My Lolita Wardrobe Thus Far Part II: Accessories

Hello all! Here's the second post showcasing my Lolita wardrobe, as it is right now. As I mentioned in part I, a lot of what I own so far is off-brand, so I'm opening to demonstrate to some newcomers to Lolita how easy it can be to find off-brand items to work into your wardrobe and still look great. Here we go!

My Lolita Wardrobe Thus Far Part I: Clothing

Hello again everyone! It's been a little while. Since the last time I posted, my Lolita wardrobe has grown considerably, so I thought I'd share. It's still not really large, but I'd like to think I am off to a good start. I also kind of wanted to showcase what I've got so that in the future, people might be able to give me coord advice, and to demonstrate to some people just getting into Lolita and who are also a little bit strapped for cash (not unlike myself) the usefulness of buying certain items off-brand. I'm going to break this topic into two posts, one for clothing items, and one for accessories. This post will be kind of image-heavy, so strap in!

Dresses and Skirts
As of right now, I own 2 skirts, 4 one pieces, and 3 jumperskirts. As far as substyles go, I don't think I'm going to start with just one - all three of the main Lolita styles appeal to me! I was originally going to start with gothic and dip into sweet or classic from there (because black is typically a little easier to match), but I just couldn't help myself!

Bodyline
Like many Lolita's just starting to build a wardrobe, I decided to invest in a few pieces from Bodyline. I've carefully studied a lot of their main pieces available to pick out ones that are of better quality and are better-looking, and I think I picked some decent ones. I stuck only to cotton pieces from them, and so far they've been pretty nice.

I think the first one is my favorite skirt to wear so far. I really love the shape it creates with my petticoat, and I've always had a thing for prints featuring strawberry, even in non-Lolita clothing. The second one I bought because I really wanted a red piece, and I also wanted a border print. I also found a great pair of shoes I wanted to pair with it (which I will show later, and ended up not matching as well as I wanted, but matched another piece I bought later perfectly!). I ended up buying the matching bag for it, as it was still available in the red colorway.

I love prints, but I am still really drawn to older-school sweet Lolita, so that's why I chose this piece (and the second one after this paragraph). It's not my favorite OP so far, but it's still awfully cute, and a nice dress to wear when I want to look a little extra frilly without having to worry about ruining a more-expensive dress.

The first one I ordered hoping to wear it on Easter (didn't get to, had to work!! ;^; ), but it's also a really cute general Spring piece, I feel. When it comes to prints, I have a special fondness for illustrations of characters. I also hope to use it for wearing when it's extra hot out, as the neckline is really suitable for wearing it without a blouse.

When I ordered the second one, I thought it was more of a pinafore style, but it had a blouse-front build into it. I may end up removing it, but I'm not sure yet. I also missed a detail it came with when I initially ordered it.

You can see it a little more clearly in the first picture, but it came with this really awkward, but fine-textured tulle-like material attached to the waist. I also noticed later on, upon examining it closer, that the edge of the layer had a small hole in it. Leaving the quality of it aside, it also just really interrupted the overall shape of the skirt. It only took about 15 minutes to remove it, and I may still add some ribbon around the waist seam, but removing it drastically improved the look of the dress when I tried it on afterward. Many more experienced Lolita have said it before, but I will repeat it - BE SURE YOU EXAMINE THE PHOTOS ON BODYLINE'S SITE CLOSELY WHEN ORDERING FROM THEM (and though I haven't purchased any of them, avoid their polyester items, unless they're cutsews or cardigans).

Infanta

I bought an OP from Infanta as well (along with a couple of other things, which I'll talk about later on). I used a service called Taobao now, with which I had a really pleasant ordering experience for my first time buying from a Taobao brand. ^^

The dress came with a detachable bow not shown here, and I also bought a matching headbow with it. Overall, I was pretty satisfied with this dress, but I did notice when unpacking it that there were some small dark spots right on the border print of the skirt. They're pretty easy for me to ignore, and the dress was one of their more inexpensive ones, but it was still a bit disappointing.

Anna House

I also bought a JSK and an OP from Anna House! I took advantage of their 20% off promotion they had going on in March, and they were some of the last pieces I will be able to buy for a bit (at least until I find a new part-time job after my move in May), but IT WAS SO WORTH IT.

Although they are still sort of an indie brand compared to Baby and AP, most of AH's dresses are slightly more expensive than some of the Taobao stores out there and then Bodyline, and the difference in quality does show. The fabric seems to be of better quality than my Bodyline pieces, and I find it easier to iron; the lace is also much softer and more varied in what I've received from them. They have a couple of other JSK's, OP's, and blouses I would like to order in the near future. The red one is my favorite of the two, because I feel it really embodies the aesthetic of Rococo to me...I feel like a member of the court of Versailles when I wear it. XD I want to note that it didn't come with the little locket brooch on its front, which I bought at an antique store a few years ago, but it's such a perfect fit, I don't think I will be removing it any time soon. The brown one I bought to add a little variety to my closet, and because I wanted to try out a chocolate bunny themed coord for Easter (again, wasn't able to wear it, but I will!!!), using this particular headpiece which I still have yet to buy. I also want a matching bonnet in brown.

I would highly recommend this brand if you are looking for that middle ground price-wise, particularly if you are into the more old school designs in the sweet substyle. They also have a lot of nice classic pieces and prints as well. Many of their items (blouses included!) come in a wide variety of main colors; they don't offer much in the way of mint, but several of the more textured and detail-oriented pieces are available in some combination of pink, blue, purple, yellow, black, or white (some of them red and brown, but not quite as much of these colors are featured). I also would recommend ordering exactly what you think your size is according to their measurements - I bought these in large thinking the medium sizes might be too small on me, but I found out the the large size was a bit large on me, so just think hard about what size you might need.

Red Queen (With Alterations)

I nearly forgot about this one! This is the OP I bought in September and wore to the Frillies At the Zoo meet-up. I think I mentioned it in that post, but it was a bit short for Lolita when I bought it, and needed some alterations with its details. It needs a bit of love and re-seaming, but I plan to keep this piece around for a bit.

The piece is by a Taobao brand called Red Queen. I think it's more of a punk or goth brand than Lolita, but under the circumstance I bought it, I think I got it for a pretty good price.

Blouses

I am a little bit lacking in this area still, to be honest. I only currently have one blouse that is officially Lolita. The other few I have are all off-brand, but are all items that could be used in Lolita, with the right coordination and matching.

More Bodyline. I may buy one or two more from Bodyline, I want to begin investing in some more high-quality ones once I pad my wardrobe a bit more.

These two are both from Forever 21, but I bought them at work (I work at a second-hand clothing store, so I can get some really nice things for fairly inexpensively). At first I thought I accidentally bought the same one in two colors, but they are slightly different. I was fortunate to start building a wardrobe at the time I did because sheer blouses are not only popular in nornal clothing stores right now, but also beginning to pop up in coords outside of the gothic substyle more frequently, nowadays. I bought the first one originally just for wearing, but I feel it would make for a nice classic coord piece in the future. I bought the second one to go with the chocolate Anna House JSK.

I think the first one is from Express? Again, I just bought it originally just to wear, but it has some shiny blue stripes in it, and I feel it would look really cute with a gothic coord with some blue accents. The second one is a Banana republic blouse. I'd like to try raising the neckline if I can, but I'm not quite sure how, yet. It's also a tiny bit big on me, so I may need to take it in a bit. These two and the two above might be a bit simplified for some people's tastes, but they would work well for the Lolita who might want a slightly more mature or sophisticated flair to their coords (some times, me).

Outerwear, Petticoat & Bloomers, Legwear

I have a couple of pieces for covering up as well, but I'd like to get a few more to vary my coord potential.

The first cardigan is one I bought in a recent sale Bodyline had. It's polyester and made of a cutsew-like material, but it will work really well with a couple of my current pieces. The second one is a hoodie from Infanta. I love the design and the material is nice quality, but it fits a bit odd int eh waist area. I think it's because there's no elastic  or stretchy fabric making up the area, so I may cut the seam on the bottom band, and re-seam it so that it's split to make more give when I put it on. The third one is a sweater I may not end up using with any coords, but I feel like it COULD be used. It's a Free People sweater I bought at work, and I bought it to go with some Mori-inspired pieces I bought this past fall.

All of these coats are off-brand. The first one I bought at work about a year ago, and it was too adorable to pass up! I can't remember the brand off the top of my head, but it's some Chinese brand, though not one I've heard associate with Lolita before. It's so close to Lolita, but just not quite...I want to add some black details to it, but I'm not sure what motifs or where (if anyone has any suggestions, feel free to offer them)! I am also pretty thrown off buy the shortness of the sleeves, so I want to try and add some so I can debut it next fall o winter. The second one is from Arden B. I bought it in a different thrift store a few years back. I think it's awfully cute! The third one is a cape I bought from Dress Barn a few years ago (I worked there on and off for a couple of years). I nearly got rid of it a year ago, but I'm glad I didn't, because it makes a great cape for gothic Lolita! I feel like it could use a few frills, but other than that, it keeps me pretty toasty on colder days.

I also bought a petticoat and a pair of bloomers. The first and second pictures are actually the same pair of bloomers, just front and back, in that order. Sorry they're a bit wrinkly for these photos! They're Classical Puppets brand, and so is the petticoat, actually. I'd read really good things about their petticoats from multiple sources online, so I decided to go with them for it. I also want to buy two A-line ones from them in the future, and a second bell-shaped one. So far it has held up pretty well!

In the first picture, the left and right socks are Bodyline. I also would really like to stock up on more knee socks and tights. The middle pair are offbrand, and I don't remember where I got them, but it was a couple of years ago. I don't know if I will ever use them for Lolita, but I'd like to find a way to use them if I can.

In the second pics are most of the tights I bought specifically for Lolita. Again, all off-brand! Tights are a GREAT wardrobe area to take advantage of off-brand items, I've found, at least when starting out or low on cash. The white and mint ones on the left are all Xhilaration from Target (thought I got the mint ones at work). They're only 5 bucks a pair, and are pretty good quality opaque. I actually have a third pair of the white ones but they're outside of the package already - I'd like to get them to stretch another wear if I can. The Esprit, Hello Kitty, and Forever 21 ones were all bought at work, but Forever 21's more basic pairs go for $5.80(?) a piece, so again, another place to get cheap, nice tights!

There wasn't quite as much off-brand in this post as I thought there might be, but I'll have a lot of other examples in part II where I talk about my accessories. In any case, that's what I've got so far! Hopefully I'll have part II up tomorrow.

A Late Overview of a CGL Meet-Up

Hello cuties! As you all will soon find out, I tend to be a terrible procrastinator. I think one reason I wanted to start this blog in the first place was to start a new habit with regularity (which has gone so well, so far, heh). In any case, I attended a meet-up with the Colorado Gothic & Lolita Society in early January (January 2nd, to be precise) called "Frillies At the Zoo!", my first meet up in proper Lolita (unlike what I wore to a meet-up I attended 4-5 years ago, mentioned in a previous post). It was held at the the Denver Zoo and included a walk through an event called "Zoo Lights" and a trip to a little cafe nearby. Let's get started!

The "About Me" Post

Hello Frillies! It has been a few months, so I figure it's time to update and finally get this blog going. I have been pretty busy with work and other things since January, including prepping for a move in mid-May. I've already talked about my history with Lolita, but before I get into some other posts I have been meaning to write for a while now, I wanted to tell you just a little more about myself.

I'm currently 25 years old, and a white cis-female. I grew up in upstate New York, and ended up moving to Denver, CO for school. I studied at the Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design, majoring in 2-D Animation, and graduated in Spring 2011. I still currently live in Denver, CO, but I will be moving back to NYS in May to attend a certificate program in visual effects, and hopefully work for the company hosting the school's program after I finish it. Although I'll be keeping this pretty strictly a Lolita blog, I'm an avid Sailor Moon fan, and my other interests include astronomy, drawing and art (of course), anime and manga, sewing, fashion in general, internet culture, and social justice (if you are bothered by this, feel free to stay away from my blog, but again, I will be posting content primarily un-related to SJ here). On the other side of that coin, if you find something I post offensive, I encourage you to call me out on it so I can correct it. I want everyone to feel welcome on my blog.

Obligatory Intro Post & A (Not-So-Brief) Personal History With the Fashion

Greetings, Frillies and non-Frillies, alike! My name is Caroline (I also go by Poodins on multiple other sites and web communities), and this is the beginning of my Lolita blog. I, like so many others, decided to start it to chronicle my thoughts and ravings about the fashion, and pass on any kind of knowledge or experiences I might have to offer. There are most definitely a ton of resources out there, but one more person's thoughts certainly don't hurt the community. I guess a good place to start this blog off is a brief history of my interest in Lolita.

It's hard for me to recollect in what order everything happened, but I first became aware of Lolita a couple years after the Fruits compilation books were published here in the U.S., around my 3rd or 4th year of high school I think (in 2005 or 2006; by this time, I was already pretty immersed in anime culture, and wanted to read all I could find about Japan). I soon came to own both of them (and eventually the Gothic & Lolita book by the same publisher), but I wasn't really aware of what the style was called. A year or two later, I discovered Kamikaze Girls, and then around the same time, I think I got a hold of a Jaoanese issue of the Gothic & Lolita Bible. Pretty soon afterward, Tokyopop published their first English compilation of the GLB's, and I subsequently collected the four other issues they published after it (although there are some translations of the Japanese version's articles out there online, I'm still rather disappointed the english version never became a long-term publication). I admired the clothes in my issues and from afar for a few years ,and occasionally lurked the EGL community. I even attended a meetup 4 or 5 years ago (in a pretty ita coord, to be honest; but I'll make a more extensive post about that later). Later, I got a Tumblr account and realized how many more images of the style I could access, and the rest is history up to now.

Essentially, I drooled for years over the style, and aside from a couple of lackluster tries, never really tried to break into the community. I was intrigued when I finally began reading about the general guidelines to wearing the fashion well, but I felt the clothes were rather inaccessible and out of my financial capabilities. On and off, I'd become interested in Lolita again, lurk and learn, but never really move toward building a wardrobe.

But in September, I attended a local anime convention, where a favorite local Japanese pop culture store of mine had a dealers booth. They had mostly some off-brand pieces for sale, one of which I was able to afford with the money I had saved for the con. It was the last day of it, so they had some good deals going on, and the piece I picked out also needed a zipper repair. Being relatively good at sewing, I snatched it up, and decided to fix it and finally have at least one piece of wearable Lolita. Further more, I brushed up on tutorials, techniques, and indie brands and offbrands, and in the past month or so I decided to go all out and finally build a wardrobe.

So there you have it. If you've read this far, I appreciate it. I plan to chronicle my adventures delving into the fashion headfirst, including deconstructions, meet ups, wishlists, musings, possibly participate in subjects from the Lolita Blog Carnival, and the like. I hope those of you that stick around will find at least something interesting or useful here. I hope I can become good friends with some of you, too!