°˖✧✝ Top 3 Lolita Accomplishments In 2017✝✧˖°

It's just hours before New Year's! And to commemorate the upcoming year, the members of Rufflechat, a Lolita fashion discussion group on Facebook, participated in sharing their top three Lolita achievements they we're proud of, as a way to end this year on a positive note. While reading through everyone's responses, I felt really happy for everyone's accomplishments, and was glad to see a platform created for the support of other Lolita's (you can read the original post here). I haven't updated my written blog in awhile, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to do so. So here are my top three Lolita accomplishments of 2017:

◊ Sticking to My New Year's Resolutions

At the beginning of this year, I made the task of creating a set of New Year's resolutions that were more condensed and explicit, so I could focus on specific aspects I wanted to work on. And, I must say, this method worked so well for me! If you haven't read the post about my 2017 resolutions, you can do so here. But, to summarize, I wanted to create more "dolly'" looking coordinates from the Old School Lolita aesthetic, purchase more items with Old School imagery, like roses, crosses, and crowns, and participate in Lolita photo shoots. I'm happy to say, I got chances to do all three, and excelled in most of them!

More "Dolly" Looking Coordinates

You can read the blog post of when I wore this
coordinate here.

OP: Metamorphose temps de fille

Headdress: Handmade

Socks: Innocent World

Bag: Off brand

Shoes: Angelic Imprint

Items with Old School Lolita Themes

Emily Temple Cute JSK

h. Naoto Purse

I'll be creating a 2017 wardrobe post in the next month or so, like I did this year for all of the items I bought in 2016, so you'll be able to see everything I bought this year. You can read the blog post of all of my 2016 Lolita purchases here.

Lolita Photo Shoots

These are apart of an armature photo shoot I did some time in the summer. You can see more of it and others like it on my Instagram here.

◊ Obtaining More Metamorphose Pieces 

I don't know if I've mentioned this before here on this blog (I'm prety sure I have, hehehe~), but I absolutely love the brand Metamorphose temps de fille (Metamorphose)! If I were to have to choose out of all of the older Lolita brands, I would consider Metamorphose my favorite. I just adore how tacky (and I mean this in the most loving way) and zany their pieces can be. Looking at older Metamorphose pieces really fuels my imagination and puts me in such a great mood. And, because of that, I try to obtain as many of their pieces as I can. This year, I was not only able to create multiple coordinates with almost entirely Metamorphose pieces, but was also able to meet prominent figures from the brand.

Blouse and Caplet Set- Metamorphose temps de fille
JSK- Metamorphose temps de fille
Headdress- Metamorphose temps de fille
Purse- Offbrand
Socks- Innocent World
Shoes- Current Mood

Back in September, I was able to attend a meetup for Kuniko Kato,
the creator and designer of the brand Physical Drop. She
was also one of the founders and head designers for
Metamorphose up until 2009!

It goes without saying her designs play a huge part of
my favorite aesthetics.

In November, at RuffleCon, I was also able to meet Natsumi,
one of Metamorphose's current designers/models!

My Coordinate:
OP- Metamorphose temps de fille
Apron- Metamorphose temps de fille
Headdress- Metamorphose temps de fille
Socks- Metamorphose temps de fille
Shoes- Current Mood
Tray Prop- Handmade

◊ Expanding My Social Media 

I'm an extremely modest person, so it's hard to believe that there are people who actually enjoy my coordinates enough to care about my creative process or even personal life. But, over the years I've been in the Lolita fashion community, I've been approached with the idea of expanding my presence over different forms of social media by other Lolitas. There were other reasons as to why I avoided doing such an idea, but the greatest reason was just because I was too shy. But, for some reason (I still don't know myself), I decided to create a Facebook page; later, an Instagram. And I haven't regretted doing so yet!

My Facebook page just received a bit over 100 likes and my Instagram is about to reach 500 followers. My numbers are extremely modest in regards to other Lolita figures, but I appreciate everyone's support regardless!

If you wish to follow me, you can do so here:

Facebook @cryptkasper
Instagram  @cryptkasper

I got to do so many new things in 2017, and I hope to do even more in 2018! See you in the new year!

°˖✧ 'Till next time

°˖✧✝ Summer ILD 2016 ✝✧˖°

I just wrote about my previous International Lolita Day (ILD) last year in a post before this, so now lets skip half a year to the most current one, summer ILD 2016.  

For this outing, one of my friends suggested going to a karaoke place in New York City. (We were originally going to do something else, but changed our minds at the last moment.) I've never officially went to a karaoke place where you can rent a private room, so, naturally, I was excited when the opportunity arrived. I'm not too familiar with karaoke places in New York City, I only know of one, but apparently, there are a lot of them. So I  was glad we left he task of choosing which one to go to up to our friend, who organized the event. She ended up picking Karaoke DUET 48.

So my friend reserved a room for four hours, from 2 o'clock to 4 o'clock, which surprised me. Four hours doing karaoke just seemed a little too much for me. And even though my friend ensured that the time would fly by quickly, I decided to come midway, at 4 o'clock.  But of course, life seemed to have other plans for me, and I ended up doing things other than planed. 

On the day of ILD, I go up so early and was even two hours ahead of schedule, which is really rare for me! I though about just going to the karaoke place at 2 o'clock, but stuck with original plan at arriving two hours later. So I just ended up wasting time at home and decided to do some light grocery shopping (there was so much time to waste!!!). The good thing was that I at least had plenty of time to get to my train. The bad thing was that once I got to the city, the subway train I had to get on wasn't on line that day and  I ended up getting on the wrong train! It was an innocent mistake, but, in the end, it caused me to walk twelve New York City blocks (they're much longer than regular blocks)! But it was still nice out, so I enjoyed taking in some of the sights.       

Is it a bear? Or is it a frog?
I can't tell.     

After the lengthy walk, I finally was able to arrive at the karaoke room, but at 5 o'clock and not 4 o'clock liked I had planed! I only wanted to be at the karaoke place for about two hours, but it looked like I was only going to be there for an hour. Luckily though, the karaoke place had a special were costumers would be able to rent a room up to 7 o'clock for only $14! So I ended up getting my two hours in the end. And my friend was right. The times does go by fast. I was there for only two hours, but it only felt like one hour. I was having so much fun singing with my friends that I hardly noticed the time. 

One of the most memeorable was when one of my friends played The GazzettE's song, "Inside Beast." It was so unexpected. Well, not for her, since she loves The GazettE. But it was a real shock when the instrumental started playing after a ballad.  

After we were done with the karaoke we decided to head out to a restaurant to eat. It started raining while we were walking and didn't show any signs of letting up. And that's when someone remembered that we hadn't taken outfit shots yet. Even though it was raining, we tried our best to get clear shots.

Turtleneck: Moi meme Moitie
Skirt: Moi meme Moitie
Boots: Demonia
Headdress: BABY, the Stars Shine Bright

The white band around my wrist is from
the karaoke place.

Because of the rain, we stopped at a closer restaurant than we had planed, and stopped at a place called Wild Ginger. The restaurant had a lot of different Eastern Asian dishes, and was a bit fancy, which taken me aback at first. I've had my share of "fancy" dishes, and they just don't hold up in my opinion. But the dish I had was very good. I would definitely go back a second time.    

Crispy duck with fried rice.
The plate also comes with baby bak choy and hoisin sauce.

°˖✧ 'Till next time

  

°˖✧✝ Winter ILD 2015 ✝✧˖°

(I know, this post is so late! I have so many old meetups that I haven't blogged about yet, so I'm going to be mixing older and current event posts for awhile.) 

Even if I don't get a chance to participate in any of the regular meetups created by the Lolita communities I'm in, I do at least try to do something special for International Lolita Day (ILD). And on the last one in December, my Lolita friends decided to celebrate another one of our friend's birthday on the same day, which was great, because she's a Lolita too. I didn't have a problem with it and thought having both at the same time would be cute. Doubling ILD as a birthday celebration for a friend just made the day even more special and enjoyable.

Because of the special day, Sabrina wanted us to go all out and experience having tea at fancy hotel. We knew it was going to be expensive, but we wanted to be a little adventurous and spurge for at least a day. So, we ended up dinning in the Pembroke Room at the Lowell Hotel in New York City.

The hotel was very elegant and because it was December, the lobby was decorated with a warm, yet sophisticated, Christmas feel. There was even complementary hot apple cider!

We had to wait awhile for everyone to arrive, but once we were all there, we were quickly ushered upstairs to our reserved table. From what I saw, the Pembroke Room is pretty small, no bigger than an average living room. This feature made the atmosphere a bit homey, but all the while still being deluxe. There were even love seats at the ends of our table! I decided to sit on the end with my friend Ashley. Because we were so close together on the love seat, all of the pictures of us made it look like we were on a date!

I don't think our date is going too well, hahaha~
It looks like Ashley is ready for the check.

After getting settled and picking out our teas, the staff eventually brought out our trays of finger sandwiches and savory options. There were about six different options for this selection- cucumber and watercress, chicken curry salad, lobster roll, dill egg and cornichon salad, Scottish smoked salmon, and caviar blinis.

Sabrina had a fancy-schmancy camera,
so all of her pictures came out looking beautiful. 

Next, came our desserts and scones with lemon curd and cream. I believe the type of scones varies on the day, so I don't quite remember which one I had. But, for desserts, we had petit fours, assorted fruit tarts, macaroons, and other French pastries, like eclairs. I love sweets, so I was glad to see a variety of desserts larger than what other tearooms provide.  

Here you can see what a Lolita actually does during a meetup- take pictures!

The tarts were so cute!

But no amount of sweets could soften the blow of what came next- the check! Everyone got the  $55 Classic Pembroke Tea, which was what everyone was expected to pay. But, apparently, with taxes and tip, everyone ended up paying $80 each (and it was eleven of us)! That price through us in such a spiral. It was so much, and, compared to other tearooms, it wasn't worth it. We could have gotten a better selection, including the teas, for less than half the price than what we got at the hotel. But that's what we get for trying to be fancy. 

Look at all of those twenty dollar bills!

This is the money Lolita.
Reblog in the next thirty seconds and you'll get
$100 toward your dream dress.

After paying, we wanted to leave as fast as we could so we could take outfit shots outside in better light. 

Birthday girl, Sabrina, in the middle.

While we were taking pictures, I started to look around the area and notice how gorgeous the neighborhood was (But we were in Manhattan, the frou-frou part of New York, so I guess that's to be expected). Right next door to the hotel, there was a nice building with a glorious stone structure on the outside and and a beautiful, black iron gate. I decided I wanted my picture taken there, instead of one at the front of the hotel. If I'm not mistaken, I believe the building was an apartment building!  

  

I edited the picture to give us that Mana glow, hahaha~

OP: Angelic Pretty
Socks: Metamorphose temps de fille
Accessories: Handmade or Thrifted 

Some of my other friends wanted to loiter with me and
take pictures in front of the building too.

And lastly, here is our group shot! I think it came out very nicely. Blogger wouldn't let me upload the video, but if you can, please take a look at on of my friend's vlog of this day here.

Look at our Sweet to Gothic rainbow!

°˖✧ 'Till next time

°˖✧✝ Lolita Blog Carnival: Create a Coord that Reflects Your Style of 2015 + Goth Day in NYC ✝✧˖°

Wow, it's already at the end of the year and I haven't had much of an update on this blog in the last month or so. I have a lot of posts that I've started and topics that I want to talk about, so that's not the problem. I just don't get a chance to finish a post in the time that I want. But as long as I get to at least post once a month, I won't feel too badly about not posting often. So, my post for this month, but hopefully not last, will be a topic from Blog Carnival, creating a coord that reflects my style of 2015.

And in an attempt to make up for the lack of updates on this blog, I'm going to merge two post into one and use an outfit from a previous outing, along with showing what I did for that day. But first, my outfit!

OP: Cornet
Apron: Metamorphose temps de file
Headdress: Handmade

Not only has this look become one of my favorites this year, but it's also the look that I really want to focus on more next year. I'm really into the eccentric and zany pieces in Lolita fashion, but the look I wish I could do more of is along the lines of the Old School Gothic dolly look. I absolutely love huge peter pan collars, obnoxious bell sleeves and lace upon lace, upon lace, upon lace... oh, and heart aprons. Looking back at this picture makes me see all of the things that interested me in Lolita fashion long ago. And above all, it inspires me to aim for a closer connection to that pastime.

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!

I wore this outfit at the end of August for a "Goth Day" I had with a friend of mine. All of my other friends were at the Waku+Waku convention that day, but I really wanted to go to an oddities flea market instead. So my friend decided that we should have a jammed-packed day in New York City, going to all of the places we wanted to go to. But, she was really overzealous with the task! She had a long list of attractions and stops that went all around the city!! Thankfully, we got it down to a decent amount of stops, but we still didn't get to all of them. 

The first stop was to the Morbid Anatomy's Flea market. They had one earlier in the year, but I wasn't able to attend. When I told my friend about the upcoming one in August, she told me we had to go. So, we came early to assure we would be one of the first groups inside (and we had so much to do that we had to make time for everything).  

I'm not too keen on taxidermy, but look how cute this is!
Can't you see this being in a children's picture book?
(I think it's a weasel, maybe?)

Sister Weasel stands outside guiding the weasel children into the classroom.
Oh! What a busy day this will be!

The oddities flea market was basically what you would expect from an oddities event. There were a lot of bones, taxidermy and kitschy knickknacks. There were a fair share of dark accessories available for purchase too. I wanted quite a few religious items and some supernatural comic books, but I was on a tight budget for the day and couldn't get everything I wanted. I did end up getting something small, though.  

My bible and set of love fortune cards.

I picked theses cards from a huge sack that was separated by men and women.
Each one was different, and even though I wanted most of them,
I decided to get a pair that suited each other.  

But the coolest thing, was what I found inside of the bible I purchased!

Inside was a bookmark with an eerie cross stitched message, "Remember me," stitched in with purple thread.

There were also leaves placed in between various pages and a charted genealogy
of the Simpson family starting from the last page.

Unfortunately, by the end of the day, both of the front and back covers ripped off. I was really upset about want happened, but my friend tried cheering me up. She said I must have broken a curse or a seal that was on it. 

If you want to look at what was at the Morbid Anaomy Flea Market and some of its participants, you can go through pictures here at The Village Voice's website.

Even though the flea market was hosted by Morbid Anatomy, this August event was located at a different venue down the street from the museum to accommodate its size. So after we were done at the flea market, we thought our next stop should be at the museum to see what new exhibit they were showcasing. 

You're not allowed to take pictures upstairs in the exhibit,
so here's a picture of us in front of the bathrooms upstairs instead.  

After the museum, we decided to go get lunch at Eight Turn Crepe. My friend was really excited to go since it was her first time, mine too, and couldn't decide with crepe to get, a sweet or savory one. Feeling adventurous, she ended up getting both! I didn't want to feel left out or bested, so I decided to do the same. I thought it would be cute if we got the same crepes too.

Second crepe of the day and the last room in my stomach.

This is the look of defeat.
My sanity is gone. There are only crepes left.

The crepes were delicious, but after stuffing the last bit of the second one down, I had soon regretted it. I was left feeling bloated and sleepy for the remainder of the day. But there was no time to sleep it off, because we were off to our next stop, Sebastian Masuda's Hello Kitty Time Capsule event. For those of you who frequently read my blog, you may remember that I went to this same event earlier in the year. You can read about it in this post here. But because I was already going to be in the city, I decided to go again. And I wanted to get a picture with Yuka, the gorgeous and influential shop staff from Sebastian's 6%DOKIDOKI store, since I was too shy to ask last time.

All aboard the kawaii bus!

Source: Sebastian Masuda Official FB page

While the last time capsule event was affiliated with the Japan Society, this on was backed by Waku+Waku. It was with the same Hello Kitty time capsule and located at the same place, though. I guess you can say that the only difference was the bus that was rented to bring the Waku+Waku attendees to the time capsule and back to the convention, which I think was the coolest!

I think it was great that fans got to to be this close to an icon like Sebastian. Not only that, but it just shows how down-to-earth Sebastian is with everyone. He isn't a person who puts on airs and he continues to show how he's committed to bringing people together, regardless of their differences. Whenever Sebastian comes to New York City I always try to support him.

I decided to put in my My Melody mini Pez candy dispenser this time.

I still wanted to soak up the atmosphere of the event and take some time to relax, so my friend and I decided to stay at the time capsule for a while. But as the Goths that we are, we shuffled over to a nice shady corner next to a fountain to catch a breeze (I forgot to mention that is was really hot that day too). After siting around watching the Waku+Waku attendees be interviewed by some people from the television show Kawaii International, we went off to our next stop, a bakery called Dominique Ansel. 

Dominique Ansel has a really small front area, but must stay full
with costumers throughout the day. Even though we showed up pretty late in
the day, there was still a long line reaching down the hall! 

Everything looked so tasty at the bakery and were reasonably priced.

One of their specials were their cookie shots, as seen on display in the first picture.
The "shot glass" is a chocolate chip cookie molded into a cup shape and the "shot" is milk!

I regret not getting anything at the bakery, but I was still so full from the crepes earlier and thought it would be a waste to buy something. So I just watched my friend try out their frozen s'more specialty in agony. It look so good! It was a wad of ice cream on a wooden stick, wrapped in marshmallow and lighted torched over a flame!! I wish I took a picture before she ate it. Next time, I want to try one of their Cronuts, a pastry mixed between a croissant and doughnut. But apparently, you'll have to come in earlier if you want to get one before they sellout for the day.

After the bakery, we finally reached the last stop of the day, Bassanova Ramen! My friend heard great things about the restaurant and insisted that we go. And with all of the accolades it received, like being one of New York Times' Top Ten Ramen Destinations in New York, I  wanted to see what all of the fuss was about. Waku+Waku was done for the day and another one of my friends came along too. It was really late about time we got to the restaurant, but I glad we went, because it was the best ramen I've ever had! But it was also the smallest ramen bowl I've ever had. I really wished there was more of it.

Lemon Black Pepper Tondaku Ramen:
Berkshire pork, tonkotsu soup, with lemon and black pepper. Topped with
portion chashu, kikurage mushroom, fried ginger onion, crushed sesame, nori and scallion.

Wow, that was a long post wasn't it? Now do you see why I don't update as often as I do? I like long post, but just don't like writing them. Maybe committing to completing more of my post can be one of my New Year's resolution, though. It may seem hard at first, but completely doable. I'm definitely going to work on doing even more blogging on here. I can't wait!

°˖✧ 'Till next time

°˖✧✝ The Bear Necessities Meetup ✝✧˖°

Remember in my last post when I mentioned the rent hikes in New York City? Well, even FAO Schwarz, the oldest toy store in the United States, felt the sting of such rent increases and was placed with the burden of closing down their store front once again. I've always wanted to create a toy themed meetup for FAO Schwarz, but never had the time to plan one. Though, when my friend mentioned a bear themed meetup she was planing with another one of our friends, I made the effort of recommending that we include a stop at the famous toy store before they closed.   

Blouse: Alice and the Pirates
JSK: Innocent World
Accessories: Handmade or Off brand

My friend was really excited for the meetup's theme and wanted everyone to participate. Without a doubt, bears are cute, but I felt as though I wouldn't be able to make a bear themed Gothic Lolita outfit. And truthfully, the meetup seemed more geared toward Sweet Lolitas than anything. Ready to sit this one out, my friend insisted that I at least try to come up with an outfit. So instead of an outfit focused around bears, I decided to just add my black teddy bear as an accessory. To further my attempt, I put furry pompoms on top of my head to mimic the look of bear ears.

The main part of the event was afternoon tea at Kings' Carriage House. This was the tea room we wanted to go to during the Death Becomes Her meetup I hosted at the beginning of this year, but we decided on the tea room too late to make reservations. Kings' Carriage turned out to be very nice, with inviting decor and enjoyable savory selections. 

The first two pictures are of the waiting area in Kings' Carriage House.
The third is of the bathroom. I know it's strange to take a picture
of the bathroom, but it was so nice. It was decorated more like a hallway.

On their website, a quote describes the tea room as a "charming cottage house" that's "the equivalent of a country getaway." I would say that the description lives up to the actual tea room. It really looked as if we were in someone's house. On the way to Kings' Carriage, my friend I walked right past it, because it looked so much like a residence than a restaurant. Though, the downside to the homey atmosphere was the small eating areas. There where only nine of us, a moderate size for a group of Lolitas, but there was hardly enough room for us and our petticoats.

I think I enjoyed their savoy choices the best.
The tastiest one wound have to be the Oak Smoked Scottish Salmon Pinwheels.

One of the greatest thing about Kings' Carriage is that they love Lolitas! They were overly accommodating to our needs, and they wanted us to take pictures everywhere. Our waitress even insisted she take all of our pictures for us. It really did turn into a photo shoot, with us taking many pictures inside and out in the front.

They told me to get to the back because I was the tallest.

All of the bears, and alpaca-chan, wanted to take a family photo.

Okay, so I didn't know that the Kuma Kumya and Usakumya pochettes
have magnetic hands. So when it was suggested that we should link
them together, so it'll look like their holding hands,
I had to get the Sweet Lolitas to hold hands too!

After a long time at Kings' Carriage, we headed to FAO Schwarz. The toy store looked a bit plain on the outside, and, from the look of it, I thought we were going in to a regular department store, like Macy's or Lord and Taylor. But I guess they saved all of the wonderment for the inside. Once we stepped inside, we were greeted by a little bakery called Sugar Plumm, which was the first stop into Candyland on the ground floor.

That box of candy is about half the height of my friend!

On the way up to the next level, we were so captivated with how huge one of the display bears was, and thought it would produce some cute pictures for our bear theme. Everyone took a picture with the giant bear but my friend and me. We were both wearing a Gothic outfit, so we wanted to find something a bit... dark. The teddy bear and animal section was at the top of the escalator, so my friend went straight to a friendly black bear.     

For some reason, I was more enticed by the moose.
Are moose "dark"? I don't think so, but I still thought they looked cool.

Including the infant floor on the underground level, FAO Schwarz had four floors! Even though we walked into the large animal section on the second floor, I would say that it only took up about a sixth of the entire levl. There was a section for just about every large toy marking franchise you could think about. What surprised me the most though were the stores within the toy store. Use the fact that they had multiple stores, like Build-A-Bear, to understand how vast FAO Schwarz was.

And of course, FAO Schwarz would be nothing without their famous floor piano.
I wish I had time to play on it. It's been a dream of mine since I was a kid.

They even had Rilakuma goods.
My friend was lucky. Everything was 50% in that section!

We spent a long time exploring FAO Schwarz, but it started to get late. We were there for so long that we missed going to our third stop for the day, the larger storefront for Build-A-Bear, because they closed. But, since there was a Build-A-Bear in FAO Schwarz, we didn't feel too bad for missing it. Some of us decided to part ways at this point, but the rest of us decided to keep the party going and go to Dylan's Candy Bar.

The first floor of Dylan's Candy Bar is a candy store where you can buy prepacked candy, candy but the pound, or merchandise with candy designs. It's seen more as a tourist spot, so the prices were a bit high, and the first floor is always packed with people until closing. The second floor turns into a ice cream shop, eatery, and bar. There's no wait to go to the ice cream shop or bar, but you'll have to put your name on a list to be seated for food due to their limited space upstairs. There are only three booths.

You can't tell from the pictures, but there are real candy pieces in the steps
going upstairs to the second floor! 

Look! The booths are shaped like cupcakes!
We agreed that we'd wait as long as we needed to next time to get the purple cupcake booth.

We only wanted drinks, so we were allowed to walk directly to the bar. Because of our group's size, we couldn't all sit at the bar, and were place at a regular booth next to the bar instead. It wasn't the one of the cupcakes booths, though. My friend bought a drink that was dusted with Pop Rocks candy around it's rim and another friend of mine had one with Sour Patch candy swimming at the bottom of the glass. I forgot to mention something important about the bar. The bar at Dylan's serves alcoholic beverages with some sort of candy incorporated in it. So, yes. The bar allowed us to be mature and childish at the same time!

I was going to get a drink, but decided to go with a sundae at the last moment. I picked their Roller Derby sundae, which was crafted around cookies. There were three different scoops of cookie flavored ice cream, whipped cream, caramel, chocolate chip cookies, and a fair amount of Whoppers (they're malted milk balls covered in chocolate).  

For a meetup that I wasn't going to go to, that day turned out to be jammed packed and extremely fun. There's always something to do in New York City, especially if you're with friends. 

°˖✧ 'Till next time