Ten Reasons to Love Solid Dresses

These days, Lolita seems to be all about the prints. People now have their "dream prints" instead of "dream dresses" and when a new print comes out, there's a mad rush to reserve it. But there's something to say about the dresses without prints. They aren't boring, they're perhaps more fun to own than prints!

1. Versatile

A plain colored dress is going to fit into more styles than a printed dress is. You can buy

one plain colored black dress and make it sweet, classic, or even gothic, depending on the details

in the dress itself, as well as the other items you put with it. Whereas, if you get a printed dress, you might be able to make it fit into two styles at the most. So if you're interested in a lot of different types of lolita, you can just grab yourself a simple, plain color dress, and go to town trying to coordinate it differently each time. I love this black OP on the left, I found it on Poupee Girl and have no idea where the person got it! But, as you can imagine, it would work in a lot of different coordinates!

2. Detail Love

Really, in today's lolita, it's all about the prints. No matter what style you like best, there are prints geared towards you. I'm just as big a fan of prints as the next gal, but for dresses with good old fashioned sewn-in details, prints just can't beat non-printed dresses. There are more fabric options in non-printed dresses, and while the printed ones do have lace and perhaps a few sewn elements, they are relatively plain compared to some plain dresses. Take this one on the right. It has a scalloped hem, two layers of ruffles (creating an underskirt effect), cap sleeves with ruffled edges, a detailed bodice with bows, and a faint border detail with bows around the top of the scalloping. If you tried to put all that with a printed dress, you wouldn't see the print!

3. Timeless

This dress on the left was made in 2002. However, if I hadn't told you that, would you have known? Maybe not. Whereas print motifs come in and out of style, solids definitely don't. This dress on the left has been made and re-made and re-released by BABY almost every year since the company first released this dress. It's their signature Karami dress.

4. Work for (almost) every style

You can change up the style of a solid colored dress simply by changing up the accessories and other items you wear in your coordinate. Again, using the Karami dress on the left, you can make this a very classic coordinate by using a simple blouse with soft and simple accessories. Or you could go sweeter, using a puffed sleeves blouse with a big peter pan collar and plenty of bows! It's lots of fun to try and make up completely new coordinates just by changing the other pieces used in the outfit!

5. Can be cheaper

This is a very short and, I find quite obvious, point to make. Printed fabric costs more to have made, due to the complexity of the manufacturing process, and the cost of the materials to make it (pigments and stuff). Whereas, solid fabric is simply dyed one color and it's ready to go. So dresses made with solid fabric don't cost as much to make. For example: this is a solid color Alice and the Pirates jumper that costs a little less than 23,000¥ ($287 US). And this is the dress right next to it, Melty Mermaid Princess. The printed dress costs 26,040¥ ($325 US), about 3,000¥ more!

6. Often come in more size options

This one goes a bit with the one above. You can make dresses for larger sizes with solid fabric more cheaply than it would cost to make them with printed fabric. An indie brand can make solid dresses in any size, but may not have access to the Japanese printed fabrics that the Japanese brands use. Dresses with a larger size option often have shirring, which does not always look okay with printed fabric. This absolutely does not mean that because you require a larger sized

dress that you can't wear a print. Angelic Pretty makes JSKs and OPs that fit over 100cm busts, as does BABY.

7. Come in every cut available

So you know how people look different and have different body shapes? Well, that means that there are different cuts to dresses too! And it seems that solid dresses come in all of different cuts of dresses. So if you're looking for a drop waist dress, chances are, you can find a solid color one a lot easier than a printed one. Some cuts are more flattering than others on certain body types,

8. Easy to coordinate

With solid dresses, it's quite easy make a balanced coordinate. You don't have to worry about pulling out colors from a print or anything. So you can take any color that looks nice with the dress color and make that your secondary color in the coordinate. You aren't limited by the color pallet of the print! For example, you can take a solid pink dress, and pair it with any color blouse for vastly different results. You can make very interesting coordinates this way~

9. Don't usually have to be bought on reserve

What is "reserve"? Many Japanese companies put their newest printed dresses up on a "reservation" page before they are completed so that they can take pre-orders for the dress. Often, popular dresses sell out on reservation before ever reaching the store. However, more

solid dresses don't go up on the reserve page, and they make it to the store without selling out. And since solid dresses are not up for reserve, they usually end up staying in-store longer. So you have a better chance of getting a dress released a few months ago if it's not a print.

10. Higher availability!

All of the awesome reasons above make solid dresses more available than printed ones! So don't limit your wardrobe to prints only, try out some solid pieces too~ It's so fun to try and make new coordinates out of things you already have in your wardrobe, and it helps you to think a little more creatively about the lolita fashion in your life!

Baby the Stars Shine Bright Winter Releases!

BABY and Alice and the Pirates are my favorite Japanese brands. I'm always watching for their newest releases! And this past week has been a flurry of releases from them. Three new sets have been released for reservation, and they're all quite different from each other.

Angel's Gentle Whisper of the Heavenly Holy Night Melody

That sure is a mouthful. What a ridiculous name. But this print is quite lovely in my opinion. It features delicate angels flying around with crosses and candelabras. The series has two jumpers, a skirt, a bonnet, an Alice bow, some socks, a blouse, and plenty of jewelry to match. The designer used delicate chiffon fabric to give the jumpers a light and airy feeling, like they could float away. Both jumpers also feature bustle backs, which I'm a big fan of. The skirt is simple, a great piece to fit into almost any wardrobe. The blouse has princess sleeves, which seem to be back in style. None of the pieces are over-designed in my opinion and would work well in many different styles. It went on sale on the 11th, but most everything is still available for reservation!

Drosselmeyer's Wonder Box

This is my favorite of the three. If I had the funds for it, I'd be tempted to buy it. It's perfect for Christmas! This is an Alice and the Pirates design based off of a Christmas classic, The Nutcracker. I don't know why, but I associate this type of plaid print with Christmas. The border has toy chests, nutcracker soldiers, rocking horses, stuffed bears, and all sorts of other classic toys one might find in the ballet. It comes in four vibrant colors: yellow, blue, green, and red. This series also has two jumpers, a skirt, a one-piece, two tops (one blouse and one vest-bustier sort of hybrid), an Alice bow, a hat, and some socks. I wish they had made this into some stuff for boy-style too, since the hat would be perfect for a military-inspired coordinate. I'm not a big fan of the blouse at all, but the Mary jumper and one piece remind me of the sorts of Christmas dresses my mom would make my sister and I wear for church. The reservation period starts on the 16th, so if you want to get this, be ready. I think it will be popular.

Hoshi no Namida Princess

This set is a collaboration with the popular vinyl doll, Blythe. The series has one dress, a headbow, a pair of tights, and some jewelry. The print is of the night sky, full of constellations and different types of stars. The back of the dress has an enormous bow complete with smaller bows as decorations. It has a bustle front, princess sleeves, and a scalloped hem, making it a very opulent one piece. The cost reflects this, at over $600 US (that's around 450€ or 387£ for European readers)! Also available for purchase is the matching Blythe doll, complete with her own, tiny version of the dress and headbow. This reservation starts on the 18th, and does not include the doll with any purchase.

The first (crazy long name) and the last of these three series can be seen here in the videos from the Hoshi no Namida Princess Tea Party held in October in Tokyo. Make sure you get the right videos though, as they also have ones of their tea party held back in February. I'm not sure why the Nutcracker print isn't in the show, since they use it on the video at the beginning. I love that BABY made their own YouTube channel and is taking film of their shows in Japan for all of us that can't go to their shows over there. I hope they continue to do that in the future~ Will you be buying any of these? Which is your favorite?

Recent Releases

I'm late! I'm late! I've been meaning to do a review of some of the newest Japanese brand pieces and with school and work I've just completely forgotten to do it! Here we go, a whirlwind tour of the newest fall pieces!

First, we'll start with Angelic Pretty. They have Petit Patisserie and Royal Palace out so far this season. Petit Patisserie features vertical lines of various cakes and ribbons. It's quite different from Angelic Pretty's famous border prints, and I rather like it. It comes in two jumpers, what appears to be a coat, a mini skirt, a hair bow, and socks. One of the jumper skirts is pictured on the left, in Ivory. It's quite a delicate look, and this version is still in stock in a few colors. Next, is Royal Palace. It's a floral printed dress with a bustle in the back and plenty of subtle details. It seems to come in ivory, brown, and pink. It only comes in a jumper so far, and only the brown is listed. This dress also very subtle, and I personally like this. It's on the right in the ivory, but is in stock in the brown.

Next on the tour, we have Innocent World. Another two dresses from this brand, Delft Jumper Lotta and Stained Glass Rose. I'm really not sure what "Delft Jumper Lotta" is supposed to mean, but it's quite lovely. The print has little deer and other woodland animals in little scenes together. It comes in three colorways, blue/green x cream, pink x brown, and bordeaux x pink. And like many of the other IW releases, it comes in a regular length and a long length. The print also comes on a skirt, socks, and a matching bag. The short version of the blue jumper is pictured on the left. I love how the designers used the print to make the detail, there's very little lace or other decoration. Second, the Stained Glass Rose. It was the feature of a F Yeah Lolita article a few weeks back, and it's something you just don't see everywhere else. It also comes in three colors: blue, bordeaux, and apricot, and in both short and long styles. In this series, there's a skirt, a hair bow, socks, and a rather plain looking blouse and bag. The picture on the right is of the short version in the Apricot color, and my sister actually ordered this dress. I can't wait to see it in person!

Finally, the designers over at BABY and AATP sure have been busy. In the last month, they have

released seven different series, not to mention their fall coats and shoes. I can't possibly talk about them all in enough detail without this article being entirely too long. Starting with Milky Rail Train, this is a special series in conjunction with KERA magazine I believe. Make sure to check out the clock-themed accessories, striped details, and the matching pullip dolls! Black Cat, Witch, and Apple Tree is AATP halloween-themed print. I love the border print, reminiscent of Vampire Requiem.

The big miss for me is the full-size witch hat. It's just too costume-y for my tastes. BABY's print, released around the same time as the AATP one,

is Marchin' Cookie Flavour. It's something I would have bought if I hadn't already seen BABY's most recent dress in KERA magazine, and something I would like to own in the future. It has a diamond pattern with a border print of cookies and tea cups. The pieces are pretty safe, and I like that about them. The VANTAN collaboration sets are not something I really get. I believe Vantan is a fashion design school in Tokyo, and they had students work with both BABY and AATP designers to create these two dresses. The Tales of Xillia sets are based off a video game for the PS3, released in Japan on the 8th of this month. I don't really understand why BABY made these outfits. They're cute, but I don't see them working in a lolita wardrobe. Putamayo also worked with this game to create their own looks.

And now we're to the set I wanted to talk in detail about. Clockwork Tea Party is the dress that kept me from ordering Marchin' Cookie Flavour. I saw it in the KERA scans a few weeks ago, and instantly fell in love. It becomes available for reservation on the 30th. The series has two jumpers, a skirt, a head bow, a bonnet, a blouse, socks, and some jewelry. Whew! Unfortunately, the reservation page doesn't have actual pictures of

the items, just sketches. The print has teddy bears and tea cups with butterflies, cookies, and other tea party stuff. It comes in five colors too, ivory, pink, red, navy, and black. On the left, there's the only picture I can

find of the actual pieces. That's the first jumper skirt, head bow, blouse (princess sleeves!), and socks. According to the KERA magazine that the scan on the left came from, Alice and the Pirates will be releasing a series called Lock the Pandora's Memories, but I can't tell much from the ad (on the right).

If I've missed or forgotten something, please let me know and I'll add it! Did you purchase one of these dresses or are you planning to? Which is your favorite? I'm so excited to order this Friday! Thanks for reading!

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!

30 Day Lolita Challenge - Day 5

I skipped a few days, oops! My sister graduated this past weekend, and I seem to have adopted a kitten, so my life has been really crazy recently. But here I am with day 5 of the 30 Day Lolita Challenge: 10 items from your wish list. Now I have the wish list page here up at the top. So those are my top 5. But I'll put 10 other pieces I want for this post. Again, these aren't in any specific order.

1. Kidsyoyo Fairy Doll JSK

I've loved this dress for ages and ages. It has ruching on the sides that allow the dress to change into something completely different. I adore the grey color too. I think I'd coordinate this with black as the secondary color, but it would also look good with pink I think! It's airy and just gorgeous! It's sold by a taboao company called Kidsyoyo, so it's also affordable. Someday, I'll be able to get it.

2. Infanta Spring Whisper Alice

We've had this discussion before. About how I love this dress and this print better than the original. I love this! It would fit very nicely into my wardrobe. It's so beautiful, and it's sort of a classic/sweet style. This one is also sold by a taobao shop, this time it's Infanta. I plan on ordering this dress as soon as I can, preferably at the same time as I order the one above to save on the shipping.

3. Dear Celine Autumn Poodle

Again, Taobao is my favorite thing. This dress! I want it so much! The fabric has a check pattern and poodles scattered all over it. The grey and black and white is pretty much what I already have here. This is more white/grey than I usually go for, but that's okay. It would look great with either a white or black blouse. I especially love the scalloping and black under layer at the bottom. So sweet! I think this is probably a more bittersweet dress than classic. Ugh, I need this.

4. Bodyline Antique Clock OP

More black, white, and grey! The clock print and the argyle print combined makes the dress so classic and perfect. It's listed under dresses (one pieces), but it's more like a jumper with wide straps. Again, a white or black blouse would be fine here. Too bad this is sold out, or else I would have bought it already! I wish there was a matching bow! I also wish it came in brown and brown, it would be perfect for a steampunk-lolita hybrid. I see this dress happening in my near future.

5. AATP Night Fairy Fantasia

When I saw this dress I fell instantly in love. The pirate ship is such a great motif, yet Alice and the Pirates doesn't use it nearly enough. I can't decide on the color I want, either the navy or the black. I haven't seen the full dress in either color, so I'll have to wait to see. It'll be in stock soon at Tokyo Rebel, I'm thinking I may order it in preparation for Otakon. I also want the bag that they make to go with it, but I may have to wait on that until afterwards.

6. School Bag (any brand or off-brand)

The main problem preventing me from wearing lolita to class as often as I'd like to is that I have to take my books and laptop with me. And my backpack isn't exactly the most adorable thing. So I really want one of these bags made for school books! Most brands make them, and now there are even a few replicas on the market. The problem is the cost. For one of these leather bags, it costs almost $200 USD! I can't spend that on one bag! And the used prices aren't much better, between $150 and $175. Durability is also an issue. I definitely don't want to get this gorgeous bag for an insane price and have it get scuffed and scratched on the bus and in my classes. So I'll probably go replica, off-brand, or get a canvas-type.

7. Angelic Pretty Melty Chocolate

Ah Melty Chocolate. Ever since the replica, you've gone down to a somewhat reasonable price. I contemplated purchasing the replica, but in the end, I think I want the real thing. I have nothing against this replica or many others, but this dress was one of the first I loved when I got back into the fashion. I don't know if I'll ever own it, but it sure is nice to dream. It wouldn't fit into my wardrobe at all, and that's okay. I'd make a whole coordinate around it.

8. Angelic Pretty Whimsical Vanilla-Chan

Vanilla-chan is so cute! It's this little white cat with blue eyes. I like this JSK in the purple and the mint, but purple is really something else. I have a Vanilla-chan look alike ring that I got at Ohayocon. But I haven't had any concrete plans to actually purchase it. Even though it's still available on AP's online shop, I don't think I'll get it anytime soon. Why? Again, I'm primarily a kuro/bittersweet lolita and this is very much not in that area of the spectrum. But maybe someday.

I think that's it. I can't think of anything else I want that isn't on my wish list page. They all ended up being jumper skirts, something I wasn't really expecting. But over half this list is made up of off-brand items, making it a rather affordable wish list! Do you want any of these items? Better yet, do you own any of them? Thanks for reading!

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!

Chocolate Paradise

I had such a positive response to last week's strawberry shortcake article that I decided to try it again. I wanted to make molten chocolate cakes with peppermint ice cream, but that seemed hard and school is taking up a lot of my time right now with finals and all. My dad requested that I make these little cakes after seeing them on TV. If you watch the Food Network a lot like I do, you might see the commercial with this recipe on it. This is an Ina Garten one, one of my favorite chefs on there.

1/4 lb unsalted butter at room temp. (one stick, I left mine out overnight)

1 cup sugar

4 large eggs at room temp. (I left these out too)

16 fluid oz Hershey's Chocolate Syrup (it comes in cans, one can works)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 cup AP flour

1 teaspoon instant coffee

For the Ganache:

1/2 cup heavy cream

8 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 teaspoon instant coffee

This is a cupcake recipe. I don't like to make cupcakes because they're messy and it's hard to aim the batter at the little cups. I didn't do too terribly this time, but I certainly prefer full-size cakes. Preheat your oven to 325 F (160 C) and line your muffin pan with the little paper cups for making cupcakes and muffins. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until it gets light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each one. It sort of turns this yellow-ey color when you add the eggs in. Like a custard. Anyhow, now it's time for the chocolate! If you bought the 16 oz can like I did, you pour all of it in. If you didn't, then you'll have to measure it out with a liquid measuring cup. Using syrup instead of powder makes the cakes more moist. Adding Hershey's syrup to box brownies has the same effect. Mix in the chocolate and add the instant coffee. Now, you add the flour. Just like last week, don't mix the flour too much, or the cakes will be tough. Just mix it until it combines and turns a light brown color. Yum! Your batter is finished. But don't lick the spoon! There are raw eggs in there, so unless you used pasteurized ones, you could get sick. Now, you pour the batter

into the cups. Don't over-fill them, but about 3/4 of the way works well. Then put them in the oven for half an hour. Mine only took 25 minutes, so makesure you check them after a little while. To check if they're done, stick a clean toothpick or butter knife (or even a chopstick) into the center of the cakes. If it comes out clean, they are baked through. If not, put them back in for a few minutes until the stick does come out clean. Don't they look tasty?

While your cakes are baking, you can go ahead and make the ganache. It sounds fancy and hard to make, but it couldn't be easier. Grab yourself a double boiler and put some water in the bottom. In the top part, put the chocolate (8 oz, by weight!), the heavy cream, and the instant coffee. As the water below heats up, the pot on top will too, melting the chocolate. Stir this occasionally. It sort of looks like a chocolate hurricane here. The light part on the outside is the cream that has already mixed with some chocolate, while the dark part in the middle is pure melted chocolate. Stir it a little and it will all come together. This recipe made so much ganache! Enough for two batches of cupcakes at least. Don't put it in the fridge though, it will not end well. As long as it stays at room temperature, it's fine. This stuff is great on ice cream, in crepes, or on fruit. I don't think you could use it to make chocolate covered strawberries, since those set up in the fridge. But you could make chocolate fondue with it, as long as everything is going straight into your tummy~

Once your cakes are out of the oven, let them cool for about half an hour before dipping them. Since this is ganache and not icing, to coat the tops of the cakes, you should take the cake by the bottom (wrapper covered part) and just dip the tops straight into the ganache. Don't be stingy, make sure the tops get completely coated. Now, you can eat them! I paired them with Moroccan Mint tea. The mint tea is refreshing, and it's crisp taste balances the chewy chocolate cake. Of course, milk is also a viable option. I garnished these with a mint sprig, but there's no reason to other than to make them look a little prettier. The recipe made 16 full-size cupcakes.

The coordinate I made to go with this uses one of my favorite prints, Melty Chocolate.

Minty Melty Cupcakes by Cat91151 featuring cream jewelry

I used the mint colorway to match with the mint tea. I went with the cardigan instead of a blouse. I wanted a sweet look, and all of the brown blouses I found were classic. I chose mint stockings instead of brown ones so I could use brown shoes. Brown shoes are easier to come by than mint ones. A brown bag to match the shoes, and then you can add your choice of jewelry. I found a myriad of chocolate and sweet-themed jewelry, you could go a completely different direction with this if you wanted. I want this dress in this colorway. It's sweet, but you could coordinate this with some classic pieces for a more classical look.

I'm planning to do this type of post again next week if I can. This week and next week are my finals weeks, and so I have a lot of school work due. If you have any questions for me, please let me know on my formspring.

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.

Versailles Rose Bouquet and Rapunzel Doll Dress

Baby the Stars Shine Bright has yet another set of reservation items up on their site. This time, there are two sets, the Rapunzel Doll Dress and the Versailles Rose Bouquet set. I'll be talking about both sets today.

Here's the first one, the Rapunzel Doll Dress. I have to say, I'm not a fan. It's sort of matronly in my opinion. I had high hopes when I saw the name, since just a few weeks ago they released the Scent of Rapunzel print. However, this is what I found. It also comes in black with silver and red accents, but there's no picture of this color. If I could see it in the black, I might be more interested. There's only the dress in this set, no accessories, no jumper, no skirt version. I really don't have much to say about this one, so I'll move on.

Now here's something that I'm interested in. This is Versailles Rose Bouquet. There are two jumpers, a skirt that isn't pictured, two hairbows, a bonnet, a tiara, a pair of socks, and a necklace. If I had the money right now, I'd be ordering this tomorrow.

It's $301 for just a jumperskirt, and I'd want the dress, hairbow, and perhaps the socks. It comes in off-white, pink, sax blue, red (an increasingly popular color), and black, so there's a color for everyone. What's interesting about this print is that each colorway has a different name. For example, the blue is called "blue moon," the black is called "black ice," and so on. If I were buying this, I think I'd go for either this blue version (above) or the cream. The print is delicate flowers, perfect for spring. It would work very well in classic, country, or even a more demure sweet coordinate. I don't like the bonnet though, I think it's kind of silly. That's the only piece in the series that I don't like. Also, it's almost $140USD!

Well, are you going to order from either of these sets on March 11th? I wish I was. In other news, Tekkoshocon (the con I work for) is coming up really soon! Are you going to be there? If you aren't planning on coming, you should check it out! Click on the website link and see if you can make it!

Old Prints

I'm not usually a fan of older pieces. It's not that I'm a huge fan of the prints that some brands are putting out currently, it's just that I haven't seen a lot of older things that I could see myself actually wearing. But this print by Baby the Stars Shine Bright has really challenged my preferences for newer items. It was re-released in 2008, but I still didn't really like it. And then I found Taobao. I actually like Infanta's version of this print a little more than the original, something that doesn't happen too often in the Lolita world.

Evolution of the Alice Jumper Skirt by Cat91151 on Polyvore.com

As you can see, they basically re-used the same design from 2001 in the remake. I don't care for the lace on the top of the dress, or the fake bolero look. The empire waist version (third from the left) is alright, but those cross neck ties bother me so much when I'm wearing them. Then, there's the Infanta version. The pin-tucks on the bodice, the lack of white lace at the top, the subdued ruffle at the square neck line, I love it all. It's a lot more classically styled than it's inspiration, but it could still be coordinated as sweet or as classic. It's simply lovely, and I can't wait to get my hands on it.

Of course, that being said, I went ahead and used the original release skirt version for this coordinate. The skirt is really quite nice, it doesn't have too much going on, which makes it easy to coordinate.

Curiouser and Curiouser by Cat91151 on Polyvore.com

This top has been sitting in my Polyvore for awhile now, waiting for the right coordinate to come along and use it. I love the black, white, and Alice blue combo here, it's sort of got an airy feel to it. The spade bag brings the card motif home, as well as the spade earrings. Some simple Alice themed jewelry and a black Alice headband bring it all together.

So what do you think about this one? Are there any prints that you prefer the replica of? That's a pretty touchy topic in the greater online Lolita community now, but I personally think that replicas aren't always a terrible thing.

Also! I realized there are some mistakes and confusions about my giveaway. It is +1 for a tweet or Facebook (once only), +1 for a blog post (once only), +2 for a coordinate (once per week), +1 for a comment (once per post), and +1 for answering about your favorite Alice in Wonderland related thing. I have updated the original post with this, I hope everyone wasn't too confused!