Chicago Jfashion Swap!

Hello everyone! This month my friends and I traveled to Chicago to take part in a large swap meet being hosted by their local community. It was open to all Jfashions, not just lolita. This is perfect for us because we all do mori, fairy kei, decora, etc as well. We had quite the time trying to find the location but it was great once we got there. Also, we did a few other activities since we had gone all the way there. It is about 7 hours from where we live, for reference. We were only there for the one day, though we arrived the night before and stayed in Wrigley Hostel.

I made a vlog for the trip and also a haul video which you can see below! Please watch and enjoy. I recommend clicking through and watching it on Youtube since it seems blogger clips the video strangely.

I'll see you all next month with another adventure.

-Kayla

Lolita Valentine's Day!

(If I've used your photo in this post and you'd like me to remove it please comment with the photo that belongs to you! Thanks!)

Hello everyone! In many places of the world tomorrow is Valentine's day. I know I'm a little late in making this post but it may be useful for future reference as well. I wanted to share some ideas for celebrating the holiday with your comm. I often see people planning meets around this time and lolitas coming out in their best themed coords and would like to throw my two cents in.

First off, I want to say, I LOVE pink and red coordinates, especially around Valentine's. I know they're a little cliche and many people really don't like them. I, however, think they're great. That being said, they can be VERY difficult to pull off. This color combination requires a delicate eye and just the right balance. Here are some of my favorite examples of this color combination:

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If red and pink isn't your thing any print with candy, hearts, or similar imagery will fit the bill! Don't feel pressured to wear a themed coordinate though because many lolitas do not have a holiday appropriate outfit and that is TOTALLY OKAY!

Valentine's meetup possibilities are truly endless. A few options that come to mind are a visit to a candy store, tea with special themed cakes or cookies (rose tea for extra kawaii), a color theme meetup, a card or gift swap, or a crafting meet prior to the holiday to make themed gifts and cards. Any meetup sharing love and joy with your lolita pals is acceptable, it just depends how hard you want to go for the theme.

Don't be afraid to bring a small snack or gift for the lolitas in your comm if you are attending a V-day meet! Make sure to check ahead if anyone has allergies or dietary needs though. There is nothing worse than working hard on something and not being able to give it to everyone.

Have ideas to make Valentine's meets more classic or gothic friendly? Comment them below!

Have a wonderful month everyone and enjoy your holiday!

-Kayla

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

October 2nd Meet Up-Art Prize

Hey lovelies! This month I attended a meet up in Grand Rapids with a few friends for Art Prize. Normally I spend a whole weekend at the festival every year but, due to the relocation of my best friend, that was not possible this year.

Honestly, I was kind of underwhelmed with Art Prize this year. Many of my favorite locations were lack luster or completely closed! It was kind of disappointing; nothing blew my mind, though I did enjoy some of what I saw.

For most of the meet up it was just my friends and I and the host, Amanda. A few more people showed up about half an hour before we had to leave for our other plans for the day, which were time sensitive. Unfortunately, when we got to our car it was totally dead! It took over an hour, a security guard, and some handy work on my part, but we got the car up and running again. We had to run to get to the mall before it closed though, because there was an item I needed to pick up. It is almost a 3 hour drive there for us and if I didn't get the item before 6 (we left the parking garage at 5:30) I wouldn't be able to get it without driving all the way back! Luckily we made it, though we had to cancel some of our other shopping plans.

I didn't take many photos, especially not compared to my usual binge photography. Ha ha. I'll share my outfit and my favorite art pieces from the day though, plus a few candids of the other attendees! We also grabbed a group shot (which was taken by Tracy and I just stole for this post. Thanks Tracy!). I'm sorry but I forgot to note the artist's names so I don't have any art credits or websites to send you all to. Please forgive my forgetfulness!

Here are some of the outfit shots taken of me throughout the day (by Amanda F. and Ginny.)

Right after this I got called a princess

And lastly here are a few shots of other lolitas from the community!

Ginny! 

Host-Amanda

Group shot (minus Amanda F)

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