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

Kawaii International 1 Year Anniversary

 Hello dear readers! Happy Easter :)

Do you know about the program Kawaii International?

It's a really nice show about Japanese fashion. If you haven't watched it, I really recommend it! It's usually on once a month, and you can see more details here: 

Program web page⇒ http://www.nhk.or.jp/kawaii-i/ 

Streaming page ⇒http://www.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/index.html 

They just celebrated their 1st anniversary! They made a special show for it, and showed some of the viewer contributions they have had such as competition entries. They talked about my entry for U Kimura's handmade competition! I took some screen shots.

My photo is next to Cadney's! *starstruck*

I entered my handmade bonnet (tutorial here).

This is actually one of my favourite coordinates that I have ever put together, so I am really happy that they showed it. Thank you, Kawaii International! And thank you for reading, too.

Sapphira

xxxx

Black and brown coordinate

Hello dear readers! How are you?

I went to Shinjuku the other day, and decided to try out a black and brown outfit. For a long time, I didn't like this combination, but recently I started to think it looks very pleasing and elegant if done nicely. It also gives me a chance to wear my black items which I seldom use, like this chiffon blouse with tiny imitation mother-of-pearl buttons.

Headbow, JSK: Innocent World

Necklace: Chocochip Cookie

Bag: Metamorphose

Others: Offbrand

It's pretty simple, but I think I got the colour balance right. 

I went to a restaurant in Lumine Est, I'm afraid I forgot the name but it specialises in udon, soba and pasta. You can choose your main dish, plus two side dishes and a drink. I chose two desserts as my side dishes!

Warabi mochi (the one on the right) is my favourite! My friend went for rice and pumpkin. They were good too!

The main dish was cold noodles with yuzu soya sauce and mentaiko. It was really refreshing! This was actually the day of the dust cloud so it was good to eat something clean and healthy tasting after all that yuckiness.

I also got some fake glasses at 3coins, I've been thinking about getting some for a while since they look so good on Japanese girls here. The popular huge ones don't do much for me though, they are basically the same size as my face and look a bit mad. These middling seized ones are quite big enough I think.

I poked the lenses out when I got home. After all, if they are fake, you may as well make no pretence at all! I don't know if I will wear them often but it was fun to try them out for 315yen.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures! See you again soon,

Sapphira

xxxx

横浜人形の家 Yokohama Doll Museum

Hello dear readers! How are you?

Today I'm going to share some photos from my visit to the Yokohama Doll Museum. I found out about it by chance wandering around Yokohama one year ago, but on that occasion it was closed! I'm glad I managed to make it back there in a day it was actually open.

First of all, here's my outfit:

Headbow: Ange

Cutsew: axes femme

Jumperskirt: Innocent World

Bag: Metamorphose

Others: Offbrand

My petticoat looks so flat again! It seemed fine in the morning....

I feel like this outfit is a bit different from my usual style, perhaps the colour combination and the cardigan? But I'm pleased with how it turned out! 

Being a port, Yokohama has an interesting history of cultural exchange with foreign countries. The first exhibit we came across was a doll illustrating a sad little story from Yokohama's history- the little girl with red shoes. 

She was a girl from Shizuoka whose mother gave her to be adopted by American missionaries, thinking this was the best thing for her. They took her to Yokohama in order to travel overseas, but before they left they discovered she had tuberculosis, and she died without leaving Japan. Her mother didn't know this but went on thinking about and sadly missing her daughter.

You can read more about it here:

http://sbarnhill.mvps.org/japan/attractions/AkaiKutsu.htm

A song that was composed about her going away in her pretty red shoes is a very well known nursery rhyme in Japan (it's the first song in this video). 

Well, on to happier things! The next room was dolls from around the world. It seems like every civilisation that there has ever been has made dolls, and there were cases and cases of dolls from Japan alone, all of them varied and reflecting the different regions where they were made.

Apparently this one is the Japanese version of me!

We certainly have similar legs.

I really loved the Thai dolls! Thai costumes are so beautiful and I love the elegant way they turn out their hands and feet. I want to visit Thailand some day!

On the next floor there were Japanese dolls on one side and European dolls on the other. This pretty doll was very interesting, because though she is Japanese she was made using French doll-making techniques. I really like her cute expression and her elegant height and slim figure. She's wearing an outfit for a particular dance which I've forgotten at the moment!

There was also a Japanese doll's house with such cute accessories! I have a doll's house at home that I'm still working on (I will take pictures sometime) and now I really want this Japanese one. Just look at all the perfect little plates and cups and squids!

On the European side, there were some examples of automata. I'm really interested in them but they are quite rare so there's not often a chance to see them. They had a couple here and they also had videos of them in motion. This writing pierrot was my favourite!

He was very lifelike and very dainty at the same time. There was also a dancing Rococco couple but they just turned round and round and made you giddy.

This last case showed the difference betwen the way that Japanese dolls and European bisque dolls are made. Both girls are very cute! I was suprised to learn that the Japanese dolls usually have human hair. There are some creepy stories about the hair continuing to grow....

As we left the museum, there were a few more things on display,  dolls that have been made very recently. I liked this one because he reminds me of Közi!

 Well, that's all for now. I hope you enjoyed the pictures! I think this museum is well worth a visit. Hina Matsuri is coming up next month, so it seems like the perfect time to go!

See you next time,

Sapphira

Very Beary Coordinate

Hello dear readers!

How are you? Here in Tokyo the snow is melting more each day. Yesterday I thought I had caught yet another cold, so I took cold medicine and a power drink (the kind with chinese herbs and whatnot) and went to bed. This morning I feel much better.  It's just as well, I can't tell you how angry I was at the thought of going through all that again! I seem to catch cold very easily. I hope this is a sign of intelligence but I fear not.

Anyway, here is today's coordinate!

Hair Accessory: Handmade

Blouse:Vintage

JSK: Innocent World

Tights:Swimmer

Bag: Metamorphose

Others: Offbrand

Oh dear, my petticoat looks a bit flat here! In this outfit I combined beige and dark brown, with some red accents. There are teddies on my tights and on my dress!

My blouse collar had beige embroidery on it originally. I went over the embroidery with coloured threads, I think it looks much cuter now!

Adding embroidery to a collar is really easy. You can draw the design on with a tailors chalk or pen and then just stitch over. If you have a blouse you're a bit bored of, I reccomend doing this!

That's all for now, see you next time!

Sapphira

A lovely weekend in Tokyo

Hello dear readers!

Can you believe it's been over three months that I've been living in Tokyo? Time has passed so quickly.  I've already done a lot of things that I've dreamed of for a long time, and last weekend many more dreams came true!

As you know, I live in Koenji, a very nice area full of all sorts of second-hand clothes shops and interesting cafes. My friend Aviva had been wanting to check it out for some time, so on Saturday she came to visit. We both wore retro outfits! I wore my Pink House onepiece.

We found a couple of suprise Lolita pieces, an ancient black velvet Baby onepiece with ladder lace and hardly any poof, and very cute eau de nil pumpkin pants from Metamorphose. I really wanted the pumpkin pants actually, it's been ages since I wore trousers or shorts and I miss them a bit. The colour was very pretty too. I was tempted by the Baby dress too, it was so cheap and so old. We said we might keep it for a Lolita museum!

I really enjoyed shopping with Aviva, she's open-minded to many different styles and has a great sense of taste in all of them. We went to a huge number of shops, and saw so many Gunne Sax dresses! About 90% of the world's Gunne Sax dresses must reside in Japan now. No wonder they were so hard to find in England....

It was pretty tiring, so we had a rest in Hattifnatt cafe, which I blogged about before. I got more sugar cubes! After that, we decided to go to the lolita boutique Seraphim, as it's on the same train line as Koenji. 

I have loved Seraphim for a long time! It's not one of those brands one hears a great deal about in the English-speaking community, but it really is lovely. Since I picked up the flyer in Sumire no Tenmado I was determined to go to the physical shop.

It's located in Kunitachi, and carries not only Seraphim but also various indies brands. I'm afraid it was dreadfully hard to find because though it's not far from the station it is tucked away down a little alley in between some houses.

When we did find it though, it was very charming. There is a little garden to walk through first, with a sign for Seraphim hanging on the gate. Inside it's very small but very pretty, with lots of lace draperies and the items displayed in off-white, antique style cabinets and tables. There are a couple of racks of clothes, mostly Seraphim. There are also some household goods (clocks etc) notebooks, and of course lots of corsages, brooches and other accessories. The shop staff kindly brought us tea while we browsed. There were such lovely things, the handmade accessories were particularly pretty. This tiny, delicate bracelet caught my eye:

I'm very fond of fine, dainty jewellery, and the little chain finished with a pearl where the clasp is is so charming! I think the brand is Bell de Poupee, but I'm not 100% sure.... It was with other Bell de Poupee items! I got a Seraphim members card, which I was very happy about. I love point cards and this one is so pretty, isn't it?

Of course it's a bit dangerous, because once you get one you can't help but feel like you need to fill it....

Please check Seraphim's homepage from here:

http://www.k-seraphim.com

*****

Sunday was the day of the Marui One KERA snap! You've probably seen these in KERA. I've always wanted to participate, and finally I did. This was my outfit:

My theme was "茶色ずきんちゃん" (Little Brown Riding Hood)

I'll tell you a little about the snap process, in case you'd like to participate someday!

It's held monthly at Marui One in Shinjuku, usually the on first Sunday of the month. The date of each snap will be announced in KERA, and you can check it on the blog too. On the day, get there a bit earlier than the snap start time so you can start lining up. It takes place on the 7th floor, by the stairwell next to the Girl's Room event space (behind Angelic Pretty and Metamorphose). 

When you line up, you'll be given a form to fill in with a number on the back. The form is all in Japanese, so be prepared. Of course they ask your name, where you're from, what you are wearing etc and on this occasion they asked what my plans are for Christmas (so I guess the photos from this will be published in the December edition). When it's your turn to have your photo taken, first they'll take a picture of you holding your form with your number on. Then hand the form to the staff, and they'll take a few snaps. After that, you'll be given a slip of paper so you can pick up your photo sometime from the top floor of Marui. Then, you're finished! All that remains is to see if your photo is picked to be published or not. I'm not especially hopeful, but I enjoyed taking part. I hope I can go to the November one!

After the snap I went to Harajuku to meet with a couple of friends and go to La Couronne du Fleur, a lolita indies market. It was a bit tricky to find, in the quiet part of Harajuku, but like Seraphim it was well worth the effort.

I'll list the brands that participated, in case you'd like to look them up. I always find it interesting to look at indies brands. 

・金田アツ子 　・ひかり
・Ange 　・dolce piu amabile
・Royal coffin 　・Jeune fille
・Bell de Poupee 　・Sacherie
・Loulou 　・K plusoi
・Radiostar 　・Bisque doll
・香莉 みあき　・かわい金魚
・lilga 　・Traumerei
・CHIRUBARA 　・NEW ATLANTIS
・孔雀洞雑貨舗 　・SERAPHIM
・遊星商會 　・水中標本
・トリッチ・トラッチ 　・鈴木亜章
・スパン社 　・Hug me,kiss me!!
・RE: 　・Nastro Rosso*
・あっちょんぷりけ 　・sha*lan*ra
・poppemonica

I was really happy to see Sachi of Kokusyoku Sumire there! She looked lovely and perfect and beautiful as always. She was selling the pretty handmade hats from her brand Sacherie. I loved the ones with cat faces! You can see them at her blog entry here. 

I wish so much that my Japanese was better so that I could have talked to her more, and also to the other girls there. They were all so nice! I will keep studying and practising, and maybe I'll get to talk to her again when I go to Sumire no Tenmado in November. I hope so!

Among the lovely things for sale, I found this big gorgeous ribbon! The design is very simple, just two shades of bordeaux velvet combined in stripes, but I find it so pleasing. I think you'll see me wearing it a lot over the next few months, now that the cooler weather has truly arrived!

The brand is Ange:

http://www5.ocn.ne.jp/~xxangexx/

Of course, we finished the day with tea and sweets and purikura!

So with the vintage shops, cafes, lolita boutique and indies market, meeting Sachi again, going to the KERA snap and enjoying time with friends, it was a wonderful, wonderful weekend. I hope you enjoyed reading about it!

See you next time,

Sapphira

xxxx

Bisque Doll in Blue

Hello dear readers! How are you?

In five weeks time, I'll be taking my flight to Japan. It's very exciting! I want to pack my things up right now, but I think it's a little premature....

Today I'll show you my outfit for my friend's dinner party. He's a blogger too!

~Rundown~

Onepiece- Juliette et Justine

Sweater- Vintage

Everything else- Offbrand

It's a very simple outfit, so I added blue tights to make it just a little more unusual. Also, I parted my fringe to the side for a change, I sometimes do that if the event calls for a more formal and elegant look.

My friend's name is Jack, and he has adventures in museums! Do take a look at his blog:

http://jacksadventuresinmuseumland.wordpress.com/

Hope you liked my outfit!

See you next time,

Sapphira

xxxx

Country Classical Lolita

Hello dear readers! How are you?

This weekend I was spending time with my three close friends. Happily I will see one of them in Japan in a month or so, but it will probably be a long time before the four of us are all together again. Oh, it's rather sad! It was a wonderful weekend though :)

Today I'll show you my most recent coordinate. I wanted to wear my handmade bonnet again, and I combined blue and brown together for a slightly non-traditional look. 

~Rundown~

Bonnet: Handmade

Blouse, gloves: Vintage

Jumperskirt: Innocent World

Basket: Disney Sea

Everything else: Offbrand

I thought that today's coordinate matched the background particularly well. The basket, bonnet and lace gloves give a bit of a 'country loli' feeling.

I feel the need for a fluffier panier these days! I will put mine in the washing machine today I think, that should help a bit. 

I hope you liked my outfit! Thanks for looking.

See you next time,

Sapphira

xxxx

Teddies to Teddy's

Hello readers!

Today it's another coordinate post, with a brown and bordeaux colour scheme. Although spring is in the air, it's still rather chilly so I was in a wintery mode at the weekend.

~Rundown~

Headbow, JSK- Innocent World

Cutsew- axes femme

Tights, boots- Offbrand

I wore this to have lunch in a cute cafe in town called Teddy's, hence the title.

I realised that I haven't taken a picture showing with the cape that came with my VM coat, so I took a picture by the little church. 

I really love the cape, though of course it makes it all the more fiddly when you have to take it on and off. It makes the coat more gorgeous right away, and it makes quite a difference in heat besides!

I hope you liked my outfit. Thank you very much for checking my blog.

See you next time,

Sapphira

xxxx

Anniversary photoshoot preview

Hello everyone! How are you? Hope you're having a nice weekend.

Elegant Poupée is coming up to it's first anniversary in January! I can't believe it, somehow it's passed so quickly. So quickly, in fact, that this blog has had virtually the same layout all it's short life. I decided that the time was ripe for a change, so I set up a little photoshoot at my house to make a new blog banner.

Here is what I wore:

~Rundown~

Onepiece- Juliette et Justine

Blue corsage- Handmade

Everything else- Offbrand

A bonus silly picture:

Expect the new look Elegant Poupée in January!

Sapphira

xxxx

PS Thank you for my valentine this week, if you are reading this!

Osaka

Hello all!

I mentioned in a previous post that I'm visiting Tokyo in January- very excited!! I thought I'd reminisce with you about previous trips to Japan, so today I'll tell you about my first time in Osaka last summer.

I love eating, and Japanese food is one of my favourites! The first thing we did on getting to Osaka was to eat omu-rice.

The next day we went shopping. We visited the Big Step shopping mall, which has a KERA shop (Maria?), Anna Sui, and Rag Tag. Opposite Big Step you'll find Pure Sound/Maiden Clothing, which sells second-hand VK cds and goods and Lolita clothing. I liked that shop a lot! There were a lot of interesting bits and pieces to rifle through. I picked up an old LAREINE vhs and an equally old Metamorphose headdress. That reminds me, I need to wear that headdress again! 

~You can click the images to make them bigger!~

I wonder what the Pure Sound in Shinjuku is like? 

On the final day in Osaka we visited the famous castle!

The garden was so pretty.

I hope to visit Osaka again someday, and get to know it better. Do you know much about Osaka? If you do, please recommend me something!

Pollocks Toy Museum

Yesterday I went to Lolita meetup at Pollocks Toy Museum in London! 

Here's me with one of the dolls! She's lovely isn't she? I want her outfit. My coordinate has a teddy-bear theme to complment the exhibits! 

 I picked up on the theme by coordinating brown items with fur accents. There are teddies and bisque dolls on my jumperskirt! Also, my hairstyle is inspired by teddy ears.

~Rundown~

Jumperskirt, socks- Innocent World

Tippet- Vintage

Everything else- Offbrand

I took a picture without the cardigan at home:

As usual the accessories are simple, but even a little detail can make a big difference to an outift! That's why I'm annoyed with myself when I don't add accessories.... 

I had such a lovely time yesterday; the museum was charming and so were the lovely Lolitas! I only regret that I couldn't have a long conversation with everyone. I hope I can talk with everybody next time! I want to go to another meetup soon!

Bye for now....