Inspiration Japan

Hi dolls,

one week ago, we had a Lolita meet-up in Zürich!
We met before noon this time, as we went for brunch at the Café Odeon. The food was amazing, and I think it was a good idea to eat before the meet-up, because otherwise everyone gets hungry halfay through it.

Afterwards, we went to the Kunsthaus to see the exhibition "Monet, Gaugin, Van Gogh... Inspiration Japan"
In front of the museum, Rodins Gates of Hell is displayed. Naturally, we took some photos in front of it (^.^)

Outfit rundwon:
Jsk: Baby the stars shine bright
Cardi, blouse & underskirt: Handmade by me
Boots: Oak Tree Farms

our lovely group!

The exhibition was very inspiring, I personally liked the works of Monet and Degas the best. Eta Carina wrote an interesting post about the exhibition (scroll down for the English translation).

Because the first photos were a bit overexposed, we went to another place after the museum to take some more pictures.

derp (^.^)

I had a really lovely time, I hope the others had too (*.*). I was very happy with my outfit, as I was wearing my new jsk from Btssb: Soirée of the Beginning of my Memories! I've been looking for it since it was released in 2013, and thanks to a friend who sent me a link I could finally purchase it last month, in my preferred style and colourway!

photo by Maya

I bought the dress from a japanese auction site. They wouldn't ship overseas, so I asked for help from Locorocos shipping service. Handling and shipping turned out to be a bit more expensive than I expected, but otherwise everything went super smooth and the dress arrived really fast, so it was totally worth it!

So upon arrival, I had to put a coord together right away (^.^) it's the same I ended up wearing for the meet-up.

Even my new bag from Axes Femme which I bought in Paris matches!

Underskirt 2.0

Hi Cuties,

in Lolita fashion, underskirts can be very useful. Especially if you like wearing dresses from Japanese brands, because those tend to be a bit short for western Lolitas, and I personally like skirt hems rather longer than shorter (but that's everyones own business how they want to wear their frilly dresses!).

So a while ago, I made an underskirt for my Lolita wardrobe. However, the fabric was really annoying. While beautiful and of great quality, it also wrinkled super fast. Not the best premise for a garment with many many ruffles, as it was a pain to iron it (-.-)

So I made a new one, from chiffon this time!

Over the past few years, I've grown to like chiffon as a material more and more. It's true that it isn't easy to handle, especially for beginners, but once you've learned the kinks to it, it becomes much more agreable. It's so versatile and has a great fall!

For the hem, I used this tulle lace with tiny bows and dots embroidered on it. Isn't it cute?
Well, I thought so too. When I ordered it from etsy, I originally wanted to use it on a design for my own etsy shop, but when it arrived, the quality was kinda disappointing:

Loose threads everywhere! (-.-)
I couldn't possibly use it on something I'd sell, so I took it for this underskirt instead. It's not that obvious if you don't look too close, so I guess it's ok for this skirt...

Five Years

Today five years ago, I wrote the very first post on this blog. Amazing, isn't it?
One reason why I kept this blog going all this time is because it's like a journal. Not a very personal one, but it still shows how I developped, how my writing, my tastes, my fashion style, my crafting and sewing skills changed (for the better, I hope). My blog is this small space where I can reflect on my adventures and share them with the world, and I'm grateful for that.
Thank you, dear readers, that you're accompanying me on my journey!

LBM 2015

Hi dolls,

last weekend, I went to Leipzig with my friend Aya to visit the Bookfair! I was very excited, as it was my first time (^.^)
On friday and sunday I wore a cosplay. On friday Doll from Angel Sanctuary, and on sunday we joined some friends of Aya who were doing a YuGiOh sorcerer cosplay group. As I hadn't much time beforehand (we decided rather spontainously to go to Leipzig), I wanted to make something simple and went for the fire sorcerer. Unfortunately, I don't have a single picture of these two outfits, maybe I'll find one later.
On saturday, we wore a matching lolita outfit, as we both have the same dress from Medusa Couture:

Outfit rundown:
Jsk: Medusa Coure
Blouse: Bodyline
Vest: handmade by me
Shoes: Vögele

We met Hel, another lolita from Switzerland. She was wearing an amazing outfit inspired by Hannibal - naturally, we were rather scared of her (^.^)

I had an amazing time at the fair, although it's huuuge and there were a lot of people. I loved to see all the amazing cosplayers, which makes me want to make something super elaborate (but alas! the time, the time). I met some great new people and also did some shopping, of course (^.^). Besides some art books from the artist section (I'll get back to them in another post), I couldn't resist buying this adorable jellyfish necklace from caffecupcake:

Plaid and Subtract

Hi dolls,

the Leipzig Bookfair is coming up and I'll be there for the first time (I'm really looking forward!!), so with preparations and the usual work I have with university and my etsy shop, I have almost no time to spare to sew something for me. This is insofar unfavourable as my personal to-sew-list grows at an alarming rate since I got tons of inspiration at La Vie en Rose... but the only thing you can do about it is taking one thing at a time.

I started with something quick and simple. Maybe you remember this dress I sewed almost 3 years ago (wow, has it really been that long)?

I always loved the fabric; plaid is so versatile. This particular one can be combined with red, black, green, white, offwhite...
But alas! Over time, the dress became too small in the bust area. I sometimes wore it with a vest or cardigan over it, so no one would notice that the zipper didn't close at the top, but that just didn't feel right (-.-)
So as a solution, I made a skirt out of it!

Funny enough, Goldkind did the same to one of her former lolita dresses

I also rehemmed the skirt, so it's a bit shorter now. With the original lenght, there was just too much of it.
And since there was enough fabric left over, I made a matching bow (^_^)

Whenever I have a new garment, I want to wear it as soon as possible, so this was my outfit for school yesterday:

Beret: bought in Paris
Shoes: Tamaris

A note about the beret; it's actually the first I ever bought. I always loved the look on others, but also thought they wouldn't fit me. Lea convinced me otherwise, so I decided to give it a try. Here I wore it for the first time on monday:

Cardigan: Chicorée
Skirt: Rakuten
Shoes: Deichmann

I'm still trying to figure it out, but I like how many possibilities there are. Especially now that I have longer hair and can make various hairstyles! (^_^)

La Vie En Rose

Hey dolls,

so here comes - finally - my report from the amazing weekend I spent in Paris on the occasion of La Vie en Rose, a Lolita convention organized by Street Fashion Europe, the European Lolita community.
I decided to make one post on the whole trip, so it's going to be rather long, I hope you don't mind... (and if you do, you can always just look at the pictures and scroll through the rest (^.-) ).

On friday, 20. February, my partner in crime Lea and I took the TGV to Paris. After arriving, we went to leave our luggage in our hotel in Montmartre (a beautfiul district if it wasn't for all the stairs at the metro station - seriously, if you're there take the elevator!). Then we headed straight back to the city for some shopping at Axes Femme!

My outfit:
Jsk: handmade by me
Bonnet: Medusa Couture

The Axes Femme shop is so pretty! (^.^)

I didn't buy anything yet, but we already saw the first Lolitas, yay! (^_^) We had dinner plans with Lolitas from Austria, Russia and France that night, and on the way there we found this gorgeous carrousel:

unfortunately, it was raining (-.-)

Dinner was lovely, everyone was so nice and looked so pretty! Afterwards, we went to se the musical Le Bal des Vampires. It was so amazing! I especially loved the costumes and the stage setting. Overall, I liked the second half of the musical better, when they actually were in the castle. It was much more gothy :D

Duplica and I were wearing the same bonnet! 

On saturday was the convention! We had GA tickets, so we had enough time to get ready. The con took place at a beautiful hotel, where two large halls were prepared for us. There were a lot of selling booths, a runway with some chairs and a lot of absolutely gorgeous Lolitas. I tend to get a bit overwhelmed when confronted with so many people, and I totally forgot to take pictures, but luckily other people were more considering (*_*)

Swiss girls! With Fifi, Nadine and Lea

photo by Punkangel

As you can see, I decided to wear my Pirate Lolita outfit! I got a lot of compliments, especially for the hat, which made me incredibly happy (^_^)
During lunch break, we stepped outside for a bit of fresh air and some photos in front of the Arc de Triomphe.

My personal highlights were the two fashion shows. The first one was from all the indie brands that also had a stand during the event (I had applied too but didn't get in because there were so many). Here's a really good video of it.
The second fashion show featured Baby, the Stars Shine Bright and Triple Fortune (with wigs provided by Lockshop).
I also recommend to have a look at the official photos here.

all the Btssb models

all the Triple Fortune models

Beforehand, I had known Triple Fortune mainly for their elaborate bonnets. While I really like them, I'm not sure whether I would wear one. But I was very intrigued by the skirts. The material is quite unusual, some kind of light, silky, unelastic fabric. I wasn't convinced when they hanged on the rack, but after I saw the fashion show I knew I needed this skirt!

I just fell in love with the unusal aubergine colour of the ruffles!

That evening, we were both a bit tired so all we did was going for dinner at a cute restaurant.

On sunday, there was a tea party organized, but we spared us from the hustle to get tickets and went to Disneyland instead. We met with a group of super nice Parisian Lolitas who also didn't attend the tea party. I've never been to Disneyland before, so I was really excited! The weather was very warm and sunny, so naturally there were a lot of other visitors, but it was nevertheless a great trip!

Can you tell I'm really happy? (^.^)
Dress: Meudsa Couture
Hat: handmade by me

derp

our group! everyone looked so lovely (^.^)

Later, we went to the La Vie en Rose Afterparty, where we met some of the other Lolitas again. The small bar was very crowded, but nevertheless there was a lot of dancing on the (nonexistent) dancefloor (^_^) Lolitas know how to party!

Monday was already the last day of our stay. We decided to visit the Cimetière du Père Lachaise, as Lea hadn't seen it before. I like that place a lot, with all it's history and such.

In the afternoon, we went to see the Btssb shop and also Axes Femme, again. This time I couldn't resist and bought a bag from Axes Femme (*_*)

These are all my purchases from Paris:

Happy Lolita selife in front of the Baby shop

Since we had a little time left, we also paid Ladurée a visit. It's quite expensive, but totally worth it! I had some delicious pastry and amazing tea (which was called Marie Antoinette)

And then it was already time to catch the train home! It was a great weekend with a lot of amazing people, and I enjoyed my stay a lot. It inspired me to wear (even) more often Lolita and travel to more places I haven't seen yet (^.^)