Change.

Hello lovelies,

I know I have been a terrible blogger lately. But I have a good excuse; there's been a lot of change the last few weeks, so I just had almost no free time. To make up for the unexpected hiatus, however, this post will be quite long (^.-)

Real life tetris

I moved again. I struggled with university courses and kind of lost my motivation for going to school, so I'm doing an internship now instead. So I packed my stuff and moved back to my mum's place, because my new work place is much closer from here. Normally, moving can be a rather expensive affair, but luckily I just had to get some new book shelves (pictured above). 

I say luckily because I got a very pleasant surprise this week and for which I have to start now saving up money...:

Vienna calling

Yes yes yes, I can attend the Innocent World tea party in Vienna in October after all! 

It was sold out after three minutes and it had taken me four minutes to finish my application, because the server I used had some problems (apparently, I haven't been the only one with these issues). But some people backed out, so I moved up and got a place. I'm so excited! Last time I was in Vienna was about five years ago, and I always wanted to go back there, it's such an amazing city (^.^).

Of course, I'm also looking forward to meet all the gorgeous Lolitas from Austria and the rest of the world. It's the first official tea party I'll attend, but I'm sure it'll be great. Is anyone of you lovely readers also attending?

Lavender & Lace

Besides that, I also did some sewing. For me, I made two things, one of which is a black underbust corset. I've wanted to sew one for ages, black and simple, so I can wear it with different styles.

Well, in the end it was not just simple black. I had some lace fabric from another project left over, so I doubled it with black cotton.
Looking back, I think I should have done the same with the edging instead of taking normal cotton bias tape, but oh well. I'll see how it goes and if it's too horrible, I can always change it.

Similar to the corset vest I made in spring, it's short enough to wear it with a petticoat respectively a Lolita outfit. I made the pattern myself, nothing exciting, just a normal corset pattern consisting of five panels per side.

For the lining, I took a leftover of mint coloured cotton fabric with little polkadots. Isn't it cute? I like it when my clothes look pretty from the inside too (^.^)

The second garment I made is a dress/top (depending on what you consider still to be a dress xD).
I used this very light jersey that is super comfortable to wear but really impractical to handle. So it turned out not very perfect.

However, I love this colour so much, so I'm going to wear ir anyways. Now I just have to come up with an outfit that doesn't make it look like a nightgown...

The tiny bow buttons are a little darker than the fabric but otherwise match it really good. That was a coincidence, I had them in my collection for some time without knowing what to do with them.
I really like this kind of top/dress, maybe I'll make another one, I have the same fabric in cream lying around somewhere (^.^).

So, that's what's new so far. Well, actually, there is more, but it's not blog-worthy yet. But don't worry, I hope I can write about it soon. Until then, I hope you keep posted!

Corset Vest

Hi my dears,

this weekend, I finished sewing something I've been looking forward to for ages. I started making it two weeks ago, but then didn't have the time to finish it immediately (you see, I can only sew on weekends, and not even every one), but impatient as I am, I was bursting to finally complete it!

As you might know, I love corsets. And I love vests. I think both of them go quite well with Lolita and other styles I admire. So why not combine the two? 

I've seen corset vests before here and there, so I decided to make my own version. It's quite short, so I can wear it with Lolita too. I first thought about making an underbust cut, but this is not very flattering for me, so I went for a more classical vest cut.

I only had to buy the busk (clasp? I'm not sure what it's called in English), the rest I had all in my fabric stock. The dark brown fake leather has been lying around literally for ages, it was too small for a real garment, but too big to throw away. The sand coloured fabric is actually a polyester fabric, but it looks like suede leather. I got it out of a jacket my grandmother gave me, she didn't use it anymore and asked me if I wanted it, so I was glad to take it (^.^). The lace finally is another leftover from a jsk.

I used golden eyelets to match the busk. The ribbon was white originally, so I dyed it with black tea. Like this, the contrast is less harsh. It's not the exact same shade of brown as the rest, probably if I had dyed it with coffee, the result would have been better, but I think it's not too bad like this.

I wanted to make something special for the lining and ended up liking it almost more than the outside (^.^). Normally, I just take a plain cotton fabric for the inside, like IKEA-Bomull, it's cheap and nobody sees it anyways. But some of you might be familiar with the expression Innenschön (an invention by Natron I believe?), and I had these cute pink patchwork fabrics lying around.

And to prove that it goes with Lolita (and because I had the dress and the petticoat with me):

Like Back In 1913

Hi my Ladies,

last Saturday, we had another little Lolita meet-up!
In Kandersteg, a beautiful little village located in the Swiss mountains and close to where I grew up, there is every year a Belle Epoque week. The theme is, you name it, the time roughly  between 1880 and 1914. The whole village would dress up, decorating the shop windows and organizing various events like ice skating, dances and promenades. The visitors as well as the locals would also dress up in historic costumes!
So on saturday, there was a Afternoon Tea with a fashion show. I thought, what a perfect event to wear Lolita! So I asked my fellow Lolitas if they were interested to join me, and in the end we were a group of 13 adorable Lolitas and Kodonas (*.*). We all met already in the train and went to Kandersteg together. The weather was unexpectedly beautiful, sunshine, almost no clouds and snowy mountains.

I tried something Belle Epoque inspired with my outfit, hence the hat and the corset and overskirt from the steampunk outfit I once made. I wore a wig from GLW, because my hair didn't agree with the hairstyle I had planned (>.<)

moi

the hat kept sliding off my head, which is understandable since I put it on skew  (>.<)

omg my bloomers peak out!

with Magali

with Pyl

After we'd taken some pictures, we went to the Waldhotel Doldenhorn, a four-star hotel, where the event was held. I was first a bit worried we would be late, but it turned out we were quite early. I had reserved a table for all of us, and we were seated right at the entrance, so we could admire all the visitors, and mostly, their costumes! We were all especially fond of the hats. I'd love to get a hat with giant feathers and hat net! So inspiring!

Soon, the food and tea was served. There were sandwiches and pastries, everything very apealing and delicious. Such luxury!

Then the fashion show started. It was presented by entre nous, a Swiss couture atelier. The theme was Paris and its ladies, and the corsetière, Beata Sievi, introduced us to four different pictures.
The first one was called Parisian Evening Wear, very elegant and sophisticated.

source

The second was called Paris Nights, and you can think yourself what is meant with that (^.-). The French have this wonderful expression filles de joie.

source

The third picture was about the Parisian girls, the schoolgirls and maids, who, although they may not be rich, still have a lot of style, so that it's almost impossible to guess their cultural status.

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The last one was all about lingerie. S-curve corsets, bustles, chemises and underskirts.

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The corsets were all amazing, made so perfectly with the best materials, silk jaquard and lace from St. Gallen.

all the girls

Afterwards, we stayed a little, drank more tea and took some more pictures in the beautiful hotel. The location was so perfect for this event, and everyone said  they really enjoyed it, yay! I'm looking forward to repeat this meet-up next year (^.^)

Outfit rundown:
Hat: handmade
Blouse: Dear Celine
Corset & overskirt: handmade
Underskirt: handmade
Socks: Baby, the stars shine bright
Shoes: Vögele Shoes
Jewellery: restyle, Manor, else

Provided

Hello darlings!

I know, it's still more than a month until a new year begins, but after seeing it on Facebook, I couldn't restist to buy a new calendar (^.^).
It's from Annie Bertram, an imho very talented photographer, and features beautiful girls in stunning outfits. So inspiring!

The shipping was incredibly fast, I got it two days after I ordered and paid via PayPal.
When I opened the envelope, some nice postcards and flyers fell out.

I love getting these kinds of things, I'll put them in my inspiration folder (^.^).
If you want to see Annie Bertram's work, visit her fb page or her homepage, where you also can order the calendar.

By the way, tomorrow is International Loliay Day! Are you doing something nice?
I'm going to a little meet-up, I'm looking forward to it (^.^)

Roses Lullaby

Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while now probably know that one of my favourite artists is Bibian Blue, corset designer from Barcelona. At the Fashion Week in Vakencia, she showed her newest creations for spring and summer 2013. Have a look!