LBC: "Your Signature Look"

This week's Lolita Blog Carnival theme is "Your Signature Look". I decided to throw an outfit together that really shows my personal style (buuut I was too lazy to put it on...so have a floordinate). Here it is!

Jumperskirt and red ribbon pin: Emily Temple Cute
Blazer: Ann Taylor
Headbow: Angelic Pretty
Sunglasses: Tory Burch
Socks: Kate Spade
Necklace: H&M
Lemon clip: Taobao
Shoes: Vintage

My signature look is a toned-down and otome inspired, often with some kind of coat or jacket. I like pulling multiple colors into my outfits to make them more interesting and fun.

Check out the other Lolita Blog Carnival members who also posted about their signature looks:
Alice in Lolitaland

Gray Velvet

Vanilla Bear

Pastel Jelly Beans
Candied Dreams

A Trip To The City

Hey! It's been quite a while since I've posted. I've been pretty busy with family trips, surgery recovery, and my summer internship. Not necessarily in that order, haha.

Anyway, my identical twin sister is moving to Boston on Sunday so that she can begin her college journey at Northeastern University, my father's alma mater! I'm really excited for her, but I will miss her a lot.

Today she wanted to go to San Francisco to visit the Angelic Pretty and Baby, the Stars Shine Bright stores one last time before she moves. We had a wonderful day, and even ran into a few friends while out.

I decided to wear a casual, stripe-y outfit for the occasion. It was a great opportunity to wear my new Emily Temple Cute ballet flats, which were very comfortable for a day filled with walking.

Skirt: Angelic Pretty
Purse: MILK
Socks: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright
Shoes: Emily Temple Cute
Sunglasses: Tory Burch
Top and choker: Offbrand

"Design a Coordinate Based on your Favorite Meal"

Image via Week of Menus.

Hey everyone! I recently was accepted to join the Lolita Blog Carnival, a group for bloggers about lolita fashion. Each week, a new topic is chosen for the members to post, and this week's was to design a coordinate based on your favorite meal!

My favorite meal has been the same for years - orzo salad. It's a pasta dish that I've always loved, ever since the first time my mother made it for me when I was quite young. The flavors work so well together to create a savory dish that's easy to make and extremely enjoyable!

I knew immediately that it would be hard to create an outfit based off this meal since the colors might look obscure together in an outfit. I decided to use clothes from my own wardrobe for this challenge.

Here is what I came up with!

JSK: Handmade by my sister!
Bag: MILK
Tights: Triple Fortune (borrowed from my sister, haha)
Shoes, blouse, hat: Offbrand

I used a dress that my talented sister made for me, in a beige/ivory color to represent the pasta, red tie, shoes, and roses to represent the tomatoes and cranberries, and a green blouse along with tights accented with green to represent the arugula, basil, and scallions. I added a gold bag and belt to represent the finishing touch of the dish: pine nuts!

Here's the recipe if anyone's interested!

Check out the posts from other members of the Lolita Blog Carnival on this subject here!

Art Du Noir
Courtly Burgher

International Lolita Day Summer 2015

6 June was 2015's summer International Lolita Day. It was also my first day of summer! Anyway, I went to a graduation dinner with my sister, my mother, and her fiancé, and I figured dressing in lolita would be fitting.

Blouse, choker: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright
JSK: LIEF
Purse: Milk
Hat tie: Jane Marple
Shoes, socks: offbrand

Summer's Essential Accessory

Straw boater hats have become a popular addition to many types of Lolita coordinates from sailor style, classic, to country and more!  Boater hats are versatile and very wearable!

My straw boater hat, from a local hat store called Chapel.

My favorite thing about these hats is that you can dress them up with items to match the rest of your outfit. Here's a few of my favorite ways to decorate straw boater hats!

Baby, the Stars Shine Bright's Claudia choker tied around the hat!

A flower crown that fit perfectly on the hat!

A ribbon tied on with a detachable jabot from a blouse pinned onto the ribbon.

The Versatility of Long-Sleeved One-piece dresses

I love long-sleeved OPs very much, for they're quite comfortable and are very cute. However, they can be hard to wear because they aren't very versatile - each time I wear mine, I feel as though my coordinates look exactly the same!

I decided to confront this problem head-on by forcing myself to try new things with one of my favorite long-sleeved OPs, Angelic Pretty's British College OP in Red.

OP, purse, OTK socks: Angelic Pretty
Hat, shoes: offbrand

Scarves can add a cute touch, and are functional as well! I used a warm and fuzzy scarf that matched other elements in my outfit, and I wore my hair down.

OP, purse, OTK socks: Angelic Pretty
Hat: Fox Cherry
Cardigan, shoes: offbrand

Next, I tried to go for an almost mori-kei feel with a thick knit cardigan, a brown flowered hat, and darker accents. I put my hair in loose braids.

OP, purse, coat: Angelic Pretty

Hat: Chapel
Socks, shoes: offbrand

Next, I put my favorite coat on. I didn't want the outfit to feel too heavy so I chose cute transparent ankle socks and a light straw hat. I tucked my braids under the hat for a cute and easy updo - remarkably, they stayed put!

I hope this post is helpful for others who had the same problem as me!

Romeo and Juliet Ballet in San Francisco

Here's a late outfit post - on 9 May 2015 I went to San Francisco to see the Romeo and Juliet ballet at the San Francisco Opera House. It was such a beautiful show, very heavy with emotion, and the set design, costumes, and choreography were all very incredible!

 I wore one of my favorite dresses for the occasion. We were running a bit late, so I apologize for the sub-par coordinate photo!

JSK: Juliette et Justine
Purse: Angelic Pretty
Blouse: DreamV
Hat, Socks, Shoes: Offbrand

Today's Coordinate

I went out to lunch with a close friend today. Here's what I wore!

JSK and Hair Clips: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright

OTK Socks: Angelic Pretty

Purse: MILK

Blouse: Magic Tea Party

Earth Day Themed Coordinate

Today is Earth Day, and to celebrate (aside from participating in environmental activities earlier) I decided to create a coordinate based on nature! This particular outfit draws serious inspiration from another kind of Japanese street fashion called "mori", a style that utilizes plenty of earthy tones, contrasting textures, and layers upon layers for a warm kind of look. I've been wanting to try to mix mori and lolita styles for a while, and today was the perfect opportunity!

Jumperskirt: Surface Spell

Cardigan: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright

OTK Socks: Alice and the Pirates

Headdress, boots, and cuff: Offbrand

Legion of Honor Museum

Today, my sister and I visited the Legion of Honor art museum in San Francisco. It was so incredible! Even though I've lived in California almost all of my life (fun fact, I was born in Oregon), I'd never been to this museum before my trip today! Also, I took visiting an art museum as the perfect opportunity to wear one of my slightly fancier dresses, Innocent World's "Anniversary Rose" JSK. And since it's the third day of spring, I wanted to go with a floral-themed outfit, like I spoke about in my last post. 

Dress: Innocent World
Tights: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright
Shoes, purse, hat, blouse: offbrand

I was truly in awe of all the masterpieces in the Legion of Honor collection.  There were many pieces that I've learned about in school that I'd never thought I'd see in real life. There was an entire room filled with Auguste Rodin sculptures, and an impressionism exhibit featuring works by Claude Monet and Vincent Van Gogh.

Auguste Rodin, "The Kiss"

Claude Monet, The Grand Canal, Venice

Claude Monet, Water Lillies
The Snow Field actually created a dress based on this painting!

Vincent Van Gogh, Shelter on Montmartre

Though those well-known paintings are very beautiful, my favorite was Assuaging of the Waters by John Martin.

There was also an exclusive fashion exhibit featuring pieces from throughout the ages, from influential designers such as Chanel, Dior, Charles James, and Givenchy. They reflect fashions from 1910-1980! The exhibit is open until 19 July.

If you have a chance, I highly recommend visiting the Legion of Honor museum!

February EGL Theme

Each January, the EGL LiveJournal page hosts a "wardrobe post" theme, where each member is invited to photograph and post their clothing collections (mine is here, but note that my wardrobe has had additions and subtractions since I posted it). Last year, the page moderators began a new theme, for February, called "Dress Me Up", where two people are partnered together to make outfits for each other using each others' wardrobe posts. My partner was the wonderful milkamenthe, Lindzi! She's also one of the owners of the up-and-coming clothing and accessory brand Peppermint Fox. I was so honored to be partnered with her!

It was so much fun working with and getting to know her! We told each other a bit about our individual styles, and what kind of outfits we like to wear. Then, we made outfits for each other, and I think they turned out wonderfully! She's already made a post (viewable here) about three of the outfits I made for her, so I decided to do the same. I really love them!

Skirt: Aurora & Ariel
OTKs: Angelic Pretty
Hat, clip, cardigan, blouse, boots: Offbrand

JSK: Emily Temple Cute
Shoes, briefcase: Vintage
Hat, clip, tights: Offbrand

Onepiece dress: Jane Marple
Briefcase: Vintage
Beret, bow, tights, boots: Offbrand

All in all, I had an amazing time doing this activity! And thank you again, Lindzi! ♥

Refining my Style

Depending on who's reading this, you may know that I'm an alternative fashion enthusiast. In my spare time, I collect (and wear!) Japanese alternative fashion styles, mostly originating in Harajuku. My two favorite styles (called Lolita and Otome-kei) are somewhat related - and recently I've been working on combining the two together. Otome-kei tends to be a bit more casual and toned down than Lolita fashion, and occasionally features clashing colors and prints, which isn't often seen in Lolita.

Recently, I went out to dinner with a friend and attempted to create a mixed style coordinate:

Outfit Rundown:

Jacket, Onepiece dress, OTK socks: Angelic Pretty

Beret, purse, shoes: offbrand

I decided to make the accent colors in this coordinate red/wine and brown. Since the jacket's stripes and cuffs feature both brighter and deeper reds, I was given the chance to incorporate both those shades into my outfit, the darker red with my beret and the lighter red with my shoes. I used a brown belt to cinch the waist of my dress, and matched it with my favorite purse. 

I am extremely happy with how this turned out!