I dream of pastries: Patisserie Dream outfits

As you know, I recently scored a piece I've loved since it was release; Patisserie Dream by Metamorphose in black. And of course, what am I to do with a new piece but do an outfit post?

I just adore this print. There is so much going on, and all of it is cute! The colours give it lots of coording options beyond black, though the most obvious (and one my wardrobe lends itself best to) is pink.

I love this outfit. Every single thing about it. It's simple, yet there's enough details going on that it doesn't seem basic. I just adore pairing that bustier with skirts, it's really a great piece for changing up outfit options and doing something a little different with skirts.

Next I did a simple look that I would wear casually. It's meant to have pink ankle socks as well, but mine are in the wash right now. It's funny, because though this is something I'm actually more likely to wear than the first outfit, I don't like it anywhere near as much! I guess it goes to show that what you like aesthetically doesn't always correlate to what you actually prefer to wear.

Lastly I wanted to go a very sweet route and play down the black as much as possible. This looks a bit unbalanced in a flat lay, but in real life (as I think I've mentioned before in relation to other outfits) I have dark hair so it really would balance out pretty well if I were to wear this. Honestly, this outfit is vying with the first one for being my favourite... it's so cute! And I'm making use of that ridiculous pink bow I got in my Meta lucky packs too.

If you feel like it, show me your favourite outfit with one of your dream items.

I guess I do have dream dresses after all...

I really have been buying things left, right and centre lately so following on the heels of my taobao haul, here’s a quite review of a pair of purchase from Yahoo Japan and Mbok via Japonica Market.

To be honest, I really didn’t want to stray away from Buyee, but given that they sometimes restrict your purchasing based on someone’s feedback (which I think was the case here, though I really don’t remember now) I had to make a change when Metamorphose temps de fille’s Patisserie Dream skirt in black popped up with a starting bid of 2000 yen.

My precious...

I’ve said frequently that I don’t really have dream dresses as such because I tend to be unwilling to drop much money on things. But Patisserie Dream is one of those things that I’ve loved since it came out. I missed it once on Closet Child and was really bummed about it, so seeing it at this price made me go; “I have to bid on this”. But Buyee wouldn’t let me so I had to try a new shopping service.

Overall I found Japonica pretty good. The fees seemed about comparable with Buyee and their service was fine. I wasn’t a huge fan of the interface and how they email you updates – there’s nothing wrong with it at all but it’s a bit confusing at first and I do prefer the very modern and straightforward website of Buyee. But still, I have zero complaints about Japonica. They even contacted me to confirm that the second item in my order, a Milky Berry tote bag also in black from Mbok which I bid on on a whim, had some wear to it and to make sure I still wanted to bid. So all in all they’re a great service who I will use again if the need arises.

But anyway, enough with reviewing the service… onto showing off the items!

I’m going to start with the least exciting purchase, the Milky Berry tote. Milky Berry is a print I’m gradually falling in love with, and given that I already have two black-with-berry-pattern skirts in my wardrobe it seemed like a fun little purchase. I won it at 1000 yen, so quite cheaply, but in retrospect I kind of regret it because fees and shipping added up and our exchange rate is not so good against the yen right now so YOLO purchases are not the best idea. However, it is cute, it does go with a particular subset of my wardrobe and it’s in pretty good nick so it’s still nice to have.

And then, my newest and glorious skirt; Patisserie Dream! I am so, so happy to finally have this! It’s so tacky and adorable! I found after I sold off my Bodyline Alice print in black and pink that I really miss having a “bittersweet” print… black and pink has always been one of my favourite colour combos. And now I have something that’s black and pink with a whole host of other colours and a super cute print to boot. James likes it too, which was an unanticipated bonus! I really can’t emphasise how much I enjoy this print, it really makes me happy. 

And Meta just continues to cement itself as my favourite lolita brand... just look at the pattern matching on the seam! That is so close to being perfect, and on such a detailed print too. The skirt is fairly standard length and sizing for Meta's "mini skirt" style, and yeah, I'm just very happy to have this.

Have you ever found a dream item at a price almost too good to believe?

Taobao haul time again!

It's been a while since I last did this, but recently I made a little taobao haul made up of two pairs of shoes, two boleros and a bunch of different accessories. This is only my third taobao order ever, and I don't think I blogged about my second one at all. The main difference between this order and the last two is that I have switched shopping services from Yoybuy to TaobaoTrends.

Before I go onto reviewing the items I just want to say a little about that change. I really liked Yoybuy to start with, but they seemed a little dodgy with how they handled the money in your account. After hearing some horror stories a while ago, coupled with my not-quite-right feeling I decided not to use them again. I chose TaobaoTrends on a bit of a whim, I was in the store spreadsheet on the CGL taobao threads, clicked to their site, and they seemed fine so I ran with it. And I am exceptionally happy with that choice! Their site was simple to use, the fees, exchange rate, and shipping seemed very reasonable, and they check the items before sending them to you. One of my items was in the wrong colour and they checked to see if I was okay with it (which I was) and then, before I paid for international shipping they sent photos of everything. I feel like that's a really good service to provide, and I fully intend to use TaobaoTrends for my future taobao orders.

But enough about shopping services... onto the clothes and things!

First up, two pairs of shoes from Sosic Shop. Both pairs arrived in good condition and looked just like the stock photos. But I managed to order myself the wrong size, so I'm going to be putting both pairs up for sale quite soon. However, as I say, the quality is quite nice so I guess this just means I'll have to do another taobao order soon to get some in the correct size. Poor me, having to shop more...

Then I took the opportunity to pick up some matching accessories for my Jam Paradise JSK from Rococo Soul. I got both the headbow and a pair of two-way clips so I have multiple options. The headbow is actually the first wired headbow I've owned, and it's so fun being able to adjust the shape!

To try and fill the gap in my wardrobe, I also ordered this long sleeved black bolero. It's a pretty obvious Innocent World rip-off but I didn't mind. However, it's not particularly great quality and the sleeves are three-quarter length on me, so I'll be selling it and am back on the prowl for another long-sleeved black bolero.

However, I also ordered a cute white lace bolero which is gorgeous! Just like the stock photo, rally cute and comfortable, I'm super happy with this. Though now I have it I'm realising I may not get all that much wear out of it because it's very white, but I can always tea dye to ivory if I decide that's a better idea.

I got some hair accessories from Cutie Creator/Sweet Dreamer/Ciciworks (I never remember which name is most recent) which I'm two-thirds happy with. The thing I'm not happy with is the lavender headbow because of that giant gold start in the middle which was not in the stock photos. Also, it doesn't match Jurassic Party, which I got it for, but that was a gamble anyway with colours matching. But ugh, that star.

The other two things, the strawberry headband and the two-way flower birdcage clip and very nice, well made and accurate to the stock photos. I got the birdcage clip hoping it would match well with my Meta Rose birdcage skirt and it coordinates, though it's not a proper colour match.

Last, but certainly not least I got a whole lot of other accessories from this shop, too many to fit into one picture! First up, a bundle of hair clips. Because I totally didn't have enough bows already. No such things as enough bows!

I also got some wrist accessories. I don't tend to wear wristcuffs much, but do occasionally, so thought getting a white pair was a good idea. And the bracelets were super cheap so I grabbed a few.. but they are tiny. I am a big girl, but my wrists are still pretty slim for my size and these are still about 3cm too small. Still wearable though, but I may end up taking of the beads and re-making them.

Overall, I'm very happy with all the accessories from that shop. They're quite cheap and very good quality or the price. The only thing I'm bummed about it that the set of strawberry clips with red lace instead of white was meant to have a red flower, but TaobaoTrends did alert me to this and ask if I wanted it sent back and I said no. Next time I'll say yes because the two sets are so similar I'm only going to keep one.

So that's my most recent taobao haul; all in all quite a positive experience!

Flowers and velvet; L479 outfits

Believe it or not (and it really doesn't feel like it) I have done a "one piece, three outfits" post for every main piece in my wardrobe now. Well, not including my Meta Mermaid Princess lucky pack skirt, but I'm 95% sure I'll be selling that so it doesn't count.

So what's a girl to do at this point? Start all over again, of course! I've gone through my existing wardrobe posts and know what order I did these posts in the first time around, and will repeat the order. Already by doing this post I'm really enjoying seeing the difference both in how I coordinate and how my wardrobe has developed.

Anyway, enough rambling and onto three new outfits featuring Bodyline's lovely velvet-and-floral OP L479 in brown. It's one of my earliest pieces, and still a favourite.

The first outfit is really simple, but I love it; i's elegant and still a little cute. It's very typically classic lolita. Though forgive the bolero lace collar curling up, I didn't notice while I was doing the photos!

Next, since the first outfit was very brown, I tried to lighten it all up a bit. I have to say that I adore this blouse with the OP, the sleeves are just amazing with it, it really changes the whole vibe of the dress. This is a bit princess-y, and I really wish I had a more dramatic headpiece to go with that aesthetic. My favourite part of this outfit is the addition of my handmade two-way clip to the neckline, I think it's a rally nice touch.

Last, I really wanted to try pairing the dress with my self-decorated boots in a mori-ish direction. I don't really have enough layering items to get the mori look down correctly, but I still like how casual and quirky this outfit turned out. The yellow flower it a hint of bright colour in the otherwise monotone outfit. This is definitely not a traditional lolita outfit, but I like it and I would wear it.

I'm really impressed by how my wardrobe had grown and changed. It's in a markedly different place now than when I start lolita, and even from a couple of years ago. I'm glad I have this blog as  a way of documenting that growth and change.

Lolita 52: Best places to wear lolita

Honestly I could answer this post in on sentence: the best places to wear lolita are those where you are comfortable doing so,

However, since I like my blog posts to be longer than a single sentence I’m going to segue into a bit of a rant about the “appropriateness” of certain fashions. Because I would love to live in a world where there is no such thing as alternative fashions because everyone felt comfortable and it was socially appropriate to wear whatever styles they like. I mean, of course safety (no long skirts on building sites!) and reasonable levels of neatness and modesty in situations like work should be adhered to but still.

A simple loltia outfit I wore to uni once.

Do clothes have any impact on my ability to learn?

I’ve always been one to wear what I like. I think it stemmed from the fact that in those horribly formative years of teenagerhood I truly didn’t understand how to look like the other girls my age. So I just did me. As I got older “doing me” became less about just wearing what I found comfortable and morphed into exploring alternative fashions. I’ve worn just about anything out and about, from Victorian-esque getups to my favourite rainbow outfits which were literally all rainbow coloured clothes. So now that I’m a proper grown-up with a 9-5 and everything I find myself somewhat saddened by the fact that what is considered appropriate in the work environment is a very limited thing.

So I say wear lolita whenever and wherever you want as long as you’re comfortable and there won’t be any negative consequences. Because the more people who like dressing differently actually do so the closer we get to a world where people can get over the idea that you have to dress a certain way to be acceptable, taken seriously, or judged on your actual abilities.

That was a ramble, I know, and maybe not the most coherent but hey, I just want to live in a world where conformity matters less.

Jurassic Party Outfits

A while ago I showed you Wonderpunk's first print, Jurassic Party, and today I'm finally sharing one of my perennial "one piece, three outfits" posts with it. Due to come recent purchases and crafting, I finally have enough accessories to actually pull together three distinct outfits, which made me quite happy.

It's a bit hard to get all the dinosaurs nicely in one shot when the skirt's not being worn, so I thought I'd just highlight my favourite, the triceratops. Though they are all super adorable!

For my first outfit I wanted to use black shoes for a bit of an old school street fashion vibe (not actually typical old school lolita but you know what I mean), and decided to bring in the black IW bustier to tie them in a bit. It's a really straightforward outfit, but I'd totally wear it because it's just my level of simplicity.

Next I paired it with pink for a snug wintery look. I no realise I should have put my dark purple bows on the shoes to balance things out a bit better but I still like how I was able to balance the colours here. A purple and lavender ribbon tied under the collar would also be cute.

Lastly I did a super simple look where you need to imagine a pair of white shoes, because the only white lolita shoes I have are in our model wardrobe and are about 2.2m above the ground so I was not getting them down just for one photo! And I love it, it's so simple and adorable. I've mentioned before that my favourite sweet lolita looks tend to be ones with that are simple with white blouses and this proves it!

And, ending this post with a shameless plug because I can, please like Wonderpunk's facebook page and we still have Jurassic Party skirts available for purchase.