Sunday, November 27, 2022

Ramblings on a Sunday

 It's the first time I've worn lolita in a while. 

My coordinate for church:

The author in a mirror selfie wearing a lolita dress and cardigan. The dress has a theme of woodland animals in a forest as a border print. The cardigan is knitted. They are wearing a necklace with forest animals on it. Their socks have a corset pattern with flowers. They are wearing heels with a big satin bow on the front and a rounded toe.
I can't wait to get my new bag from Cotton Candy Shop, I hope I picked a good colour scheme... Kumakumya needs a rest! Also, shocker, I am not wearing a head accessory! I'm not just digging them, I guess. Maybe I should elaborate on that some day?

Coorindate rundown:
Jumperskirt, blouse, necklace, socks, shoes: Innocent World
Bag: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright
Cardigan: Lacemade

My new cardigan is from a brand called Lacemade. It's perfect for my style. I discovered it through the YouTuber Fairyanne. She's worn this cardigan in a few videos. I left a comment asking about it and she was kind enough to tell me where it was from.

The Lacemade brand tag. There are two tags attached with a ribbon. They square shaped tag has a gold embossed mermaid wearing a corset holding a glowing nautilus shell. They second tag is shaped like a crest and has the brand name in large cursive writing in embossed gold.
The tag and packaging were all very pretty.



Nothing much exciting has happened since my last post other than the cardigan arriving in the mail. Otherwise, I recently repaired the pair of shoes (Innocent World Roseline Shoes) I am wearing in today's coordinate using Shoe Goo. The soles were coming off. Not sure how much longer they'll hold out. It's such a shame that they are in poor condition because they're very cute. Many secondhand shoes I've purchased deteriorate quite quickly, even if they were initially in good condition. Not sure if it is my climate (dry) or just the age of the shoes. 

I might considering buying a replacement from Cotton Candy Feet because they make shoes in this same dusty rose colour. 

A pair of flat black shiny shoes with three straps with buckles.
I think this design would be good for my classic lolita looks. 



Also, how awesome is it that shoes are back on Lolibrary? For a while there, they didn't have any of them listed because they'd lost the information. Lolibrary is such a valuable resource to me.


Also also, I think I want to get one of those Garden style one piece dresses from Baby, the Stars Shine Bright. The ones with the V-shaped front. I saw one for a good price a while back but didn't go for it and I've kind of regretted it since? Ivory is my favourite colourway, but sax is also nice. Thinking about getting a dress/skirt in a brown fabric with an allover print some day too...

Ivory dress with long sleeves and a poof at the shoulders. The hem of the dress has ruffles. It has a standing collar and buttons down the front. Ruffles in the shape of a V, start at the shoulders and meet at waist.


I guess I should update my wishlist!


I've got a meetup next weekend and there is a swap meet at the beginning. I need to go through and pick out things I want to sell so I can free up some space and $$$ 

Sunday, November 20, 2022

Busy busy

 As the title says, I've been busy busy.


But I want to talk about something else.

**TRIGGER WARNING: SA**


Sunday, August 7, 2022

A Plant Focused Post

 Behold! Some new plants were left in the lobby of my apartment building the other day:

A collage of two different plants. The top left plant has large single leaves with a purple underside. The topside is green with white-pink veins and border. A few leaves look dried out and dying. The bottom right plant has many leaves on single stems sticking out all over the place from the dirt. The leaves are bright green with dark green border and dark green ovals running along the centre of each leaf (looks like a picture of a vine almost)
Note reads: Adopt me!! (I'm very needy) I need more than usual humidity!!
The top left is Stromanthe and the bottom right is a Rattlesnake plant. The are both in a bit of poor shape, but I hope I can help them out. They both had sticky-notes on them. The stromanthe had "Adopt me :(" on it and the rattlesnake plant had a note explaining that it's quite a needy plant and requires high humidity (you can see it in the photo above). 


Gardening is a hobby of mine, I have many indoor plants. Then, there are all the plants on my balcony that form a vegetable garden during the warmer months. Last year was very experimental in determining which plants will do well on our north facing balcony. Squash and relatives did poorly. Beans did the best, so quite a few of those were planted this year, along with a tomato plant and some leafy greens like kale and swiss chard. A variety of herbs were planted this year too. Last year, I planted different sorts of herbs within the same pot but they didn't fare well. This year, I planted each herb separately so that they can be watered and exposed to sunlight to meet their individual needs. We do get sun on part of the balcony in the morning and all over in the late afternoon, so the plants aren't in total shade all day. The tricks to herb gardening are slowly revealing themselves to me with time.

I've got quite a few drying out right now for use throughout the year.

Fresh herbs on various trays, some of which are stacked. All are in front of a small fan that is flowing air towards them.
My herb drying setup, at the moment.

The mint plant, started from a cutting I took in the woods near my old apartment is very prolific. I've cut it back and dried those cuttings several times this year already. It makes a very nice tea. The dill plant seems to be doing well, seems less is more when watering it. This was the first time I'd picked any of the dill, so will see how the plant rebounds. Basil does well to have its leaves pruned frequently.

A small white tray partially filled with ripe cherry tomatoes.
Cherry tomatoes. I didn't grow the plant that produced these from seed myself this year. The ones I did died by the hand of a neglectful babysitter whilst I was away during one of my adventures this past spring.

Two tiny mostly red with some green crab apples held in the author's hand. They look similar to McIntosh but very tiny. Another four could easily fit into the hand.
Crab apples! 

In foraging news, a tree nearby was filled with nice looking red crab apples. Very shiny. Very bitter. Tried cooking in boiled water. Still somewhat bitter and very sour. Perhaps they need to ripen on the tree a bit more because I know that crab apple jam/jelly is a thing. Wild purslane was also discovered. May go and pick some this week.

And here is my coordinate for today:

The author wearing an ivory cotton swiss dot jumperskirt with a dark rose bolero with lace on all the edging and two ribbons. Wearing crew socks in the same colour with lace on them. Nothing in their hair. Standing in front of a mirror.
Jumperskirt: Dot Stripe JSK
Bolero: Angora Bolero
Blouse: Themis Blouse
Socks: ??
(Everything is Innocent World)
No hair accessory for no real reason, I suppose.

My smaller MeLikesTea petticoat is pink (in a shade which I totally love) so it kind of shows through some of my dresses, such as this one. The size is perfect for casual wear, but the colour presents a problem. Perhaps I should buy another petticoat in a plain colour... How many petticoats does one need, though? Bah.


Saturday, August 6, 2022

New Shoes x 2

There has been a need for a classy pair of pink heels in my lolita wardrobe for quite a while. Cotton Candy Feet has some really cute styles. The problem is that there are too many good options! It's taken a few months, but I finally decided on a pair. It came down to choosing the pair with the name I liked the best. Fairy Ballerina Glitter Shoes was the winner! How can you go wrong with fairies, ballerinas and glitter?

I chose the light pink option. Here's a picture showing some my dresses I plan to wear them with:

Collage of four stock images of lolita dresses surrounding a pair of glittery high heels with a bow on the front. There are sketches of a fairy and some plants in the background of the image.
Top Left: Toys Museum 
Top Right: Whimsical Vanilla Chan 
Bottom Left: Unbirthday 
Bottom Right: Dolls Tea Party 
All Angelic Pretty

(Yes I did some doodles on this collage. Trying to let my creativity out a bit more.)

In other news I found a super cute Angelic Pretty blouse for sale secondhand online and I bought it! 

A cotton blouse with cotton lace. It has three rows of ruffles running down the front, a ruffled hem and collar. The short sleeves also have ruffles and a bow on each. The detachable longer sleeves have ruffles and bows at the end also. The sleeves themselves look otherwise plain. There is a satin ribbon tied at the front. The buttons down the front of the blouse are the same colour as the rest of the blouse.

It's the Decoration Ruffle Blouse from 2009. It has detachable sleeves! It wont come with the detachable ribbon on the front but that's okay because I can just make it myself. It will be my first completely blue blouse. The blue blouses I have are both striped. It is always funny to me how I've been in the fashion so many years but some things that feel like they should be essential (e.g. a plain blue blouse) I just don't have. Something else I don't have is a white bag. Probably, I need two. One for classic looks and one for sweet looks.

Since it's an order from Japan, I picked out a few other items too. Gotta make it worth it. ^^; (goodbye money *watches money flying away*)

A pair of running shoes with a thick sole (trendy). They are mostly white with pastel colour accents. The overall aesthetic is very 80s.
I also got these shoes for more casual lolita looks in a local store! They had a few other pastel coloured shoes as well, but I resisted them. I wish pastel colours could stay in fashion for a long time...

A collage of various colourful lolita dresses all next to a the pair of pastel 80s aesthetic shoes. The dresses all share similar colours to the shoes.
Top row (left to right): Fantastic Carnival, Happy Bunny, Marshmallow Bunny, Toys Museum
Bottom row (left to right): Melody Toys, Toy Parade, Toy Fantasy
All Angelic Pretty

They'll go with many of my dresses! :D Personally, I think combining sneakers with lolita is super cool. It makes the outfits look way more casual.



Sunday, July 24, 2022

Weekend Adventures

On Friday afternoon my husband and I went berry picking. I recalled seeing raspberries growing along a nearby path last year. They're black raspberries, actually. There weren't too many ripe fruits, lots of unripe ones. Still, we had a small haul.

A plastic container full of black raspberries. They are smaller than regular raspberries.

The raspberry bushes are feisty! Foraging is a lot of fun, so I don't mind the minor scrapes. I put these into pancakes the next morning. Saturday is always pancakes for breakfast and then I save the leftovers for Monday to make the first day back to work a little more fun.

After berry picking we went to go see Nope, Jordan Peele's latest directed film. There is something special about a horror film directed by a person known for comedy. Hopefully, he will direct more films! I am also hoping that there will be a director's cut of Nope because there was an entire subplot that was removed.

On Saturday afternoon we went to a festival. It was 30 degrees but I really wanted to wear lolita fashion anyway and so I did. Parasol came to the rescue!

The author takes a photo in the mirror. They have a skirt with pin tucks, crossed lace and ruffles at the hem. They are wearing ankle socks with cork sole platform shoes. The crossbody bag as a large bow on it. The blouse is short sleeved and has a pilgrim collar. An open parasol with ruffles is resting on their shoulder. The coordinate is entirely pink and white.
Parasol, headbow: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright
Blouse, socks, wristcuffs: Bodyline
Bag: Angelic Pretty
Necklace: Sweet Dolly House
Shoes: An*Tai*Na
Skirt: Design replica of Angelic Pretty Cross Ribbon Skirt

My natural hair looks okay with the giant head-eating-bow. Why doesn't my longer hair? A mystery. Speaking of hair, I am thinking about growing mine out again. 

An old school style felt suited for the festival. Sometimes, when out in public "going back to basics" seems best. Quite a few people complimented my outfit. One girl said she really wanted to get shoes like mine. I wish I had told her to "DO IT" and encouraged her but I was a bit overwhelmed :< Hopefully, I inspired her in some way because another lady had said she felt it was inspiring that I was just wearing whatever I like.

The only problem with a parasol is that you have one hand less free. Not terribly ideal when you are also trying to hold a Korean rice veggie dog (which was very delicious by the way!). I also had this Chinese charcoal baked bun filled with sugar and topped with sesame seeds. Wish I'd taken photos of the food but alas. >__<"


With all the events of the weekend, I feel like I've fully recovered from being ill. I'll be back to the office tomorrow (Monday) but I don't know when I'll return to the gym. Trying not to be too concerned about losing my gains. Maybe it will be fun to see where I am at and start again, who knows? 


Saturday, July 23, 2022

Bunny Pocket OP

A goal I had a few months ago was to not buy any more lolita for quite some time. I've stuck to this goal!
Angelic Pretty announced they were re-releasing the Bunny Pocket OP, though. This was worth breaking from my embargo on lolita fashion. 

The bunny pocket OP in the sax colourway. It has bunny face shaped pockets on the skirt, corset lacing on the bodice and a scalloped double hem.

So then, I spent a lot of time thinking about which colourway to ask my shopping service to purchase. All the colourways are wonderful, I'd be happy with any. I'm always partial to blue, but the first time I saw this dress was in Shelby Cloud's video and hers was pink. So pink has a special meaning for me. The red x white or black x white combo also were super cute. After much deliberation, I put in an order with a shopping service listing the order of my colour preferences, in case my number one choice was unavailable:
#1. Sax
#2. Pink
#3. Black
#4. Red

The Dot Michelle Katyusha matched the dress really well. I requested they purchase it in the same colourway as whichever dress they managed to get.

Sadly, the dress sold out instantly. At 11:00 PM EST I refreshed the page and it was sold out. I never even saw the dress in stock! Only the listing preview page and then instantly sold out! Totally bonkers.


Hopefully, it will also be sold at Angelic Pretty USA, but it wasn't even listed on Angelic Pretty Paris' webstore and I think Paris usually lists at the same time as the Japan store. 


It's always so hard to gauge what level of interest a dress is going to have, especially now that I don't use Instagram very frequently. 

...

To think I spent all this time trying to choose a colour and also whether or not to try for the Japan store or to try and wait for the USA store. All that worry for nothing! I can't help but laugh a little.

Sunday, July 17, 2022

I am back from my many adventures!

I've been sick for the past week. I was supposed to go to Trotcon and even had a Fluttershy inspired egl coordinate planned out. :( Actually, I didn't get very sick. It was like a mild cold. But I did feel very tired. 
It was really nice to just spend an entire week at home feeling obligated to do nothing. :D

I managed to get some things done. For example, a button had popped off my Cherry Cat jumperskirt from Innocent World. The button seems to have been sucked into the void of nothingness because it has entirely disappeared. Months of searching have yielded no results. I sewed on a clear button as a replacement. The buttons are mismatched now though. Maybe now that I've gone through the effort to replace it, the missing button will return.


Back view of the Cherry Cat jumperskirt. The back has shirring. The detachable straps are held with a single button. The new button is not very noticeable because it is clear and colourless. The original button is a similar colour to the dress fabric.
The results. Not too noticeable hopefully?

Cherry Cat is one of my favourite dresses. The cats are sort of wonky looking but it reminds me of the wallpaper border of my childhood bedroom. The dress is also very simple. The ease of wear that comes with such simplicity combined with the nostalgia makes it a go-to.

A close-up of the border print of the dress shows a white long haired kitten stalking a tiny mouse that is carrying a cherry.
Mouse (soon to be a victim?) carries a cherry away.


On the topic of mending, I repaired the burn holes near the cuffs of this sweater. This sweater was left downstairs in my building's lobby, as things often are. It's sort of a leave and take situation. Quite a bit of my muggle clothing is sourced from here. It's fun to find new clothes for free that are in my size. I guess whomever owned this before must have been a smoker? Thought I don't recall it smelling like smoke.
Before image of the sweater sleeve. There are two burnt hole in the plush fabric.
Before.

After image of the sweater sleeve. The mending job looks okay, but you can tell there has been a repair made.
After

Why is there no full view photo of this sweater? Who knows?! This is really just for bookkeeping for myself maybe. Or maybe to prove to myself that no, this blog (as a whole) isn't just about lolita fashion. It's about my life. Something like that.
In that case, here's as close as a worth photo I have of myself "wearing" the sweater. It's wrapped around my waist. This image looks hella flat, but I am actually at the top of a very big rocky hill (or perhaps you could call it a small mountain). It's a very remote location, very cool to go somewhere so remote.
The author stands giving a thumbs up. There is rocky, hilly terrain in the backdrop with a lake in the distance. The author is also wearing a baseball cap with side flaps and a fanny pack. The sweater shown about is tied around their waist. The blue sky takes up half the background and has some wispy clouds.
Me in my iconic field hat. I had to make a few repairs to it this trip. It's ten years old now!

It's been quite a while since I've worn lolita. This spring/summer has been filled with traveling. Although last week was spent in quarantine and could have presented an opportunity to wear lolita, I preferred to wear clothing that I could fall asleep in at any moment. I did indeed sleep a lot.
But the food supply has run low and I feel pretty well now so I visited a grocer. It's quite hot so I went for a super cute look instead of lolita. I have discovered that wearing a wig is as good as wearing a hat to keep the sun off one's head :P 
The author is wearing a gingham dress and converse shows with large ribbons for laces. They have on a big pair of glasses and a long wig with bangs.
This dress is from Peiliee Shop

I'm happy with how this fit turned out! I think it's very cute. 

Otherwise, I've been playing the Sims 4 a bit and watching both Fargo and My Dress-Up Darling. 

Also, I have this bubbling feeling of nostalgia! I don't know why. Maybe it's just because it's summer??



 

Ramblings on a Sunday

 It's the first time I've worn lolita in a while.  My coordinate for church: I can't wait to get my new bag from Cotton Candy Sh...