Seven Days of Christmas Coordinate Countdown

I love Christmas. What a great holiday. And this year I'm doing something special to build up for Christmas- A seven day countdown of Christmas themed coordinates starting as of yesterday! Haha, yes. This is the plan:

~18th Tuesday: Victorian Caroler  Btssb bonnet, candy violet skirt, high collar blouse, pink fur dear Celine coat with capelet, cream tights, pink oxfords

~19th Wednesday: Clara (Nutcracker)- Glitter trump, peasant blouse + short sleeved blouse, pink oxfords, flower knee highs, braided updo

~20th Thursday: Santa- Red btssb bustleback dress, santa hat, brown boots, cream tights, brown belt, brown purse

21st Friday (Travel Day): Mouse (Not a Creature Was Stirring, Not Even a Mouse)- Brown Jsk, curly on-top-of head curls, brow blush +pink nose blush, BTSSB blouse, Lace tights, brown oxfords, fur ankle cuffs, white fur ear warmers

22nd Saturday: Snow angel- White skirt, peasant blouse, white headbow, white wristcuffs, joker style pearls, Gold heels, gold star clip, lace tights

23rd Sunday (Travel Day): Gingerbread Girl- Brown Jsk, pink tights, brown ankle socks, pink oxfords, pigtails, brown bows, pink necklace, 80’s pink shirt

24th Monday: Mother Mary- Chantilly replica skirt, Blue top, blue bow, gold cross/crucifix, blue oxfords, knit tights

25th Tuesday: Candy Cane- Red Btssb dress, cream sweater vest, red knit sock/white knit sock, red heels, High side ponytail w/ curl, red sweater

The days that say "travel" are the days I'm either going to or coming back from Atlanta where I'm visiting family for an early Christmas. Some Sacrifices will have to be made, and changes in plans but I'm doing it! Here is yesterdays outfit:

Victorian Caroler~

(I'm sorry for the poor photo quality on this one. Web-cameras are not professional for a reason. Haha.)

My outfit was:

Bonnet- BTSSB

Bustier + Skirt- Candy Violet

Blouse- Offbrand

Cream tights- Offbrand

Pink Oxfords (not shown)- Golden Pony

Lolita blog carnival: What to get a girl who hates the mall or DIY gift ideas

http://sequinsandcherryblossom.com

Christmas is rapidly approaching and the onslaught of secret santas, office parties, family get togethers, and hallmarkian harassment is upon us. Its all fine and dandy to buy a tie for joe at the office but when it comes to lolitas of the amicable persuasion things get a might bit more complicated.
What do you buy for the girl who hates the mall?
Or, in slightly less dramatic terms-- What do you buy for a lolita when socks are 50 bucks?
First you should consider what is effective and useful to this person. Does she never have enough room in her purse? Is she sock deficient? Does she like styling her hair? Consider what is significant to your giftee.
Once you've figure that out (Or figured out that there isn't really anything) you have one of two options: Go out and buy something, or make it. This blog post is concerned with making. Let's get started-
For the Sweety-
~Try a Rococo inspired choker
~Maybe she's a floral kind of person?
~Don't want to over do it?
~Angelic pretty fan?
~The fur fan

 For the Gothic Vampire Aristocrat-
~Ball joint knee tights
~How about a rosary?
~Bat's on the head

 The Classic Queen-
~Flowers in her hair
~A teacup with effort

For any style:
~Spice up shoes
~For the Lifestyler
~Something for the purse toter
~Got a tea fanatic?
~For the bow hoarder

Happy creating~

Other blogs:
MakeLovely
Lemontree111
Spider-sugar
Sidhe Banshee
May Cause Cavities
Sweet and Simple
Sparkle Girl
Pop Princess

On the Importance of Trying

Some nights I will stay up too late talking to friends or playing video games and I know that in the morning I'll feel extremely tired. Then, I'll go to sleep. I'll wake up in the morning and, lo, just like I predicted, I feel terrible. I'm tired. My limbs feel heavy. I can barely keep my eyes open. I'll tell myself that I just won't bother getting dressed that morning. I'll just throw on some random shirt, something on my legs and shoe myself with whatever I find. Then I reach for a pair of jeans and stop.

I can't wear those jeans.
I can't wear that old t-shirt.
I can't walk past my makeup table.
I can't give up.
I can't give up.

It's a one sentence confirmation of my worth. I get dressed in the mornings because I enjoy it, because I want to, and because I am denying apathy.

Self-Love is a buzz word for persons of the especially female persuasion existing in the modern world for a reason. (For those of you who don't know, Self-Love is the active love and appreciation of yourself as a sort of counter to the normal body hate and under appreciation of oneself) Loving yourself is important. It makes you more productive, happier, more confident, and a slew of other things. Tons of outspoken and successful women are speaking up for it. People like Gala Darling and Angelina have especially spoken up for it. It's certainly becoming increasingly important today.

But what does that really have to do with my inability to wear sweatpants?
Because putting effort into what I do is an affirmation that what I am doing and what I am are both worth it. This is my emotions, my sense of beauty, I'm putting out into the world, but not for anyone else. This is just for me.

And some mornings you may wake up tired, sad, exhausted, willing to just scream and say fuck it to trying. But you need to try. You need to say that you are worth it because you are. You are the person who understands you the most. The person who knows your favorite color. You are your own soul mate. And you should treat yourself well. You deserve it.
So maybe nobody notices when you paint your nails with that new color. It makes you smile, don't give it up.
So maybe your art isn't as well known as someone else's. It doesn't have as many comments. Do you like your art? Does it speak to you? You create, don't give up.
So maybe it's easier to wear that pair of ratty old flats than hunt down that new pair of heels that you love. It's early in the morning. It doesn't matter. But it does-- for you!
When you put effort into things, you are affirming that it has meaning and worth and power. And it does because you do. You are powerful and strong and worth the effort.
Don't ever, ever give up.

2012 pumpkin painting meetup!

Hello everyone! How were your Halloweens? I didn't go anywhere, I just stayed home and watched a bunch of movies, but that wasn't bad at all. I did dress up though! I went to school in my costume. (I was a sugar skull/dia de los muertos skeleton.)
Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, mostly in part to it's historical significance and also because jeez, spooky skeletons and candy? What more could a girl ask for? So, I get excited and want to do as much for Halloween as I can! Last year I organized a pumpkin painting meetup for my local lolita group and this year, following the tradition set up the Second Annual Tallahassee Lolita Pumpkin Painting Meetup! It was lots of fun, and since our lolita group has grown, we actually had a decent group this year! Last year we only had 4 people, including myself, come. But this year, we had 6 people come. We're getting there!
It was super fun. We held it at a park, but a cold front blew through so we were all cold. ;-;

It was a simple set up but it was nice. There was apple cider and rolls and sweets. Everyone got a pumpkin to paint too.

Everyone did a really good job on their pumpkins too! We had two extras so my sister and I gave them away to the best pumpkin makers. Haha. I made a yandere pumpkin with the words "I hope sempai notices me" written on the back of it. Mine is on the top right. My sister was the furthest to the right on the bottom and hers was GORGEOUS so I let her pick the winners.

Hayley and I reenacted our pumpkins. I HOPE HAYLEY SEMPAI WILL NOTICE ME.

Group shot! Angel (Who prefers to not have her face shown on the Internet), Hayley, Myself, Mickie, Savannah (my sister), and Kendall. We all tried to dress in lolita versions of costumes or just in general spooky since it was a Halloween meet. Angel was a demon, Hayley was a 1950's malt shop girl, I was a witch (in case you couldn't tell), Mickie was creepy-cute, Savannah was a skeleton, and Kendall was a demon too!
I coordinated my outfit as well as Savannah's and Kendall's all from clothes in my closet.
~I was wearing:
Skirt: Candy Violet
Blouse: Baby the Stars Shine Bright
Shoes: Secret Shop
And all the rest was offbrand!
~Savannah wore:
Blouse: Anna House
Skirt: Chiaki Ayumi
All the rest was offbrand or indie that I can't remember. :<
~Kendall wore
Dress: Baby the Stars Shine Bright
Blouse: Alice Temperly (Old Target line)
Everything else was offbrand.

After we all finished with our pumpkins we were so cold we decided to move to a cafe nearby for the remainder and drink tea and coffee.

We sat around and talked for a good one and a half hours about things. It was super fun.

Hayley is just the most photogenic cutie. I am so jealous.

That was part of my Halloween, I hope you all had great ones too! Till next time!

XOXO.

Horror Stories are so Romantic

I enjoy the theater as much as the next girl....Ok, maybe a little more. (Or a lot) But, because I don't exactly live in a haven of the arts, plays, ballets, and so on tend to be a bit sub par in composition or selection. I'll give things a try but when a high school production rivals a real theater you've got some problems. Things are a little different right now though; I love holidays, especially Halloween and they really get me in the mood to PARTICIPATE. With that as base, I couldn't help being excited when I found out a local theater was putting on a play version of Frankenstein!

The inside cover from the production pamphlet. All the inside was done in style, with cast's pictures drawn instead of photographed. I just about died!

Frankenstein was a book from the Gothic portion of the Romantic period written by Mary Shelley. The romantic period was the same period that produced Cyrano De Bergerac, which is my favorite play of ALL time...Like ever. Really, in spirit, I am right along with the romantic period on so many levels, but I'll spare you the history lesson, yeah? Long story short, I was very enthusiastic about it.
When I go see things, movies or plays, I like to get into the theme. When I went to see the Musical Comedy Murders of the 1940's I did victory rolls and a little pre-greaser style. Since Frankenstein was in the Romantic period I, obviously, went with that. And as it turns out, the Romantic period was rather creative. (I mean, more than I thought it was.)

 Dem sleeves (source)

Doing my best to replicate the nutso sleeves (which I love dearly, but seriously, come on!) I layered a short sleeve blouse with slightly puffy sleeves over a peasant blouse of mine with 3/4-ish length bell sleeves. I used my red bustle back dress, which was a little bit of a jump, but only by about 25 years. I did a braided updo with a flower for a mix with regency, which was also around the same time and probably very close to the Gothic part which was towards the end.This was the result.

Not too shabby if I do say so myself. It also got wonderfully cold when we left the theater so I brought along a cardigan and scarf which also looked really cute if a bit more modern

And after all that, my opinion on the play? OH GOD MY FEELS. There was very heavy if almost entirely well done pathos and a really great set. We had first row seats and when the monster rolled off the table it was all of 5 feet in front of us. I though it might roll onto us!! It wasn't almost anything like the book. The sympathetic characters were different and in fact the entire plot was different, but I think it was much much better of a story that way.
Over all it was a good night, a really really good. I need to see more shows.

Until next time!

How to Make Deer Antlers

Mori has been on the rise among those interested in japanese street fashion and among lolitas, and it has been for quite some time. For those of you who don't know mori is basically supposed to look like a "forest princess". Lots of layers, cluny lace, germanic aesthetics, forest animals, etc. Myself, I have a little pet attraction to it. Totally adore it, but because I'm broke most of the time I have to be more reserved in how far I go with the style. Not because I have to watch my money or anything but because I literally just don't have much to create with.

My first pair of antlers for Frill

Now, it's no secret I am not the craftiest person in existence, beyond a back stitch and a glue gun and you've lost me. But clay is something I certainly have in my crafting pool and I set out at the beginning of the summer to make a mori-esque outfit for Frill and since I still wasn't over the deer fur trend I decided I was going to do a deer themed coordinate. This post is about how to do a part of that after quite a few requests: Deer antlers!
Now, this tutorial is very easy and very adaptable. You can change, mess around with, and embellish as you see fit!
You will need:

• A cup of water (you don't need a huge amount)
• Paper Clay in a natural white color
• Wire
• something you'll be attaching the antlers to like a headband or a garland like above (If using a headband I suggest something stiffer than what I use, like metal)
• Any lace, paint, chalk pastels or other accenting stuff

To start of take a hunk of clay about as big as your fingers when they're curled up plus a little and then another chunk about 1/3 the size of it. Set aside the smaller hunk.

 Roll out the larger one into a thin-ish roll a little bigger than your middle finger. At about 16 cm it's long enough, you can make it a little longer and thinner or shorter and thicker but consider that it's going to weigh when you attach it to the headband.

Decide which end is the outward end and taper it a bit into a pointy tip.

 At this point you may notice some ugly dents, nicks, or empty spaces like below. Get rid of these by wetting the clay with the water you have and rubbing relatively lightly but quickly over the area until it's smooth and uniform.

 It should look like this now: Twist it so that the top 2/3's is curved in an arch afterwards.

Now take that smaller piece of clay and do a much stubbier version of what you did before. It should be around 1/3 the length of the other piece and have a much sharper tapering.

 Now take the flat bottom part and with something stiff and smallish like a tooth pick or a piece of wire rough up it up. Then dampen it with your finger and some water. Go back over it to rough it up again if necessary.

 Curve it so that it arches vaguely too.

 Now assemble the two parts.Attach the smaller point about 4 to 5 cm from the base. It'll look like this when you stick the two parts together:

 Dampen your finger and rub the two parts together pushing them together with your nail and then smoothing it out as necessary

Now take a small amount of clay (very small) and get it really mushy and wet. It should be paste like.

Put it on over the seam where you attached the two parts and rub it in so it blends into the rest of the clay and up into the crevice at the top. Make sure it's covered all the way around. You'll need to do it again with the other side and some more clay to make sure it has full coverage.

Curve both pieces of the antler the same direction, facing inwards.

 Cut out the bottom at an angle (try and lose as little height as possible) that is also facing inwards. This will make it easier to mount the antlers.

Repeat this inverted and you have your two antlers.

Wait a few days until they are COMPLETELY dry. 3 days is a safe bet.
~~~~~~Three days later~~~~
Take one of your antlers and the thing you wish to attach it to and a good length of wire. wrap the middle of the wire around the bottom of the antler. Position the antler to where it should sit on the headband and wrap the wire around the base.

Repeat on the other side

Now you'll either want to leave the wire as is, which is cool, or you'll want to cover it up. You can do this with ribbon, leaves, lace, etc. If you're using a laurel then the leaves should naturally cover it up. I used ribbon for this pair.

The end! Good luck with your endeavors!

Inspiration Central: Gala Darling

In my recent post Urbanite Antoinette (which is my new favorite article, by the way) I mentioned I got the inspiration for the post from  Gala Darling: The pop, primary international playgirl. I found the blog about 5 months ago via my dear friend Mana Starre, the best pinup hime I've ever had the pleasure of meeting, and the blog has rapidly usurped Parfait Doll as my favorite blog.

 The lovely lady herself

Gala Darling, the blog, is a mix of fashion, lifestyle, beauty and inspiration. Gala, the founder of the blog and the radical self love movement, started the blog strictly on fashion but has expanded to quite a few other topics now. Everything from self fulfillment to makeup and back.

My favorite posts are the link carousels which always have the most interesting information on them. You really get a lot of different things to think about or new perspectives to consider. The life articles are also really wonderful. When she addresses real life problem or experiences it helps guide a way of living that isn't directly feeding into the basic model. The life articles are usually hinging somewhere between personal discovery and awareness.

I really love the blog and Gala herself as a source of motivation and inspiration. It helps me find a direction for my blog and offers advice to help me in my personal discovery. The blog and author are both incredibly successful and really very inspiring. Her fantastic articles and success are both great motivators in themselves to improve.

Urbanite Antoinette

I recently read an article by one of my favorite blogs called GalaDarling, run by Gala Darling (shocking!), that was all about her own unique style, and the name she chose for it-- Eccentric Pop. She referred to the name as her "style statement" after a book  she read which discussed the naming of one's personal style by a ratio of stylistic choices, etc.
While the specifics of it weren't my taste exactly, the idea of naming your style seemed like a brilliantly fun idea to me! I've always have an affinity for naming things: Creeks, big rocks, boats, cars, weapons....yeah. So this was right up my alley. And so I set out to make a name for my aesthetic choices. I wanted a name that would encompass all the things I wore, not just lolita, even if lolita is a huge part of what I wear. I wanted a name that would cover all of it.
After much brainstorming and with the help of a friend, I finally nailed down my style-

~Urbanite Antoinette~

Urbanite represents the moder look. The street style, the 90's, the 80's the 50's. It's street style. It's more sharp looks. It's the directly punk, the refined looks, the Audrey Hepburn and Vivien Westwood. It's the spirit of cities, the feeling of walking in a black skirt with a mocha chino in your hand up the stairs of Vogue's offices.
Urbanite represents: Berets, polka dots, heels, patterned tights, cats eye eyeliner. faux glasses, suspenders, plaid, sneakers, faux half shaved hair, leather, candy red lipstick, black, and buckles

It's no secret that I love rococo everything, but rococo wasn't quite right. That was too specific of a style, and a style that some of my outfits didn't touch upon. BUT, Antoinette hit it right on the head. Marie Antoinette was a rebel, she dressed unusually, thought outside the box (at this point in time, thinking outside the box was wearing cotton instead of silk! Point remains), was very fashion obsessed, and loved to have a good time and especially looking good while doing it.
Antoinette represents- Lace, pin tucks, ruffles, pastels, stripes, curls, pearls, ribbons, rhinestones, roses, flowers, kittens, beauty marks, petticoats, fans, organza, chemise, and tulle.

Imagine if Antoinette was in New York and you got the general idea.
And, occasionally my style strays more to one side or the other and sometimes I try aesthetics that aren't quite matched up with either (I mean, mori lolita is sorta something Marie would have worn, but the connection is tenuous) but around 89% of the time this sums it up really well.
So, what's the point? Well, it's fun, haha. And it also gives me a more defined idea, myself, for my style. I know what it is deep down but when I working with coordinates and clothes it's good to have a general idea of what I'm doing.
Urbanite Antoinette goes to wild parties smelling like roses and only riots if there's a good soundtrack. She lives on details and ideas. She's a bit of a gypsy spirit but has her plans under control. And she'll damn sure wear three petticoats if the mood strikes her.
Till next time!

A princess

Seifuku inspired coordinate!

So, a while ago I went to go see a movie and I'll take any excuse to dress up (and I always do >w>). I had been getting a lot of seifuku style stuff coming through my tumblr at the time as well so I though I would give it a try! I'm super duper happy with the results, it's one of my new favorite outfits!

Shoes: Secret shop
Socks: AP
Blouse, sweater vest majigger: Offbrand
Skirt: Candy Violet
Ribbon: Belt from a DreamV skirt

La Vie Antoinette

There is most certainly something endearing about the frivolity of rococo France and in general of the pre 1800's courts of Europe. Personally I've loved it for a good long while but strong interest has emerged again recently, and who am I to complain? I love it, and maybe you will to? Here's some ways to get in the rococo spirit~

• Give a square necklines a try, one that shows your collar bones. It was *the* style when you look back at historical paintings...that is the ones where they weren't nude.
• Shade your collarbones. One of the fascinating things about Rococo France is how freaking sexy it is without being nothing but, well, tits and ass. NOPE, it was ankles and petticoats. Your collar bones are a really lovely thing, they're elegant and accentuate your neck and make you feel fancy. Take a brown shade and dust it in the hollow of the bone and a highlighting color on the top of it.

• Nothing says fancy like sticking feathers in a fancy updo. Find some nice ostrich feathers or peacock feather (any craft store ought to have them) and when you do your big teased updo just stick a few in one of your tighter curls or teasing areas.
• Ribbon chokers do a wonderful job of highlighting your neck right along there with shading your neck bones. If you look at old portraits of Antoinette herself you'll notice chokers being very common. All you have to do is tie a matching nice ribbon around your neck, or if you want to get fancy you could try this tutorial. I did it, it really is lovely.

• Stock up on some rose flavoured gum, rose flavoured chocolate, rose flavoured facial wash. Roses. Roses. Roses. The pink rose was the symbol of Marie Antoinette.
• Yo dawg, I heard you liked ruffles, so I put ruffles on your ruffles so you can wear ruffles while you wear ruffles. But seriously, main trope in french 1700's fashion? 3/4 sleeves with laaaaayers of ruffles. Give something with 2-3 layers of ruffles a chance.

 This chick has it right.

• Find a fancy bakery in your city and pick up a nice sweet. I love L'opera but you should find something to suit yourself. Now go do something simple and fun and eat that dessert like it's going out of style.
• Shoes made with satin fabric were popular. Usually as heeled slippers. It's a bit hard to find that now but hey, plenty of shoes are made with satin or something of the sort.

• Big jewels in your jewelry. It was go hard or go home with court jewelry. Pop on a big crystal ring or a nice chuck of swarovski crystal on a choker. Blind them and knock 'em dead.
• Details on details on details on details. So many details. There was a LOT going on in Rococo dresses. There were bows on ruffles on lace on more frills. Give some heavy detailing a shot.
• Pastels are obviously a thing now in lolita. But Antoinette had pastels before it was cool. And she did some interesting mixes. Give powder blue a try with some different alternatives. Blue and lavender or powder blue and a mild yellow or mint and a soft yellow. Or you could try Pink and yellow. OR, if you wanted to get crazy you could try a non pastel with a pastel like some deep red with a soft yellow.

• You remember the frills from before? Take out frills and put in bows. BOWS EVERYWHERE.

  And then she flies into the sun after kicking him in the face.