ELEGANT POUPÉE HAS MOVED!!

Hello dear readers! How are you?

I am sorry for not blogging for a long time. 

The reason is.... I have been preparing a new blog!

Actually, the new blog will be the same as this one, but it will look a bit different (better, I think) and I have moved to Wordpress. 

I had some problems with this blog, such as not being able to link to facebook. This problem was affecting readers who wanted to share things there so it really concerned me, and though I tried to solve this I could not. I investigated whether there was malware or something bad on this blog, but every test came up clean. Blogger and facebook couldn't help me when I asked them to. It might be linked to my gmail account being hacked, but maybe not because the problem existed before.

Anyway, I decided that the best thing would be a new start! I hope you will continue to follow and support the new blog from now on. I have missed blogging so much!

All my old posts can be seen on the new blog, and I will leave this blog up too. 

PLEASE VISIT THE NEW ELEGANT POUPÉE HERE:

Thank you so much! See you over there~

Sapphira

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

Junichi Nakahara exhibition

Hello dear readers! How are you?

The good weather is continuing! I hope it is nice where you are too.

Today I'll show you a couple of pictures from the Junichi Nakahara exhibition I went to last month in Yokohama.

I love Mr Nakahara's work and I have written about him before. Though best known for his illustration, he was talented in many areas and this exhibition commemorating 100 years since his birth showed that in abundance.

It was held in the Sogo Museum of Art (where I went to the Marie Antoinette exhibition last year) and there were displays throughout the department store. This one featured two dresses made to his designs.

The exhibition hall itself was packed with his work- from his magazines (such as Himawari), to his fashion designs for women and children, also his dolls, storybook illustrations, and even his interior design work. This cute and airy model room looks like it is straight out of one of his pictures. 

This was one of the best exhibitions I have ever seen. Although the scope of his work was huge it didn't feel tiring to see it all. Although his work is stylised it is possible to see the changing fashions as they would have really been worn throughout the decades. I feel that he had a real sympathy for women and a sensitive observation for everything that made up their lifestyle. He had a vision of beauty that was clean and stylish and yet sweet and nostalgic too. 

I enjoyed the visit even more because I went with a dear friend who loves him just as much as me! We finished the day with tea and cake, a lovely finish to a lovely day.

If you would like to see this exhibition you still have four days, so hurry hurry!

More details here.

Now then, I'd better get back to packing for this weekend. I am attending Austen and the Abbey, a lolita event in Warwickshire. If you are coming, please look out for me and say hello! I'm very excited, because I'll be modelling for Victorian Maiden and fairy wish and also in the Mori Girl fashion show. When I'm not doing that, I'll be wearing boystyle for the first time in years!

Thanks for reading and hope to see you there!

Sapphira