Of pretty, pretty boots

Oh dear, what happened to the time? I've been caught up in a bunch of stress lately, such as school and family matters. You see, my grandmother, who was very 'classic lolita' at heart, passed away in November. So that's been....weird. And it takes getting used to.

But having my bf and my friends around, loli and non-loli, has really helped a lot to make me feel like pursuing all my creative stuff. I've wanted to post again for quite some time, just didn't have pictures of the things I wanted to show you...or I felt lethargic and only wanted to play zomg on Gaia Online. O.o (And my character's wardrobe inspireth le envy! In this goth-loli-fae-witch, that is. I want that wardrobe in real life. Soon. *scurries off to sew*)

*comes back because BLOG and also, don't have fabric* (Sadface)

You know what I really love about sewing? The dresses, or other big items like that, which i can make extremely fancy and ribbonful and darkly decadent. So i've decided I'll have much more energy and dedication to making stuff to sell if I jump right in with a few skirts. Skirts in lolita are easy to make, and easy to make adjustable (elastic waists for the win!), and the part I really love, the fancifying, can be gotten to very quickly. So watch out for updates on that.

Speaking of characters, I'm trying to make a fighter game with my magical girl team (the main characters in my stories...basically). The idea comes from my fandom I mean obsessive love of Grief Syndrome, a 2D platform game about the characters in Madoka Magica. I'll give you a few in progress sketches of Taralyn, my main main maaain character. (There are levels of main, you see. But Tara is the most main of them all. Sort of.)

Also: I GOT NEW BOOOOOTS! (From Sweetboots.com.) Proper gothy boots that lace up to the knee. I thought they'd be hard to walk in but surprisingly no. At least, they're a lot less hard than when I learned to walk in the first and much much lower heels I bought a few years ago. When I was but a mere sophomore in college.
But yeah, pic spam!!!!

I proudly sent this last one to a fellow goth who's a dear friend and slight crush of mine (so, a normal friendship for me haha), because as he says, finally getting some proper goth boots is quite a landmark. In a bout of randomness I also along with this pic told him that I had had a dream about him and his pet snake. o.O (Does anyone else love snakes too? They're so cute and mysterious, like cats.)



I went to a loli meet a couple weeks ago and will be going to another next week, but I didn't get any pictures of the first one. However, my lovely bf came with me and it was awesome. :3 I'm hoping he can be my transportation next time too, so when I remember to take pics you can see him.
I lied, actually. I got one picture.

Till next loli picspam though, I give you Sheepie.

She's wearing the scarf my sister gave me for Xmas. I love wearing it too, but it just looks so cute on my sheep. Also, here's an awesome cross necklace someone else gave me, along with another cross necklace I had made earlier.
I think it should be clear which is which. I don't work in metal so much.

Of seeing famed frills in person o.O

Recently I went with my Japanese study group to Japanese style karaoke (and finally got to sing Ascendead Master something by Versailles!). But the point of this post, interesting as that outing was, is that afterwards we visited a lolita boutique that opened in Little Tokyo, on that very day, actually.

Pic spam! (I just typed smap. Maybe I'm a little distracted. I'll admit I was thinking about how one could make a magical girl transformation sequence involving the words "pic spam!" so...)

^That's my friend Joy in the black and white dress.

And that's Jamie of the previously mentioned lolita tea meetup, holding her amazing purchase aloft. 

I sneakily snuck this shot of them. >.> Plus, lovely mirror bonus! (That should definitely be a brand name.)

One of the few gothic things they had at the time. They had more when I went back though, which was nice to see. You know, I'm going to have to implement my dream of selling my crafty stuffs to all the lovely gothic lolitas. Fairytale Boutique has inspired me! *determined face* 

This amazingly dressed person is part of a band, Midnight Shinigami. I told her I love naming things with Midnight in the title too. I guess that totally shocks all of you.

Of tea with lolitas

A few weeks ago, I finally attended a Lolita meetup at a teahouse! It was such fun, and quite worth the wait. (For one reason or another I hadn't been able to until now... You know how it is...)

I have finally figured out how to send pictures from my phone to my email, too, so expect some pic spam for the next couple of posts.

First, meetup pic spam time!

 My friend and fellow Japanese student (and translator!--which is what I aspire to be, though more on the interpreting side), Jamie, organized the meetup.

 

Also, I can finally show you my dress! (Click for larger, I think.)

(If any of those pictured wish to have their names added or photo removed, please let me know!)

I'll return with a couple of visits to a new Lolita boutique that has opened in Little Tokyo (return with pic spam of that, I mean).

Of masquerades and one cloaked in shadow

Happy October, my lovelies! May the spooky whimsy of Halloween find you even if your country doesn't celebrate it as a whole.

This weekend there was a lovely meetup at the LACMA art museum, which is currently hosting a Tim Burton themed exhibit. Very regrettably, my online ticket order didn't go through, and I found out too late. But my sister and I got to say hello at least to a few of the other lolis, and it was sorta fun walking around the museum in our finery. It was also fun playing Spot the Tim Burton Inspired Outfits, as quite a few people had lovely gothy or at least stripey clothing on.

Not to mention I discovered I'm really, really in love with traditional Japanese art. (If you're in LA and visit the LACMA, do see the Japanese Pavilion gallery! The building's circular, with a ramp that spirals around, and opens onto platforms where you can view a few paintings on each 'floor'--the floors really look more like balconies, because you can look out past the paintings to other floors. Also the walls are made to look like Japanese sliding screens, so the light is rather soft and mysterious.)

Here are some pictures from the meetup on our group's page at Meetup.com. I don't know if non-members can view photos, but it's worth a try hopefully. 

After that, we went and explored the Halloween section of Target. I picked up a gorgeous black velvet hooded cloak (pretty good quality for a costume!), which I'll use for--among other things--my Death costume. After years of beloved but fairly obscure costumes, I want non-Sandman fans to at least be able to tell I'm some sort of Reaper. Plus I just need a cloak and scythe. You know the feeling?

My sister was absolutely entranced with the selection of masquerade masks we found at Target, and I don't blame her. Take a look at these~

Haha, I didn't realize I would be visible.

Also, I found these shoes~

 It's a bit hard to see, but they're Victorian-style! At Target!

And while we're at it, an outfit snap~

The actual shoes I wore for this coordinate are black mary-janes with a bit of a heel. I love them. And they're brand new. Sadly no pics of them, though.

Speaking of Death, the day before the ill-fated meetup I went to a thrift store and put together most of an outfit in which to emulate our favorite supernatural perkygoth in a few weeks' time.  Moar pic spam! *throws confetti*

This isn't for my costume, but it has skulls and roses on it! I approve.

I'll layer the above two skirts in some sort of hopefully awesome and Death-looking way.

This tee shirt is way too big, but as you can see it's gorgeous, so I'll remake it somehow, maybe by cutting apart and then lacing up the sides.

That's all my news for now, except that I've decided to start making accessories to sell. I'll probably start with local customers, but if you see anything you MUST have, do let me know! Seriously. (Nothing will be priced above...well certainly not over 15 US dollars, at least while I'm still starting out.)

Also, I enjoyed reading everyone's lace-themed posts for Sophistique Noir's October theme. I wanted to participate, but I was a bit low on energy when the actual day came.

Of a fairytale meetup

Last Saturday was the long-awaited fairytale potluck and swap meet meetup, organized by Oli of Lemon Tree and Mandie of Geek + Glam = Love. It was fun! As usual I was terribly shy at first, but I made some wonderful new acquaintances. Also, I recognize more and more lolitas now, but I'm also starting to get recognized! Quite exciting.

There were so many gorgeous coordinates there. Let me share a few pictures my sister took (she was the camera-bearer).

As always, if you see yourself in one of these and want me to add your LJ name or take the picture down, please let me know!

I loved this girl's makeup (on the right). I believe she said she had dressed as a goblin for the theme. The lolita on the left put to beautiful use one of my favorite color schemes, silver and white.

One of our co-organizers, Mandie. She looked fantastic. Unfortunately we didn't get a picture of Oli, but she was a very charming unicorn for the theme.

This lovely couple were dressed as the Beast and the fairy who cast a spell on him. My sister especially loved this idea.

We met this lolita right at the end. Isn't her son adorable? It's always fun seeing those with families come to meetups. It's like a glimpse into my own future, you know.

Also, you finally get to see a coordinate with this dress. I was planning to go as Ori hime from the Tanabata legend, but I ran out of time to make a crown of tinsel stars and paper wishes (out of construction paper).


So, here's one last picture of the four of us (now including my sister), graciously taken by the husband of the lolita in blue.

There were several other lolitas I regret not having a picture of--and to those lolitas, thanks for conversing with this shy loli, and I hope to see you next time!

Also, unless otherwise inspired, I believe I'll leave the rest of the 30 day challenge to the other bloggers who have taken it up. Good luck to all of you!

Of a completed black dress and Another Challenge

Today I'll be documenting "one day of my lolita life in pictures," for Day 11 of the challenge. But that's still in progress (the day's not over yet!) so I'll share a bit about my recent meetup at a Japanese restaurant. It was a small meetup compared to the picnics I've attended so far, but I was very happy because it gave us more opportunity for in depth conversation.

A lolita / photography student had brought her camera, and took each of us outside for a mini photo session. All the photos I have from the meetup are hers (I forgot my camera), so since she didn't seem to mind, I'll link to her flickr photostream in case you'd like to see them. Here are a couple of my favorite shots (actually they're all my favorite) inside and outside If you're reading this, Amy, thanks for taking such pretty pictures of all of us!

I took an outfit shot before I left, but I can't seem to find it anywhere, unfortunately. If it turns up, I'll post it then.

So here's the dress itself, with a few of my own detail shots (excuse the lighting / mess).

 The skirt is chiffon over medium weight satin, which creates a lovely subtle lustre even with the bustles let down.

I love how the bodice turned out, although I'm still working on fit. That lace at the neckline is evidence of my success (finally) in learning crochet. Sort of

For my fellow darklings, VictorianKitty of Sophistique Noir has proposed a fashion challenge for all of us--namely, Red and Black Week, which will be June 5-10. Oddly enough, I'm making a red x black JSK right now, so it must be fate that I join in this event, yes? That aside, I adore this color combination--so what about you? Will you join us in Red and Black week?

I'll leave you with the extremely cool icon that VictorianKitty has given us the code for.

Of Coordinate the First (and passing mention of a library haul)

Today I did something I haven't done in far too long: I went to the library and checked out slightly less than my usual sky-high pile of fantasy novels. I found several books that are on my Amazon wishlist, mostly about faerie folk and vampires. Interestingly, I happened across a book set in Venice, which I was excited to find because I have a character from Venice, and I don't know nearly as much about the city as I'd like to.

My library haul, while fascinating (to me), is not the main reason for this post. Last weekend I wore the first of my seven coordinates, when I attended the Rilakkuma Valentine's event at JapanLA. I knew hardly anyone, so it was a bit awkward at first (I'm very shy). But Oli of Lemontree was working at the door as a greeter, so I stood with her for a while and felt much less out of place.

Actually, for most of the afternoon I joined the greeter squad and conversed with a delightful deco lolita (I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name, but it was nice meeting you!). We both agreed that when it came to our personal styles, the more accessories the better! There is a reason I call myself an OTT  gothic...

(For those who don't know, OTT stands for Over The Top--as in accessories, hair, etc--which is usually applied to certain kinds of sweet and deco lolitas.)

I didn't take my camera, but before I left, I asked my mom to take a snapshot of my coordinate.
Coord #1

You can't really see my vest (ah, the hazards of wearing all black), so here's a close up.

I doubt I'll wear all seven outfits before February is over, but we'll see what happens. To me, the important thing is the small-wardrobe-coordinating skills that I'll be learning through this challenge.

Of outfit photos from Meetup the Second

(Picture heavy!) Thanks to all the lolitas who allowed me (and my sister) to take pictures of them! As always, if you see yourself in a photo and would like your name/ljname added, or the photo taken down, just let me know. (Sadly I can't remember most of your names or lj names. I'm terrible with that.)

I love her tights and shoes, and the bat necklace!

That corset is absolutely beautiful, and I love the violin purse too.

I met these two at the last meetup. Hurray for gothic!

On that note, we have a couple more fabulous gothics here, along with another lovely lolita.

The lolita on the right remembered me from last time! At both meetups she had a darling coordinate, and I love her friend's kodona outfit.

I had a delightful time chatting with this fabulous lolita. (And even here, I cannot remember her name. Cue the facepalm of shame.) She said she had DIY'ed her blouse, and so I was happy to find a kindred spirit in that regard.

I love how fairy kei the middle coordinate looks (and its wearer is adorable!) and I applaud these two gentlemen for donning the frills of prince style.

My sister had brought along several of her handmade dolls, and she asked a lolita "lookalike" to take a picture with each one.

This doll has batwings and an all black ensemble. Incidentally, this lolita's coordinate was my favorite of the meetup! I loved seeing all of the gothics that attended, as there were quite a few.

This doll has a rather punkish outfit, so my sister was happy to find such a lovely punk lolita. Click on the picture and you'll see (I hope) the skulls on the doll's red overskirt.

And last but not least, the pink-clad doll had a photo taken with Oli (of Lemon Tree), our amazing host. Thanks again to Oli for hosting the meetup!