Lolita Blog Carnival: Your First Lolita Item

Oh boy, it's been quite some time since I've done a Lolita Blog Carnival post, but this was too good to pass up!

Five years ago, BABY, THE STARS SHINE BRIGHT opened up lucky packs to overseas buyers. It was... a completely chaotic mess of frantic clicking, overloaded systems, and accidental leaks.

The original page on EGL is here if you want to see our madness

I hadn't been planning on buying anything, but after being in the thread and commenting around I got pretty excited and then went on the BABY site just to check it out. Eventually I was just putting a lucky pack in the cart to see what it'd cost, but then the system screwed up and let several of us order about half an hour to an early for a few minutes. Yes, I was one of those people ^^;

Also, I got TWO in my cart because the system was messing up so much. They shut the shopping system again until the PROPER ordering time, which was midnight in Japan's time zone, but a few of us had already ordered and got confirmation emails so our orders were still valid. BABY later did another round of lucky packs to make up for the fiasco of the first round and forbade anybody who had ordered early from ordering in the second round, but hey, it makes for a great story!

I got two of the same lucky pack, but the main dress was in two different colors (pink and black) so that's nice! I ended up selling a set of the hairpins, but kept everything else. They came with plain knee-high socks and a simple camisole as well as two sets of hairpins. I consider the One-Piece dresses my official first lolita item though! :D Love them still!

Here are some unflattering photos haha:




What was your first Lolita item? If you haven't started obtaining clothing yet, what would you like your first item to be?


Other Lolitas' First Items:
Spoon and Fork
Sparkling Girl
Wonderland Gone Mad
Vanillas Traumfabrik
Whimsical Adventures of Me
The Life of a Lolita
Breiðholt
The Beautiful and Damned

The Cherry on Top

Gone are the days of the traditional Lolita headdress! It's really not so common and is no longer a staple of Lolita wardrobes as it once was.
It's not completely dead, of course, but there are so many other things to put on your head that compliment a far greater variety of face shapes (who else got the double chin from the tied ribbons?)

Lolita Headwear by talarayne featuring mini hats

Huge variety!

My personal favorite type of headwear is probably anything mounted on a headband!

Headband Headwear by talarayne featuring bow hair accessories

It's easy to put on and adjust throughout the day, and stays on my head better than combs and mini hats do. If the Alice bow is really large and hard to keep on, you can sew a small comb on the underside so the comb and headband combined keep it on much better! There are so many types of decorated headbands like the Alice bow, side bows, ruffled headband, floral corsage, fabric corsage, veil, etc.

I personally am not a fan of the plastic decorated headbands, but I know they were popular for a while, too.

For more casual days I like hair bands like these:

Pigtails and Hair Bands by talarayne on Polyvore

I actually like the plastic decoration on hair bands because they stand up better. I like to wear my hair in pigtails high/low/braided/half-up. Pigtails are very versatile and easy to style! They're nice for days when you don't want a large accessory on your head.

The hair band made with an applique seems like it'd be a fun and easy DIY project to do! The next time you find a cute applique, maybe you can give it a try!

What is your favorite head wear for events or casual days?
Be sure to check out the other blogs participating in this week's carnival!

Pretty Little Habits
Lolita Glamour

Dessert Coord

Taiwan is a very food-abundant country, and desserts are definitely a big part! I chose two of the most famous Taiwanese desserts for this week's Lolita Blog Carnival. The number one dessert is probably pineapple cakes: I have made about a thousand of these before (literally a thousand. We were experimenting with different recipes...) but I actually don't like to eat these very much (sh!) Another famous dessert is mango shaved ice. Shaved ice in and of itself is very popular dessert, but mango is probably the most famous and popular topping. The colors of both these desserts are similar so I made one coord for them.

Mango Ice/Pineapple Cake by talarayne featuring nylon stockings

I'm not sure if the black shoes really work with this coordinate. There is usually brown sugar syrup added with shaved ice, but perhaps orange shoes would work, too. It was really different to design something with white and orange, since orange is such a rare color to see in Lolita fashion. I didn't want to do orange and yellow because I thought that might end up looking too citrus. How do you like this color combination? What is your favorite dessert food? I think my favorite dessert food is actually currently 綿綿冰(mian mian bing), which is literally "cottony" or "fluffy" ice, which is ice cream that is sort of a medium between ice cream and soft serve. Ice cream is definitely my food I can never give up!





Other Participating Blogs:
Lace a la Mode
2tsp of Sugar
Hello Kitty Loves Disney
Rainbow Star Candy Shine

Style Love

Lolita style is really whimsical and lovely, but may not be appropriate for everyday wear. Sometimes you need to expand into a different style! My current "other style" is pretty much just "hobo." I previously mentioned planning a wardrobe overhaul, so this week's Lolita Blog Carnival topic is perfect!

The Non-Lolita style I've fallen in love with is a mix or girly and rock styles. I found a bunch of inspiring outfits from a Japanese street snap website and organised them into a Photobucket Story. It's my first time to use this feature, so I hope it works correctly!



I probably won't go so far as to dye my hair or wear heavy makeup, but I really like the mix of dark and pastel colors, studs and floral prints, and may even venture into the foreign land of "pants." It's really been so long since I've worn real pants... let alone shorts!! Hopefully I can find some cute ones to suit daily wear :) It's difficult to find clothes in my size because I'm rather large, especially in the bum and thigh area O_Q

What non-Lolita style have you fallen in love with? I know some Lolitas wear gyaru fashion, too (especially with the serious increase of gyaru influence in Lolita fashion in recent years), but I want to know what other styles you are all interested in!


Other Participating Blogs:
Derpland
Kira Kira Shoujo
Masquerade Doll
Hello Kitty Loves Disney
Lace a la Mode
Sweet and Simple

Then and Now

I consider myself to have two "beginning" points in Lolita fashion. The first was as an "outsider" simply getting a general gist of the fashion, and the second was when I really decided to research and learn about Lolita so I could wear it!

My views have definitely changed over the years, though maybe not as much as some other people :) So I break up this week's Lolita Blog Carnival into three points!

First Hear About EGL
I was 14 when I first heard about EGL from a friend. I researched a lot into Mana-sama and Elegant Gothic Lolita. I had no idea about any other styles and while I was a big fan of Goth fashion, I wasn't sure I wanted to look like Mana-sama on a daily basis. Still, I loved the dolly look with a twist of darkness!
My keywords back then: Goth, dark colors, heavy makeup, tight curls, platform Mary Jane shoes

This is pretty much what I thought every Lolita in the world looked like. Maybe with some white lace sometimes.
(Click to enlarge)

Real Research
I once again stumbled back into the world of Lolita Fashion when I was about 15 or 16 and getting started on T-shirt surgery. There was a tutorial for a cutsew posted on the livejournal community t_shirt_surgery. It linked BABY, THE STARS SHINE BRIGHT and Angelic Pretty as reference websites. When I browsed the sites, I fell in love!! By searching for the keywords "lolita fashion" and the brand names, I found the other styles of Lolita fashion. I began to research every single day to find more information. I joined EGL when Miss Megan Maude was still the admin, there was no separate sales community, and lolita_wank was still functional. Very quickly, I got sucked into the world of Sew_Loli and learned about internet drama through a sewing contest that ended poorly on there. That aside, I became very interested in learning to sew my own clothing (hey, that's not much harder than T-shirt reconstruction, right???? Hint: wrong). My first skirt was quite a disaster. No photos because I'll cry ;_;
I also learned about Lolita brands OTHER than BABY and Angelic Pretty. I decided that Sweet Lolita was more my cup of tea. I also found other Lolitas in Minnesota through the Lolita penpal community (pretty sure it's defunct now) and made a few livejournal friends.
I was one of those tremendously overexcited newbies who thought everything could be Lolita-fied. Luckily, I didn't post about it all over communities like some people did ;) So I at least wasn't an ANNOYING overexcited newbie.
My keywords back then: Sweet Lolita!!!! Ruffles on everything!!!! Lolify all the things!!!! Don't be ita!!!! Google tutorials for everything!!!! Candy!!!! Pink!!!! Strawberries!!!! Nana Kitade!!!!
(I told you I was super excited)
My favorite brand: BABY, THE STARS SHINE BRIGHT



Now
Things have changed quite a lot since then! Deco Lolita is now called "Over the top Sweet Lolita" and Sweet Lolita is normally referred to as "old school Sweet Lolita" (so sad!)
We have a separate community for sales.
We have new mods and admin.
I learned how to gather properly.
There is not nearly as much gossip and drama as there used to be (just a lot more trolling)
There is a lot more scamming
Taobao.com appeared!
All the indie brands ever!
Everything must be a print! (Not everything, of course, but prints are so much more common now than they used to be!)
I now also love Classic and Sweet Lolita and a slightly sweet take on Classic Lolita (think Innocent World rather than Mary Magdalene)
I can actually sew entire garments :P With proper lining and construction and other such fancies!
Wigs and unnatural hair
False nails/lashes
Heavier makeup
Printed tights
Ric-rac and pom-poms are acceptable trims
Brands re-release prints
My keywords now: Elegance, proper construction, attention to detail, fluffy petticoat, matching accessories/hair/makeup, natural style (no wigs or exaggerated makeup)
My favorite brands: BABY, THE STARS SHINE BRIGHT, Innocent World, Putumayo

Growing up!

I haven't really been in Lolita fashion for that long I suppose, so maybe my views haven't changed that much. The style is always changing and evolving though. I'm happy for some of the changes (more indie brands, more Brand availability overseas, cheaper alternatives) and not as happy with some (gyaru influences with false everything, Deco Lolita), but I believe everybody should take the parts that they like and run with it! Besides, maybe trying something that I think I don't like will actually make me like it. Maybe next time you will see me in a Deco Lolita coordinate!!

How do you feel you have changed from when you began in Lolita fashion to now? Please share in the comments! I'm really curious about this :D Growing is such an interesting process.


Other blogs participating in this week's Carousel:
Lace A La Mode
Hello Batty
Hello Kitty Loves Disney

Classy and Wild

Animals play a big part in fashion, no doubt about it. The most commonly seen prints in mainstream fashion is probably leopard and zebra print with the occasional giraffe thrown in.
In Lolita fashion, teddy bears and bunny rabbits definitely feature prominently in prints and as "ears" on cardigans. Innocent world has a few "forest" animal prints that include other small, cute rodents and nearly every brand has a version of Swan Lake and carousels. Birds have made a few appearances as well.

The Lolita Blog Carnival theme for this week is to choose an animal and create a coordinate around it. I decided to do the "national animals" of Taiwan: The Formosan black bear and Formosan blue magpie.
Formosan Black Bear
Hunted for medicine (notably the paws) and due to habitat loss, the Formosan Black Bear is an endangered species. The most notable thing about this animal is the light color moon crest on its chest. In my coordinate, I kept it black with a white focus on the chest area on the cutsew and then some white detailing on the jacket and socks to help balance it out a little.

Formosan Black Bear by talarayne featuring knuckle rings

The claw jewelry is just for fun :P I thought they were interesting!
The bear motif jewelry is my "real" coordinate idea ;)


Formosan Blue Magpie
A lot of the animals seem to just be called Formosan -insert animal here- like the Formosan clouded leopard and Formosan sika deer. Whoever came up with the English names wasn't very creative!
Anyway, here is another Taiwanese animal, which I believe was also voted to be a "national animal" but isn't as recognized officially.

Formosan Blue Magpie by talarayne featuring prom hair accessories

This was more difficult to come up with a coordinate because of its coloring. I'm not sure how well the blue and orange worked together or if it seems too blocked out or anything... I put two bag/clutch options because I couldn't choose!

What is your favorite animal?
My favorite is actually really difficult to choose... maybe grizzly bear or timber wolf!


Other Blogs
Hello Batty
Hologram World
Super Kawaii Dragon
Darkly Darling
Angel Shinigami

Seriously Matching

Matching drinks to your outfit!
I decided to use drinks that Taiwan is known for to introduce some culture as well

The first drink is one that everybody should be familiar with:
Boba Milk Tea
I love to get boba milk tea with the large pearls, hot, and sugar-free. They are so readily available from any of the many beverage shops that line the streets of Taiwan.

Boba Milk Tea by talarayne featuring a ribbon ring

The milk tea is usually an ivory color and frothy from the mixing. I chose a lacey, ruffle blouse in an ivory shade and then paired it with a similarly colored Lolita skirt with a dark print to represent the boba at the bottom of the cup.
The socks are continued to be the milk tea color, and then I have two pairs of shoes because I think this look can work with either brown "boba" shoes, or blue shoes. What is the blue throughout this outfit? It is the straw! The colorful boba straws can be brought throughout the look from top to bottom with accessories. Blue in the hair, on the wrist stoppers and jewelry, and shoes if you want. I chose metal-theme rings for the "glass" of the cup. Normally, we actually get the boba milk tea in plastic go-cups, but in sit-down restaurants you can get a fancy glass instead!

The next most famous drink of Taiwan is:
Papaya Milk

Papaya Milk by talarayne featuring a chiffon blouse

Papaya milk is lovely and summery, so I made a summery coordinate. It also uses mainly offbrand clothing. The sheer blouse can be worn with a white base on the inside. I like papaya milk smoothies, so the white dots made e think of ice crystals. Even though papaya milk is all one color, that would be boring, so I added black like the papaya seeds in the accessories. The earrings and ring and bracelet have more "seedy" feel with the beads.

Azuki Matcha Milk Tea
This is one of my favorite drinks to get from a beverage shop by my school! Azuki and matcha are a common pairing for everything from waffles and ice cream to drinks and cakes!

Azuki Matcha Milk Tea by talarayne featuring genuine leather handbags

The layered look is really pretty, though that does make it more difficult to translate into an outfit without looking blocky. I used a milk-color JSK with a brown print as a starting point and some matcha green accessories and a top. The purse I hope can bring the matcha color through to lower parts of the coordinate so it doesn't seem like it's only in the top portion.
The socks are reddish-brown like azuki beans with brown shoes. The jewelry was also chosen to match the azuki and milk colors.
This one was definitely more difficult to come up with a coordinate, but I think it looks OK :)

What is your favorite drink?

And remember to check out the other blogs doing this week's theme!


Kira Kira Shoujo
Geisha Baby
Lace a la Mode
Loli Dreamland
The Bloody Tea Party