I wore this outfit to meet some of my local Lolitas for the first time. They are very lovely indeed, but sadly I haven't had many chances to see them since. I hope we'll be able to meet up more in the summer. I miss them!
I tried to style my hair into a small "hime bump", but obviously it wasn't very successful. For one thing I think my fringe starts too far back for that style, and for another, well, I think I need more practice.
I wore this same onepiece to the Tea Party Club's anniversary meet up (the Tea Party Club is a British Lolita meet-up group). I did an up-do again, this time a ponytail. I put my fringe to one side for a change.
(photo credit to Dom!)
I've tried it with twin tails too!
I also tried a plaited style, not that you can see it too well in this photo.
It's a bit more tricky to change the look of a onepiece than a skirt or jumpeskirt, isn't it? Since I love this dress very much, I'm going to look at these pictures and see if I can think of some new ideas!
I took this meme from a post on Caro's blog that's about two years old. I think I read it at the time it was published but never got round to filling it out before, so it's about time that I did!
~Lolita Meme~
1. Best Lolita fashion advice you've ever received?
When you start to tie a bow, leave the right end of the ribbon longer than the left. This will result in a perfectly balanced bow!
2. Style icons?
Choco-nyan and Sachi. Both of these girls wear Lolita so naturally and beautifully. They have absorbed the style and made it their own in such a seemingly effortless manner.
3. Describe your personal style.
I think my style is simple and clean. I try to combine elegance and cuteness in my outfits, and to remember details, which are important for a simple look.
4. Favorite designers/brands?
Innocent World is lovely, their image is my definition of Lolita. Juliette et Justine is another of my favourites. I think the colours they use are both interesting and elegant. Jane Marple has wonderful designs and fabrics and the construction of their garments is very well thought out and a feature in itself. Looking inside the garment is as much fun as looking at the outside!
5. Most cherished items?
My Innocent World fur-trimmed skirt is a very special item for me.
I received it as a Valentine's Day present, so it has a lot of sentimental value. Furthermore it's an slightly older piece of Innocent World (the white version is feautured in Gothic and Lolita Bible 11 from 2004) and not seen so often.
6. I feel best wearing?
A nice long sleeved blouse in a light, silky material. I prefer blouses to be quite generously sized (after all, blouses are supposed to be "blousy", aren't they?)
7. Most used item?
My Metamorphose Gobelins print jumperskirt.
~With an Anna House blouse, starting out in Lolita!~
It was the first piece I ordered when I decided to become serious about Lolita fashion. When I saw the stock picture I thought "That is exactly how I want to dress from now on!" When it arrived it was even lovelier than I had imagined.
Two years on, I love it as much as ever, and I wear it very often. It can be worn a hundred different ways- casual, formal, a little more cute or very mature, with different colours and in different seasons.
Oh, and one more lovely feature- the blue roses make me think of Kamijo!
8. The first thing I look for in another Lolita's outfit...
Colour balance I suppose? The most attractive outfits are ones where the colours are working together nicely.
9. Lolita Fashion rule you never break?
Bloomers!
10. Never caught wearing?
BABY's enormous cotton lace! I'm not a huge fan of cotton lace anyway, except in certain contexts (for instance a country/natural look) and the scale of some of the lace they use looks clumsy and dreadful on me.
11. Dress to impress who?
I dress for myself.
12. Your next "must have" purchase?
A bonnet from Triple Fortune. I tried a beautiful, perfect one in Atelier Pierrot, but I didn't get it. I wish I had. I know you can order them but I'm terrified of it getting squished or lost on it's long journey. Next time I won't let it get away!
13. Favorite type of head accessory?
Flower corsages. I think girls look so beautiful with flowers in their hair.
14. Favorite cut of clothing (shirring, high waist, princess seams etc)?
I like box-pleats because they make skirts more versatile. Some skirts and dresses look rather empty and sad without a panier, don't they? However, a box-pleated garment will usually look lovely with a variety of sizes of panier, or even none at all. It's handy to be able to change your look.
15. Current obsession?
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang! These days I usually have it on in the background on a loop while I'm doing coursework, to keep my spirits up. Let's watch a little now, shall we?
This video is a bit grainy, but please enjoy the beautiful song!
I would love to wear a dress like Truly's for my graduation ceremony.
16. Best Lolita fashion advice you can give to anyone:
Lolita fashion takes a lot of dedication and effort, so remember what a a strong person you are to even attempt this style and take pride in yourself.
~
I hope you enjoyed reading this meme, and if you fill it out yourself, please let me know!
Hello! Sorry for a lack of updates recently. I've got an interesting post this time though!
To celebrate a dear friend's recent birthday, we had a day out in London. We visited the Courtauld Gallery and went to Ladurée in Harrods. The gallery was beautiful! It's small, but charming and full of treasures! The gift shop was very tempting too.
I tend to favour a onepiece dress for special occaisions, so I wore the brown chiffon I won in the KERA competition. I coordinated with a lot of brown items to create a mature impression. The delicate chiffon, lace and corsages soften the look.
~Rundown~
Onepiece, necklace- Innocent World
Everything else- Offbrand
As for Ladurée, we were unfortunately seated in the most vulgarly decorated area of the restaurant. It was pseudo-barouque with a silver and black colour scheme and rather bizarre melting mirrors, something between Napoleon's tomb and the inside of Dracula's coffin as imagined by Lawrence Llewellyn-Bowen. However the food more than made up for it!
We ordered L'heure du thé, which includes sandwiches, pastries, tea and cakes. We had four different types of tea, it was heaven! I particularly recommend the rose tea and the jasmine tea. I tried the Marie Antoinette tea in Paris which was very good, but it doesn't seem to be available in London.
The sandwiches were adorably wrapped in waxed paper, but were a bit dry.... The main feature were the cakes though, which were faultless. Please try the Plaisir Sucré!
I hope you enjoyed today's post. See you next time!
~PS~
Regarding recent events in Japan, I do hope that all my readers' loved ones are safe and well. I'm sending all my best wishes to those who have been affected by this terrible situation. Please check this link on egl for more information here.
I've got a backlog of outfit shots that I've posted on the Daily Lolita community over at LJ, which I thought I would share on here now and again so that they're all in one place and easy to look at.
Here's one from last summer!
~Rundown~
Blouse, bag- Vintage
Skirt- Baby, the Stars Shine Bright
Everything else- Offbrand
The skirt has a bustle at the back!
It looks a bit flat in this picture because I only had a huge panier at that time which simply wouldn't fit! Now I have the perfect panier for this skirt, and a rosary with dark blue beads that match it very well, so I'd like to rework this outfit with a more gothic look sometime.
Last year in London there was a special event called Hyper Japan. It was a chance to experience many aspects of Japanese culture- animation, technology, film, food, and (most importantly for me) fashion!
At this event, KERA magazine brought six brands to England for the first time- Moi-même-Moitié, Angelic Pretty, Innocent World, Sex Pot ReVeNGe, Black Peace Now and Baby, the Stars Shine Bright. There was a competition to find six girls to represent the brands in a fashion show, and I was lucky enough to be chosen as Innocent World's model! It was really a great honour and a very special memory for me.
You can see the video here:
The fashion show starts from 5.07. I love Joanie/ Lunie-chan, AP's model. She has a beautiful face and great style, just the perfect look for AP's pop and cute aesthetic. Apparently two brands were fighting over the Sex Pot model, Amber, and I can see why! Maybe her face looks familiar to you? She is in an advertising campaign right now!
I have to say a hearfelt thank you to all the KERA and Hyper Japan staff. It was very inspiring to meet Mr Matsumura of KERA. He seems like he cares very deeply about street fashion, and he was so enthusiastic about Hyper Japan too! I'm studying fashion design at the moment, and currently my course is very busy and stressful. My course pushes students towards a high fashion look, but my passion is for street fashion, so I often feel conflicted between respecting my tutors' advice and following my own taste. I try to strike a balance, but it is frustrating sometimes. Sometimes I feel like giving up, but when I think of how much I love Lolita fashion, and how there are kind people like Mr Matsumura and Ms Fujiwara out there in the industry, I know that there is hope and that I'm strong enough to keep striving.
Me and the man himself!
The dates for this year's Hyper Japan have been announced:
Friday 22, Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 July 2011.
I hope you'll be able to make it! It's a great chance for UK and Euro Lolitas. I can't wait to see what events are planned for this year.
You can check their homepage here: http://hyperjapan.co.uk/
