Dolly & dip-dye

It occurred to me that I haven't even shown the things I bought months ago in Grimoire :o

As you may have noticed if you follow my tumblr, I've fallen head over heels in love with Dolly Kei. In February I made a trip to Tokyo and visited the Grimoire shop. Although it's on the expensive side for vintage clothing, I love their shop concept and the way they've made the style popular, so I don't mind to support them by buying some overpriced things (which are lovely either way).
Of course I had to have the Verum tights which you've already seeen, but I bought a belt & skirt as well as a dress.

 

The skirt and belt I bought (with Meruco <3)

 

The dress. My mom says it could be from the 20's but I'm more inclined to think hippie-70's... Either way it's been worn a lot but I love it.

 

Bit hard to see but the hat has a ribbon on the side.

If you think: 'Hey, the tip of that lock of hair is suspiciously pink', then you're right. I dip-dyed my hair again, this time by myself, but to be honest it turned out a LOT darker and brighter than I had planned. It looks cool and I've gotten lots of compliments already, so I don't really mind, but I do have to get used to it. It's just so bright! More suited for rocker-style than for dolly-kei... I hope it will soon fade to the pastel pink I had in mind. Here's a picture of me today to show you :)

 

I find it so hard to position the camera, it always cuts off either my head or my feet...

 

I'm totally in the mood for outfit pictures so hopefully I'll be able to put some up soon :) But first I'm off to karaoke with some friends. See you later!

Loads and loads of socks.

Well, yes.
It has been an awfully long time. I don't claim to be a great blogger and I suppose you all unfollowed me ages ago, but in case anyone is still interested, I thought I'd start again. Rosalynn from Lolita Wonderland gave me the nudge I needed :)
To be honest I don't think my life is interesting enough to blog about. I don't want to be too personal, and I thought a blog consisting only of outfit-of-the-days and look-what-I-boughts would be boring. But actually I enjoy looking at other people's outfit-of-the-days, so I guess it doens't really matter.

Anyways! Japan is a fashion-lover's heaven, even if I'm far away from Tokyo and there isn't one brand shop to be found around here. I'm cheap, anyways, so perhaps it's even better that I'm not tempted. If Grimoire was in Nagasaki, I'd be broke by now... But it's not, and I have to search for gems in the 'normal' stores, but luckily this is Japan and even 'normal' clothes are pretty.

The one thing that really amazes me, is the offer of awesome socks and tights. Lace, prints, see-through, overknee, ribbons, tattoo-tights, they're everywhere! A lot of shops have offers of 3 pairs for 1050 yen, including tights, so even for a cheapskate it's hard not to buy loads and loads of them.

I am lucky I'm short. I'm only 1.63m (which is short for a Dutch girl) and the Japanese tights are usually made for bodies up to 1.65m (which is tall for Japanese). I'm on the tall side for them and some of the tights are almost too short, but I fit easily in most. I have small feet as well so socks (and shoes!) aren't a problem either.

So, let's revive this blog with pictures of some of my recently acquired footwear treasures:

 Cute little bears! I love those ears.

The shoes are also Japanese but I've had them for a while already, so they're a bit worn.

 

  See-trough socks. They're all the rage here, but I still haven't decided whether I really like them or not.

I do really like anything floral with lace, though! 

 

I wanted heart-on-knees-tights for so long! I tried to DIY a pair of tights like these but that didn't work out too well.. When I bought these I thought they'd have a heart on each knee, but this is cute as well.

And different shoes, haha! They were super cheap but the last pair in stock, so they're a little too big for me... I'll search for insoles or something.

And of course, you can't be in Japan for so long without succumbing to the ubiquitous tattoo-tights. (And for 350 yen a pair, who wouldn't?) 

Also, more cheap-but-very-cute shoes.

These just screamed Grimoire to me, but without the high price tag. They're absolutely wonderful. The cute shoes were actually bought in Holland, from Fly Away Fashion!

 

These Alice in Wonderland-tights were some of the first tights I bought here. They may have sparked the passion... Here in combination with cute pink socks with white lace.

 

 

And now the not-so-cheap tights, that I just really had to have:

 

 Celeste Stein's famous Amor & Psyche ones. They're a cult party kei-staple and I wanted them for so long... I stumbled upon them by accident in a secondhand shop in Harajuku, called G2? I believe. You can really see this is an American brand instead of a Japanese one, the fit is much bigger and longer, they even sag around my ankles a bit! Of course this is a good thing for girls who are taller and bigger.

 

And these, the holy grail... Girmoire's Verum tights. I think these are the prettiest ones of all the tights they released, and I love them so much! They're very sturdy too so I won't have to worry too much about ripping them. Still, they're my preciousssss... 

 

Hope you haven't tired of my feet by now :p

I have more but these are the most remarkable ones. I wear tights almost every day and in most of my shoes I really need socks to be comfortable. So if I post more outfit shots, you'll probably see more of them. I hope so, I'll do my best!  

Grimoire

Let me revive this poor abandoned blog to tell you about something really exciting.

I'm in Tokyo at the moment, on a vacation for a few days. Of course I visited some shops, I'll write about that later, but the most notable was Grimoire. I had my doubts before visiting, but it is even more brilliant than it seems on the internet. Really, I love love love it.

I'll write more about the visit and the rest of my trip later, but for now I want to show you my appearance on the Grimoire weblog!

Here are screencaps, I'll put a translation underneath each picture.

Good evening!
Today a very cute customer came to our shop.
It's Maria-chan from Holland!

(Maria is my Japanese nickname, since the pronunciation of my real name is too difficult)

She's an exchange student at Nagasaki University, and today visited Grimoire while on a trip to Tokyo.
Her Japanese is reaaally good, and she seems to love Japanese fashion.
She tried on a Tiroler dress in our shop!!
It suits her too well...

(The picture is a bit bleh, I hate flash (and my comfortable boots clash with the outfit), but it can't be helped.)

I was amazed, she really looked like a local girl!
So cute~ Maria-chan, thank you!
If you come to Tokyo again, please stop by 'ne' <3

I can hardly believe it. They are so sweet! Oh, now I do wish I lived in Tokyo...

So, I'm in Japan now.

Hey everyone :)

It's been a long time since I wrote! I've had lots of matters other than fashion to deal with, but now I think I've settled and I'm ready to start blogging again.

As I've said before, this October I started studying at the university of Nagasaki. I'll be here for one year. It's amazing so far. It's been a little more than 3 weeks now, and I'm finally starting to feel at home.
Well, this is a fashion blog, so I won't write about studying or my personal life. But there's more than enough fashion to talk about!
I am amazed by the style of the Japanese girls here. My teacher said I shouldn't expect Nagasaki to be like Tokyo, and that people here don't wear fancy clothes much, but he was not completely right. Of course, the numbers are fewer than in Tokyo, but I've seen very many super stylish girls, and also a few lolita's, goths and punks, and hime-gal. I've only been here for a short time, so I can't say for sure yet, but I do think alternative fashion is not very uncommon here.
Also, I think the regular fashion is great. Skirts with pleats, blouses with round collars, old-fashioned shoes, pocketwatch-necklaces, flowers, lots of lace, brown, wine red, beige and dusty pink... I love it! It's exactly the style I want to move into after lolita.  It has the same aesthetic and the same old-fashioned romanticness -is that a word?- as Classic (which I still love!), but it's simpler and easier to wear. And the greatest thing is- all the girls here wear it, and they all like it!

I don't have any fashion-related pictures yet. So meanwhile, enjoy this picture of a Japanese dancer :)

Moving on

Hey all,
It's been a while. I think it's official now: I've left lolita.
The last time I wore a petticoat was at the Fly Away Fashion tea party, and that was the first time in months, too. Although I met some nice people there, and had fun, I didn't really feel at home in the clothes and the community.
I like toned-down steampunk and Dolly kei, and otome style, but I don't think I'll wear a petti on a regular basis anymore, like I used to last year. I like 'normal' clothes better now.
I was in Paris last week, and when I realized my hotel was close to the Baby shop, I decided to take a look. When I browsed through the racks, my thoughts were among these lines:

"This is seriously overpriced, the quality isn't that good."
"This is just plain ugly."
"What idiot would wear this?"

Maybe, if it had been VM or Innocent World, I wouldn't have thought that, but I think it's clear. I'm over it.
(I hope no Baby fans are insulted now... I don't mean to insult the fashion, it's just not for me anymore.)
When I look back at some of the photo's on my Facebook account, I cringe in shame, and hope no one ever looks at them. Already I deleted the tags on many of them.

So much has happened to me, I feel like I'm becoming a different person. My boyfriend broke up with me a month or two ago, but already two other guys expressed interest in me. It's strange because I never had the feeling that I'm popular, but now my self-confidence is blooming. Ironic that I needed a break-up to gain confidence...

And, to make things complete, I will leave for Japan in September and start a year of studying at Nagasaki University. I'm very excited and also scared, but I hope and trust it will be an amazing experience.

I'm going to a tea party~

In a previous post, I complained a bit about the local community, but I got some comments from other Dutch lolita's who convinced me to give the community a try.
So... I just registered for Fly Away Fashion's tea party!

I really hope I'll meet some nice people there, who can take away my prejudices. Are any others going? I would love to meet the girls who commented on my blog :)

It'll be my first tea party! I'm pretty excited, actually :3

(I also discovered my account on the national lolita forum has been de-activated because I never posted... Ah well.)

Dolly Kei (a.k.a. TASSELS)

Because Lolita isn't really doing the magic anymore for me (except OTT classic, but try riding a bike with that...) I'm trying out other styles. Otome has already become a favourite, I'm totally in love with Emily Temple Cute and Shirley Temple and Jane Marple and brands like that. It's also closer to 'normal' clothes, so I feel a bit more confident in it.
I love the dreamy, fairytale-like look of Mori girl as well, but I don't like the loose and baggy style. I prefer a defined waist, because I end up looking like a bag of potatoes otherwise... -.-
So, that lead me to Dolly Kei. I'm not one for creepy accessories like doll's hands or heads on a necklace, and I must say sometimes it looks like the Grimoire girls are wearing Persian carpets, but there is one thing that really convinced me: TASSELS. As BELTS. Or, just as good, NECKLACES.
Yes, caps were totally neccessary for that.
I love tassels. I forgot the word for them for a while, which didn't really help, because searching for 'curtain-upholder-fringey-thing' doesn't deliver a lot of results. But now I at least remember the English word. Still don't know the Dutch one, though...

Anyways! One of my favourite things to do on a Saturday morning is strolling the textile market. And there I found them... TASSELS!
(maybe I'll continue writing that word in caps. Just to express my enthusiasm for them.)
For now I only bought one, to try it out. It's a light brown/ beige one. But they have many more colors: wine red, black, gold, brown... All very suitable colors for Dolly Kei ^^

So I went experimenting with it immediately. Of course going for a 'normal' or 'simple' look is a bit impossible if you're wearing a TASSEL as belt, but I still tried to keep a relatively simple style.

Oh, and after buying the TASSEL I also bought a rather fabulous hat. My father said his grandmother had one just like it, on a picture from the 1940's. I like that.
So I combined them.

And with one of my handmade dresses, that I've been neglecting for too long...

In Lolita, I would not have worn black tights with this dress, but beige or brown. But Dolly calls fior a somewhat harsher, stronger look, so I thought the black was okay. Otherwise it would've been too much brown... I'm also wearing golden leaf earrings and a golden leaf headband, but they're kinda invisible on the pictures :(

Dolly Kei also gives me an opporunity to wear scarves! I have this really pretty one from Claire's with a deer on it (not that you can see the deer when I'm wearing it...) and it fits right in ^^

Well, because this is an outfit-spam anyways, I'll also show you a Steampunk-inspired outfit I wore a few days ago.

That's all folks!