Lolita in Secret challenged me; Lolita Pet Peeves!

Fellow lolita blogger Lolita in Secret asked her fellow bloggers what is their top five pet peeves. Lolitas have plenty to be pissed off about and these are my pet peeves.

1. Black x White Co-ordinates = Instant Ita! Ha, hell no – Black and White co-ordinates were once a classic bench mark of the gothic lolita style and when done right can be elegant, sweet and classic. Just because a few beginners or cosplayers loose a thing or two in translation doesn’t mean that it doesn’t get better than that.

An oldie but a goodie, I miss my short cute hair

2. All Lolitas Love Anime, Japanese Music and Manga. No we don’t, though I’ve read, listened and watched a few good ones it doesn’t hold my interest as much as Batman and the DC Universe does. I’m a huge Watchmen fan and I sometimes wear my Blood Drop Comedian pin with my Lolita dresses, I’m crazy about Metalocalypse which ties into my love of Metal and Goth Rock. Lolita is a loose affiliation with an aesthetic more than it is about mutual interest outside of your opinion on Angelic Pretty. Lolitas can be Otaku but we’re also Goths, Punks, Stoners, Hipsters and sick sad people who like Country and Western.

3. Petticoat Deflation. According to my dear friend Disa an all organza petticoat made of about a zillion yards worth of fabric will hold its poof indefinably  and is also machine washable. She’s made herself a prototype and I’m mad jelly, I’ve been making do with four deflated pettis Frankensteined into one plus another skirt under my dresses.

All this tom-foolery may be the cause, or cure?

4. Mini Top hats and in fact 99% of mini hats. This is mainly because 99% of them are not worn in a flattering way, from the wonky ita ones to the high end millinery ones. Its usually because people don’t know how to style their hair so it sits properly on their heads.

5. Unsolicited photographs. Especially if you’re a semi-pro photographer or might use our image for commercial gain – this is not on. Would you do the same to a stranger who you saw holding a bag you think is pretty? No and ninja phone photos are also not cool. Please respect the privacy concerns of others.

Max Brenner Chocolate Meet

Tomorrow I will post the last delicious update of the prize pool for the Exquisite Corpses photo comp – keep those entries coming – I’ve received so many cute ones it’ll be hard to choose a winner!

A few days ago the Brisbane Lolitas and I went to Max Brenner which is a specialty chocolate cafe – so delicious!

This is what I wore

Too Herp to Derp (Click for bigger)

JSK: Angelic Pretty
Blouse: Bodyline
Socks: BTSSB
Shoes: Bodyline
Bow: Angelic Pretty

To see all the other girls click HERE to see the image gallery!

Lolification and where to draw the line

This is something a lot of lolita blogs, communities and lolitas themselves debate over. The general conciseness is that there is a time, place and a limit to what you can lolify but when you get right down to it you will usually do as you choose and hopefully not as the group dictates you should.

Lolitas aren’t the only ones who try and put lolita in everything. For example, Metalocalypse stars Dethklok endevour to make everything METAL, Blacker than the blackest black times infinity- and often the results are brutal in a bad way.

 

DIE FOR DETHKLOK - or attempt to lolify them

 

Of course Murderface would be ita as all hell. (Excuse my terrible drawing skills, I’ve spent six years in art school progressively getting stupider somehow)

The division is usually over common sense things – a cute casual outfit for a short walk in a park vs forcing OTT decora elements into an outfit intended for a 10k hike, adding ruffles to a plain white work shirt for a casual day/work clothing vs deconstructing a whole starbucks uniform just so it can fit a petti under it.

Lolita is not the only subculture that has to tone it down for work, a lot of my goth, alternative friends leave the 6 inch creepers and corsets out of their office jobs but they’ll wear pentagram cuff links or simply keep their palate to blacks and whites. Office Goth was born out of a need to work to pay for endless gin and tonics, ridiculous shoes and capes – depending on your workplace the rules can be relaxed and you can rock up as OTT as you want to, the Goth in the Office for example is an inverview with the amazingly outfitted Jillian Vetters working at Microsoft.

Most Classic brands have dresses that work well without pettis and with non lolita shoes and accessories – the ultimate challenge is de-lolifying something inherently loli to fit the situation at hand.

Work outfits aside, other things like school work, cars, pets, toilets and what ever can stay still long enough for you to pin a bow on it on the other hand I personally go buy these guidelines.

1. Will this thing be used by anyone but me?
2. Will the loilfication process impede my using of the item?
3.  Will it void a warranty, cause damage or lower the resale value through its lolification?
4. Will it be safe to use after modification?
5. Do I have permission to modify it?

Generally an answer of:

1.  Yes
2.  No
3.  No
4. Yes
5. Yes

– means you can cram as many bows on a thing as it can handle.

Exquisite Corpses: Prize Update #2

Again, sorry about the delay but here’s the current prize jackpot!

 

Omg Goodies!

 

In this update I’ve added a gorgeous black and white stripe tote handmade by yours truly, Dollpart!

 

Its in the bag baby!

 

For clearer images of the prizes click HERE and HERE

For FULL details of the competition click HERE

There have been such lovely entries coming in it will be hard to choose the winner so make it harder for me and SEND YOUR ENTRY IN! fappy.chan@gmail.com

In other news me and some of the other lolitas caught up at my favorite thing on earth – the Brisbane Suitcase Rummage! The idea is you haul out a couple of suitcases worth of your vintage, second hand, hand made and unique things and sell, trade, haggle for them, I know I always come away with tonnes of clothing, jewelery and stuff I never knew I wanted till I found it!

Here’s me and Xelyna

 

Optical illusions make me look taller

 

My big dumb face

 

Too Herp to Derp

 

Yikes, my hair WAS in curls earlier that day but the humidity killed them

Outfit
Jsk: BTSSB
Blouse: Metamorphose
Bow: BTSSB

Delicious things

 

They were Pumpkin and Cinnamon!

 

Pretty things!

 

Your Granny's Nick Nacks are some Hipsters Treasure

 

Stuff to rummage through

 

Fabric of Time

 

The Brisbane Suitcase Rummage is on every 1st Sunday of the Month, King George Square, Brisbane and sometimes down in the Valley Laneway Markets.

Review: Tao Bao Spree and Dear Celine

Tao Bao Spree Service Review
Firstly Tao Bao Spree (http://www.taobaospree.com) is a Tao Bao agent – there are a lot of these services around the net the days.  These became necessary as Tao Bao does not ship outside of China, it takes es me back to the bad old days of Japanese brands not shipping internationally (let alone having an English sister site) and having to go through shopping services.

Chinese Lolita brands are sought after because they are cheaper than Japanese Brand, most stores do custom sizing and while a lot of them do replica dresses (shoes and bags) there are lots of intresting original designs avialable.

Tao Bao Spree acknowledge that the Lolita market wants their particular service – they have a handy list of Lolita style Brands and Shops which is easier than navigating the quagmire of Tao Bao. Their website is easy to navigate and their English language is a little flawed but otherwize 98% perfect. I had no problems understanding their emails or with site navigation. The order form process is simple – post the url of the item you want, the size or custom measurments, quantity, color and they handle the ordering. As with most shopping services they charge a 10% fee which is the standard charge and offer 50% off EMS

Their replys to my emails were quick and efficient and my order timeline goes as followed:

August 10: (about 1pm) Send Order Form
August 10: (about two hours later) Order had been double checked, and payment method established (paypal) and order with DEAR CELINE had been placed by Spree
August 19: Order arrives at Spree and I am contacted with shipping quote (they double check my shipping details) and paypal invoice
August 22: Package shipped and EMS tracking number provided (obsessively tracks that baby for about 4 days)
August 26: Package arrives!

The whole process took less than two weeks which is amazingly speedy.

Overall Tao Bao Spree review
Website: 10/10 – easy to navigate. Lolita friendly.
Service: 9/10 – Quick, friendly, good English skills though rather informal.
Cost: 8/10 – If you’re ordering from different stores from Tao Bao they consolidate the shipping in China. Group orders would be best from here rather than one or two items at a time.
Shipping: 10/10 – Came in a tough bubble wrapped package. No damage or tears.

Overall: 9/10 – I’m pretty off buying Japanese Brand these days, as lovely as it is I cannot afford or fit into a lot of it and Chinese Lolita brands are now a mainstay of my wardrobe. I will use Spree again because it’s fast, friendly and simple to use.

Dear Celine Product Review
I had ordered this dress from Dear Celine – an established Chinese Lolita brand that does sweet and Classic Lolita. The conversion rate from Yuan to USD clocks up to about $55 USD depending on the exchange.  There were only 2 loose threads I could see which are easily remedied. The dress is lined and very well constructed.

Photo taken with flash

I don’t know about you but I love this print, its playful enough to be sweet but not super sweet.

The stars have glitter on them!

I love black and Pink and I didn’t realize till I got it that the stars have a glitter on them!

Detachable Bow

The ends are not finished but that is easily remedied by a cigarette lighter in two seconds.

Lace Detail

The edge lace is very high quality and the tulle is attached to the slip/lining and is very soft and delicate.

Detail of Strap

The strap is satin ribbon lined underneath with the same printed fabric which is a nice touch and keeps the strap from being flimsy.

View of the Back

Its pulled in quite tightly because the dress overall is a smidge too big but nothing that can’t be fixed by adding waist ties (Dress doesn’t have waist ties? Sew a couple of buttons on the side and use a waist tie from a nother dress – problem solved.). Overall the construction is amazing – the only thing I might do to this dress is shorten in by removing the tulle layer and taking the hem up about an inch. Otherwise it’s cute at the length it is – especially without petticoats – its a great summer dress.

Construction: 10/10
Fit: 7/10
Overall: 8.5/10

Storage Solutions!

I’m sure a lot of you have about eight million bows, clips, head bands, hairpieces, bonnets, small hats and other hair accessories just scattered around your room as though a bomb went off in a accessories store.

I was getting pretty sick of my good brand bows and 90% of my hair things living in my sock draw. My regular jewelery box is already choking with the masses of things crammed into them so I had to relocate a lot of delicate and small things elsewhere.

Behold!

When passing my local dollar store I saw that they had this gorgeous Gift Box white with black velvet flocking. For about $6 AUD I picked it up and it’s really helped keep my bows, bonnet and other delicate things in order.

Stroke its velvety goodness

Now it’s a tad big for my smaller hair bows so I found a cute little gift box my friend Disa gave a gift to me in earlier in the year to house them. For my handkerchiefs I recycled a plastic packaging my undies (shock) came in which snaps closed at the top. They now live nestled neatly inside my beautiful storage box!

Material Goods!

Look around your local area shops*# for pre-made gift boxes from ring box size right up to large hatbox style boxes with all manner of beautiful prints. If you can only find the plain in the size you want – bust out the craft glue and decoupage that baby. Also finding large pieces of remnant or sample wallpaper or fabric to cover the boxes works too and you can even use velvet or velor to line the inside for that added plush protection.

Everything in its right place

This is also a great way to recycle fancy gift boxes, wrapping paper and fabric that would have otherwise become landfill.

*(Australians: Spotlight, Lincraft, Crazy Clarks, Newsagents, Gift card stores)
#(Americans: Hobby Lobby and gift shops)

Return! Again!

A long break that was but I will be back and posting this week! The Australian winter season is starting and all the Brislolis are currently nuzzling together our fuzzy little be-wigged heads trying to keep warm.

Coming up a long review on QutieLand and Rose Melody, Ero Lolita and some fun tutorials!

Last night I split my lip stumbling in the dark so I’m going to have a long nap right now because my face feels like death.

Hats off to Mr. Jones

For those in Brisbane or who have seen it internationally/around Australia I urge you to check out the Stephen Jones exhibition, “Hats: An Anthology”.

Stephen Jones: Knows Hats!

This is a massive collection of amazing hats and headgear from master Milliner Stephen Jones as well as hats from history (a must see are the bonnets for all lolita bonnet fans, top hats, ladies hats and that Chandelier hat that would go perfect with that Chandelier print) and hats worn by famous people (Darth Vader helmet, Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation Cap, a Top hat worn by Dita Von Tease).

Entry is free – there’s a fun kids section where you can make your own awesome hat and a great gift/souvenir selection of hats, jewelery and books on fashion. The show is running between the 27th of March – 27th of June 2010, Gallery 4 at the Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia. For more information Click Here.

Hats Hats Hats!

I enjoyed this show so much it inspired me to buy a bonnet (review of Rose Melody coming soon) – and am currently on the look out for other hats to add to my collection! Lolitas are quiet fond of hats, bowlers, Top Hats, Bonnets, berets, boaters, tricorns, corsages, facinators, straw hats, safety hats for construction lolitas (nb: This does not exist, please do not attempt to make this exist).

They can cover a bad hair day or just perfectly accentuate an outfit hats are a must have in any wardrobe and accessories collection. From Lolita brands you can get many different styles and each brand specializes in certain style such as Alice and the Pirate’s Tricorns and Metamorphose’s felt Boater.  Angelic Pretty offers over-the-top Bonnets where as Victorian Maiden, Innocent world and other classic brands stock more modest but beautifully detailed bonnets and other felt, straw and silk hats. For optimum hat care it’s important to keep them in a hatbox to keep them from being crushed in storage and in a cool dry place to keep mold at bay, especially for natural fibers and felts.

This is a personal favorite

One of the most bizarre hats in Lolita I believe is the Cake Hat both Angelic Pretty and Baby have done cake hats – whatever they were smoking –  I want in.

What this Cake Hat NEEDS is an Eifel Tower.

In all honesty the more I look at this damn thing the more I hate it. I don’t know which one I hate more this one or AP’s ice cream cone headpiece… thing is the only way to describe it. It was a thing. An awful, awful thing.

Making your own hats is a fun hobby and is not limiting to any one particular skill set and if you’re like me and love to collect, salvage and re-make things it can also be done quiet cheaply. Look for your local reverse garbage/refuse recycle for interesting industrial materials, foam and sometimes high quality wedding dress silk off cuts. Ribbons and lace remainders from your local fabric store are often sold in mixed bundles for under $7 that are small enough amounts to experiment and play with. Online Etsy and Ebay have milliner’s supply stores as well as boutique and designer hats going for a song as well and there are many Hat blogs and DIY Hat making and hobby millinery sites.

Metamorphose Perfume Bottle

Rose Parfum it ain’t but damn if I dont want this in black like burning.

Metamorphose - Feeding my obsession with bottles

I really do have a thing for bottles and any container that holds liquids. When I’m old and senile I’ll be one of those crazy bats who fills her whole house with jam jars and is found three months later partially mumified/pickled under a mountain of collectible nutella jars. I personally don’t mind the blue in this as the pink is just as neon and I do love the strands of broken pearls scattered around the bottles too.

I wonder how much I can sell my blood for this on the black market?

This is up for reservations soon on Metamorphose’s website

Loliweekend Log and Stats!

Huzzah! 80 000 hits!

Alice is Dead. Long Live Lolita

That’s just a very rough drawing I did in a book and hopefully will paint as a proper oil painting miniature. I like the visual of lolitas doing active things even if those things are violent as opposed to the passive, sit there and look pretty thing seen in most lolita drawings/art.

The first day of the Loli weekend was the big day meet there was a good turn out. Filming was a little different but we’re all very much used to being photographed and looked at especially when in a group. We met at King George Square where we were all interviewed as a group about people’s reactions to seeing us as a group, there was a parasol fight (to the death, Star Trek battle theme plays in background) purikura and drinks at Fat Louies to celebrate Suze’s birthday.

FOR THOSE ABOUT TO ROCK. WE SALUTE YOU.

I’m the one in the middle looking like a true chumpette – Outfit by Bodyline, Metamorphose, Enchantress and whatever I could find rolling around my bedroom floor.