March Haul

My taobao order is taking ages to complete, because the one thing I need shipped hasn't arrived with the SS yet and the seller isn't responding either ugh

Just a Y!J haul this month, accumulated from Jan + Feb. A lot of ouji / boystyle pieces this time, because I think it's a gorgeous look that I want to try!

 Novle vest from Alice and the Pirates. It has pockets (!) and is made from a thick fabric

BPN jacket

 d.i.a. napoleon jacket, saw a picture of buttcape wearing it once, and needed to have one too *_*

 "Tight Stretchy Pants" from AatP which I find hilarious, because are the pants tight or stretchy?? (The answer is tight on me hahah)

 d.i.a. shirt, much tighter fit than I expected (same with the napoleon jacket) but thankfully I can still squeeze in. The collar of this shirt is a bit different because it's wired o.o

 Decorative collar pin that came with the d.i.a. shirt

 Fairy tales pouchette from AatP. I have one in ivory x gold and thought this was navy x gold, but alas it is silver D:

 Q-pot chocolate wrist band

 

Disney Winnie the Pooh rings. Came in seriously cute wrapping tissue, and with some sort of brochure. The rings themselves are a cheap alternative to q-pot's more expensive collab, and are quite nice

January / February Hauls

I received 4 packages during January and February, which I'll share here. Am really excited for some big orders coming in soon from taobao and Y!J :3


First was this Crowning Glory II JSK in Midnight. It was a preorder available to people who had bought the first release, because honestly the quality of that first one was disappointing (slubbing on the fabric). This release however, is fantastic and I'm really glad they found a great fabric supplier. Also happy that it was a preorder, since ours were made by hand and aligned perfectly, because PepFox also tried to manufacture some with another business which turned out wonky.

They also included a King of Foxes badge because the preorders were meant to be completed by November, and were delayed until January. It's super nice of them, and they also gave out a $10 discount code *w*

Next is a blouse I commissioned from The Floral Notebook. The colour is spot on, and matches the odd peach of my Angel's Whisper JSK in ivory BUT the blouse is huge! I gave her my exact measurements, and I'm not sure what happened, but in comparison to normal clothing sizes, if I'm normally a size M, what I received was size XL :x

I ended up caving and buying a 'potato sack / paper bag' dress because well... because chocolate! It was reasonably priced, and I *thought* I had enough AP chocolate pieces in my wardrobe already to be able to match this easily. Turns out, this 'bitter' is making me bitter, because even AP chocolate themed items don't match its colour xD Another annoying thing about it is it changes between warm and cool tones in different lighting :v

What I do like is that the front is very plain, whilst the back is quite fancy. I have a few ideas for things to spice up the front, but it's a piece that looks better worn rather than laid flat.

Last but not least is the Pink Up / Long Ears & Sharp Ears lucky pack! It was very cheap and the dress possibilities were really tempting, so I tried my luck. I really like what I got, and it was indeed lucky heh

They quadruple wrapped things, with three plastic bags, stuck the items inside the Alice & Macaron bag AND the dresses were in plastic sleeves lolol

 A mini desk calendar, with art from both PinkUp and L&SEars. This was my favourite picture, but the calendar itself is not so practical, as you can see, the dates are tiny haha

I received two bow accessories, both listed at $8 each on the storenvy. Quality of the fabric is good, but construction wise the head bow was a little lacking (you can see the hot gluing has failed it)

 The Alice & Macaron bag has a cute PinkUp logo inside, and is fully lined with a sturdy polyester I think, so it's actually very good quality and roomy enough for A4 notebooks :D

One of the dresses I got is the Azure Porcelain pleated dress. The alignment of the fabric is perfect, and a little unexpected (lots of my brand pieces don't even bother aligning the prints x.x) There is a little shirring around the waist, and I think it would be great for otome outfits.

 

 The last item in the lucky pack is this Map to Buried Treasure JSK in grey. I actually bought the lucky pack in the hopes of getting my hands on one of these pieces, and I did so yay! The grey and ivory parts are made from a soft suede which feels velvety, and would be a great A/W dress.

Both dresses are listed at $140 each on the website, so the total of the fully priced items would be $296, and the lucky pack only cost $115, which is a great 60% discount. What I like though, is that the accessories AND dresses sent to me are all in the same colour scheme, so I can actually wear them together. How thoughtful! I definitely recommend grabbing a lucky pack from these studios in the future, they're a steal :D

Lolita Blog Carnival: How I've Changed In Lolita Over The Last Year

There have been a few very noticeable changes in both the style of lolita that I wear, and how I coord pieces as well. Having only started wearing Lolita in January 2014, I had lots to improve on and also needed a little experimentation to get a feel of what I feel most comfortable in.


At first, I was woefully lacking in accessories. The first time I ever wore lolita, I slapped on a white blouse I had lying around, put my Glass Bottle of Tears JSK (freshly taken out of it's postage packaging), slipped on a pair of neon blue flats and waltzed out with my family to the mall. I've since deleted any evidence of my earliest blunders haha. I think I've gotten better at putting outfits together now, they're more balanced and the elements / themes match more or less. A lot of it has to do with getting more 'stuff' in general though, not sure if I can take credit for actually improving :1

The left picture was taken in April, and the right in November.

Another shift in how I've changed in lolita over the past year is that I used to be really into sweet prints, especially Angelic Pretty releases. I was obsessed with Milky Planet, all things chocolate (still am) and fruit. I've now transitioned into being head over heels in love with religious motifs, especially stained glass. Although I haven't sold all of my sweet pieces, I don't wear them nearly as often as my classic ones now.

A few other blog entries on the same topic:

Whimsical Adventures of Me | My Life's Liberetto | Armure de Rose

Alice in Lolitaland | Violet Lunchell | Kingdom of Frilly Magic

2014 - 2015 Wardrobe

 2014 was my first year of being interested in, buying and wearing lolita. I wanted to do a wardrobe post this year, because what made me need to start buying was the wardrobe posts from last year. My style is all over the place, so I've only documented my main pieces, because I have far too many blouses, legwear and accessories.

I have a heap of JSKs because it's easy to switch things up between them, and they're generally more flattering on my body

 
AP Glass Bottle of Tears: My first ever dress, and I was ecstatic to be able to buy it because the print was one I adored from browsing other people's wardrobe posts IW Nicholas Fruits: My second dress, and one that I wear for mainly outside/picnic events (since I already stained it)

 
IW Icing Cookie: I bought the high waisted JSK when it was on sale, and recently got the apron JSK in a lucky pack -perhaps I'll sell the h/w one

 
Rococo-soul United States of Chocolate: Haven't worn this out yet, as it's quite an assault on the eyes xD IW Tea Time: A great casual piece, but I want to shorten the skirt part a little

 
AP Royal Creamy Chocolate: Super cute but also really short, I like to wear it casually, and the glitter lame print is cool AP Royal Chocolate (2012): A versatile piece, but also on the short side. It was a dream dress and I was super happy to get it for a reasonable price

 
IW Marine Rose: Just got this in a LP, but I love the colours and the print - not too sure about the bodice though BtssB Angel's Gentle Whisper in the Heavenly Holy Night Melody: One of my dream dresses (although I wouldn't say no to the navy colourway), the print is amazing and so is the design of the dress

 
Dream of Lolita Library print: This is one of DoL's few original designs, and for some reason I get a lot of nice comments when I wear this out Infanta Power and Thrones: This is my only velvet piece, and as a beginner I thought I desperately needed the screenprint xD

 
IW Royal Parade: Another one of the dresses I wear often and without much consideration for how dirty it may get, the print is very interesting AatP Stained Glass Angel: It was my number 1 dream dress, and also the most expensive piece in my wardrobe. I would probably kill to get my hands on an original 2006 BtssB Koitsukihime black JSK/OP

 
IW Strahov Library: A rare bordeaux, the cut makes the JSK versatile and I adore the book print AatP Horoscope / Constellation: Again, the print is gorgeous and the underbust cut is flattering on myself

 
CEL St Augustine: The neckhole is really small, but the stained glass print is totally worth it Luna Rossa End of Vanitas: Vibrant colours on this piece make it easy to coord with jewel tone items, but the print is a bit blotchy

 
Krad Lanrete Lost in Sea Blue: Beautiful beautiful print, but the cut makes me look super frumpy orz Little Dipper ???: Another really pretty print, but it's really short and the lining is a bit weird, so I call this my 'mahou shoujo' dress and will probably never wear it as lolita I didn't have my ecailles De Lune Forest of Pipe Organ JSK on hand to photograph 

I only have a few skirts, I don't like to tuck my blouse in, but most of my blouses aren't short enough to not tuck in argh-

 
Infanta Dark Magic Party: It's a salopette, but I couldn't be bothered to attach the other piece. Quite versatile, I like to wear it casually, or under heavy dresses to amp up poof Bodyline Strawberry Shortcake: Really cute and nice for casual summer outfits

 
AP Royal Chocolate (2012): The high waisted skirt is really flattering, and can be worked in many different styles AatP Galactic Journey to the Stars: The waist is really tight, so I'll have to lose some weight before trying to wear this pretty print out

 
These are the only two OPs I own that I plan on keeping
 IW Antique Doll: I love how detailed everything from the lace on the cuffs are, down to the removable bustle, this should be really awesome to wear in winter. I also received the matching hat IW Rose Emblem: Plain for sure, but it's an amazing old-school style piece I'm really happy to have gotten from a LP

 
My only brand coat IW ??? Sailor Coat: Just got this in a LP as well, and I can't find it on lolibrary, but it's super thick. I can't wait for winter to put this baby on. 

The above were all the main pieces I collected in 2014, and I hope to add some more older BtssB and AatP pieces in the 2015 year 

AatP - Galactic Journey to the Stars

Talking about another Alice and the Pirates print this week, which is Galactic Journey to the Stars (sorry the photos are a bit weird, it was really hard to capture the real colour of the piece). Isn't it odd that the print includes a train flying through the night sky, a crane and several apples? That's because the print is based off of Kenji Miyazawa's novel, Night on the Galactic Railroad. 

Honestly, the story itself is quite mediocre to me, the ending being especially puzzling. After all of his travels and the death of his friend, the main character (Giovanni) literally goes home to give his mother some milk. 

What I do find interesting is the religious connotations behind the story. The views presented seem somewhat opposing, though the author manages to fuse ideas from various 'religions' together and make them align.

The milky way is first discussed in a scientific setting, in Giovanni's classroom. Later, as he and his friend travel between stars IN the milky way, it becomes apparent that the train is some sort of transcendent vessel, bearing each passenger to their afterlife. I think it is more reminiscent of the Christian religion, the idea of a heaven in a lofty place, inaccessible to the general populace. 

Text on the print itself reveals the designers' intent to convey that the story is indeed about Christianity for some part, because it reads: "Even though it be a cross that raiseth me. Nearer, my God, in Thee". The cross could refer both to the Crucifix, or the Northern Stars visited on the journey. 

Regarding the prominent appearance of apples on the print, here's an extract from Anime Introspection: In "Christianity, apples symbolize knowledge and defilement. NotGR however, reclaims that image. Here, they represent people understanding their limitations as individuals and accepting community - and the necessity of making sacrifices for humanity’s greater good - as a way to make up for their flaws. NotGR stresses over and over again that people value humanity or some abstract conception of “life” over themselves, and that this path leads to profound spiritual contentment." This concept and the fact that the designers emphasised it on the design, impressed me more than anything. Even the tiny trees on the border print have little glitter apples on them.

Another part of the design that I like is the tickets. They're labelled with the names of some of the constellations which are stops for the rail train, and is a super cute touch.

The cranes are actually herons, and in the story, there is a man who catches them to make candy out of them! I don't find the story that great, but I do appreciate the ideas that Miyazawa conveys, and the ultimate question posed: "what is true happiness?"

November Purchases

This is the collation of a few months' purchases, including one parcel from FJ and another from TBN. I will be using SpreeNow after this, which is TaobaoNow's newly developed website.

As always, FJ was quick and easy to use, although for some reason the sellers I bought from this time all took ages to ship the items domestically. Overly protective packaging, but I'm glad they put the layers of thick paper in, because I would've been very upset if customs slashed my pieces xD

 

 

First up is my BtssB Angel's Gentle Whisper in the Heavenly Holy Night Melody pattern Michael JSK in carol (ivory). Which is a huge mouthful, so I'll just refer to it as Angel's Whisper lol. It's super beautiful, the glitter details and colours are amazing. It's missing the pearl chain, and I've already ordered the supplies to make my own substitute. I'm unsure about the back lacing, the lace they've used as the grommets is very thin and looks like it could break easily :v

This is a terrible picture, but it's the AatP Galactic Journey to the Stars skirt, bonnet and OTKs set that I scored. I'll be doing a blog post on the specific print in a few days, with close ups and such.

 

Innocent World Chocolate Chess OTKs in brown

AatP head bow (or so the seller said, I have a feeling it's hand made though, because it has no tag and the quality is debatable) 

Antaina gold shoes, super sweet and a warmer tone than the BL ones

Super high quality head bows in 3 colours with adorable pearl drops, and another great floral head bow

Two Little Dipper blouses, the brown one is a really soft chiffon (with nice long sleeves!) and the white is a stiffer cotton

 

 Two blouses from different taobao shopfronts, but I think they're from the same factory because they came in the same printed plastic bags. Awesome quality for the prices, and both came withe a jabot / bow
Princess sleeves | Other blouse

Black hair piece | White hair piece | 4 bows | Pair of bows | Floral hair piece

MILK replica gold heart bag

 

 LunaRossa End of the Vanitas JSK - print is a bit fuzzy close up, but my goodness it's still gorgeous and I didn't think I'd enjoy wearing human faces all this much! I just dislike that small bow at the waist, it looks really out of place and too sweet for the piece :x

 
 Ecailles de Lune Forest of Pipe Organ JSK - aaaaaaaaah! I first reserved this because I couldn't find Lief's Night at Basilica for sale, but honestly, I like this more now. The print is gorgeous, ombre effect amazing and the light chiffon will be great for warmer days.