Lolita 52: Describe my style is 5 words?

Tomorrow I'll be leaving my home (again), this time for a law internship in Maryland--so bear with me since it seems like the filler posts will have to continue for another couple of weeks. =(

The topic I drew this week for the Lolita 52 Challenge was "5 keywords that describe your style." I really suck at picking pretty unique words for this so this may be pretty boring--so I decided to spice it up with some photos of things in my wardrobe that fit that word!

Since I was a kid, the word "dream" was a real source of inspiration to me. I wanted to take the things I dreamed about (both awake and sleeping) and make them a reality, create soft silhouettes and crown everything with wings.

This is something that I think only really started to make an appearance in my personal fashion in the past year or two. Although most of the things pictured here I had for longer than that amount of time, glitter used to be something I found tacky or just garish. But lately, soft glittering accents have really pulled me in!

Looking back at my advice for buying a versatile piece for your wardrobe, strange colour combinations and outlandish ideas have really been at the forefront of my wardrobe. I really like the idea of taking something most people find ugly and just having fun with it! I guess that's why "aomoji-kei" is such a turn-on for me.

The older I become, the more I want to tip my hat to the things that made me who I am today, whether it's the Power Rangers or Cardcaptor Sakura. There are things I never really stopped loving that I always want to bring into every coordinate!

Last and certainly not least, is adding a little reminder of loved ones, family heirlooms, and "lucky" items. They end up sneaking into my coordinates one way or the other, and I wouldn't have it any other way!

How would you describe your style in 5 words?

chibi_tenshi's shopping service!

It has been a while since I actually added a review to this blog, so I thought I would share a review for one of my favourite shopping services!

chibi_tenshi is a familiar name in the lolita community, and for a long time I've always wanted to use her--and I finally got my chance when I saw the advertisements for Misty Sky. Two months later, I used her again to purchase things from Swimmer's physical store as well as purchase something from an auction! I feel like now I have used her for the three main things most Japanese services offer and feel like I can provide an exceptionally detailed review.

Lolita 52 Challenge: Let's talk about parasols!

Today's Lolita 52 Challenge is topic #46: Parasols, vital or frivolous?

I was one of those weird lolita appreciators who got into the fashion mainly for the accessories first. I loved the shoes, jewelry, and bags that went with the aesthetic, and fell head over heels in love with Victorian Maiden's gorgeous lacy, decadent, parasols long before I found a dream dress to lust over. It was this one in particular:

It's a shame I couldn't find a photo of the underside of it--that was just as gorgeous as the top! It had lace stretched across the inside so you had a beautiful view from any angle. Of course, these guys sell for around 200-300 dollars, so it was way out of my price range, but a girl could dream!

So I'll be a bit biased when I say that I do think they're vital. It's so hot walking around with all the layers in lolita, and portable shade is never a bad thing--especially when you're trying to combat heat fatigue. But I also have a much more practical reason for considering them vital. This particular Victorian Maiden parasol isn't waterproof, but the Baby, the Stars Shine Bright one that I own and is now a staple in my closet is!

It rains quite suddenly (and in buckets!) where I live, with little warning. Umbrellas are mostly unsightly little contraptions when added to your lolita coordinates, so brands putting out gorgeous waterproof umbrellas was just what I needed! The best thing is, they have a curved handle so its easier to carry around. I have no idea why, but most of the umbrellas that stores sell nowadays don't, so it's such a pain to lug around those umbrellas since you need to constantly have a hand occupied holding it.

Given where I live, (where it's both extremely hot and wet), parasols are totally vital for me. Not only are they gorgeous additions to any coordinate, they can keep you cool and dry! I definitely recommend not using a brand parasol in higher winds though, they tend to break very easily. ;___; I've already had that experience once with a handle bending almost at a 90 degree angle! Sometimes you can find some really pretty umbrellas that are durable as well (Victoria's Secret had some really cute ones a few years back) that are probably a good alternative to some really bad weather.

Check out my other Lolita 52 Challenge topics!

Lolita 52 Challenge: The hardest part of my wardrobe to attain.

47. The item in my wardrobe that was the hardest to get.


To those of you who have known me for a while, the simple answer to this question is Magical Etoile. It took me years just to find someone selling it, and then the person who was selling it said that they were currently in a payment plan with someone else. Almost two months later, they contacted me saying the sale fell through, but at that point in time, the dollar had dropped so badly the dress had literally increased in cost by USD 200! I could have cried, but I still wanted the dress so bad and really scrounged up some money to just get it in my closet.

I'm really happy to finally have the dress, I wore it to DisneyWorld this week (yeah I totally went again) and got a lot of compliments! It's such a comfortable dress too, I feel like lolita dresses that released afterwards don't quite fit the way Magical Etoile does.

So basically it took me almost a year after its release to realise that I do really like this dress, then it took me over four years to find someone selling it in the colourway I wanted, and then I only received it in the mail in October of last year~

The photo above is of me packing Magical Etoile for a recent trip~ You can see Magical Etoile neatly folded in the background. That being said, if anyone has questions for how to pack lolita for vacations, I will gladly fill you all in~ I've been getting the question pretty often so I may just make a whole new blog entry for it.

Check out my other entries for the Lolita 52 Challenge! I basically post a random topic selected from a pool of 52 once a week, so by the end of the year I should be finished with this challenge! I'm really excited to see my blog grow as a make it a point to post more frequently. =) Hope you all have a lovely Sweetheart's Day tomorrow!

Lolita 52 Challenge: How people react and how I respond in return.

Okay, this is probably my favourite topic I have ever pulled for the Lolita 52 Challenge, I really love talking about things like this!

44. How strangers react to my clothes, and how I react to their reactions

For those of you who have been following this blog for a while, I do wear alternative fashions as a whole pretty often, even if it isn't necessarily lolita. If I'm leaving the house to do something other than go to the bank/post office, I try and dress up in something unique. For that reason, I've pretty much had a whole slew of responses to what I wear, but thankfully the bad responses aren't too severe. (Although there is this one time.)

I get anything from "are you part of a play?" to "you look like a princess!" or even general comments of admiration like, "wow, that's so cool you dress that way." If people ask a question I usually just respond with "this is a Japanese street fashion popular among some groups of young people," and they're usually just happy hearing that.

But I think the biggest (negative) thing I get are people blatantly pointing and staring at me to laugh or take photos. I usually just turn to them, smile really largely, and say "hello," and that terrifies them into submission, haha! I guess they expect no one to actually call them out on their rude behaviour, especially with kindness. I've realised that if they're around teenage age, they tend to be the meanest, especially where I live. Kids get away with too much here. D= If they're younger or older you tend to get generally positive comments, and old ladies are probably the funniest.

I also get "Lady Gaga" a lot, to which I grimace and say I have no intention of looking like her, but it is a Japanese street fashion--and then they laugh and say that's cool and move on. Most of my reactions don't last longer than a couple of sentences.

I've realised that just being nice to the people who are rude to you tends to rectify things faster than being rude. I've been with girls who would yell at them or glare and it just makes them want to poke fun at you more since they know they're getting to you. Just stay positive, or even goofy!

Previous topics:

6. My favourite lolita brand.
10. How I first found out about lolita.
14. Lolitas I would love to meet.
20. How satisfied I am with my current wardrobe.
26. How I get out of a wardrobe slump.

I'm currently traveling right now, so I won't be responding to comments as quickly as I normally do! Hope everyone is staying safe and having a good time. =)

Magic Kingdom on the busiest day of the year!

Any well-written guide on DisneyWorld will tell you that the weekend after Christmas and before New Year's is probably the busiest weekend to ever go to the park. But that's exactly when I decided I would go and drag a friend along! Honestly, I didn't find it that bad and I actually think Epcot during July 4th was a bit busier! I really enjoyed the park a lot this time, and even though it wasn't fully completed, the new FantasyLand attractions I did get to visit were really cool!

This is what I wore to the park!

I'm exceptionally lazy and the majority of these photos are taken from my Instagram. Check it out, I regularly document my travels on there!

It was one of the coldest days of the year when we went to the park, but even so, we braved the cold and took the ferry to the park! It's arguably the least popular this time of year, which was nice since we didn't have to brave the throngs of people rushing to the monorail when the park opened.