Lolita Blog Carnival: What I Would Like to See in Future Prints

Hello, lords and ladies!

Although I'm not particularly craving for prints right now, I still thought I'd take part in today's Lolita Blog Carnival topic. Here's what I'd like to see in future prints - heck, if someone really made these happen, I'd certainly wear them, too!

1. Boeing 737 majestically taking over  atop of a buzzling metropolis, also shown in silhouette, or atleast effortlessly gliding through the fiery sunset skies. Travelling continues to be one of my greatest passions and I have always loved airplanes. In my past I've worked mostly with Boeing 737s and it's still my favourite model. In a print, this would naturally be a one time, large image on the hem, and the upper part of the dress would be either black or dark blue, depending on the print colours. Maybe someone could even release both "ink black" and "midnight blue" colourways? Pretty please?!

2. Unicorns. In all of my ears in lolita, I have not yet seen a brand release dress that captures unicorns just right. Historical unicorns are lovely, too, but I can't really take the pastel, cutese wutesy, stuffed toy like unicorns. That's just not what unicorns are for me. Ever since I was a kid, I've been obsessed with unicorns and in my mind they continue to be pure, wild, fierce, mystical and powerful creatures. Not something you would pet. In short, I'd like to see unicorn prints that really capture them right and do them justice.

2. Bunnies. Same as with unicorns, I'd like to see more natural looking bunny prints. I have no objections to bunny prints being cutesy wutesy, though, because that's what they really are. A bunny print where the bunnies hop in a forest or on a flower meadow would be just wonderful.

3. Books, but this time in pastel, or at least faded colours. We've seen some amazing book dresses from brands, but they all tend to be quite dark and heavy. I would like to see something more fresh and light this time. The books could still be old fashioned, of course, just change the colour schemes.

4. Why of course, tea, tea cups, tea pots, tea parties, pastries - yes please! Tea is one of my dearest hobbies (amongst travelling, bunnies and books) and I never tire of tea releated prints, no matter how often they are seen. As with book prints, I'd like to see something a little bit more mature, rather than cute. Faded pastels, antique cups, maybe some Rococo influences...

5. Flowers, as they also are one of my all time favourite themes in lolita (and in everything else too). But instead of the usual roses (though I adore them, too) I'd like to see delicate, small wild flowers. A meadow, or maybe flowers taking over some ancient ruins... Something really summer-y and fairytale like. The print could be really realistic, or really dreamy and look like it was painted with watercolours.

6. Conclusion: I'd like to see prints that are either really striking in colour, or really soft and faded. I'd like to see old lolita themes re-invented in a way that we haven't seen them yet. I'd also like to see more border, or at least on the hem only prints, the kind of prints that don't look too busy, nor too boring either. The perfect balance (yes, I can be quite demanding sometimes)!

What would you, dears, like to see in future prints, be it in lolita or any other fashion you may like? Feel free to share your opinions in the comments!

P.S. The other LBC participants:
Päivänvarjon alla
Pépins de Pom & Co.
Kawaii no Hawaii

Lolita Blog Carnival: Create A Flower Themed Coordinate

Hello, everyone!

Yesterday there was a hanami celebration in our local Japanese style garden. I would have loved to go, but came down with a flu, and therefore couldn't. Just my typical luck... I had planned to wear something like this for the hanami, and since it fits the Lolita Blog Carnival theme for today, I decided to post it like this anyway. (The original plan was to post it worn, but since I'm feeling rather anti-fabulous at the moment, this will have to do.)

You've already guessed it; my chosen flower for this coordinate is rose, one of my favourite flowers. Not very original, but I happen to own many rose print dresses, so it was an obvious choise. I wanted to make the coordinate very sweet and pastel coloured, fit for a spring stroll  or a summer picnic. The dress is Angelic Pretty's Lady Rose JSK, one of my dream dresses. The Minna Parikka bunny ear shoes I chose not only because they match the colours, but also because they are very comfy and easy to walk with in a park.

To emphasize the rose theme, I would wear lots of roses in my hair, and a self-made rose bracelet on the wrist. For legwear I would have chosen airy lace thigts in nude or white.

P.S. If you want to, please feel free to share your favourite flower(s) in the comments! I'm curious, if any of you have the same favourites as I. I actually have a new favourite flower in addition to my age old addiction to roses; tulips! Unfortunately I don't own any tulip themed dresses or accessories, and those might be really heard to find indeed. But still, they are so lovely to have in ones home, when it's not quite spring yet, and you'd wish it was.

P.P.S. Remember to check out the other LBC participants this week, too:
Sweet Expedition

Lolita Blog Carnival: How Would You Re-Do Your Wardrobe

Hello, everyone!

This week's Lolita Blog Carnival topic can be interpreted many ways. I took this approach; how would I re-do my current wardrobe, or how would I like to do things as a beginner, if I knew then all the things that I know now.

Well then, how would I like to re-do my current wardrobe?

 Re-do is quite a strong, almost chaotic word. I wouldn't want to re-do anything. I'm quite happy with my wardrobe as it is; most items match with each other (or don't match, but still work together nicely, when I don't feel like being all matchy). I have been building this wardrobe many years (about nine, to be exact), and I believe I have already found my own style in lolita. One of my friends described it very fittingly, saying "Your lolita style is very champagne shaded." I wouldn't dramatically change anything, but of course there are always those little things.

I would like to add more non-print dresses to my wardrobe, for example. I especially like old school pieces, or else pieces that have old school feeling to them. Applique, embroidery, ruffles, laces and bows are all lovely details, which you get less in printed garments. To be honest, I've grown a little bit bored with print dresses, or at least I have so many of those that it'd be a nice change to have more dresses without print.

Those just seem to be very hard to find! I would also like to sell some dresses that I don't wear that much anymore (and actually I have sold and swapped some dresses during the least year or so). The biggest single flaw in my wardrobe is the absence of a nice, roomy chocolate brown bag! It's not that I mind mixing different shades of brown, but it just would be a nice thing to own. The problem with this is that I'm very picky, and nothing is quite what I am looking for (not even the bag pictured!).

Okay, what would I like to do differently now compared to what I did nine years ago?

The short and simple answer to this is: nothing.

And here comes the long answer for those who care to read it; I wouldn't do anything differently. I made a lot of mistakes, and I looked quite horrible for the first years in this style. Things were very different back then. There really was no brand, neither new nor second hand, available outside of Japan. Almost none of the brands shipped abroad, and even if they did, I couldn't afford anything from them. There was not many indie brands, either, and certainly not Finnish ones. So we had to make-do with flea market, goth shop and offbrand finds that were even remotely loliable. It does tell something about the passion behind the fashion; people really wanted to wear lolita so badly, even though it was so hard!

I have also tried almost every lolita style there is (such as wa, ero and hime, too). I started as a (wanna-be) gothic lolita, as that was The Thing then. After that, I fell in love with sweet lolita, quite possibly because I wished to forget my "gothic lolita" days. Then, after some years in sweet, I started to crave for more mature, elegant, yet still cute look, and started to change my wardrobe more towards classic and sweet-classic, the state it is now in. In the past nine years, I have re-done my wardrobe three times. I think this is it.

 Me in 2009.

And yet, I'd like to do nothing differently. I can see now that the mistakes I made all thought me something and helped me work towards the goal of being a good lolita. Now I am one, even if I say so myself. And all the style phases I went through felt right at the time. I certainly didn't like classic lolita nine years ago, so why would I want to tell my younger self to buy classic instead of gothic lolita? My younger self, being even more stubborn than I am today (having worked on that, too) would simply tell me to shut up and let her wear what she really wants to wear.

The most important thing; even if I  - and many of my friends, who still are here after all these years! - were not very good lolitas, we were still having fun. Even though we did everything wrong and didn't realize it, we had fun. I would never change that fun, those moments with my precious frilly girls, for anything. What's happened is in the past, in the memories, and I'll let it stay there. Now I'm mature enough to smile at my mistakes, too. And the sense of style developed eventually, too.

What would you, dear readers, like to change about your wardrobe, current or past? Feel free to discuss in the comments!  

P.S. Check out the other LBC participants this week, too.

Courtly Dreams For Burgher

P.P.S. Happy Easter holidays, everyone! ♥

Lolita Blog Carnival: Favourite Lolita Hairstyles

Hello, lords and ladies!

This weeks Lolita Blog Carnival topic is to talk about one's favourite hairstyles in lolita. As my flu took a turn to worse after yesterday's day at school (my voice was relatively ok from 8 pm to 2 pm - then it completely gave out) and I'm forced to stay inside for the weekend, I might as well blog.

Without further delays, let's get started! My favourite hairstyles with lolita (and with my everyday style, as well, though of course I don't have time to do very intricate hairdos during the school/work weeks) are...

Hair Buns

Well, obviously. I do love hair buns most of all the hairstyles there are. The reason is not only aesthetic, though; it's practical as well.  I have learned a long time ago that my hair is impossible. It is naturally curly, thick and long, and yet it is fine and silky. As a result, my hair has none of that lovely volume some most naturally curly haired girls have. Now that I've grown my natural colour back, my hair is in such a great condition, too, that it does not stay curled, nor does it stay straightened. If I leave my hair free, it has no volume whatsoever, no matter how much I try. Therefore hair buns are the best solution. When done right, they can not get flat. They are the only secure hairstyle which, once I have completed the hairdo, will stay there.

I like Rococo-inspired hair buns a lot, but as they require a lot of work and I am a lazy person when it comes to hair, I rarely do them.

I also like more sleek hair buns. The bigger, the better, of course.

Hair buns on the back of the head? Yep, fine by me!

Curly hair buns (with my natural curls, of course) in different sizes? Been there, done that, too,

Hair buns on the side? Why, of course! Especially lovely with berettes.

Low Pigtails

This is another hairstyle I like a lot. It requires a bit more effort on my behalf, and lovely though it is after I finish my hairdo, I rarely stays good looking for long for the reasons mentioned in the beginning. I'm not willing to give it up, though, as it looks really cute with sweet-classic style.

High bigtails are not my thing, as my style has evolved into a more mature, elegant direction. Even when I still wore them, I always felt they didn't suit me that well, but rather made me look like a cocker spaniel. I do like to admire this hairstyle on others, though!

Side Ponytails

This is another hairdo that I adore. It looks very lovely with all kinds of dresses, no matter the style. But once again doing these seems like a total waste of time for me, as those curls tend to get flattened the moment I leave my home.

Hair Flowing Free in Perfect Curls

Ah, to be able to really pull off this hairstyle! I love long, flowing, perfect curls - and I do have the hair for that - but it never really works for me. So once again, I'll have to keep admiring this hairdo on other lolitas, trying it every onve in a while, only to discover that nope, still not working.

Braids

 Braids are super easy to do, and still look adorable, especially with hats! My problem is, of course, how to get some volume in them, as I have none.

A Wild Card; a Bobcut!

This is obviously something I can't do myself. I have tried a fake bobcut hairstyle, and it didn't work out in my difficult hair (no surprise there). I sometimes wonder if I should cut a shorter hair, myself, but whenever I try, I always end up missing my long hair. But all of this doesn't stop me from admiring it on other lolitas! The bobcut is a surpricingly versatile hairstyle. It looks good both straight and curled, and works well with all lolita styles. Mimi and Sanni are great examples of ladies that really rock this hairstyle!

Too Long; Didn't Read

I might actually sum this post up into a few sentences, which would be...
1) I really love perfect curls and volume (but have neither)
2) My most favourite hairdos are different kind of hair buns
3) I am very lazy and therefore my favourite hairstyles are all quite easy to make. The easier and quicker it is, the better.

Yep, that's it. What hairstyles are your favourites, my dear readers? Do you have some common favourites with me, or do you like something else entirely? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!

P.S. Don't forget to check out the other LBC participats this week: 

Marionette Cemetery 

Poppy Noir 

A Heart's Sound

Divinecross 

Raven Snow
The Bloody Tea Party
 

Lolita Blog Carnival: How My Style Has Evolved

Hello, everyone!

Today's Lolita Blog Carnival theme is as the title says. I first got interested in lolita in 2005, and the year 2006 saw my first attempts in this tricky fashion. My blog, however, only goes back to 2009, and that's where this post will begin from. Actually I'm just glad I don't have any proof of my early "lolita" outfits, because to be honest they were Awful with a capital A. Those were different times; not many brands shipped abroad, and thus we had to make do with whatever almost-but-not-quite-lolita clothes that we could lay our hands on, and even those sad items were such treasures! Oh, all the memories! But, anyway, the purpose of this long babbling was to warn you that yes, this post will be as long as a year of famine (as the Finnish saying goes). So be warned! And here we go...

2009

I started my lolita career as a gothic lolita - and so did everyone else. Back in 2006, gothic lolita was all the rage and I still occasionally dressed in it in 2009. I guess it also fitted my dark teen years very well. This h.NAOTO Frill dress was my very first brand dress ever, and how I loved it! I also wore dark lipstick, a big mistake. Don't get me wrong; I still adore dark lipsticks but I just can't wear them myself, because my lips are so tiny. But in 2009, I am yet to learn this.

 In 2009 I also got my very first dress from Baby, the Stars Shine Bright. I still own this dress and wear it every now and then. My style was not that polished back then, as you can see.

2010

In 2010 I started to like some of Innocent World's sweeter designs, as well. I was getting more into sweet lolita and the dramatic gothic days were finally behind me. I got my bunny bear bags and though I never used them much in daily wear, I sometimes dared to. I also wore over the knees with prints - a thing that I don't really do anymore, but then it seemed like a good idea.

I also fell in love with Angelic Pretty. During those times, sweet lolita was The Thing and I kind of went with the flow. I think it also had much to do with the fact that I was just bored after so many years in black and white, and sweet lolita seemed so fresh, so full of colour options!

But I never lost my love for Baby (still haven't, after all these years!) and sometimes I even wore black, mostly with lighter colours though.

2011

During the year 2011, my favourite brands were still the same: Baby, AP and IW. For some time, I was very loyal towards these brands and didn't even consider buying a dress from any other brand. 2011 was also the year I finally got Minna Parikka's Raquel shoes - shoes that I had long lusted for and shoes that I still have, and still love. Later I got more Minna Parikka shoes and liked to wear them with lolita a lot.

I also started to get interested in classic lolita. My first attempts were not so good.

I also bought these winter boots from Baby; they were and still are my only lolita brand shoes. Usually the price and quality just aren't a match, I've always thought it's ridiculous to spend that much on fake leather shoes. But I had long wanted proper lolita winter boots, something that isn't so easy to find from regular shoe stores, and so I got these and wore them a lot during that year.

Sugary Carnival was once my dream dress, and 2011 was the last time I wore it. I just recently sold it away and it did hurt to part from it, even though it no longer fits my style at all.

2012

But in 2012, I got another dream dress - Baby's Marie Antoinette OP, a dress I had admired from the very beginning of my lolita hobby. This dress, when I first laid eyes upon it, seemed to be everything I loved in lolita, the ultimate lolita dress. And now it was mine!

 I would still wear Angelic Pretty occasionally, but in 2012 I wore mostly Baby and IW. My style was going more towards sweet-classic and pure classic. My outfits were also getting more delicate; I would wear airy lace thights instead of printed socks. Actually, somewhere during this year I made the decision to never wear over the knees with lolita again, and never again I did. I decided that I was officially too old for them, and that outfits were more elegant without.

In 2012 I also added two new brands to my wardrobe: Victorian Maiden and Juliette & Justine. 

 

2013

The more time passes, the less I care about the fact if my outfits are matching or not. If the coulours work together, I wear them and that's that. This has made lolita a lot more fun to me.

This unicorn print dress is made by Mimi and has been one of my absolute favourites ever since I've had it. During this year I also started to like nude coloured lace or print stockings the most, often choosing them over the white ones I had worn a lot during the previous year. I hate the attention I get while wearing lolita, and I somehow feel more "invisible" with nude stockings.

During winter, I tended to wear dark, solid coloured stockings, to be (or at least feel) less noticiable and also to keep warm.

I was also - and still am - trying to find new, more classical ways of wearing my old sweet dresses.

2014

In 2014, I still prefer dark or nude thights. To be honest, my lolita style is pretty boring during the Winter times - I hate that, but I just want to be warm, and draw as little attention as possible, and also Winter is really dark and uninspiring time in Finland.

Well, what else? This year I wore my latte coloured killer heels. A Lot. I liked to combine them with sweet pastel coulours, to get more mature yet still cute looks.

I learned that these shoes go with everything.

I also tried to find new ways to wear my beloved Marie Antoinette OP. It's very hard to coordinate, but here I tried a little bit more modern approach and liked the outcome a lot.

I also like to coordinate a little bit of black into my outfits - it makes them seem more elegant and fresh.

And of course I added yet another (indie) brand to my wardrobe, when I finally bought this beautiful dress from Finnish Cloudberry Lady.

When it comes to accessorizing, I have always preferred to use offbrand, second hand, vintage and regular store finds also to get a more unique style. This is something that has not changed during all these years.

***

Phew. That took me forever. Hopefully some of you, my dear readers, could make it all the way to the end! If you enjoyed it, even better, if you suffered trough it, well I am sorry but still glad that you made it. :D

P.S. Don't forget to check the other Lolita Blog Carnival participants:

Breiðholt