Night Fairy Fantasia

Ever since I saw this dress for reservation, I've been in love with it. But at the time, I couldn't afford it. Then when it went up for sale on the Alice and the Pirates store, I wanted to get it but had no reason to (other than it being a pretty dress). Now that I'm going to Otakon, I have a reason to get it. And it's sold out! Everywhere! I've tried shopping services, second hand, third party dealers, everything! I'm not entirely surprised, it's really pretty. So I made a coordinate featuring this print today.

Flying Ship by Cat91151 featuring purple tights

This is pirate style! It's pretty easy I guess if you use all AATP items like I did. Usually I try to use off-brand or Bodyline items in my coordinates to keep their cost down. But this time I went all out, the shoes, hairpiece, bag, and dress are all from Alice and The Pirates (and all sold out online). I really wanted to use a chiffon blouse in navy for this coordinate. The sleeves puff out in just the right way and the pin-striping makes it super pirate-y. The ship in a bottle necklace is so neat, I've never seen this type of item ever. The coordinate is fairly monochrome, but so is the print. It's got navy, a lighter blue, and gold in it. But I think if I used the lighter blue as a secondary color, it would really stand out and detract from the dress itself. You could also go with white or cream, but I think it'd be the same problem. Perhaps a true cream would work, but the navy is the best.

I've been really interested in these fascinator hairpieces. They don't work too well on Polyvore, but I would like to see one in person. They seem really elegant and a step up from my usual hairbows. And these shoes are so perfectly pirate, I couldn't resist. I'm usually not a fan of brand shoes, but these are something I would purchase.

Writers block is killing this blog. Please, if you have any articles that you'd like to see, let me know!

Baby the Stars Shine Bright and Alice and the Pirates at Otakon 2011

I've been so excited about this recent announcement! If you haven't heard, designers Mitsuba and Kano will be making guest appearances at Otakon, one of the largest conventions in the Eastern United States! BABY has sent designers from their Japanese offices over before, quite often in fact. That comes with having a store here. But this is only the second or third time that I know of that they've come over to the eastern area. I was able to meet two designers from their company a few years ago at the New York Anime Festival, but I really didn't care about brand or designers at that time, mostly because I couldn't even dream of affording things from them. Now I'm older, and so excited to meet some of the people that actually design the pieces that we wear!

The designers will be hosting a BABY the Stars Shine Bright and Alice and the Pirates fashion show, as well as signing autographs and holding Q&A sessions. I have to remember to take my winter catalog with me to get it signed. They are currently looking for volunteers to model in the show as well as make-up artists to help out behind the scenes. I'm sure there will be tons of applications, I hope mine gets chosen! Somehow, I doubt it. Still, I'm really excited to see the show. I've never been to a professionally run fashion show before, I hope I can learn a lot from them just by watching.

In addition to the designers from BABY, designers MINT and IBI behind h.Naoto sixh. will be there! They too will be hosting a fashion show, and are also looking for model and make-up artist volunteers. Their line is not strictly lolita in any sense, but it's still a cool line of clothing. I have no idea how to pronounce the name "sixh." but I like the whole idea behind it. I'm looking forward to seeing all these fashion shows, meeting all of these designers, and celebrating Japanese street fashion with everyone else there!

30 Day Lolita Challenge - Day 10

Day 10's prompt is simply "what's in your purse?" I don't take too much along with me to meet-ups or out when I wear lolita, so instead, I think I'll write about what I take with me to cons where I'll be wearing lolita, doing panels, and having fun with friends!

I pretty much always drive to cons. I flew once, and it just wasn't worth it. So first thing is that I don't wear lolita in the car, if I can help it. It's uncomfortable and when driving it can get in the way. I'll just change when I get there. For a three day convention, I usually take at least one skirt, and either one or two jumpers. This is where having continuity in your wardrobe pays off. I can take a blouse and a cutsew, one dress, and one skirt, and I'll have three different outfits. One pair of shoes should work for both, one purse, and my undergarments. Packing lightly is very important, as you'll want to leave plenty of space for souvenirs! For a really big convention, I might take two dresses so that I can make more outfits. For example, I will be attending Otakon for the very first time this year! I'm planning on taking two dresses and perhaps a skirt outfit. I may take three dresses and be done with it, but that's an awful lot to pack.

I always take my comfiest pair of shoes for waiting in lines and walking around the convention. As much as I love my rocking horse shoes, I save those for local meets. If I'm doing a fashion show or a really big panel, then I might wear them, but I change right back after. Parasols are cute, but remember, it's just one more thing to carry around, one more thing to look after, and one more thing to pack back up at the end of the con. You won't need a coat unless you're planning to be outside a lot. The convention hall should be heated. Try to take as few things with you to the actual convention floor as possible, leave the rest in your hotel room or car.

For my make-up I have one set that I take with me. I keep it in my purse so I can touch it up even if I'm not in the hotel room. I keep everything together in a make-up bag. This makes it easy to find and you won't get it mixed up with your roommate's stuff. Nothing is worse than looking for your make-up and finding eyebrow paint for cosplay instead!

Wigs. Ugh, I hate traveling with wigs. I used to be a cosplayer. I quit for many reasons, one of which was that I hate wearing, storing, traveling with, styling, maintaining, and generally caring for wigs. So what did I do? I purchased the brown mix color wig from Gothic and Lolita wigs. It's really cute, but wigs are such a pain. Make sure you take a way of storing it for when you aren't wearing it, a wig head is ideal but they do take up a lot of space in your suitcase. Also make sure to take anything you may need to fix or re-style it. A wig brush, de-tangler, and setting spray are must haves. I didn't take them to my last convention, and it was a bit of a nightmare.

Finally, when you get to the con, make sure to hang up your dresses, skirts, blouses, pants, and/or whatever else you've brought. This prevents wrinkling, and will allow your clothing to air out from the suitcase. Use an iron if you need to, but make sure to check if that will harm your print or lace before hand! Low settings should be fine, but just be careful. It would be terrible to get to the convention, iron your dress, and have it be ruined. Get dressed up and go to the convention!

I've been having really terrible writer's block recently, but I feel like I can write lots more about lolita and conventions. Will anyone reading be at Otakon too? I'm really excited to go, especially now that designers from BABY and Alice and the Pirates will be there! But more on that later. Bye bye for now!

Cirque de la Fille

Ah, it's been too long since I posted a coordinate. So I whipped one up for today! Happy July by the way, do you have any fun summer plans for this month? I hope I can go to the pool sometime!

Cirque de la Fille by Cat91151 featuring a cap sleeve blouse

I titled this one "Cirque de la Fille" which loosely translates to "The Girl's Circus." I've never taken any French, so this is going off of the Google Translator page. Circus prints are not common, so when I saw this Alice and the Pirates dress one day on Hellolace, I just had to use it in a coordinate. The print is gorgeous, it's made up of little circus acts in the diamond-shapes. The corsage clips off and can be moved to another part of the dress or into your hair. It looks like the dress is an overdress with an underskirt, but it's all one piece according to the other views. Usually I don't like the look of a corset top attached to a skirt, you know, how the top of the dress is separated from the bottom with the little ruffle, but on this I do like it. I really wanted to play up the circus theme of the dress, so I chose all circus-related jewelry to match! Elephants are so cute! The rest of the accessories are pretty simple and could be swapped out with whatever you have on hand. The blouse sort of disappears into the dress, so that the dress really stands out.

There are a few maitnence things I'd like to bring up also. First, there is a new poll on the side bar. Voting in them is really helpful to me, so please if you could vote that would be great. Second, no one entered my contest. I was hoping for lots of entries, but no such luck. We'll have to try something else another time. Thanks for reading!