Last weekend I was able to wear lolita fashion both days, even though it rained on Saturday. (Rain is not enough to stop me, unless it is torrential.) …Although, I did choose a less-intense outfit on Saturday to compensate for the rainy-ness.

I spent Friday with a friend–we had ordered some doll items together, to save on shipping, so she came over so we could open the package and spend time together. I wanted to wear something pink and bright and cheerful. Despite it being a not-terribly-popular print and my general apathy towards prints, the artwork has really grown on me. I think I like that it has so many other colours to accent it with…not that I do much accenting. But the possibility is there!

The weather’s been chillier, so I wore a parka for part of the day. It’s so comfy~ ♥

This time my hair accessories were quite non-standard. I wore the matching wrist cuffs as hair scrunchies. I’ve always thought that wrist cuffs look like scrunchies, since I grew up when scrunchies were incredibly popular and I had one to match almost any outfit. I’ve wanted to wear them in my hair, but I kept deciding against it. I finally decided to, and I’m glad I did. I think they were pretty cute, and no-one even guessed that they weren’t originally intended for hair.

I’d love to get an actually matching hair item to wear with Jewelry Jelly, but this was satisfying until that day finally comes~

The socks made me particularly excited. These socks were a recently purchase, and I just had to wear them! They are incredibly glittery! There are iridescent sparkly threads woven in the socks, so they shimmer beautifully~ I adore glittery things! They also have little crowns and bows on them. So cute!

It was raining on Saturday and I had some errands to run, so I wore a toned-down casual outfit. I didn’t want anything the rain might ruin. It didn’t rain very hard for most of the day, but it alternated between mildly rainy, sprinkling gently, and raining slightly harder. I had to wear my waterproof coat, which is very ugly, so most of my outfit would be covered up anyway!

This was just something simple–a black Alice & the Pirates cutsew under a cardigan, a skirt with parasols (they look like umbrellas, so I thought it was fitting), and black tights and flats. This was the outfit that I was wearing when I had the conversation about lolita fashion on the train! It was really perfect for running about and getting things done, but I still felt frilly and in good spirits.

Amusingly enough, my mother really loved this outfit. So much that she called me to tell me that she had seen this picture and she really loved that outfit! I was quite surprised~

I’m slowly working my way through a backlog of outfits~ Even though I’m sure these are the very least-interesting of anything I could write about, I like to log it–at least for posterity. Someday, when I’m an old woman, I can look back on whatever media this is someday archived as, and remember how much fun I had wearing silly clothes. n_n That’s my goal!

A few weekends ago I had a friend over, and unintentionally we fell into kuro/shiro duality! I had dressed in all white with the intention to wear a pair of socks that I hadn’t had the change to coordinate with anything. The socks are white and feature pink ribbons and bows spotted with white polka-dots in a wrap-around design. I had avoided wearing the socks with a similarly polka-dotted dress thinking it might be overkill, so I decided to wear it with white.

I wore a white one-piece with the ribbon socks and white shoes. I added a white parka when we ran a few errands. My trusty cardigan is too cream for this dress. I’d love to have a white bolero to wear with it (and other one-pieces and jumperskirts, as well) but that wasn’t an option at the moment. The white parka has lining that is pink with white polka dots. The same fabric is used on the cuffs, so it mimicked the socks just a bit.

I tried to do my hair in a more elaborate style, although nothing too amazing. I was inspired by one of the ball-jointed dolls made in a collaboration between Volks and BABY, the Stars Shine Bright: Charlotte. Her long hair is mostly loose, but the top is pulled back in two braided buns.

Looking back, I wish I hadn’t decided to add the hairbows. I thought that I needed some kind of accessory and that those would be most simple, but they look a bit too large. It’s difficult to see that I’ve styled my hair at all~

The next week it was officially fall, so I decided to celebrate a bit by wearing something that felt autumnal to me. Of course, I picked my plaid jumperskirt. The material and the tartan pattern always make me think of chillier weather, as does the darker colour.

I wore navy blue stockings so they would contrast with my white shoes. My white Tea Party shoes are much more comfortable than my brown shoes, and since I planned on doing a fair amount of walking around on that day I wanted to be comfortable. I prefer not to wear white shoes with white socks unless I’m wearing an all-white or mostly-white coordination, so I opted for dark stockings instead of white socks. I don’t have a pair of knee socks that specifically matches the dark navy or hunter green of this jumperskirt~

I didn’t want the white shoes to the be only white accent, so I also wore a white hairbow. The hairbow was a recently purchase, and I really like it~ I love hairbows, particularly enormous “head-eating” bows, but I don’t like it when they stand up. I’m finding that more and more of the larger bows being sold now stand up instead of being tilted on the hairband so they lay on the head. This bow is certainly not large, but it is positioned at a nice angle. I was pleased to see it had the same rose lace as the jumperskirt~

I wore my cardigan–which I wear so frequently that it is probably approaching infamy–because it was a bit too chilly to wear short sleeves but I didn’t quite want to wear a long sleeved blouse. It kept my arms warm, but I think I would have preferred to wear this with a navy cardigan…although if I did own a navy cardigan, it would only match this one outfit.

Maybe that means I need to start collecting other garments in navy blue tartan!

In mid-September I opted for a few casual outfits. I absolutely love wearing frothy, pink, frilly, sparkly lolita outfits, even though I’m not much for very over-the-top variants of sweet lolita. Despite this, sometimes I want to wear something more subdued. Something that will get slightly less hollered comments from random passers-by. For those kinds of outfits, I usually don’t wear a petticoat (for shame!) and opt for a main garment that seems toned down. Often I wear skirts and a sweater or cardigan, but these times I wore jumperskirts instead.

For this particular Friday I wanted something feminine and sweet. It honestly doesn’t look very “lolita” to me, but that’s mostly due to the lack of petticoat. I like wearing this jumperskirt with these tights–they’re cream-coloured and have a textured design in the weave. They matched well with the off-white cardigan, as well.

I was surprised to notice that these flats, which I bought several months ago, are the same shade of pink as the ribbons on the jumperskirt. I originally planned to wear brown shoes, but since these match so closely I opted for them instead. I’m glad that I did, because I rarely have an excuse to wear these shoes. I think they’re adorable, but I worry about ruining them so I don’t wear them frequently. I usually don’t prefer flats with lolita outfits, but in this case I was satisfied.

I chose to braid my hair because it was giving me a hard time. I wanted to fashion a more creative and slightly “romantic” hairstyle, like a braided hairband or something similar. I’ve been seeing a lot of really interesting ideas, particularly in suggestions for mori girl styles. I think they would be well-adapted to lolita fashion outfits that seem sweet but also classic, but I’ll have to try some other day~

Same cardigan and tights, different weekend and jumperskirt. I wore this to spend a day with a friend~ The weather was somewhat undecided on whether it would be decently warm or slightly chilly, so I chose to wear a cardigan. (Plus, I really love this cardigan. Ridiculously love this cardigan. I need to stop wearing it so often, but I love it so~ ♥)

I wore this red jumperskirt because it is comfortable and casual. I knew that my day would be a mix of chores, sitting around with my friend, and possibly some kind of adventure. I love the details on this dress, particularly the white polka dots and red lace and ribbons, and I thought that those elements could stand out against the off-white and relatively understated cardigan and tights. I chose brown shoes simply because they were the only pair that seemed to match.

Overall, it was a very “lazy” outfit, but it suited me well for the day and I enjoyed wearing it. I wish I could wear more dresses with cardigans–I think that’s what I’d buy for all of my “normal” clothes if I had a larger budget.

The best part of the day was… finding pikachu slippers in Chinatown!!

They were so ridiculously cute that I couldn’t pass them up! My husband and I have been playing Pokémon, so I was more drawn to them than I would have otherwise been. I’ve been treating these adorable slippers more like plush toys than actual slippers. I don’t want them to get dirty! When I opened the package I realized that one of them had a smear and spent quite a while cleaning its face so they’d both be cute and tidy. I love how cheerful they look~

There were a few other pair at the shops, but some of the slippers had mis-placed eyes. It gave the pikachu a less-than-gleeful expression, and more of a “totally drunk” look. When my friend and I realized it we were nearly in tears with giggles!

In late August my husband and I spent a relaxing Saturday together, so I decided to dress up. His new job requires him to work on alternative weekends; we try to make the most of the days when neither of us is working. As my job considers Friday and Saturday to be a weekend, and his job considers Saturday and Sunday to be a weekend, Saturday was the day with overlap. We went out to breakfast and ran a few errands, then watched movies and played our new Pokémon games together.

I wanted to wear something I hadn’t worn yet, and this skirt definitely fit that description! It’s one of the things my little sister picked up for me in Japan. Since I don’t usually wear skirts, preferring jumperskirts and one-pieces, so this has been in my closet for a bit. The print is very cute–the pattern definitely grew on me over time. The puppies hiding in those teacups are so tiny!

The weather was mild, but I didn’t think I would be quite warm enough in a short-sleeved blouse, so I wore a camisole with a button-down cardigan. I think that in the future I’d choose a different cardigan, as this one doesn’t really match as well as I had hoped, but I like this cardigan so much that it’s becoming my go-to. I think the polka dots seemed somewhat out of place, as there are none on the skirt nor any elsewhere in my outfit.

Too keep the outfit less formal, I wore pearl hairbands instead of a larger hairbow. I have wanted hairbands this like since an accessory in this style was released on Poupée Girl, but I didn’t find them until fairly recently. These are inexpensive because they were purchased at Forever 21, but they’re also not the best quality. The ends can be sharp, something I plan to fix with mine.

I opted for plain white socks and heart buckle shoes. I like the style of these shoes, but the fit isn’t great even though my pair has a few layers of insoles. They were still comfortable to wear during the time we were out, though.

The next time I wear this skirt, I’ll try to do something more interesting. Maybe by that point I’ll have a pretty cutsew to pair it with~ Now that fall is here I’ve been eying some of the brands’ embellished turtleneck sweaters. I think some of them are so cute~ Perhaps a sweater like that in white or pink would be a good match for this skirt.

When I discovered that a friend of mine was becoming interested in My Little Pony, something I’ve been obsessed with to different degrees for several years, I could think of only one thing: “Oh my goodness–she needs to see my collection!” I made plans with her to do just such a thing as soon as possible. When I relayed this to my husband, wondering what to wear, he immediately suggested Cherry Berry Bunny.

I’ve worn this jumperskirt many times, and I haven’t purchased anything new and exciting in a few months, so this isn’t exactly a brand new and utterly original coordination. Despite that, I always enjoy wearing this jumperskirt~ ☆

A short-sleeved white blouse was a good choice for the warm day we chose to get together. I thought we’d spend most of the day in the air-conditioned house, but instead we ran several errands–including picking up my guinea pig from the vet post-surgery and grabbing lunch. I selected pink socks without lace to contrast better with my white shoes without being too fussy. The print on the jumperskirt is already very eye-catching.

I left my hair down an added a small bow with a pom-pon, because it makes me think of a bunny’s tail. ♥

The next day I attended a doll meetup at a local zoo. My husband suggested this dress, which I think is one of his favourites. It might be the old-fashioned styling, with the bell sleeves, high waist, and thin waist ties.

I put my hair up in pigtails to keep it off of my neck and accented them with the bow-clips I am fond of wearing. The socks I chose have a white rose pattern and white lace at the top. I feel like it mimics the print and trim of the dress itself, although the lace is not the same kind used on the one-piece.

I almost forgot to get an outfit picture, but thankfully we remembered just in time. It would have been much too dark by the time we got home that evening!

It was a nice, simple outfit. Although the weather was warm, I was glad to have the long sleeves to cover my arms. I carried the parasol for most of the event, but I can’t very easily carry a doll and a parasol so sometimes I went without.

I realized during the meetup that my newer doll is very, very heavy. My poor husband wound up lugging her around in the bag for part of the trip. I don’t think she’ll be coming with me again unless I start lifting weights or magically gain better upper-body strength! (That seems unlikely…)

I haven’t had an opportunity to dress up since these occasions in mid-August, so I had been putting off writing about it. I’m hoping that this upcoming weekend doesn’t get complicated; I’ll be quite upset if I’ll miss another opportunity. The weather is cool, but not too chilly, so it’s the perfect temperature for the layers of lolita outfits!

This past month hasn’t been one full of dressing up. With all of the guinea pigs’ vet appointments I’ve been dashing back and forth on the days I’m not at work, and most of the time I haven’t felt up to putting on fancy clothes. This past weekend, however, I was able to stay at home and relax (until Crème Puff’s hopefully final appointment next weekend). My husband and I decided to go on a date on Saturday, a day we both have off of work, and that was an opportunity I didn’t want to pass up.

I wanted to wear something that was slightly more casual. I have a few things that I acquired a little while ago but haven’t actually worn yet, so I picked one of those for our date. I don’t often wear skirts, since I prefer jumperskirts and one-pieces, but while my little sister was in Japan she picked me up a very cute skirt. I like to call this print “Pups in Cups,” as I can never remember what it’s actually called and there are puppies in teacups featured prominently along the border. When we stopped at a shop, the cashier noticed all of the strawberries on my skirt. She was even more excited when I pointed out the puppies~ ♥

I paired the skirt with a white parka with pink polka-dot accents on the cuffs and the hood. I think in the future I’d prefer to wear this skirt with a cardigan or pretty cutsew, but I didn’t want something so formal. I wore plain white knee socks to keep things toned down, and pink shoes.

The skirt has some interesting shades of pink in it. I’d like to wear it with shoes in the darkest pink, but I’m not sure they’d match anything else. I’m never really sure how to coordinate skirts. I don’t have many tops that are pretty enough to seem suitable on their own. My wardrobe always seems to have gaps of missing items, regardless of how full my closet looks!

At the end of July there was a very large meetup (which I kept affectionately referring to as the “megameet”) downtown in the city. There was a lot of fussing among everyone in the area about what to wear for this meetup, and I wasn’t sure what to pick, either. In the end, I wore my Jewelry Jelly jumperskirt because several of my friends also owned it, so we thought it would be fun to dress up similarly. It was almost an attempt to twin, but there were four of us and we didn’t try to match very closely.

Since I have the jumperskirt in pink, I wore it with a white short-sleeved blouse and pink and white striped socks. The socks have darker pink bows up the back, and although I had worn them with other outfits in the past I kept thinking about how they’d probably match Jewelry Jelly. The print has a lot of colours–mint green, robin’s egg blue, pale lavender, and darker candy pink. The darker pinks match the colour of the bows on the back of the socks, and the pink of the rest of the fabric matches the striping on the socks. I was really pleased with it–I’m sure that I’ll wear these socks with this jumperskirt again!

Although the jumperskirt looks very nice without a blouse, I don’t feel comfortable wearing it as a sundress when I’ll be spending most of my time out in public. I chose a blouse with eyelet lace instead of crocheted lace, but I think that in the future I ought to get a blouse with tulle lace. The jumperskirt has tulle lace, so I think it will be a better match.

I wore a bit of makeup that day–blush and mascara. I think makeup can be a lot of fun, but I’m very allergic to it so I can only use it very sparingly. By the end of the day my cheeks were very itchy and the mascara (because it wasn’t waterproof–I haven’t found a makeup removers for waterproof mascara that wasn’t too harsh) had smudged under my eyes. XD There’s still something about makeup I can’t resist, though–it makes me feel extra girly! ♥

I painted my nails to match the colours of the dress’s print! I realized that I owned most of the colours already (just no light blue…). I alternated Essie‘s mint candy apple, flawless, and St. Lucia lilac. When that was dry, I added two coats of main squeeze for an iridescent, violet-tinted sparkle. My little sister let me borrow a turquoise Jewelry Jelly ring (which is one of the cutest accessories I’ve ever seen). It’s so cute that I haven’t returned it yet. 😡

I don’t have the matching hairbow for this series, and it doesn’t look quite right with any of the non-patterned hairbows and headdresses that I owned. I put my hair in pigtails but shook them out so they wouldn’t be one ringlet, and added a bauble of a crystalline heart. It makes me think of the gelatin featured on the print! I’d love to find the hairbow someday, or maybe get something else gelatin-themed. I’m not partial to the mini-hat that was released, but a hairband or barrette of jellies might be nice.

I was absolutely the least creative of my three other Jelly-fied friends. Oh well! ☆

My birthday this year was in the middle of the second-to-last week in July! I had wanted to do something for my birthday, like throw a small party, but when that time of year rolled around I realized that it wouldn’t fit in well with most of my friends’ schedules and there were already events planned for the surrounding weekends. So instead I dressed up, went to work, and then spent the evening with my husband.

The night before I had actually been moping around the house about not being able to do anything fun on my birthday, and my husband was the one to encourage me to make my own fun. He suggested that I wear lolita even though it wasn’t a weekend, reminding me that it wasn’t actually “outlawed” at work. I wavered on the decision for quite a while, flip-flopping between the options, but the next morning I decided to make the most of my day–so I wore it. I don’t regret the decision!

Since it was supposed to be a day of celebration, I picked a dress that is very important to me–the dress my husband bought me when Angelic Pretty opened up their international online shipping. The details on the hem of the skirt make me think of the icing on a fancy birthday cake! (So what could be more suitable?)

The coordination itself is very low-key, because that’s what I like to wear. I paired the dress with matching hairbows tucked into low pigtails, white knee socks, and pink shoes. White knee socks and pink shoes is probably my favourite combination; that’s why I wear it all the time! I particularly like how it looks with a non-patterned pink and white dress.

I didn’t have anything to worry about at work, and afterwards my husband met me at my office. It was a lovely way to spend my birthday. I certainly could imagine a “more perfect” celebration, but I guess I’m getting too old for that kind of thing anyway. Instead, I want to be thankful for getting to spend it with my favourite person. ♥

In mid-July, I was doing pretty well with my resolution to wear lolita on the weekends! I decided it was my “master plan” to wear all pink polka-dots, as I now have two polka-dot one-pieces. The only problem with this plan is that one of the dresses is very short, but I finally found a workable solution!

I’ve tried everything with this dress–underskirts (most of which just don’t match, due to the fabric and lace used), wearing tights, wearing over-the-knee socks, contemplating adding another ruffle to the bottom–but still it is very short. It’s the shortest dress that I own, and I can’t understand why it was made at such a length! At some point I started thinking about some of the layering on the outfits in Alice Deco À La Mode, so I browsed through my wardrobe.

I remembered that I own this Bodyline skirt, which has a look to it as if there is an overskirt and then a ruffled underskirt. On a whim, I put it on under my dress…and it looked really nice!

For the rest of the outfit I kept things very simple; I would have done more with polka-dots if I owned more polka-dotted items–I think I need some socks! I have a polka-dot parasol, which I carried with me. I had fun wearing my hair in braided pigtails–it keeps it off my neck, which was really nice on a warm day…particularly when you’re wearing two skirts.

The next day I wore my other polka-dot dress, which is quickly becoming one of my favourites. I love everything about the design–the ruffles of lace at the bottom, the gathered section on the bodice, the many bows–some lace and some fabric. It has a very “casual” feeling to it, as well. I don’t mean that the design is less-than-detailed or unsuited for formal occasions. There’s just something about the dress’s design that makes it comfortable and easy to wear.

I paired it with matching hairbows that were a gift from my little sister. I also tried to style my hair nicely and in a way suitable for the warm weather, so I pinned it up in braided buns. I think it looked very nice, but it took some work to get the coils pinned just so…and the next morning in the shower I was still combing out more hairpins! I don’t think it effectively highlighted the hairbows, though–that’s something I’ll work on in the future.

Just wanted to end with a silly picture. Sometimes I hate standing still! (Even though I look really awkward when in motion!)

On Thursday, I had plans to meet with some friends after work. I didn’t want to let time at office get in the way of me having fun, so I threw together a casual coordination with lolita fashion elements. I’m not quite up for flouncing into my building in Cherry Berry Bunny, but I would like to have more freedom. I already don’t have to wear business casual; our dress code is essentially “don’t be naked.”

I wanted to wear a t-shirt that my little sister had given me. It has a cute kitten next to a glass bottle of milk, both adorned with bows. I picked the gray and white striped socks because the kitten is gray-ish and I didn’t want to wear socks with lace at the edge. Knee-socks already seem to catch a lot of attention, but lace-topped socks always get lots of stares. Since there isn’t much lace elsewhere, they seemed to me to be too formal. I also wore a gray cardigan with this outfit while in the office, since the air conditioning is always on full-blast.

This skirt is one of the easiest things to wear casually. It matches a lot of my “normal” clothing, and is pretty comfortable (except for the abnormally high waist). I wore it with a very weak pannier, because I didn’t want to be sitting in my good petticoat all day or squeezing onto rush-hour buses and trains at my fluffiest. I had a bag of things I was bringing to my friends, so I wouldn’t have a very easy time holding my skirts out of other people’s ways.

The glittery sneakers were another non-formal touch. Honestly, I just don’t get to wear them enough, but I really like them! My husband suggested them, and I couldn’t resist once it was mentioned. My coworkers really liked the shoes; I think it was their favourite element!

On Friday, I was peeking through my closet and trying to decide what to wear, when my husband elected Cherry Berry Bunny. (I think I may have to rename it my “Strawberry Shortcake” dress–that’s what everyone says when I wear this dress! Clearly, those people don’t remember Strawberry Shortcake. She doesn’t really look like this in any incarnation.) I paired it with pink polka-dot hairbows that my little sister gave me; they don’t match exactly, but it’s pretty close.

I picked the strawberry socks and fake heart-buckle shoes. I think there’s something about the placement of the white stripe and silver buckle on the shoe that looks nice with the print of the jumperskirt. It seems balanced without being a complete match. Overall, nothing in this outfit is a “complete” match. I don’t think I’ll ever own the hairbow (as much as I really want it) unless I magically have a million dollars or people start selling their inexpensively to fund Milky Planet.

I had fun with the hairstyle, as well. There’s nothing particularly innovative about it, but it worked out better than I had expected. I really wanted to leave my hair down, but I also wanted it off my neck. Low pigtails did the trick! The weather has been pretty warm and sunny; it’s beautiful, but it can get a bit oppressive. Since we don’t have air conditioning…sometimes it’s almost too much! The ceiling fan has been on non-stop since June.

For some reason this outfit elicited more reactions than normal. I felt kinda bad, because my husband was really upset by some of the less-than-nice comments directed our way. I always get a bit worried that he will eventually decide that my eccentricities are too much. He reassured me about how he feels, but said I’ll just have to accept that part of him being himself includes intolerance towards idiots trying to mess with his wife. ♥

June 10th is always one of my favourite days of the year, so I probably would have dressed up even if it were the middle of the work-week! This Saturday was my six-year anniversary! ♥ My husband and I haven’t been married for six years, but we’ve been together for six years–and that’s the anniversary that matters most to us. (Although I won’t pass up the chance to celebrate our wedding anniversaries, either!)

I wanted to pick something elegant. I almost wore my wedding dress, but I don’t quite have everything I need for a summer coordination with that dress. I’ll have to get some new socks and wristcuffs before I can attempt that. That dress is so pretty that I don’t want to be dissatisfied when wearing it again–I’d rather wait. This blue dress has special significance to me, as it was one of the three “first things” I ever bought from a Japanese brand when I started wearing lolita fashion. It’s also less cutesy than most of my other garments.

I wanted to try something a little bit different, as I almost always wear it as a “complete set” with the other items purchased at that time. This time, I wore an ivory lace hairbow instead of the matching headdress, and chose heeled shoes instead of flats.

I particularly like how well it paired with the shoes. I’ve been waiting for a chance to wear these shoes! They’re very comfortable, mostly due to the low heel. Wearing them with socks helped prevent blisters; my feet always suffer when I wear shoes without socks or stockings, particularly the first time. It would have been more elegant with sheer stockings, I think, but I don’t have any so it wasn’t really an option at the time.

In the future, I should think about how my nail polish might match outfits before I paint my nails. I was feeling summery, so I chose a shade of neon pink…and then wore a floral dress with pastel blue and ivory. You can’t see it very well in any pictures, but it’s quite shocking in real life! Oh well~ I own several shades that would go very nicely with this dress; I should have considered it beforehand.

I had a lovely anniversary, including a dinner-date, and look forward to many more years together~ ♥ I couldn’t dream of someone more wonderful!