Of my love for this subculture that will shine until class M stars go out

It's 2am here, but I was spurred to write this post by reading the farewell post of another lolita blog that I've loved for a long time. It made me cry, to see the blogger go, not just from lolita blogging but from lolita itself.

It made me think how I've posted much less in recent days than I want to, sewn much less than I long to. But that isn't because I'm losing interest. It's because school and chronic depression / anxiety saps so much of my energy sometimes. It's because I don't (YET) have a sewing machine with me in my apartment. It's because on the weekends I do go home, the house is always so cluttered (an ageold very frustrating problem for my house) that it's hard to find space to sew.

You have to understand, to a goth, saying "I'm leaving the [fashion/subculture/whatever]" is, well, confusing. A lot of my approach to lolita comes out of my having discovered goth first; so I don't consider it something I'll ever tire of or (Goddess forbid!) grow out of. No, I plan to grow into it. The reason--one reason--I feel so strongly about that is that I haven't really had a chance to shine in it yet! I'm still in the protostar phase, winding up my accretion nebula so that I can start nuclear fusion in my core the moment I get the chance.

That was an astronomy metaphor, yes. I love astronomy! It made me realize there is ONE thing that would make me suffer through more school after my bachelor's. And it wouldn't even be suffering! Because stars and exoplanets and nebulae and galaxies and yay!

I end up using science metaphors all the time. It's really amusing. And useful! And nerdly.

Back to my point: what I meant in that metaphor was I haven't sewn as many lolita clothes as I would need for a full "basic" wardrobe. I haven't sewn stuff to sell to my other lovelies out there either! The thing I am happy about though, is that I've been working on some other long-dreamed-of goals, such as art of my characters. My characters always inspire me, including in fashion, so hopefully I can get some fabric and start sewing soon! *dusts off ribbon-rose making skills*

(By the way, class M stars, the dim red ones, shine for like a hundred billion years, literally. The Universe is only 14 billion years old or thereabouts, so we haven't actually observed a class M star going out. They almost LITERALLY burn forever.)

Of a blog considered lovely, with many thanks ^-^

I've been nominated for a blog ward! Oops, make that blog *award. I could have just gone back and fixed that typo, but I was reluctant to lose the connotations of "ward," since if there were one for dark mad delightful bloggers, I would certainly be in it. Admit it, dears, you know I would.

Anyway~

List seven things about yourself and then tag 15 other bloggers.


Also, before I forget, I was nominated by akumaxkami of Les Fleurs Noires and by Miss Eva of Early Autopsy and White Scissors

So, things about me? Hmmm.

1. I love embroidery the way some people love knitting or crochet or other kinds of crafting. It's "my" craft. I think what I love is that you can create worlds with embroidery, like with drawing. And it's a very rich-feeling way to make a "print"!

2. I have a stuffed sheep named Annabelle Lee after Poe's poem, but she's usually known as Sheepie. Oddly enough I only got her recently--this past summer in fact. Sort of like how I didn't have an imaginary friend until college. (I credit Prince Ozai of the Fire Nation with the survival of my shy freshman self. He just started following me around campus in the young-biker-form I'd dreamed up for my modern AU fanwritings. Eventually some of his ferocity or at least lack of fear rubbed off.)

3. One of my favorite poems is The City in the Sea by Poe. Some of my favorite lines are "light from out the lurid sea / streams up the turrets silently ... Up shadowy long forgotten bowers / of sculptured ivy and stone flowers" and "So blend the turrets and shadows there / that all seem pendulous in air / while from a proud tower in the town / Death looks gigantically down." Seriously, I want to GO there! It sounds weird and lovely. Well the next best thing is having my characters go there, which I have done. That city became the inspiration for an important place in my current novel-in-progress.

4. I was recently given my first proper kiss. I can't elaborate very much, but I'm sure you'll agree that sentence really speaks for itself.

5. I hope to make and sell clothing and accessories, many of which will draw inspiration from my characters (like maybe Fennore, the spider-fae princess who grows black roses in her garden, or Rivarwe Doom-Raven, a perkygoth goddess who embodies Mystery and Shadow).

6. I have memorized the words to both the opening and closing songs of the anime Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Don't get me wrong, there are things about the darkness of this series that I hate, but at times I really love the atmosphere, and it has influenced my own magical girl characters a lot. With much less bashing of optimism and idealism, of course.

7. The first other goth I met is like an older brother to me, which is neat because I'm the oldest of five girls (no boys). He took me to a goth club for the first time. And is just generally one of those impossibly amazing people. <3

So, that's it for the 'about me' section of this award...I don't know who's already been tagged, so if you've been tagged, only do this again if you want to.

Princessly Living
Oh Velveteena
The Elegant Wardrobe
Make Lovely
Pink Milk Tea
Her Curious Elegance
Sophistique Noir
The Dark Victorian
Stripy Tights and Dark Delights

That's not fifteen but I've run out of steam (though not awesome blogs to post, as there are so many out there! Even some that I've just discovered through browsing in the last five minutes).
So, may your night be lovely and mysterious, my Ballroom guests.

Of other chroniclers...

Not to spam you, but I wanted to note that I have added a new section, "Other chroniclers from the darker side," to the side bar over to your right there. This section will consist mainly of blogs written by (and in many cases for) goths and/or gothic lolitas. Not all of them will be specifically goth or gothic lolita; some of these are simply blogs that I thought my fellow goths and goth lolis might enjoy reading. I know that it's hard sometimes to find blogs that cater to one's own substyle (or subculture), so I hope this will help sort out the wonderful mad mass of my "lolita blogs" section.

If any of you have a blog that you would like added to (or removed from) this new section, please let me know! Also, note that any of the lolita blogs listed under "Other chroniclers" will remain in the lolita section as well. Lucky you, getting listed twice!

For that matter, if you have any sort of lolita blog, let me know and I'll be happy to add it to the lolita blogs section!

Of my new bow!--and some personal Loliday musings

You know, I had the strangest dream last night. I was in my living room, conversing with two of my favorite gothic lolita bloggers, namely akumaxkami of Les Fleures Noires and OpiateVampire of The Dark Victorian. (No, I don't usually dream about the blogosphere, really--I don't even remember most of my dreams for that matter!) We were chatting about whatever lolitas usually chat about, as though it wasn't at all peculiar that we were all there in person (we live very far apart in real life).

I suppose this unusual (but rather pleasant) dream had to do with an obstacle many lolitas face, especially when starting out--that of being isolated, outside of the internet, from others who love our fashion. You'd think I could get involved in my local community in no time, seeing as we have a lot of lolis where I live. But it's been surprisingly difficult to keep an eye out for meetups I can attend, not to mention amassing enough of a wardrobe so that I don't always have to wear the same outfit.

At any rate, with International Lolita Day fast approaching, I suspect many of us may feel that we're going to be left out of the festivities for one reason or another--whether it's a schedule conflict (it is for me), or not having a lolita community in your area, or for some other reason. On the one hand, it can be quite rewarding at such times to do something that brings lolita into your own life, even without a meetup to go to. Others have beat me to this topic, so I'll wait to give my thoughts on making bringing lolita into one's daily life (though as a lifestyler, you can be sure I have a few ideas on the subject--or I should). But like many others have, I encourage you to keep on the look out for a hobby or activity that makes you feel like the world of frills and whimsical beauty is a little closer, whether you're a solitary lolita or no.

Still, I know that even so, it can be very hard to be alone in what you love. And to those who are, I want to say: I know how it feels. I'm there too. Let's wish ourselves good luck that we won't be as solitary by June's Loliday. And in any case, I hope all of my readers have a wonderful Loliday!

And a note: there was certainly some amount of truth in the above-mentioned dream, because I must confess I've been wishing there was some way to meet up with all of my fellow blogging lolitas in person, gothic or not. Well, if and when I have the funds to travel alone, perhaps I'll try to come visit your cities/countries. I'd certainly like to!

Speaking of the fabulous akumaxkami, you may recall that I bought a bow from her Etsy (The Funeral Parlor). A couple of days ago, it arrived! And I have battled through Japanese homework, college transfer applications, and an irksome cold in order to finally take pictures. Behold:

And on my head:

(Sorry, it's a bit blurry, and the lighting isn't perfect.)
The center part of the bow has a nice open slit in the back where some kind of attaching-to-head device can be slipped in, so I've been thinking about how I'd like to attach-to-head. I've decided, although it's a bit of an unusual method (of course, your ballroom host is not known for being usual), that I'll try making a cloth headband that can be tied under my hair--a bit like a bonnet. Except with the ties in back rather than under my chin. Although, a "bow-bonnet" might be interesting.

Now I'll leave you with one more shot, in which I succeed in balancing the bow on my head.

Yay!

Once again, a wonderful Loliday to all of you!

Of Other Cyber-Castles

Thanks, once again, to my new followers! I noticed several of you have lolita blogs, and I'm always glad to discover more of those!

A short list of my recent followers' blogs, for those interested:
~The Dark Victorian by OpiateVampire, a lifestyle gothic lolita whose views about lolita blogging and lolita in general I can very much relate too, because they are (for the most part) not too different from my own. And really, you should see her tips for gothify-ing one's living space!
~Lemontree by Oli, the lovely host of that first and only meetup I've attended (so far), a lolita who enjoys the lighter substyles and very adorably coordinates them.
~Bloody Fashionista by Crimson, who seeks "dark romanticism" (as she put it) in her preferred style of lolita--a quest to which I can certainly relate!
~Pretty Kiss by Firefly, a sweet lolita (I believe) whose appreciation for other styles, such as classic and even gothic, I very much admire!

My lovely Ballroom-guests will find these and many other lolita blogs in my blogroll, there at the side. If any of you have a lolita blog (whether or not I already follow you--yet, that is!) which you would like me to include here, do let me know in a comment! (Likewise, if any of you to whose blogs I've linked would rather not be featured here, let me know and I will edit the post accordingly.) I don't have a myriad of followers, but if I can help you get word of your lolita blog out there, I'd be glad too. Besides, I always love discovering new lolita blogs!

I should note, of course, that the idea of having a lolita blog listing post came from Miss Caro-chan of F Yeah Lolita, a gothic lolita with strong classic leanings. I'm sure many of you already follow her, but if not, why don't you check out her corner of the loli blogosphere?

Of a meetup and a birthday, part II

First of all, a thank you to Miss Caro-chan of F Yeah Lolita, who included The Midnight Ballroom in her list of new lolita blogs, in a recent post on starting one's own lolita blog. In that list, I was pleased to discover a few more delightful blogs that I hadn't known of previously, so do have a look! I especially enjoyed reading a very new blog entitled Doomicorn Rainbow.

And now, let the meetup report continue!

For the rest of the time until I left, we chatted and took pictures. Here are a few candid/"through the crowd" shots I took. They aren't perfectly posed of course, but I like the feeling of depth or being "in the moment" that they portray (to me at least). Once again, if you'd like your LJ name added or anything of that sort, please let me know!

Pretty soon after, I had to leave, but I look forward to our next meetup! For more (and better) photos, check out the pictures that Oli posted on EGL

And since I didn't get outfit snaps of myself any before, I asked my mom to take a few outfit snaps of me when we got home. I wore my casual mary janes because casual loli was suggested. Also, the headdress tends to fall forward--though it doesn't seem to have been doing it too badly in this picture.

 
I love headdresses. At the meetup I decided that I rather enjoyed being the only headdress loli there, with my quaintly antiquated obsession with them.

And before I forget:
Skirt and headdress (and necklace, which you can't see very well)~handmade.
Socks and blouse~Target?
Shoes~?
Gloves~Hot Topic.

I don't believe I've posted a picture of the complete skirt, so here it is. (I had to lighten the picture a bit--and do excuse the clutter. It seemed the light was best ontop of this table.)

It isn't perfect, but I'm proud of it for a first major sewing project. Here's the button detail...

Well, I do hope you enjoyed my meetup report! There's been talk (on the Orange County lolita meetup group at Meetup.com) of having a meetup in which we sing some Japanese karaoke. I hope I can go, and maybe even sing something from Versailles (my absolute favorite Visual Kei band).

Here's an amusing anecdote for you. Currently I'm studying Japanese, but much of my vocabulary came from various songs I've taken it upon myself to memorize. So as you can guess, it's always great fun when the textbook introduces a word or character that I already knew from Versailles, which causes me to promptly begin singing the song from which I learned that word. The current chapter has quite a few vocabulary words and kanji from Versailles, including no less than three kanji from Aristocrat's Symphony!  That was the first Versailles song I really loved, so 'tis quite fun.

Most recently I'm in love with "Prince." It would be very nice indeed if they had karaoke of that song...

-Ahem- Back to lolita, lest I go all dreamy-eyed (again).

In the near future, I hope to tackle some more loli-related sewing. I have some lovely black on black pinstriped fabric, with which I'm looking forward to making that blouse pattern I posted a few posts back (The New Look one).

And skirts! I must sew another one!