Velveteen and floral outfits, the red edition

Or pink, I think. I'm pretty sure this is the "pink" colourway of Bodyline's L479. I actually own this dress in two colours, and have already shared the outfits I made for the brown version. It's a very comfortable dress, is good quality, and is surprising versatile in both colourways.

My phone treated the colours of this dress differently every time I photographed it, but I tried to get them fairly accurate in that close up. It is a very vibrant dress, and that's what I like about it.

First off I put together a very simple outfit which I probably how I'd wear it most readily... maybe with added cream tights, maybe without. This outfit really lets the dress stand out on its own without adding too much else. It's a very vintage-looking outfit too, which I like.

Then there were layers! I had trouble laying out the bolero with the dress, so ignore how odd that looks... it would look significantly better worn! For this outfit I really ran with the floral theme and tried to tone it down a bit by adding a lot of rich brown.

Lastly, another simpler outfit, though a bit more interesting than the first one. I'd do some kind of up-do to stick all those flowers into, and probably add a pearl necklace and bracelets to make it a little more classy while still being cute. This is probably my favourite outfit out of the three, too.

Do you have a dress or skirt you love so much you got it in multiple colours?

Lolita 52: Three trends I wish would come back

One thing I love in lolita is that trends don't really ever go completely, so you're never committing a huge faux pas by following them. In fact, some things even return like the recent resurgence of old-school. However, there are a few trends that are less popular now than they used to be that I'd love to see more of.

Simple sweet

I adore sweet lolita where as JSK is paired with a white blouse and plain OTKs. The current more OTT trend is gorgeous, but there's something about a plain coord that frames a dress perfectly. I find there is something incredibly refreshing about plain sweet lolita coords, and even though I'm not much into typical sweet myself I love seeing these kind of outfits!

My wardrobe doesn't particularly lend itself to typical sweet lolita, but I came up with an outfit I really love to illustrate exactly the type of sweet lolita I mean. My simple Metamorphose lucky pack skirt, a white blouse, Innocent World socks that don't match 100% and small accessories to tie them in; overall a very plain but pretty look. You don't tend to see much sweet lolita styled like this and I feel like that's a pity.

Also, Panda really, really really wanted in on my photos today. I moved him a lot and he kept coming back...

Fawn fur

If you've been here a while you'll know I love the fawn fur trend. I just think it's a really pretty pattern! Also, the luxurious nature of fur, any fur, really suits the old-timey opulence that lolita can have.

My collection of fawn fur is quite nice, I think. The only other pieces I'd like to get are boot toppers, a full capelet and maybe a fawn-fur trimmed coat. I don't even wear these pieces much (evidenced by the fact the Axes Femme vest is still NWT) but I like having a collection.

Stripy socks

As far as trends properly dying out in lolita horizontally striped socks are probably the closest to being actually dead. And it's fair enough, because the Alice in Wonderland vibe such socks give off can read a like a costume and they're also a stereotypical first-time blunder when worn badly. But they make such a graphic image, and are so reminiscent of lolita's punk-y street fashion roots that I just love them. They do still seem to be popular in sailor style looks, and in otome kei so who knows, maybe they'll be making a proper comeback soon.

I wanted to put my single pair of striped socks to use in a coord that wasn't fully black and white so I pulled out my trusty Bodyline Chocoberry skirt, which really is one of my favourite things in my wardrobe. This outfit turned out kind of otome with the colours and patterns, and I really love it! And it really epitomises why I like posting outfits to this blog because I would never have come up with this outfit if I wasn't staring at my wardrobe going; "How can I make this work?" I hadn't used the grey Heart E bolero before but now I'm thinking of all the ways I can make it work. I really get a lot out of playing with my lolita wardrobe, it holds a surprising amount of versatility.

So there you have the three trends I like to come back, or at least regain more popularity, in lolita. Are there any trends you'd like to see be big again?

A quick lolita update.

Long time no post! Well, six days isn't long, exactly, but I definitely won't be posting anything tomorrow and am sick so who knows how long until I get my head in enough order to write more content. So I thought a quick update post would be good so the blog doesn't linger unloved for an entire week or more...

Firstly, I'm really excited because I won Luna Rain's giveaway and as a prize I'm getting this awesome set of accessories and stuff!

Picture from Luna's blog.

Secondly, one of our housemates moved out, which is sad, but on the upside James and I have almost finished turning his old bedroom into a fantastic workroom and will probably be turning our old workroom into a little photography studio. It's been hectic, but so damn good. I have sewing plans to enact in the new workroom already, with the first things being a royal blue bolero and offwhite-with-blue-flowers JSK.

Also, not really an update but just something funny I noticed is that my lolita wardrobe is entirely florals and solids, with the exception of two fruit themed and one gothic piece. I went through and had a wardrobe purge and then, going back to look at what I was keeping, realised it was overwhelmingly floral.

A slightly older series I'm gradually falling in love with...

Lastly, I really love AP's upcoming Classic Fairy Tales series but fortunately for my wallet my absolute favourite cut is the OP which, being unshirred, won't fit me. And probably wouldn't take my Western shoulder regardless of my weight anyway. But it seems to be a bit of an unpopular series, so maybe I can get something from it secondhand down the track since I also can't really afford it right now either.

One day...

Well, that was a bit of a ramble but hey... this blog is aptly named. I shall hopefully be back with some more fresh content soon; I have another wardrobe challenge in the works and if the sewing goes well I'll be sharing that as well.

Lolita 52: How I first found out about lolita

Lolita is something I've vaguely know about since I started becoming involved in various online communities in about 2004, so I can't give an exact pin-point in time for when I first found out about it. I liked the aesthetic from what I saw on deviantART and I tried unsuccessfully to mimic it around 2008-09. In 2011 I really started looking into the fashion and my main turning point was finding the blog FYeahLolita, which I still adore, and from there I found EGL on livejournal and the rest is history.

This is a really short post, lol, because that's really the whole story. I can't really point to a particualr moment or image, though I can tell you that the below image by Kechake-stock on dA was something that stuck in my mind.

How did you find out about lolita?

July Goals & June Reflections

Remember how I said in my post about goals in the beginning of June how I was jumping into the deep end and making some lifestyle major changes? Yeah, about that...

A few curveballs came my way and I didn't do anywhere near as good over the past month as I intended. I made meal plans but different meals and junk food snacks crept in and I even had KFC one day. I did go to the gym more than in May, but not as many times as I intended and swimming fell by the wayside.

Post-swim selfie from June 1st, the only time I went swimming last month.

However! Despite not following the plan as intended, I've still made some good progress this month. Though weight and measurements have stayed largely the same I am definitely in better physical shape than the beginning of June; I'll list some of my fitness achievements at the end of this post. And even though my diet was nowhere near as good as I was aiming for I still devised a meal plan every week, stuck to it about 60% of the time and we even learned how to make delicious sushi!

I have to say that meal planning has probably been the single best thing coming out of last month, and as long as we don't buy snack foods in future it's going to be even better at keeping our diets in a good state. We're also making an effort to try something new each week, which last week was roasted brussels sprouts, which were actually pretty okay.

Overall, though if you're measuring success by if a goal is achieved 100% June was a bit of a fail. However, I've definitely made improvements and have learned a few things about myself, or at least solidified what I already knew. Mental health is just as important as the physical, and if that means eating KFC once a month, that's fine in the grand scheme of things. I'm also getting better at learning to differentiate between moments of "I don't want to do this, and will feel better if I don't" and "I don't want to do this, and will feel better if I do it anyway". So even though June wasn't the great leap forward I intended it to be, it was definitely a step in the right direction.

Current Specs:

Bust: 104

Waist: 87

Hips: 120

Weight: 92.5 

June Achievements:

1. Made a meal plan every week.
2. Decreased rowing machine time for 2000m from 10:18 to 9:42
3. Increased elliptical distance covered in ten minuted from 1.8 to 1.9
4. Decreased assisted chin-up weight from 75kg to 70kg.

Recent loliable finds

Recently I've felt the need for some retail therapy, but have still been trying to keep my actual expenditure low. So I turned to eBay (and later Kmart) to get my fix while not spending too much and since I'm pretty impressed by what I managed to find I thought I'd do a quick offbrand lolita haul post.

First up, my miscellaneous stuff from eBay: two collars, some pearl hair decorations and the same bag in three colours. I already had the faux fur collar in brown and thought that white would be a nice wardrobe addition. I may end up changing the ribbon to a white one but for now I like the contrast the black one has. The mori style lace collar is very pretty and it was only around two dollars so I couldn't resist getting it even though I'm not sure how much I'll use it. The hair decorations are the ones you stick into updos, which are going to be great for photoshoots and lolita alike.

And the bags. My goodness, the bags. The bags are so cute! I haven't used any of them yet but they seem quite sturdy for a cheap eBay bag and are just the right size for carrying around your phone, wallet and a couple of incidentals.

Also from eBay (and excuse the awful photo, my phone just couldn't cope with today's sunlight) were these two tops. Neither are brilliant, but they're not too bad either, and I'm hoping to work them into some more casual lolita looks. The only issue is the the green lace top is no finished on the hems, the lace has just been trimmed. But I'm thinking of getting some velvet ribbon or something and binding the edges, though I'm not sure how well that will go since the lace fabric is stretchy. We'll see, and if any of my readers have any tips for how to finish those edges advice would be very much appreciated!

Lastly, my finds from Kmart, and yet another photo where my phone just gave up. The pink t-shirt was exactly what I was looking for for casual lolita coords; the lace pattern makes it interesting but the overall cut is very simple. They have it in other colours and depending on how much use I think I'll get out of it I may go back and get more. The two-way flower clips I already have in two colours and decided to get in every other available colour. They're not the best quality, but they're cheap and give me more options. They'll be very good for bulking up hairstyles when mixed with my better quality clips from taobao.

So there you have my most recent lolita wardrobe additions! Do you have much offbrand in your lolita wardrobe?

I told you it was versatile; or, L348 outfits

After making outfits with my cherry skirt, I wanted to have a play with my newest JSK, Bodyline's L348 in black. I actually took all the photos for both posts at the same time, but am staggering the uploads because, you know, regularity and variety in posting it a good thing.

First up I just had to try an old-school coord, because that's what this dress is perfect for. And, it seems to be a great match for my offbrand shirred blouse that I love but had no idea how to coord. My photos in this post aren't that great because my phone goes a bit haywire working with lots of black, but for extra old-school points I'm using my giant Metamorphose raschel lace barrette with this outfit. 

Next I made a summery all-black outfit which I honestly don't have much to say about. It's cute  but it's not particularly interesting. I'd definitely wear it though, it'd be great for a day when I want to wear lolita but want it to be more toned down.

Lastly, I wanted to try some colour, and I didn't want to use red because red and black is such a typical combo and I wanted to be a bit more original than that. So out came my trusty bottle green things, and I actually rather like how it turned out. It's an unusual colour combo but I think it works, though I'd have to wear it to be sure.

I'm so, so glad to have a black JSK which has a good fit and that I'm actually looking forward to wearing. I've really been paying attention to details like that because in my wardrobe, if it's not right for me it doesn't get worn, and if it doesn't get worn what's the point in keeping it. So I'm in the process of phasing out things that are not my favourites and getting replacements that will hopefully prove to be favourites!