Lolita 52: My first meet-up

I guess we have to start with a confession: I have never been to a proper lolita meet-up. I did once get together for lunch with two nice girls from the Sydney community, but I don’t think that counts as a proper meet-up, even though it was pretty cool to meet some other lolitas.

And, leading on from that confession, here is another: I don’t have much desire to attend most meet-ups. I am a person of limited sociability, and due to my job at the moment, time, and I prefer to spend what energy I have on social activities that matter more to me that hanging out with people who are strangers (I know they wouldn’t be if I went to more meet-ups, but they are at the start, okay?) who happen to like the same fashion. It’s not that I don’t want to do meet-ups, it’s just that they are lower on my list of priorities and at the moment most things on the lower end just don’t get done.

However, I really would love to attend lolita events. If Australia ever starts a lolita convention I will be there with bells on. Same if there are ever brand events or the like. I know that might sound kind of two-faced but the thing is that I really am kind of shy and nervous around people I don’t know. At a more casual meet-up, that would be uncomfortable for me. At a larger, more structured event, it wouldn’t be… or at least not to the same extent. Also, larger events often seem to involve shopping, and one of my day dreams is to be able to do lolita shopping in person rather than online.

Angelic Pretty's 2014 Tea Party in Paris.

So that’s my not-really-a-post about my first meet-up. But rest assured, once I actually do go to my first meet-up, I will post about it on this blog!

Lucky pack time again...

Just a quick and excited post to say... I managed to get Angelic Pretty's Twinkle Doll set in lavender! They all sold out in five minutes but since I was sitting at my computer constantly refreshing I was able to check-out with the site being slow but not crashing.

Anyone who's been here a while is probably giving me the side-eye and going "Lavender? That's not like you" which is a completely fair statement. But I thought the style of JSK wasn't so sweet that a typically sweet colour made it too much for me and besides I'm gonna be working more purples in my wardrobe next year anyway so one more addition doesn't hurt.

I was really happy to get this and am looking forward to doing a bit of a review when it arrives!

Florina Photoshoot

I just realised I never shared a little photoshoot James and I did earlier on this year. We were scouting out a new location and lolita seemed to suit rather nicely! All photos by James aka The Enthusiast; make-up etc. by me.

I was really happy with how I arranged the flowers in my hair; I think it was my favourite part of my styling!

I paired BTSSB's Florina Rose with a blouse from The Floral Notebook and offbrand accessories. I honestly find his dress a bit hard to match because the pink is quite dark and magenta-ish. But in sepia, everything matches! I love the old-timey feel these pictures have.

Anyhoo, this is a really brief post and a bit rambly but yes, please enjoy!

Lolita auction haul

Who bought lots of stuff? I bought lots of stuff!

Last Tuesday, after two days of the package supposedly being "out for delivery today", I got to open my glorious, wonderful box of clothes from Buyee. All up, the package contained two JSKs, a bolero, a blouse, a cutsew, four pairs of OTKs, a bag and two novelties. Though, to be fair, the blouse and the cutsew were both intended for the model wardrobe so it wasn't all for me ^__^

This is a shot of everything laid out in its glory. Look at all the clothes!

As with last time I bought from Yahoo Japan, I was quite pleased with Buyee. For most of these items, I actually had promotional coupons which nixed their service fee so there was only the 200 yen PayPal fee on to of the item price and shipping. To be completely honest, without that discount I probably would have bought less as I'm trying to be fairly frugal. I definitely wouldn't have bought the bag!

I wanted to chat a bit about each item as I'm still really excited about it all! As usual though, my phone didn't like getting colours right so just so you know the below pictures have all been fiddled with in photoshop to try an get them mostly accurate, and the photo above is actually probably the closest to the real colours anyway.

First up, a Baby, the Stars Shine Bright mini-heart bag, which I believe came with a mook at some stage. It's cute and was cheap and that's really why I bought it - I wanted to have a brand bag just for the sake of having a brand bag. It really is cute though, and just the right size for my wallet and phone so it's not a bad buy at all.

Next up is the blouse we bought for the model wardrobe, which is also Baby. It's quite cute and sweet but as you can see in the picture below, also quite well worn.

We will either be bleaching it back to white or tea-dying it all, so the stains don't matter too much but they did annoy me a bit. The listing did mention the neck marks and that there was some marks overall, but I feel like this is worse than what the listing made me think it was.

Next is a recent Innocent World bolero that even came NWT! I'll admit, part of the reason why I bought this was because I wanted to see how well I fit an IW L (answer, not very well for now) as I continue to lust over their Millefeuille boleros and want to know if one will ever conceivably fit me.

But this is also a beautiful piece in it's own right, and a brown bolero fits perfectly into my wardrobe. I love that the lace collar is detachable, as it's a bit too fancy to be something I'd really wear much but I can imagine it would be great for easily dressing up outfits.

Then we have something that surprised me, an Alice and the Pirates cutsew intended for our model wardrobe. The surprise is how stretchy it is aka it actually fits me! It doesn't fit well, mind you, so it will go into the model wardrobe rotation for a while at least but wow... it really will be something I can steal back soon!

Not only is the sizing news awesome because this is a lovely cutsew, it also means that cutsews are not beyond my reach in general. I love the old skirt and cutsew look, but even when I had a 93cm bust I'd look at cutsews with a 88cm bus and not be sure if they'd fit. After this fitting with my currently 102cm bust well... when I get back to 93cm I'm not going to worry any more and will get all the cutsews I want!

This dress, Baby's Tartan Check Ribbon Tiny Sleeves JSK in red (obviously), was the first thing I bought in this haul. And it it hands down my absolute favourite item out of all of them! The fabric is luscious and it is so comfortable to wear... I even wore it to my work Christmas party yesterday!

The elastic on the inside of the sleeves needs replacing, but that was mentioned in the listing and it shouldn't be a bit deal to replace. I may do a quick post about it when I change it because altering brand is a kinda scary thing so it may be worth sharing.

The second JSK I got is IW's Princess Rose in bordeaux. It's a lovely older piece and in really good condition for it's age, though you'll have to excuse the wrinkles because I haven't ironed it yet. There's only one problem with this... the straps are way to short! Even moving the buttons to the max leaves it about 10cm short of whre it needs to be to fits my torso well and not be a mini skirt. So I'm debating whether it's best to sell it or modify the straps into a halter. I'm really not sure right now.

As you can see, there are some lovely details to this, but it is a bit of an unusual colour and doesn't match any of the pinks or reds already in my wardrobe. However, unusual colours are also good for variety. You can see my conundrum here. Any advise on the sell or modify question would be welcome!

And then, I got socks. Of course I got socks. I love socks. The black and white AatP ones came with the cutsew, and turned out to be brand new. They're really cute and though I wouldn't have bought them on their own I'm glad to have them. The pink and blue IW pair were in luck packs last year, I think, but they go with so much of my wardrobe and were still new in their packet. The other pairs, both IW, can together but I really only got them for the beige and brown pair - I've been wanting neutral brown floral OTKs for ages! The other pair I'll probably sell, because neither the colour or style matches my wardrobe too well.

Lastly, these two novelties also came with the AatP cutsew - I believe that whole lot was stuff the seller got in a lucky pack or the like. Anyway, these are a washcloth and a notebook and they are both really adorable. Not quite sure if I'm going to use them yet - I have been thinking about holding a giveaway of some sort at some time and these may make good prizes so we'll see. Anyway, I love having brand novelties and they're currently living in my brand drawer where I keep bags, tags and flyers.

So there's my latest haul! Overall I'm really happy with my newest wardrobe additions ^__^

Classic black floral outfits

Bodyline is hit and miss, we all know that. Something that is equally as well known is that a lot of Bodyline pieces need just a tiny bit of modification to become quite nice. And in the case of this dress, L323, that modification is the simple removal of the long sleeves (which are detachable anyway) and the shiny bustle ribbons on the skirt (which are kinda stupid anyway, because if you use them to tie up the skirt you expose the plain underside of the skirt fabric), as well as not wearing the choker and detachable bow. So with a minimum of effort you have a really cute classic dress from something that at first appears to be one of Bodyline's less nice pieces.

I really love floral prints like this and tee peachy pinks with black is a really nice, and slightly less common, colour scheme. I will point out before launching into the outfits that this dress does have less than wonderful lace but since it's primarily black on black I don't think it's a bit deal.

First up I did a bit of an old-school gothic look. It's meant to have black lace-topped OTK socks too but mine are in the wash at the moment. A rectangle headdress would be perfect, but I don't own one (unless the chocker that came with this dress counts, which I suppose it does since I've worn it before... oops... shoulda included it...). The chunky shoes and overall simplicity make it quite a nice outfit, I think, even though it's not much in a flat-lay.

Then I went the full classic route and I love it! Seriously, I can't wait to figure out the perfect photoshoot for this outfit. I would wear this with black lace tights, but they never photograph well unworn. I'd also do something so un-me and pile of pearl jewellery for this ad do a fancy up-do because this is about as OTT as I go.

Lastly, I came up with a super simple sweet leaning outfit. I love that this dress can (kinda) span all three substyles, though it's definitely mostly a classic dress.

I have to say, even though I don't have very many accessories that match this dress I really love what I can do with it, and can't wait for an opportunity to dress up in it!

Lolita 52: 10 facts about my lolita wardrobe

This is going to be a tough one. Let's see how we go, starting with the obvious!

1. It's mostly classic, but spans all the major substyles.
Over time I've found that classic lolita is the style I like wearing the most. I adore looking at sweet lolita, and gothic is fun for a different vibe, but classic is where it's at for me. However, I never like being too limited so I have a couple more gothic pieces and some things I can wear in a more sweet style.

2. It's primarily floral.
And those things that aren't floral are fruity, simple patterns or solid colours. I didn't plan this, it just happened that way.

3. OTKs are one of my favourite things.
I simply adore lolita OTKs, and have to resist buying ones I won't wear. I hardly wear the ones I do have anyway! But they're one of my favourite things about lolita.

My glorious burando sock collection. Not pictured... everything that isn't brand.

4. I have almost the same amount of blouses and shoes.
I'll admit, after listing the first three points I started running out of facts, so I counted how many of each kind of things I had, and it turns out that at time of writing I have 15 blouses and fourteen pairs of shoes. Funny how they turned out kind of equivalent.

5. I like options more than main pieces.
This should not be a surprise if you've read many of my posts but when I did the count mentioned above I realised that with that amount of blouses and shoes I have 24 main pieces. What can I say? I like having options.

6. Berets are my favourite headwear.
I tend to feel uncomfortable in headbows most of the time, and sometime struggle to get floral clips to work right, so berets are my go-to head accessory.

7. I own lots of bows.
James was wonderful and bought me about 80 little ribbon bow clips a while back and they are great because they help me coord everything better: no matter what it is I will at least have a bow to match even if there is nothing else! They also look super cute at the end of plaits or clipped to the front of a beret.

I have little bows like these... but so, so many of them!

8. There is fawn fur.
It's not a ridiculous collection, but I definitely have a distinct fawn fur collection.

9. I don't do jewellery.
This is more a me thing than a distinctly lolita wardrobe related thing, but it had the effect that I have no lolita specific jewellery. Though, given that we have a huge model wardrobe jewellery collection that I can borrow from at will, my personal lack doesn't leave me lacking in that department when the urge for bling takes me.

10. There's very little brand. 
Of my 15 blouses and 24 main pieces there are only 4 brand items (though I have a bolero and bustier too! ...and a few more things in the mail...). Everything else is Bodyline, taobao, indie, offbrand or handmade.

Burando main pieces! And would you look at that? They're all floral...

So those are some (possibly) noteworthy facts about my lolita wardrobe. What are some facts about yours?

Sales!

Just a quick post to say that I've added a new page to this blog... my sales page! Currently I have listed three skirts, one jacket and an assortment of socks.

ETC Mermaid skirt up for sale, cute but I'd never wear it.

If I put anything particularly noteworthy up for sale I'll probably do a proper post out of it as well but for most things and general closet cleaning I'll just keep that page updated so  check back every once in a while!

Blue floral bouquet outfits

As is my norm, I get a new dress and I make outfits with it. And my newest wardrobe addition, as reviewed here, is Bodyline's L51. Overall, it is a surprising versatile dress!

As you can see, there are quite a few shades to work with other than the obvious sax blue and ivory. We have pink, darker blue and and orangey-peach as well. That's one of the reasons why I love this dress so much!

First, I wanted to take it in a casual sweet direction with simple accessories. I like outfits like this, where you work in some offbrand pieces to make a really toned down, but still very lolita, look.

And then, of course, blue! The tights seem darker than the blouse here, but once they're actually on a pair of legs I don't think the colour difference would be too much. This is a very blue look, possibly too blue for me, but I think it's really pretty.

Lastly, I wanted to play with peach and I have to say that this is my favourite outfit of the lot! It's just got a vibe that I really like.

As you can see, I didn't even do a single coord here with the obvious ivory or my usual brown. Which just goes to show how versatile this dress is, that I didn't have to resort to a single one of my usual coording staples.

Are there any dresses in your lolita wardrobe that just seem to go with nearly everything else you own?

Lolita 52: 3 things I wish I was told when I was a new lolita

There are lots of things I wish I'd realised when I started, and there were also many things that I did read online, but didn't exactly believe.

1. Buy slowly, even if you can buy quickly.
I've said similar things on this blog before, because when I started I bought a lot of things that I sold on pretty quickly due to quality and, more importantly, style issues. So even if you do have the disposable income to be able to buy lots and lots of lolita all at once, I really do think that taking your time is important. You need to learn what you like and what suits you and I found for myself, and I think it would be like this for most people, that you can only do this by having the clothes on your body, not just by looking online.

In addition, if you plan your wardrobe rather than going "Buy all the things!" you can develop your wardrobe in a much more logical fashion. Not that I think deciding on a colour palette or overall theme is necessary but I must say I think it would be a nice position to be in if you could make some varied outfits with the first few pieces of your wardrobe. I tended to have a wardrobe where most things only went with one or two other things until fairly recently where I've really tried to focus on versatility.

An example of a small, planned out wardrobe from my "$500 Wardrobe" series.

2. Taobao is good and incredibly easy to buy from.
I'd always heard of taobao, of course, but it always seemed complicated. A lot of bloggers shared reviews but until I actually tried taobao I didn't realise how straightforward it really is to use. Of course, there is the language barrier and the humour that google translate creates, but with the huge online lolita community help is never far away.

My first taobao order.

3. Brand is not as elusive and expensive as you think.
When I started lolita, as I think many people do, I was struck by the expense! And yes, brand-new brand is quite pricey compared to the usual clothes most of us by, unless you're someone who normally shops designer or very high end. And especially when lolita is rarely a good choice for day-to-day, dropping $150 on a new blouse isn't the same as dropping $150 on a pair of jeans that'll get you through several years or wear.

But. Buying secondhand really is a viable option. And even though secondhand prices are not always reasonable, many are. And especially if you have patience, you can find a lot of good deals. Japanese auctions are also a good choice; though remember that fees and shipping costs do add up!

This BTSSB dress, and other things, will shortly be coming to me from Buyee...

Brand is by no means a lolita necessity, but it's hard to be involved in this fashion and not get caught up in a desire for burando. And I kind of wish that when I was starting to feel the hankering to get my hands on brand I had realised that it was a more achievable goal than I originally thought.

What kind of things did you wish you had known about as a new lolita?

Review #40: Bodyline L571

This is my 40th lolita clothing review... I have bought a lot of clothes over the last four years. Well, not so many, really, when you space it out... Right? Ahem.

Anyway, onto the review of my newest acquisition, Bodyline L571 blue floral jumperskirt!

This is probably the most accurate shot of the colour.

 On Mr Yan's Birthday Sale we made an order that was msotly things for the model wardrobe, but included one dress for me! I'd been eyeing off L571 since it was released, but since it is too small for me I didn't want to buy it and have it sit in my wardrobe until I lost enough weight to fit it. But when the price came down significantly for the sale I thought I'd take the plunge and get it.

Since we ordered in the sale we ordered on September 1st and didn't get the last of our three packages till October 8th. Normally things take about three weeks for order to delivery  here in Australia with their free air shipping but due to the sale, or perhaps general disorganisation, it took a while for our stuff to actually get sent out.

Chiffon ruffles!

It has been quite rainy and overcast lately so my photos aren't the best but I wanted to get this review up anyway, since I'm already quite late on it.

Detail of the bodice top. Excuse the loose thread I forgot to trim...

Overall, quality-wise, this is definitely one of the nicest Bodyline pieces I own. The fabric has a bit of an upholstery fabric feel, but not too bad of a bad way; it has a shiny pattern underneath the main pattern if you know what I mean? It is well made, there is no awful lace and the construction is sturdy. The skirt can bustle up at the front and back or can lay flat.

I can't comment on the fit/sizing as yet but as far as everything else goes I'd say it's definitely a good sweet-classic Bodyline option.

Blue and ivory floral outfits

As promised, I put together some outfits with my newest handmade dress. My camera wasn't really cooperating so the quality isn't the best but still, I am so excited to have a new colour in my wardrobe that I'm sharing them anyway. Until I got my new The Floral Notebook blouses and finished this dress, blue was an empty space in my lolita wardrobe.

This picture of the bodice probably shows the colours most accurately. As with many outfit shots, my phone didn't want to record the colours the same way twice. Ah well... on to the outfits!

First up the gloriously blue outfit! New blouse, new dress... lots of blue! I felt that with the blouse bringing such a big punch of blue into the equation it was best to leave everything else fairly neutral.

And, in the opposite vein, when the blouse is matching ivory I felt I could bring in blue shoes for a bit of extra colour. This outfit is the most toned-down a refined out of the three I made. I think it's actually a little too "nice" for me to actually ever wear, lol.

Lastly, an outfit I would definitely wear featuring another handmade piece of mine, the ever versatile brown bolero. Adding brown is definitely one of my favourite ways to style pretty much everything and this outfit is a bit casual, but still decidedly lolita.

Happy Halloween!

A day belated, I know, but I wanted to share the shots from the Halloween shoot James and I did. If you like these please check out James photography page on facebook and my modelling page for all our other collaborations, and also James's other Halloween shoots from this year.

I've never done a Halloween shoot before and this was so much fun! James got the pumpkins carved by a talented girl and I decorated a cheap and tacky witch hat to go with my outfit.

I hope all my readers had a fun Halloween if you celebrate it and if not, a fabulous day anyway!

Lolita sewing: Ivory and blue floral JSK

Last weekend (which was a long weekend and also my birthday) I finally finished up work on a JSK that has been a long time in the imagining and a long time in the making. I will preface this post with saying that really I'm only about 40% happy with it. Aesthetically it's nice, my construction is pretty good by my standards but the bodice doesn't fit right and I made the lining too short so the lace on the hem doesn't show as much as it should. Mostly the fit bothers me, and I think I essentially made it too small so it's all bunchy. But I'm getting back on the fitness bandwagon so we'll see if it fits better in a few months.

Anyhoo, here are a few photos of the finished product! The colours are kind of all over the place in all these photos but the two close-ups are probably the most accurate.

Firstly, in an outfit with another handmade piece of mine in an outfit I would totally wear. You can see how little the hem lace shows here.

Especially compared to how gorgeous the lace really is! This is vintage eyelet lace I've been hoarding for years and never had the perfect project to use it on.

The bodice features this pretty floral guipure lace place in a bit of an old-school way up over the bust and along the top. I contemplated putting lace on the straps as well but it seemed like overkill in the end. This lace was expensive but so worth it, especially since the dress fabric was free and the eyelet lace was $2/metre.

Lastly, a quick shot of the back. I'm pretty pleased with how neatly my shirring turned out. Like I said at the start, other than the fit (which may improve as I lose weight) I'm quite pleased with how this turned out.

I'll be posting up one of my typical "one dress, three outfits" posts with this dress quite soon ^__^

Lolita 52: Lolitas I have met in real life and lolitas I would love to meet

Combing two topics into one post here because I don't have much to say on the first one. Because I have met two nice lolitas from the Sydney Community (we met up for lunch and ice-cream one day) and before that had done a couple of photoshoots with another girl from Sydney, but that's it. I have made no lolita bosom friends, nor have I gone to any meets-ups, nor have I met anyone e-famous, or even talked to anyone e-famous aside from the occasional blog comment here and there.

On the second topic there are a few lolitas who I know of online who I would like to meet for a variety of reasons...

Sakura Fairy / Lily of the Valley

I would love to meet Sakura Fairy not just because she makes really beautiful clothes but because she seems to have a taste for the fantastical and whimsical, and I tend to get on with people like that. She also seems very down-to-earth, creative and just all-round nice.

Princess Peachie

I love how cheerful Peachie always seems! From her videos and her tumblr I just get the impression that she’d be someone really fun and easy-going to hang out with.

Rosalynn / Lolita Wonderland

Lastly, I’d love to meet Rosalynn because her blog is my favourite ever lolita blog. She’s just got a great excitement about this fashion that I find very endearing and I always enjoy rading everything she posts.

So those are the lolitas I have met and would like to meet; what about you?