All of My Lolita Purchases of 2016

I've never done a wardrobe post, the yearly Lolita tradition where you photograph the entirety of your recent Lolita wardrobe and put it online for others to see. This practice is one that was created way back during the fashion's EGL LiveJournal era, and although the platform is hardly ever used anymore, some Lolitas go back at the beginning of every year to still post their wardrobes. Though, now through the uses of other platforms, like Tumblr or YouTube, many Lolitas decide to post their wardrobes in other places.

I've been asked before about the possibility of ever making a wardrobe post, but there's so much work that has to be put into doing one, that I usually give up on the idea before I even start. Not only that, but my wardrobe has grown significantly, so there would be a lot to photograph. So instead, to kick off the new year, I've decided to at least show all of the Lolita purchases I've made in 2016, along with showing what my least expensive and most expensive item was this past year! 

All pictures are stock photos or reference pictures taken by the sellers I've bought my items from unless otherwise stated. All items are listed in the order they were purchased, from my first order in January 2016 to my last in December 2016.

BPN (Black Peace Now) Blouse

Coffin Shaped Purse with Read Cross Design 

I bought this specifically to wear with my Lolita outfits,
but I haven't actually worn it with any. I also regret choosing the option for this jarring,
red crucifix  to be printed on the front, since I hardly ever wear red and black
and don't really care for the color combination.

PEACE NOW Jacket 

Here's another piece I've never actually worn.
Honestly, this was something that I didn't really want, but it was so cheap and cool
looking, that I forced myself into buying it.

Patchy Change Purse with Chain

Atelier BOZ Long Organza Skirt

For some reason, in 2016, I was under the impression that I was going to try wearing Aristocrat,
since I do have other long skirts and dresses in my wardrobe (that I also never wear), so
I bought this Atelier BOZ skirt. But the reason why I  never created an outfit with it is because
I don't own any fancy, mature blouses to go with it.

Moi-meme-Moite Blouse 

I need to find a skirt or JSK I can wear this blouse with.
It's surprisingly hard to pair with anything in my wardrobe.

Alice and the Pirates Rectangle Headdress

BABY, the Starts Shine Bright Rectangle Headdress

Patchy 3 Way Bag with Detachable Wings

Words cannot explain how overjoyed I was to obtain this bag.
If material things could make make me cry, this would be the one.
I consider myself extremely lucky to have bought a Patchy bag that was in such good condition,
especially now really old and worn ones are being resold close to $200.
You can read the blog post I wrote about this bag here.

MAM Velvet OP with Detachable Collar and Sleeves 

I'm obsessed with black, velvet Old School Lolita pieces.

MAM Tote Bag

Emily Temple Cute OP

This is my first Emily Temple Cute piece!
I really like how Gothic it looks, even though Emily Temple isn't a Gothic brand.
People really don't believe me when I tell them which brand this OP is from.

Three Pairs of Printed Metamorphose Socks

I haven't yet found a way to wear any of these socks in a coord that doesn't look
like I'm haphazardly trying to shoehorn them into an outfit.

Angelic Imprint 6 Inch Platforms

This are currently my favorite Lolita shoes I've even owned., even if they can get a bit
wobbly depending on different surfaces.

They make my legs look so long!

Feathered Fan

I bought this fan for an Ero coord I wore last year, but I've decided to
use it for my go-to fan when it gets hotter in the summertime.

It's a lot fancier than the plain, lace fan I used last year.

Off Brand Lace Up Back Thigh Highs

Don't worry. I've made small lace toppers to go over the tops of these stockings
to make them more appropriate for Lolita outfits. 

Iron Crown

This crown was actually sold just as home decor, but I saw the potential of turning
it into a headdress. But standing at a towering 7.5 inches, it is a bit large.

I also need to spray paint it an off white, since its current color, more of an antique white,
clashes with my wardrobe.

Mini Rhinestone Crown

Pleaser 7 Inch Platform Pumps

Some might be wondering how these shoes could be considered okay to wear with Lolita,
but I plan on wearing them with some of my more mature outfits.
And I wore them with an Ero outfit I made not long ago.

There goes my mini crown is this picture, too!

Metamorphose Skirt

I really should know the name of this Metamorphose print, since it's one of my favorites.
This is also the section piece I have from this series ( the first is the long OP version).  

Cornet Skirt

PUTUMAYO Cutsew

My first custew, and a fancy one at that!
I still can't stand or understand the butterfly motifs in Gothic Lolita, though.

Emily Temple Cute Velvet OP

At first glance, this OP may look extremely frumpy, but I see the potential in it.
Beside, I bought it because I need more easier pieces to wear.

I really dislike that there are daisies on the lace instead of roses, though.

BPN Blouse

This is my second bat wing BPN blouse (the first one is a white one
I've blogged about before).

Innocent World Velvet Skirt

More black velvet!

Metamorphose Blouse

Metamorphose 2 Piece Velvet Caplet 

Metamorphose Velvet Skirt

Metamorphose Organza OP with Circle Headdress

If you haven't noticed, I'm in love with Metamorphose's ridiculously,
lacey pieces with the terrible raschel lace Lolitas hate so much.

I have so many Metamorphose pieces that I want to make something
that has the phrase "I'm Meta-rific" on it.

Innocent World OP

I was really in love with is series when it first came out,
and really craved for the gray colorway of this OP. But after seeing the black colorway,
I knew I had to have it! Though, if I would've found this in 2015, I would've thought
I couldn't wear such a piece, because it seems way too fancy for my wardrobe. 

Innocent World Skirt

Another lovely Innocent World piece.
Again, maybe too lovely, since I don't have the right blouse and accessories for it.

Here comes the fun part- reveling what was the least and most expensive item I purchased last year!

Surprisingly, the least expensive item I bought last year was my BPN blouse.

Yes, it was cheaper than the feathered fan or any other accessory I bought. This is shocking to me, too. Without fees included, I snagged this blouse for about only $4. It's not like the blouse was damaged or discolored, either, just wrinkled with a slight worn feeling to it. Considering how little I paid for it, this was an incredible find, and I wish to find more just like it this year.

So, what was my most expensive item I purchased last year? *drum roll*

It was my Patchy 3 way bag with detachable wings, of course!

Next to my Atelier BOZ Carroll Sharon OP, that I purchased firsthand from BOZ's website, via shopping service (you can see the dress and read about the meet I wore it to here), this is the second most expensive item I've bought in my entire Lolita wardrobe. With fees included, I ended up paying about $150 for it. And to a lot of Lolitas, $150 my not seem like much, but considering all of the inexpensive, secondhand Lolita pieces I hunt for online, the price is very steep for me. But I don't regret purchasing, one bit. 

°˖✧ 'Till next time

°˖✧✝ Lolita Blog Carnival: Make A Spring Inspired Coordinate ✝✧˖°

Nothing scares a Gothic Lolita more than the words spring or summer. The spring reacquaints us with the sunlight left behind during daylight savings and the summer brings us sweltering heat (like really, I just want to wear my black velvet). And lets not forget the most common threat both creates- cutesy wootsy themes that designers can't help but to design for. So what's a Gothic Lolita to do? How can we survive all of the floral and fruit prints? 

I can't say much for those fruit prints, but what if I told you that florals aren't something just for fulling up the boarder of a Sweet Lolita's OP, the little embellishments found on the collar of a Sweet/Classical Lolita's blouse or those patterns you find on a grandmother's old couch? Turns out, they can be used for Gothic outfits as well. That's it, the secret is out. Did your blood dry up? Are you hissing from such a shock? Maybe you can get to your coffin in time to recuperate. Yes, Gothic Lolitas can wear florals and still be considered Gothic. And why shouldn't I wear florals? After all, it is spring.

JSK: Innocent World
Blouse and shoes: Bodyline
Parasol: Alice and the Pirates
Accessories: Handmade

Psst, this is the first outfit I wore that made my friends say,
"You look a bit... Old School."
Or should I say the first time they noticed! 

"Where are the florals? You were talking about forals, but this JSK has bows on them?!"

You got me. There's no floral print. Instead, I let my bouquet of flowers take the place of an actual printed floral pattern on the JSK.

For this Lolita Blog Carnival topic, I felt that an older outfit of mine was quite fitting. I wore this at the tail end of spring last year, but haven't posted the picture on an open platform until now (So I can get away with posting it now with a new topic, right?). At the time, I was just identifying myself as a Gothic Lolita, and not specifically as an Old School one. But either way, I was going for a more Classic look to fit the theme of the meetup I was attending. Even though there are different styles present in this look, (a little bit if Sweet with a pinch of Classic wrapped in an Old School silhouette, but somehow Gothic), I like how each style element can read as its own while still being cohesive as one outfit. 

"Girl, how is this Gothic? I think you're stretching that one."

Asides from the constant presence of the color black throughout the outfit and my black lipstick, there are a few Gothic motifs sprinkled among everything else: bat charms on my hair bows, a badge that has the word "SPOOKY" on it written in Gothic font with a spider attached to it, and the black scenery of a haunted house on my purse.     

It should be already known that Gothic Lolitas can wear florals, especially with all of those Moi-meme-Moitie dresses with floral designs created over the years, but you'll be surprised how many people get stirred up when I mention it. Adding florals to an outfit used to be really popular with all three of the main styles, Sweet, Classic and Gothic, but it seems as if there are those who have forgotten this or just don't know. I attribute most of the confusion with the lack of different representations or renderings of the style from the majority of our fashion resources and participants. Gathering information solely from these sources would make it seem like Gothic Lolitas always have to be mature and elegant while wearing only black or jewel tones. But no so, we can be cute and wear florals too.         

Can you imagine a time when Classic Lolita looked like this?
But it looks Gothic-y, doesn't it?

Innocent World ad in The Gothic & Lolita Bible Vol. 2
Source: Hello Lace under their Classic Lolita style list

"Yeah, but that's obviously old. You can't possibly expect a Gothic Lolita to wear that now."

Atelier Boz ラゼンシアミニ Skirt (2015)

Source: Atelier Boz's blog 

Florals in Gothic Lolita designs have been around for years and they are still being produced. Though, for some reason, they don't seem to be a popular look for Gothic Lolitas in the west, which is fine. You can't expect all of us to look the same. Just know that there are more options out there for us (with budding pink roses, or in my case, a cream and lilac bouquet, being one of them)! 

Make sure to check out Lolita Blog Carnival!

Lolita Blog Carnival is an online Lolita community of Lolita bloggers who come together to blog about certain topics each week to stimulate further ideas for great blog posts!

If you want to see more spring coordinates, take a look at these other Lolita blogs:

The Bloody Tea Party

Courtly Dreams for Burgher

Candied Dreams

Divinecross

°˖✧ 'Till next time

°˖✧✝ Death Becomes Her Meetup ✝✧˖°

Source: The Met's Death Becomes Her Gallery 

At the end of January, some friends and I gathered to view a spectacular costume exhibit at The Metropolitan Museum of Art called Death Becomes Her: A Century of Mourning Attire. Temping all of us Victorian Goths (or wannabe in my case), the start of this exhibit peaked its way at the tail end of last year, in October, and continued all the way in to the next, ending on the the first of February. 

As soon as the exhibit's details were published, a fellow Gothic Lolita friend messaged me a simple message stating "We're going, right," which acted as more of an affirmation on her part than a request. Of course I was going, nothing would've stopped me! Besides, what kind of Gothic Lolita would I be if I didn't go? And three months seemed like an endless amount of time to arrange a meeting, or so we thought. Before we knew it, 2014 had past and I was left scrambling to organize a meetup for the day just before the the exhibit's end. Though, it's not entirely our fault, multiple blizzards can make a person lose count of their days.      

The wind messed up my hair! It made me a bit upset. *pout*
Don't let my coat-less self fool you, it was FREEZING that day.

OP- Atelier BOZ
Purse and Socks- Metamorphose temps de fille
Accessories- Handmade or Thrifted

If my Atelier BOZ Carroll Sharon OP didn't arrive in time, I wouldn't have known what to wear! With every meetup, the amount of new outfits I have are slowly dwindling. (I've become a diva. I don't like going to an event with an outfit I've worn before.) But I'm glad this showed up just in time! It was a graduation present from my mom, and I was waiting since the end of December for it to arrive. This OP will forever be treasured because, for one, it's a graduation gift that says job well done and, what's more, it's my first major brand piece that isn't secondhand! That's right, I purchased it straight from the brand's website, via shopping serve, and paid full price. I'm more of a secondhand kind of girl because I'm more of an Old School kind of girl (can't buy a 2001 dress new), so the fact that I actually liked something current enough to buy it firsthand means a lot to me. Oh, and with some of my money from my dad, I threw in a new purse from Metamorphose for good measure!      

I'm not going to drag out this post with every single blurry picture that was taken, you would do better looking at The Met's gallery pictures (linked above in the first picture) to capture the exhibit's true beauty.

The exhibit was beautifully located at the bottom of two sweeping stairwells (don't worry, there was an elevator nearby) that lead into a shrouded showroom with a faint sound of somber classical music lingering throughout. This was the second to last day of the exhibit and the entrance way, along with the exhibit's path, was packed with many attendees trying to experience the exhibition for the last time. In short, it was packed! But even so, it wasn't bustling with noise as one would expect from a room packed with people. Even from the stairwell, you could hear the unnatural sound of hushed mummers and, at times, silence. Nothing grew louder than the light, waning melody of the mournful music, a testament, I believe, to how great of an impact the exhibit was. There were no spoken words, just emotion.       

Don't be fooled, there was't just black and gray pieces.
Also, the next time some says arm warmers don't belong in Lolita fashion,
I'm going to show then the last photo along with a picture of Mana!  

The main display was located in the middle of the room like an island, which called for everyone to rotate around it in order to view everything. Though, with the grave atmosphere weighing on the room, an otherwise short walk, turned in to a solemn stroll paced to the downbeat music. There was no one directing. We just came in quietly and slipped into the endless march around the room. Truthfully, it felt like I was in a funeral line waiting for my turn to see someone laying in a casket.  

For those of you who know me personally,
you know why this certain quote is meaningful to me.
HINT: It's a particular word

In addition to the main display, there were also projections of quotes describing mourning alternating across the room's walls. However, while there certainly was a respectful tone that swept the exhibit, I couldn't say that same for people's actions.

There was a constant battle to take pictures without someone stepping in front of you or even bumping INTO you (without saying excuse me). This shot of the quote was the best I could do without having someone's blurry figure rushing through it ("You SEE me trying to take a picture!!!"). And let us not forget the majestic "Step into someone else's shot to take a picture of the same thing" stance. To drive the point home, make sure that you're as tall, if not taller than the person you're being rude to.

It got to a point where we didn't want to feel like a bunch of packed sardines and found ourselves in an adjunct accessories room with dark jewels, veiled hats, and artfully drawn mourning pictures. Though small, it was less crowed and severed as a great place to regroup. After admiring the room for a long time, we made our way out to the stairway for pictures. Not everyone wanted to take pictures, and we respected that.    

Some cute guys and gals from my community.
Someone called my friend's Innocent World Stradivarius Flare JSK a guitar dress!
It has become a joke in my community now!

While it would have been nice if all of us could have dressed in a mourning theme to match the exhibit, I didn't want to be exclusive to the other Lolitas who wanted to experience the showcase, but didn't have a matching outfit. I was more worried about having as many Lolitas who wanted to go being able to come. So there were a fair share of Sweet and Classic Lolitas. Really, in a group of fifteen or so, there where probably only five of us Gothic Lolitas, hahaha!

Gothic VS Sweet: The Ultimate Battle!

"How do you mourn, Sweet Lolita?"

"Why, in my carousel dress, of course!"

I always try to get everyone to take a picture, or at least be apart of a group shot, but the huge crowds made it that much harder. Every time we would pose, someone (more like five people at a time) would bombard us with questions or snap unwanted pictures of us. Why do people believe that if a person is posing for a picture that they are entitled to take a picture too? It became really chaotic and we inadvertently caused a crowd in the already crowded museum. Even the security guard came! It quickly became a snap and go situation.   

  

But I had to get a picture with the pretty wall art.
The painted weeping willows were such a nice touch!

We were starting to really get cramped and the constant badgering put a damper on things, so we decided to give up the ghost and move to our next stop. But we couldn't win, if we weren't in the crowded, hot museum, we were in the brazen cold outside (going to a meetup in a single layered skirt after a blizzard isn't a good idea). It was a few blocks away, but we rushed to Meiji Ramen shivering. It was my first time go to this restaurant, but I really want to go again! Everything was so tasty!

Some product and decoration shots in Meiji Ramen.
Hello Kitty and milk bottles? What a coincidence!
But she's not technically a cat, remember. 

Appetizer: Pumpkin Tempura with Green Tea Salt
Ramen Dish: Spicy Chili Ramen in Beef Broth
Dessert: Japanese Hiji-tea Creme Brulee with Apple Crumb Cake and Green Tea Ice Cream

We froze our butts off, but it was well worth it! Nothing beats pretty black dresses and a pretty ramen bowl.

°˖✧ 'Till next time