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!!

New Year's Contest

Hello! I am officially bringing The Elegant Wardrobe off of hiatus just in time for the new year! And what better way to celebrate the end of '11 than a contest! All you have to do is post in the comment section your email address, and what your New Year's resolution(s) will be, lolita or not. Each person can enter one time, and three winners will be selected at random. Of course, feel free to re-blog/facebook/tweet about the contest as much as you want! The contest will end at midnight EST on the 8th, and the winners will be announced on the 9th.

The prize? It's a handmade, Chocomint-inspired two-way clip! If you win, you get to choose the color(s), shape, and decorations for your one of a kind clip. There are some samples in the pictures, but if you have an idea for something different, I can try my best to make it. There are circles (doughnuts), stars, and hearts available, in pink, blue, white, or rainbow

pastel yarn. So I hope there are bunches of entries and everyone has a happy new year!

Left: decorated white star

Right: Pink doughnut, split star (pink/blue)

Above: Blue stars/hearts, rainbow stars

Happy Bloggiversary!

Well, it's been about a year since I started writing The Elegant Wardrobe. I started this blog as a re-route for people that come to my lolita panels. It's become more than that though. It's not just the basics anymore. I'm pretty happy with the direction it's been going recently, but there are a few things I'd like to change. I'd like to be posting more, but I don't want to post fluff. If that means that my post count stays low like the past few months, then so be it. I'd like to change the layout again soon, so look forward to that. Finally, I'd like to do more as far as giveaways, contests, promotion, and stuff like that. So look forward to all that, tell your friends about this blog, and thank you so much for reading and supporting this blog for one year!

BABY/AATP Fashion Show Pt. 3 - Baby The Stars Shine Bright

Since the Alice and the Pirates article took me so long, I decided to split the two halves of the show into two posts. All the pieces in this second half were designed by Kano herself, as the pieces in the Alice show were designed by Mitsuba. None of my personal pictures came out for these either, so these are again all from the Anime News Network. I did take this video as well as the AATP one, this one didn't come out as well as the previous one did for some reason. Perhaps they adjusted the lights on the runway. Perhaps it's because many of the outfits feature lighter colors. I'm not too sure, but please enjoy it!

I'll get right to it with the outfit rundowns. I was able to track down almost every piece!

Here's the first model, isn't she lovely? They actually cut her hair to better frame her face! She's wearing a sweet/country coordinate, made up of a skirt and blouse combination. The skirt is pretty new on the site, the name of the print is Early Summer Chocolate Strawberry Parfait, what a mouthful! She's also wearing the matching socks. The hat is from the Chained Berry Memoir series. This blouse was difficult to track down, but I think it's the shirred Babydoll blouse. The bag is a popular design from BABY, but it is this specific version with the white trim. The shoes are the Crema Ribbon Shoes. Overall, this coordinate is quite sweet with a touch of country, perfect for the springtime!

Here's model number two, my friend Starberry! Her outfit was so frilly, not at all her usual style. The dress is the Creamy Alice Decoration OP, and I'd never seen it before this show. The apron is to match this dress, but I was unable to find a picture of it. It's the Creamy Alice Apron, and she says the little cookie buttons are an addition that the designer decided to add on. She's also wearing one of my favorite hair pieces of all time, the Amy Miel bonnet. I think it's adorable and it's one of few bonnets I'd actually purchase for myself! I was unable to track down her socks, but her shoes are the Antique Ribbon shoes. The puppet is not currently available, but isn't he cute? The idea behind her coordinate was Alice in a garden party, and I think they did a nice job with it, don't you?

The Versailles Rose twin look. I'm personally glad they chose this look to be the twinning look. This dress is so versatile in coordination and they did a good job showing that. I'll talk about the pink outfit first. The pages for this print on the BABY moved over to their sale page, the pink outfit is the Rosary version of the jumper. She's also wearing the Chiffon Princess Dress blouse, which is so pretty for the summer time. That headpiece is the Antoine Bouquet head bow, but it's really not a bow at all. For her shoes, she has the Jenny Ribbon shoes paired with the matching Versailles Rose socks. Her parasol is the classic Lace and Frill umbrella, and is in fact waterproof.

Now on the right, the red version of the dress. This is the Carlotte version of the jumper, in red. She's also got the matching bonnet and socks. The rest of the items (blouse, shoes, parasol) used in this outfit are the same as above, but in different colors. She's wearing a pink blouse and a pink parasol, whereas the other uses the same items in white.

To be honest, Unico in Bloomland was not impressive to me when it was first released. The print was cute, but BABY has a tendency to only release items in colorways that they've used before. I'm getting tired of seeing prints on black, white, pink, blue, brown, and navy. But when I saw this dress in person, I was pleasantly surprised. I really like how it looked in the navy. They have it paired with a short sleeve blouse in pink, the printed headbow, and matching socks. Her shoes are again, the Jenny Ribbon shoes, this time in pink. She also has a large Usakyuma as an accessory. Overall, I think the navy highlights the color of the print but isn't a harsh contrast. I would have been thrilled to see a release with a lavender option, but alas no luck. Maybe next time.

Claudia, The Fairytale Princess. I saw this dress online and thought it was spectacular, and seeing it in person only made me love it more. There's a subtle print on the dress that's hard to see online. The material is luxurious and has a slight shimmer to it. It's a dress truly fit for a princess. Here, they have it coordinated with the matching hairpiece and wrist cuffs. Her socks are the Anise Rose socks, currently on sale, and the shoes are the Antique Ribbon shoes in brown. Finally, that bag is the Rose Ribbon Basket bag, isn't it perfectly suited to Snow White? It's a real purse lined with fabric and everything, but the outside is made to look like a straw basket. Overall, a lovely outfit that would cost you a pretty penny to obtain.

Second to last outfit and it's all pink~ This is the Rose Boudoir one piece with the matching bonnet. She has the Anise Rose socks on also, this time in pink. And again the Jenny Ribbon Shoes, the same ones from the Unico in Bloomland coordinate. She's holding a scepter, not currently available from BABY. This coordinate was not a favorite of mine. I think if they had done this dress in more of a hime style coordinate it would have been more successful. While on the runway, the model here bent over in a pose and her bonnet slipped. If you watch the video, you'll see it happen. She was able to fix it, but in the process she exposed the wig cap. I felt so bad for her! When the models came back out at the end it was fixed, thank goodness.

The final coordinate, BABY's wedding dress. I had a hard time tracking this dress down, but I believe it's the Princess Dreamy one piece. It's quite stunning, isn't it? She's wearing the Sheltine socks and I believe the Emily Lace up shoes. Her gloves are the Princess Ribbon long gloves, but again, the scepter isn't available currently from BABY. Her hair piece is a mystery to me. I know it was made to match the dress, but I can't find a record of it existing anywhere! I thought they would bring the wedding dress as a finale piece, and I wasn't wrong. It's a traditional way to end a fashion show and I was glad to see BABY uphold that for this one.

At the end of the show all the models walked out again and there was

much clapping. Then the designers came out for their Q&A session. It was cut short because the show started late, but a few good questions were asked. I would have liked to ask them about what they like to wear and if they're allowed/interested in wearing other brands of lolita fashion. I didn't think of it at the time though. You can read a transcript of their Q&A on the Anime News Network, as well as see larger versions of all these pictures and more! I hope you have enjoyed my coverage of this show, even though it's taken so long to complete. I hope I have an opportunity to see another fashion show like this one again soon!

BABY/AATP Fashion Show Pt. 2 - Alice and the Pirates

I left off with finally being able to go into the panels room where the show was being held. I say panels room because that's what it was technically called. But the room was massive! I talked a staff member into letting me sit where I wanted to and got a fantastic seat because of it! I had my boyfriend with me to take pictures while I filmed. Unfortunately, none of my actual pictures came out. But my video did! And here it is!

First up was Alice and the Pirates. This was, in my opinion, the better half of the show. Maybe it's because I'm a fan of properly put together boy-style. But I have pictures from Anime News Network and I spent an ungodly amount of time tracking down pieces of the outfits. So I have pictures taken by a pro and outfit rundowns for every outfit in the show!

Here's the first model! Isn't she adorable? This is the A/P Cafe set with the matching head bow in the black color way. On their page, it's shown in blue, but I like it much more like this. They paired it with striped socks embroidered with a wheel emblem. Even though you can't see it in the picture, she's wearing white platform shoes. There's an amazing amount of poof in all the petticoats used for the show! Each model is wearing bloomers and two or three tulle petticoats for maximum poofy-ness. And the designers were tugging and pinning and straightening them up until the moment each model walked out on the stage. The result? Gorgeous, full dresses and completely modest pictures.

The second model was for boy style! I have to say, I'm a big fan of Alice and the Pirates' boy style looks. Which is why I was confused when their model call said they weren't looking for male models. They did up a few girls in boy style looks, but I still think it would have been better to ask for actual males and only choose a few. The blue parts of this outfit are the Stripe Clan Ribbon set, pants and vest. I wasn't able to locate this exact blouse, but the Otranto Blouse is fairly similar and would look just as fantastic. The socks paired with this are simple lace topped black ones. The shoes I believe are Claris Tassel shoes, but I could be mistaken. Finally, she's wearing the famous "Mad Hatter" hat, long sold out on A/P's site.

The third model was wearing one of my favorite prints of all time, Scent of Rapunzel. They put her in the one piece version and I have to say, I was not a fan of it until I saw it on a person. But it's actually quite nice and the faux bolero isn't pronounced at all. The sleeves are slightly sheer, which breaks up the color of the dress. She's also wearing the matching bonnet and socks. Many of the outfits featuring prints were coordinated like this, with all the matching pieces in the set. She's wearing the Sylphide shoes, which I think made the outfit look a little more mature. Bonnets have the tendency to make a coordinate look sweeter and more child-like, and with these shoes it gave the outfit a bit of an edge.

Another boy style outfit. Actually, I think this one is more of a male-aristocrat style which is refreshing to see from AATP. This outfit uses my favorite vest on their site, the Chain Bouquet vest. Why it's called that, I'm really not sure. The pants I believe are the basic Wide Pants. As for the shoes, these pants come so far down on the model that you can hardly see them! They have wooden soles, and from what I can tell, they are the Tassle Shoes or the Wood Sole Shoes. There's also a blouse in this coordinate, but I've been unable to identify it. It could be any one of the long sleeved blouses that come in black. The headpiece has also eluded me. There isn't anything similar on their site currently but the most similar piece I've found in my research is the Necrophilia hat from 2009.

The Night Fairy Fantasia coordinate. If you read my previous post, then you know how I feel about this print. I was hoping that they would bring a version with them and I was not disappointed. They brought the first version of the jumper skirt in the tan/brown color, which I liked much better when I saw it in person than on the site. It's paired with the Curiewel blouse for a classic pirate look. She's also wearing the matching hair bow. For the bottom portion of the coordinate, they pulled out my favorite pair of shoes, the cross belt boots and a plain pair of socks. I really liked how they styled her hair too, in the half pulled back look.

This is one of my favorite outfits in the whole show. An almost perfect shiro boy-style coordinate. She was styled so perfectly too. The coat from this outfit is from the Mercurius set, as are the pants. This coat is so fancy looking, with the buttons and the tails in the back. But I prefer the set in black. This blouse I believe is the Griottines blouse, with the cravat attached. I was unable to identify the shoes and tights used in this outfit, but the hat is the Caladrius silk hat. Overall, the ensemble has a very dapper look to it, I'd love to see what it would look like in all black. I have a good friend that would look fantastic in the black version, it's too bad most of these pieces are sold out on the website.

The final coordinates for Alice and the Pirates came out as a pair. On the left we have a sweeter classic coordinate and on the right a sort of pirate aristocrat type look. I'll talk about the one on the left first. This dress is the jumper skirt version of one of Alice and the Pirate's most recent prints up for reservation, Melty Mermaid Princess. In fact, it just went on sale a few days ago on their site. She's wearing it in white and I have to say, I actually do like it after all. The blouse is not something I've seen before on their site, perhaps it's new? She's wearing the matching headpiece and socks, both in white. Her shoes are these ones in black, I'm not sure why they brought black instead of white for this outfit.

Now on the right, the male coordinate uses the most fantastic coat, the Jerenile vest. I think it could work well in a punk or even a visual-kei type outfit. These pants are from the same set and were on the website up until a few days ago. They seem to be gone now though. The blouse is another mystery; I can't find any record of it existing. It's quite similar in style to the Otranto blouse and the Julius blouse. The hat is the Abelia hat with the chain removed. The shoes are these Tassle shoes again, and the socks are not visible underneath the long pants. The look is well put together, and again all I can think of is how fantastic it would look on my aforementioned friend.

This is the end of the Alice and the Pirates portion of the show. Since this post ended up so much longer than I expected, I decided to break the two into two posts. Next time, I'll detail the outfits from the Baby the Stars Shine Bright half of the show. To see larger images of all of these outfits, please check out the Anime News Network page! Until then~

Oh BABY! Baby The Stars Shine Bright/Alice and the Pirates Fashion Show Pt. 1

I was so excited to be able to attend Otakon this year. Not only because I'm a big fan of anime and Japanese culture, but because BABY announced that they would be sending Kano from BABY and Mitsuba from AATP. If you've been following my blog, then you'll know that BABY is my favorite brand of all time. So naturally, I was ecstatic to see the show. My friend was even modeling in it!

Because I had a friend modeling in the show, she was able to get me backstage before the event. But to do this, I had to get up at 5:30 AM to get there by 6. Considering we were working on our panel until 3:30, this was nearly impossible. But I managed and we made the five block trek down to the Hyatt. It helped that I was excited to be able to see how Brand fashion shows are run. Once everyone had gathered at the Hyatt, we went over to the convention center.

They took us through the back way, through the loading docks and the other operations areas. Eventually we ended up in a green room backstage. The designers wasted no time handing out outfits and bags of accessories. Each outfit consisted of hung clothing pieces in plastic protectors, shoes in a box, and a bag full of accessories! Everything they brought was designed by either Kano or Mitsuba themselves, and every item was from either this season or last season.

Once the models were all dressed (minus petticoats, bloomers, and socks/shoes), the hair and make-up people started coming in. These were all professionals as far as I understood, and it showed. I watched as girls got their hair straightened, teased, curled, and pinned into the most beautiful styles. A few were told to wear wigs, provided of course, by BABY. The designers were very hands-on in all of this. My friend got her hair curled by Kano herself. That was what

surprised me the most about the show, how the designers were doing make-up, fixing hair, helping girls into outfits, and generally making sure everyone looked fabulous right up until the start of the show. On the right of this page you can see Mitsuba, the designer from AATP, tying a bow onto one of the models. Left, there are hair action shots, as two models get their hair done. Mind you, this is still two hours before the show.

The models and designers were kind enough to allow me to take pictures of the process of getting ready for the show. So if any of them are reading, I'd like to thank them for their kindness to me. Everyone was so polite and it really made my weekend being

able to see everything happening.

At this point, I started to get concerned about getting a good seat. So I left the backstage area

and got in line for the show. The convention center opened to the public at 8, and at 8:15 there were still about 20 people ahead of me. I waited two hours in that line. I didn't really talk to anyone, but there were some fabulous lolitas in front and behind me. I especially liked the guy in front of me with the A/P Treasure Chest Bag.

Finally, they were ready to let us in.

I'll be publishing my story of the second half of this event along with pictures, video, and outfit rundowns in the next few days. Please look forward to it!!

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!

Contest! Country Coordinates and Crafts!

I've been trying to come up with a fairly straightforward contest for this month. While I really liked how the last one went, I wanted something with a creative element and less math. So I decided to do a coordinate contest. But then I thought, some people don't like to make coordinates, but they can draw or do some crafting. This spurred the idea for a crafting contest. Country lolita has a distinct handmade element to it that isn't as prevalent in many other styles. I'm not so great at crafting myself, but I wanted to pay homage to that handcrafted idea this month. So there are actually two contests, two ways to win, and two prizes.

The first contest is simply a coordination contest. You make a country-themed coordinate using Polyvore, Photoshop, or from your own wardrobe (with a photograph of all the elements together, it does not have to be worn). Then you email the coordinate to me at Theelegantwardrobe@gmail.com with a short description of the items you used. At the end of the contest, I'll post the winning coordinate here!

The second contest is a little different. What you can do is completely up to you, but it has to be a craft and it has to be country themed. Other than that, the sky's the limit! You can make an accessory, hairpiece, draw a picture, whatever! The only thing I ask is that you do not send photography unless you'd like to be entered into the coordinate contest. Whatever you make, take a picture of it At the end of the contest, I'll pick up to three winners! I may pick fewer though depending on the number of entries. The winner(s) will be posted here along with the coordinate contest winner.

Now the fun part, the prizes! I've thought about these a lot! The prize for the winner(s) of the crafting competition will be these adorable Hello Kitty gingham wallets! The winner of the coordinate will receive some strawberry-print stationary sets! All winners will receive a strawberry-scented Hello Kitty eraser too! Everything is really cute and country-themed! Prizes are subject to change based on availability.


The contest will end on Friday, July 1st 2011 at 11:59PM EST. I'll announce the winners the next day, July 2nd. If you have any questions on how the contest works, you can let me know in the comments section below. I hope that lots and lots of people enter!

Some Changes and Updates to The Elegant Wardrobe

Hey all! It's been a long and hectic week since I've last posted here. I've recently taken in a stray kitten and it's been literally demanding all of my attention. I haven't forgotten about this blog, the 30 Day Challenge, or any of you readers. I've decided to make a few changes based on the recent poll results and the feedback I've gotten from friends and readers alike.

The first major change will be to do away with Coordinate Tuesday as a segment. It's not as popular as I had hoped it would be, and as a result, I'm just going to get rid of it. However, it will be replaced with something I'll be calling "Cute Coordinates." It's along the same lines as coordinate Tuesday, just not limited to Tuesdays. I'll try and do one a week or so, but this way it will be a little more random and I won't feel like I have to get a coordinate out every Tuesday.

Second, I'll be changing how the monthly theme works. Instead of being every month like it has been previously, the themes will be every other month and last for two months. They'll also be more loosely based themes. I may decide to do special months with a very strict theme (like Alice or the princesses months were), but in general the themes will be very loose and open to lots of interpretation. In the future I may decide to do away with it except for special months, but for now I want to have it like this.

I will be continuing the 30 Day challenge as planned, but on a much slower time frame than I had originally intended. I'm looking forward to working on more of those, but right now I don't have time to do as many posts a week as I was doing.

Reader requests are always appreciated! If there's something you'd like to see here, please email me your ideas at theelegantwardrobe@gmail.com! Chances are, you'll see it here! I hope to do another contest soon, this time with some sort of creative component maybe! I now work for an awesome Japanese goods import shop, so my prize options are endless! As always, thank you for reading and I hope to get some more posts up soon!

[EDIT] New background and colors! What do you think? Answer on the poll!

30 Day Lolita Challenge - Day 4

Alright, challenge day 4. I know it's been a few days since the last one, but my goal is just to complete the list, not necessarily in 30 consecutive days. Today's challenge, 10 foods I like. I'm not sure what this has to do with lolita really, but sure, we'll go with this. These are in no particular order.

1. Berries of all kinds

I love berries! They're one of my favorite things about summer! My favorites are blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries. My mom actually planted me some berry bushes in the back yard a couple years ago. We get so many tasty berries all summer long. We make pies, jam, and just eat them plain. I especially like blueberries and granola in vanilla yogurt for breakfast.

2. Mussels + Fries

Whaaat? Mussels and french fries?? You must be crazy! WRONG! This is absolutely delicious. It's a popular dish in Belgium. The mussels are really fresh and surprisingly meaty tasting. The fries are twice fried and served with basil mayo. The mussels are available in three different sauces, classic white wine (my favorite), red curry (my sister's favorite), and tomato fennel (it was okay). Then there's plenty of crusty french bread to get all the yummy white wine broth up. YUM.

3. Sushi

Aww yeah, sushi! In addition to running lolita events and panels at cons, my boyfriend and I do

a popular Japanese food panel at our local cons. Sushi is one of my top comfort foods. Whenever I feel sad, I want to eat it and it cheers me up. Not typical, yes. But very tasty. My favorite is salmon, I don't like tuna, eel, or octopus. I actually don't eat anything with a tentacle period. Funny story: when I was in Japan, my host family took my house mate and I out for sushi the first full day we were there. They didn't speak any English, and my house mate didn't know the names of fishes in Japanese. I made sure to learn the good ones before I left, but I was so exhausted, all I could remember was "kappa maki" (cucumber roll). My host family made fun of me the whole time I was there for ordering that.

4. Ice Cream

Ice cream has to be one of my favorite desserts. Nothing beats an ice cream cone on a hot day. Recently, a new ice cream shop opened up near my apartment. They make the absolute best nutella gelato. It's my current favorite. I also like gold metal ribbon (from Baskin Robbins), banana, cake batter, and plain old vanilla.

5. Mille Crepe

This dessert is so cool! It's made by layering thin, buttery crepes with cream and strawberries. You stack and stack and stack and then it turns into this cake thing. You think "ha! I can do that" but it's hard to make 20 crepes the same size, cooked to the same done-ness. If they aren't, the texture of the cake will be all wrong. I found out about this dessert from an anime, Yumeiro Patissere. I wanted one, but I couldn't find one in my town. Then, I went to NYC last summer. You can find pretty much anything there, and sure enough, I got to try it. So so yummy! You can actually mail order them from Lady M Confections in NYC.

6. Crab Burger

Another weird one! It's like an extra thick crab cake that's cooked and then put on a bun. I like to get avocado, arugula, and garlic mayo on mine. It's a really different burger to get. I don't like meat too much, so this is a great alternative. I do eat regular burgers from time to time, but I love me some crab burger. The crab is creamy and, well, crabby. The outside is crispy. The avocado is creamy and fresh, and the arugula is peppery and earthy. If you can get one in your area, you have to try it!

7. My mom's mac & cheese

So my mom is pretty awesome. Not only is she fun, plays video games, and is really nice to everybody (unless you make her mad, like the lady in the grocery store), but she's also a crazy good cook. She made pasta from scratch the other night!! She can bake, cook, make bread, she's made ice cream, but my favorite thing she makes is mac and cheese. She uses three or four different types of cheese, and some smokey paprika. Then she puts bread crumbs on it and bakes it. It's melty and cheesy and smokey, oh so tasty!

8. Curry

My mom also makes curry. Curry is the best thing to eat when you're sick. It's spicy and warm, which soothes a sore throat. The spicy clears your sinuses. At least that's me. Chicken curry is my favorite. Curry comes in all sorts of forms, Indian, Japanese, Thai, Pakistani, the list goes on. I love Japanese curry with potatoes over rice, but I also love Indian curry with cauliflower and potatoes. I also love Thai curry with chicken and pineapples. I'm so torn between them all, they're all so tasty. The picture is of Japanese curry rice. I know it looks sort of... off, but trust me, it's delicious.

9. Pulled Pork BBQ

Ah, my southern roots show. I was born in Alabama, and both my parents grew up in the south. As a result, their families live down there and my childhood summers were spent road tripping from PA to Florida. On the way, we'd stop at this place, Sonny's BBQ, without fail. I love pulled pork, ribs, cole slaw, hush puppies, fried green tomatoes, the whole shabang. Now, we stop sometimes at Sonny's, and now there's Rib Country in my life. Oh how I miss it.

10. Meat Pizza

This is not your average meat pizza. This pizza has prosciutto on it, the king of all meat. It's covered in this salty prosciutto, with shaved parmesan which is creamy and salty. Then it's topped with fresh arugula. It's a white pizza, so it's not got any tomato sauce on it. It is so so good! The crust is thin and crispy, and there's good olive oil and garlic on there too. Best. Pizza. Ever.

I'm not sure what this really had to do with lolita, but it's sure been fun writing about my favorite foods. I'm quite passionate about cooking and quality foods. In fact, I almost decided to write a food blog. I'd love to go to pastry school and learn to make all the most amazing cakes and baked goods. Writing this made me so hungry though. What's your favorite food? Does it have anything to do with lolita fashion? I hope to get lots of comments about your favorite foods!

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.

Strawberry Season!

I wanted to do something really good to make up for missing a week and a half of posting here. I was also informed that strawberries were on sale down at the local grocery story. Then, something clicked in my head. I present to you, the Strawberry Shortcake baking and coordinate matching special post! Strawberries are a very popular motif in Lolita fashion. They pop up in prints, accessories, purses, and even in headpieces. They're super tasty all by themselves, but put them with cake and you get something even more special. Strawberry shortcake is easy and quick to make, it's very popular in the summertime. Around 4th of July (American Independence Day), I make it and add blueberries to make them a little more festive. I made some individual serving size ones this afternoon andI'd like to share the process with you all!

1 Quart Strawberries, hulled and quartered

1/4 cup + 3 tablespoons sugar

2 cups AP flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold

2/3 cup + a little extra half and half

Sweetened whipped cream (I like Redi Whip, or I make my own)

The recipe I used is from Paula Deen. I'm not a huge Paula fan, but with desserts, I trust her. The recipe is really simple, I only had to buy the half and half and the strawberries. I bought two pounds of strawberries, and I used them all up. Some of them were small and normal sized, but some were these ginormous strawberries the likes of which I've never seen! Both sizes were tasty though.

Anyhow, you have to pull the leaves off the strawberries and wash them. Then, you cut the top off a little and hull them. This means you take the tip of the knife and you cut around the white part in

the middle of the strawberry. Then it sort of pops out, leaving just a little white and all the red. Then you quarter them (or cut them more if they're huge ones, I cut my huge ones into six or even nine). Once you have a quart of them (that's four cups), then you pour the 1/4 cup of sugar over them and mix 'em up! Set these aside and let them get all tasty while you make the cakes.

Now, take your food processor and combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and 3 tablespoons of sugar. Use the pulse setting to combine these. I spent half an hour trying to make my food processor work. Hopefully, you know how to use this machine and you don't cut yourself on the blade! After you combine the flour mixture, then you want to add the cubes of butter, one or

two at a time, then pulse to combine. Once they're all in, pour the mixture out into a large mixing bowl. Add 2/3 cup of half and half and mix it all up. You can mix it with a rubber spatula, or you can go the hand route. I mixed it up by hand. You have to be careful to only mix it just enough to make it combine. If you mix the dough too much, then the biscuits will betough. Once it's just combined and sticky, then get yourself a floured surface (hint:wooden cutting boards are really nice for this) and turn the dough out onto it.

Now you have your dough. Fold it over on itself a few times so that all the crumbly bits combine into it. Be careful to not squish it too much, it will still get tough if you kneed it too much. Sort of push it together into a 3/4 inch thick slab o' dough. Now, you take a round cookie cutter and cut out 3 inch round biscuits. They

don't have to be 3 inches, but they should probably be round and not too small. I got six biscuits out of my dough.

Place the rounds on a cookie sheet with parchment paper covering it. Using a pastry brush, brush each biscuit with some of the remaining half and half, and sprinkle each with sugar. This will make them golden brown on top, and add a little sweetness too! Put them in a 400 degree fahrenheit oven (that's 205 Celsius) for between 10 and 13 minutes. Mine took 11 minutes exactly. Watch them towards the end, especially if your oven is finicky or new. They'll be done when they have risen and are golden brown on the top. Take them out and let them cool a little bit before digging in.

I waited a good five minutes before making my shortcake. You cut the biscuit in half and fill it with the strawberries, juice in the strawberry bowl, and plenty of whipped cream. Put the other half back on top and ta da! Strawberry shortcake! I paired this dessert with Darjeeling tea. From the name, to the taste, Darjeeling tea is pure elegance. It comes from the Darjeeling region of India, grown in the mountains and harvested, processed, and packaged close to the growing site. It is known as the "Champagne of teas," and is prized in England for its light and

floral flavor. Darjeeling is a good choice to pair with sweets, and is often served at fancy English tea parties. It pairs especially well with strawberries, making it the ideal choice to go with this strawberry shortcake. I add a little sugar and sometimes a little milk to mine. Many people don't like milk in their tea, but I do! Point of interest: do not add both milk and lemon to your tea. I have a friend who did this, and the citric acid from the lemon curdled the milk, making the whole cup undrinkable.

The coordinate I made to go with the dessert is called "Strawberry Time." The phrase "strawberry time" actually refers to the time in which two lovers confess their feelings to each other and become a couple. Here, I used it to refer to it being strawberry season, literally time for strawberries.

Strawberry Time! by Cat91151 featuring a wolford hosiery

I went a little country on this, with this really cute straw hat-hairband hybrid thing. The dress has a strawberry and cherry print and is a 2010 release from BABY the Stars Shine Bright. Simple strawberry jewelry and a strawberry bag from Bodyline completes the shortcake theme. This would be a great coordinate to have right now. The long sleeve blouse is good for this 50 or 60 degree weather that we've been having recently. It's not too thick, but the long sleeves will keep you warm. In the warmer months, the long blouse could be switched out for a short sleeve one. You could also wear a cardigan or bolero over a short sleeve blouse now, since during the day is a little warmer and then the evening comes, the sun sets, and it gets cold.

Did you enjoy this super special dessert coordinate double post as much as I did? I have five more strawberry shortcakes here, I think I'll go eat one now. I'm looking forward to coordinate tuesday this week, as I have a reader submission! I'm so so excited to have my very first reader submission to put up this week! If you want to make a coordinate for this Tuesday, it's not too late! Email it to me: cat91151@gmail.com and I'll put it up here!