Coordinate Tuesday: Country Cutie

This Tuesday I wanted to make a really nice coordinate that was simple to put together. I think I have succeeded! The whole idea behind this coordinate was DIY. I'd like to learn to make my own skirts, but I haven't started working on learning that yet.

Country Cutie by Cat91151 featuring resin rings

This skirt is a simple design that can easily be replicated by a seamstress. The gingham fabric is easy to find, and you could make it (or have it made) in any color you'd like. The trims are easy to come by, you can order them online or purchase them in a major craft/fabric supply store. This type of skirt is made with three tiers of fabric, gathered onto each other. It's a fairly simple design, there should be commercially available patterns. The blouse is very similar to ones sold at Forever 21 and H&M. An off-brand blouse or cutsew is a great way to save money and pull a new coordinate together really quickly. Simple white tights or OTK socks make the coordinate feel fresh. Alternatively, you could match your tights or socks to the color of the skirt. Blue shoes to carry the blue color down. The hairpieces I chose are very specific. The two smaller bows are actually from hair ties, like the things you use to do ponytails. So you use those for pigtails, tease them up so that they're really poofy, then add the white bow. I think this would be a really cute look, but if you want, you could just pick one hair piece or wear a different kind all together. I chose bow-themed jewelry because there are all of those bows on the skirt. I'm especially fond of the sparkly earrings and necklace. Finally, the purse. It's white with a bow, so it fits in with the color pallet and motif. It's also woven, making it a perfect choice for a country coordinate.

I was planning to use this coordinate for an article on wearing lolita to school or work, but it just wasn't coming together nicely. Is that an article that people would like to see? Also, I hope you've noticed the new poll on the sidebar. It looks very similar to the last one, but I promise, it's new. Please vote in it!

Coordinate Tuesday: Marseille Rose

I haven't been the best of bloggers as of late, but at least this portion hasn't been sliding. I have an all new coordinate for you today, with a French flair to it no less. Let's get right to it.

Marseille Rose by Cat91151 featuring stud earrings

And here we are. A country coordinate made out of separates. Cream and red is one of my favorite color combinations. Again, I went with a rose theme. Incidentally, roses are a very popular print for florals. As a result, roses pop up a lot in lolita fashion and in my coordinates. This one is no different, the print on the Baby the Stars Shine Bright skirt is in face, roses. The hat was really the inspiration behind this coordinate. I think it's interesting that the hat's on a headband. It makes it easy to wear and something interesting that not everyone has in their wardrobes. The cardigan makes the coordinate easy to wear during the day or night, spring, summer, and fall. The lace tights have a slight floral print on them, bringing the floral all the way through. The bag I chose is something I haven't used before. I love the polka dots and the faux lace on the corners. Best of all, it can fit a whole lot of stuff in it! Rose earrings complete the look.

I'm running out of ideas for posts. If there's anything that you'd like to see me write about, please let me know by commenting below! Also, if you want to see your coordinate here next week, email me at my all new email address: theelegantwardrobe@gmail.com! Thanks for reading!

Coordinate Tuesday: Bluebird

First of all, I'm so sorry for this past week. I've had absolutely no motivation to write, and while I've written half articles, nothing ever seems to be where I want it to go. So I'll try better this week, and hopefully finish some of the things I've started. I did manage a coordinate this week, one that I really like too.

Bluebird by Cat91151 featuring a puff sleeve blouse

This coordinate has a refreshing quality to it. I think it's the blue and off-white color scheme that makes it so refreshing to me. The most important quality in a country-style summery coordinate of any kind is to make it look breezy and effortless. This is achieved here with light fabric, the subtle floral print, the lace shoes, and the light blue color of the blouse and tights. Feel free to wear sandals or knee socks if you don't like tights, or it's especially hot. I think sandals, nice ones not flip flops, are completely appropriate in this case. I chose this birdcage necklace right off the bat. Then, I discovered the BABY parasol, as well as the matching earrings. I love birdcage motifs, and you hardly ever see them in prints. Sure, you'll get gothic-style gates, chandeliers, and the occasional cage, but there are so few bird prints. Anyhow, moving on, the bag just seemed to fit with what I was going for. It's a vintage crocheted bag that has such a great texture to it. It must be lined, otherwise it looks like everything would be constantly falling out of it! The woven hair bow isn't really anything special, feel free to swap it out with anything. It's there to carry the texture from the bag up, but like I said, it could be replaced with a hat, a different bow, a flowery hair corsage, or what have you. I believe this dress is a Mary Magdalene piece, isn't it lovely? Perfect for a stroll on a sunny afternoon, or for a fancy garden party.

Well, that's all I've got. I'm having tea on Saturday, so I'd like to make that a photo post of the place we're going, it's absolutely lovely! We'll see what happens. Thanks for reading!

Coordinate Tuesday: Rose Princess

Roses always remind me of royalty. They are intricate little buds with a lovely scent and a rich history. They are the symbol of love, and have been cultivated since 3,000 BC in China. They are one of my favorite flowers and I've actually named one of my dolls Rose. This week's coordinate is a tribute to roses, and while I didn't use a rose-printed or rose-colored dress, I think this sums up my feeling towards roses very nicely.

Rose Princess by Cat91151 featuring buckle flats

I'm really proud of this one. The simple dress and blouse are exactly the same color, so they blend in to each other, letting the textures do the talking. For instance, if the dress was a bright pattern, or even a different color, you wouldn't notice the crocheted neckline of the blouse quite as much, a feature I wanted to highlight. This beige color also seems light and airy to me, making for a cool summer coordinate. The tights took awhile to choose. I wanted to bring in a second color, but that's usually done through a blouse or chosen from a print on the dress or skirt. However, since there isn't anything to go off of, it was pretty much wide open. These tights are just so interesting, and since the rest of the coordinate is monochromatic, they pop. The shoes introduce that woven texture that fits perfectly into the country style. It's carried up through the coordinate to the very top in the hat. I personally would get a plain straw hat and then customize it to match perfectly with whatever I was going to wear, but Polyvore won't let you do that. This one would definitely serve as inspiration for mine for sure though, I love the patterned stripe with the solid bows on top. For the jewelry, the rose bracelet with the metal was the jumping off point, both color and style wise. I chose two different pairs of earrings, and a ring. I love this ring! The rose is actually made from fabric, which gives it a delicate look that only fabric can achieve. The bag, oh the bag. I've had this bag in quite a few coordinates, and it fits well into all of them. It's the perfect color and style to match with this coordinate without drawing too much attention to itself.

I've written so much about this coordinate, that should say something about how much I like this one. I hope you also love it! I'm hoping to do another giveaway this month, but I'm not sure what to actually give away. What would you like to see? Let me know!

It's Tuesday! Time for a Coordinate!

Well folks, it's Tuesday again. But it's now May, and tea time seems to have ended. This month will be around something I've never done before, it's going to have a theme, but this theme will be lasting throughout the month of June as well. The theme this time is quite broad, country style. Since the theme is so broad and vague, I thought two months would probably be better to work with it. Now I don't have a collage for this one yet, as Polyvore is being extremely slow on my computer. What I do have is a coordinate that I made months and months ago that I'll talk about today. And since there's plenty of time for new coordinates (there are five Tuesdays this month!), I don't feel terribly about pulling something older out.

Simple Country Style by Cat91151 featuring a heart umbrella

This is a coordinate I made for my sister, who loves this dress. It's a very popular Bodyline item, called Love Nadia. The dress comes in five different colors, including this lovely shade of light blue. It also comes in a skirt. The print is delicate and shows a scene of a girl wearing a similar dress in the woods. I paired this with a boater hat, a staple of a country wardrobe. Everything but the jewelry, tights, and parasol can be found on the Bodyline website, meaning you can purchase this coordinate for your own closet fairly easily. Since this is a one piece, there's no need for a blouse, bolero, or cutsew. The jewelry is all replaceable. I chose pearls to mimic the dots on the dress, as well as the pearly color of white used in the fabric. The rose is there simply because it reminds me of my uncle's house in the country. He used to grow the most amazing roses, and so now they remind me of being out in the country. Brown shoes pick up the brown border of the dress, and the dots on the parasol. This parasol is one of my favorite items, I wish I owned it. It's fun and yet still soft and delicate looking. The bag reminds me of a straw basket, and the woven look echos the hat's woven texture.

Well, are you super excited about going country with me? I hope to be able to share more recipes, tutorials (tea dyeing is in the works), and all sorts of other things! Please remember to vote in the poll at the top right hand side of the page. There are only a few weeks left to do that! Also, check out the new conventions page for info on all the cons I've been to, and as I confirm new ones, that info as well. Thanks for reading!

Coordinate Tuesday: Tea Time

Hi hi hello! It's Tuesday! I made this coordinate weeks ago, but I've been saving it for a rainy day. And there have been thunderstorms here, so why wait anymore?

Tea Time! by Cat91151 featuring bowling bags

This print! It's bright and graphic and just wonderful! As far as I've seen, this wasn't an extremely popular dress. I don't know why though! It's adorable! I went with a bolero to pull out the red, instead of a white blouse. This makes the coordinate pop more, and a little more unique. Light blue tights, eh. They work, they look good, they're not irreplaceable in my opinion. You could switch those out for something else and it'd be fine. The red shoes! I love red shoes! I have two pairs. These ones are from Bodyline, I love all the bows. This is the first coordinate I've ever made that uses a wig. I actually really like it! It adds something to the coordinate that you can't get from any other item. While this hair bow is AP, you could make your own very easily, and add your own personal stamp to it. The bowling bag is sort of huge, but imagine how much stuff you'd be able to fit in it.

Sort of a short post today, but I'm just really not feeling well right now. Hopefully, I'll shake this by Thursday and have a really good post. Until then!

Coordinate Tuesday: Red Velvet Cake

Red Velvet cake seemed to be the most glaringly obvious cake to choose to make a coordinate from. If you follow my polyvore account, you will see that I published this coordinate on Sunday. In fact, I wrote this article on Sunday also. This week, as I have mentioned before, is the most busy school week of the entire year (until this corresponding week comes up next fall). However, I have time right now to write up a post, so I have written and scheduled this to post. Cool, huh?

Anyhow, red velvet cake seemed like a natural fit to a lolita coordinate. I chose a red velvet dress for a literal interpretation on the title. However, this cake is actually chocolate flavored. So I chose to use brown as the secondary color. The red x brown color combo is odd at the least. I've never seen that done, not even in theory.

Red Velvet Cake by Cat91151 featuring sterling silver heart rings

It came out quite nicely actually. The red dress is beautiful and it comes in green and black. It's a velvet-type fabric, which would make it quite heavy I imagine. I chose to make this a classical-type coordinate, since the red velvet cake is a classic cake. I chose a fairly simple Angelic Pretty blouse to go with this. It has a sweeter peter pan style collar, but it's not overly sweet. The head bow doesn't add too much to the coordinate in my opinion. You could use a different hair accessory or even make your own. I chose the Innocent World bag because it reminds me of a chocolate roll cake, no other reason. It's a cool shape that you don't see a whole lot in lolita bags. Simple red shoes to match the dress, and brown tights oppose the red dress. It's simple, but I like my Lolita coordinates that way.

Wasn't last week more fun when we had a reader submission? It was so exciting and new! You should totally submit a coordinate for next Tuesday and I'll put it up here next week! Send it to me at cat91151@gmail.com along with your name and anything you'd like me to put up along with it, like a blog or tumbler. I hope that lots of people submit coordinates!

Coordinate Tuesday: First Reader Submission!

Oh how excited I have been to post this! I'm so thrilled to have gotten a reader submission for this week's coordinate Tuesday (I have got to think of a better name for this). This submission came from Manda over at Manda Please. She makes so many lovely coordinates for her own blog, so it was really awesome of her to make three for mine too!

Merry Making Party! by MandaPlz featuring a blue shoulder bag

It's so colorful! That's how sweets should be, right? She used three different Angelic Pretty prints here: Holy Night Story, French Cafe, and Merry Making Party. Good choices! They're all really bright and colorful, and all three feature different sweets and tea! Here's her description of these coordinates:

I imagine the one in the middle doing the most actual baking and the one to the right being the most enthusiastic (and maybe even setting up the meet up) but not really doing anything that productive ^^" I think the left most would be the "photographer" of the event and take pictures of everyone and everything.

Do you love these coordinates as much as I do? They're so colorful and definitely sweet. Please please submit your coordinates and see them here! If you'd like to, check out Manda's Tumbler for more cool stuff, some lolita related, lots of K-pop stuff, and all sorts of other things!

My coordinate for this week also uses an Angelic Pretty print, this time it's Wonder Cookie. This is one of my favorite prints by them. Usually, I'm not a huge fan of AP prints, but these ones with bold picture-type prints are quite nice actually. I went with a pastel color theme on this for a bit of a different look than Manda's coordinates.

Sweetie by Cat91151 featuring pink jewelry

I'm on the fence about actually buying this print. I really like it, but it would not fit in my wardrobe at all. I think I'm going to look into getting Fantastic Dolly instead (if I go for any AP prints at all). Anyhow, this is a more casual look. The cutsew is from Taobao, but it could be made at home by a more talented seamstress than me. A simple bow, it could be made with charms or a printed fabric to jazz it up a little. The bag is one of those reusable shopping bags, but with a waterproof coating and fabric lining on the inside. The deco-type cake ring is adorable! I wish I knew how to make something like this! The cupcake charm bracelet is from the collage for this month. The tea pot necklace could be replaced with something else, but I personally love tea pots (the tiny ones are cute!). The shoes and tights aren't anything special and would go well in other outfits too.

I'm going to try super hard to keep up with posting. I have all sorts of finals and deadlines coming up this week and next week, so I've been quite busy. I'm also considering doing some meet-up reviews in the future. The Tekkoshocon con report is on its way. I haven't actually finished unpacking from the con, but I'm working on it, so look for that soon! If you have any questions or suggestions for articles for me to write up, let me know on my formspring. I've been getting some weird stuff on there lately, but if your question is appropriate (PG 13-ish I guess) then I'd be happy to answer it.

Coordinate Tuesday: A Very Merry Unbirthday!

Today is my birthday. So I thought I'd make a birthday-type coordinate for today. You could wear this outfit any day of the year, because while you have only one birthday, you have 364 unbirthdays! So I hope you enjoy this outfit!

Happy Unbirthday! by Cat91151 featuring leather handbags

Since every dress has the "upside-down cupcake" shape skirt, it seemed redundant to me to choose a cake-print dress. So instead I went with the present style. This type of dress decoration used to be really popular, but now it's not so common. It looks like a wrapped present with a big bow on top! I wanted to coordinate this dress in a unique sort of way, and while the grey x black x pink color combo is not uncommon, it's definitely not something I see every day. I used a lot of bows for this, to echo the big bow on the dress. The cakes charm bracelet is very cute, and it sort of pushes the coordinate into the category of sweet. I'm not sure whether you'd classify this further as bittersweet, but I could see that happening. Lots of bow accessories and it's done! I wish I could have that cake in the corner for my birthday cake, but alas no. But I like my cake, it has Hello Kitty on it!

On a different note today is the last day for entries into the giveaway drawing! I'll be putting the entries into a hat (for however many entries you make, you get one drawing lot) and drawing one. So you can still enter before 11:59 tonight! I'll announce the winner on Thursday! If you have any questions that you'd like to ask me, then feel free to let me know on my formspring. Bye bye for now!

Painting the Roses Red

Today’s coordinate is based off of the Red Queen of Hearts from the original Alice book. You know, the one who loves to chop off heads? Yes, my coordinate is based off of her today. You see, I was going to class and my boyfriend starts to hum the song that the card guards are singing. It’s currently stuck in my head, and thus today's coordinate was born.

The Queen of Hearts by Cat91151 featuring hair bow accessories

This was a unique coordinate to make. The dress is Angelic Pretty, but the blouse is from Moi Meme Moitie. Angelic Pretty is known for being a super sweet brand, while Moitie is known for being very gothic. Weird juxtaposition there, but this particular blouse is fairly plain so it works. She's the Queen of Hearts, so naturally all of her accessories have hearts on them. The shoes I chose are actually replicas made by An*tai*na. They have the suits of cards on the straps, which I think is pretty neat. The problem with them is that they can only really work in a card motif outfit. I'm rather proud of this outfit, the red and black color combo came out looking crisp and with sort of a weird style. I think I'll call it bittersweet. Many people think that sweet and bittersweet have to have pink in them, or a print, or an animal bag. But this can be called sweet too, right? I mean, there are heart pockets and bows on the bodice.

What do you think? Would you call this sweet or something else? The giveaway will be ending a week from today, so keep getting points!

Coordinate Tuesday: Black Queen White Queen

This week's coordinate Tuesday I decided to do Kuro and Shiro versions of the Black Queen (she's actually the red queen, but in actual chess, it's a black piece. So for my purposes, she's the Black Queen) and the White Queen from Alice Through the Looking Glass. If you remember from one of my very first posts, kuro means an all black outfit, and shiro means an all white outfit. There's not a whole lot to say before I show you them, so I'll just get to the point.

The Black Queen by Cat91151 featuring wedding hair accessories

I made the Black Queen first. I wanted a more gothic feel to her, with just a touch of whimsy. I've always thought of the Black Queen as being the black kitten from the beginning of the story (If you don't know what I'm talking about, grab a copy of Alice Through the Looking Glass and read the first chapter). I used a slightly printed Moitie dress and I played up the print using a lace Metamorphose Temps de Fille blouse and some lace printed tights. The headpiece was something I debated over for a long time. I wanted something whimsical and yet quite gothic. I finally settled on this headband, but I'm not completely satisfied with my choice. However, I didn't want to choose something typical for Lolita, like a bow or a bonnet. So in that aspect, I think I succeeded. I couldn't find a bag that I like, and the Polyvore clipper was not working, so I couldn't get something from another site. I apologize for this.

The White Queen by Cat91151 featuring kate spade handbags

Now here's the White Queen. When I decided to do this set of coordinates, I knew I wanted to use this dress for the White Queen. I definitely went for a sweeter style with this one. It's very simple and demure, like I view the White Queen's character. Even though the coordinate is all white, I think the different laces, cuts, and fabric techniques really add a lot of detail and texture to the coordinate. Finally, I chose the bag to add a bit of elegance to the coordinate. I didn't want to choose something with a very typical shape, like a heart or a pony or a bow. That seems to be a theme with my coordinates these days.

Do you like these two coordinates? I really hope that the Polyvore clipper starts working soon, otherwise my next coordinate will be rather difficult to do. The contest is still going on! So comment, tweet, and coordinate away! If you have any questions, ask them here, and you might see them in an article!

March Theme! Alice in Wonderland and Coordinate Tuesday: Sweet Alice

Yes, it's March. Finally, the snow is beginning to melt, the birds are chirping, and it's warming up outside. March is one of my most favorite months, because it is the beginning of spring and everything begins to turn green. The daffodils begin to sprout up and it starts to get warmer outside. As you all know if you've been reading my most recent posts, this month is Alice month. Why Alice? Well, why not! Alice is practically the mascot for Lolita fashion. The style can also be called Alice style in fact. Alice is prevalent in all aspects of Lolita culture, from the clothing itself, to the book (written in the Victorian era for children I might add), in our tea parties, sweets, and even in boy styles! I decided to make this month Alice month also because I just finished re-reading my Annotated Alice book, which has inspired a lot of my coordinates recently.

Alice in Wonderland by Cat91151 on Polyvore.com

So this is the collage for Alice in Wonderland. As you can see, there are a number of dresses on there. That's because Alice is such a popular motif these days, especially in classic and sweet styles. Card motifs are also very popular, you can see by the two pairs of shoes featuring suits of cards on them. There's a whole brand called Alice and the Pirates, which is named for Alice in Alice in Wonderland. Alice themed jewelry is very easy to get now due to the Tim Burton version of the story premiering last spring. We call bows like the Metamorphose one above the clock bag Alice bows. That light blue color that some call sax or saxon blue can also be referred to as Alice blue. Disney makes a lot of Alice items for children and adults, like the bag at the top in the middle. Even though she *technically* isn't a princess, she's very special in Lolita and in our hearts.

Now for coordinate tuesday. I hate that these last two months have started on Tuesday, making the posts extra long and weird to write. Thankfully, April begins on a Friday. However, I'll be working at Tekkoshocon that Friday, so the theme post won't get done until Monday probably. But that doesn't matter right now. Here's this week's coordinate!

Sweet Alice by Cat91151 on Polyvore.com

I went with the Emily Temple Cute dress from the theme collage. This was something new for me, I've never worked with their stuff before. I love this version of an Alice print because it's a little quirky compared to others I have seen. I pulled the black out from half of the card suits and the red out from the other half. I went with hearts as accessories, from the cards also. Then of course, the Alice bow. This one is quite simple and downplayed. I think it's sort of complementary to the simple lines of the jumper and the cardigan. This coordinate sort of came together really quickly. Which is rare for me to have this be so easy. Usually I spend upwards of an hour making everything look perfect, but this one took less than half an hour.

So are you excited for Alice month? Maybe you aren't yet, but I have a big announcement for Thursday that's sure to get everyone excited about this month! If you've got any questions for me, you can always let me know on my Formspring. Alice coordinates are fun to make, so if you'd like to whip one up and see it here, you can email me at cat91151@gmail.com. Let me know what you think!

Double Feature Coordinate Tuesday - Ariel and Tiana

These two princesses have infuriated me to no end. The dress that Disney has put on Ariel is pink and in my opinion, ugly. I love Tiana’s signature dress, but at the same time, green is not a wildly popular color to use in Lolita fashion. Nevertheless, I managed to get two coordinates that I am okay with putting up here.

Ariel

I made Ariel first. As I said before, I don’t like any of the dresses that she appears in on screen or in her merchandise. So I took a completely different approach.

Under the Sea! by Cat91151 featuring summer bags

I used the lavender color of her shell bikini top and made that the color of the body of the outfit. I then took the green from her tail, changed it to mint, and made that the secondary color. I used these same earrings from the Jasmine coordinate in the silvery-white color because they remind me of underwater flowers. I also stuck the lavender ones on there as an option. I tried to put as many shell-themed items in as I could. The pearly color of the bag reminds me of the mother-of-pearl shells that you can find on the beach. I actually used over-the-knee socks in this coordinate, something that I don’t normally do. I think it makes the coordinate have a more youthful appearance, and I’ve always thought of Ariel as the most childish of the princesses.

Tiana

Tiana was tricky as well. With Hello Lace’s wardrobe shots being down still, I have to use my backup site, lolibrary. I’m not as used to this site, and I find it more difficult to search. I wanted to make a green-based coordinate, but the only popular green shade is mint. Her dress is definitely not mint colored, so I needed to find a fresher green dress. Mary Magdalene and Victorian Maiden have made many green pieces, but their greens are usually darker and more elegant.

Frog Princess by Cat91151 featuring flower hair accessories

I wanted to keep the light and fresh feeling of Tiana’s outfit, so I searched and searched and finally found this Angelic Pretty dress. It’s not perfect, but it is the right shade of green and it's not locked into one style (it's not definitively classic or sweet or country). I really wanted to use more frog items in this coordinate, but everything I found was not working with the dress. So I just used the frog earrings. The cream color comes from the bottom part of her dress, where it's more yellow-ey. I decided to use that as the secondary color, since it fits very well into Lolita fashion. The flower hairpiece comes from the side of her dress, where the flower and vines are decorating the waist part. The bag was a last minute addition, and I couldn't find one that I liked more than this. The shoes! I could not decide between these two pairs. The ones on the left are from Bodyline and clearly made to go with Lolita fashion. The pair on the right are more suited to everyday wear. They have the cream color flower there, and they're cute and summery green flats. You decide which you like better!

Alice

Oops! I didn't make an Alice! Oh well, I guess I'll just give Alice her very own monthly theme! I know it's quite early, but March's theme will be Alice in Wonderland! It's just too much content to put into one coordinate, since Alice seems to be the unofficial mascot of Lolita fashion. Look forward to lots of Alice themed content, and perhaps a giveaway! If you want to make an Alice coordinate for next week, based off of any character (lots of options for boystyle!), email them to me! My email is cat91151@gmail.com! If you have any suggestions or questions, let me know on my Formspring, and if you'd like to leave me a comment, you can do so below!

Coordinate Tuesday: Glass Slippers

Cinderella is probably the most popular princess, with Belle and Ariel coming in close behind. When I was little, she was my favorite. I especially loved those little mice that help her out. One of my favorite scenes was when she’s scrubbing the floors and she’s singing and there are the bubbles with her reflections in them. That doesn’t have much to do with this coordinate though.

Cinderella by Cat91151 featuring peacock tights

The idea I went for behind this coordinate is a sweet-classic combo. Baby the Stars Shine Bright makes this phenomenal print that’s actually called Cinderella Jewelry. The lower left corner has a detail of this print in the cream colorway. Each panel has a different scene from the story! This dress is something that I very much would like to own in both this cream color and in black. The cream color I used for a few reasons. Firstly, because Cinderella’s signature dress is the light blue color found in this dress. Second, because it reminds me of antique blue willow china. I wanted to use the matching head bow for this to get a look of perfect continuity. I picked ivory tights with silver accents to pick up on the silvery grey color in the print, and also to transition into the “glass slippers.” Of course, if they were actually made from glass they would be impractical. So I chose some sparkly silver heels. This type of heel isn’t usually found in Lolita fashion, but for this coordinate, it really requires something especially fancy. Her glass slippers in the movie are heels similar to these. For the bag, I chose something appropriate for a party yet still feels vintage. Finally, the jewelry. The print has something that looks like pearls in it, so I decided on pearls. The pendant is Cinderella's pumpkin coach, from the collage at the beginning of the month.

I had a lot of fun making this coordinate. I've only got Tiana, Ariel, and Alice left. Yet only one more Tuesday. Hmm, what am I going to do? If you'd like to submit a coordinate and see it here, just email me a link to it! And if you have any questions for me, you can let me know by commenting here or asking on my Formspring.

Coordinate Tuesday: Once Upon a Dream

I know it's Wednesday. This was written up yesterday, and I could not seem to get it posted. It won't be a regular occurrence.

Today’s coordinate is loosely based off of Sleeping Beauty. This was not one of my favorite movies as a child, and as a result, all I really remember about Aurora is the last scene where she is dancing with the prince. The fairies keep changing her dress from pink to blue and back. This is honestly all I remember of the movie.

I went back and watched this scene again, and I was astounded by the realism of the movement of her gown. It swishes around the dance floor so gracefully, and so I went for this type of movement in the dress I chose.

Aurora by Cat91151 featuring nylon stockings

This dress is from Innocent World. It’s a light and summery type of dress. I had a hard time deciding what to put with this dress because of its light appearance. I finally settled on a cutsew, but I would have liked to see a lace shawl or something lighter. This coordinate is loosely made as a hime style coordinate, although I don’t know much about it. I wanted to keep it very simple. The shoes are to balance out the top with the bottom and weigh the outfit down. The bag is a pochette from Innocent World. I wanted something small and fairly plain. This one actually doubles as a hand warmer. For the headpiece, I looked for a tiara that was vaguely the same shape as the one that Aurora wears. However, this is apparently not a popular shape in tiara making, and so I decided on this “hair corsage” as I call them. The butterfly ring is the perfect shade of blue to match the dress, and it harkens back to the scene in the forest.

What do you think? Any suggestions on the next princess? Submit your princess-themed coordinates and see them here next week! You can email them to me, my email is cat91151@gmail.com or you can post a link in the comments section. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments or on my formspring.

February Inspiration + Coordinate Tuesday

First of all, I wanted to apologize for not posting for a whole week. As you all know, I was at Ohayocon this past weekend working on four panels, one special event, and one AMAZING industry table. My Ohayocon con report will be up as soon as I can get my pictures together. I didn't have my camera, so getting them off of my phone is proving difficult.

So this month’s theme is completely different from January’s. While January was all about vintage and steam punk and generally a classic style, February is going to go in a completely opposite way.

I'm a Princess! by Cat91151 featuring tea jewelry

This set is all about bright and airy elegance. It's much sweeter than last month, for a few reasons. The first is that I’m so excited about seeing Disney Princesses on Ice this month that I decided to make the theme of the month be Disney Princesses too. I know that there are supposed to be ten princesses: Aurora, Snow White, Cinderella, Ariel, Belle, Tiana, Rapunzel, Mulan, Pocahontas, and Jasmine. However, I don’t really consider Pocahontas and Mulan to really be princesses, and in Kingdom Hearts calls Alice a princess. So my list includes her, as she is the most important one to Lolita (which some people actually call “Alice Style”). Second, I've been drawn to the sweet style more recently, and so I thought it'd be nice to try and mix my more simple classic aesthetic with some sweet colors and pieces. Each item on this collage fits in with a different princess. Some are very obvious, like the Belle watch, carriage necklace, and the frog hair clips. Some aren't, like the flower earrings. The flower is actually a jasmine flower, for Jasmine. I’m really excited to be doing this theme, and I’ll be making coordinates based off of each princess! As always, feel free to email me your coordinates if you’d like to see them featured on here.

The very first coordinate for this month is all about Snow White. I got lucky in that Baby the Stars Shine Bright made a really cute print featuring Snow White back in 2004. It's such a cute print!

The print is very detailed and lovely. My favorite is this cream/white colorway, because the colors are so vibrant and it looks most like the movie version of the story. The little bunnies scattered throughout the forest are so adorable!

Snow White by Cat91151 featuring a shoulder sling bag

And this is the coordinate! The bag is really what made me want to start with Snow White. The existence of this print was a bonus! I used a bolero instead of a blouse to sort of act like her cape. Obviously it's not a cape, but it gives a pop of red to the top of the outfit. All of the apple jewelry isn't too sweet, so that the coordinate doesn't get bogged down by red and apples. The shoes are a pair from Bodyline, and one of my personal favorites. Finally, the mirror necklace is a working mirror, which I think is pretty neat. It's simple and in my opinion, reminiscent of Snow White.

I hope you're as excited about February as I am! Also, look forward to the Ohayocon report, hopefully tomorrow or Thursday. Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, or requests for me by commenting here or letting me know on my Formspring!

Coordinate Tuesday: Simple and Clean

This week's coordinate is one using my old dream dress! I might just have to get this coordinate for myself, as I also own these shoes and this bow. So I'm almost there.

Simply Classic by Cat91151 featuring leather shoulder bags

What I really love about this dress is the embroidery on the pocket. It's the Baby the Stars Shine Bright logo, which is a heart shape with a "B" in the middle. I decided to echo that

shape in the jewelry. I also wanted to add in the vintage element, hence the clock earrings (they don't actually work though) and the charm bracelet. I've had a renewed love for charm bracelets recently. I got a Hello Kitty one for Christmas and I've been looking for cute charms that clip on so I can change them out easily. I chose the rocking horse shoes for a touch of oldstyle Lolita (they aren't as popular as they used to be, but they're making a comeback!) and for the creamy color of the wood. I own these shoes and I have to say, they are very light and once you get the hang of it, easy to walk or stand in. The bow on the bag echoes the bows on the shoes and the bows on the front of the dress, as well as the hairbow. Let's face it, it's not quite Lolita unless there's a bow in there somewhere. You could decide to use a heart-shape bag for a sweeter approach, in either black or cream. In fact, this whole outfit could be made sweeter by changing out all the cream elements for white, and changing the vintage charm bracelet for a more modern one. This dress can go either way, and that's what makes it a great piece in my opinion.

So that's it for Coordinate Tuesday. I'm not a big fan of that name though, so if you have any suggestions on what to change it to, please let me know. Next week will be a new month and a new theme, so look forward to something different! I haven't announced the next theme yet, so it seems silly to ask for reader coordinates for next week. Because in fact, next Tuesday is the first of February. If you have any questions for me, you can let me know in the comments, by emailing me (my email is on the "about me" page), or by posting them to my formspring. I hope to hear lots of ideas from everyone soon!

Coordinate Tuesday - A New Feature

This past Thursday, Victoria Suzanne over at Lolita Charm wrote an article about being a better blogger. As I am fairly new to the whole blogging concept, I decided I'd try out a few of her tips in my own blog. Little did I know that when I commented on that post, she would use my comment on her Reader Appreciation article, linking my blog to hers! As a result, I had about 200 hits in a day, and decided I really needed to step things up a bit in terms of posting. So now, every Tuesday will feature a different coordinate along the lines of the theme of the month. If you would like to see your coordinate here on a Tuesday, simply email me with a link to it and a short explanation about your coordinate (why did you choose that dress/skirt, what the overall theme is, etc.). I'd like to feature reader coordinates as much as possible, so please send them in to me! My email is on the About Me page at the bottom.

This week, I made the coordinate featuring a very unique Innocent World one piece. The theme

is based on a photo of Victorian-era women riding sidesaddle on horses. The inspiration from the monthly theme came in with the high-collared one piece and the vintage jewelry, including a pocket-watch necklace and a horse-themed antique ring. I really love the coats they wear in the painting to the right, but with the long sleeves, a coat seems impractical.

But as you can see, in both paintings you really can't see the feet of the women. The men seem to be wearing riding boots though, so I went with that. I also found it odd that the women were wearing hats, not helmets.

Horseback by Cat91151 featuring cream tights

This is my take on a Lolita version of that. In all the pictures I looked at, the women didn't seem to have feet. So I chose these riding boots that they might have worn, though I can't be sure. The purse sort of reminds me of a saddle bag, but in a very loose way. It sort of goes a little wild west, but I think that that comes from the angle of the photo of the hat. It's a southern-style hat, like you would see at the Kentucky Derby. It ties under your chin and has a wide brim to keep the sun out of your eyes.

So what do you think? Will you submit a coordinate and see it here next week? I hope that I get lots of submissions for this!