La Plus Belle Epoque

Hi cuties,

I already announced it; last week we had our annual Lolita Meet-up at the Belle Epoque Week in Kandersteg. We were super lucky with the weather (just like the two years before, for some reason we are just every time in luck). Although it was quite cold, the sky was (almost always) blue and fresh snow had fallen shortly before.
So upon arrival, we went to take some pictures, naturally.

Our group ♥ don't they all look lovely?

I took some pictures with my new coat on first. I'm so in love with it!

Then we proceeded to the Waldhotel Doldenhorn, where a high tea would be served and a fashion show was presented. Our group was seated in the wintergarden, which was really beautiful. So we took the chance to take some more outfit pictures (it was also significantly warmer indoors).

Jsk: Innocent World
Headpiece, blouse, corset: handmade by me
Necklace: Sheinside
Boots: Ebay

I chose a quite simple hairstyle, by simply curling my natural hair. Then I braided a strand of hair and pinned it across my head, serving as alice band subsitution, and perching my beloved bambi headpiece on top of the end. I really like how it turned out!

derp

The food and tea was delicious as always! And so carefully arranged!

On the fashion show, authentinc gowns from the turn of the century were shown, ranging from underwear and bathing suits to sports wear to elaborate evening gowns, each presented for ladies- and menswear. It was very entertaining, and some of the garments were even real vintage!
Unfortunately it was hard to take pictures of the models, so instead I'll show you some more photos of our Lolita group (^.^)

Pictures by Magali, Lea, Marie-Lou and me (sorry for not being more specific, I kinda lost track)

Fire Cannot Kill a Dragonfly

Hi my dears,

this weekend we'll have a Lolita meet-up at the Belle Epoque week in Kandersteg (we went last year and the year before too, maybe you remember). For this occasion, I desperately needed to sew something that's been on my to-sew-list for some time: a new coat.
Of course, not just any coat.
Last year, I inherited a fur coat from my grand-grandmother. It's real fur (fox I guess...?), and while the coat itself was still in excellent condition, neither the size nor its shape suited me.

So I decided to use the fur on a new coat. It took some time to assemble all the materials, since I wanted the new coat to be quite elaborate, but also needed to work out the exact design. Sometimes, it takes a while until I can decide, but seriously, it's also what I love most about the design process (^.^)

Sorry for the overexposion, during winter good lightning is scarce (-.-)

Inspiration came (as you probably already guessed from the title*) from Game of Thrones, not only a great series, but also equipped with amaaaazing costume design. For this particual project I drew inspiration from Catelyn Stark's wardrobe. She's often seen with long, flowing garment, adorned with fur trim in dark, natural colours.

kinda hard to find a good picture of her costumes, but I hope you get the picture

So I used the fur of the old coat for trims on my new coat. I rarely ever say that, but I really love the outcome! It turned out event better than what I had in mind (and that doesn't happen very often).

I'll say it right in the beginning, it looks super crumpled because of the impossible shape of the sewing dummy. I feel like I say this everytime, maybe it's time to finally invest in a better one...

The coat looks much better when worn with Lolita and a petticoat. So therefore you can see a sneak peak of my outfit I've planned for the meet-up! (^.^)

For the lining, I used a gorgeous cotton fabric with brown-black argyle pattern. It's a patchwork fabric and I've originally bought it for another project, but then I felt it would compliment the coat perfectly. Since the outside is rather blank, the inside is a bit more exciting.

 The coat is cosed with leaf-shaped buckles. With the fur and brown colours, the coat has a very nature-ish feeling to me, which I wanted to empathise with these buttons.
Unfortunately, while they're prettier and more special than normal buttons, they're also a pain in the a** to handle. Which I didn't notice until I actually started sewing them on.
Oh well.
In German we say Schönheit muss leiden (which could be translated as "beauty knows no pain", maybe?)

I sewed on the upper hem of the fur trims by hand, which took quite a while. I apologize for the scrubbiness and the lints everywhere, working with real fur inevitably makes quite a mess.

I made the sleeves flared (not as much as in the original though, that would be impractical).
Also I've had these lacey dragonfly ornaments among my lace supply (you can't have enough lace!). I chose the coat fabric so it would match the ornaments, giving the illusion that the dragonflys may be embroidered directly on the fabric. I like how this is a more subtle detail, despite the dragonflys are quite large.
I sewed one each on every sleeve and on the hood.

When I settled on a design with hood included, I was first afraid it might look too sporty. But on the other hand, lapels felt a bit too frumpy, so I risked it. I'm glad I did, I think it makes the coat look super wintery and comfy (*.*)

I had never actually worked with real fur before, so I was a bit scared of that. But I did some research beforehand and I must admit, it's a great material. Thanks to the fact that it has been a coat before, it was already lined and nicely tailored and everything, which helped a lot.
Although fox fur is available without problems here in Switzerland (we have rather too many foxes), I would never buy real fur new, same goes for real leather. Which doesn't change the fact that these natural materials are amazing to work with.

So, that was a lot of text and pictures. Congratulations if you made it till here! (^_^)

*You can't imagine how many titles with references and puns I had in mind for this post!

It's Not Wednesday

Hello cuties,

I've survived all my exams and therefore my semester break has officially begun! Yay! (^.^)

Last Halloween, I was invited to a Halloween party, so of course I needed a costume (because Lolita is NOT a costume! I guess you all know that but you can't say it enough...). I didn't have much time for anything elaborate, plus I wanted to make something I could wear "normally" too. So I made a Peter Pan collared dress and went as Wednesday Addams.

I'm writing about this now because the dress was sewn quite hastily the day before the party, and afterwards I had to alter and re-sew some things in order to make it presentable.
Which I didn't until recently.

The dress is made of soft cotton jersey, which makes it super comfy to wear. It's closed with a button in the neck (which I forgot to photograph, sorry!) and is otherwise quite loose-fitting, therefore I put it on the dummy with a waist belt.

So yesterday I put it on for the first time, and I really love it! Probably my new favourite non-lolita piece (*_*)

Hat: H&M
Earrings & dress: handmade by me
Hairbows: Claire's
Boots: Yumentenbo

Ruffle Removal

Dear Dolls,

first of all, thank you so much for all the cute comments on my last post, that made me really happy! (^.^)

I'm currently in the middle of semester exams. While studying, I like to alternate between learning and sewing, it helps a lot with my concentration; I could never study efficiently for hours without break. So besides taking care of the orders for my etsy shop, I also made some smaller things for my own use, like mending and minor alterations. 

One thing I've altered is this jsk:

I've made it back in March 2011 (omg I'm getting old!) and I still like to wear it, it's super comfortable. However, lately the ruffles at the top became a bit too much, I wanted the neckline to be more simple and elegant. So I removed the ruffles, changed the neckline and sewed on some black lace trim.

The lace was a tiny leftover and was perfect in length and style for this project. I'm very happy how it turned out and looking forward to wear my renewed dress! (^.^)

I think that's a big benefit of being able to sew. Whenever I have a garment I don't like anymore, I usually change it until it pleases me again, which is almost as if I got something new (and I love getting new clothes, haha). But without spending a lot of money. So yay! (^.-)

Positivity 2015

Hi dolls,

for this year, I only have one resolution, but it's quite a big one (for me, anyways) that'll need a lot of work. I decided that I need more positivity in my life, something I keep struggling with every now and then. Positivity in general, but very specificly also body positivity.

I've not been happy with my body for a long time. Of course, there are things I can do to improve my appearance, like eating healthy and working out regularly, which I took up again. 

But there's also a lot that I need to accept, because hating your body will defenitively not make you happy on the long shot. I'm sad to admitt that loving myself still gives me a hard time and also keeps me from doing a lot of things that would life make more worth living. For example, not wearing a certain garment, because the fashion industry tells me I need to lose like 20 kg first to "look good/acceptable" in said garment. But I'm really tired of being manipulated by some old male CEO of some fashion or beatuy related enterprise. So long story short, I decided not to give any fucks about what my scale or some "fashion magazine" tells me and just put on that adorable outfit I have in mind.

I did this yesterday, when I put on these boots for the first time:

They're absolutely gorgeous laced-up overknee boots and I've always thought I couldn't possibly wear them because my legs are too fat. But once I've put them on, I was surprised to see how they actually optically elongate my calves rather than make them look even fatter, and the best part of all, wearing these boots really pushed my self-condifdence. It's been quite some time since I've been as pleased with my apperance (^.^)

Hat: KayiLaFashion on etsy
Jsk: Emily Temple Cute
Boots: Ebay

Also, I reall liked my hair (*.*) I usually pin it up or braid it so I haven't noticed how long it has grown!

happy selfie! ^^

Happy New Year!

Hey there,
long time no see, right? I'm currently studying for my exams which start next week and also sewing some orders from my etsy shop, so there's not really much to write about... but I have two recent outfits for you! (^.^)
The first is from when I went to see the third Hobbit movie with some friends (I forgot to take a full shot of the outfit, but I hope you get the idea) and the second one is what I wore for a tea party at a friend's place.

Hat and necklace: etsy
Cardigan: Chicorée
Jsk: Innocent World

Blouse: handmade by me
Jsk: Baby the stars shine bright
Shoes: Vagabond