Red Vintage

I recently bought this dress at a vintage store, and I thought that you guys would like an outfit that I made with it: Jacket (Espirit); dress (vintage); belt (Target); shoes (Gap)

An Attempt at Gothic Lolita

G'day (or g'night) my dear readers, :)

I wanted to provide a post of my attempt at an gothic lolita/steampunk co-ord. I think it turned out quite well, but please let me know of what you think! I am open to suggestions and advice.

Excuse the derp face, please! ^^;;

A couple of years ago, my dad gave me a beautiful ruby jewelry set as a present. I can't wear the earrings because my ear piercings became infected and closed up a long time ago, but I love wearing the necklace and the ring on special occasions.

And now, for the purse! I bought a loli-able patent leather bag from Forever 21. However, I kept on looking at it and felt that it could use a bit of decorating! :) So, I got my silver sharpie and created a gothic-lolita design! I must say, I am quite proud of how it turned out. I also added my most favorite Sherlock Holmes quotations to inspire me each time I opened the purse. :D

Hat (a present from my grandmother); blouse (fanplusfriend); vest (Korea); skirt (fanplusfriend); stockings (American Apparel); shoes (Steve Madden); purse (Forever 21, with original decorations by yours truly ^^)

Now, don't grab any purse and start doodling all over it in Sharpie (if you want to decorate your purse, too)! Make sure that it is a relatively cheap purse. Also, make sure that you are ready to focus and concentrate (because Sharpie is not all that easy to erase!). Finally, make sure that you are 200% sure that you want to decorate your purse in a specific design! I am really warming up to Gothic Lolita (ironic that I'm "warming up" to a fashion that is considered quite dark and a bit morbid, eh? ^^;;). I think that it is elegant and very sophisticated. Unlike the Western version of Goth that includes black lipstick and white-face make-up, Gothic Lolita is all about looking refined and somewhat mysterious. Look at this link for a list of the different lolita styles (this is my favorite one because of all the cute pictures of the many lolitas ^.^): http://lolita-handbook.livejournal.com/3035.html. This is also a great source: http://hellolace.net/styles/. Adding Gothic Lolita pieces to my wardrobe is definitely at the top of my shopping list, and I think that my "new" purse will work beautifully!

Keep on creating new pieces of art, my readers, and don't be afraid to go outside of the box! <3

Obsessed with Lolita

I have noticed that now that I have been exposed to Lolita and I have worn it a few times, I want to wear it all the time! I want to take every opportunity to wear lolita... and I don't think that it will be "a phase"... for a while, I think that I will wear lolita each time I have time to "dress up" a little. :) It makes me feel very special, and I have noticed that my love for dressing my dolls up (that I had when I was little) has transformed into a love for dressing myself. I met with a family friend recently, and she saw my lolita blouse from fanplusfriend. She called it "a work of art"! That made me feel very happy and excited because I feel that lolita is bringing me further into my goal of making what I wear into a form of art! Sorry that this post has a lot of "stream of consciousness". I hope that you like my outfit, though:

The blouse truly is beautiful, and the collar is covered with beautiful butterfly lace! :D The heart-shaped necklace was given to me by the family friend that I met that day, and it went perfectly with the rest of the co-ord!

My mother gave me these adorable spoon-shaped hair pins! She said that she used to wear these when she was younger. :D

I would describe this co-ord as classic lolita! This is my first time trying classic, and I am very happy with how it turned out! I am open to any suggestions and advice on how to make it better, though. :)

Review

Hi guys, I ordered a lolita skirt from fanplusfriend, and I must say that it is very beautiful! I wanted to write a short review here in case anyone was interested. It is very pretty and very good quality! I'm very happy with it! The fabric is a bit thick, though, so if you live in an incredibly warm place, you might not want to wear it now (in the summer), but since it's a skirt, it's bearable. :) The only downside is that I had to wait a few days longer (than expected) to receive it because they took some time making the bow brooch/hair clip that comes with the skirt. When I asked them (after telling them I ordered "a week ago"), they answered quickly though (and it was just me being impatient ^^;;).

Order date: June 29th; Date I received it: July 9th

Communication: 4/5 (I would have liked to have known that they would take time making the bow, as it said "instant shipping" skirt on the website, but they answered very quickly when I asked though)

Price: 4/5 (If you are not quite familiar with Lolita clothes, you would believe that this skirt is quite expensive. However, Lolitas will become very excited because the price is not bad for lolita)

Quality: 5/5 The lace is very nice and everything is sewn perfectly on the skirt. The hairbow/brooch is nice as well! There are even two crystals that hang off the bow from delicate chains (the crystals are probably made of some sort of plastic, but hey, at least they look nice ^^).

The fabric is lovely! I am fanplusfriend's loyal customer. I have never had a problem with quality with their items. The fit is always perfect (but that's probably because I fit perfectly into one of their set sizes, so I don't need to order custom size). Yes, they're a bit more expensive than Bodyline, but they have a wider selection that caters to a variety of lolitas (while I've noticed that Bodyline is mostly meant for sweet lolitas).

I hope I helped anyone who was planning on buying the skirt! :)

Clothes that tell stories

I apologize for the very sad lack of posts! I have had two issues: 1. I have been very busy, as I just took on two internships this summer. 2. My computer literally started falling apart (the wires that connect the display screen of my laptop to the keyboard got loose and the computer screen cannot stand on its own...). So, yes, I am quite stressed. However, I have an outfit that I threw together to show you:

dress: Hardware; sweater: Espirit; belt: Los Angeles Zoo (I know, shocking, right?)

I have recently realized that outfits tell a story. Each article of clothing and accessory that goes into an outfit combine to tell a story about the experiences of the person who wears it. And I believe that putting these elements together is an art-form. So, I think that I will post differently sometimes from now on! I will blab on about my personal problems in colloquial language in the first part of my blog. Then, I will go on to show you an outfit. Finally, I will tell you guys the story of the outfit. Hopefully the stories won't sound too pretentious! ^^;;

Of course, I will do it only when I have a bit of time on my hands, but I will try to do it if I am ever inspired by a story!

Well, here I go...

The story: The birds on the dress fly across her body to resemble freedom. She is reminded of summer days and the salty scent of the ocean. The 6-year old sweater surrounds her in comfort and nostalgia; she remembers less stressful days and recalls how her imaginary world used to look like. The belt hides the elastic band that is in her dress. She searched for months for a belt similar to it. She originally saw them in a store nearby her school, but the merchant demanded that she pay $120 for one. Though they were made by artisans, she felt that the price was too much. Finally, she embarked on a journey to a world filled with lonely animals that are kept in captivity, and saw this belt in a gift shop. The price was about $30, and this belt was crafted by artisans as well. Happily, she went home with the purchase. She combined the different articles into an artwork that she wished to symbolize happiness, freedom, nostalgia, and triumph.

That's the story~ Tell me what you guys think! :)