is the culmination of lots of work and planning, a massive labor of love that stems from a strong of love of Japanese Lolita Fashion. We aim to create inclusive pieces that suit all substyles of Lolita Fashion as well as other styles of Japanese Fashion.

Our first series Vampire Stand was inspired by the idea of carnival treats but with a playfully gruesome twist. This collection hopes to define a lot of what to expect from Dandy Puppetrois as a brand. The collection includes 5 pieces total with one artwork in print or postcard format.

There are only a limited amount of pieces available from launch. These will be shipped out and arrive in time for Halloween coordinates. Backorders afterward will be part of our Made-to-Order process which you can find out more about in our FAQ.

The photoshoot was a lot of fun trying to capture the silliness of the concept but the allure of a vampire. A major thank you to my partner for being my muse. Please check out our Photos page for more of the photoshoot!

2020 overall has been a year with much uncertainty and fear so starting something like this, a concept that has been dear to our heart for so long but only until recently was able to obtain the resources to pursue, has been a major beacon of hope. We hope you’ll stick around and see what more we want to create! A special thank you to Bay Area Kei for hosting Gramarye 2020 and letting us experience our first event as a brand.