Coordinates from September - December 2019

So at the end of 2019 I basically just stopped everything, including wearing lolita. Therefore I never posted the last couple of outfits I wore. But better late than never, here they are!

JSK & Shoes: Metamorphose temps de fille

Bolero: Lady Sloth

Headbow & Socks: Angelic Pretty

Bows: Offbrand

I wore this outfit to run some errands with James sometime in September. I got overwhelmingly positive reactions while we were out. First the pharmacist (who's always sweet, I like her) was super complimentary about my hair accessories in particular, then the staff member at the petrol station was super nice (she didn't mention my outfit, but I got a vibe that it affected her level of extra niceness), and last of all the store lady at the op shop we went to engaged us in a massive conversation about alternative fashion (her own outfit was quite unique and she had cool coloured hair)! And then, to top it off, James whipped out the proper camera for my outfit photos and we did a whole proper mini photoshoot, which was fun.

Please note the brief appearance of a burgundy streak - my work instituted new grooming rules so no more pink hair for me. I'm still really bummed about it six months later, I loved my pink streak, it was so me.

OP: Metamorphose temps de fille

Headbow: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright

Socks & Shoes: Bodyline

And the last time I wore lolita in 2019 was so half-assed I didn't even get a photo...I'm just lucky I could steal this from the tattoo studio's Instagram! James got a new tattoo on Halloween since out tattoo place was doing a fundraiser for the RSPCA. I was not really happy with this outfit because it was so boring, but I was glad to wear lolita.

Then that's it for 2019! It was a very quiet lolita year, especially compared to the last two, but given how chaotic the year was in general I'm not going to feel bad about that. I'll be posting my customary review of the years outfits shortly, so stay tuned ^__^

Lolita Sales

As I mentioned in my coming out of hiatus post, I have done a very big clear out of my lolita wardrobe recently. Therefore I have lots of items in search of loving homes!

So this post is just a brief promotion of my gigantic sales album on Facebook, which also contains a lot more than just lolita, just so you know. Contact me there if there’s anything you’re keen on buying and know that I’m happy to take offers ^__^

And because a blog post if boring without pictures, here’s a few of the pretty things I’m parting ways with…

Yes, I even reduced my OTK collection!

And Wonder Party deserves a new home where it'll be worn and loved ^__^

Oh! And we are also selling off the last of the Wonderpunk Jurassic Party fabric so if you loved the cute little dinosaurs but didn’t get one of our skirts, now’s your chance to make whatever you want with this adorable print!

I’m back, everybody!

Whew, that was a bit of a break. As usual when I return from a hiatus I just wanted to give a bit of an update, both a personal one and a lolita one.

On the personal note it’s pretty simple - 2019 burnt me out. I’m kind of appalled that I’m almost thirty, and can still manage to somehow spend an entire year chasing all the wrong things and running myself into the ground. On the one hand it was a great year and I did lots of amazing things. On the other...it just sucked and by the end I was just ready to give up on everything. I’m mostly back to normal now, but that took months. It was just a stupid year on a number of levels, but I learned from it and have started 2020 with a lot of self-reflection that will hopefully stand me in good stead.

The toughest thing is of being burnt out is that it made me stop loving some of the big things that I really do love in life, mostly lolita and modelling. I just stopped both and felt really uncomfortable with their absence in my life. But I knew that I couldn’t force myself back into either, or the temporary burnout might become a permanent quit. It sucked.

But now I’ve taken some time and am ready to come back swinging at this blog (and wearing lolita again...at least when it's not so damn hot!). There’s a few things that are going to change. I’m going to stop the monthly blog roundup posts - they’re no longer fun to do and I feel like I’m just featuring the same blogs most of the time. I may do a new blog alert when I discover a new lolita blogger but who knows, I’m not going to commit to anything. I may also post less frequently, as I am feeling that I’m just rehashing a lot nowadays. That could be lingering burnout talking or it could be a real feeling - either way I’m just going to take it easy for a bit.

I really missed blogging here (I’ve been sporadically active on Medium but it’s not the same) so I’m glad to be back. I missed lolita and I’m so happy to have started getting my mojo back.

On a kinda personal and somewhat lolita note - I’m going to Japan again! James and I along with two friends will spend two weeks in Japan in February, and it's gonna be amazing. I will totally be blogging about it! We are on a slimmer budget this time so I’m not planning on doing loads of shopping but I’m keen to ramble about everything that we do, see, eat, and yes, buy.

Lastly, on a very purely lolita note which I may end up blogging more about, I did a very big purge of my lolita wardrobe. At the end of it I’ve still got a very decently sized collection with 29 main pieces, but I did get rid of a lot of what you may consider more noteworthy items, like Dramatic Rose and my newly acquired Millefeuille bolero.

I really forced myself to be harsh this time around. If there was no love, it went, even if it was a staple piece my wardrobe needs, like a white blouse. I’ll get a better one later. If it was way too small, it went, because I may lose weight but I can’t guarantee I’ll ever get that tiny. This purge was prompted by a desire for more spending yen in Japan, but it had the great benefit of really making me fall back in love with my wardrobe. Sure, it's got some odd gaps now and I did say goodbye to some pieces that I think are gorgeous but it’s better for me now. Everything suits my style more, and even though I’ve kept some things that are smaller than I currently am, I haven’t kept things that aren’t a size I have been in the past. I’m so much happier with it, and really want to be super ultra selective with new wardrobe additions.

On a wardrobe note, I’m not going to do a wardrobe post again this January. However, I’m actually quite keen to do one when I get back from Japan. I probably won’t post to LiveJournal, just here. Even though it was a good choice for me not to do a post in 2019, I’ve really felt the absence of having that as a reference point, so I definitely do want to do one! I’m just not putting any time pressure on myself.

So that’s where I’ve been at the past few months! I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Years, and I’m looking forward to 2020 in lolita.

Hiatus again

Hey readers, once again life has brought me to a point where I need to take a little break from this blog. Unlike my last break, I won't be posting the monthly blogpost roundups or outfit posts.

This is kind of a very useless post, because I don't really have much to say, but just didn't want to disappear for a while without saying a temporary fare-thee-well.

AYWI30C #19: Based around a particular top

When I came up to this prompt in the challenge I literally stood in front of my wardrobe and thumbed through my blouses. I wanted to work with one that was an interesting piece, rather than a neutral, and also something I hadn't used in this series. I tossed around a couple of different ideas, but in the end decided to base the coord around my Angelic Pretty Petit Patisserie cutsew.

And I am so glad I chose it, because one again this challenge led me to a coord I can say with certainty I would never have come up with otherwise. Why? Because it turns out this cutsew really doesn't match anything I own!

But by this point I was committed to the idea and decided I was going to make it work with my Lyris underbust JSK. Even though the JSK is a more classic piece, it's not overwhelmingly classic and the cutsew is simple enough in cut that despite the sweet print it kind of goes. I just had to make the rest of the outfit tie it all together!

First I raided my sock drawer and discover that there Met OTKS were perfect - they matched the cutsew in colour, and the JSK with the more classical ivory motif.

Then I brought in a little more sweetness with this Angelic Pretty cookie necklace (which is seriously so freaking cute!). The rest of my jewellery I kept quite understated - partially to avoid going to sweet for the JSK, but mostly because I actually don't have much sweet jewellery that goes with brown!

My headwear, which I didn't take a close up of, was chosen to once again straddle the sweet-classic line, as well as carry through the different shades of brown (the chosen pieces are a closer match for the JSK).

Last of all, I thought that going with pink shoes (also, new shoe alert!) and bag really cemented the look, emphasising the cutsew print and also adding a bit more of a playful touch.

In the end I really love this outfit I came up with. Like I said, I would not have gotten there without this prompt challenge but I really think I made this sweet look work despite using a more classic JSK. Do you think the outfit works, or is there too much contrast between the different elements? Let me know!

Review #53: Bodyline

It feels like such a ridiculously long time since I've ordered from Bodyline. According to my blog history, it was late 2015 that I last bought form them directly! Of course, I don't religiously blog literally every purchase, and something tells me that I bought a bunch of shoes one time and never posted about it, but who knows. Regardless, it's definitely been a while.

Full disclosure, this actually all came in last month but I wanted to get the rest of my Tokyo posts up first!

Anyhow it was early September aka Mr Yan's Birthday Sale time! I haven't been tracking Bodyline's prices, so I have no idea how "on sale" these items actually were, but oh well. Along with lolita things I ordered cosplay items both for me and James, and I'm not going to review those. But on the lolita front I bought two pairs of shoes, two dresses, and a cutsew - a decent little haul ^__^

In shoes I bought a new pair of red flats in the style formerly known as S522. I love these shoes, and used to own them in both brown and black - my brown ones wore out and my black ones are probably following soon. Being the newer listing of these shoes, sizing is now S-LL and apparently my size, 25.0, is exactly a L. I also picked up some new brown flat shoes with the product code "ACSH-0074Y", again in a L.

The shoes are usual Bodyline quality, which is to my mind pretty darn good and better than shoes I've bought for various Taobao stores. But, and this is a big but, the new sizing is inaccurate. These are not the equivalent of a 25. Here's a comparison to my black pair.

So that was disappointing. I decided to bite the bullet and have actually reordered the shoes (well, slightly different shoes) and will be selling these pairs off. But yeah, if you're going to buy any Bodyline shoes with the new size chart - size up!

Speaking of new items, I'd been debating buying some of Bodyline's new pieces anyway, so I decided to just go for it. One of the new cutsews, with sheer sleeves and lace on the neckline (LGCT-0036X), seemed right up my alley so I bought it in the black colourway, size 2L. On paper, with a width of 97cm it's way too small for me but cutsews tend to be stretchy so I was optimistic.

My optimism was well rewarded! It is a bit too snug for me right now but I'd saw it could definitely fit up to a 110cm bust. It's also really cute! It's not super high quality but it's sturdy and nice - for sure a solid Bodyline choice.

I also grabbed the new sailor collar cutsew dress (LGOP-0275X), once again in black and 2L. It super cute, again fits larger than advertised, but oh my goodness. It's so short!

I knew from the Instagram photos that it was a shorter dress but honestly it's a shirt on me. If you're shorter than 160cm it'd be a cute minidress but for me at 167cm it comes halfway down my butt. Having said that, I'm actually not complaining at all because I don't own any cute long sleeve shirts so it's actually kind of a win for me!

Lastly, I finally bought their classical sailor JSK (costume839) after years of going back and forth on it. I'll admit, part of my reasoning is that I'm currently talking to a photographer about an ocean theme lolita shoot and realised I don't have anything typically marine-ish, but I do like the dress and kind of wanted a standard sailor piece anyway ^__^

I picked this up in navy, size 4L, fully expecting it to be too small for now but somewhat optimistic because Bodyline sizing is all over the place. Unfortunately, my optimism was not rewarded this time and also my photos of the dress didn't turn out right so all I have to share is a length comparison to the cutsew dress. But oh well, I'm finally actually starting to make weight loss progress so it won't linger unworn too long, I hope. It's a really nice piece too.

So my Bodyline haul was kind of a mixed bag, but overall I'm pretty happy. I'm so keen to wear the cutsew dress in particular, just need to figure out what the rest of the outfit should be ^__^

Oh and PS today is my birthday lol ^__^

Lolita Blogpost Roundup: September 2019

Wow, okay, September was a bitch of a month, if I can be honest. I was still sick coming out of August and we were just busy. I don't like being busy. But oh well, such is life, and now that we're at the end of the month it's time to share my favourite lolita reads ^__^

Create a Coord Inspired by Your Birth Flower... from In Love with a Dream

Ahhhh it's always so exciting when people blog on prompts I created! Eventually, when I'm done with Around Your Wardrobe in 30 Coordinates I will do the birthday challenge I came up with. In the meantime, enjoy this daffodil inspired coord!

Spoon. vol. 75: AP PARIS 3nd Anniversary Tea Party「L'Echappee Belle des Princesses」 from Marinette in Wonderland

I really appreciate when people share scans of magazines, and it was great to get a look at this event since none of the bloggers I follow posted about it. Did you see any posts about this tea party?

Man Meet vol. 2 from Cupcakes and Unicorns

I love the whole concept of man meets, I really do. And boy oh boy, do I enjoy getting to see Paulina's alter-ego Paul come out for another day! One of these days I'll try ouji, one of these days...

Quick lolita hair accessory from Auris Lothol

This isn't a tutorial as such, but it was an interesting look into the making process. It also made me want to make a cute tiny hat for myself, so there's that ^__^

[Scan] Otome no Sewing Book 14 (乙女のソーイング Book 14) from Gotas de Baunilha
It feels like such a long time since I discovered a new blog, so to not only come across one I'd never seen, but to have them sharing OnS scans, was awesome!

Paris ’18, Day 4 – Angelic Pretty Tea Party 2018 from Lolita Wonderland

Gotta be honest here, I'm never not going to be excited when Loltia Wonderland updates!

So that was September in lolita blogging, or at least... my September ^__^