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Thursday 29 September 2016

Lolita 52: Bloomers or no bloomers?

Simple answer; bloomers, definitely bloomers.

How adorable are these? If I were the type to spend $100 on bloomers...

As we all know, lolita is a fashion that lends itself well to flashing. The skirts are like sails for catching wind, the petti poof means that your skirt is away from your legs, and generally knee-length skirts of any variety are pretty easy to expose your knickers in. Now, I don’t have a problem with flashing generally, and I know for a fact I’ve worn more than my fair share of short skirts with no modesty shorts in my life. However, in lolita I feel like bloomers really are a part of the overall look and feel.

A cute way to cover your knickers in a country coord!
These are from indie brand Sugar Trampoline.

Let’s start with the assumption that at some point while wearing lolita, you will flash. When this happens, given that lolita is such a comprehensive aesthetic, I feel like the underwear on show should also fit that aesthetic. And I’m a person who doesn’t like fussy knickers, so the solution is to cover up whatever comfy thing I’m wearing with bloomers that (at least to some extent) match the rest of my coord. It’s not just modesty, it’s style!

Holding up your OTKS as well as preserving your modesty? Genius.

Writing this blog made me realise I actually want more bloomers; comfier ones in more colours! Currently I only own two pairs, as I don’t wear lolita very frequently. What’s your bloomer collection like?

Saturday 24 September 2016

Spanning the substyles; Chiffon Lovers outfits

Continuing along with doing a new set of three outfits for each of my main pieces has brought me the my FanPlusFriend Chiffon Lovers JSK, which I really didn't do justice the first time around. This time, however, I came up with three outfits I love and that also manage to (somewhat) span all three lolita substyles!

As this is a solid colour piece, no close-up to start the post and also my apologies for the photo quality. I started taking them on my phone without really thinking so they're not proper camera photos. And Panda refused to get off the bed, so his butt is in the photos as well. Regardless, I hope you enjoy ^__^


First, as my abiding love of all things floral is well known, I ran with a classic outfit with an Innocent World bolero and OTKS. I like this outfit quite a lot, it's rather elegant and quintessentially classic lolita.


Next I tried something a little gothic, or at least dark classic. I would wear this with black lace tights and probably would rummage out a big cross necklace and some of our black and silver rings from the model wardrobe. Which I guess really goes to show how much of a difference accessories make; with a cross necklace this would lean more gothic, if I wore a cameo instead it would appear more classic even if nothing else changed.


Last, and my absolute favourite, I tried doing something sweet and I adore the result! I almost can't believe this turned out so well, but it really did, and I got to use those adorable Meta socks. I'l admit, after putting this outfit together I actually went on eBay and ordered some lemon hair accessories and cherry clips where the bows are pink instead of black-and-white, just to match this look. But just look at how cute this is! I'm so very happy that this "three outfits" post made me explore such an unexpected but awesome coordinate possibility.

Monday 19 September 2016

Lolita 52: Purses that I love

Oh my, what a hard-to-answer question. Not because I don’t have favourites, but because I really, really have a soft spot for bags in general. Which may seem surprising, given that I don’t have very many and don’t really care to own too many but there is difference between appreciating something aesthetically and actually spending the money and storage space on cultivating a collection.

Of my own purses, I have one very clear-cut favourite; my floral gobelin bag from Axes Femme. It’s just gorgeous, goes (though sometimes in a mis-matched way) with nearly every classic outfit I pull together, and I simply adore it! I have a real soft spot for gobelin in general, and florals.


Purses I love but do not own are really too many to name, so have a collage!


What’s your favourite purse that you own? What’s your favourite purse that you admire?

Wednesday 14 September 2016

My first JSK; L417 oufits

I have to say that I get a lot of pleasure out of the fact that I still own and love my first ever lolita JSK, L417 from Bodyline. It's a little hard to match, but it's a lovely piece all the same.


This dress has so many things I like: a floral pattern, a fairly simple cut and not too much ornamentation but enough that it's to dull, and it's brown so it's easy to match with my wardrobe.


For the first coordinate I went a very classic route, and it turned into quite a simple outfit in the end. It's very well matched though; the lace on the blouse is similar to that on the JSK, both the headpiece and the socks are floral, and all in all it's a very pleasantly cohesive outfit.


My second outfit is super casual... definitely something I would wear! Not much more to say about it, really.


This last outfit I'm actually not too sure about. I think it would look really cute when actually on a body but something just feels a little off about it to me.

In the end I actually feel my satisfaction with these outfits was highest with the first and lowest with this. But ah well. Half the point of doing these posts is to try new things. I could have easily pulled together three outfits that just paired this dress with different variations of brown and ivory but that would just be boring and wouldn't help me expand my coording horizons at all.

Do you ever experiment with your loltia wardrobe and come up with results that you feel aren't quite there? What do you do if that happens?

Friday 9 September 2016

Lolita 52: How I get out of a wardrobe slump

Well, getting out of a wardrobe slump requires being in a wardrobe slump so…

Joking aside (though it’s only half a joke, I have down moments with my wardrobe just like anyone else) I find there are two great, and kind of opposite ways, to get out of a wardrobe slump.

The first is to play dress-ups! Whether you actually put clothes on or just do flat-lays the act of physically getting out your clothes and coming up with outfits is refreshing. I think it’s quite important to have times where you make outfits without having a specific event in mind because it frees you up and lets you experiment. And it also means you can be more adventurous with combinations without worrying about other people’s judgement of the results – experimenting is great and you can come up with some awesome outfits by just giving it a go.

If you've been here for a while you'll know I love doing flat lays...

The second way is probably not a surprise to anyone who has read this blog before and that is analyse your wardrobe. Find the gaps, figure out ways to fill them, and refine your collection. It is a very satisfying thing to do! I constantly look to my wardrobe with a critical eye and try to make it ever better.

Have you ever been in a wardrobe slump? If so, how did you get yourself out of it?

Sunday 4 September 2016

Slowly turning purple

Last weekend I did a quick, super-casual shoot with James because that Friday I finally did something with my hair that's been in my head for months... purple tips! My hair is just barely hip length at the moment, and though I've enjoyed colouring it in the past I haven't done anything with it since I started distinctly growing it out about 4 years ago. But now I have, and I love it!


Just look at that colour and how it fades into my natural brown! My hairdresser (who I actually liked enough to go back to next time , which hasn't happened in a long time) did a great job with the bleaching. It was fun to get this done, a lot of the time I had two people working on my hair at once because there was so much of it!


And of course, to show off my cute new hair I had to wear a cute lolita outfit, didn't I? James and I popped out to one of our regular urban locations to snap a few photos, as well as making use of our trusty shed.


Outfit rundown:
JSK & Bag: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright
Cardigan: Banned
Boots: Bodyline
Everything else: Offbrand

I am so happy with my hair right now, I'm so glad I finally took the plunge and just did it!