Lolita Blogpost Roundup: November 2017

I feel like November contained a lot of varied and interesting lolita blog posts, and here are a few of my favourites...

Zodiac Lolita - The Air Signs from Luna Rain
Luna has been doing a whole series of coordinates based of the Zodiac signs and their typical personalities, and I'm sharing this post in particular because it has "my" (Libra) coordinate!

Tips for Handmade Lolita Fashion from  from Sweet Dreams
A post sharing some good beginner tips for making your own lolita items. If found it was full of handy suggestions and some good, basic information. No go make some lolita things!

Splurge of Save: Lolita Edition from Cupcake Kamisama 
This was a very good read about the authors opinions on what items you should shell out for and which ones you can go a cheaper route with in lolita fashion.

Lolita Shoes Upcycling from Auris Lothal
I love it when I get to share tutorials posts here! Well... this isn't so much a tutorial as a "this is how I did this" but it's detailed and has lots of pictures and you could easily achieve similar results if you wanted to, or apply the concepts to a different pair of shoes. Plus, the final shoes just rock.

Tea time at Ladurée for my birthday! from Ruban Rose
A cute outfit and a cute outing, exactly what I like a a nice, pleasant read.

Matsuricon 2017 from Pastel Peggy
One thing I really love about lolita is that there is so much room for personal expression, even when playing by the fashion's rules. So feast your eyes on a trio of outfits; decora lolita, OTT sweet lolita, and something a little simple and retro.

Rufflecon 2017 Panels from Lolita Princess
This post is quite brief but gives you access to the three panels that blogger presented at Rufflecon - I love it when people put resources like this online!

I hope you enjoy reading those posts as much as I did!

A fairytale inspired capsule wardrobe

You know me. I love hypothetical wardrobes. So when recently a CGL thread popped up called "Build Me A Capsule Wardrobe" I just had to take part!

Lots of people posted requests, and I wish I had time to make more than one wardrobe. But one was all I had time for, and I chose to try my hand at building a capsule "for someone who wants to look like a character from an old fairytale book every day. And by that I mean no border prints, no overly cutesy motifs."

So I set to with a will and, inspired by some other people in the thread, actually did a good (well, good-er, at least) job at photoshopping everything so it's a nicer looking collage than I usual do. Feast your eyes!

My initial fairytale inspiration (not that it's evident at all, visually) was Briar Rose from Disney's Sleeping beauty. I wanted something pretty and feminine that conjured images of frolicking in forests. I also thought about Victorian children playing at fairy stories because when I think fairytale I think of old books. And this is what I came up with. Perhaps not fulfilling the brief entirely, but I feel like it has a classic fairytale vibe nevertheless!

I included some unusual pieces I normally wouldn't in a capsule; the cape, apron, and bustier. I also added jewellery and bags, which I never do. And what's funny is that after I did my first selections I had 31 items...so I added two more to make this another Project 333 style wardrobe! I added more types of things but ended up with less items - must have been doing something right!

Because I wouldn't be me without making hypothetical outfits from my hypothetical wardrobe I have some more collages and ramblings below. A first note, however, is that as usual I'm assuming shades match IRL (looking at you, long sleeved blouse and cream bag!) so please enjoy the coordinates with that in mind. And secondly, I outdid myself this time and created six unique coordinates with each main piece. How's that for versatility?

I should also say - please click to enlarge the photos if you want to see anything better. But enough housekeeping, onto the outfits!

I. love. this. dress. It's just so cute and Victorian-esque and looks like what a librarian in an old library with floor to veiling books would wear. Of course, onepiece dresses are less versatility than skirts or JSKs but I still feel like you can get good variety out of this dress. My favourite is probably the one with the apron in the top. I would love to wear that!

Much as I love that first OP, this one is a wee bit more versatile (combo of solid colour and short sleeves does the trick). It's a gorgeous eyelet fabric, which you probably can't see too well, and just makes me think of woodland picnics.

Then I strayed into my usual territory...floral prints! And here we also see the first use of the bustier/corset. I figured that piece adds a nice "peasant wench" kind of vibe to the outfits I used it in.

The other JSK in the capsule wardrobe is one that I adore, and one that I think adds a beautiful versatility to the wardrobe. I would love to wear every single one of these outfits and I love how different they all turned out.

Last of all we turn to the wardrobe's lone skirt, which I think is the most "fairytale" piece on it's own. I could see this in a Brother's Grimm tale so easily. And isn't that centre bottom outfit just like a pink version of Little Red Riding Hood?

So there are some of the outfits you could make with this capsule wardrobe! I have to say, I think this is my best capsule yet!

Everybody walk the dinosaur; Jurassic Party outfits

Guess what? With this set of flat lays I have now completed a "one main piece, three outfits" for my wardrobe twice over! Of course, things have come and gone in that time so there's not two posts for each piece but still, it is done.

And I'm going to take a break from these posts for a bit. But never fear...something else will take their place very soon!

The last main piece in my wardrobe rotation is Jurassic Party. It's a definite outsider in my wardrobe but I still love it and can wear it in a few different ways.

Also, before we go further excuse the photo quality! I only had my phone to take these so they're a little bit bad...

For the first look I just ran with simple sweet. I like it, but I don't love it. Though I do want to point out that the lavenders match better in real life!

Then I went with a warm pink look and like it a lot better! Sticking lots of bows around really helps carry the colour scheme through the outfits.

But it's on the third outfit that I really came up with something that I totally love and definitely want to wear! I feel this coordinate has a good balance of colours and details and is very cute and fun.

Sometimes it takes a bit of playing around to truly get there on a coordinate, which is why I have loved doing these posts!

Lolita 52: Predict the next lolita trend!

Haha well…I’ve already posted about this. But, if I were to focus on one single thing that I really do think will be a trend it will be the rise of casual, or perhaps more correctly, simple lolita.

I think we’re all getting a little over the OTT trend. It’s fantastic, don’t get me wrong, and there have been so many amazing outfits with impressive detail and styling overall. It’s amazing. But it’s tiring. So I think the next thing we’re going to see a lot of is simple lolita outfits; not casual jfashion, not otome, but just simple lolita coordinates. Dresses or skirts will become the focal point of outfits rather than just a part of a grand whole, cutsews will be on the rise, unassuming natural hairstyles will come to the fore, and the fashion will return, at least a little, to its street fashion roots.

One of my casual work outfits from this year.

To be honest, this tends to be how I wear lolita most myself. And I suppose nearly anyone wearing lolita for a “daily” purpose does the same, though some I’m sure do dress to the nines! I certainly pull out all the stops for photoshoots, but not if I’m just wearing lolita out and about.

I suppose, in the end, this actually comes down to a question of image sharing, rather than necessarily a fashion trend. Or, more technical, it’s a trend in subcultural behaviour rather than a trend in outfit coordination. But a trend is a trend, and this is the one that I think is going to happen next.

I know why the caged bird sings; Rose Birdcage outfits

Rose Birdcage is such a pretty print, and I love it in this cut. It's simple but elegant and really easy to coordinate.

However, I find I can coordinate it outside of brown/offwhite/peach pink. But the good thing is that I have lots of items in those colours, plus it's floral, so I'm not limited in anyway except colour scheme. And I don't mind limited colours sometimes!

First of all I was dying to combine the skirt with this Innocent World cutsew, and came up with this cute and casual outfit. This is just a 10/10 for me!

I also really wanted to pair my Axes Femme fawn fur vest with the skirt and it took a lot of tweaking before I got to an outfit I was happy with. That's odd for me, normally I get things pretty right the first time around. But it was worth the fiddling because I really like the end result which takes it in a much sweeter direction.

Then for the final outfit I just wanted to do something nice and very typically lolita. I do't really have any comments on this look, but I do really quite like it.

Do you have any pieces in your lolita wardrobe that you can really only wear with a couple of colours, but can still coordinate quite differently?

2017 Taobao Haul (aka that's a lot of fawn fur)

Who bought pretty things? I bought pretty things! I got some items from my wardrobe goal list, significantly enhanced my fawn fur collection, got some new accessories and also ventured into using Taobao to buy non-lolita things – in this case steampunk skirts.

A sneak peek at what I got...

A brief shopping services review before I go onto sharing my new wardrobe additions; TaobaoTrends was fine and easy to use once again. I was sent one item in the incorrect version, but I did have the chance to correct that and did not. Also, with google translate being what it is I may have just ordered the wrong one... Anyway, I paid for my order on 13 October, it all arrived and I was sent photos (still really love this part of the service!) on the 25th and once I paid shipping I received a tracking number on the 26th. I chose EMS and it arrived on the 30th, packed down nice and tight in a securely taped box.

I’ve been planning a Taobao order all year really. I’d been wanting to pick up a few more accessories mostly and had played around with a fantasy shopping cart on TaobaoTrends for ages. But a few things took this out of fantasy and into reality. The first was the fawn fur items from Sweet Dreamer – they spawned a mighty need in me. Secondly, I got some money for my birthday. And third, while I had some time off work around my birthday I basically bet myself and James that if I could finish the first draft of our novel then and there, rather than writing gradually for the rest of the year, I would get a nice reward. I succeeded. So with all those factors combined I actually finalised and placed this order!

I kept my order restricted to only a few stores, so let’s start with the things from Sweet Dreamer. As I mentioned fell in love with their new fawn fur items and got myself three different pieces: a scarf, a headdress, and a pair of ears. The ears on their own were a last minute addition. I had decided against them but at the last moment before confirming the order I had a hunch I would regret not getting them, so I added them to the order.

All the fawn fur things are beautiful, well made, and super soft and fluffy! I am incredibly happy to have added them to my collection ^__^ The headdress in particular was a pleasant surprise because it actually looks really good on me, which I was not entirely expecting, and it's pretty comfortable to boot (I wore it to work for the Halloween party so that's 8 hours with no major discomfort). Another thing that pleases me is that the floral bows on the ears and the headdress are detachable so I can ditch them, or really overload an outfit by using all the bows from whatever I'm not wearing elsewhere on my outfit. Or I can just use them independently. Such versatility!

Moving from bolstering a part of my wardrobe that really didn’t need it to things I did actually need, I also bought two pairs of wristcuffs – one ivory and one black. Getting these has been on my goal list for a while so I’m glad I finally got them. I am very pleased with these, though I'll probably remove the charm from the black ones. Not too much to say about these; they are accurate to the stock photos and though they’re a little larger than I like they are still very good quality and I’m chuffed I get to tick them off my goal list.

I also picked up some new headbows, most of them black! They are all well-made and exactly as anticipated. The only negative is that the one with the lace spray is made for a  head size smaller than my own so there is not quite enough lace to lay nicely across the head and instead it bunches up a little. It still looks mostly fine so I’m not too put out, and I may end up replacing it or something down the line.

Along with the headbows I picked up this cute bow and flower clip in two colours. The pink one in particular I really needed, as I’m starting to wear a bit more pink but don’t actually own anything that’s floral and actually just a regularly pink-pink. The other one I thought may be a good match for Anniversary Rose, which it kind of is, though I’m coming to realise nothing is ever going to perfectly match that JSK. Colour matching aside these are both really high-quality and I love them to pieces already.

Last of all from Sweet Dreamer I picked up a pair for floral lace stockings in brown. To be honest, I thought these were OTKS and am a bit bummed that they aren’t. They seem to have decent length and stretch to them but I haven’t tried them on because I’m definitely too big for them at the moment and don’t want to damage them. However, that aside I think they’re very pretty and I’m glad to have bought them!

Next I got some simple and cute accessories from the same store I got a bunch of things from in my last Taobao haul, Sweetheart Square. This time, in addition to some bows that I felt were good additions to my ever growing collection of bow clips, I got a necklace and a bracelet. Slowly but surely I will develop my jewellery collection to be a bit bigger and more versatile. Every is really nice and I particularly love the bracelet but something I didn’t realise is that the necklace had bells on it! Right under the bow in the middle the dangly things are little bells! I’m leaving them for now but will probably remove them before I actually wear it out because I think it would get very annoyed very fast. I should also mention that the jewellery clasps are quit stiff, but that doesn't bother me overmuch.

And then I found something else from my goal list – fawn fur boot toppers! It does bug me a little that my fawn fur items are different patterns, but I don’t think anyone but myself will notice too much when I’m actually wearing things. It also helps that these are really super pretty and cute and fluffy! These are the things where I got sent hr wrong version – there was this version with fluffy balls on velvet ribbons and a version with satin ribbons and I ordered the satin ones (I think). However, I only went with that version because I thought it was a bit more neutral/versatile so I don’t mind getting this one. I also grabbed a lavender beret from this store but didn’t take a photo of it.

Lastly I stepped away from lolita and purchased two skirts to use for steampunk photoshoots, and last of all, on a whim right as I was placing my order I decided to order some laces from Cock Robin’s Song. I don’t have any big sewing projects on the horizon but I just wanted to get the lace. No reviews or pictures on these, as they're already stashed away in the relevant places, but I'm happy.

So that’s my recent Taobao haul! The terrible (wonderful?) thing is that I’ve already started putting together a new fantasy shopping cart so who knows, maybe I’ll place a little order in the 11/11 sales…

Have you ordered from Taobao recently?