Christmas Eve: Walking in a Winter Wonderland

December 25, 2013October 27, 2014 / lolitaland / 5 Comments

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it, and Happy Holidays (and have a great winter season) to those who do not~! I don’t really celebrate Christmas, but every year, I like to give out presents to family and friends during the months of December and January. (Although my grandparents and mother always complain when I give them presents… xD) I like showing my gratitude during the winter season by giving presents to people who mean something special to me. Even though I don’t really celebrate Christmas, I have always wanted to do something special on Christmas Eve when I was growing up. Perhaps it is because I grew up surrounded by people who went on vacations during Winter Break, or did fun things with family and/or friends on Christmas Eve, and for me, Christmas Eve just seemed like a normal day at home.

This winter break, a college friend and I are house-sitting for a friend of the college. So this is my first winter break away from home… that, in itself, is quite exciting! The place I am house-sitting has a Christmas tree. We water the tree everyday, and I love seeing the tree. When it’s dark, I like to turn on the Christmas lights. The ornaments and lights are so pretty together…

I brought some lolita things with me to wear, but I know I won’t be able to wear them much. After all, lolita clothes are not the best things to wear when you are caring for chickens and other animals. I wouldn’t want to stain my skirts or JSKs!

However, I had the chance to pretty myself up and go out in lolita! Yesterday, my friend Terry (who I call my lolita big sister) came to pick me up for some winter festivities.

We took lots of selcas~

We began by going to an exhibit called Walking in a Winter Wonderland. There were various indoor areas decorated with lots of trees and pretty scenes:

Sitting in a pretty gazebo

There were even moments when fake snow (made from soap, I believe) poured down from the ceilings!

Fake snow is fun because… it isn’t cold!~

After we finished walking through this Winter Wonderland, there was a professional photographer waiting at the last point. We had our photos taken and received some cute prints! I don’t have them with me at the moment (I forgot to take my copies; Terry has them at the moment). But I hope to give the photo prints to my mother and grandparents the next time I see them.

When we left the Winter Wonderland, we decided it would be fun to take some outdoor photos nearby! We walked around and found an area with cute historic buildings.

An old school house

After taking photos of each other and chatting about family and possible other activities to do while wearing lolita in the future, Terry and I recorded silly clips of each other in this area. I decided to put together some of these clips for my first lolita-centric YouTube video. After some thought, I decided to make a YouTube channel. Once we decided that was enough filming for the day, Terry and I found an outdoor gazebo for some more fun photos!

Terry was really hungry after this, and it was also getting late… so we decided it was a good time to get some food. We went to a small Vietnamese restaurant for our Christmas Eve lunch. Terry had Vietnamese udon noodle and seafood soup, and I had stir-fry rice noodles with beef and vegetables. There was hardly anyone in the restaurant, probably because it was Christmas Eve and most people are eating at home with their families.

All in all, yesterday was a lovely Christmas Eve! I am really grateful that Terry dropped by and picked me up to do something fun on Christmas Eve. Snapping photos, eating good food, wearing lolita, and enjoying the company of a friend are all great ways to spend a day.

Today, by contrast, I am taking care of the animals and wearing a sweatshirt and leggings. I wouldn’t want to crawl through the chicken coop in my lolita clothes…

[EDIT: Here is the Video. ^_^]

How did you spend your Christmas Eve? Do you have any plans for this week?

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.

DSCN6035

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