New hair

So yeah, I went to the hairdresser and got my hair dip-dyed pink. I guess that's all there is to it. I hope people will like it (judging from the speed with which I now recieve Facebook-comments, it definately triggers a reaction!)

Picture time! (you know, this blog is really an excuse for me to just dump a whole lot of pictures of myself XD)



 Does anyone else have those discussions with yourself when uploading pictures?

"On this one my face looks really good, but you can't actually see my hair..."

"Well it IS about the hair, so I'd better pick the other one, even if I don't look perfect on it.."

"But my nose looks so red, and I have a double chin on it! I can't post that to the internet!"

"Can't I photoshop that?"

Spring is getting closer...

With the sun coming out, I feel like wearing something simple but fancy, cheerful but elegant. This lead me to otome. I've never seriously considered this style, but it's such a lovely alternative for lolita now that I long for a simpler silhouette. On schooldays, or while traveling, or when I'm meeting people I don't know too well, I feel very comfortable in this cute, casual style. Of course, for 'normal' people, this style is anything but casual, and I got a lot of compliments on my clothes yesterday. It's within the range of acceptable for the 'normal' public, but still cute and elegant enough for my taste ^^

In short, I think I'll wear this style very often!

  

 Skirt: Shirley Temple

Lace collar: hand-crocheted by my mother

hair/hat clip: Paris Kids

everything else: offbrand

When wearing this, I was compared to a flamenco dancer, a geisha, and an English schoolgirl. And they were all meant as compliments :) People also seemed to excessively like my hat: one guy even said that seeing me walk in with that hat made him 'very happy'. Too bad he's kinda awkward...

Casual for college

Just a quick one for class. We had Classical Japanese which is maybe even harder than Calculus, so I figured I'd wear something cheerful. Plus, it's getting just a little bit warmer here which already put spring in my mind...I think I'm getting my love for lolita back a little, mostly thanks to these two lovely ladies: http://imperialfiddlesticks.tumblr.com/ and http://fannyrosie.tumblr.com/ They made me realize again how beautiful Classic Lolita really is.
Also, I can never not love Mary Magdalene. I still can't believe I actually own a Mary Magdalene dress, and fit it too! <3



Hmm, maybe I shouldn't try cutting my own fringe anymore...
I have a setting on my camera that's called Portrait and makes my skin look super smooth and perfect. See the difference between the two close-up photo's? I think it looks nice, but almost too fake. I don't want to seem like a girl who Photoshops everything...

And I dearly love that lace collar. My mom hand-crocheted it <3 She's teaching me, I can already make my own potholder XD

vintage without vintage

I love the style of the 1950's. It was elegant, modest and playful, but mostly: feminine. What I also like is that women of all sizes were considered beautiful. Audrey Hepburn was very skinny, Marilyn Monroe very curvy, and both were (and still are) seen as incredibly beautiful women.

from ohsophialoren.tumblr.com

from theniftyfifties.tumblr.com

I don't own a lot of vintage clothing (on the top of my head I can only think of one dress), but I do want to imitate the style. And luckily modern clothes can be used for that. It might be because Mad Men is so popular, but a lot of stores have clothing suitable for the vintage-look. The key elements are:
- skirts that sit at the natural waist, and hit below the knees
- heels
- tight-fitting bodices
- gloves and hats
- wavy hair, mostly short or in an updo

So, here's my try (though of course still with my own twist):

 

 

 Turtleneck: Promiss/ Skirt: H&M (with a small handmade petticoat underneath)/ Tights: V&D/ Shoes: Graceland/ Earrings: present from my mother, from Estonia/ Necklace: small shop in Singapore (though you can get them at Six and other jewelry stores as well, nowadays)

What I like about this outfit is that nearly everything was bought second-hand or in sales, or handmade. So, budget-vintage :D
A thing I'm a bit insecure about, is that skirts at the natural waist always sit very high on me, almost as if it were empire-waisted, which is of course a bit weird for a skirt. I have a short upper body and an ample bosom, so I'm often afraid that the skirt begins where my bust ends. Ah well, there's nothing I can do about it anyways.

A hint of gothic

Something a bit darker than usual, though still not really gothic. I love this blouse/ cutsew/ top, but it's so short! It's from TaoBao, so it's made for short(er than me, at least) Chinese girls. I can only wear it with high-waisted skirts, of which I own the splendid amount of 1- this one. Ah well, they do look good together. I might find a way to combine it with other skirts as well, or underneath JSKs. But one thing I am very happy about, is that the sleeves are long enough :)

Skirt: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright (Alice's Portrait)
Blouse: somewhere on TaoBao (though I'm afraid it might be an IW replica...)
Headbow (that you can hardly see): Alice and the Pirates (Dance of the Black Cat)

everything else, as usual: offbrand

And look, I made a header! I'm so proud of myself ^^ I'm an absolute noob when it comes to designing websites, HTML codes etc, so I was happy just to use the standard design. But I hope this header gives a more personal touch to my blog :)

Dress up to cheer up

Last week has been less than pleasant, so I felt really down. I hoped to cheer myself up with a solo dress-up party, because my dresses never fail to make me happy.
I do feel a bit better now, but I'm afraid there are some problems that even pretty dresses can't solve. I haven't tried comfort shopping yet, though, perhaps that might work ;)

My dear Mary Magdalene always makes me feel like a doll. I combined it with a turtleneck instead of a blouse, because it's gotten a lot colder recently.

I finished this dress last weekend. It's inspired by Mary Magdalene, but also by Christian Dior and the New Look, so I called it Christiane in honor of my idol. (I think Dior is really inspiring. I love his designs and the way he brought feminity and luxury back in fashion after the war.)

I said I would try to coordinate Sugary Carnival in a classic way, right? Well, this is the first try. I wanted to keep the sweet aesthetic, because I think it would be weird to just make a classic coordinate and slap a different skirt on it. That would be out of place and unbalanced. This blouse is actually from my non-lolita wardrobe, but I thought the soft pink matched the lavender of the skirt perfectly. I wish I had pink heels, as well.



My eyes get a completely different color when the sun shines in them.

With the same blouse, I tried a coordinate with Metamorphose's Perfume Bottle. It's a gorgeous skirt, the back especially is lovely, but it's surprisingly hard to coordinate. I don't have any gold or pink shoes, so I'm wearing those same white heels again... I always think I have too many shoes, but never the right ones! Sigh.

I guess that was it. Maybe I'm going to make a daily_lolita post with some of these...

Also! I'm going to a symposium about 'cute' Japanese fashion tomorrow, so of course I'm going to dress to the nines~ I think I'm going to wear the Mary Magdalene dress, but I'm not sure yet. Of course 'cute' calls for an overdose of pink, but I don't want to exaggerate... Any suggestions?

It's getting colder...

I know I don't write very often, but I do want to. It's just that nothing really exciting happens in my life. I don't go to meet-ups, I don't buy a lot of new things nor do I keep track of new releases, and I don't feel like I'm experienced enough to give style tips. The only thing I really have to offer is sewing results and outfit posts, and I'm afraid those are boring... But I love looking at outfit posts on other blogs, and I don't want my blog to be silent and empty, so I'll just post daily outfits. Oh, and I can share experiences and give advice about wearing lolita in certain occasions! Such as rain, or riding a bike. I live in Holland, rain and bicycles are the definition of our country. Plenty experience ^^

Also, I would like to keep this blog to be strictly lolita related. I could talk about personal things or about studying, but I don't think those topics belong on a lolita blog. I will, however, post more drawings! I draw a lot, especially new designs for dresses, and I would like to share them with you. Since I don't have Photoshop at the moment, it will only be scanned pencil sketches, but I hope you will like them anyways.

Now, the weather is terrible at the moment. Strong wind, rain and cold. It's not really wintery cold yet, but cold enough to be very limited in clothing choices. It's supposed to get better in a few days, but I'm sure it won't stay sunny very long. :(

Well, here are some recent outfits that are, if anything, warm:

The first one I wore to have dinner with a friend. I was having some trouble with studying and also emotions, and she gave me advice and really cheered me up. I'm lucky to have such good friends :)

dress: handmade by me, "Antique French Roses"

bolero: offbrand

wristcuffs: handmade by me

bag: offbrand

shoes: Graceland

jewelry: vintage & offbrand

The next dress is relatively new. Although it's been finished for a while, I haven't worn it often yet. I think it's just a little too much to wear to lectures. But I do really like the design. The middle part has doves and clouds on it, and the buttons are very pretty as well. 


modeled by my loyal dress form

I usually give my dresses names, but I haven't been able to come up with a good name for this one yet. I'm calling it "Sixtine" for now, because the birds and clouds remind me of the Sixtine chapel, but I don't think it suits very well. Do you have any suggestions?



Isn't that bag lovely? I've been searching for ages for a bag like this, and now I use it almost every day ^^

  

this pose is exactly the same as the previous one, minus the bag ^^;



dress: handmade by me, "Sixtine"

turtleneck: somewhere on taobao

wrist cuffs: handmade by me

shoes: Graceland

bag: offbrand

Well, I hope that entertained you. Now I'll have to go back to studying~