Youmacon 2016

Hey everyone! It has been a few years since I attended Youmacon but this year I was lucky enough to be able to go on Saturday with my friend Ginny. I decided to finally finish a head piece I'd been working on for about a year (start to finish) to go with a dress I haven't worn in quite some time. I'm very happy with how the head piece turned out, as you will see in a minute. There were a few issues with pinning, balance, and a pesky spot the head band insisted on pushing in to but overall it wasn't too bad to wear and I received many compliments and requests for photos because of it! I felt honestly so flattered and amazed that people seemed to like it as much as I do.

I took some still photos that I will be sharing here but mostly I focused on filming. I will link to the vlog I've put together at the end of the post! Most of the stills here were taken at the annual con meet up.

I'll start right off with our silly group picture. We are all beautiful and amazing lolitas. Such class. Such elegance. #Kawaii

Photo Credit: Indigo Carr

Photo Credit: Indigo Carr

I want to start by showing you individual pictures of some of the amazing people who attended the meet up. I couldn't grab everyone's coord but hopefully you can see most of them in the group photos. Unfortunately I don't know everyone's names so I will not be including any, for consistency. Sorry!

I ran into this group at the dealer's room as well!

I also had the pleasure of meeting Kristel from the Toronto community. We had a nice long chat and her outfit was honestly amazing.

This cute shop girl was wearing an Angelic Pretty skirt as well! I really loved her art and style and everything! It was totally my aesthetic preference and she hit onto so many of my fandoms. Perfection, honestly. You can scope her Insta here.

Now I want to show you mine and Virginia's coordinates! We didn't get much sleep but we managed to still get dressed and to the convention at a decent time. I was exhausted but the sheer power of cuteness propelled me through the day.

Ginny!

Ginny's main piece is the Day Dream Carnival Salopette by Angelic Pretty. She made most of the pieces in her coord, including dying her own socks!

Lastly, here is my coordinate photos and breakdown. I hope you guys see the love and time I put into this one.

Early morning makeup selfie!

Ignore my petti. OTL I fixed it.

You can actually see the whole boat here.

Nails were done by my friend Amanda.

Dress: AatP replica
Blouse: Glittertale
Shoes & Socks: Bodyline
Headdress: Hand Made
Everything Else: Offbrand

BONUS

I hope everyone had a wonderful Youmacon this year and hopefully I'll be able to attend again in the future! Thank you so much for reading and if you want even more, I'll finish this with a link to my vlog from the con. I am not going to embed it because Blogspot crops the video in a weird way. I hope you understand. I'll talk to you next month! Everyone have a great holiday and see you soon. <3

YOUMACON VLOG

Lolita friends and bonus outfit!

 Hello lovelies!

I recently went on a friend date with someone I work with who has gotten into lolita over the past few months. She is the same one I went to the museum with. We went out for lunch, did some shopping, and then took some photos by The Tridge in Midland, MI. It was a really fun day! I love having someone local I can do lolita with since meet ups are often way too far for me.

This is my friend's outfit. She went simple and is still working on this coord and others. The skirt was made by her! I believe the blouse was thrifted.

We did precarious climbing to get this!

Make up close up.

My dress was designed by me and produced by A. Gato Designs, as mentioned in a previous post. My blouse is custom from Glittertale. For more details on the blouse check here! Everything else I'm wearing was either made by me, thrifted, or is off-brand.

I'm still doing some work on this coord and will be changing it up some in the future. Black is fairly new to my Jfashion wardrobe so I am working quite a bit with pieces from my normal clothes.

As a bonus I'd like to show you guys an outfit I wore for a concert I attended earlier this month. I wore it throughout the day so my hair and makeup are not really done. I did special makeup for the concert and, since I had to do it on the fly, I didn't bother with makeup for the rest of the day. I have a long ways to go on this outfit but I'm getting there!

My shoes broke so just socks! Whoops!

Blouse is Glittertale again and the dress is another I commissioned from A. Gato Designs. My socks and wrist-cuffs are Bodyline. Everything else is thrifted or off-brand.

My friend and I are attending a tea party next week for our community's 10th anniversary. The attendance list is large and there are lots of free goodies and contests. I will be making a full post on that next month so please look forward to it!

Love always,
Kayla

Glitter Tale Review and Recommendations-Positive

Hello dear readers! I promised last month that I would do a review of the custom Glitter Tale blouse I ordered. So here you are!

I ordered through their facebook page by email. Overall the order process was quite easy. You choose your style and color then note if you want a standard size or custom size. You can also say if you want lace that is the same color or different. You can customize the design as well if they don't offer exactly what you want. As a plus size lolita, I chose custom size. There is a slight fee for custom size if I remember correctly. Overall the blouse cost a little over $70 USD shipped. They blouse came in just over a month but would have come faster if I hadn't needed to change my size. I accidentally sent the wrong measurements (because I thought I knew how to take the measurements but while double checking about a week later I realized I'd taken them differently than how they wanted.) Be sure to watch the video they link to and do the measurements EXACTLY how the video says. I recommend going step by step along with the video and writing them down if you're doing custom. I also would recommend adding 2cm to all of your measurements, especially if you chose a non-stretchy fabric.

I want to note here that they were amazing about changing my size for me. They had already started the blouse but did not charge me extra to start over with updated measurements!

The shirt came in an envelope but there was some slight damage to it. I didn't need to worry though because they wrapped the blouse in a sturdy plastic bag for protection.

The details are beautiful. The lace is soft and wonderful. The sewing is really well done. The buttons are a little loose but after several wears they have not fallen off. It also came with an extra button. They are very elegant, well spaced, and are included on the wrist as well.

An initial try on revealed that the fit was done very well. I did add a few cms to my measurements to avoid gaping and to ensure it would fit. The only issue I had was that the shoulder width was a bit small. It fit but I felt it was shortened slightly from the measurements I gave. I added 4 or 5cm to that measurements because another review I saw said they had that problem. However, even with that it could've used another 2 to 4cm. I recommend adding quite a bit to that measurement to make sure you have full movement and comfort.

As you can see it also came with a neck ribbon

It is a sheer fabric so I think it looks best under a JSK (as seen below) but with a tank top underneath it would work well for a skirt as well.

Overall I am very happy with my order and the company. I really can't recommend them enough and I really do feel like the end result is worth the cost. The quality is only a slight tier under brand blouses I've had. Glitter Tale is really a great option for people who want to customize their clothes, are struggling to find the perfect blouse, or are too small or big for the standard size lolita blouses. They even have sales on certain styles throughout the year so keep your eyes open for those to save even more.

Have a wonderful month! I am going to be away on a vacation until the end of March so I will update then with a review of some brand accessories I recently obtained. Stay lovely!

January 18th, 2016 Meet Up

Hello lovelies! Yesterday there was a meet up planned at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn. They had free admission and parking in celebration of Martin Luther King Day. There were about 20 people there I believe? Unfortunately we were late due to bad roads and unforeseen circumstances and never managed to find the large group! Though we did run into two other lolitas, we mostly stayed on our own but still had fun.

My friend Virginia came along with me. She is new to lolita and this was her first time wearing it out. Unfortunately for her we had more people come up to us with questions and wanting photos than I've ever had. We got so many compliments and people who genuinely polite and interested. Luckily, even the people who were not as polite were not out right malicious to us. There is a certain amount of leeway that needs to be provided while wearing alternative fashions because, no matter how silly it seems to us, people are going to want to know why you're dressed that way.

We explored the museum and saw some really great exhibits. I hadn't been to this museum since I was a small child and I didn't remember anything (except the Weiner-Mobile) so it was like going to a brand new place! Here are a few of my favorite pieces:

The Women's Suffrage Display

Antique Lamps & Wood Stoves

This plane made me smile!

JFK's car

Showing the anatomy of the Model T

When we were finished at the museum we drove to Midland to go to our favorite sushi place. They offer great vegan options and my favorites kind of tempura. Here is what I ate.

Miso Soup  (Fish free!)

Sweet Potato Tempura

Lastly, and what you probably wanted to see in the first place, are some pictures of my friend & I. I will include outfit breakdowns at the very end. Thank you for reading and have a beautiful week. <3

Greenfield Village was closed but made for a cute photo!

Virginia

Makeup! My first time wear falsies.

Virginia's Outfit:
Head bow, skirt (jsk actually), shoes, bag, and keychain: Bodyline
Blouse: Baby The Stars Shine Bright
Rings: Off-brand and Chocomint
Everything else: Off-brand

Kayla's Outfit:
JSK and head bow: Cloudberry Lady (See review here)
Blouse: Glittertale
Shoes and ankle socks: Bodyline
Twin Bows: Innocent World
Moon Clip: Chocomint?
Everything else: Thrifted or off-brand