The Best And The Bad Realeases of 2013

Saw this pop up on EGL and decided it was something I wouldn't mind adding my 2 cents to.

Like most, I have poured over updates and reserve pages for brands, both indie and established, seeking any new print or piece that I would squee at or cringe at the very sight of.

I will say that baby had a very good year for releases, mainly were a win for me so it is difficult to choose something other than Baby or Alice. I have re~evaluated my favorites list from over the years and simply know they are probably my top favorite brand.

However, there is always room for any brand in my closet as long as I think the piece is pretty!

So without further ado, this is my list of TOP TEN releases from 2013.

BEST

My Sweet Mate Kumya's Trick or Treat series

Merry Making In The Ghost Town series

Alice In Mixworks! series from St. Baker 221B x LIef

Soirée Of The Beginning Of My Memories series

Lost In Sea Blue Jsk Krad Lanrete

Rose Prayer Dream Library Print Chiffon Jsk Surface Spell

Flying Flying Chess Story

Chambray Bustier~Like Pinafore Dress Metamorphose Temps De Fille

Maria Jsk Mary Magdalene 

Rose Trianon ~ Mucha Garden Jsk Innocent World

BAD

Magical Painting A~Line Pinafore Jsk Metamorphose Temps De Fille Crown Label Line

Sweet Waffle Angelic Pretty

Flared Sleeve Tiered Dress Metamorphose Temps De Fille

Flamant Low Waist Jsk Victorian Maiden

Happy Ending Story Series (the name is what makes this hilariously bad!)

Anniversary Happy Pie Innocent World

Colorful Gingham Jsk Angelic Pretty

Bunny Ear Wristcuffs Angelic Pretty

Joker Card Alice And The Pirates

Robe Du Breme Julliette Et Justine

Not all of the bad are terrible, some I just don't like, others I wonder what the designers were thinking. Rounding it all out 2013 wasn't quite a bad year for releases. I didn't add all the greats or all the bad or terrible ones but these are the ones that stick out most in my mind.

So Lolis and Gents, it is now the last of 2013 and I bid you adieu for now and see you soon next year, hopefully it will be just as interesting.

Happy New Years Frillies!

Lolita Christmas Haul!

Alright frillies, it's that time of year again and I bet a whole bunch of you have received or bought amazing things to put in your wardrobes.

I am excited to say I will be acquiring a few new pieces for my wardrobe.

Firstly, the dress....

I was shocked to learn I would be getting not simply either of the jsks from the soirée series but the op. My fiancé had me fooled into believing he was getting jsk I in mint but it turned out he prefered the op because I didn't have anything like it in my wardrobe. So though I am shocked, I am waiting in excitement, which I will be for the next few weeks.

I do plan on acquiring the bonnet so I have been watching the baby site night and day, so hopefully I will snatch it up when it becomes available, keep your fingers crossed for me frillies!

He also bought me a new wig to go and the three latest GLBs which I've been pouring over since I got them.

Next was a gift from my younger brother, whom had me for secret Santa, and his gift ended up being one of baby's new pink parasols.

Not too far off the mark, I do have a lot of pink in my wardrobe and I only have one lumiebre, black, parasol so this was a pleasant surprise.

My mother bought me a tea cup and a new tea pot, and she also found me my serger foot, so I can finally use my gift from last year.

All in all, it has been a crazy Christmas and I made out like a bandit, all I need now is to get my dress and piece together the rest of the coord. 

Hope everyone's holidays are wonderful, that you are merry as are your families, take care of each other and hope you have many moments of good cheer to cherish. 

Now move over to your clean cup and pour yourself a nice hot spot of tea!

LBC: What My Family Thinks Of Lolita

I know I've done a few post about this before but today I will make it easier this week.

My youngest brother says I look cool but he also thinks I look normal.

My mom likes my more classic and gothic attire but she says I wouldn't be me if I didn't wear whatever I wanted.

My dad thinks I dress fancy. Nuff said.

My older sister is a bit uncomfortable with it and thinks I only started wearing Lolita because I didn't want to deal with the world. I may not want to deal with the world sometimes but I try to face reality head on and do what I have to do and live how I like. I'm a responsible adult and know when it's okay to be the ridiculousness that is me and when I have to be serious.

My fiancées family is a mixed group. I don't think they care. Maybe his mother does, but I don't go out parading in lolita with them.

His sister loves it and always wants to see what I have either in my sewing projects or new.

As for his niece and my nephew.

My nephew thinks it's weird when I dress in civvies and asks what's wrong and where'd my clothes go. And on top of that he's always trying to wear them and run around thinking it's fun and hilarious.

His niece is very similar but she wants to make them and wear them. She loves the fashion and always tries to get into my closet to try on different things putting together a new outfit for herself. Recently, she has been given permission to take sewing lessons from me and we started making her first pair of bloomers, she's super excited.

My fiancé supports me in my love of lolita. He's bought me a few pieces for my birthday and Christmas and recently has gone out with me once in my frills. I think this is a wonderful step for us because I know it does make him a tad uncomfortable due to the fact that he is super conservative but it does make me feel great knowing he is that supportive. Inever wanted to force him into ever going out with me in loli but one day he offered to take my friend and I out to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants and she was already head~to~toe frills. He wasn't going to ask her to change and I was already dressed frilly as well and before I could ask if he would lie me to change he was already set to go and at the door.

Hello Batty

Sweet Indeed 

A Sweet Lolita’s Disney Life 

Pretty Little Habits~ 

Northern Star~

Geisha Baby 

Imaprincess 

Lace a la Mode 

Sunsinourhands 

LBC: How I Got Into Lolita Fashion

I've written about this before but I get so excited thinking about it it makes me feel like I'm discovering Lolita all over again. To some this may not be so great or defining, I'm certain others have a better story, but for me it changed my life.

I was actually working on the show A Midsummer Night's Dream with a theatre company I had been working with directing shows when I stumbled onto all that frill. I had wanted a very particular twist on my fairies and though I wanted to use hints in my costumes of fairy imagery and lore I wanted Oberon to be so different and sharp that you couldn't take your eyes off of him the instance he hit the stage. I had known about 80s hair bands and wanted something similar but even more captivating with some make up as well, which though prevalent in the 80s it just wasn't quite everything I was looking for. 

It was then that I stumbled on the images of Gackt and Mana and all that was visual-kei and found something of what I was looking for, however, I also stumbled upon what was brought with that.

This was the first picture I remember clicking on and my first full glimpse of Lolita fashion.

I felt exactly as Momoko describes in Kamakaze Girls, as though I had been shot and that was the end of that. 

I looked everywhere, scored the Internet, trying to find exactly how to get my own, buying books that I found with the fashion plastered on the front, only to become distraught that most of it was only in Japan. The English GLBs hadn't even really come out yet and it was something I was afraid I could only dream about, but I wasn't prepared to admit defeat.

I borrowed one of my mom's sewing machines and found some extra black fabric laying around the house and whatever pattern looked close enough to what was in the same silhouette of the dresses I had been chasing after for months. Admittedly, I had not a clue about good or bad lace or what I was going to use as a blouse but it came out okay, avoiding really bad lace, and I still have the jsk in my wardrobe. 

I knew once I had made one I couldn't stop there and tried making a few more things without much gratification knowing it wasn't what I had considered at the time as "the real deal" so I kept looking. Every once in a while I would forget and get absorbed in something I was working on but every instance I looked on the computer the need to find some of the frillyness would come back to haunt me until I found a way to buy my very first two brand dresses. 

I snagged them off eBay, in perfect condition, an Innocent World jsk and a Baby tartan jsk, both of which I still have. Now, I know I'm saying I got them off eBay, to my luck they were both well taken care of, one from Japan and the other from California, both were reasonably priced and I wasn't scammed out of anything. I think I really lucked out despite my naïveté at the time. 

Shortly after all this I discovered the EGL communities on LJ and my world drastically expanded from there.

I remember they both came in, one while I was at home while the other while I was at rehearsal. I could not believe my eyes when I threw them on and danced around like a fool in front of family and cast members who had no clue what was going one. I was simply too excited for words and I still find that simple joy from obtaining a new dress.

 

So that's it for now, here are a few other Loli's with their stories on how they got into Lolita, which you may appreciate as well, check them out.

The Cute Lifestyle

Gothic Strawberry

Sidhe Banshee

Northern Star

Oh Velveteena!

All Sweet Indeed

Alice in Lolitaland

Wild Jackalopes

Her Lumpiness

LBC: Your Perfect Themed Halloween Party

A little late, but I've been dealing with accident after accident these past few days, like slipping and falling down a full flight of stairs, but that is simply life for me. (I even did some falling at this particular party this meet up was for, I'm accident prone like that)

Anywho, on the 20th my bestie and I had our 3rd annual Lolita Halloween themed meet up and t was an absolute blast! We had games, contests with prizes, decorations, and tons of food, with a little music thrown in.

Everyone was dressed so lovely for the event, each coordinate was themed, whether obvious or subtle, and we started off by introducing everyone and what their theme was.

After the guests arrived and introduced, we popped out the punch with a little extra surprise of floating eyeballs and served out the dishes, and desserts like our two tiered, home~made, cake we worked on creating with the theme print this year. 

Everyone enjoyed the food and conversation as we parked ourselves outside with the decorated backyard, filled with spiderwebs, Halloween hello kitty, and a game space for our big game that we would soon play.

This year, we didn't have enough space to indulge in a game of man~hunt in our Victorian park so we changed it up with a game we created that's sort of like a toss game, however, there are certainly more rules and zombies...

It was a Zombie Lolita toss game to be exact! 

We had to rotate each game because we only made 3 Lolita zombie, but we had volunteers hold up our girls and others do the tossing.

The object of the game is to hit your lolita zombie with a little ping pong eyeball and if you hit your zombie moved away, if you missed it got closer to you. You could hit your opponents and try to get them out too but how fast your game ended really relied on your skill and the luck of the draw. (If you'd like to get the whole "How to Play" info, I'll be more than happy to message them to you, just leave a comment or message me.)

After we all had our turns we held our two prize contests that we award little prizes for two different prizes for. 

Our first was for the best coordinate, where the guests all vote for whoever they think had the best coordinate either based on their coordinate theme. This year was really difficult! We had an elegant mermaid, a cute deer, even satan! (Or sateen as she preferred it pronounced.^_^) Everyone looked so awesome and cute in all there coords, it was really hard for guests to choose.

The second contest was to guess the weight of our returning mascot Pumpkinchan, the bride of Yanenstein! Every year, SweetOkashi and I always deck out a pumpkin with the most ridiculous of wigs and Ita her up a bit to make her the perfect Yanenstein bride. This year we decked her out with the prizes for our contest winners and a Halloween striped headbow, as you can see here.

After that we took a group picture and had intended to decorate masks for a group craft, however, we hunkered down in my living room and told a ghost story that stirred laughter and awe, then things winded down a bit and we saw a few of our guests off.

All in all, it was such a lovely day. If I were to think of adding or changing anything I would probably add a little more time to the party agenda, smaller prizes for the lolita zombie game winners, do up even crazier decorations, and more food or a wider variety to choose from, but I thoroughly enjoyed the day.

 

For those who want to read more about different Halloween Themed meet ups look up these lovely loli's involved in the Lolita Blog Carnival!

 The Cute Lifestyle 

 F Yeah Lolita 

Nothern Star 

 Suns in Our Hands 

Hello Batty

Thanks for reading, now pull up a chair and enjoy the tea party!

LBC: My Favorite Print Theme In Lolita

Looking through Lolibrary, Hello Lace, and every brand website I just can't stop myself from tagging favorite pieces, whether for the intricate and well thought out cut of a piece or simply the print itself, I'm almost always checking out something new in lolita.

So, as it is for many, you can understand my conundrum of picking out one favorite print, so here's my most favorite of prints.

NEVERLAND

In lolita there tends to be a wide variety of prints and each theme tends to be favored by someone. Most brands, whether Japanese or indie, tend to love our beloved Alice in Wnderland, of course what's not to love? However, there is hardly enough out there for Peter Pan, I believe I can only think of two dress prints that are anything inspired by J.M.Barrie's tale of a boy who never aged and lived on the back of the wind. 

Now, i'm fairly certain if you've read any of my first posts in my blog, you'll know just how much i love this particular print. Night Fairy Fantasia was and will always be my number 1 dream print, there is definitely sentimental value for me, tucked away in every detail.

Never has a print so captivated me as much as this one has. The story of Peter Pan and Neverland has always been a favorite story of mine and to see it so well depicted on a dress has me quite smitten that I feel like I could stand to acquire all color ways split across either jumper skirt styles.

I recently received the black color way in the version pictured aboveor quite a reasonable price, I was ecstatic when I saw it went for my initial bid.

The print itself floats with different iconic images from the story, Neverland, Big Ben, and the Jolly Roger, they're all there. I do love this print so much and have been on a hunt for more pieces from the series and Neverland themed prints and designs.

Recently, Baby and Alice released a special dress series and put out several different designs and pieces and one happened to be a Tinkerbell theme dress design.

A gorgeous set that after seeing it in the show made me hope for something else Neverland~ish to come our way from Baby or Alice. I feel they may come through with more prints soon enough, fingers crossed.

Another brand that has done a Neverland/Peter Pan piece would be by Samantha Rei, formerly of Blasphamena's Closet, under the new label Samantha Rei. She designed this absolutely adorable dress in a green color way that reminds me of the murky waters of the pirate harbor. The print name is Shooting Star and the jsk is called Rose.

I really love Neverland and it's wonderful stories of adventure and truly hope for more to come in prints and designs in lolita. 

I'm not the only one who wrote about their favorite prints and designs in lolita, check out these other lovelies and what they think in this edition of the Lolita Blog Carnival. You can learn more about it on the Facebook page, here.

3 Secrets For Getting Into Lolita

There are a few things that I wish I had known going into Lolita so this topic got me thinking of a few tips and tricks that would be good for beginners.

FINDING STAPLE PIECES

A lot of the times on the comm sales someone will post, "good for beginner Lolita" and you may come to find it as a wonderful staple piece in your wardrobe.

But beware!

What you need to look for in a beginner piece isn't that tag line. Pay attention to the lace, that is one of the most important things when looking at a potential find. The second thing to really pay attention to is the silhouette of the item. It doesn't have to be brand to be a wonderful piece but keep in mind how it should fit. The material of the dress itself is also important, keep away from shiny materials. Lastly, make sure YOU enjoy the piece.

Also, doing bodyline for even a beginning piece is not always the greatest. Not all of their pieces are lolita even if listed in the lolita section and not all the prices are just right. You can find a good brand piece second hand for almost the same price.

Now you may hear that all the time, but these are tried and true factors in lolita.

SEWING AND CRAFTING

There are always things to be needed in lolita, things that do wonders for any wardrobe are the skills to sew and craft. When I was starting, I derped hard and did not even think about sewing or crafting. I mean I knew how to do it, but I wasn't really ready to put into action inklings I had in my head. Have confidence and try to really work through ideas and looking up other designs of legit brand is always a good motivator and help in the process.

There weren't many patterns out that were loli~able but there are now, and whether your skills are beginner or top notch, there is always something out there.

DO RESEARCH!!!

Nothing is more important than this! Well...besides having fun with it, but I believe the research is part of the fun. Learning what the proper silhouette is for the style in general and also learning all the different sub~styles. Yes, experimenting is a part of research, but part of the fun in making a coordinate is finding all the right pieces and knowing what looks good with what, and what is acceptable.

Not only is there research to do for the look but researching where to get that look. You can find out from resources where to find the best and most trustworthy brands, whether indie or straight out of Japan, and where great accessories can be found, or great deals on second hand. There is a plethora of info out there at your disposal all you need to do is look it up. Checking out egl on livejournal or lolita groups on fb like lolita mentoring are really fabulous assets that you should keep tabs on.

Here are the some other good secrets from this weeks blog carnival!

Suns In Our Hands

The Cute Lifestyle

Her Lumpiness

Lolita Glamour

SunnyMacabre

R Gorey

Lace a la Mode

Oh Velveteena

Hello Batty

ImaPrincess

Pretty Little Habits

LBC: 3 Trends I Could Never Get Into In Lolita

SIt took me a bit of time to think of three things I would never do in lolita, but these are things I just can't see myself doing. A few are simply because I find them silly or would look silly on me, one in particular is because I simply can't at the moment.

That being said, let's get to it.

Ankle Socks.

I find some of them so cute! I really like the frilly and delicate ones being put out lately. Brands have been putting out all sorts of really cute ones. So why is this on my lists of things I won't and don't, you ask?

Sadly and simply enough, I have scars all over my legs that look like bruises from a terrible allergic reaction to god knows what and they go up to just below my knees. However, the moment these bad boys fade away with the help of some vitamin E, and maybe some make up or thicker nude color tights I'm down.

Next on my lists of big no~nos:

Cat Ears/Rabbit Ears/Antlers.

You know the type I'm talking about. Cat ears are my worst pet peeve for sure. I don't even like Baby's Kitty Kitty Rhapsody print. I don't mind it with maid costumes and I don't mind if you want to just take them out for a stroll on the town, but they just really irk me. I don't mind the sweaters with the ears attached, but regular cat ears I just can't....

Bunny ears and antlers are in a similar area for me, but I have seen some really fantastic well done coords with them. I definitely don't think headband bunny ears are acceptable for some strange reason that eludes me (the ones where the headband part aren't seen look good though), but I've seen a lovely rabbit ear cap made and worn with an awesome coord. So all in all, I'm finding them in a grey area because I feel I would look silly but I would be willing to try them.

 I do also like the little usagi head bows but I don't really feel many look finished with anything but maybe casual lolita.

Aprons.

I am not a maid. I will not wear an apron unless I am hosting something for a meet up that I am required to handle food. I do like classic ones, but I really would prefer not using them. I find them more maid and not lolita and almost kind if pointless because I wouldn't want to dirty them if they were brand and even though historically aprons have held a strangely large part in women's fashion up until the Victorian era really, I'm just not feeling it. 

Well that's all she wrote for tonight folks!

Got through that easier than I thought I would, hope you enjoyed!

Later, next week, I'll do a Lolita Haul post. I just got a very large package from Japan.

Don't forget to check out these other frilly ladies as they blog about things they can't get into in this weeks Lolita Blog Carnival.

If you would like to join or learn more always check the link here!

Lemontree11, 

Lace a la Mode, 

Her Lumpiness, 

Under the Parasol,

Dollhouse Diaries, 

Lolita Glamour, 

Pretty Little Habits, 

Ice Age, 

A Sweet Lolita’s Disney Life ,

Alice In Lolitaland

Papillon de Nuit

LBC: Design A Complete Coordinate For Only $100

I believe this may have been the first post in the Lolita Blog Carnival that I stumbled on that immediately made me want to join in the fun! This is an anniversary post and I think it was one of my favorite topics that I really wanted to make a go at and for fun I browsed and built but never posted anything, but I feel maybe would make a good segment post every week or so and keep me going strong.

$75.00

$7.80

$4.80

Check out the frills on these ladies!

Her Lumpiness

Jess Cosmic Delight

The Silent Revival

Sweet and Simple

Lace a la Mode

If you would like to learn more about the LBC feel free to check out the FB page, here!

Everyone has built pretty awesome pieces and I left their links above and under the banner so please check them out. I'd also like to post the link for the previous years $100 Coordinate posts as well in a second section under the recent ones, here, so take a peek at these as well!

A Lace Jail 

Darkly Darling

Her Curious Elegance  

Magic a la Mode

Miss Lumpy 

Parfait Doll 

Puppenschloss 

Ramble Rori 

Starry Dreams 

Sweet and Simple

F Yeah Lolita 

Tips For Surviving The Summer In Lolita

Summer is approaching...and I'm ready for it!

I have new summery pieces in the mail that I'm just dying to add to my wardrobe, with strawberries and cherries and gingham galore. I can't seem to think anything but fruit for summer, not really anyway.

I've really been trying to think of things that can help beat the heat and stay kawaii without loosing half the meticulously planned coordinate that we all plan out before meet ups, or daily life for those of us who wear the frills on a daily basis. However, I do have things I've always carried around for a summer day and SOME ideas that I would like to put into action.

1) Lightweight  Blouses and Boleros.

Btssb Lace and Frill Bolero

Of course it doesn't have to be chiffon blouses and boleros they can be lightweight cotton too, but out of most fabrics these are probably the easiest to wear when picnicking outdoors. Where blouses are the usual staple to any Loli wardrobe, boleros are also a cooler choice when trying to beat the heat. And if you are daring when it gets TOO hot you can always remove your bolero a lot easier than a blouse (if need be!). Which brings me to my next tip...

2) Coordinate Accordingly.

AP Halterneck jsk with lace bolero definitely kept me cool today.

 

I said that chiffon materials are really light weight and helps keep you cool outdoors but think of where your meet is being held. Is it in a highly shaded area? Is it in an AC~ed environment? Will you be moving from hot to cold? If you don't know exactly the itinerary for your meet, check with the hostess or call ahead if there is a contact for the location. Being prepared always makes coordinating easier on the you and your clothing.

3) Keep Cool With A Fan.

Btssb Fans

Of course, having a fan on hand is always a wonderful thing, especially when the design of your fan accents your coord (doesn't have to, but it's cute). Though it may turn out to be one more thing to carry, it's good to keep on you just in case.

4) Drink Lots Of Water.

This should go without saying, really. It's good for your body and skin and helps maintain your body temperature. It also replaces the water you would loose throughout the day and create a better balance. You don't have to go around chugging a bottle of water during a meet but even doing so before would be a great benefit to you.

5) If There's Lolita There's Tea!

Not entirely true...but a very prevalent theme in meets and I, of course, can't go without. I like to beat the heat with iced cold teas if I can draw myself away from a hot cup. The wonderful thing is now there is more than your generic iced green teas that you can find at any convenience store.

If you're really creative and into making a lovely picnic even more so pick out a fruit blend from your super market (or Teavana) and you can either make your own iced drink or turn it into a frozen pop! That idea of course only works well if you have access to a freezer or an awesome cooler. Get creative

I'll post a tutorial for some of my favorite blends that I've cooked up and enjoyed over the start of our more summery weather.

6) Hats...

AP Logo Plate Straw Hat

I do usually coord with a cute Boater cap or some sort of vintage chapeau that I tend to pick from antique shops. Speaking of boater caps, they're also historically known as a conotier, surprisingly enough, and worn by men and women as early as the mid-19th century. Keeping a cap on can help keep you from getting too much sun.

7) Parasols.

AP Whipped Cherry Berry Umbrella

What can I say besides it keeps you out of the sun more and allows you to actually walk around and enjoy more space. Parasols go waaaaaayyyy back and have always been seen as a sign of prosperity. They were always seen

Lace a la Mode,

Ima-Princess,

Ramble Rori,

F Yeah Lolita,

Starry-Eyed Lolita,

Jess Cosmic Delight,

A Sweet Lolita’s Disney Life,

Lolita in the Sky with Diamonds,

Alpine Heidi

Lolita In Wonderland