A Peek Inside Your Closet

December 21, 2013 / lolitaland / Leave a comment

This week’s LBC topic is “A Peek Inside Your Closet~!” In preparation for this prompt, I snapped some photos of my closet’s interior earlier this week.

When you look into my closet, here is what you see:

Most of my lolita clothes are hung up here, but I also have loliable shirts and cutsews folded in my drawer. I keep my socks in a plastic container, and my tights are stuffed in a hanging closet organizer. Most of my accessories are in a plastic organizer that sits on my dresser or in a plastic bag hanging in my closet.

Luckily, my dorm has a roomy closet and lots of hooks for hanging things on!

I hang up plastic bags on the hooks around the perimeter of my closet and keep small items in the bags, such as headbows and gloves. I also hang belts and hats on the hooks. My jewelry is stored in a metal tin or in the plastic organizer. I keep my petticoats in a jumbo reusable tote bag.

Guess how many petticoats I have?

Here are some cute peeks at what my closet looks like from below:

On the left is Dreamy Pony from BTSSB! ❤ I snagged the JSK and headbow from the EGL Comm Sales. It was my first purchase on a payment plan!

Not everything that is hanging here is lolita. (Although most of them are loliable items!) I hang up things that will get wrinkled if I fold them, or delicates that I would prefer to hang up than to fold and store in a drawer.

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That houndstooth thing on the left is my beloved coat. ❤ Unfortunately, it isn’t warm enough for the winter weather… I can only wear this coat in the fall or spring. (I can wear it in the winter if I wear my winter jacket over it… But then it looks really awkward.) The strap that is hanging down is a belt from one of my favorites shirts. It’s a charcoal gray button-down shirt that has a few layers of button holes for a faux-layered look. It isn’t loliable, but I love wearing that shirt when I’m not in lolita.

I wish I had the time to lay out all the items in my wardrobe and snap photos of them, but unfortunately, my final exams were this week and I did not have any time to take more photos before I had to leave my dorm for break.

I do have some recent mirror-photos of some favorite items from my wardrobe though! I am wearing them, but I am not wearing them for the purpose of a coordinate. Some of the items were the first bids I won from Mbok auctions. Please excuse my mess of a dorm in the photos below… (and the terrible blurry quality).

1) I am wearing my Soft Cream skirt from Bodyline! I bought this skirt as part of my first direct order from Bodyline. It’s such a cute sweet lolita skirt… I love the ice cream print. ❤ I am also wearing a cute cutsew that I found in a Parisian department store during my time studying abroad!

2) One of my first Mbok wins! I will write a blog post about Mbok later. One of my friends introduced it to me… and it is a beautiful place full of great deals! I purchased that white bonnet (but I am not sure if I like the way it sits on my head… I haven’t worn it out yet; I only tried it on to snap this photo), which is my first full bonnet, but I think I would prefer a stiff bonnet over a floppy one. I am wearing another Mbok win in this photo: the Lillie Laine JSK from BTSSB. It has detachable waist ties, cute heart-shaped buttons, and a very flattering (and comfortable) fit. Thank goodness for shirring…

3) BTSSB’s Dobby Cherry JSK is another dress that I won from my first Mbok haul. I love the cherry print! The waist is cinched in this JSK style, which I love. The skirt fits either a cupcake-shaped petticoat or an A-line petticoat, so this dress is very versatile. (Again, thank goodness for shirring! It fits comfortably, and I don’t have to suck in my stomach.) The socks I’m wearing are from a local store; they are just plain white OTKs.

4) I am wearing a skirt that is technically no longer part of my wardrobe because it is up for sale. It is a skirt I love though, because it has a fully shirred waistband and is made from very easy-to-care for fabric! I love the purple plaid ruffles that contrast against the black fabric (and there are even two cute little bows). This skirt is very comfy, but I am selling it because I do not think it fits well into my wardrobe. I do not have much purple, so it is hard to bring out the purple of the trim. In the past, I have paired this skirt with a purple sweatshirt for a casual look. The bolero I am wearing in this photo is something I have only tried on in my room and have never worn out. It is my first h.NAOTO item, and I am saving it. I am not sure why I am saving it, to be honest… But I suppose a part of me is afraid to wear it randomly. I want this bolero to be part of a nice coordinate!

I hope you had fun taking a peek into my closet~! ❤ I am sorry about the lack of blog posts lately. I have been very busy with academics, but now that I am on winter break, expect more posts to be on their way! If you have any requests for a specific post, just let me know.

I also entered the Gothic Lolita Wigs Muse for a Weekend Contest, and I would really appreciate your vote. ^-^ I hope I can make it to Round 2! Round 1 ends on Sunday, so please vote for me soon. Thank you~!

~Be sure to read other blog posts on this topic for the Lolita Blog Carnival!

Sweet Indeed, Fire Extinguisher, Melting Mind of Liz Juice, Wearable Magic, A Little Bit of This… A Little Bit of That, Lolita Glamour, Lace Teapot, Pretty Little Habits

How I Got Interested in Lolita Fashion

November 8, 2013 / lolitaland / 2 Comments

How did I get interested in Lolita fashion?

Well, I remember when I first discovered Lolita fashion, five or six years ago. I was browsing through the manga section of a bookstore, Borders (does anyone remember store? It is out of business now…), and then I found a shelf that had larger print books. Most of the books on this shelf were manga artbooks and books about Japanese popular culture. But then… one book in particular caught my eye: the Gothic & Lolita Bible. This was an issue of the English version, published by TokyoPop (does anyone remember this publishing company?).

I sat down on the floor by the bookshelf and began reading this jumbo magazine. I was amazed by all of the pretty photos… There was even a section displaying releases from Baby the Stars Shine Bright and Atelier Boz! In any case, this was my first time learning about these Lolita brands and what Lolita fashion was all about. By the time I read half-way through the Gothic & Lolita Bible, I had a vague sense of the Lolita fashion aesthetic. I was not sure about the different substyles yet, but I already found this fashion really appealing. After a brief debate with myself, I decided to use my Borders gift card on this magazine/book.

After that, I read and re-read the Gothic & Lolita Bible many times. I also researched the fashion online a bit, but not too much. I forgot about Lolita fashion for a while until I stumbled across the HelloLace website and EGL on Livejournal. When I found these websites, I did deeper research in Lolita fashion and then I realized I really wanted to try wearing this fashion style too.

Needless to say, since then, I have been trying to build up my wardrobe. I always thought I would stop once I got a good petticoat, a blouse or two, and a JSK and a few skirts… but of course, Lolita fashion is addicting and I find myself always wanting more item to add to my wardrobe. I want to mix and match items, play with coordinating, try out different Lolita substyles, and have the freedom of choices when dressing in Lolita. I don’t know if I will leave Lolita fashion in the future, but as of now, I don’t see myself giving Lolita up. Wearing Lolita makes me really happy, even if my coordinates don’t look good or if I wear simple/casual coords.

What about you? How did you get interested in Lolita fashion? And here is a question I always love to ask: How often do you wear Lolita? Every day? A few days a week? Once a month? Only for meet-ups or conventions?

~Be sure to read other blog posts on this topic for the Lolita Blog Carnival!

Gothic Strawberry, The Cute Lifestyle, Her Lumpiness, Sidhe Banshee, Northern Star, Oh Velveteena, Sweet Indeed

3 Trends I Could Never Get Into

October 5, 2013 / lolitaland / 3 Comments

This Week’s Prompt: 3 Trends You Could Never Get Into

I am not sure if all of these are considered Lolita trends, but here is a list of three things in Lolita fashion that I don’t think I could ever get into:

1) Rockinghorse Shoes

I know that many Lolitas love Rockinghorse Shoes, and I think they work well in some coordinates, but this is one trend that I would never be able to get into. I do not like how the bottoms of the shoes are shaped… They don’t look quite like platforms, and I don’t know if I would be able to wear them. If I trip while wearing heels or wedges, I would definitely be falling all over the place if I wore these Rockinghorse Shoes. They look like you could just rock forward by accident… and then BAM! You fall flat on your face. Also, I am not sure if the straps on the Rockinghorse Shoes (at least on the ones pictured above) would be able to stay up on my legs. I like the criss-cross strappy look, but I don’t know if it will work for me.

2) Stuffed Animal Bags

Stuffed animals are cute, and lots of Lolita bags and purses are cute, but I honestly do not like combining stuffed animals and bags for Lolita fashion. Many brands release stuffed animals with straps, pockets, etc. to be used as purses and small backpacks. I don’t know… but the idea of storing stuff inside a plush toy creeps me out a bit. Especially if there is a zippered pocket behind the animal’s head or in the back of the animal… It’s as if you were going to rip open the cute little creature’s skin and then stuff a wallet and some extra bobby pins and a camera into the thing’s flesh. Before I go into any more imagery… I’ll simply say that this is one trend that I will never get into. I do think stuffed animals can be cute accessories though! But not as purses.

3) The Christian Cross in Gothic Lolita

I love the Gothic Lolita style, and I would like to get more into this substyle of Lolita fashion in the future, but I honestly do not feel comfortable wearing Lolita items that feature the Christian cross. I know some people feel comfortable with it, but personally, I do not feel comfortable wearing an item with this religious symbol on it. I am not a Christian, so I would feel awkward if I was wearing a clothing item with the Christian cross or the Crucifix on it. I do not want to feel as though I am appropriating a religious symbol for fashion. I know some people who are not Christian love wearing the cross on their clothing or cross pendant necklaces as part of their fashion style, and that is okay if they feel comfortable with it and do not use the religious symbols in an offensive way. But for me, personally, I do not feel comfortable wearing the cross. I do think the cross motif on dresses is very pretty to look at, and I love seeing Gothic Lolita coordinates with or without the Christian cross. I love looking at those gorgeous Moi-Meme-Moitie dresses with crosses but I would never buy the dresses.

And those are the 3 Lolita trends that I could never get into! I hope no one is offended by this; these are all only my opinions. I have friends who love Rockinghorse Shoes, stuffed animal bags, and/or Christian cross motifs on their clothes, and it’s totally okay. Everyone has their own personal preferences for fashion, and that’s one reason why I love fashion so much! Everyone can express themselves through the clothes that they choose to wear.

What do you think? Are there any trends that you could never get into? Or perhaps are there trends that you would like to get into, but are afraid to?