Lolita Inside & Alice Girl Review

Recently, the team at Lolita Inside reached out to me to collaborate. They were kind enough to send me an item of my choice in exchange for this post and oh boy, am I grateful and happy that they did, because I have a gorgeous new addition to my wardrobe!

Stock photo.

This is the Pirate Series Navigation Treasure Hunting Guide Embroidery Handsome Lolita Cloak in brown. I ordered the 3XL and it is perfect for me. The brand is Alice Girl.

First of all, I love it. It is well made, very pretty, and fits me very well - possibly even a bit big! The hardware used, from the buttons to the zipper, is good quality and matches well in style. The fabric is a light suede and the embroidery is well done. I only noticed one tiny flaw in the whole thing - the ends of the trim in one place are fraying a little.

James was lovely enough to do a little photoshoot for me ^__^

Style-wise, it's definitely not a conventional lolita piece, but I think it still works. It's also great for steampunk, pirate and fantasy outfits, which I am definitely going to be using it for!

One of my favourite features is the the hood has a zipper down the centre, which can be undone, turning the hood into a capelet layer. And, of course, you can wear it with the buttons done up or not, with the arm hole thingies open or closed, and you can even button the armhole thingies back onto the side seams for a more open front. Yes, I know I'm not describing that well but it's the best I can do!

Anyway, at the risk of sounding repetitive I am very happy with this cloak and I think I'll get a lot of use out of it.

I am also happy with Lolita Inside. Obviously, this was not a regular purchase but the team I dealt with via email were polite and friendly. The package, pictured above, arrived to me in Australia in 8 days. I liked the patterned postage satchel - it was a fun touch - and inside the cloak was in an Alice Girl bag.

Now, keep in mind that since Lolita Inside is not the manufacturer of the items they sell, product quality may be variable. I can certainly recommend this cloak, and assume other items from Alice Girl would be of similar quality, but that's just something to be mindful of.

Click here to check out the Lolita Inside store, and if you make a purchase use code CAROLINE for a 5% discount (and I will early a small commission).

Coordinates from January - June 2024

I know, I know...I'm posting less now that ever. But I have valid reasons, just keep reading ^__^

This summer was a very humid one, so I was honestly not planning on wearing lolita for ages. But one day dawn quite cool, and it was a WFH day, so I wore lolita for work and then a little bit of YouTube filming in my lunch break.

JSK: Metamorphose temps de fille Teddy Chocolatier
Cutsew: Handmade
Headbow: Angelic Pretty
Everything else: Offbrand/Taobao

Of course, it got really hot just after lunch so off the coord came, but I did enjoy wearing it...even if it is an accidental almost exact repeat of a coord from last year ^__^

And then...James and I moved to another state! We literally put everything into storage, except for what we could fit into our little hatchback car and drove. So for the time being I only have a "capsule" wardrobe with me (i.e. a coord with a few changeable pieces for a few different looks), and of course, that was so we could do some shoots!

One week and one day into our new life we did a lovely afternoon photoshoot at my dad's place, and here's an unedited shot my coord.

JSK: Metamorphose temps de fille Rose Stripe Shirring
Bolero: Maxicimam
Capelet & Beret: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright
OTKS: Innocent World
Shoes: Bodyline
Everything else: Offbrand

However...it is cold here! And thus I have not had the desire to wear lolita since that shoot. I certainly will be busting out this coord/its variants in future for YouTube filming, if nothing else, but it's almost winter and honestly I'm living in tracksuits with the heater on already.

So we end this coord roundup on that simple note, and who knows where I'll be going from here ^__^

A hime lolita capsule wardobe

It has been a while, but I'm back at it with another digital lolita capsule wardrobe and this time it's hime lolita. This one has actually been in the works for over a year and it was good to finish it off. And yes, I do have an accompanying YouTube video (embedded at the end of this post) if you want to hear me talk about the hime substyle.

Because this is my blog, I just want to talk about the capsule itself here ^__^

Hime is...not my thing. Don't get me wrong, I love it! The frills, the luxurious fabrics, the decadence, the elegance! However, it's not me at all. I'd love to try it one day for like a photoshoot or something, but only if I could borrow the outfit.

So this was definitely out of my wheelhouse ^__^ However, I think I did a decent job. The wardrobe is still versatile and can yield a lot of different coords. In hindsight, a bolero or two and some further legwear options might have been good, but they aren't necessary. I really liked how I included the corset and lace cape as layering options, I think they very much upped the fancy factor.

In this substyle more than anything, actual IRL styling is what would make this trying hime and not just fancy. You need the big hair, big makeup and lots of dainty jewelry to really make these looks sing.

Aaaaand speaking of the looks, here is my usual assortment of example coords!

The first main piece is Princess of Roses JSK by Angelic Pretty and to me, this is the most hime piece in the wardrobe. It's a gorgeous pastel pink with lots of frills, lace and textures - it's very OTT and very, very sweet lolita. It also goes perfectly with everything and I utterly love it.

On the opposite side of the colour spectrum of this wardrobe is Angelic Pretty's Dream Rose JSK. Whilst still very opulent and superficially kind of similar to the other JSK, this one is a bit more classic leaning and that was a deliberate choice to get variety in style as well as colour in this very narrow substyle.

And no, your eyes don't deceive you - it's more AP, this time the Dramatic Rose (one of my fave AP florals) skirt. Being pink, this is another piece that goes with everything - I personally really like the coord with the touches of wine.

And last of all...not AP! This is the newest release of BTSSB's Sugar Bouquet. This main piece is definitely the odd one out since on its own it is very plain. This was a deliberate choice to give the wardrobe something simpler. As you can see, it can easily be dressed up with layering, or worn a bit more casually. Still not casual by any stretch of the imagination, but still. I also felt like this piece is very typical of the time period I associate with hime lolita i.e. the early 2010s.

 So what do you think? Is it hime enough? I think so, but as I said, not my area of expertise ^__^

 Regardless, I like it as a capsule. Maybe not my best, but certain a functional and versatile capsule...as long as you want to look like a princess all the time!

Coordinates from September - December 2023

Once again, this four-month period is a lie. I didn't wear lolita at all in September (I blame catching Covid) and only once at the end of October - on Halloween, to be exact!

Despite the date, this coord was not worn for Halloween. James was doing the last of the spooky shoots for this year on the day itself, so since I had to be respectable I decided I wanted to dress up because it had been so long. I also ran some errands after work and enjoyed being cute for all of it.

 

OP: Metamorphose temps de fille Camellia Cat

OTKS: Innocent World

Shoes: Bodyline

Headdress: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright

Everything else: Offbrand/Taobao

 

I decided to wear Camellia Cat since it had been a while and just built up something simple from there. I think this is actually the first time I've worn as rectangle headdress outside of a photoshoot, and I really like it with my current hairstyle...though as you can see I did add extra bows and flowers.

That weekend I finally got off my butt and filmed some YouTube content and thus wore a coord again ^__^

 

JSK: Metamorphose temps de fille Rose Stripe Shirring

Bolero: Maxicimam

OTKS: Innocent World

Shoes: Bodyline

Headbow: Metamorphose temps de fille 

Everything else: Offbrand

I loved this coord, it was very me - simple, cute and straddling the line between sweet and classic.

And it gets better! I specifically wanted to wear this JSK as it was the only main piece I had with me that I could try on my new Sleepyland cutsew with (I was filming an unboxing of it), so please enjoy coord version two.

I will admit, yellow is not my best colour, but I love this cutsew, it gives my wardrobe some great new options, and I don't think it looks bad on me, just not as good a some other colours lol.

I also took a selfie that I actually like ^__^

And (I'm sure you're not surprised) that was it for me in terms of lolita for the end of 2023. As a whole I feel very neutral about the year from a lolita perspective, but I do like the coords I wore ^__^

Coordinates from July - August 2023

A bit of warmer weather at the start of July made me decide to wear lolita for a day when James had a model friend of ours over for a making day, I wanted to do grocery shopping, and was going to drive said friend home. If I had to change out of my comfy WFH PJs I figured I may as well be cute.

 

Skirt: Wonderpunk Jurassic Party

Blouse: Glittertale

Socks: Angelic Pretty

Everything else: Offbrand/Taobao

And oh my goodness I don't know why but this coord made me feel super duper adorable! I was grinning as I got dressed, felt sassy at the supermarket, and it just made me super happy ^__^

As well a taking my full coord photo James snapped some portraits for me, so here's one of those as well.

And and and the cutest thing happened that day. While we were eating lunch outside a young magpie came close...and ate out of James's hand! In the end, we each got to feed it until it decided it was full and went away. Funnily enough, when I told my mum about it later she said it had been upstairs on the verandah where she had fed it once, but no more. On her refusal it had flown downstairs so apparently, like a cat, magpies have never been fed before if they want food!

Then at the end of the month I wore lolita for a failed attempt at filming a YouTube video. First I had technical difficulties, then I ran out of time, so in the end got nothing usable and will have to re-shoot. But at least I looked cute ^__^

The best thing about this coord is that I didn't choose it! It was picked for me by fellow YouTuber Majestick Dream, and I loved it. It's very much my style but I don't think I would have ended up picking this exact coord on my own - it's very me but just enough different that it was really enjoyable and felt exciting to wear.

 

JSK: Metamorphose temps de fille Rose Stripe Shirring

Blouse: Glitter Tale

OTKS: Angelic Pretty

Shoes: Bodyline

Flower Crown: Lyris Design

Everything else: Offbrand/Taobao

If you, dear reader, feel like dressing me up you can see my current capsule wardrobe here ^__^ Just drop a comment or message me on Facebook or Instagram, I'd love to hear from you.

Aaaaand that's it for these two months. There were a few times when I planned to dress up, but it didn't happen for one reason or another. Oh well, tis what tis.

See you next roundup!

Coordinates from May - June 2023

It sure is nice getting back into the swing of wearing lolita, I really missed it ^__^

First coordinate was worn in May to run some errands. It was simple, comfy coord that was really cute and there's not much more to say about it!

 

JSK: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright Tartan Check
Bag: BTSSB
Socks: Angelic Pretty
Everything else: Offbrand/Taobao

Though actually I think it's a good moment to mention that I am, thus far, really happy with my "capsule" wardrobe. I doubt I would have come up with this coord if I wasn't working within that limited frame and I honestly really like it!

Next, at the end of June it was photoshoot time again! We were cursed with strong winds and bad light, so I didn't get a full length shot of the coord so please enjoy this flatlay and the proper photos will be up on Facebook sometime ^__^

OP: Maxicimam

Capelet & Beret: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright

OTKS: Innocent World
Shoes: Bodyline
Flowers: Offbrand

Antlers: Bedevilled

The shoot was done in part to showcase my awesome Bedevilled antlers, which I utterly adore!

And that was it for the first half of 2023! Honestly, it hasn't been the best year for me thus far and my mental health hasn't been the greatest. But I am taking steps to turn it around so as my headspace improves and as the weather starts to warm up hopefully I'll feel more enthused about wearing lolita.

Recent lolita YouTube videos (and a blogging update)

Dear readers, it is time for me to admit something - I think that I am, by and large, giving up on blogging regularly.

Don't get me wrong, this blog is not stopping entirely but I've realised that after a decade of doing it I'm just not too into writing blog posts any more. On the other hand, I am absolutely LOVING making YouTube videos.

Do I feel bad about this, given that my preferred mode of content consumption is reading over watching? Yes.

Is that going to change what I do? No.

So I wanted to a. let you know that and b. share some of my recent lolita-based youTube videos that I haven't shared here yet ^__^

I made a cutsew! In my last post you saw it worn a couple of times and here's the making-of. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out and definitely feel more confident about sewing with knits in the future.

I bought things! If you've been a reader for a while you know I've always wanted a BTSSB fawn fur beret...and now I've got one! Very excited about that ^__^

Lastly, I enjoy sometimes documenting the how and why of putting together a coordinate, and for this one the starting point was a pretty scarf.

Like I said, I'm not stopping blogging entirely. I will certainly continue, if nothing else, to document my worn coords here. Beyond that...I'm not sure. But I'll see you all around, just less frequently, and I hope you'll join me over on YouTube