Lolita Blog Carnival: Plan Your Ideal Holiday Trip to Tokyo for Frills

In this post, I will describe my ideal Lolita holiday to Tokyo. I would like to go to Shibuya, Harajuku, Shinjuku, Ikebukuro and Disney Sea. As with the hotel, it would need to have a wardrobe that will store two Lolita outfits because I would like to go to a brand event. Also, there would be a travel companion for peace of mind when out in Harajuku wearing Lolita and also to take photos. Below is a list of things I would like to do in Tokyo.

Ideal spending money: at least enough for 1-2 Lolita pieces (skirt, JSK, OP) and other things

 

Anywhere

 

- Eat at Mister Donut and Mosburger (Mister Donut has unique donuts and the rice burger at Mosburger is delicious)

 

 

Above: What I ate at Mister Donut Ikebukuro. I wish Pon de Ring donuts were available in Australia.

 





Shibuya

 

 

- Get breakfast at Krispy Kreme, ideally get a Japan only and/or a seasonal donut.

 

- Go to 109 and browse the shops (especially the sock/stocking stores, KOKOkim, Ruby Rose and Club KT (Hello Kitty store)

Above: Shibuya 109 at night during Christmas.

 

-Walk around Shibuya and play at random game centres

- Go to the Disney store

- Take a photo with Hachiko

Above: Photo of Hachiko. Note to self: next time in Tokyo, ask someone to take a photo of me with Hachiko or buy a selfie stick.

 

Harajuku

 

-Wear Lolita

 

- Go to Takeshita street, shop at Bodyline (caution: can't try anything on and no refunds. In other words, do not buy anything there if you are unsure if it will fit), go to Daiso (huge one on Takeshita street) and shop at Closet child (hard to find unless you look up)

 

Above: Takeshita street sign. It's amazing that it can combine a TV like screen with balloons.

 

 

-Take Purikura

 

- Eat at Santa Monica crepe on Takeshita street (as long as it's stuffed, any crepe may be good)

 

- Walk around the backstreets of Harajuku

 

- Go to 6% DokiDoki (seems to like foriegners)

 

- Go to Laforet and browse all floors

 

- Visit Meiji shrine and Yoyogi park (I have been to Meiji shrine but not Yoyogi park)

 

 

Ikebukuro

 

 

- Go to Sunshine City alpha and look around

 

- Eat at the Sunshine City "restaurant floor" and choose a restaurant based on what I feel like on the day

 

- Eat at the Milky Way café

 

- Go to Closet child

 

- Walk around Ikebukuro and play at random game centers

 

 

Shinjuku

 

 

- Go to closet child (would go to all three shops as they won't have the same stock)





 

- Shop at Marui Annex and maybe Marui One

 

- As long as I have a map/ smartphone with one or two map apps, get out of Shinjuku station at a random exit and walk around

 

- Take advantage of the free observation desks at the Tokyo Government Metropolitan building



 

Disney Sea



- Spend 1 or 2 days there

 

- Buy Duffy and/or Shelley Mae on the first day

 

 

Brand event

 

- Ideally plan a coord before Tokyo and adding on in Tokyo in order to reduce stress

 

 

 







Link to Lolita Blog Carnival

 

Other blogs participating

 

McDuff's Auditorium

Candied Dreams

Alice in Lolitaland

Courtly Dreams For Burgher

The Bloody Tea Party

The Wonderful World of Minnie

 

 

 



 

 

 



Angelic Pretty's Classic Fairy Tales

It has been a long time since I have done a print review but today I am reviewing AP's Classic Fairy Tales series. At first, I thought that the print is more BTSSB or Innocent World than AP because of it being more classic Lolita and it's not what AP is known for.

First is the OP, which has removable sleeves, making it good for all seasons. It has a collar which makes it look like the wearer is wearing a blouse underneath when the detachable sleeves are used. The waist bow blends into the OP in a nice way. One problem with the OP is that it has no shirring, which does limit its sizing. The vertical trim lines on the bodice do look nice on the OP. Overall, it is a nice classic OP.



Next is the skirt, which is in a standard AP skirt size, making it flexible in terms of sizing to an extent. The skirt has a simple construction, which makes the print stand out and the bows can be removed. However, I would not remove the smaller front bow. That is because there would be a gap in the lace trim on the waist, which could ruin the effect. Overall, this is a nice skirt that I would consider buying if it was my style.

 

Finally, The JSK, which is flexible in terms of its sizing, meaning it could fit a variety of Lolitas. The bodice does look nice with its vertical lace trim and criss cross ribbon. This JSK looks like it could be won with a blouse or an outer in lieu of the former. The waist bow does blend into the JSK in the same way as the OP but I feel that this would suit a curvier Lolita well due to the low neckline, which is why I think AP made the right choice in making this include shirring. Overall, this is a well designed JSK.

 

As for the print, I feel that it is similar to Baby and IW but has an AP twist to it. While it is not my style, I do like the print series. (However, things could change just like with my Dramatic Rose skirt. While I was not interested in the print at first, I grew in love with the skirt over time.) If I was to buy this, I would consider buying a green JSK or skirt as the lighter colour does bring out the print well and the JSK and skirt are more flexible in terms of creating a coord with.





Lolita Blog Carnival: Your Process For Putting A Coord Together

It's been over a year since I have done a Lolita Blog Carnival post. However, I am doing another one about how I put a coord together. I will describe my basic principles and use my first Cream Cookie Collection coord as an example.

Above: Cream Cookie Collection coord from December 2014. (original post link).

Look at the colours on the main item

First, I would look at the colours of the main item, taking into account if the colours are pastel, bright, dark etc. as well as the actual colours (i.e. black, red, pink). For example, with my Cream Cookie Collection JSK, the main colour is Sax with other featured colours being pink, brown and white/cream. As the JSK was pastel, I chose a light pink bolero to wear over it (the bolero is peeking out from the fur coat). This also affected my choice to buy the cream Shy Bear necklace as most of the JSK was pastel/light.

Consider motifs

Next, I would look at the motifs on the main item and choose the other items based on the motifs. If the print had no motifs, I would think about motifs that would work with the main item. For example, the ribbon barrette was chosen to go with the ribbon grid on the JSK and the biscuit earrings (may be hard to see on the photo) were chosen to go with the main motif of the JSK. If it was an item without motifs, I would choose one or two motifs for the other items but not overwhelm the coord with excess motifs.

Consider the venue/season

Finally, I would consider the venue as well as the season for the coord. For example, I also chose the bolero for the coord as the venue for the AP event would probably be heated (as with most places in Japan during winter). If I had more time to prepare/AP released a head accessory other than the Cream Cookie Collection barrette), I would have chosen other items in order to be better presented for the event/venue. However, I aimed to get an AP JSK for the event due to it being run by Angelic Pretty but did have a backup from an indie brand (Infanta's Creamy Cat JSK). Also, if it was spring/summer, I would have worn socks instead of tights.

The points I have mentioned above describe how I would put a coord together. I did use a similar process for my last coord, which was for a local meet up (At the moment, I am not considering posting anything from local meet ups).

Link to LBC

 

Other Blogs participating

Vanilla Bear

My Little Gothic Bubble

Loliday June 2015 letter

For the original (January) letter, click here.

Dear Kalle Sweet of January 2015,

At present (7/6/2015), I am a uni graduate who is still waiting for her first job during her enforced gap year and a Lolita who has only worn it once this year and hopes for more opportunities.

I have not found a job yet due to a job market that is small and with employers exploiting that fact (How can I have experience when I have never held a job?). Because of that, I have not had any money to spend on Lolita. Speaking of, I have been to one meet up, which was enjoyable and that was the only time I have worn Lolita this year.

As for Honours next year, my chances do seem to be pretty good and I do have a good chance of getting something I want (that includes opportunities that were not available last year). This is one of the few times in life where I can be picky about what I do. With the extra free time, I have been improving my Japanese but am unsure about whether to do the JLPT or not. I don't need to decide right now though. Despite the free time, I have forgotten about sewing and should start doing it, even if it is a little bit.

This extra free time has also allowed me to get fit and lose the excess weight I'm carrying. While you took up yoga in order to get slimmer in the hopes of increasing the range of Lolita clothes in Japan so you can find a few new pieces (one new item bought and one second hand JSK that did not), I am continuing on with it to do what I have mentioned. I have gotten fitter and hope to do an inversion (even if it is just shoulderstand) by the end of this year as well as being able to do backbends and arm balances well.

As a Lolita, I have not expanded my wardrobe for reasons mentioned previously but my Dramatic Rose skirt does fit better on me. I did say better because I am not ready to wear it yet. When I won the skirt, I did consider selling it if it did not fit in June but the longer I own it, the more I fall in love with it. I did find another Milky Planet JSK on sale online and if I did have the money, I would consider buying it as I believe with my weight loss, I would have been able to wear it or if not, be close to it. Overall, as a Lolita, I feel that my last coord was a bit better than before but there is room for improvement if there are more opportunities (no upcoming meet ups/big events at present).

As for the last paragraph, thank you for reminding me not to give up. While the beginning of the year was tough, things have improved and I am no longer doubting myself regarding the choices I have made for this year. I hope things do improve in the future (for Honours, getting a job and Lolita).

Love Kalle Sweet of June 2015

Why Lolita brands should not have a shop in Australia

Even though many Australian Lolitas dream of a brand shop opening in Australia, I don't think it should happen right now for three reasons.

Increased prices
In general, things in Australia are more expensive for reasons that are collectively called the "Australia Tax" (one example is the high rate of rent shops pay here). This would increase the price of new brand items (which can already be expensive). While shipping costs would be reduced if items were shipped in bulk to the store and the items are delivered to the customer domestically, this would be negated by the increased price of the item compared to an identical one from Japan or even America.

There is no ideal location
The better places for a Lolita brand shop to open would be Sydney, Melbourne or Adelaide due to the increased population and size of the local Lolita communities as well as Brisbane or the Gold Coast in the Japanese companies' eyes. I said that they were better places but not ideal because the costs of rent in Sydney or Melbourne would be too expensive, Adelaide may also have higher rent prices and it may not have the appeal of the other cities to an Australian tourist. While Brisbane and the Gold Coast are popular tourist cities, they can be difficult to get to due to distance from the other cities mentioned as well as other places in Australia. Because of these reasons, there is no ideal location for a Lolita brand shop unless an even better location can be found.

Not enough customers
Even if New Zealand Lolitas are counted in the number of potential customers, there will probably not be enough people that would buy from the shop to make it financially viable. The potentially higher prices may further reduce the number of customers. This is due to the low population of Australia. While Innocent World opened a shop in Austria, which has a lower population than Australia, the customer base was higher due to its neighbouring countries and the short land distance between said countries. This is different for Australia and New Zealand as they are separated by sea and have a larger distance, which requires air travel to go between the two countries.

Because of the mentioned reasons, it is not a good idea for a Lolita shop to open in Australia unless the brands can think of a business model to use in Australia that would solve all of the problems mentioned in this post. For an Australian Lolita, this means that the only way to get brand in Australia is through second hand sales and to buy new brand, ordering it from Japan.

Cream Cookie Collection coord reviews

In this post, I am going to give my opinion on two coords featuring AP's Cream Cookie Collection as well as include my coord of the same print with my opinion on it.

Source for photos above: ruban-rose.tumblr.com

First is a coord from Ruban Rose. The use of chocolate accessories is a nice idea as it goes well with the chocolate based biscuits that are included in the print. The mint cardigan and hairbow are also nice touches because they emphasise the ribbon that creates a grid pattern on the print. Overall, this is a nice outfit that is simple and works well with the JSK by making it elegant and going towards the more classic side of the JSK.

Source for above photos: sneezingbubble.tumblr.com

The next coord is one by SneezingBubble. It is OTT on the arms but works well by using the colours from the JSK. The beret does add a bit of classy-cute to the coord and the patterned tights do work well with the print. One thing that does make the JSK look nice without making it look like an undergarment peeking out is the multi tiered underskirt, which goes nicely with the frill hem on the JSK. This would be something that taller Lolitas could consider when wearing a too short item. Not that I need it (one advantage of being short) though. Overall, this is a lovely more ornate coord that is not too OTT.

This is the only coord I have of Cream Cookie Collection (so far). It is a simple outfit but effective. While you can not see much of it, the flower bolero I used did suit the JSK ribbon grid design, the next coord I make would either include a blouse or an outer better suited to the theme of the print. Also, I would consider adding bracelets/rings to the coord as well. However, I think this was a decent attempt at creating a coord without full access to my wardrobe (I was on holiday). If anyone has any other suggestions, feel free to comment.

How I would build up my Lolita Wardrobe

After looking at a post recently going around Tumblr called “How Much Does Lolita Really Cost?” by LemonTree11, I decided to write about some of the major ways one can obtain Lolita pieces and how I would approach them.

The first method is making your own Lolita pieces by sewing or through other methods, which can be one of the cheapest methods of increasing your Lolita wardrobe. This is because it has no shipping costs if everything is bought locally and you can work within your budget.  Personally, I have only one Lolita item that is handmade, which is a skirt. I would like to make more items but haven’t got around to it due to time constraints/lack of motivation. Another reason to have more handmade items is because you can make items that would work with your current Lolita items and there are a lot of Lolita sewing patterns available online and in sewing books. 

Above: The first (and only) hand made Lolita skirt I own.

Another way to get more Lolita items is to buy second hand, which can save money as long as the items bought are not rare items/heavily marked up. It can also allow you to find items that were released in previous years. Two ways to buy second hand that I would consider are buying from an Australian seller on Lacemarket/Facebook in order to avoid high shipping costs from overseas. The other way is to buy from Closet Child but the only problem is that the shipping costs are expensive and they do not allow for the option to lower it (the website states in the Japanese shopping info page that forwarding companies are not allowed, which would exclude Tenso).  I would buy second hand if I wanted the item and it was not too expensive (shipping included). So far, the only two things I have bought second hand are two AP rings that I feel fit into my current wardrobe.

Buying Brand that is not second hand is not something I would consider for a Lolita piece unless there was a very good reason. For example, I bought my Cream Cookie collection JSK because the JSK suited my body type well and the AP brand event I attended was in less than a week.  The only exception to this rule would be accessories as they are usually not too expensive and I did buy an AP necklace in this way. One of the downsides to this is the cost of shipping. While Baby effectively bans the use of forwarding addresses by requiring a Japanese bank account for domestic orders, AP does not send to overseas addresses and requires a forwarding address for overseas customers. This impacts shipping because Baby only allows EMS while the use of a forwarding address gives the option to reduce shipping costs. One brand that I would buy brand new if it could be called that is Body Line but I would look closely at the items before buying and would mainly use it for items such as shoes. However, they allow for an option of EMS or Airmail, which is good.

The final way of building a Lolita wardrobe would be with Taobao because it is cheap and is good for buying items such as replica shoes and other “basics”. The only downside is that shipping from China is expensive, which is why I would consider only buying through Taobao in the future with a group order. From personal experience, I found Taobao items to be of good quality for a decent price as I bought from shops that are well known among Lolitas but the shipping was expensive and ironically the cheapest for my order was EMS. If there was an original print that I wanted, I would buy it from Taobao provided that I could do so with a group order as well as any other items that I wanted. However, I would not buy brand replicas because they may be of lower quality and would get you kicked out of brand events.

 

Above: A photo of the Creamy Cat JSK I own. Sorry about the quality of the photo but it is the only one I have at the moment.

To summarise, the main methods of building my Lolita wardrobe that I would use in the future include sewing and buying second hand with Body Line/Taobao for shoes if the quality and price are reasonable.