°˖✧✝ Birthday Gifts from Myself ✝✧˖°

The crucifix wrapped in thorns is gorgeous,
but check out that custom lace!

I splurged a lot more this year for my birthday than last year. But I didn't end up spending a large amount of money like most would for their birthday. I wanted to try to get as many gifts as I could for the price of paying for one or two gifts. So, instead of dumping my money on a new BABY release, I hunted down five main pieces to add to my closet! And I consider at least two of them being rare items.   

◊ Metamorphose Set

Some of you may recall that I bought a Metamorphose set last year for my birthday too.
I guess this is becoming a tradition.

The first thing I bought was this amazing jacket and skirt set from Metamorphose. I've been eyeing this set for awhile online and watched it get lowered two times. When it was first posted, it was more than $100, and I didn't have the money for it. But when it was lowered to about $80, I knew that I had to get it. I felt as if the price was as good as it was going to get. I paid over $120 for my first Metamorphose set, so getting this one for $85 was a huge bargain for me. And this one is even more detailed than the first!

This is the only picture and information I could find of this set.
I pretty sure they're not from the same series, but their styles are the same.

Aside from the picture above, I've never seen this set before. And unlike the other older pieces in my wardrobe, I actually want to find out the name for it! So, if you may know any information pertaining to this set, please leave a comment!

◊ Algonquins Blouse

I wasn't planning on buying a blouse for my birthday, but after looking at the detail shots of this one, I couldn't think about purchasing anything else. I was going to overlook this piece at first because the blouse's color can come off looking blue, and blue isn't a color I think I can wear well, but the bat wing collar is what peeked my interest in the end. I'm such a sucker for bat wing collars! I'm also a sucker for good deals, so this $28 blouse was something I couldn't pass up.

This Algonquins blouse has easily become my favorite blouse in my wardrobe. And the reasons for that are the little details found throughout the blouse. The pieces I own typically have simpler designs, like this blouse, but I love when there is some type of unique tailoring or a whimsical decoration. And this blouse has both of those additions. Although there are many, the greatest adornment this blouse features is the pinned applique of a bat hanging upside down with the brand's name embroidered across it.

◊ Heart E OP

Okay, so this one is by far the biggest shocker on my list. In this current era of Lolita fashion, we're used to Heart E designs leaning more to a Sweet style. Though, even with their soft pink OPs and polka dot JSKs, the brand has dabbled with Gothic designs way back when (but let's be real, at the height of Gothic Lolita's popularity, every brand tried to partake in the style in some way). Be that as it may, this OP transcends all of my expectations of Heart E and the design looks like an early Moi-meme-Montie piece! That's a bold statement, I know. But look at it! I can easily see Mana wearing an OP like this.

I paid very little for this OP, but obtaining wasn't easy. The processes really took me on an emotional roller coaster ride. When the OP was first posted, the seller was trying to sell it for about $140, which was out of my price range at the time. Even though the dress is undeniably gorgeous, after three weeks and three price decreases, the OP was still up for sale! I took it as a sign, and planned on skipping the Metamorphose set so I could bid on the OP when it was about $100. But when I went to look for the post, it was gone! I was beyond devastated. I honestly felt as if I lost something crucial.

I couldn't get over losing such a dress, so I would check the auction site twice a week hoping that whoever bought it would put it back up for auction. That almost never happens, but I was in complete denial. After three weeks, I was able to accept my loss, and gave up looking. But, for some reason, I had the urge to look one more time during the fourth week. I nearly cried when I saw the listing. And here's the most unbelievable part, I only paid $52 for it! I guess the seller noticed how it wasn't selling and listed it at a lower price to get multiple people to bid on it. But I was the only bidder, so I won it easily at such a low price!


◊ Putumayo Skirts

I had my eye on these skirts on Closet Child for awhile, and honestly, just considered them as being pieces I could use to fill in my wardrobe. I'm in a short supply of skirts, so buying these skirts just seemed like a rational decision, while all of my other purchases were more impulsive. Albeit, my approach was reasonable, but my timing was less than sensible. Of course I would buy two velvet skirts in the summertime, that's so me! I didn't even realize what I had done until I confirmed my purchase. I presume I was focused more on only paying $18 for the first skirt, and $23 for the second.

Sure, I knew finding a time to wear these skirts in the summertime was going to be a hard task, but seeing them in person made me uncover another problem- they're extremely short! They didn't look as short on the mannequin in the stock photos, but on me, they're like mini skirts! I was deceived, by the stock photo, but really, it's my own fault for the misunderstanding. I forgot that even though Putumayo is Lolita friendly, the brand is made more for street wear and can be cut shorter than other Lolita brands. I consider myself lucky though, because of the generous amount of shirring on these skirts, I can get away with pulling them down further on my waist so they won't look as short as they actually are.

*The prices listed includes fees and have been rounded up. They don't include shipping.


I can't wait to wear all of the amazing items I've purchased! I already have a couple of outfits planned that I'm eager about. Expect an Ero outfit from me very soon!

°˖✧ 'Till next time

°˖✧✝Happy Birthday to Me✝✧˖°

After a semester of six classes, a teaching internship, tutoring, projects on top of projects, two twenty page papers, and, to top it off, a thirty page paper, I was dead tired. I just wanted to turn off all of the lights and go to sleep for a week or so (more like a month). So when my birthday came around in mid May, a day before my last class, I didn't really treat it more than a regular day, which is pretty sad, to say the least. But, luckily, my parents were there to help cheer me up and get me through some of my sadness. I didn't get a celebration or cake for my birthday, but I did get a generous amount of spending money from them (thanks to me making the Dean’s List again).

One thing that is worth knowing about my parents is that they are not as open to sub-styles, sub-cultures, or sub- anything for that matter. So when my interests diverge from the normality, they cringe at the idea and cope by making fun and downplaying them. If I had five dollars for every time I heard them say, “This is just a phase” I could finally purchase a Moi Meme Moitie OP straight from the company’s website, including tax and shipping! Therefore, having my parents agree to buy a Lolita dress for me means a lot to me. Well, really, I guess I would have to say that my mother’s actions house the most meaning. It was my mother who actually agreed to buy me something Lolita related and even helped me pick what to get. My father just gave me money and told me to go wild with it (not his actual words, heehee~). I just decided to use some of it for my Lolita wardrobe without him knowing. And I think that’s for the best. As I have seen before, older salary men types and Lolita don’t really match.   

Monma-san and my father are kindred spirits.

The first piece that I was able to snag, after a lot of misses from waiting for mother to give me the money (she REALLY didn't want to pay for a Lolita dress at first), was Innocent World’s Lace Crinoline Bustle JSK on Closet Child. What attracted me to the JSK at first, was its low price of $86. Oh, and that it was black. The site had multiple listing of the same dress which made me a bit weary to its value and construction. Usually, when there are multiple listings, I just look at the first one and not even bother with the others. But I noticed that one of the listing titles was longer than the others, though still bared the same price of $86. When I clicked on it, I saw that the JSK was a different version with a dotted tulle bustle on the back of the dress. From there, I knew that I was going to get it without any questions. The other version of the JSK was just far too plain in comparison.

I don’t know whether this is common for all Lolitas, but I imagine the next step for a Lolita after purchasing a used brand piece that is not as recognizable as Vampire Requiem is to search its origins. However, once I found the dress in question on Lolibrary, I began to feel concerned. The original stock photos made the accent color of the ribbon printed on the fabric look blue, while the pictures on Closet Child looked more purple like a periwinkle, if not lavender altogether. I thought, how the heck did blue turn to purple? And then, a horrible vision of a Lolita continuously dipping the dress into a bucket of hot water whilst evil music ensued clouded my mind. To make sure I wasn't getting some type of washing project gone wrong, I desperately went online to search for personal pictures with up-close detail shots taken from every angle possible. To my relief, all of the pictures showed the color to be bluish purple like the Closet Child photos suggested.

The next piece I was able to acquire is now one of my favorites in my wardrobe. It’s an old school Metamorphose set from the Rakuten second-hand shop, Tokyo Pirates. I’m glad that I found this. It has made me so incredibly happy, so much so that I let out a tiny shriek of glee when my payment was finalized.

Look  at it. It's dripping with such old school tackiness that I adore. If my father ever find out that I spent his money on something like this, he'd never forgive me, hahaha!

Just like with the Innocent World JSK, I went online to do my research on the set’s product information and photos. However, because of the set's age, I went straight to the archives of Old School Lolita's Tumblr page with the high hopes of finding a street snap or stock photo. I just knew that I saw pictures that vaguely resembled my set floating around in a post. After about fifteen minutes or so, I was lucky enough to stumbled across a post of the set's blouse that estimated the construction year to be 2001! A couple of more post into the blog, I was able to find a picture of a girl (model? sales clerk?) wearing the full set. I couldn't help scream out, "THAT'S MY SET!" I'm delighted that I was able to discover the set's different colorways, but, in a way, happier with the one that I bought. The black on black coloring is more pleasing to me and I adore the pink rose accents. The print is very familiar to the vintage dresses that I already have.  

As an added bonus, I found a drawing for my set by none other than the fabulous artist Mitsukazu Mihara! There's nothing new about this picture; it has been floating around the internet and the Lolita community for years. But I would have never noticed that my set severed as one of her references without me looking at every outfit with a peter pan collar, princess sleeves, lace and ribbons without such scrutiny. I nearly fainted when I realized.  

In the group of the three Lolitas, my Metamorphose set is the one on the right next to the tiny Mitsukazu icon at the bottom.

It's like Mitsukazu drawing ME, right? Well, a Lolita can dream. Excuse me while I Photoshop my face on this picture. 

 °˖✧'Till next time