Closet Clean-Out

Wishlists are nice and all, but what really needs to happen is a thorough spring-cleaning of my wardrobe. So much of it isn't my style anymore, or what I have in mind for my style. It needs to go to someone who will love it. Everything needs to be laundered, but for me, I'm just happy I got through Step One.

I'm actually quite pleased with myself for how large my "to-go" pile is and how small my "maybe" pile turned out.

I decided to keep my underskirts, petticoats and socks. Two of those are necessary for most outfits, and people don't like buying used socks half the time, so I'm not going to sink energy into it.

Here is my "keep" pile:

See? Look how small! It all started with the Meta sundress on the far left. As soon as I took it out of storage, I smiled. I remembered how happy I was when I first got it in the mail. It was the true beginning of my Lolita journey.

Garden Alice is both a favorite of mine and an old, damaged dress. It had come to me in less-stellar condition, and I've never been able to really get it back to 100%. It's staying with me.

And then, of course, I can't let go of Sorcerer's Horoscope. She's too beautiful.

Finally, I've got one cardigan that I can wear with two of those JSKs, as well as my two underskirts. They can stay.

Sell Pile:

This is just about everything in my closet! I had to sit down and be honest with myself about how much I still loved the pieces. Some are no longer my style while others never were. Peter Pan collars and whatever's going on with Sugar Bouquet are never going to sit on me very well. Wheel of Time was never my favorite theme, but I kept it around because it was so comfortable.

I've also forced myself to let go of matching Rabbit Cafe to one of the titular bunnies in the print. It's never going to happen.

Finally, there's the Maybe Pile:

Only the pink and brown Baby cardigan, the black IW skirt, and Candy Bottle.

I was never head-over-heels in love with the cardigan, but I can still potentially make a decent coord with it if I put in some effort. As for the skirt and the JSK, I feel like I never really gave myself a chance with them? I had such plans for Candy Bottle, and the IW skirt can still fit in my new wheelhouse. I'll have to sleep on these items a little while longer.

I'm still not really sure where I'm going down the Lolita rabbit hole, but I know I'll feel a bit better knowing that these things I've held onto for so long will go off to new homes. "When" is a good question, current global climate in mind. My next step will be finding all of the detachable bows and waist ties, as well as going through my headwear to see what else I can sell.

If you have any closet clean-out photos or stories, I'd love for you to share! Go ahead and let me know in the comments below.

Back in the Saddle 1: What Stayed

While I work on things and wait and try to learn patience to re-start my Lolita journey, I thought it would be fun to share something I've discovered about it: my wishlist evolution.

I've taken LovelyLor's video about starting over to heart a bit and began rebuilding my wishlist, swearing to look out only for things that I truly love and wait for dresses that are special to me. But first, I had to clean out the old one. There are a lot of new pieces, a lot of things that were pulled, and a shocking amount of dresses that remain! I don't want to start on a downer, so I thought I'd share what's being kept around on the list!

Top: IW Strawberry Jam, AP Royal Unicorn, MM Fraise Cerise

Middle: AP Horror Garden, Meta Lace-Up Tiered Long JSK, AP Marine Kingdom

Bottom: IW Fairy Tale, AP Chocolate-Chan Going Out, AP Dreamy Perfume

I don't think this is an exhaustive list, but it's basically everything. I'm surprised at how much Angelic Pretty is still there.

A lot of these are nostalgia pieces for me. Many of them were around for my formative Lolita years and I've never lost my love of them. Everyone who's ever read this blog knows how much I love Strawberry Jam, Fraise Cerise, Chocolat-Chan, and Fairy Tale.

Horror Garden and Royal Unicorn are pieces that I've always wanted but stayed on my mental backburner for a long time. I would love to add them to my collection. Unicorns are my favorite mythological creature and I need more Gothic prints in my life. I always have.

Revisiting the Lolita world made me realize how much I love perfume prints, so Dreamy Perfume stayed. I won't say no to any perfume prints if I'm honest.

The Meta JSK is simple in comparison, but I still love it. In fact, that might be why I still love it. You'll see in future posts how I'm gravitating well away from busy prints.

Finally, there's Marine Kingdom. I have no excuse, I have no reason. Mermaids and mermaid prints are great. I love that neckline and I can't tell you why. Seashell lace. Pearls on the bow. Mermaids.

I hope this was fun! I tried to be more light-hearted because I know the last post was kind of heavy and the next one's going to be heavier. After that, expect a post about the pieces that were cut from the wishlist, then a post about the ones that were added!

Stay safe!

January 2018 Mood: Cozy, Red, and Classic

Instead of Style Inspiration, I figured it would be easier just to do monthly mood collages based on what sort of Lolita style I'm feeling. This month, I've been really into a sort of Classic color palette based around red, brown, and green. Mostly, I've been eyeballing a lot of Baby, the Stars Shine Bright products because I ended up placing a small order from BtSSB New York to celebrate the end of my two-year break from school.

Recently, I've been really enjoying a few different key things: Underbust JSKs, more casual-style pullovers, cozy cardigans, bonnets, and lace-up sort of OTKs. I actually have the red-and-white Baby OTKs on order along with a pair of pink ribbon hair ties and an Usakumya pen (which is going to be my special note-taking pen for my only in-person class this semester).

Of course, any school set for me won't be complete without my Innocent World Angel Wing bag - it's just the right size for some notebooks, a textbook, and a few other odds-and-ends like wallets and things. Just skip it if you bring a laptop to class.

Here are a few coords I've mocked up; most of them are simple, easy outfits to wear to class. I've never been big on too many accessories, so most of them use minimal accouterments or the design details on the pieces themselves, such as the decorative collars of the blouse and turtleneck.

What are some color palettes or styles that you've been leaning towards this month? Let me know down below!

Candy Bottle Unboxing!

So, last Friday and today have been kind of special for me: I ordered a new dress from Metamorphose! Not only is this the first thing I've bought for my Lolita wardrobe in more than a year, but it's also the first new-straight-from-the-brand dress I've ever purchased! I can't say first order ever, because I once bought a parasol from Baby SF, but this felt different.

Remember how I said in this post that I was in love with the Candy Bottle print? Well, guess what's on sale?

I ordered it, the dress shipped out on Monday, and I can't tell you how pleasantly surprised I was to find that it arrived yesterday! I was expecting a far longer wait.

Meta sent me a bunch of little things along with the dress, too!

In addition to the obligatory shopping bag, there's also a nice little sticker, and fabric swatches from their Matryoshka Doll print!

There are also two spreads of the Cherry Berry Song series, and Crown Label's Bakery Cafe.

... and two sets of design sketches! One for the Dim Light series, and the other for Bakery Cafe! That bear is so cute.

Alright, of course, now for the main event:

The JSK! I went with off-white because it just seems like I can coordinate it with more things. It's a nice, soft cotton, and it's super girly, even though construction-wise, it's almost the same as my more Classic Wheel of Time JSK. The fabric almost has a pink hue to it!

I'm in love with these buttons down the front! No, they aren't functional, sadly!

The little, pink satin bows are a great addition, and the lace on the hem has the Meta Swan Logo!

Here's a shot of it from the back - and the only thing about this dress that's off are the waist ties. This is my second-shortest dress, yet it has the _longest_ waist ties I've ever seen. But it's not a big deal in the slightest.

Have any of you gotten anything in mail recently? Let me know or link me to more unboxing videos in the comments below!

Lolita Blog Carnival: Pet Peeves; Five Things You Hate About Prints

This week's topic was actually really hard for me to put together! There are so few pet peeves I have with prints, really - sure, there are prints that I actively dislike because maybe it's just not my style, but it's probably not some single element that immediately turns me off from it. So, I ended up branching out a little bit.

That said, the following accounts for a very small majority of Lolita prints in the world, and if you love these things, then that's awesome! You rock it! Just know that I'm probably not ever going to try to outbid you for something that I'm describing.

1. Prints Over Pinstripes

I will say that this personal pet peeve doesn't always apply to everything that goes over pinstripes. I mean, AP's Chocolat-Chan Going Out JSK is still one of my dream dresses. The difference is that the applique or print needs to contrast well enough with the stripes to not either blend in or hurt the eyes. Even with the dress above, AP's Lucienne Dream, the brown colorway actually does this pretty well! But the rest of the colors, particularly the black, sort of flop.

Baby, the Stars Shine Bright did this, too, and quite recently with the My Dear Sweetheart Regimental JSK. The print is metallic, so maybe it looks better under different lighting, but in the stock photo, it just looks... not great.

2. Crosses in Non-Gothic Prints

Angelic Pretty's Romantic Little Garden print.

There's a whole discussion out there about whether or not using crosses in Lolita or "Nun-Lolita" as a substyle is cultural appropriation, and that's not what I'm here to talk about. I'm down with crosses in Gothic Lolita, and if you want to throw on a veil and Ista Mori's Nameless Poem OP, then you go for it, but when I see it pop up in sweet prints, I'm just... eh. I don't even know what it is, something about it just makes me cringe away from an otherwise lovely print.

3. Great Prints, Bad Cuts

Meta's Cherry Berry Song OP

Maybe this one isn't so much a pet peeve I have with prints, themselves, but with something annoying I stumble upon every now and again. The print's gorgeous, or really cute, and I really like it, but then the cut of the dress is just terrible. Luckily, most prints come in more than one cut, and if you can fit into the nicer option, then there you go!

For us busty girls, who often can't... learn to love the sack dress? Or, more likely, to live without that print.

4. The Extra-Overt Brandwhore Print

A ton of Lolita prints in the world feature the brand name in some way, shape, or form, whether it be Angelic Pretty's monogrammed lace, Baby's hidden, scrolling cursive name nestled in the background of its prints, or anything else. And then there is the occasional piece that has the damn thing plastered onto its fabric. As much of a self-described brand-whore as I am, I didn't buy the dress out of brand loyalty, I bought it because I liked it, and I don't feel like being that much of a walking billboard.

5. Meta's Skirt (and Occasional JSK) Thing

Meta, why do you do these things you do?!

This is Meta's Mermaid Princess Ribbon Shirred JSK. It's a perfectly standard print, an interesting take on the whole "mermaid" theme, I think. I can dig it.

This is the skirt.

Meta does this with so many of its prints: they take one of the pieces, and strip it down to its least-cluttered section of fabric. And for some of them, that's fine! I even like them better that way (like Wheel of Time in its fully-shirred JSK version - at first I was a little salty about the lack of clocks, but now I really prefer the toned-down version of gears and keys). But for others, it just feels... lacking. Like Mermaid Princess.

And this will be different for everyone depending on their preferences. For instance, the Matryoshka Doll print skirts come in two flavors: one with the full print, one without. The one without the full print is the longer of the two, and unless you're very short or really into their mini-skirts, maybe you'll feel like you're missing out on something.

~~~

That's all I've got for this one! What are some pet peeves you have with prints? Let me know in the comments below!

✿✿✿

~Other Participants in the Lolita Blog Carnival~

✿ Cupcake Kamisama ✿

Meta Brings the Retro

It's not a secret; I love Metamorphose. Usually. Mostly. I mean, we all know that Meta has questionable taste at times. There's a reason why they're called "the eccentric spinster aunt" of the Lolita brand family...

Listen, I know we all want to forget about
Jewel Leopard

... but when they get it right, they get Lolita really, really right. Everyone loves their grandma-couch florals, and the velveteen pieces are becoming a staple for everyone wanting to revisit the Old School roots of our fashion. Many of the people in my home comm have Meta prints on their wishlists, and with good reason-- Meta puts out cute stuff!

Mermaid Princess was a fun take on the jewelry print

Recently, during another late-night peruse through the Brand websites, I found that Meta is really pumping out the border prints right now-- Happy Balloon, Majestic Princess, and, the big one right now, Koi Koi! Floral Invitation. Between all of these bright colors and interesting designs, it was easy to miss this gem:

I'm so glad I clicked on this thumbnail, because I've fallen in love. Hard. This is the Candy Bottle OP, and it looks like something that Emily Temple Cute would put out if they went full-stop Lolita. The print is definitely bringing back the 1950s inspiration that sometimes gets tossed to the wayside in a style that likes to default to the Victorian era for inspiration. It's not the only one, either-- around last fall, the Candy Bar print was put out, and it, too, had very vintage-looking sweets.

 

Between the brightly-colored corner store candies and the traditionally Sweet cuts of all the dresses, the red and white colorways have a very Country Lolita-like feel to them, which the advertising is happy to point out. Maybe that's why I'm so enamored of it-- I love Country Lolita!

There are three colorways (Red, Off-white, and Green) and three styles of dress-- the OP, which is certainly my favorite, the Ribbon Shirred JSK (the standard Meta fully-shirred option), and the Lace-Up JSK, designed to look more like a matching bustier-and-skirt set. There are also matching hairclips, and OTKs that sort of got shoe-horned into the collection.

This print ran itself straight to the top of my wishlist! I just can't decide on which colorway I like best-- all of them are so pretty! The green is an unusual emerald that we don't see much in Lolita, the red is just so fun, and the off-white works really well to showcase the print. Either way, I just know that this is a print that I could stare at for hours.

What do you think of this new Meta print? Is it Jewel-Leopard tacky, not bad, or something you've got to have? Did you already purchase it? Let me know (and share pictures!) in the comments below!

2016 Wardrobe Post

This is a month late, but because I'm not posting this to EGL, I don't mind so much. But here's my wardrobe post! I only photographed my main pieces, most of my accessories, and some other odds and ends that are brand. Be warned, this is a long and image-heavy post.

The Dresses

Metamorphose Temps de Filles Velveteen
Embroidery Ribbon JSK in Wine - 2007

Innocent World Ribbon Doll OP in Green
- 2005

Innocent World Fairy Tale Highwaist JSK in
Green x Brown - 2013

Baby, the Stars Shine Bright Sorcerer's
Horoscope JSK in Black x Offwhite - 2015

Metamorphose Temps de Fille Summer Lucky Pack JSK in
offwhite - 2012

Baby, the Stars Shine Bright Sugar Bouquet
Shirring OP in Black - 2007

Sweet Mildred Constellation JSK in Navy
- 2015

Metamorphose Temps de Fille Rabbit Cafe
Frill JSK in Black - 2009

Metamorphose temps de Fille Wheel of Time
Shirring Pinafore JSK in Green - 2014

Baby, the Stars Shine Bright Garden Alice Print
Babydoll JSK in Mint - 2009

Closeup of the Garden Alice Print. So much detail!

The Skirts (not including underskirts)

Baby, the Stars Shine Bright Bunny Milk and Snow Strawberry
Skirt in Black - 2010

Closeup of Bunny Milk and Snow Strawberry. I love these
bunnies so much!

Innocent World's Pompadour Skirt in Pink - 2009

The back of the Pompadour skirt has this really pretty bustle!

Odds and Ends

Baby, the Stars Shine Bright Short Sleeve Shirring cutsew
 (2012) and Chained Berry Memoir bolero (2011).

My wristcuffs, left to right: Belladonna, handmade, Bodyline

The box where I keeps my ribbon combs and some jewelry.
Red combs are Angelic Pretty and the bordeaux is Innocent World

A friend gave me this decorative box, and now I use it to store
all of my headwear!

All of my Lolita headwear! I love headbands with bows.
Top: BtSSB Shirley Poppy Fairy headbow in black and white
Middle: Two offbrand headbands, an offbrand bow clip,
AP's Charm Logo headbow in black, a Meta rectagle headress,
and a Sweet Mildred floral veil headband
Bottom: AP Wonder Cookie headband in pink x white

My socks
Top row: AP, BtSSB, IW, AP, Offbrand, Fan+Friend
Second row: AP, BtSSB, AP, Offbrand, IW.

My Baby, the Stars Shine Bright Parasol.

And my bags! A Metamorphose tote, a pink Usakumya pochette,
and a red Innocent World Angel Wing three-way bag.

And that was my 2016 wardrobe post! It's changed a lot in the last year. In fact, last year almost all of my dresses were pink! I can't wait to see how it will change and evolve this year.

Did you make a wardrobe post? Post a link in a comment below, I love to look at them!