2015 Purchase Plans!

I made a small "to buy" list last year. I unfortunately didn't get much off of it. :< I did get quite a bit of lolita this year (by my standards) including my first piece of brand! It wasn't for not trying though, several of the items continuing from last year's list I searched far and wide for. So I thought it'd be fun to make another one to reference for this year!

So these are the items I'd like to purchase in 2015. Wish me luck!

Any brand parasol similar to this

Mint Chess Chocolate replica with border print

Yellow Milky Planet JSK replica

Loris present star bag in pink

Angelic Pretty tea pot cookie necklace in pink

Baby Doll Blouse with Removable Sleeves (2012) in white

Shirring Princess JSK & Head Bow Set in Pink or Navy

I'm also planning to get a new blouse or two, brown shoes, and brown and white wrist cuffs. So what are you hoping to get this next year! Comment below to let me know, I'd love to hear. <3

Early December Coord

Hello lovely readers! I recently obtained a new dress. I'm waiting on a skirt right now and then I think I'm going to do a recent purchases post since over the past two months I've bought quite a bit of new lolita stuff. So the dress I got was a replica of an Alice & the Pirates dress. I put together a pirate themed coord to go with it. I'll show you that in a second.

In unrelated news there will be a Baby tea party at a con near me. I'm trying to decide if I should go. It'd be a huge financial strain but it would be awesome. I'll definitely let you guys know if I opt to participate. Now on to my coord photos!

Thank you for stopping by! This is my first outfit with a JSK instead of a skirt and I really am happy with how it turned out. I was very excited to finally get to use my treasure chest purse. ^_^  See you next time!

Predictions for 2015!

I thought it might be fun to make some predictions about what will be trending in lolita in 2015. Every year we see trends emerging. 2014 was filler with peignoirs, religious imagery and accessories, and the emergence of OTT (over the top) classic.

One item we are already seeing come into the scene is head chains. I've seen these around the internet for a couple years; they're very popular on a shopping site I use. I was wondering if they'd ever make their way into jfashion because I think they'd work really well in lolita and dolly kei so I'm a little shocked it took this long.

Short hair! I have seen more and more acceptance of cropped hair in lolita over the past year and I predict it will become "trendy" at some point in this coming year. A lot of people are moving away from the hassle of wigs and I believe a death toll for pastel wigs has begun to ring. So, with the more natural hair options coming into the fashion, I think we will see short hair more.

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Indie brands are pretty popular right now but I predict in the next year they'll become even bigger and we'll see more starting up. A lot of people are tired of the main brands in lolita because they have such limited sizes and tend to rehash and reuse the same trends over and over. Indie brands tend to be a little more original and interesting. Some of these brands are making a real splash in the lolita scene and perhaps that splash will become a tidal wave soon. :)

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I'm going to make one last prediction, this one without much basis besides my personal feelings. I think we're going to see an outbreak of the less common substyles. I think Gothic will make a strong comeback. Country lolita is already seeming to come back slightly so I think that will continue. I also think we might see cyberpunk lolita, mori lolita, and punk lolita make small comebacks. I hope we see these being done by people who really know what they're doing since these styles are often associated with newbies and itas. I'd like to see that change and I'm hopeful in 2015 we will!

Thank you for reading! I'm very much looking forward to what the rest of this year will bring and I eagerly anticipate a new year of lolita fashion.

-Kayla

Love & Hate

Hello! I was inspired to do a post about what I love and hate about lolita. I'll be doing 5 of each. So I'll get straight to it!

Love

1. Skirts! I love how skirts look in lolita (instead of a JSK or OP). I like the other options as well but there is just something about the balance of skirts in an outfit.
2. OTT (over the top)! It doesn't matter if it is sweet, classic, gothic, etc I love when an outfit gets taken into OTT. The attention to detail and the way it all just comes together is wonderful in my opinion.

   

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       3. Indie designers are something I love about lolita. Though I'm reasonably drawn to the big      name brands I think that some of the Taobao and handmade designs are even more wonderful. I'm glad to see these gaining momentum over the past few years. 

       4. Inclusive areas of the community. Whether its feministlolita, gorgeouspluslolita, or colormelolita (and there are TONS more) these blogs are an awesome way to get inspiration and to feel included if you aren't what many consider the "ideal" lolita. So these are great.

       5. Shirring! I don't own anything with shirring right now actually but I really love it. It is great for us plus size lolitas but it also makes it so pieces have a lot wider audience. That leads to a bigger variety of coords and I think that is awesome! 

Hate

       1. No petticoat coords. I know everyone and their mother says this but I really really can't stand how an all around great coordinate gets ruined by a lack of a petti. It just looks so frumpy and it doesn't have the silhouette that is staple to the style.

       2. Hate communities. Confessions blogs, behind the bows, parts of cgl, get off egl, etc. A lot of these have thankfully been disappearing over the past year but they still exist and they promote really negative behavior and attitudes.

        3. The price! I love brand and indie brands but they are so expensive. I know the quality is worth the money and all that but it still makes me a little sad every time I relinquish a wad of cash for an item. Usually that is forgotten when I receive it though to be honest. I think most lolitas who pay for their own clothes can relate to this.

        4. Costume lolita. I will never be mean to someone because they chose to wear a cosplay type lolita coord but I just don't love them. That being said, I've seen some REALLY great ones. I've seen some that I thought were just amazing and did a spectacular job. Most of them I see though are not well thought out, cheap looking, or badly coordinated. Nothing against the people who wear them, just not my thing. Here is one I actually liked.

        5. The last and the one I hate the most is Fancy Box (and similar prints). These are popular prints and I have seen some nice coords with it but honestly I just hate it. This is my least favorite print out there. I can't even fully explain why I dislike it. It is almost an irrational distaste for it. The repetitive rows, the colors, the bears, all of it is just terrible to me. I even hate the straps. 

Thank you for reading! These are just my personal opinions and everyone is totally free to disagree with them. Have a wonderful week and a great Thanksgiving for those of you who celebrate it. See you soon. <3

Art Prize Coord!

I recently went to Art Prize in Grand Rapids. This is an annual trip for me. Coincidentally there was also a lolita meet up happening the same weekend in the same location. A great excuse to dress up and try some new ideas I've had!

We agreed to meet at this cute art gallery but unfortunately it was closed so we went to the GRAM instead. Everyone looked great! We got our picture taken several times. When we were finished at the museum we agreed to go to Spoon Lickers for Froyo since they had vegan options that catered to our mixed diet group.

It was wonderful overall and it felt great to be among a group of lolitas again since it had been a while since I've done any kind of Jfashion circle.

Here are some of the photos from the meetup!

About half of our group! We got separated for a bit.

Close up to show make up. 

This ring broke :< One of my favorite accessories though.

My full outfit!

Photo credit Alex Brand