Austen and the Abbey (Day Two)

Hello dear readers, how are you? Thank you for your lovely birthday messages, I had a nice day picnicking in the country :)

Now it's time for the second installment of Austen and the Abbey!

The beautiful location for this day of the event was Stoneleigh Abbey in Warwickshire, the home of Jane Austen's ancestors.

The West Wing, which is the main facade of the house.

The picturesque gatehouse, which dates back to the 12th and 14th centuries. 

The bed in Queen Victoria's bedroom (she stayed here too!)

A wood-panelled room with fancy red velvet chairs.

Lolis taking a tour!

The lady in regency costume who gave us the tour.

Me and my friend Bree!

The saloon, where the fashion show was held. Today's show featured Fairy wish, Atelier Pierrot, Juliette et Justine (I got to wear an amazing Red Riding Hood coordinate!) and Baroque.

The library.

Fairy wish tights! They are amazing and have cockatiels on them!

Books in the library.

Tapestry-work chairs.

Some rather nice tassels.

I feel really lucky to be from a country that has so many wonderful and well-preserved buildings like this. It was a great location for a lolita event and I think it was especially good for the Japanese guests, who got to do a little sightseeing along with their work.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures! See you next time,

Sapphira

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

Casual Spring Coordinate

Hello readers! How are you? I hope that everyone is well and happy!

Today I'm going to show you the outfit I used to enter the Yuka Obara x Kawaii.i coordinate contest. I mentioned it before but I didn't post the outfit.

Yuka Obara, known as Yunkoro, is a super-popular gal blogger. Well, obviously I'm a lolita, but I do admire some aspects of gal style. Yunkoro is stylish and clever, with great make-up skills and morishame technique (taking self-shots with a phone camera). You can find her blog link at the end of this post!

The theme for the contest was "Spring Coordinate" I wanted to incorporate some pastel colours since that's the spring trend this year. I like it a lot, and I'm thinking of which new pastel items I want to add to my wardrobe.

I also used chiffon fabrics to give a light, airy look to my outfit. Both the headbow and blouse are chiffon. Ankle socks are popular again this season, and I really like them! At the moment I only have cream and white ones; I think transparent ones would be very cute.

~Rundown~

Chiffon scarf (used as headbow)- Vintage

Skirt- Fairy wish

Everything else- Offbrand 

Please check the Kawaii.i page for news on Japanese fashion:

http://www.facebook.com/KawaiiiOfficial

And please take a look at Yunkoro's blog

http://blog.crooz.jp/PARIS118/

Thank you for looking!

Sapphira

xxxx

Degas and the Ballet: Picturing Movement

At the weekend I attended a Lolita meet-up to see an exhibition of Degas' ballet paintings. I had such a lovely time! It was wonderful to meet some Lolitas who I hadn't met before, and well as friends I hadn't seen for a while. It's been some time since I went to a meet-up; I particularly miss the chance to see and admire others' outfits!

I made my coordinate a little dancer-like with pale tights and shoes and my hair in a bun.

~Rundown~

Skirt- Fairy wish

Knit- Vintage

Everything else- Offbrand

Ballet is generally rather popular with Lolitas, and I'm no exception! I started to take lessons when I was four, but I stopped when I went to university. I do hope to take it up again. When it comes to exercise, I'm really not enthusiastic, but I love to dance! 

~Accessories~

The exhibiton covered some very interesting aspects of Degas' work that I hadn't considered before. Previously I liked the pretty and charming dancers who look so dainty in their wide sashes, and the way he captured the atmosphere of the perfomance. Looking at a painting of dancers waiting in the wings, you can feel the anticipation and excitement. However, observing the work on display, one can see the artist's development from these pretty sort of scenes to more dynamism and movement (as the title sugests!) It was quite fascinating to see how advances in photographic technology helped Degas to develop his technique. There were even examples of Degas' own photography! A series of three that he took of a dancer were particularly beautiful. 

I really recommend this exhibiton! You can find more information at the Royal Academy website HERE.

Thank you for reading and see you next time!

Sapphira