Ohayocon 2012!

This past weekend, I was at Ohayocon! It was so super fun to go again! Last year, I created the current version of The Elegant Wardrobe panel for this convention, and it was great to do it again for such a great turnout! I hope to be able to go back to Ohayocon next year, it's one of my favorite cons ever~ So I went to the Lolita Crush event too and saw lots of cute people, and I did two panels!

I think my panels actually went pretty well. This was my first time not having Starberry as a co-panelist and it was really weird without her. But July and Nami did pretty well, I think. So if you're reading this because you saw Affording Lolita, thanks for coming to that panel!! That was my first time doing that one alone, and actually Starberry is usually the lead on that. She was at Setsucon actually doing the exact same panel at the exact same time! Isn't that weird? I felt like I was rambling a little bit there, but I hope you enjoyed it anyhow~

If you're here because you saw The Elegant Wardrobe: A Guide to Lolita Fashion (or just A Guide to Lolita Fashion on the schedule) that was an awesome panel! I had a lot of fun doing that one. I began doing The Elegant Wardrobe at Ohayocon 2011, so it was really fun to be able to do it again this year. Maybe next year I can fill that big room up! I got a bunch of feedback from attendees and I'm going to use it all to make my panels better!

Do you like the new background? I wanted to change it up a little, so we'll see how it works out! Thanks for reading~!

DIY This Outfit! : Pink Girl

Hello! Welcome to the first edition of "DIY This Outfit!" This feature will *hopefully* inspire you all to get creative and either modify or make your own fabulous items for your lolita wardrobe! This time, we have an Angelic Pretty cardigan paired with a cute Bodyline skirt~!

Pink Girl~ by cat91151 featuring bow jewelry

It's a light and casual feeling coordinate, but it doesn't miss out on saving where it counts! That skirt costs $40 new from Bodyline, and it's a great staple piece in a sweet wardrobe. The socks can easily be swapped out for a pair of cute printed tights or a pair of socks you already own even. Here's where it gets pricey. That cardigan from Angelic Pretty costs over $100! I don't know about you, but I sure can't afford to pay that. So with some simple sewing skills (no machine required!), you can DIY that top and make it all your own.

First off, you'll need a base cardigan. This one is made from a type of cloth called Jersey (t-shirt material!) and it's super comfy. Just search up "Jersey cardigan" and some results should pop up that you can choose from. You can pick any color you'd like too, another great benefit of DIYing! Once you have the cardigan, all you'll need to do is decorate it. To make one similar to the one in the outfit, you'll need get some extra fabric to match your base cardigan from a local fabric store. Conversely, you could also get some patterned fabric and make the decorations stand out from the base. For instance, you could make it match the skirt by getting some light pink fabric and doing the decorations. If you plan to make your decorations out of the same type of jersey fabric (this is key for doing the ruffles seen in the AP one!), you'll need to know how to sew with the knit fabric. There are plenty of resources on this, I highly recommend this Youtube video though!

If you'd just like to add some bows down the front, that's pretty easy. You can make the bows out of cotton if you'd like, as they don't need to stretch at all. Follow an Alice bow tutorial, I personally like this one, but there are tons of them out there. Make as many bows as you want, whatever size you want. However, to achieve the look of the ones on this cardigan, the finished size should be around 3 inches by 2 inches. To make a bow that size, the fabric rectangles should be 6 in x 4 in (you'll have to add a seam allowance to those measurements!), and you'll need four bows. Once you have your bows made, simply attach them to your cardigan. Make sure you sew only one side down though. The other side can be closed by adding snaps to the bows and the base. If you want to add some to the sleeves, they should be a little smaller, and can be sewn down to the sleeves.

For the rest of the outfit, you can just pick from jewelry, shoes, and accessories you already have that match! Or you can make or buy some new ones, whatever you like best! What do you think of DIY This Outfit? What types of items would you like to see here? I hope to hear lots of feedback from all of my readers!

New Year's Resolution Giveaway Winners!

The contest is over and the winners have been drawn~! I loved reading everyone's inspiring resolutions! I used a random number generator to select three winners for this contest, and the winners are....

sagericci@gmail.com

noblelement@gmail.com

nina.vase@wanadoo.fr

Congratulations! I'll be emailing all of you shortly about your prize! Thank you to everyone who entered, I hope you continue to follow The Elegant Wardrobe this year! If you're super disappointed that you didn't win; you really wanted one of the handmade two-way clips, I'll be selling them on the EGL Comm Sales, as well as through my Facebook and even through this blog! If you want to buy one, email me at theelegantwardrobe@gmail.com and you can buy as many as you'd like!

Last year, I made four Lolita-related resolutions: buy more shoes, learn to make lolita clothing, get more casual pieces, and expand my wardrobe in general. How did I do? Well, I did get more shoes. I went from two pairs to eight pairs, a substantial gain. I learned how to sew my own tiered skirts and bloomers, so I'll count that one as half completed. I did not get more casual pieces. In fact, I think my wardrobe became even more un-casual than it used to be! Finally, I did expand my wardrobe a little, but not too much. Overall, I think I did pretty well though.

This year's resolutions, a little more of the same with a few changes, as well as a totally new one:

1. Learn to Sew more things!

This year, I'd like to learn to make even more things, including cutsews, more types of skirts, and a simple OP/JSK. I'd also like to learn to make some more accessories, like jewelry and bags and stuff.

2. Buy pieces that I know I'll love/fit in my wardrobe

While I bought many different things last year, I ended up having to sell them off for one reason or another. So this year, I'd like to not be always buying and selling, but instead get dresses I know I'm going to love. Along those lines, I'd also like to keep to a few styles in my lolita wardrobe. My biggest problem is that I like a little bit of everything in the lolita world. So my goal is to not be tempted into getting things that don't fit into my current wardrobe.

3. Blog more

Over the past few months, my blogging has dropped off dramatically. So one of my resolutions is to try and blog once a week. I'm not sure exactly how that will work, whether I'll do some more personal stuff with this blog (like outfit posts or something) or if I'll add more Polyvore coordinates back in or what, but we will see.

4. Buy more blouses/cutsews

I was picking out an outfit for a meet-up a few weeks ago. I recently had obtained one of my dream items, a rare version of Meta's Candy House in mint. I really wanted to wear it... but I didn't have a long sleeved blouse to match. And in December in the northeast, you just can't go with a short sleeved one. So I really need to expand my blouses selection this year. 2011 was the year of the shoes, and 2012 will be the year of the blouse!

Thanks for reading, and Happy New Year! Good luck with your resolutions everybody!!