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 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 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. 

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...

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 $$$ 

It's June AlreadY!

I've been away and travelling a lot so I haven't had much of a chance to wear lolita. 

I did wear lolita a whole lot over the Easter weekend, and I'd meant to post about it but never got a chance.

Part of the problem is that it's not a smooth process to transfer images from my smartphone onto my computer to write these entries. 

These Converse shoes are from Poshmark! They will go well with very casual coordinates.

This is what I wore to church today. There was no time for a proper photo. In addition I wore a satin pink baseball hat and an Angelic Pretty purse. I actually had to run to church in order to make it on time. It must have been an interesting sight to any observers. These Converse came in handy!

A friend and I were discussing the use of the term lolita. I don't want to use this term anymore. Personally, I don't want to deal with misconceptions. Instead, I'll refer to it as jfashion (when talking to muggles). I think this works, because my style is perhaps not strictly lolita anyway. 

Hopefully, there will be other opportunities to wear lolita before the month is over. I'll be attending Trotcon next month. I plan to make a Fluttershy themed coordinate!

Just a Post about Saturday

I made a delicious loaf with dried fruit! I used tapioca starch instead of rice flour and the texture was good! I think I would prefer rice flour though. Or maybe a mix of the two. I am really into making a dessert for the week lately. It's nice to have something extra after dinner. Baking isn't something I've done much of but this has increased my interest.

I also wore lolita this day.  The jumperskirt is Mary's Sweet Sheep from Baby, the Stars Shine Bright. It's super short!!! These rocking horse shoes which came with a broken strap :( I don't know how to fix it. I asked my husband to solder it back together for me, he said it might ruin the buckle but... it's totally broken how could it get more ruined? I hope he'll try to fix it. 

Oh right, I filmed a video of myself doing my daily makeup routine. For archival purposes, I suppose. It's set to publish at a later date though.

Virutal Meetup Coordinate Jan 28 2022

 

Here's me ready for a virtual meetup viewing of Kamikaze Girls. Was not feeling well enough to stand for photos or even put makeup on but peep my new desk chair. It's one that I've wanted for over a year and I finally got it AND it's more comfortable than my previous chair :D

I went for an old school look to be on theme with the movie. Put my hair up in a high ponytail, not a look I normally go for with lolita but I wanted to try it out. I've actually been wearing my hair in a top knot pretty often in my daily life. Actually, you can see the top knot in action in my previous post :P

Coordinate rundown:

Headbow: Cameron Headbow

Blouse: Back Pin Tucked Blouse

Dress: Lace Frill JSK

Socks: Torchon Lace 

Everything from Baby, the Stars Shine Bright except the socks which are from Innocent World

Randomness January 2022

Just felt like making a random blog post.

I removed Instagram from my phone. I'll just be accessing it on my computer. 

Some pretty things I received for Christmas:

Rhinestone encrusted eyelash curler!

Sparkly makeup brushes. Rarity approves!

I also received some of Johanna Basford's colouring books. I've always wanted one!

The holidays were fine. We decided not to see any of our friends while vising our hometown, to be safe. This made the trip a lot more relaxing. Otherwise these visits are filled to the brim with social engagements and it's tiring. But we also didn't get to see any of our extended families and that was disappointing. 

I finished reading the novel the Clan of the Cave Bear, lent to me by my mother-in-law. The beginning of the book was good and caught my interest right away. But my overall impression now that I've finished it is negative. I don't want to read stories about violence against women. Maybe there is some catharsis there for some people, but it is not for me. The author also spent too much time dwelling on insignificant details. The writing became sloppy towards the middle. 

It's given me some things to think about with my own writing. 

I remember reading Ann Leckie's philosophy that every sentence of the story should be significant and useful. At the time I disagreed because I preferred to view writing as a form of art. The more polished and manufactured something becomes moves it farther and farther from art. To me, art is some raw expression of the human condition. But 100% this is not always the case. The definition of art is tenuous. 

I haven't begun working on a lolita fashion wardrobe post yet. I've been struggling with my health. I hope I can manage to do it. 

I haven't even felt like making a year in review post for 2021, but maybe I will find a way.

I wore Toy Parade the other day. Happy prints make me feel better. :)

Why I Love One Piece Dresses

Jumperskirts are great. The requirement of a blouse presents an easy avenue for highlighting certain colours in a print. Blouses in different styles also present the opportunity to change the look of the coordinate. 

I've always preferred one piece dresses, but in the past years, I've gained this appreciation for jumperskirts. Experimenting with which blouse to go underneath the dress is a lot of fun. 

As an example of this, I originally wanted the one piece dress of Angelic Pretty's Toy Fantasy. I changed my wishlist to be for the jumperskirt cut instead.

But I am having a personal renaissance with one piece dresses.

They are just so easy to wear. Sometimes, it's already kind of daunting to me to get dressed. So anything that makes it easier is a bonus. With a one piece dress, I can just put it on and instantly look cute.

I don't want to worry about wearing the same coordinate more than once (even though I do, even with non lolita items). It's nice to wear a coordinate I love over and over. 

All of this is really to say, I bought the one piece dress of Toy Fantasy in Sax.

Here are some coordinate collages:

A sax themed coordinate.

A mostly pink (with some blue) themed coordinate.

I found it a bit hard to make coordinate collages because the print seems pretty detailed but I can't see it too well in the stock photo. Looking forward to seeing it in person :D

Some Lolita Coordinates and... Yogurt and... Free Mug!

I felt like doing some spontaneous blogging today. Missing the days of LiveJournal where my friends and I used to write about whatever came to our minds. 

I decided to make a coordinate using my Chelsea skirt from Innocent World the other day. I really have been getting a lot of use out of this old school Angelic Pretty headbow. It's the one that I bought really stained, it was marked as a "garbage" item. I took it apart and did a heavy duty cleaning on. Not only did I get to learn some things about how Angelic Pretty constructs headbows but now I have this hair accessory that I'm really enjoying! I put a lot of time into rehabilitating it but it turns out it was worth it :D

~btw, is headbow a single word? Spellchecker tells me it's not, but I think it should be.

Coordinate rundown:

Skirt, socks, shoes, bag: Innocent World

Blouse: Emily Temple Cute

Bolero: Bodyline

Headbow: Angelic Pretty

And of course, here's the first coordinate I wore with my new Angelic Pretty Toy Parade OP. I love this print! Ahhhh!!

Coordinate rundown:

Everything is Angelic Pretty! :o

Here's another coordinate I've planned for Toy Parade using a mint x pint combo:

Coordinate rundown:

Headbow: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright

Everything else: Angelic Pretty 

As much as I like shopping for lolita, I really don't need to buy anything, so coordinate planning like this feels like a way to shop my own wardrobe. Reduces the risk of temptation. Actually, I just bought the socks in the above Toy Parade coordinate collage :x They're mint! I did need a mint pair of socks!

Okay, and here's another coordinate idea using my Bambi underbust jumperskirt from Innocent World:

Heh, it looks kind of funny with the socks and shoes like that.

Coordinate rundown:

Dress, socks, bag, headbow, necklace: Innocent World

Blouse: Milk

Shoes: Offbrand

IN OTHER NEWS:

I made my own yogurt using soymilk and cashews and some leftover store bought yogurt. It was surprisingly easy! There's some rhubarb apple sauce on top. I ate it and didn't die! Hooray!

Observe this cool mug someone left downstairs a while ago. People leave things they don't want in our lobby all the time and there are some cool finds. Including clothes. Nothing lolita of course, aha. Sometimes, I get really bad munchies so I try to drink herbal tea to help. Doesn't always work though T_T

I also started getting really into Avril Lavigne's old clothing line, Abbey Dawn. I found a shop on eBay selling a bunch of old leftover stuff that never sold from years and years ago. It's helped me to get out of the funk I was in with my non-lolita clothing. I was feeling... really uninspired and unhappy with my clothes. I guess I'm having a bit of a scene revival.  
 

Restoring a Coaster + Delft Lotta

I have had this really pretty coaster for a while now. I do not even know where it came from. It's damaged and I had meant to fix it so much sooner but now that I've left it so long, the damages are so bad that I need to restore the image on the coaster.

I decided to go ahead and finally fix it now that I have access to all my art supplies. First I had to apply glue to paste down parts of the image that were coming loose and would soon come off. Then, I began to apply paint onto the parts of the image that are missing.

I didn't think to take this picture until I'd already applied clear glue to save the parts that are left and began painting.

I'm just starting with a base of the colours and will fill in details later. 

After applying a base of paint.

One thing I did not do was repair the background yet. It's stained, most likely from tea. I need to create a proper off-white to do this but felt it should be left until everything else had dried. This is probably going to be a long project as there are many fine details in the image. I will have to decide just how detailed I will go into what I add back in. Once the painting is done, I will have to make sure to seal it.

Here is a coordinate on my dress form for my new Delft Lotta jumperskirt from Innocent World. Somehow I wound up with what I am pretty sure is the long version. >;( I've been trying to decide whether or not I want to alter it, wait to find the short version for sale or just run with it and try out a long style dress. I am really digging this dress and this coordinate I've created. I can't believe I was able to find the matching head bow as well. It's a perfect size <3 The material is quite light-weight and doesn't seem to require ironing. The material is not the exact same as my Marie Rose dress, but the effect is the same. They are both a nice polyester. 

Coordinate Rundown:

Dress: Delft Lotta - Innocent World

Bolero: Enchanted Midnight Spell - Baby, the Stars Shine Bright

Blouse: Rose Lace Tulle Blouse - Beth

Head Bow: Delft Lotta - Innocent World

Shoes: Unknown - Baby, the Stars Shine Bright

Socks: Unknown - Innocent World

Btw, delft is a type of pottery art from Europe (English or Dutch, I guess) which typically has an image in blue on a white background. Cool to know where this dress got such an odd (to me) name!