Tea-Tray in the Sky

Oh dear god, it's the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man....no, wait, it's Milanoo!!

2012-02-21T10:38:00.008+08:00

Just mention the words 'Milanoo' and 'quality' on the egl LJ comm and you'll get tons of remarks asking if you're a sock puppet/troll or much dire warnings to just stay the heck away from this china-based supplier of lolita fashion.

And those dire warnings are not without any basis. Milanoo is probably one of the most, if not, most heinous purveyor of lolita dress replicas that I have ever seen.

So for anyone who hasn't heard of Milanoo and do plan to purchase from them, please, don't, for the love of all that's holy. If you still don't believe me, head over to the egl comm: http://egl.livejournal.com/tag/review%20company%3A%20milanoo. There are some instances of buyers being pleasantly surprised when Milanoo sends them half-decent replicas but on the whole, the chances of one getting a dud are still too overwhelmingly high.

That being said, I am rather flabbergasted to come across this online article which speaks of Milanoo as a 'premier Lolita fashion supplier in China', its new 2012 lolita collection line (huh?!), plus its ongoing sale.

Don't bite the bullet, is all I can say.

~~~~~~~~

Feb. 10, 2012, 8:00 a.m. EST

Milanoo Features Lovely New Arrival Lolita Items

CHENGDU, China, Feb. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Global fashion apparel supplier Milanoo, a premier Lolita fashion supplier in China, announces the new arrival of a collection of the most concerning and popular spring Lolita products at its official website, http://www.milanoo.com/ .

In the 2012 Milanoo Lolita dress collection, intrinsic Lolita styles of classic, sweet, gothic, punk and Cosplay dresses are different with the latest Lolita fashion concepts and elements. Classic Victorian and aristocrat Lolita fashion is added by more color choices of apricot, silk red, gem blue, navy green and black. Traditional essential designs of pink floral, bow square and cross straps are refreshed by new types of delicate lace, which is pure and romantic.

When it comes to new designs of Milanoo's 2012 Lolita collection, casual and fashionable elements, like double-breasted and hoodie outwear, could be widely loved by both Lolita lovers and fashion pursuers.

At Milanoo.com, the latest sale means that you can enjoy 10% off of some selected Lolita coats, skirts and dresses by using the code LOLITANEW now through Feb, 16th, 2012. With this affordable and special collection of Lolita items, women will certainly get a reason to style themselves more appropriately.

Nowadays, Lolita is regarded as a philosophy of living rather than a dress style. More and more worldwide women customers are pursuing this different way of living and unearthly Lolita fashion. If you want something exciting then you can surely visit http://www.milanoo.com/en/promotions/specials-id-111921.html to know more about Milanoo's 2012 Lolita collection. There is a unique collection which you will come across and will admire it.

About Milanoo.com
Milanoo.com is one of the most established website where you can find a wide array of chic and unique dresses that will definitely help you to steal the gaze of others. The inventory of Milanoo includes wedding wears, cosplay dresses and Lolita items, wigs as well as women's lingerie, formal wear, wedding attire, shoes and handbags. Men's fashion, bedding, housewares and yoga essentials are also in the range of their business. Being the leading online shop for fashion, it always strives to bring something new and unique to fashion lovers.

A Tokyo Trip and A Dream Dressu

2012-02-04T16:18:00.008+08:00

So looks like I'll be heading off to Tokyo once more, come end March! Delta Airlines was having a pretty good deal on the airfare to Tokyo so I thought why not. I love my short getaways to Tokyo. And it's been more than a year since I've been to Tokyo! I know over a year isn't really that long a period to not go Tokyo and I've been to UK instead during this interim but there was a time (mad times, mad times) when I would jaunt off to Japan twice in a year due to low airfares. But I'm trying to ween myself off short Tokyo shopping trips because while airfares might be low, lolita dresses aren't!

But I'll be going with my mother on this trip and she calls my loli 'those poofy poofy dresses' and she doesn't really know how much lolita dresses cost and might have a heart attack if she does know, so having her around would be a deterrent to over-buying. Which, yes, is a good thing.

In other news, I found one of my dream dresses and got it!

Emily Temple Cute's Fairytale jsk!

And I do apologize to the girl, Baudelaire I assume?, in the photo for using her photo! I just couldn't find a standalone pic of the jsk in question.

I've been looking for this jsk for AGES. Ever since I saw it in Closet Child Ikebukuro (yes, during one of those short Tokyo trips I was talking about earlier, ahem) a few years back. I saw it, tried it on but I PUT IT BACK ON THE RACK. I regretted not buying it the very same day and went back to get it the next day to get it and it was already SOLD. Ah, how I kicked myself then and there! As Katy Perry sang, the one that got away, haunted me since then. During this period, I only saw this jsk in the yellow/blue colorway being sold on the egl comm sales once but someone else beat me to it that time too. Finally, idly surfing around a secondhand online site, I saw the jsk being featured and immediately clicked buy. The one that got away is no more, owohohohohoho, owhohohoho =D

Latest update: I didn't get the ETC fairytale jsk!! *CRIES* It was already sold instore and the website just didn't update their online inventory. This is really very disappointing, I was so looking forward to the dress! T___T

A Princess Syndrome or Disease

2012-01-05T17:28:00.009+08:00

Happy 2012, everyone!

I make it a point to never make resolutions for because I know I'll end up not fulfilling any in the end, lol.

Let's hope 2012 will turn out to be a lolitastic (cue groans) year!

This little vid came to my attention via Steph of Moar Lace Please and it's definitely a feel good, fluffy and not to be taken seriously song as you have Jay Chou in a fuschia pink ruffled shirt strumming away. Jay Chou is arguably one of the hottest Chinese singers right now to come out of Taiwan and Western viewers might know him as Kato from the recent 'The Green Hornet' film. And that was a terrible movie btw but I guess mindlessly fun in its own way...

Literally translated, the song title is called 'Princess Sickness'. Although in some versions, the title becomes 'Princess Syndrome' to make it sound more platatable and less diseased-stricken, hur. I think a more proper translation would be 'Princess Complex' since the song is about a guy trying to please a super girly girl (like I said, fluff).

Watch the music vid as the girly girl or girls in question are wearing lolita dresses! Well, the dresses are rather short but I ascribe that to the height of the girly girls wearing them. I'm pretty sure the first girly girl is in Angelic Pretty's Country of Sweets sans blouse. The second girly girl, I think, is in an Atelier Pierrot OP. The third girly girl, in the white dress, is also in Atelier Pierrot? If you think otherwise, comment! I'll love to hear where you think their dresses are from. Or even on the MTV video itself!

Ah, after making this post, the vid has been posted up on the EGL LJ comm and there's a pretty lively discussion going on about this so have a read if you're so inclined: http://egl.livejournal.com/18085783.html

Nabokov's Lolita, Black Lolita and basically nothing new

2011-12-20T16:02:00.005+08:00

Was getting my daily online dose of local and world news (North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, has died! Hope the beleaguered North Koreans will find a modicum of independence, better living conditions and a piece of the wider world after his death. But somehow I doubt it, sighs), and I stumbled across this little article which doesn't really say anything new about our favorite fashion style.

After reading through it, I can only groan at the usual mentions of Nabokov's infamous Lolita and comparisons to the fashion with the book's titular heroine, wonder about Black Lolita which apparently is a "is a mix of Sweet Lolita -- a style that makes heavy use of furs, including stuffed animals and fake rabbit ears" (huh?), and ponder again about how old is old for wearing lolita.

For the interested, here's the article in full:

~~~~~~~~~~

By Agence France-Presse, updated: 20/12/2011

Japan's 'Lolita' style: cutesy and disturbing

Outlandish pannier skirts with layers of frilly lace; teenage girls with larger-than-life make-up; a dash of sexuality and lashings of Victoriana are the order of the day for Japan's Lolita girls.

What began as a street fashion two decades ago as youngsters aped the doll-like European styles of baroque and rococo has morphed into a near mainstream movement, with dozens of offshoots.

Popular Lolita models such as Misako Aoki were big hits at this autumn's Japan Fashion Week, showing off white parasols and pastel pink puff sleeves with high-laced boots, tiny top hats and huge ribbons.

"This is definitely one of the latest trends in Japan's fashion world," said Akiko Shinoda, a director for the Japan Fashion Week Organisation, adding Lolitas appeared for the first time last year at the twice-a-year show. "I think it will survive as one distinct category in Japan."

Taking its name from the title of Vladimir Nabokov's novel about a middle-aged man's sexual obsession with a 12-year-old girl, Lolita style embodies the childhood world of fairytales and comic-book fantasy.

Over the last 20 years, it has developed and splintered into a broad range of subdivisions, taking on elements of the Gothic -- from black roses and coffin jewellery -- to the pseudo-holy, with some girls sporting crucifixes.

One young woman in Tokyo's Lolita heartland of Harajuku, who gave her name only as Mina, introduced herself as wearing "Black Lolita, which is a little different from the orthodox Lolita".

Mina, in her late teens, said Black Lolita is a mix of Sweet Lolita -- a style that makes heavy use of furs, including stuffed animals and fake rabbit ears -- and Gothic Lolita, which employs black ribbons, lace, pearls and satin, while maintaining the Lolita basic of large skirts.

"There is also Classical Lolita, which is more mature looking," she said. One thing all Lolita styles have in common is the distinct hint of sexuality and burlesque.

"Japanese girls love cute things, but they also love things that are slightly disturbing," said designer Maiko Fujii, standing next to a girl modelling her interpretation of Snow White, decked out in Gothic Lolita lingerie.

"I think girls sometimes get enthralled by something forbidden, something ghastly," she said. Fujii, who studies the Lolita style at Tokyo-based Vantan design school, dressed her Snow White in a camisole with dark red chiffon and black knee-high stockings.

Fujii said she found Snow White a perfect subject for her slightly disturbing Lolita image after "discovering in the fairy tale that she was supposed to be only 12 or so when she married the prince."

Satomi Tsuchiya, 20, a school friend of Fujii, said: "I think we want to show somehow that we are not just cute."

Norinao Tanaka, associate professor of fashion sociology at Bunka Gakuen University, sees the Lolita style as a manifestation of a psychological state unique to Japanese youngsters.

"The Lolita style in general represents the world of childhood, the time before girls achieve their womanly sexuality," Tanaka said.

"They live in the inner world of cuteness and immaturity, as if they are refusing to grow into an adult," he said. "They seem to rebel against the styles of certain age groups imposed by society."

Maybe for that reason, the Lolita style seems to be confined to a fairly small demographic.

Designer Fujii, who wore a simple short skirt and t-shirt, said at 25 she already felt too old to wear the costumes she designs.

Kanami Naoi, an 18-year-old design school student, who wore a bright red, fluffy skirt with a white beret, said the style was very doll-like and could be difficult for older women to pull off.

"It depends on who wears it, but maybe 30 is too old. I would say 25 is a close call," she said.

But Imari Sato, 18, was more forgiving. "I think it's fine to wear it as long as it makes you happy," she said.

"I'll be 50 and still wearing loli!!" ... would you really?

2011-12-12T14:27:00.023+08:00

Recently, I caught up with reading Mitsukazu Mihara's manga works. For anyone not familiar with Mitsukazu Mihara, besides being a Gothic Lolita-centric mangaka, she has also illustrated many of the Gothic Lolita Bibles' covers. Several of her short stories have also been featured within GL Bibles.

One of her one-shots touched a nerve in me. The story starts innocuously enough with a young woman living alone in Tokyo. She gets frequent phonecalls from her family telling her to go back home for marriage meetings that they've set up but she refuses as she's determined to keep her independence and her love for loli fashion. As a lolita, she gets plenty of stares and whispers whenever she goes out wearing her frilly dresses and parasols. Is she lonely? It's hinted that she is isolated and ostracised because of her goth loli love. Her only companion is a robot doll (one of Mihara's favourite recurring themes is life-like androids who sometimes are more human than humans themselves) and another person whom she has never seen but communicates regularly through her cellphone over their mutual adoration for EGL fashion.

At the end of the story, nothing is what it seems and the young woman is revealed to be not so young in actuality. And it's implied that the stares she attracts is not because she wears lolita but because she's probably in her 50s more or less and still dressing up in loli fashion. She's living in a delusion created by herself that she's still young, still pretty and she doesn't need friends or human companions, just her doll and her dresses.

This is where it hits me. How old is too old? On forum discussions regarding age, one does see older lolitas in their 30s and 40s but they are very much in the minority. And naturally most would say that it doesn't matter what age one is at as long as you still love the fashion. That's the nice, positive outlook to have but in all honesty, loli simply isn't a very good fashion style to wear when one has reached a certain age and does show that age. This fashion does have ageism factors, no matter how we try to encourage older lolitas.

I'll be hitting the 40s in a few more years and even if I still feel like a 20 something-year-old mentally, my body is definitely aging and showing the wear and tear that comes with the territory. Another school of opinion states that as long as one looks good in loli, who cares if you're 20, 30, 40, 50, 60. Thing is, not everyone can be an ageless-looking Nicole Kidman, Aishwarya Rai (or Mana with judicious photoshopping if you really want to push the ageless gothic lolita envelope). Regular women, even those who exercise regularly, would start seeing signs of age starting from their mid-30s.

Loli fashion in itself isn't very forgiving already to those who are plus-sized, let alone if one has age spots, crows' lines, deepening grooves around the nose and cheeks. Aging signs doesn't have to be horrible, of course. People do and can age gracefully! But is persistently wearing a subculture fashion that is very much targeted and styled for a young crowd aging gracefully? And I do think loli fashion has an ageism limit to it. Even for the milder classical styles, there comes a time when loli dresses just looks and sits oddly on one's gradually aging appearance and body.

Even though positive and well-meaning thinking dictates that as long as you love the fashion, it doesn't matter or shouldn't matter how people look at you when you're out and about wearing it. But all that's said and done, it does take a great strength of will and character not to care or feel hurt or embarrassed at times about the whispers, curious sidelong glances, snickers or nasty remarks. I can't help but think a lot of older lolitas do and would start feeling more self-conscious as pressure would be stronger on older women 'to dress your age' because that's how I feel, especially in an Asian society.

She's got Bette Davis eyesssss

While I don't think I'm in danger of reenacting a macabre scene from 'Whatever Happened to Baby Jane' anytime soon, an encroaching fourth decade is making me reconsider on the future of lolita fashion and its wearability for myself. I will still always love and enjoy lolita fashion but I would hesitate wearing it as I get older (and older) until I stop completely. When that happens, I think I would continue to buy loli dresses to keep and appreciate as a hobby but I won't be wearing them anymore.

Metamorphose Autumn Lucky Pack!

2011-11-23T18:44:00.006+08:00

It's kinda scary how much of a hold Meta's Lucky Packs have on me. I managed to resist the previous one, the summer LP, because of the then impending trip to UK but ever since the Honey Picnic LPs came out last year, I think I've practically bought one each time Meta has one.

For the Autumn Lucky Pack, there were three possible packs you could get this time. And here's what I received:

Raschel lace dress in white and the Fruit Soda tote-bag which is really roomy and pretty!

I'm meh about the bloomers. I would rather have another pair of socks along with the Melody Poodle ones I got.

And here's the cutsew I received. It's cute but so not me and it won't fit me either. There's hardly any give to the cutsew at all. So, Alanna of Macaron Hearts who also bought an Autumn Lucky Pack, exchanged the cream bolero she got in her pack for it.

Default cream bolero received!

On first sight, I have to admit, the pack I got looks quite lacklustre and the colour combination is rather odd, to say the least. A white dress with black everything else?? Really, Meta??

Still, I really do like the raschel lace OP though, it was actually something I wanted to get for my pack when ordering, and I did get it! The secret raschel lace lover in me comes out here with a vengence. And I've tried the OP on and it fits nicely so that's a definite yey.

But the OP did feel fragile and delicate as I was trying it on, to the extent that I was quite scared that tugging the dress into place would rip the lace. Thankfully, nothing tore but I can see I will need to be quite careful when wearing the OP out.

So I'm keeping the OP, the bag, the bolero and everything else must go, lol. The bloomers have already been sold off so if anyone is interested in the Melody Poodle socks, let me know!

After reviewing the latest pack, I can only conclude my love/hate relationship with Metamorphose LPs will still continue...darn it!

AFA 2011, Atelier Royale, Kalafina and Kaname

2011-11-15T11:36:00.025+08:00

Attended Anime Festival Asia 2011 which was last Sunday at Suntec City Convention Hall. Purpose really, besides milling around, was to attend the butler's cafe which is named Atelier Royale. So a butler cafe is basically the male offshoot of the moe moe maid cafes that are popular in Akihabara, Tokyo. In a true-blue Japanese butler cafe, Swallowtail for example, you're supposed to be treated and feted as if you were a sparkly princess by the butlers while there.

I had a blast attending the AFA cafe last year which was why I decided to go again for this year as well. But to be honest, the blast really didn't happen due to the Atelier Royale butlers but because of the company I was with then, Alanna of Macaron Hearts and Cherly. The cafe itself with the local homegrown butlers trying to emulate the real ones from Japan was ooooookay but as long as one don't take the whole affair seriously, it's actually weirdly enjoyable.

This year, Alanna and I, joined by Ivory and Feli this time round, attended Atelier Royale again. And Atelier Royale's 2011 theme was Alice in Wonderland so naturally this meant we had to be in loli when attending.

Service by the butlers was a lot better than for the previous year. More attentive than before and I got called 'Ojou-sama' clearly instead of the one who barely mumbled it for the 2010 cafe visit. Like, damnit, if I'm paying for a butler cafe experience, I jolly well expect to get the basic requirements, not least of which is to be articulately called 'Ojou-sama' by my assigned butler. And as said, I did notice an improvement in the service area as the butler assigned to us actually volunteered to stir my tea and sugar, lol. But unfortunately, he gets some points deducted for neglecting to wipe some spilt tea drops after stirring and I surreptiously cleaned the table myself with a napkin.

But improved service aside, the best bits of being at Atelier Royale this year was when we spotted Kalafina, who was holding a mini concert at AFA this year, there inside the cafe! The butlers were all over them, lol. But I would be too. Plus I think Kalafina was in Atelier Pierrot outfits as well!

A paparazzi shot of Kalafina by Ivory

And the second highlight of being at Atelier Royale was when Kaname came in! For those not familiar with the cosplaying community, Kaname is a popular and sought-after professional cosplayer from Japan. Something like a regional celebrity in the cosplaying context. While no longer an active cosplayer myself, I can still appreciate the pains and dedication someone like Kaname puts into his own cosplays. And it helps that he is very good-looking with abs of steel, hur. And how do I know he has abs of steel? Because I had given him a hug, lol. What happened was his Singaporean minder was a mutual friend and when she saw us sitting at the cafe and waving to her, she dragged Kaname over to introduce him to us!

And as Kaname was cosplaying Sanji from One Piece, he was quite in-character and apparently, in the manga (I don't read One Piece!) Sanji is something of a skirt-chaser. So when Sanji came up, leering cutely at the bunch of lolitas, I looked at him and he looked at me and, 'Er, you want a hug?' popped out of my mouth, lol! Honestly, I was expecting a handshake and a bow really! But Sanji okayed me and so...we hugged! It was very funny really and I was laughing my head off when we were hugging. And at my age, I think it's pretty safe to hug younger men without surrounding fans (the Atelier Royale butlers were all over Kaname, I kid you not) mentally dissecting me to pieces =p

Afterwhich, we all had the requisite group photo but of course!

Pretty much my favourite photo of the day.

I'm wearing Atelier Pierrot's Tsubaki Toori OP in honor of Kalafina, haha. I originally was wearing a black corset with the OP but it didn't feel or look right so I borrowed a black bolero from Ivory in the end to wear over it.

I'm not very happy with my outfit, it's a beautiful OP and I could have coordinated it so much better, definitely. Oh well! But out of nowhere bonuses like Kalafina spotting and an unexpected Kaname hug and having these experiences together with good friends was lovely!

A Halloween Photoshoot - Cautionary Tales

2011-11-01T15:07:00.007+08:00

For those who have already seen the post on egl, I apologise because you will be seeing the photos yet again! I wanted to do a post on Halloween itself but haha, I didn't manage to.

Presenting a guro-loli shoot that I did in honor of Halloween! Never done a guro-loli shoot before so the experience was interesting. I really love bright, vibrant colours for my photos and that preference shows in my post-editing, so it was a challenge to try a different kind of editing for this set of photos instead. I'm never sure about the end results but here you go!

Much love to my models, Alanna and Feli, who braved the heavy rains and mosquitoes on the day of the shoot! Alanna came up with the original concept of guro fairytales and we decided on Cinderella and Red Riding Hood. Finding fake blood and miscellanous props was rather last minute (oh who am I kidding?! VERY last minute, lol) but ah, the satisfaction of finding clear bling heels for Cinderella in Chinatown for a steal and at the eleventh hour makes me feel quite accomplished, heh.

Cautionery Tales - Cinderella

We all know Cinderella's story. How her fairy-godmother bequeathed a gown, a new hairstyle and glass slippers unto her so that she can attend the ball, marry the prince and live happily ever after.

But while the fairy-godmother told Cinderella to heed the stroke of midnight, as the coach will turn back into a pumpkin, her fine dress into rags, she neglected to mention that glass slippers would break.

Cautionery Tales - Red Riding Hood

Not a lot of folks know this but the 'Red' in Red Riding Hood's name wasn't always there. She was just, well, Riding Hood.

So how did the 'Red' end up in her name? It began when she went to visit Grandmama one day and a big, bad wolf followed her into the woods...

And I can never resist the headshots!

Secondhand lolita clothing shops: Boon or Bane?

2011-10-21T16:08:00.006+08:00

I confess, I love Closet Child. Whenever I'm in Tokyo, I always hit the three Closet Child biggies which is Harajuku, Shinjuku and Ikebukuro. I haven't gone to the one in Yokohama because, well, I've never been to Yokohama. But now that mintedroses has posted about her daytrip to Yokohama for lolita shopping before and it looks relatively easy to get to from Tokyo, I shall try it on my next visit!

But I digress. Closet Child, much love and not only because they are a secondhand lolita clothing shop with excellent pricing for still relatively good to fair condition items but also because they stock things you don't normally find on the online brand websites.

If you're not physically in Tokyo to experience Closet Child, there's always the online secondhand clothing shops that's been springing up here and there. The most known and popular ones are Closet Child's own online store, Alice Fururun, Fairy Angel, Clothing-Drop, to name a few.

So I went on a secondhand buying spree lately...maybe due to post-holiday blues (shopping therapy is always horribly enjoyable and horribly heart-attack inducing when the bills come). And my loot arrived yesterday:

I asked for the package to be delivered to my office to avoid a trip down to the post office to collect.

And everything's nicely wrapped up! I love seeing lolita clothes nicely wrapped up XD

Left to Right: Emily Temple Cute, Angelic Pretty, Innocent World, Millefleurs

The ETC and IW dresses fit nicely! Unfortunately, the Millefleurs OP doesn't fit well so I will be selling it off soon. As for the AP dress...it was definitely an impulse buy, especially after my decision to do a more age-appropriate lolita style! I don't regret getting it as it's gorgeous in person, the lavendar colour is just perfect but it's a tad too short for me and plus, while trying it on, it made me realised I really can't do sweet AP style anymore. It just looks....weird on me, lol. So, it'll probably go too.

Ah well, shopping for secondhand dresses online is hugely enjoyable but there's always the danger that the fit isn't good or it's not quite right on one. Still, I'll continue to buy from reputable secondhand shops as you really can find some gems there at fantastic prices. So for me, they're more of a boon than a bane!

Coordi shot

2011-10-07T14:15:00.002+08:00

Quickie coordi shot from last Saturday's meet with the girls! Taken in the toilet, lol. Hence the very lacklustre tiles on the floor and the background.

OP: h.Naoto Gramm

Scarf: Marks & Spencer

Bag: Cath Kidston

Boots: Offbrand

I'm not sure if I'm going the way of the mori loli and even if I was, this ensemble would fall short for an example of that genre style! But it's simple and easy to wear and I felt comfy in it the whole day ^^

Back from Bath, London and Paris!

2011-09-30T12:28:00.008+08:00

Ahoy! Back from the vacation and suffering some majorly post-holiday blues right now. It's just so nice to get away from everything and not have to work! But in order to afford nice holidays, one needs to work and therein lies the irony, lol.

England at this time of the year was lovely! The weather was sometimes cloudy, sometimes sunny and never went above 18 degrees celsius. Sooooo niceeeee.

Bath especially I loved. Not just because of the heavy Jane Austen influence there but the entire city is just really delightful and has so much history to it.

There was a hiccup to the early part of the trip when dum dum de dum, the airline lost my luggage and I practically arrived in Bath with the clothes off my back. Worse was I had to skip the Jane Austen Promenade Walk on the first day of the festival as my Regency dress was in that luggage. I was pretty crushed for the first and second day then. But such is life and the vagaries of the economy airlines that one decides to take =( The luggage was finally found and delivered to my hotel in Bath on the evening of the third day but in the end, I still missed the Jane Austen Festival in its entirety.

However, I couldn't leave Bath without wearing my Regency dress and bonnet and taking some photos!

Photos taken at The Kennard, which was the hoteI stayed in during Bath and which really was the prettiest little place as well!

The rest of the trip was spent in London plus a day trip to Paris. And, I did manage to find the BtssB store in Paris when I was there! I am rather proud of the fact that I managed to successfully navigate the streets of Paris, armed with a map, to find the store on Ledru Rollin, heh!

The store was empty when I entered but the shopgirl greeted me with a smile which was encouraging since one does sometimes hear about rudeness at the Paris shop offshoot. Dir en grey was playing in the background as well when I was there, lol. While I controlled myself and didn't purchase anything from the store (I was tempted though!), I was pleasantly surprised to find the store stocked with a good array of items. The shop is located in a rather quiet suburban area of Paris and the nearest Metro station is Ledru Rollin so it is slightly off the beaten track. But if you have some time to kill in Paris, I recommend tracking down the shop for a visit. Also, located near enough to the shop is Jardin des Plantes, which is a beautiful botanical garden with a museum and lovely for photos in loli finery as well =)

More on the sights of Bath and daily outfits worn in next post!

Ramblings plus an As and When Alice photo

2011-09-08T17:24:00.004+08:00

Sorry for the intermittent postings for the last few weeks! I don't want to be one of those one-hit loli blogs that one sees so often popping up and disappearing within a few months although I can understand why that happens. Real life just gets in the way A LOT plus it takes effort to write as well. And write interestingly and well.

For me, it's a lot of real life going on. I'm buying a new apartment that hasn't even been built yet. The apartment flat will be built and ready in about 3-4 years' time. While I'm looking forward to a new house one day, this means the spending budget will be tight as the cash downpayment for the new place needs to be settled soon. Hence, no new lolita purchases since a few months ago and for the next few months as well as I've been madly saving.

Between a new house and loli dresses, I would naturally prioritise the first without much thought into it! But ah, it was still a little hard though, to go through the summer sale period and not be purchasing one or two brand-new dresses on discount.

Besides the new house, the trip to UK is finally approaching! I fly off to merry olde England next Thursday. The UK trip will include a one-day trip to Paris and I'm still considering whether to make a visit to the Paris BtssB store for fun. I don't know if it's worth the effort though as I'm only doing a day trip and I've heard that the BtssB shop person isn't very welcoming to tourists (but this is hearsay and I really don't know the veracity of snooty Parisian shop people at Btssb).

And for London, I definitely want to be hitting Camden Town for the second-hand clothing shops!

I won't be bringing any loli to wear during the trip. I will be bringing a few Naoto Gramm dresses to wear but that's it. Mostly due to the fact that I'm actually rather nervous of drawing attention to myself in loli in London. I would be more confident of wearing loli in Tokyo since yes, I've done that before and not to mention, Japan is the birthplace of loli fashion, lol. But I'm leery of being a foreigner, wearing loli in a Western setting and therefore, the chance of drawing unwanted attention...

Anyway! To make up for pelting boring aspects of my life at you, here's another Alice in Wonderland inspired photoshoot! The photo showcases an Alice inspired dress from New York Couture, an online shop that specialises in one of a kind outfits. While not loli, they do have some rather cute dresses up on their collection page.

I love how the 'I have cramps' model-esque pose is now associated with couture.

Ye or Nay?

2011-08-19T17:40:00.003+08:00

This could go either way. It probably all boils down to how one wears it and how it's accessorised with...so here I present Meta's latest Ye or Nay?

The Meta Dot Tulle A-line Dress (in pink, navy and cream)

The navy blue doesn't look half-bad and I'm always for the brands to come out with a-typical lolita dresses that isn't the standard cupcake form. However, the pink colourway is just so...shiny while the waist ribbon looks like it was last year's Christmas tree decoration. Not to mention, only those with slender arms could possibly carry off that sleeveless shift look. The dot tulle material, upclose, is pretty though but overall....more nay than ye for me...

Buyers Beware! And Dropped-Waist Dresses

2011-08-04T12:15:00.006+08:00

I just had a buyer on egl_comm_sales who backed out of a sale after an invoice had been sent out already. It's going to be a rather 'duh' thing to say but yes, I HATE it when that happens. No matter how you state it, sideways, upways, in bold, in colour, in caps, on one's sales post to please not back out once an agreement to buy is set, there's always that one person who will tell you 'oh I changed my mind, sorry, la-di-da!'.

And in this case, the buyer or non-buyer, had the gall to tell me, 'oh I changed my mind. I decided the dress is too maid-o for me, la-di-da'. Hello? Photos of the dress in question was in plentiful supply on the sales post. Shouldn't you have thought about that aspect before you decided to tell me you love the dress and you must have it and please invoice me? Gah.

I'm sorry if I might offend anyone who thinks that the buyer is always right but heck no! As a buyer, it's one's responsiblity to ensure all the terms in the sale is agreeable first before deciding to purchase. Unless it's extenuating circumstances that requires a buyer to back out (and I don't accept changing one's mind due to buyer's regret or deciding it's too maid-o as legitimate excuses), then the buyer has an obligation to uphold her end of the sale by paying for the merchandise.

Sighs. I apologise again for ranting on about this here. Please feel free to skip through it. In the big scheme of things, a buyer who backs out is nothing too important or even unusual. It's just so...annoying! lol!

In other news, I am so totally in love with Meta's new dropped-waist dress.

I adore drop-waist dresses. They're so reminiscent of Victorian-era childrens' fashions. Just something very aesthetically pleasing, not to mention, a flattering fit as well, about them to my eye. If I could be sure this dress would fit me, I'll buy it in an instant!

No socks please, we're in our 30s

2011-07-26T21:35:00.005+08:00

This self-taken outfit photo using a friend's iphone is so bad that I'm embarrassed to put it up. BUT it is the only photo of my coordi from last Saturday's loli get-together so here it is:

Just a simple summer coordi, really! Meta's Wonder Silhouette OP and a pink cardi with no socks *gasp* The older I get, the more unfond I seem to get of socks paired with a loli coordi...while I do know they're an integral part of a complete loli look, I tend to eschew them in favour of a more mature-centric loli ensemble nowadays. I'm not sure if I can be 40 and still carry off knee socks then, frankly!

For the loli meet, we went to Chris' Tea House, an off-the-beaten track little place situated in the heartlands. It could be they are trying to cultivate a quiet and condusive atmosphere for tea-lovers as no photography was allowed (we only found out this no photos rule when we arrived). No kids under 6 or so allowed too in the cafe! I did like the ambience and decor of the place but not so much on the service which bordered on incompetent for the staff who served us most of the time we were here.

Photos taken from the cafe's Facebook page

As you can see from the pics, it does seem quite inviting and a nice place to chat with friends. A plus point is they have pretty tea-sets and excellent scones. Downside is the no photography rule and bleh service. And I would still visit the place though, probably just not in loli!

Oh and we took our coordi shots in the cafe's bathroom and ONLY in the bathroom as we're a law-abiding bunch of lolis, hurhur.

AATP Adventures in Chinatown

2011-07-07T18:12:00.003+08:00

There's this very rundown and shabby textile centre at our local Chinatown. But looks can be deceiving! Despite its rather unsavoury outer appearance, the centre possesses several shops that sell anything from cottons, satins, organzas, silks to novelty fabrics in all sizes, colours and prices.

I went there yesterday to source for something suitable to make a Regency dress for attending the Jane Austen Festival and at one particular shop, my attention was suddenly riveted to a bolt of cloth, with a very familiar print and logo indeed...

Name of the Rose print complete with Alice and the Pirates logo!? Sneaky photo that I took with my hp on the spot.

I was vastly amused to find a well-known lolita brand print in a small little Chinatown textile shop to say the least. The quality of the cloth is actually pretty good and so is the printing so I have a suspicion that this might really actually be the same cloth that AATP used for their Name of the Rose series and not a replica. Furthermore, the shop carried the black/red and black/blue colourways PLUS another AATP print...Alice's Never Voyage print in grey/blue/black! Another print!

In case anyone is wondering, no I didn't buy any, lol. I might have, if only for the fun of owning an loli print found in a local shop, although after buying, it probably would have just sat around my room. And the cloth doesn't come that cheaply either. It's about US$18-20/metre.

As for copyright issues and brand ownership, they've been discussed to death on the egl comm so I won't go into it. Some people are okay with replicas and some aren't. But if you do decide to wear a replica, just be prepared to accept any criticism or hostile flak that might come your way from doing so.

Amazing what one might discover in one's Chinatown, eh?

More sales!

2011-06-28T10:12:00.005+08:00

I feel like this is EGL sales announcement month! I will come back with more content, I promise, lol.

This time round, Innocent World has some items on sale right now. It's not a full-out sale listed on its sales page (which is still empty if you click on it) but if you go to their shopping index page, you can see a few items that are on 30% off the usual price. At present, there's two jsks, two skirts and three shirts on sale.

And one of the items on sale is this bordeaux skirt:

I love Innocent World's bordeaux items! They're always such a lovely, deep and understated shade of red.

Summer Sale Season

2011-06-23T11:51:00.002+08:00

...is upon us! And this is both an exciting and agonising time for me, lol.

Innocent World kick-started it with their Lucky Packs and Metamophose is having their Summer Lucky Packs as well, which starts today. A quick check says the Meta LPs aren't available yet. So keep checking if you've been wanting to get one!

http://www.u-u-u.jp/SCART5/eindex.cgi?id=132e2118&w2=2 - Link to the Meta LPs

For larger size girls who are worried about whether the items in the LPs would fit, I would recommend getting the 10,000yen LP as the skirt included in the pack would have, in all likelihood, a stretchable waistband. I've bought both the 10,000 and 15,000yen Meta LPs early this year and while the jsk in the 15,000yen pack did fit me, it was a tight fit and I didn't feel or look comfortable in it.

But the Summer 15,000yen LP from Meta does have an example of a fully-shirred jsk listed so there's always the possiblity of getting one such item...but that's the fun about getting a LP! Part of the enjoyment is the anticipation of not knowing and hoping, heh.

Just a note that Meta would likely be having their summer online sales after the LPs. So if you prefer actually knowing what you're getting, take a chance and wait for the sale to start instead.

Public Announcement!

2011-06-14T11:16:00.002+08:00

I think most people in the lolita community would know about this already but in case if someone still hasn't...

Lucky Packs back at Innocent World!

Innocent World lucky packs comes in two versions, A & B. They're pricey even by brand lucky pack standards but it would seem most of the items included in IW packs are quite worth the price you pay. Beware though, Innocent World sizes tend to run to small and medium. Even their L size are on the larger side of medium at best.

At present, Lucky Pack A has few left so if you've been wanting to perk up with loli wardrobe with more IW items and you're sure you can fit IW sizing, this could be a fantastic buy!

New Gramm Dress on International Loli Day

2011-06-06T12:32:00.008+08:00

I didn't do anything for International Loli Day last Saturday. Actually...I completely forgot about it *blush* Of course one doesn't need International Loli Day to celebrate lolidom but it's nice to have a special day set aside for just wearing loli, being with like-minded friends and having an outing together to some pretty, pretty place.

While I didn't do anything special for ILD, however, I did receive a package last Saturday and it was my new Gramm dress! There's a backstory to this Gramm dress, I might mention, lol. It all began with the h.Naoto online sale that happened at the beginning of the year which was another epic saga unto itself. I shan't go into too much details but the Gramm dress was something I fell instantly in love with when I saw it at the sale. It was sold out almost immediately during the sale period and I had much gnashing of teeth when it was.

To my surprise, the same dress was re-listed (but at full price now) two weeks ago on S-inc! My heart was much pained to pay full price for the dress when I had seen it on sale but I like the dress too much to let it go a second time. So I contacted chibi_tenshi's shopping service (a fantastic shopping service btw) and the dress was purchased on the same day I sent a request. And shipped out the very next week.

And it arrived on International Lolita Day 2011, most fortuitously.

Definitely, the dress needs a good ironing! And the collar is sitting a bit oddly as it's detachable and I didn't place it properly when taking the photo, lol.

And when pressed and ironed, it shall look more like this:

And the dress fits nicely and also, so comfortable to wear. Just one of things that endears me to Gramm!

Weekly Alice : A Console Game for the Lolita

2011-05-31T11:38:00.023+08:00

(Weekly Alice should be termed As and When Alice by now!)

I didn't really start playing video games until I got a PC that was capable of supporting all the necessary requirements around 2002. And even so, the games I like to play were rather selective. I've got a taste for survival horror and back then, excellent survival horror games on a PC format were few and rare in-between.

So in 2002, passing by a bookshop a few months after I got my nifty new PC, I noticed on the bargain rack, a title that caught my eye. After picking it up to check out the blurb, I had no hesitation whatsoever in plonking down S$19.90 for it.

American Mcgee's Alice is a third-person shooter PC game that came out way back in 2000. While not true survival horror, perhaps more geared towards action and gothic orientated, I LOVED this game to bits and still do! Everything about it reaches an almost perfect 10/10 in my gaming scores. The characters and game design is absolute genius. The backgrounds as you move through the game are unforgettably beautiful. Gameplay too is fun and exciting with an arsenal of unusual and different weapons. And of course, the story itself, of an Alice gone insane and committed to an asylum after her parents died tragically in a fire.

Blaming herself for her parents' horrific deaths, the Alice in the game is not someone Lewis Carroll would have imagined, 10 years later. After repeated suicide attempts, Alice is now confined, under restraints, at Rutledge Asylum and practically catatonic. This is the beginning of American McGee's game for the Alicephiles who might like things a lot darker.

After her stuffed bunny comes alive (or is it just a figment of Alice's badly fractured mind?) and implores her to save 'us', Alice is once more sucked into Wonderland but a twisted, malicious Wonderland that bleeds pools of blood, fire and brimstone, and where the Red Queen's card guards kills anything on sight.

Even after 11 years since it came out, the graphics of the game is still stunning to behold.

And a lovely bit of update is that American McGee has finally come out with a sequel to the game! And the sequel, entitled 'Alice: Madness Returns', looks even more gorgeously rendered and macabre than the first. The sequel will be out on PC, Xbox and PS3 format on 14 June 2011 which is...next month! And I confess I decided to buy a PS3 last December, partly because of the sequel, lol.

Alice's new outfit for the sequel? The kick-ass boots still remains though, yey!

I'm really excited for the new game and will be reserving my copy, no chances will be taken! You don't have to play the first Alice game to play the sequel but it would help to know some of the backstory first. Visit EA's official Alice: Madness Returns website if you like, it's fun, prettily designed with loads of Alice artwork to enjoy!

A random holiday post with Regency Lolita thrown in

2011-05-25T11:46:00.005+08:00

It's confirmed! Air ticket bought, hotels booked, begged a leave period from my boss at work, and I'm heeeeeading down to England in Sept! Specifically, I'm going to attend the annual Jane Austen Festival held at Bath, as it's something I've always wanted to do. I've been saying and saying I want to attend the Festival for ages but side-trips to Tokyo has distracted me for the past few years =X But finally, Jane Austen Festival, here I come!

One of the grand highlights of the week-long Jane Austen Festival is the Promenade Walk where attendees are encouraged to wear period authentic garb and this is something I'm especially looking forward as I do plan to wear a Regency outfit for it too (in the midst of planning said outfit!).

Before I got into lolita fashion, I was interested, and still am, in vintage and historical costumes. My especial favourite eras were the Regency, late Victorian and Edwardian periods. In a sense, perhaps that's partly why I became immersed in lolita fashion as well, a natural progression? Lol! I do love Victorian influences on lolita fashion.

Besides Bath, I'll be spending a few days in London and am also considering taking the Eurostar for a day trip to Paris since I've never been to France before. If that happens, maybe I'll visit the Paris Baby store, just for fun!

And to make this post less random, I've mentioned going to wear a Regency outfit for the Festival's Promenade Walk. While I'm not planning on a Regency Lolita outfit, I did do a search out of curiosity and found this drawing by Primabanana's al·leg·ed·ly who does managed to mix the two genres wonderfully!

Regency Lolita!

The original Lolita, maybe

2011-05-16T11:24:00.008+08:00

The latest issue of the Gothic Lolita Bible featured a tie-in with the children's story, 'Heidi', complete with a lolita-fied Clara in a wheelchair.

The story tie-in somewhat led me to think about manga and lolita (don't ask how I made the jump, I just did!) and the love-hate relationship that both have with each other. When it's done nicely, you have something like 'Godchild' and more recently, 'Gosick'. And then I remembered this absolutely seminal shoujo manga of my childhood and youth and thought, 'she just might be the original lolita manga heroine!'

And just whom am I referring to? Why, it's Candy of course! From 'Candy Candy'! lol!

'Candy Candy' started out as a novel by Kyoko Mizuki in 1975 and was serialised in a manga magazine by Yumiko Igarashi a few years later. It's Igarashi's illustrations of Candy that I'm most familiar with since I've only read the manga version.

The manga looks dated and IS dated, afterall, it began in the 70s. But even so, girls who grew up reading 'Candy Candy' still remember it fondly for the freckle-faced orphan girl heroine and her tragic love-life (her first love died, her second great love had to leave her for another woman) and yet remaining optimistic and cheerful throughout her many trials and tribulations. Which all sounds a bit like a Pollyanna syndrome and kinda might make one want to smack Candy for being so annoyingly glad mostly. But well, it helps a lot if you're reading Candy as a starry-eyed kid and a less cynical point of view.

The story of Candy is set at the turn of the 19th century, almost prior to WWI. And certainly those dresses she wears doesn't resemble pre-war Edwardian style to me and more lolita-esqe. Hence, to me, Candy will probably always be the first ever manga lolita character on hindsight.

Even when Candy decides to embark on a career choice as a nurse, her strong lolita aesthetics remains, good for her.

Nurse Lolita, anyone?

If you don't mind nostalgia, 'Candy Candy' the manga is available on Mangafox here. It's truly perfect for reading on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

The A-Line Dilemma

2011-05-06T18:26:00.003+08:00

I'm liking Metamorphose's Yoke Switched A-Line Dress quite a fair bit.

It's simple, understatedly sweet and well, ok, it looks super comfy to wear is the main reason I like it so much! Of course, the problem with it, for me at least, I'll definitely look like I'm expecting a bundle of joy in it but which might get me (hopefully) nice people offering me their seats on a crowded train or bus.

I might try to de-emphasize the looseness with a nice belt but in doing so, it'll become more of just a pretty dressy dress and not very lolita, hmmm.

Two Nursery Rhymes

2011-04-28T12:52:00.002+08:00

A photoshoot that I did last week at a studio. It was my first time doing a shoot in a studio with professional lighting and equipment and the learning curve was steep. If the owner of the studio who's also a professional photographer wasn't there to help me along and suggest settings for my camera, I would have floundered like a fish drowning in sake. Still, it was a great experience and I have a whole new respect for photographers who do studio shoots professionally.

The theme for the shoot was nursery rhymes, lolita style! Can you guess the nursery rhymes? I think they're pretty easy to guess, lol! Outfits all conceptualised by the models themselves :)

Ye or Nay - Rococo Part II

2011-04-20T18:33:00.003+08:00

And just as I posted an earlier blog entry about truly Rococo inspired lolita dresses, Baby the Stars Shine Bright released a series of Rococo inspired lolita dresses.

Right: 92400yen Middle: 92400yen Left: 126000yen

Yes, those are the selling prices of these soon to be reservable Rococo inspired dresses on Btssb.

Worth that much? Not to me, no. Are they overpriced? To me, yes.

They're being marketed as wedding dresses and probably somewhat explains the astronomical price-tags involved. The thought of paying roughly US$1500 for a gothic lolita dress, wedding or not, makes my mind boggle...even after watching that many episodes of 'Say Yes to the Dress' (guilty pleasures!) on cable and seeing how an average wedding dress at Kleinfeld's would cost roughly that amount. But the fact remains that no matter how we love our gothic lolita brands, we can't escape the fact that a lot of them are over-priced or over-hyped and these Baby wedding rococo dresses are one of those instances for me.

Some folks on the EGL comm have commented that these dresses are ugly as sin. I think the left and right ones aren't too bad but the middle one...I'm almost embarrassed to say I'm strangely attracted to it the way Borat Sagdiyev fascinated thousands in his lime-green thong swimming suit.

Pocket Full of Posies

2011-04-18T16:45:00.007+08:00

Ring-a-ring-a-roses,
A pocket full of posies

Hush! hush! hush! hush!
We’re all tumbled down.

The pocket full of posies in this entry refers to a very pretty flower shop that's also a cafe where friends and I had a loli meet last Saturday. However, the main attraction for Pocket Full of Posies isn't the flowers or the food, the many tea selections or even the decor with its bears, frills and ribbons. No, the main attraction would have to be...the SWING SEATS!

The novelty of having actual swings while you eat or chat is very much...fun for me, hehe. Backwards, sideways, round and round, I swung my hapless fellow lolitas sitting with me until they requested for me to stop as they were getting vertigo, ahem.

Lol! But everyone still liked the swing seats and as mentioned, the food was good enough and came in generous portions while their special floral beverages were aromatic and nectarine to the palate.

Avoid the swing seats if you get seasick easily though.

Some photos from the meet shall ensue now~

Ivory who joined us later in the day plus a better look at those horridly amusingly fun swing seats.

A bear with angel wings hanging from the rafters, minding its own business.

And my coordi for the day.

Jsk: Innocent World

Blouse: Innocent World

I was going for something simple and subdue as the cafe is located in a very busy shopping mall which in turn is situated at the heart of our most famous shopping district, Orchard Road. The older I get, the more conscious I've become to gawks and stares =\

Let them eat cake! Or bread pudding's good too

2011-04-11T11:11:00.004+08:00

When one looks up on online explanations of what Gothic Lolita fashion is, there always seems to be this one throwaway line which gravely announces that the fashion is influenced and inspired by the Rococo/Baroque period with its connotations of lavish, decadent gowns, stately French mansions, Marie Antoinette and the immortalised phrase of 'let them eat cake' (but this little gem of a flippant quote is supposedly hearsay) from Sophia Coppola's candypop coloured film.

The fabulous courtesan, Madame de Pompadour, modeling the iconic look of a Rococo gown in her day.

Although I think most lolita dresses only really possess a small facet of a typical Rococo gown or even none at all. So when brands really does do a truly Rococo inspired dress, I immediately stand up and take notice.

The latest being Innocent World's Victorica Dress

It's called Victorica, alluding to Victorian?, but one can see its heavy Rococo influences. The characteristic half-sleeves, ribboned bodice and what I term as the 'curtained' skirt, all screams Rococo to me.

At one time or another, brands would come up with their versions of a Rococo lolita dress. My opinion is Juliette et Justine does it the most often and accompanied by very exotic sounding French terms.

Juliette et Justine's crème sucrée et fleur set.

And some examples of truly Rococo inspired dresses from other brands

Top: Metamorphose, Bottom left: Metamorphose, Bottom right: Innocent World

And lastly, this breathtaking recreation of a Rococo gown that works beautifully as a gothic lolita inspired Rococo dress as well.

Photo from Viona Art

I am an icicle on a snow-capped mountain

2011-04-04T11:13:00.019+08:00

The weather here has turned horridly humid and the thought of piling on the lolita layers just makes me want to run screaming into the nearest aircon sheltered building. I really envy those who don't seem to feel the heat when in lolita because I do and very much so ><" Lolita is a lovely fashion but it can be inevitably very warm and scratchy to wear in tropical countries.

I tend to rash when I'm over-heated as I suffered from mild eczema as a kid and a rashy lolita is not attractive in the least, lol!

So here's some simple tips on how to stay relatively cool while still retaining the lolita aesthetics.

Wear a short-sleeve blouse under your preferred jsk

A cotton short-sleeve blouse can do wonders.

Try a bolero/cardigan instead

I myself am especially fond of Innocent World's short-sleeve ecru boleros. Not only are they breezy and light, IW make 'em in L size too.

Eschew a blouse, cardigan completely

Now, this is slightly trickier because not all lolita dresses can look good by themselves but there are quite a few that can.

A sleeveless dress that already has a collar can help make the outfit look less 'bare', while halter-necks are always good for that summertime style.

Pin your long tresses up!

It can compliment your overall look and also leave the neck cool.

Invest in a sturdy parasol

It provides shade from the sun if you have a need to venture outdoors and it can give your outfit just that extra touch.

Not a tip but a good sunblock is your friend under a harsh tropical sun

Not exactly lolita-themed but...

2011-03-30T12:08:00.017+08:00

The Mori Girl (literally Forest Girl) look seems to be gaining a lot of popularity lately and I personally do like this fashion a lot as well. Maybe it's the emphasis on a loose and flowy garment fit with earthy, natural colours (markedly different from the stricter structure of the desired lolita form), a necessary dictate of this fashion, that I especially like.

And the concept and idea behind the mori girl movement is mostly to appreciate and savour a slower pace of life, enjoying a quiet solitude, living life at one's own pace, reading, taking introspective walks in a forest...well, as someone who works from 8.30am - 6.00pm, 5 days a week, deskbound, I naturally find this proposed lifestyle choice quite seductive, hurhur.

There's a small emergence of a blending between mori and lolita fashions as well. h. Naoto Gramm for example! I find this offshoot of h.Naoto to be rather a mixture of mori, gothic lolita and Miss Havisham's secret wardrobe.

Incidentally, I dabble in photography...although dabbling is a misnomer. Basically, I have a Canon DSLR, a half-way decent lens and I like taking portrait photos and...that's it! So now and then, I drag an unsuspecting friend and get her to model for me. I have done a few lolita-centric shoots and I plan to do more but for last Saturday, I had an itch to do a mori girl themed photoshoot with Alanna of Macaron Hearts.

We shot at an old railway way-station that was built in 1903 and would be shut down permanently this year. It's a rather ramshackle old place with its own quaint charm, something you don't see here much anymore, in rather determinedly modern Singapore.

The rest of the photos can be found on my flickr album if interested.

Mori or loli? Or Mori Loli? I think it's great though, when folks can blend two fashion styles of their liking together successfully. For me, I like and enjoy these two as separate fashions ^_^

Giveaway Result!

2011-03-27T21:22:00.008+08:00

Wow! Thanks for all the entry comments, it was great to see so many people entering!

For the winner, I used a Random Number Generator and there were 35 entry comments in all so without further ado, the winning number is...

comment no. 14 who is Mia! Congratulations!

Thanks to everyone for entering! I really enjoyed reading all the comments about your favourite brands and I'll definitely be doing another blog giveaway soon!

Tea-Tray in the Sky - 1st Blog Giveaway

2011-03-24T18:34:00.010+08:00

I know many lolita blogs do giveaways and they look so much fun to hold, not to mention, is also a cute and non-invasive way to highlight one's blog so...yes, Tea-Tray in the Sky will be having its first Giveaway!

And the giveaway free gift is a new Chocomint bracelet =)

Giveaway Guidelines

* Just leave a comment here and tell me what is your favourite lolita brand and why.

* Deadline for the giveaway is 26 March, 8pm (local Singapore time).

* A winner will be chosen at random and the name announced on Tea-Tray in the Sky on 27 March, local evening time.

* I will request the winner to contact me with her address. My email will also be put up along with the winner's name for contacting.

* Bracelet will be sent via registered airmail and postage fees will be borne by me.

And that's it! Hope everyone have a fun time posting and I can't wait to see who wins!

Weekly Alice

2011-03-21T10:41:00.006+08:00

Oh dear, Weekly Alice seems to have become an As and When Weekly Alice, lol! I'm truly very sorry about this and I'll try to have more regular weekly posts.

For this week's spotlight on Alice, it's the 2009 miniseries 'Alice' which is a reimaging of the story and was broadcast on the Syfy Channel.

I've always rather liked exploring reimagings of classic tales. Syfy's Alice is set 150 years after the original Alice's visit. Though still clad in a blue frock, the Alice of this series is a cynical 21 year old karate instructor on a quest to rescue her missing boyfriend, so this isn't exactly your the traditional wide-eyed young waif who fell through a rabbit's hole in Victorian times.

Wonderland itself, 150 years later, has drastically morphed into a dysfunctional dystopia where the villainous Queen of Hearts has been kidnapping people from the real world into Wonderland and harvesting their emotions to package a much sought after drug.

Besides the butt-kicking adult Alice, the Mad Hatter has evolved into a scruffy, leather-jacket wearing, cool-cat hipster who helps Alice in retrieving her boyfriend. And maybe this series is where the recent rash of Alice/Hatter romances stems from! As the story progresses, Alice starts to realise that her lost love may not exactly be the right one for her...

The ending of the series is somewhat predictable but it's still a pretty nifty show with surprisingly excellent CGI effects. I highly recommend it for Alice-philes who might like modern retellings of their favourite classic tale and even for lolitas who aren't into Alice.

The complete DVD set is available on Amazon.

When disasters strike - the Sendai Earthquake

2011-03-14T18:48:00.012+08:00

Like millions around the world, I've been closely following the news updates and footages of the Sendai earthquake and tsunami that struck last Friday, 11 March 2011. There's something fundamentally horrific and yet devastatingly compelling about a natural disaster that draws people together, especially when majority of the earthquake news footages are being filmed by ordinary, normal people living through it.

I don't even know how to describe it, watching news footage of immense, unstoppable black waves, filled with debris and cars, houses, engulfing everything in its path. I was briefly reminded of the Sept 11 attacks although one is a man-made tragedy while the other is nature at its most catastrophic. The similarity in both events for me was that it engendered feelings of disbelief that something of this magnitude has happened. Like the 2010 Chilean earthquake, proof of how cataclysmal the Sendai earthquake was, is that the full brute power of it has caused our planet's axis to shift by 4 inches and the coast of Japan to move by 8 feet.

As ever more photos are emerging of the aftermath, of survivors trying to locate missing family members, the raising death toll count, of Japan still trying to grapple with the very present danger of a nuclear meltdown, what can the masses sitting in front of the TV, computer screen, reading the tragedy from the newspapers, do right now? To be honest, nothing much except prayers and more tangible forms of support through monetary aids.

It's inevitable that as time passes, news coverages of the disaster will start to dwindle and disappear, and the shock and horror gradually wears off in the international community. So it's what you do now that's crucial and urgent.

There's quite a few organisations collecting donations and raising relief funds right now. Some would be:

American Red Cross
Red Cross International
Save the Children
Global Giving (accepts Paypal)

For locals, the Singapore Red Cross is also accepting donations: http://www.redcross.org.sg/Japan-Disaster-2011.phtml

It seems so sadly mercenary to talk about lolita buying and the Sendai earthquake in the same sentence but I believe every bit helps so here goes, Juliette et Justine is also having a fund-raising fair. 40% off sale items, profits will go to aid while 10% of profit of regular non-sale items go to aid.

Ye or Nay

2011-03-09T16:03:00.006+08:00

One person's 'seriously?!' dress could very well turn out to be someone else's 'OMG, MUST HAVE!'. It's all a matter of perspectives, taste and style.

But sometimes, I really have to wonder what the brands, what the designers, are thinking of when they come up with items like this:

New on Innocent World's reservation page

Granted, this jsk isn't as head-scratching as some I've seen but still...that panel right smack at the middle of the bodice, it makes me want to grab my pencil and play some serious tic-tac-toe.

Jogging woes, dieting and how it relates to lolita?

2011-03-07T18:27:00.002+08:00

WARNING: Some preachiness might be dead ahead.

I used to jog regularly but has since slacked off to a non-existent exercise regime lifestyle.

In a bid for a healthier body, I decided to start it up again and dug out all the old jogging gear (which mainly only consists of t-shirt, shorts and running shoes) yesterday, was about to change when I realised the soles of both my running shoes were flapping open and I was cramping slightly. The fates conspire against me?!

My recent jogging woes aside, threads on dieting or exercising or both to fit into brand dresses do pop up now and then and which always interests me for the different perspectives shown by the commenters.

While it's my dream to fit into that Size 0 Victorian Maiden dress that I've been coveting forever, realistically speaking, I'm too fond of my pasta and chocolates to ever have that dream realised. I'm just not that dedicated enough!

Furthermore, I'm not a supporter of dieting or exercising to try and fit into that one dress that is 2-3 sizes smaller. I don't think it's wrong, of course, as long as the other party does the dieting/exercising within reasonable boundaries. But I personally feel no dress is worth it. There will always be other just as beautiful dresses in your size and which you will be comfortable wearing it as well.

If one was exercising or dieting for one's health and to stay healthy and happy, then definitely! That is important and a damn good reason because it's your own future well-being that you're investing in.

If you're already healthy but just that you can't fit into one dress that is a few sizes smaller, and so you decide to diet. And alright, let's say you do succeed in losing weight and fit into that smaller dress, good for you. Then what if the next to-die-for dress that comes along is two sizes smaller now? Hence, you start dieting religiously again since you did it once before, why not just continue doing so?

When one starts dieting/exercising to be skinny enough to fit into a smaller-sized dress, when does it stop? Can you stop if you've already succeeded once and the heady victory has overwhelmed you? That, I think, is a very real danger, especially in our image obsessed society where the current beauty body standards are still that of a Size 0 model on a Milan runway. Where even online clothing shops elongate photos of their models to make them look taller, skinnier.

And I do know some young women who are already slender, well-proportioned with 25-28" waists, healthy enough, and yet, they still agonize and think they're too fat and they must get skinnier, slimmer, thinner, lighter, eat less, go on even more rigorous dieting and punishing exercise regimes. Being their friend, frankly, I do sometimes want to smack them for it, lol! Smack and yell, you're perfectly alright, you don't need to lose any more weight!

I would start exercising again and eat better for the reasons that I'm not getting any younger. Already, I can feel that my body isn't as healthy as it should be, as it could be. I don't want to have an old age where I'm bed-ridden with full of mysterious aches and pains or have a stroke at 45 and THEN be bed-ridden (this is one of my worst nightmares of ageism).

Exercise! Eat right! But do try to do it for the right reasons and motivations.

And I'm buying new running shoes this week.

The 10 Items / 7 Outfits Challenge!

2011-03-01T23:00:00.022+08:00

Macaron Hearts issued a 10 items / 7 outfits challenge on her blog a few weeks ago. As I got home early from work today, I decided to give it a go and complete the challenge at one shot!

*which resulted in me being a sweaty puddle of goo at the end*

It was a bit of a mad rush for the last two outfits because my mum was on her way home and I didn't want her to look at me with one of her patented sideway glances and ask, 'why are you prancing around in the living room?'

And here are my chosen 10 items!

Item A: Offbrand pink cardigan
Item B: Meta blouse
Item C: Innocent World jsk
Item D: Mam cutsew
Item E: Wonder Rocket long sweater
Item F: Offbrand jacket
Item G: Liz Lisa hoodie
Item H: Meta Honey Picnic skirt
Item I: Offbrand pink boots
Item J: Yosuke shoes

I tried to choose my 10 items for as much wearable versatility as possible. Hence, the little black dress from Innocent World which ended up being used for 5 out of the 7 outfits, heh.

And now...the outfits!
(I might add, I'm not wearing any makeup whatsoever in my outfit photos as I didn't have time to apply!)

Outfit no. 1 - items A, C, I Outfit no. 2 - items C, B, J

Outfit no. 3 - items C, F, J Outfit no. 4 - items C, E, I

Outfit no. 5 - Items C, G, I Outfit no. 6 - items D, G, H, I

Outfit no. 7 - items A, D, H, I

WHEW! Ok, due to lack of time, I cheated a little and took the easy way out for outfits 6 and 7 by not changing the shoes, draping a different outer and just tucking out the Mam cutsew!

Sadly, I think my outfits aren't very imaginative in the least. I'm probably what one would call a 'safe' lolita in action, lol.

Quick notes on the outfits:

Outfits no. 6 and 7 aren't what I usually wear for my lolita style actually but it was fun to try and think of different ways to match the Meta Honey Picnic skirt with my chosen 10 items.

Outfit no. 3 is my version of merging work wear and loli, ahaha~

Outfit no. 1, 4, 5 is really more for casual loli

Outfit no. 2 is...erm...librarian loli?!

Weekly Alice

2011-02-25T14:54:00.007+08:00

Now, Annie Leibovitz did do an incredibly wonderful and gorgeous Alice in Wonderland shoot a few years for Vogue, haute couture style. It rears its head up every so often on egl forums when someone re-posts. Therefore, I shall not be highlighting that particular shoot for Weekly Alice. If you haven't seen the Vogue photo spread and would like to, click here.

Instead, I'll like to draw your attention to this other photo by Annie Leibovitz (I have much love for the latter's photography!).

Not overtly Alice in Wonderland themed, no, but still this photo of Kirsten Dunst depicted as the doomed Marie Antoinette has that aura of otherworldliness, a stranger in a strange land, to it. And I daresay Miss Dunst herself has never looked more ethereal or lovelier in this little gem of a photo.

Buying without trying

2011-02-21T22:37:00.009+08:00

Sometimes Innocent World's stated measurements on its website doesn't exactly run true to life when the actual dress arrives. It usually turns out to be smaller by a few centimeters. This happened to me before when I bought an IW jsk that was stated to be 100cm stretch max BUT when it came, it fell short of the particular stated measurements by at least 5cm.

I was very disappointed, of course! I did managed to sell off that jsk but because of the incident, I became rather leery of buying off Innocent World's website without the option of being able to try on dresses first.

Well, all those doubts and uncertainties certainly flew out the window the moment Innocent World began its annual winter sale. Out, out, damn spot!

Did I happen to mention I'm a sucker for sale periods? It's probably the next best thing to actually being in Tokyo, at a Closet Child or Marui One, and trying on gothic lolita dresses until kingdom come.

Once the sale started, I sent in my order via email for Innocent World's Aglaia jsk which I have been eyeing for the longest time and had the danger sign of 'Few Left' attached to the navy colourway that I wanted. Thankfully it was still available when they got back to me for payment.

What threw all my reservations about buying without trying out the window

The second item I decided to get is the Tulle Lace 3 Ribbon which was a simple cutsew jsk and would do nicely for a casual outing.

I was pretty sure this would fit, being cutsew material (and comfy too!)

International ordering through Innocent World was pretty easy, being my first time ordering from them as well. Just fill out the international form on the English site, and make sure you list the item number plus colourway correctly, then click send! As Innocent World's English service is only in service a few days of the work week so replies to whether the items you want is in stock might take a while.

I made my order in early January and it arrived about one month later. Not too bad, considering Innocent World had put up a notice saying that shipments would be delayed due to the high volume of orders for its sale.

And the actual items in sight!

Somewhat wrinkled (my fault, not Innocent World's!) but everything FITS

I'm so happy (and not to mention, relieved) to say that this time, Innocent World's stated measurements is accurate *gasp* and that the Aglaia jsk which has a maximum stretch of 107cm listed on the site, but I just need 100cm, and so glory glory hallelujah, 100cm it does stretch till and still has another 7cm as a bonus (convoluted sentence structure here)! Oh I'm happy, yes indeed!

Innocent World can be hit and miss at times with its measurements but luckily this time, for me, it was a hit.

Lelong, lelong~!

2011-02-17T11:05:00.014+08:00

lelong /lay-long, ˈleɪlɒŋ/ n. A Malay term. Sale by auction; to auction < Port. leilão auction, public sale; outcry; a sale at a discount, a cheap sale

It might very well be the first of its kind here in Singapore but yes, the local loli comm held a swap/sale meet last Saturday. I went along with some items of my own to swap and I ended up swapping one item and buying more things instead!

The swap/sale meet was held at an attic of a house (volunteered by one of the attendees) which gave it a rather fun and impromptu flea market feel to the whole affair. The quantity and quality of items brought for swapping really exceeded my expectations. Furthermore, prices, when it's a sale if a swap is not happening, were very reasonable.

Photos by Jasmine of Frivolous Indulgences

And the photos only showcase one portion of the entire attic space, which eventually, had lolita items of all shapes, sizes, inclinations, spilling over everywhere.

Personally I like swap/sale meets as it's a chance to exchange or even buy items without going through the hassle of extra shipping costs and also not having to endure the waiting period while item is on the way. Plus what you see is what you get. And you also can try on the dresses to see if it fits before you decide to swap or buy. All gooooood~

As for me, here's my haul from the meet, hey-ho!

I absolutely adore that green stripy parasol! I swapped it for a Beth bag.

A hooded capelet for S$40

An ETC skirt for S$85

Space and logistics wise, holding a swap meet can be a little tricky. But as long as there are willing and non-fussy participants and an empty space to be found, why not! It can be a fun and enjoyable time for those who attend and as mentioned, all the advantages of a secondhand flea market of sorts or a mini Closet Child in action :)

It's not cos-pu-re!

2011-02-11T22:52:00.005+08:00

While I'm not ashamed of wearing lolita and liking this fashion, I don't announce it to colleagues of my workplaces, past and present. They usually find out themselves when I go to lolita meets and I get tagged on photos on Facebook since I do friend a few of my colleagues on the social network. Since I don't do over the top sweet like Angelic Pretty and I'm quite the dress down lolita (hur), I haven't bothered to set my Facebook settings so that said colleagues can't see it when others tag me in their photos.

So, inevitably, I'll get the 'I didn't know you cosplay!' on the first Monday back to work after I've been to a lolita meet.

Naturally, I'll explain it's not cosplay, gothic lolita is a fashion from Japan yadda yadda and yet, there'll always be THAT one or two colleagues who will gleefully keep bringing this little gem up at inopportune times and blab, 'Don't you know, she cosplays!' in front of the boss or other departmental colleagues.

I've gotten more or used to it and usually just dead-panned back, 'Yes, I know you always wanted to wear my Sailormoon costume. I'll bring it tomorrow for you.'

But....LOLITA IS NOT COS-PU-RE! lol! Of course, to the layman, I can more or less see how gothic lolita is seen as cosplay. Plus it's so much easier to generalise than try to make an effort and remember how one is a fashion movement and the other is costume re-enactment based on Japanese anime and manga mostly. Furthermore, lolitas at cosplay conventions can be common so I can't really blame the general public for generalising both.

As said, I'm not embarrassed about wearing gothic lolita or even of cosplay since I did use to do and enjoy that latter hobby as well. It's the intent and intention behind those comments by these colleagues that are obviously meant to try and make me feel embarrassed about my fashion likes or hobbies in front of others which I greatly dislike.

If you're facing a similar situation at your workplace, I can only suggest to keep one's cool and retort back with a quib or two if colleagues are bugging you about being a lolita. Afterall, quarreling with people that you see more often than your own family can make the workplace a lot more awkward for yourself. And in the end, as it has been reiterated so many times before and probably will again in future times to come, it's still just a fashion!

Weekly Alice

2011-02-07T10:14:00.010+08:00

Does anyone still remember Heart E? This lolita brand used to be more well-known during the early 2000s but seems to have sunk back into semi-obscurity with recent times. They're still in business and have an online web-store but only sells some selected pieces through the Kera Angel shopfronts.

Ever since Tim Burton came up with his take on the Alice in Wonderland mythos with his film last year, there was a period when all things Alice including costumes became quite popular in mainstream consciousness. And, somewhat surprisingly, Heart E also came up with their version of the blue dress that Alice wore for when she first appeared on the silver screen.

This film version to be precise

Annnnnd, here we have Heart E's version

I actually did manage to see Heart E's version in OIOI's Kera Angel store outlet last October when there. Needless to say, I did a little double-take when I caught sight of it and did a mini inspection on the spot!

Probably to avoid any potential sticky lawsuits from Disney since Japan does have a Disneyland of its own, the bodice front of the Heart E version has been modified and the curlique design at the dress hem has also been simplified to what looks like random scrawls, with Heart E's own logo emblazoned on it as well.

The Heart E dress is pretty enough in real life but since it's going for a cool retail price of 22890yen, I wouldn't really recommend it as the overall design is too simple to justify the amount and the construction of the dress was only so-so. It's cute as a novelty item and a lolita take on the film dress but otherwise, if one wants to dress up as Burton's Alice, I would say the officially licensed Disney Alice costume makes a better choice.

Disney approves! Retailing for US$49.90 currently

Unintentionally casual lolita for a day

2011-01-31T16:06:00.005+08:00

Nothing wrong with being casual lolita in my opinion! In fact, living in Singapore with its wacky weather and high humidity, casual lolita seems quite the logical choice to go with. However, I had actually intended to do a less casual look for the Black Alice tea party meet held last Saturday.

Jsk: Meta

Cardigan: Viola

Shoes: Sale wedges at S$9.90, bought on the day

And why, yes, that's Spotlight to the left of me

(Photo by Ivory)

So why I ended up wearing wedges was because I just could not locate my only pair of white loliable shoes on the day of the meet. I was going to wear off-white socks plus those damn shoes with this coordi but since the aforementioned cursed objects decided to get themselves missing to goodness knows where, I thought of quickly going to the shopping mall where the meet was being held and get myself a new pair of white shoes.

But you know what? Plaza Singapura, the mall in question, with its total number of 4 shoe shops, does not possess any white, off-white, passably loli-able covered shoes at all. No bows, no straps, no ribbons, no Mary-Janes, no nothing. Sandals yes, pointy toes yes, wedges yes, 6" stiletto heels yes. Everything else, no.

In the end, after wandering like a lost soul for roughly an hour and already terribly late for the meet, I decided to get these pair of blue wedges I saw. Dealbreaker? They were on sale for $9.90

Conclusion being: Never look for loli shoes at the very last hour.

The wedges do go very well with the Meta jsk surprisingly, being almost the same shade of blue! For an unintentional casual outfit, I guess it's not too bad? But it just wasn't the coordi that I was planning for originally, lol.

To alter or not to alter: Hamlet didn't say

2011-01-24T14:26:00.020+08:00

I recently managed to acquire the frill pinafore jsk from Metamorphose's Old Rose series. I had seen this jsk in-store last Sept when I was in Tokyo and had really liked the design with the spiralling Metamorphose logo then. When the chance came to get this jsk at a much lower price and brand-new, I naturally seized it with grabby, greedy hands~

On hindsight, perhaps I should also have seized the chance to try on the jsk when I was at the store then!

As the jsk had a panel of shirring behind its back, I had assumed I should be able to fit into it but oh I was wrong! On the first try, I was unable to zip it up completely and the problematic area in question was the chest area. The waist was fine but when it reached my bust area, the zipper stubbornly stayed stuck and there was a gap between the zipper teeth. Only after I wore my super-duper sports bra which effectively flattens my boobs by a few cm was I able to zip this gap close. While using this method to close the gap didn't really cause a uniboob effect, I am still facing the question of whether...

...to send the jsk for alteration and taking out the shirring completely?

It is a relatively minor alteration and taking out the shirring from the jsk would, in all likelihood, allow me to fit into the jsk more comfortably.

There's been plenty of discussions on this subject on the EGL LJ forum. Up, down, sizeways and leftways. Attitudes, in general, are quite positive in this day and age when more fuller-figured and plus-size girls are into this fashion now. The main concern against altering brand would seem to be it's because some see their brand dresses as an investment and hence, the resale value would drop drastically once it's been altered.

And yet, current positivity aside, I have not quite overcome this mental barrier of altering brand to fit better but this block only applies when it comes to myself! While there are brands that are catering to larger sizes now, anything beyond a Size L is pretty rare for them. Of course, this could be partly because, in the early days, gothic lolita brand designers probably did not expect this fashion to eventually gain a sizeable following outside of their own shore and their dress sizes would naturally cater to Japanese measurements.

Thus the idea that a medium height, petitely proportioned frame is the archetype ideal to wear gothic lolita in order to achieve the overall 'correct' look stuck and it's still might be a prevalent way of thinking for some. That the subject of altering brands rears its head up on the EGL forum now and then would indicate that, despite said positivity, there is still the underlying fear that to be seen altering brand is to commit an unforgiveable taboo.

One might argue that a certain conformity in gothic lolita fashion is a must as it is a particular look to be achieved and distinguished. And to achieve it, there must be a modicum of specificity and guidelines. However, in following this set of specificity, within the same reasoning, wouldn't altering brand dresses would therefore fall into the realm of apostasy??

Or perhaps I am thinking too much, lol! In the end, to alter or not, ultimately depends on the individual, as cliché sounding as that might sound.

And me? I think...I shall and will overcome that mental barrier and alter this Old Rose jsk from Metamorphose. I do feel that in gothic lolita fashion, yes, there should be some general specificity in order to be distinguished that I am wearing this particular fashion style. And I think too that one should also enjoy and be comfortable wearing the fashion and if the alteration does not drastically change the basic shape and feel, then do it and have fun doing it!

Weekly Alice

2011-01-20T23:02:00.012+08:00

Just a quick post as I've been down with the flu lately and drugged up with antibiotics. Blocked nose and hacking cough, begone!

Almost every gothic lolita brand that is geared towards the sweet side, has probably come out with an Alice in Wonderland or related print before, one time or another. The prints can be anything from an original Alice rendition drawing or a re-print from John Tenniel's storybook illustrations.

Alice associated motifs such as spades, hearts or trumps can be popular as well. Most recent and notable being Angelic Pretty's Trump Carnival Card series.

At first sight, the print can look way too busy with rows of falling cards as well as sundry animals (I spy a rabbit there, hither and thither) and random alphabets to the eye. I do still think the print can be a bit overwhelming, around the bodice area especially, but the series does have two very vibrant blue and red colourways that help to negate the fussy print a lot.

Angelic Pretty demonstrates their suggested coordination for the jsk, which I feel, also geared towards the safe zone. Although I wouldn't necessarily go with stripes if I was trying to tone down the overall look but the striped stockings does have that extra 'Alice effect'. A hime cut hairstyle, the choice of black for the blouse, all helps to tone down the busy print while the Card Heart bag seals the deal, I would say!

Of course, one can always go the other extreme, going over the top instead of trying to dampen the overall look. Do the poofy hair, pile on the accessories and mis-matched stockings for example! It could look pretty fantastic if done right.

My Loli Achilles Heel

2011-01-15T18:29:00.011+08:00

Around the end of the year, a phenomena happens in the lolita community which is simply called...lucky packs and end-of-year/new year sale season. And I always go slightly *coughs* crazy during this period, hanging on to news of which brands will be having their online sales and when.

The brands I look out for during this period are usually Metamorphose, h.Naoto Gramm and Innocent World. For a new lolita who's on a budget but wants to get some good brand pieces, this period can be especially fortuitous.

Earlier in January this year after a rather disastrous try at the h.Naoto sale (the website crashed on me the minute the sale went online. When I did get in, items were being sold out even as I browsed =X), I turned to Metamorphose. I did see a few items that I really like but I wasn't sure yet and didn't click to buy immediately.

See, here's a little tip for Metamorphose sales: if you're willing to take a chance, Metamorphose usually further reduces the prices of their still unsold sale items after 2 or 3 weeks. It's a risk but it can pay off as prices can go down to as much as 50%.

For me, I took that chance and waited for the second reduction and got this:

The solid bustle pinafore jsk in black which went down to 11400yen after the second reduction.

Which will look like this when I take it out of the plastic pack, lol

I also participated in the Innocent World sale (still-ongoing!) and bought a jsk and some socks. For Innocent World, they rarely do further reductions for their sales so if you see something you like, get it immediately. Especially if it says 'few remaining' on the quantity. As this means they probably only got one or two pieces left!

Weekly Alice

2011-01-13T11:37:00.004+08:00

I love it when designers do their own take on Alice in Wonderland and I love it more when it works. It doesn't always have to be a blue dress with a white apron :)

Those slippers! Adorable~

"Alice in Wonderland” by Antonia Yordanova, Niki Phoeni, Hristov Momchil.

Big, blonde and beautiful

2011-01-10T17:48:00.020+08:00

I'm not blonde by the way ^^

A few years back, I went into a local boutique (non-loli) and started browsing among the racks. The shopgirl sauntered over and asked me perfunctorily if I'm looking for anything in particular. I picked out a dress and asked her if there was a Size L for this.

She glanced at the dress and said no. Then she added, 'actually, there's nothing in this shop you can fit in.'

I was so taken-aback that I just put the dress back and walked out. Few months later, I could laugh about it as I likened my experience as reminiscent to that famous scene of Julia Robert's character trying to buy a cocktail dress at Rodeo Drive, in 'Pretty Woman', and being snubbed at by the snooty shopgirl.

But oh, it stung like a bitch when it just happened! I'm a US Size 12-14 now and a Size L - XL locally although a lot of clothes for Asians tend to run towards Size M even when it's labelled as Size L, I find.

Something similar happened in July 2010 when I was in Tokyo. I was shopping at the Harajuku branch of Closet Child when I spied a Juliette et Justine dress that was shirred around the waist. I know over-stretching tends to look fugly but I still wanted to give it a try as it's JetJ, one of my adored brands that I love to look at but knowing with a bittersweet taste, that I can't fit into most of their dresses.

So I brought it over to the counter to ask the shopgirl if I can try on the dress. She took the dress, looked at it, then looked at me and replied in Japanese. I don't understand much Japanese beyond 'kawaii!' but I got the geist of it. She was saying she doesn't think it's a good idea that I should try the JetJ dress on as she's afraid I would stretch it out too badly.

The Closet Child shopgirl wasn't snooty or mean, but she looked so troubled when I was asking her, lol! So I just mumbled it's ok and left the place.

In case there's a myth going around, there ARE plus-size lolitas in Japan. I've seen them when I'm there.

As for the JetJ dress that I wanted to try, it's this one, or similar, with shirring around the waist.

Pintucks own my soul.

It probably would have looked too fussy on my 159cm frame anyway, hur. But I was already planning to minimize any over-stretching of the dress shirring with belts or a bolero. Which I didn't get a chance to try...I don't blame the shopgirl at Closet Child, it was within her right as an employee of the store to safeguard any shop items as she deemed fit.

But again, oh how it stung then and there!

Maybe that's why Metamorphose is one of my favorite brands (besides their kooky hits and misses) is that their models look plump, possess middling height between 152-159cm and they do seem to recognise plus-size girls as a big part of their market.

Her eyes are somewhat scary but hello there, 152cm Meta model who doesn't have a waist size of 21"

I don't begrudge those who can fit into the less plus-size friendly brands and I focus my energies into finding lolita dresses that fit and is flattering and right for me instead. But sometimes, sometimes!, I do wish I can finally wear a JetJ or Mary Magdalene dress that has no shirring on it whatsoever without having to diet and live off cereal for a year.

I should be so lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky!

2011-01-07T23:04:00.009+08:00

Ah, Lucky Packs! Blessings and banes in equal measures. The brand companies get to upload their unsold seasonal items away while buyers get to possess a potential full outfit at a fraction of the total price of whatever items the brands have selected to put inside. The risk being, of course, you might get a psychedelic print of a crazed looking black bear running through the woods, lunging at a pathetic deer with blood splattering artistically.

(But I exaggerate....maybe)

Normally, I stay away from Lucky Packs as I have a fear of the unknown and because I have large boobs so the danger of getting things that I can't fit is like a bright red danger sign flapping luridly in the wind. I made an exception with Metamorphose though in Dec 2010 and ordered my first ever online LP. Reason being, with the C/L Honey Picnic LP set, I could actually SEE what I'm getting.

However, with my first online LP, I ended getting pink and I emo-ed awhile as I had prayed to the Meta LP gods that be, to not send me pink, please. I wanted the mint or lavender colour schemes. But I got pink. So I sold the pretty but sadly pink jsk away to an exotic far-away land.

The First Pack

Then Meta came out with a second Winter Lucky Pack a week later, packaged at 10000yen, and furthermore, stated the skirt that will come in this pack would be fully shirred. Hallelujah!! This is welcome news indeed, and more importantly, safe news, as it means there's at least one thing in the pack I should fit even if the rest doesn't.

After a week and a half of waiting after making payment, my second LP from Meta arrived today! I asked the postal service to deliver the pack to my workplace and I can't imagine what my receptionist's expression was when he received this pink, pink bag from the postman since it's obviously not official documents, hur. Nevertheless, he duely gave me a ring and I rushed down to collect it.

Oh joy!! After the disappointment with the C/L Honey Picnic LP, I was alternatively jumping like a fava bean on fire and scared to open it lest I be struck with depression once more.

So I opened a corner tentatively and then thought what the heck and ripped through the edge of the pack. The first thing that greeted my eyes was THIS:

I GOT THE HONEY PICNIC SKIRT IN MINT!

I was so chuffed and darn amused due to the fact that I got Honey Picnic AGAIN! Oh, the irony, the irony!

Thank goodness it's a colour scheme that I like this time plus the waist is fully shirred too =D

Here's the rest of the items in my pack:

The Second Pack

The Honey Picnic skirt, a basic white blouse with a neck-sash thing, white bloomers, yellow printed socks, a necklace and finally, black sparkly Meta bag.

I'm really so much happier with this second pack I got. I don't know about the blouse though, it's long-sleeved and tropical weather here isn't too fond of that. I'll try it on first and ponder after.

Ah, Lucky Packs! I think I might just give you another chance this year-end, if only for the excitement of not knowing what one will get and then finding out what one is getting.

I was thinking, for folks who bought the C/L Honey Picnic LP and also this LP as well...what if they ended up getting a Honey Picnic skirt too?

Weekly Alice

2011-01-05T11:14:00.013+08:00

I'll like to start a regular blog post every week highlighting a particular Alice in Wonderland shot that grabs me or a gothic lolita item relating to Alice. Right. Way to tone down that small little Alice obsession I mentioned in an earlier post. On the other hand, starting a Weekly Alice, as I term it, would give me something to post when I finally run out of things to write about.

To kick off this week's Weekly Alice, I stumbled across this themed shoot based on Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland film. Nothing too out of the ordinary as the movie set off a renewed all things Alice craze for a time but what stood out for me is that this shoot is actually done for an engagement! How cool is that? Very, in my opinion. I love it when couples do out-of-the-box engagement shoots and when paired with an Alice theme, great photography and compositions, it's all good.

There's so many shots in this engagement shoot that I really like but I can't put them all up, lol. The photographer has a blog post about the shoot plus more photos here. And the bride-to-be seems to be wearing a lolita pinafore jsk as well although I can't quite place where it's from!

A small little thing: I do wish she wore a cute lolita blouse instead of the cap sleeve t-shirt although she looks lovely still.

All things Alice

2011-01-03T09:40:00.012+08:00

I hesitate to call it an obsession as I CAN be discerning on what items or things to buy...but on the other hand, I know I am an Alice-phile in many ways (ah, denial in all its myriad forms).

I don't remember when I started liking Alice in Wonderland but I do know this liking was exacerbated when I played the game, American McGee's Alice, and got into gothic lolita fashion at around the same time. To an extent, Alice in Wonderland and lolita fashion is firmly intertwined for me. Lolita fashion may not have started out being influenced by Alice but it can't be argued that it isn't heavily associated with now, what with the Gothic Lolita Bibles doing semi-regular Alice fashion editorials and even Disney starting a range of gothic lolita Alice items to be sold in-store in February! Macaron Hearts did a recent post on the last event if you would like to know more about it.

As for me, I do enjoy it when brands come up with Alice prints but I absolutely love accessories with Alice motifs more often than not. Lately though, this seems to be extended to....scotch-tape of all things =X

Behold what I discovered in Daiso the other day and couldn't resist buying:

I don't know exactly what I plan to do with these tapes, in 3 colours no less, but I'll think of something...

Coordi shot and a little epousing on babydoll dresses

2011-01-01T02:11:00.009+08:00

Happy New Year!!

There's a conundrum that we plus-sized girls and boobie-chans face in the lolita world. Many of us have problems fitting into most of the brands' regular sizes. Honestly, if there isn't shirring somewhere on a lolita dress, chances are I won't be able to wear it at all.

Herein lies the conundrum - while shirring allows a greater chance for plus-sized girls to fit into brand, but it also potentially means stretching the shirring to a point where it will sit uncomfortably on one's body and just doesn't look good.

Normally, I try to avoid dresses with full shirring and this especially goes for babydoll dresses. Many a times, I have worn a babydoll dress and have had people standing up on a crowded train to offer me their seats.........well, at least chivalry isn't dead!

But when I saw Meta's Swan Chandelier jsk in green up on mbok and despite the full shirring AND babydoll style, I knew I had to get it.

The jsk is even more gorgeous in real life with gold appliques added onto the print! So despite my reservations, I bought it and finally wore it today to a loli meet with friends.

coordi shot!

Jsk: Meta
Bolero: Meta
Bag: Meta
Socks: Innocent World
Boots: Commode

To counter the full shirring on top, I wore a bolero over which I thought did help much. I decided not to wear a petti underneath as well, as poofing out the skirt would inevitably make me look 6 months pregnant, unfortunately.

And besides those reasons, I also wanted to tone down the outfit to make it look less sweet and more suited for a loli in her 30s ;) Mature sweet if there's such a thing!

The One That Started It All

2010-12-30T14:58:00.013+08:00

Back in 2002, I got to know this girl and I got to know about Gothic Lolita fashion and then I got to know this girl I know also knows about Gothic Lolita fashion and she started a club of other girls who liked the fashion and we called ourselves 'Les Lolita'.

Yes. This is a true story.

8 years down the road, and not everyone who was in the club are together now, but the name 'Les Lolita' is still remembered as a fond and nostalgic folly of our beginning days in these fashion.

8 years ago, Gothic Lolita fashion was rather different than what is popularly recognised now:

When solid blacks and black/white combinations were quite the thing in lolita fashion. And check out those chunky platforms.

There's even a phrase for this style among the lolita community now - oldskool.

When I flipped through the early Gothic Lolita Bibles, these images were what we, back then, aspired to emulate as best we could with tailored dresses and our homemade headdresses. Brands with incomprehensible but still delightfully exotic names, Metamorphose temps de fille, Baby the Stars Shine Bright, Victorian Maiden, were almost unattainable unless you had funds to travel to Japan and then more funds to buy them directly from the stores.

This was also the period when we used to discuss how does one pronounce Moi-même-Moitié correctly?

8 years later, the basic shape and form of a lolita dress remains more or less unchanged but lolitas are no longer afraid of mixing bright, bright colours and international shipping or shopping services are now readily available to the masses.

The pitifully few examples I've highlighted above are just the tip of the iceberg. Thinking back, on the second last day of the year and the decade, it's really quite amazing just how Gothic Lolita fashion has evolved within 10 years.

For me? I think lolita fashion has never been as exciting as it is now. This is what draws me back despite being in my 30s, and insidiously morphing from a size 10-12 to 12-14, with more gray hairs popping out with a vengence, and just regularly feeling too old among a crowd of ever-younger new lolitas bursting onto the scene.

From the early style of monochromatic black and whites or solids to the kaleidoscope of candy colours, wigs, prints, sub-genres within a genre, gothic lolita fashion just keeps pulling me back in.

Yours truly. Then and Now.

2002-2010 - A Loli Odyssey