Lolita52 - Part G

22. How I accessorise

• Head accessory - head bow, floral head band, various clips (I love nautical-themed ones!)
• Necklace - usually something toned down, like a resin cabochon, or if I'm going for lavish classic Lolita, a long and intricate vintage looking piece
• Bracelet - I usually only wear my Seiko watch, because I don't have many wrist ornaments which suit my current (classic) style. I think bracelets look super cute with sweet though!
• Ring - rings are so cheap to buy and easy to pair, but I don't wear acrylic jewellery with classic, only sweet

23. What influences my Lolita style

• What I saw in people's wardrobes when I first got into Lolita - most of the wardrobes I looked at when I first went on egl in January '14 were sweet, so quite obviously the prints I liked from sweet wardrobes were also biased towards sweet Lolita!
• As I started looking through more wardrobes and older pieces, I realised that classic Lolita is a lot easier to wear on an day to day basis. Tumblr has also influenced me a lot because, to be honest, classic coord photosets are usually nicer than sweet
• I look for pictures of people with similar body shapes and skin tones to me, and see what they look nice in! One of the negatives of wearing Lolita fashion is that you can't try before you buy, which makes purchasing a really inefficient process. I try to be influenced and follow people like that because then I have an idea of what would look good on me

24. What's in my makeup bag

Very simple things! I don't usually take much around with me during the day, but here's a run down of what I use on my face regularly for Lolita outfits

• moisturiser (Laneige water sleeping mask) - it's water based and easy to use with my foundation / bb cream
• bb cream (Za UV white) - light coverage, great for evening out small differences in skin tone. Good staying power once powdered
• foundation (essence matte liquid foundation) - cheap, but very good coverage, can look cakey with powder
• eye liner (solone gel like smoody pencils) - so cheap but great performance. They glide on smoothly, blend nicely before they're set and stay put until removed. These can also be used as eye shadow sticks
• eye shadow (Woolworths classics palette) - a neutral palette with colours which match easily
• blush (etude house cookie blush / cupcake all over colour) - the cookie blushes are pressed powder, can be built up and come in nice matte shades (which I love!). The cupcake all over colour tins are very nice, although don't built up very well in my opinion
• mascara (revlon something or other) - generic mascara, not waterproof but I think I will buy the waterproof one from bourjois soon as I used to have and adore

Lolita52 - Part F

Skipping 17, so I can blog that after my Easter meet with the Brisbane Rufflebutts :3

18. Trends I thought I would never get into, but I now love

- I think classic is the biggest "thing". I started out loving the OTT prints prevailing in sweet Lolita, but I find myself pining after pieces / outfits which are in the classic substyle far more now.

- Long sleeved blouses. I first started wearing Lolita in Summer, and swore that I would only ever wear short sleeved blouses. Long sleeved blouses are actually super versatile and comfortable to wear, especially chiffon :1

- Head bows. I thought they were silly, but that was because I'd only seen the OTT ones. I now think they're very beautiful

19. Trends I thought I loved, but now I'm not too keen on
- Definitely a few of the "big" AP prints, like Milky Planet and Sugary Carnival. Whilst I still think they're nice, they're not to-die-for any more xD
- I first thought that antlers and fawn print was very cute, and they still are, but I realise I would never wear them myself

20. How satisfied I am with my current wardrobeVery happy! I'm sort of questioning my purchase of the Infanta Sleeping Beauty dress, and may sell it because it's too OTT for me. Other than that dress, I think my other pieces are all fairly wearable and I'll be keeping them for the foreseeable future :D

21. Plan for a trip! A week's worth of Lolita outfits I can fit in a small suitcase

Hmm so 7 days' worth of Lolita? (note that all the dresses are JSK's because I personally find them to have very different looks when paired with different blouses, ideal for packing light!)

I'd pack:

- AatP Stained Glass Angel JSK (very versatile, just change the blouse and accessories to make different outfits)

- Innocent World Royal Parade JSK (same as the stained glass JSK)

- Innocent World Nicholas Fruits JSK (also easily worn, and looks nice with all light coloured blouses)

- plain black tights, neutral coloured OTKs, lace tights

- 3 different blouses (short/long sleeved, black/white/ivory/other neutral colour)

- black boots (ankle or any other cut)

- brown/white/ivory/black tea parties
- plain jewellery and accessories 

Lolita52 - Part E

13. Lolitas I have met in real life

I've met a few girls from my local community since I've gotten into the fashion~ I regularly see Erin and Charelle at our university Japanese culture club, and have met Kat (suitcase rummage), Bailey (to purchase a salopette), Hannah, Heather and Whitley at Supanova :D

14. Lolitas I would love to meet

I don't have any particular 'Lolita idols', I'd just really like to meet more girls from my local community. If I had to choose though, I would definitely want to see tumblr users 'lostnatsu' and 'victorianme' in person, their coords are always styled in a way that I love!

15. 3 things I wish I was told when I was a new Lolita

- Don't buy all the cheap things!
I've wasted a lot of money buying things that I didn't love as much in person, just because I thought they were cheap. Now I have to find time to list those items and try to sell them ;A;

- Hair accessories are important
I don't mean that in the sweet OTT sense, where girls pile things on, but even in classic Lolita, hair is quite an important aspect to the overall aesthetic of an outfit. I really wish I'd put more effort into getting nice hair pieces, instead of scrambling now xD
- Tights are important too
I started off thinking that brand tights were overpriced. They still are, but taobao has sellers with some wonderful alternatives. At first, I thought that my plain tights and plain OTKs I'd amassed in previous years would cut it, but after looking through the plethora of coords on tumblr, I've come to the realisation that printed tights look much better (imo) and give outfits a nice touch.

16. 10 facts about my Lolita wardrobe

1. It's a mish mash of styles

2. I only have JSKs, and a few skirts/salopettes (I think OPs would sit weirdly on me)

3. I currently have 11 main pieces in my collection

4. I have quite a few Infanta pieces (3)

5. Only my main pieces are 'brand'

6. The only brand 'accessories' I have are a pair of Baby UTKs I received as a gift, and Nicholas Fruit socks I got when I bought the JSK set

7. Right now, I only have 1 head bow, also from the Nicholas Fruits set

8. All my blouses are from a Taiwanese store called 'Lemongrass' in WuFenPu

9. I really need to make a jabot

10. I haven't yet worn 4 of my pieces out of the house

Lolita52 - Part D

9. 5 keywords that describe my personal Lolita style

sweet, classic, safe, motif, fruit

Sweet and classic are quite self explanatory, but what I mean by 'safe' is that I like to play by the rules (except no boleros... never boleros!). As for motif, I seriously love prints focused on one particular item, such as stained glass windows, or the dove (I assume) - and its feathers - in End of Immortal Eden. Fruit is also fairly obvious, if a dress has fruit on it, 99% of the time I'll have the urge to buy it!

10. How I first found out about Lolita
Oh man, this is a loooong story, but hey, we have time!
I basically knew about Lolita fashion (although didn't know what it was called) since around '05, through various manga and just Japanese culture in general.
What really got me started was when I went ice skating with a friend at the beginning of the year (Jan. 2014). There was this girl who was there with her boyfriend, someone my friend knew so they greeted each other, and the girl was in a poofy printed dress! A little while later, my friend asked if I knew what the girl was wearing, to which I replied, "Probably Lolita?" When I got home that night, I went on youtube and searched for the only 'Lolita-like' youtuber I'd come across, VenusAngelic, and chanced upon her "My Strange Addictions" video. After watching that brain-numbing episode, I decided to check out what this fuss about a living doll was, because Emily especially intrigued me. By luck, I read Fyeahlolita's entry on the origins of the "Lolita" fashion, and fell in love with a few dresses after browsing her blog more. In trying to find out more about these newly-adored dresses, I was caught in the Lolita web ;w;

11. 3 trends I wish would come back

Looking at the posts from 2013, I really wish chocolate, stained glass / religiously inspired and book prints would come back! Most of the 2014 releases (bar royal creamy chocolate) have been of prints I have minimal interest in (ie toy animals).

12. Combining other fashions with Lolita

I think this is very hard, and may end up looking "ita". I suppose the easiest (?) may be mixing goth/punk with gothic Lolita, or fairy kei with sweet Lolita, but I personally don't have the confidence to combine Lolita with other fashions yet

Buying Lolita in Pairs

I've come across the odd notion that I mostly buy my dresses in pairs. Weird, but it's true! Let me just illustrate what I mean for you:

- bought Glass Bottle of Tears and Nicolas Fruit (same week)
- Icing Cookie and Musee du Chocolate (same week)
- Emelina and Power & Thrones within the same month (slow month)
- DoL Librarian and Sleeping Beauty (same order)
- Royal Parade and Stained Glass Angel (same week)
- Dark Magic and Bodyline L314 (same month)

It's uncanny, but I think once I fancy and aesthetic, I fall in love with two pieces of it `u`


Does this happen to anyone else? How often do you buy dresses, is the purchase of one relative to another?

Lolita52 - Part C

6. My favourite Lolita brand

My favourite Lolita brand would have to be Innocent World. So many of the dresses I would love to own are by them, although Alice and the Pirates and Juliette et Justine are close runner-ups!

Here are a few of my favourite prints from IW:

 

7. Why I wear Lolita?
It makes me feel pretty, lovely, elegant, cute, lively, reserved, childish all at the same time. Depending on what style I decide to go for, I'm allowed to express myself through one more medium - clothing!

I wouldn't say it's given me more confidence, but it's definitely let me be more.. me which is why I grab every chance I can to wear Lolita fashion.

8. Why don't I wear Lolita more often?

Considering what I've just mentioned above, it's not always appropriate to wear Lolita. As an accounting major, there are often times when a professional image is needed, so I leave my frills at home. Yes, it makes me sad, but I also need to function in the "real world" even if it means wearing mainstream / boring corporate clothing

Lolita52 - Part B

3.  What my own Lolita lifestyle is like 

For me, I occasionally wear my Lolita dresses to university, around 40% of the time, out of 3 days per week. The other 2 week days I usually work, so cannot wear my frills `3` I don't usually wear my dresses at home, only if I'm co-ordinating an outfit and want to see how it looks on
Other times, I just surf the internet looking through tumblr for outfit / coord ideas, lacemarket, egl comm sales and fb groups to try and get things I want. I also spend a good deal of time on taobao, since Chinese indie brands come out with some really great designs!

4. Favorite thing to put on my head

Head bands! They're so low maintenance, and look so cute! I especially like large bows or flowers on head bands. A detail I love about bows is the small charms that sometimes dangle off the sides or middle, it's just so dainty *3*

Plus, they're easily matched with dresses, and even if the prints on some bows are different to dresses, it's fun to mix things up~

5. My wardrobe turnover

Seeing as I only got into the fashion in late January, I haven't actually sold anything off yet! It's currently 0% but I'm guessing it'll be ~10% once I start getting a better idea of what I like / what looks good on me x3

Lolita52 - Challenge, Part A

These are the original 52 topics to blog about, from F Yeah Lolita. I plan on doing a few per week, just for fun, because these questions are all very interesting!

So as a starter, I'll be answering 1 and 2 in this post :D

1.  5 pieces that every Lolita wardrobe should have, regardless of style
   - A good quality petticoat
   - Plain tights with reinforced garters and toes
   - Plain black or white blouse, they're quite versatile!
   - Pair of black mary jane shoes
   - Solid coloured KC
2.  5 movies for Lolitas
   I'll start by saying that I don't think Lolita girls should only watch a specific genre, but I think these would be more universally accepted films to watch in groups :3
   - Finding Nemo
   - A Bug's Life
   - Beauty and the Beast
   - Any of the Harry Potter movies
   - 101 Dalmations

March 2014 Outfits

I only took 2 OOTD photos in March, one sweet and one classic. Hope you enjoy them~

26th March, 2014

JSK: IW Royal Parade

Shoes: Bodyline SHOES165

Bag: Vintage (an aunt gave it to me!)

Blouse, Socks, Headband: Offbrand

28th March, 2014

JSK: Angelic Pretty - Glass Bottle of Tears

Headbow: Innocent World - Nicholas Fruit

Socks: BTSSB 

Necklace: both cake and bottle charms made by myself

Shoes, Blouse, Bag: Offbrand

Introduction!

Hi there!

I like to be known by my handle Empire, and I’m a university student going into my 2nd year of study in a 3-year long course. I’ve only just very recently gotten obsessed with lolita fashion (literally within the last 3 or 4 days) even though I’ve known about it since circa 2006.

I do handicrafts, such as polymer clay miniatures, and am most likely going to post tutorials for handmade sweet loli accessories if my own “expeditions” go well!

This blog will track my adventures with all things sweets related, and here are my goal topics to blog regularly about:

- sweet and classic lolita

- lolita accessory DIYs

- my weight loss journey (a constant battle with my sweet tooth :1)

It’s nice to meet you and I hope you’ll come along for the journey :)

x Empire