Austen and the Abbey (Day One)

Hello dear readers! How are you?

I ahve had a tiring weekend, but I'm recovered now. Tomorrow is my birthday! I'm going for a picnic with my family, I'm really looking forward to it.

Well, I must tell you about Austen and the Abbey! I'll split the posts into two days.

This was the location for the first day, the Royal Pump Rooms in Leamington Spa. Leamington is a very pretty Georgian town and of course the pump rooms are to do with the famous baths there.

As I mentioned before, I wore boystyle on this day!

It was a very hot day so I discarded my waiscoat quite quickly....

I did get one picture with it! On the left is my lovely friend Violette Noir, looking perfect as usual. This picture was taken in the tea room. The tea parties with the guests (Alice Kobayashi, Yuko Ashizawa and Coco) took place here and the staff from Tea Prince were serving.

Lizzie's Tasty Teas were providing delicious tea in these amazing antique tea cups.

One of the guests was Coco from lolita unit Die Milch. She has a very friendly, sunny personality and I had a lot of fun chatting with her. I was sad because I had to be backstage getting ready for the fashion show during her live. However I will definitely go to see her and Jasmine perform when I go back to Japan!

Pretty stained glass window in the tea room.

The other room contained the stalls and the stage. The exhibitors included Rococo Daze,  Baroque, and Another Girl's Treasure. The designers of Japanese brands Atelier Pierrot and Fairy wish were there in person to sell their products!

Me with Alice Kobayashi of Fairy wish! I'm so happy I could meet her. I loved her street snaps and her brand for a long time, and now I know she is even cuter and even kinder than I could have imagined. I hope to meet her again soon! 

Cute accessories by 8th Sin Creations.

Amazing jumperskirt by Lusty'n Wonderland- the bodice looks like a chest of drawers!

Lovely dresses from Rocking Horse.

After chatting with lots of people and checking out the stalls, it was time to get ready for the fashion shows. It was pretty hectic!

I was in two shows- the Mori Girl show and the Fairy wish show. I was supposed to model for Victorian Maiden too but the outfits got stuck in customs.... It was disappointing but what can you do? 

Anyway, I really enjoyed both shows! My friend Shani asked me to fill in for one girl who could no longer model winter mori. I was very happy to oblige, and so Shani decked me out in her clothes and got togther this really cute outfit for me!

I really liked the fuzzy beret and the woolly shawl!

Two of the other mori models. I loved their outfits too!

Next up was the Fairy wish show! Lyci and Chelsea were modelling too- they look so cute! Everyone got really nice outfits and the tights were adorable- I'll show you some close-up photos in the next post.

This was my outfit for Fairy wish- a broiderie anglaise blouse and matching katyusha and a black pleated skirt with a white lace trim, along with the wonderful tights! I didn't want to take it off to be honest, haha. I got to wear it again for the show and photoshoot the following day though!

Although it was rather tiring and stressful with things running late and going wrong, I really did enjoy myself that day. I went alone which was a bit daunting but it was also good because I spent a lot of time talking to different people and getting to know them better, instead of sticking mostly with one friend. I think it was the fellow attendees and the wonderful guests that made it an especially good day for me. Some of what was planned was a bit ambitious considering that there was such a small team of organisers, but I think they all did their very best and worked very hard. I have to say thank you to them and everyone who I met there for making it such a nice and memorable occasion!

I hope you enjoyed this post and please look out for the next one, coming soon.

Sapphira

KERA snap and picnic

Hello dear readers! How are you?

It's a nice day in England, and I have been doing some writing in the garden. Also, I've taken the opprtunity to handwash some of my clothes! Handwashing is a never ending task for lolitas, isn't it? At least it should all dry quickly today.

This post is from a while back, it was the day I went to the KERA snap at Marui and then had a picnic in nearby Shinjuku Gyoen. This was my outfit:

Hat: Handmade

Blouse: Atelier Pierrot

Skirt: Jane Marple

Gloves: Vintage

I really love this Atelier Pierrot blouse with big puff sleeves. It is very historical looking and I feel like a girl in a story book! For the purposes of the snap I said my theme was 'Country Lolita'. I really like the idea of country lolita and I want to make more outfits in that style. Alice a la mode/Alice Deco used to have a lot of nice country coordinates that weren't typical. What happened to that magazine? It was so creative!

Here's a better look at my hat. As you can see, this was taken at the park. It was such lovely weather- sunny and warm but not too hot, windy or humid! There were lots of young families out and very cute children tumbling about.  

It was a good situation for wearing country lolita. One strange thing though- there appeared to be cat litter sprinkled on the grass all around!

Is it fertilizer or something? Weird!

I'm delighted to say that my picture got into the snap, along with Shinobu and Aviva/go_slow_ly!

I can't tell you how happy I am to see my picture in there. I wish I could go to the snap every month but I've only made three so far. I hope I can go to many more when I return in the autumn!

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed the pictures. Have a lovely weekend wherever you are!

Sapphira

Showa Kinen Park

Hello dear readers! How are you?

It's a drizzly day today, I suppose rainy season is getting started. However, I'm going to show you pictures from  nice sunny day! I went for a picnic at Showa Kinen Park in Tachikawa.

I was suprised at the size of the park, it's huge! It's the one place I've been in Tokyo where you can look around and not see a single tall ugly building. It almost felt like I was back in Sussex.

The park includes a lake, bicycle track and a herb garden. I took this picture in the herb garden, it's really pretty! And I saw a fat little lizard sunbathing among the herbs :)

Blouse: Franche Lippée

JSK: Innocent World

Bag: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright

I wanted to make a light-coloured, dreamy classic coordinate like Fanny Rosie! Do you know her? I expect you do, since she is very popular, but if not she's a Canadian lolita with the most perfect classical outfits.

There's a cafe at the park serving all sorts of drinks and herbal teas. I had lavender tea. It was a delicate taste, and very relaxing.

I drank it surrounded by lavender bushes! 

It was a windy day but I still really enjoyed the picnic.There were wild flowers and strawberries growing in the grass, and I had a nice view of the lake.

There's also a Japanese garden. It's beautiful! Unfortunately the trees were full of hairy caterpillars.... I am fond of caterpillars so I was quite pleased to see them at first, until one tumbled out of the tree an inch from my nose. I kept my parasol up after that.

I met a wise old cat in the Japanese garden! I saw three cats in the park, this one, a roly poly ginger one, and a scrubby black one. Why are there so many stray cats in Japan? Everyone seems to love cats and feeds the stray ones, but where did they come from?

There was also a bonsai garden. Some of the trees were 300 years old.

I hope that you enjoyed the photos. If you fancy going to a park for a relaxing day, I think this one is the best in Tokyo!

See you next time,

Sapphira

Outfit Video

Hello dear readers! How are you today?

Maybe you have already seen it, but I have made an outfit video.

I put together six different summer coordinates, as the warm weather has arrived here in Tokyo.

It's the first time I've made a video like this, and I'm really pleased that it has got a good reception so far! Between my poor editing skills and the geriatric condition of my laptop, I'm afraid the process caused me some tears, but it was worth it in the end. 

Here is the finished product!

And here is what I wore:

Outfit 1

Blouse- Anna House  

Jumperskirt- Innocent World  

Socks- Metamorphose

Outfit 2

Jumperskirt- Innocent World

Outfit 3

Onepiece- Innocent World  

Ribbon- Jane Marple

Outfit 4

Onepiece and socks- Metamorphose

Hat- corgi-corgi

Outfit 5

Onepiece and katyusha- Juliette et Justine

Outfit 6

Blouse- Metamorphose

Skirt- Jane Marple

Wrist cuffs- Angelic Pretty

All the other bits are offbrand, second-hand, handmade and vintage.

Hope you enjoyed it! Thank you very much for reading and watching.

Sapphira

Cherry Blossoms and Creepy Dolls

 Hello dear readers! How are you?

I'm afraid this is a very belated post but there are some nice pictures you might enjoy. Back when the cherry blossoms were out, the Tokyo Lolitas went to a Mari Shimizu (doll artist) exhibiton and to Shinjuku Gyoen to admire the blooms.

My photo of a photo at the exhibition.

I like her blue ribbon and hair like a lamb.

This was my outfit! Jumperskirt is Jane Marple, coat and necklace Innocent World. Others all offbrand. Thank you Aviva for the photo!

Doll with tattoos.

This was very nice, it was a bust of a girl and inside the chest cavity there was a Madonna and little cherubs fluttering around her. Some things were a bit too gruesome for my taste but some I liked a lot.

Sakura! Now just a distant memory. It lasted such a short time!

Her expression is very sweet.

Another photo of me, hopefully not as creepy as the dolls. Sorry I was not more sakura-like, it was chilly! But the pattern on the coat is a little like falling blossoms, I think.

This is the one whose insides I admired.

Another photo of a photo, wish the postcard of this had not been sold out!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures, and maybe now you are a fan of Mari Shimizu, if you were not before.

See you next time,

Sapphira

A new side of Shimokitazawa

Hello dear readers! How are you? The weather is warming up nicely in Tokyo, I hope it's pleasant where you are too!

Today I'll tell you about a recent visit I made to Shimokitazawa. I first heard about the area because there is a second-hand Lolita shop there, Grand Bazaar. They usually have a nice selection of Jane Marple pieces so I like to go there, however I haven't found so many other nice spots when I visit. 

Here's what I wore:

Knit: Vintage

JSK: Metamorphose temps de fille

Tights, shoes: Offbrand

I wanted to try something new this visit so I searched the internet for a nice place to have tea in Shimokitazawa, and came up with a place called La Palette. It turned out really lovely, and there's a nice pasta place next to it! I had a big bowl of seafood pasta for lunch, and then crossed over to La Palette for tea and cake. Luckily for me I don't put on weight easily, but I don't recommend this kind of lifestyle for everyone!

Apart from discovering delights for the appetite, I also discovered some other nice things. La Palette is on the north side of the station, the opposite site from Grand Bazaar Lolita. Well, all this time I had been going to the south side, but the north side is ever so much better!

It's a bit like Brighton Lanes and a bit like Camden Market, a bit like Ura-Harajuku and a bit like Daikanyama. So all in all very nice! A relaxed atmosphere, not overly crowded, cute vintage and used clothing shops, and sweet little boutiques and things. 

After exploring the north side I went across to the south and to Grand Bazaar. I tried on a few things but couldn't decide on anything particularly so I left empty handed. By this time I was getting hungry again. These 50s/60s film posters caught my eye.

It turned out that on the second floor there was an old-fashioned izakaya. There was a long wait before I could go in but I really wanted to so I was patient.

The inside was decorated with all sorts of old advertisments and magazine cuttings. The fare was not particularly good, but very cheap and besides the setting more than made up for it.

I had to resist the temptation to pull out those little tacks holding up the posters!

I really enjoyed this day in Shimokita though it was very full and tiring. I hope you enjoyed my account of it! Thanks for reading.

See you next time,

Sapphira

Harajuku Fashion Walk/Vampire Cafe

Hello dear readers! Sorry for the lack of updates recently. I've been busy, but I will try to catch up from now on! I have lots of nice posts I want to write :)

This post about Harajuku Fashion Walk is very belated, because I wanted to time it with the broadcast of Cool Japan, who were filming it. It turns out that they didn't feature the walk very much in the program though, but there is apparently a glimpse of my friends so I will watch it later.

Here are members of the Tokyo International Lolitas that attended the walk (photo wickedly stolen  from Tokyo Fashion)

We all tried to go for a vampiric theme in honour of Ni (the beautiful gothic lady in the centre) as it was her last Fashion Walk before leaving Japan to continue her studies. I miss her!

I don't have much gothic in my wardrobe, so I tried a sort of retro/aristocratic look instead. 

I did something slightly different with my make-up too. I usually do a 'cute' look but this time I tried to make my face look sharp. I angled my brows a little upwards and drew thick winged eyeliner without any shading on the lower lid, to focus attention upwards. I also put blusher only on the outer part of my face to look a bit paler, and used red lipgloss for a vampiric look.

Well, I have to admit I don't particularly look like a vampire, but I quite liked this outfit!

Hat, stole, gloves: Vintage

Earrings: Vivienne Westwood

Onepiece: Handmade

Others: Offbrand

Here we are all walking down Omotesando:

And near the station, which is the first meeting point:

Top hats! 

Amazing ladies! I want to frame this picture to always remember how wonderful Lolita can be <3

The camera crew filming:

After the walk a couple of us got crepes. This was the first time I had eaten a crepe in Harajuku, can you believe it?

It was Ni's farewell party at the Vampire Cafe that evening. It was too dark for my camera to take good pictures, but I have to say it wasn't the most fantastic place I have ever been. Apparently we weren't in the best room, but I don't know that it would have been a great deal better. Also the waitress almost set me on fire by creeping up behind me with a flaming desert that ended up tasting of lighter fluid or something....

The menu was a bit unimaginative too (they just added 'vampire' to the name of the dish, or set it on fire it seemed), but at least my pasta was yummy! It had a tortilla bat on it. You can also see the coffin-shaped drink menu in this photo.

It was a very nice day, even if the restaurant wasn't quite up to scratch and even if we are not famous tv stars now! I hope you enjoyed reading about it.

See you next time,

Sapphira

xxxx