Lolita 52: How lolita has changed me.

Sorry for the late 52 post! I got caught up at work and only realised it's Wednesday in the evening and I had nothing lined up for the day, oops!

This week I randomly drew topic #52, and it is a very heavy one. "How lolita has changed me." (I guess my need to pose with food hasn't changed much at all though, haha!)

It's safe to say lolita has changed me in a multitude of ways, and I think a lot of the friends I've made and the experiences I have would just... Have not happened if I never got into lolita.

For one thing, I had a lot of body issues as a kid. I was underweight for as long as I could remember, and was very short compared to... Well everyone I knew. This led to a lot of criticism from both peers and my parents--always forcing me to eat more or making fun of me for my gangly figure. I wore children's clothes well into high school, when most people had already graduated to "trendier" adult fashions. I was still running around wearing Limited Too stuff (I think now the store has been renamed Justice)!

I only filled out in the last year for the most part, but until then, I struggled to find clothes to fit (don't even get me started on my bra-shopping meltdowns), and hated how I could never get that "sexy" look that most girls aspired for.

When I saw the sizing for most lolita brands, I was stunned. My first response was, "Whoah, clothes made for someone short and puny like me... Clothes that remind me of Cardcaptor Sakura!" And the rest is history.

Finding pretty clothes that fit also led me to really care a lot about myself and embrace my girlier side. Up until that point, I was a huge tomboy who had no interest in wearing make-up or looking pretty. Really, the only thing "girly" about me was my long hair (although thanks to a couple hitches in the road it ended up being short against my will from time to time). I also just had zero confidence.

Really stepping out of my comfort zone and wearing something that I both liked and made me feel beautiful really helped me develop as a person. My first time really going out and wearing lolita in every day life (not including anime conventions) was my freshman year in college. My parents (even somewhat to this day) are not really supportive of my hobbies, so, finally being out of the house with a little bit of my own money to spend, I commissioned a replica of Angelic Pretty's Loving Princess one-piece from Fan+Friend. It's an eyesore now, but I loved it then. It was everything I ever wanted in a dress!

I had two non-lolita friends who supported my fashion choices and cheered me on, and my first trip was to the mall with both of them. We had a great time, and to put the cherry on top, a bunch of kids dressed in scene/punk recognised the style and screamed from nearly half-way across the mall, "LOOK, a gothic lolita!!" We exchanged Facebook URL's after hanging out for most of the night, and it was such a great experience. Thankfully it was a good experience, or my shaky confidence would have probably made me turn give up immediately.

Oh my goodness, I actually found a picture of the outfit from within the depths of my Facebook. @3@ It's a bit embarrassing to look at now, haha! I remember pouring hours and hours of effort into the crown I wore here. Wowowow, 17-year-old me.

But lolita has really changed me--I have more of a "no fucks given" attitude, and I met so many great friends through the fashion that I am still in touch with today! I guess being so open with your "weirdness" really gets you some long-lasting friends, and I'm thankful for that.

Hope you all have a wonderful rest of the month! I'm finally going back home and next week is going to be packed! I have a photoshoot and a lot of meet-ups planned for next week, hopefully you will see the fruits of all that in the future! I use Instagram and Twitter pretty often, so check me out there for more real-time updates.

Check out my other topics under the "Lolita 52 Challenge" label!

Avina x Galaxxxy Rocks!

I am thrilled to announce the newest opportunity in my life--a chance to be a spokesmodel along with one of my best friends Meggie (of SweetieCakes)--for the Japanese brand galaxxxy! I made a silly little promotional image using a print I hand-drew almost a year ago. I'm glad it's finally seeing the light of day now!

Lolita 52: My first meet-up.

This week's topic for the Lolita 52 Challenge is #17, "My first meet-up."

The only reason I know when the meet happened is because I have one photo dated "April 4th 2009." I wish I had more photos of it, but I actually organised my first meet-up. I wore a pretty terrible outfit (I was attempting hime-lolita by wearing open-toed shoes and elbow-length gloves) and it was completely off-brand. Most of the meet-ups were really far away from my school campus, and I didn't drive at the time, so I tried to arrange something at the mall near me.

If there were any photos, there would have been very few because a security guard approached us and requested that we stop taking photos at the very beginning of our meet-up... What a shame. =| We went to a candy store, shopped around at Forever 21 (especially after one of the girls mentioned that their coordinate was mostly from there), and of course, ate lots of delicious food. I think that's actually when my love affair with Forever 21 started! Up until that point, I had given up on finding anything I'd like in local stores.

But really, the memories are great. I met some awesome girls, Aviva, Wendy, Le, Luci, and a lot of them I still keep in touch with to this day! 

Looking back on it, I was only seventeen when this meet-up happened, a freshman in college! Time has really flown by... It looks like the 4th anniversary of my first meet-up is fast-approaching too! This makes me want to do a little transformation timeline. *A* Alas, I am not at home right now with access to all my photos, so that is going to have to be saved for a later date.

LBC #25: Three lolita beverages and outfits to match!

It's been a while since I participated in my last Lolita Blog Carnival! This time a topic came up that I just couldn't resist doing and made me immediately think of Sakizo's beautiful illustrations of personified food and drinks.

One of my favourites! "Milk."

Here are the beverages I picked and the outfits to match! I hope you enjoy~ I tried to use dresses that I have owned/tried on at some point.

Chocolate & Matcha Frappé. After I thought about doing iced matcha tea, I remembered that Sakizo had drawn a beautiful illustration for a matcha latté, so I decided to do a little twist and do the chocolate and matcha frappé. It's something I order when I feel like indulging myself from coffee shops that offer matcha tea (and thankfully that is becoming more common, rejoice!) and it is probably one of my favourite flavours in general.

I used Mary Magdalene's St. Claire one-piece in olive as the central point, and tried to go for a warm, kind of scholarly, look. The boots are from Victorian Maiden, and the hair piece is from this Etsy store! The photo of the frappé came from this lovely Flickr.

Lavender Lemonade. I love this delicious recipe for lavender lemonade, and knew immediately I just had to add this to my list of "lolita beverages." Aside from the lovely colour, it has a great aroma and taste too! Adding herbs to traditional beverages is such a great idea.

The jumperskirt and bolero are from Angelic Pretty, shoes from DreamV, and the tights are from this store. I purchased them using that same listing two years back and I recommend the store from my experience! The beautiful flower crown (what is pictured is actually the back of it!!) is from this Etsy store.

Spiced Mulled Wine (Game of Thrones Style). Probably my newest obsession, I recently brewed up a batch of mulled wine (slightly modified from the official "modern-day" recipe provided in the A Feast of Ice and Fire, the official Game of Thrones cookbook) during the last cold snap, and the spicy flavour and warming sensation was perfect for cold weather. I highly recommend it to everyone! It's not very alcoholic at all--and it has a strong taste besides so normally I only drink about half a cup at a time--maybe even less--but still, drink responsibly!

Because it's a staple for cold weather, I used another long-sleeved one piece by Victorian Maiden (I own an Olive & Ting replica of this, it's beautiful!), and coordinated it with deep golds and browns to mimic the cinnamon that is so prevalent in the recipe. I also wanted to add hints of orange representative of the oranges that sit in the brew! The fascinator is from this Etsy store, the beautiful crochet scarf is from here, and the flower pin is from here.

Hope you all enjoyed this topic, check out what the other creative bloggers did this week!

American Born Chinese Lolita ★ Geisha Baby ★ Loli Dreamland
The Bloody Tea Party

Things I learned from cosplay that I apply to lolita.

It may be taboo to mention cosplay and lolita together in one sentence, but all joking aside, I think there is a lot that I learned from working on cosplays that helped me put together better lolita outfits! There is always something to be learned from others, even though they may be completely unrelated.

(Cosplayers: CureCos)

1. If you are planning a complex coordinate, test it out before you debut it.

A big thing I have realised (especially with over-the-top coordinates) is that I always end up regretting adding something to my outfit because it was just way too much upkeep. Whether it was a mini-hat that doesn't sit on your head for longer than a few minutes before it comes tumbling down, or a beautiful detail that you end up covering with a scarf, or even a pair of super-uncomfortable eyelashes that look perfect with the outfit but you just can't wear to the meet-up, doing small test runs of parts of an outfit are absolutely vital to ensure that you have a good time when you go on that outing. It's one thing I've definitely learned from cosplaying--you don't want to wear armor that ends up badly chaffing your shoulders because you never did a test run beforehand.

2. Lolita is head-to-toe, not just about the dress.

When you dress in lolita, you are fitting a certain overall aesthetic, not just wearing a petticoat and leaving the house. You need some make-up (at least a bit of concealer and powder), an appropriate hair style, and good shoes. A cosplayer would never be able to cosplay someone with bright red hair without an appropriate wig without just looking sloppy, and even lolita fashion has those kinds of standards.

3. Work within your means.

Sure, that Angelic Pretty headbow would be absolutely perfect with this dress, but you don't have forty dollars to blow right now. Try and DIY something on your own, or find someone to commission something cheaper for a fraction of the price. Check out Etsy, or even ask a family member for some help with adding that perfect touch to your coordinate if it is just too expensive for you right now. You may even want to walk away from that perfect (and expensive) coordinate for some time until you have the money for it later. The same can be applied to cosplay, that full scale-mail cosplay for a character you have always dreamed as dressing up as is just so expensive, so look into a temporary solution, or just pick a different character for now.

4. No cheap material!

This is pretty self-explanatory. You never want to use cheap supplies for your lolita coordinate or your cosplay or else you just look like some unfortunate figure-skating wardrobe accident.

5. If you wear a wig, get a high-quality one.

Another self-explanatory point,  but you never want a wig that is shiny and reveals a bunch of wefts when you pull it over your head. A wonderful coordinate or cosplay is easily ruined by a bad wig. Of course with cosplay, it's generally a base rule to never really use your natural hair since most anime characters have extravagant hair colours and styles, but of course that isn't the case with lolita. Wigs have been becoming more of a staple in the fashion though, so I thought I would include this little lesson.

Even though I understand that they are completely different hobbies, there are a lot of practical lessons that criss-cross along both hobbies that I think people can learn from!

Does anyone else cosplay and also wear lolita fashion? I know I'm more into the crafting aspect and almost never end up wearing my cosplays, but I want to do it more often because it just seems like so much fun! I'm holding off on it now since I'm having a lot of budget (and room) constraints. I have no idea where I can store my cosplays, I barely have room for my clothing as it is. ;A;

Check out the outfit I posted recently!

Hope you all are having a wonderful week!! Until next time~

Lolita 52 Challenge: The ways in which I fit (and don't fit) the cliché.

(I couldn't help myself, this topic can come off as pretty special snowflake-y haha!)

This week's Lolita 52 Challenge pulled up topic #42: the ways in which I fit the cliché. I have been involved in lolita fashion for such a long time now, I have trouble determining what is even considered cliché because it seems like everyone involved in the fashion has different opinions--and I very rarely tend to not speak too much about the fashion in depth with people who are coming in with a pretty clean slate--most everyone has already established an idea of what lolita is to them and are wearing it relatively often.

So I chose to define the cliché in this case by looking at what anime and some popular movies make lolita appear to be--which is some weird mishsmash of Kamikaze Girls/Shimotsuma Monogatari and Rachel Alucard from Blazblue with a dash of Stocking from Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt.