Sunday, May 16, 2010

So many shoes!

I'm not terribly girly. I like dude things. Action movies. Leather. Batman. But if there is one thing that is very, very girly about me, it's my love of shoes. And when you think about it, there are very few style staples for lolita shoes. Sure the platforms, knee high laced up boots, rocking horses (that is an entirely other post, I'm afraid), tea parties, and mary janes are lovely in their own ways, but it's always so much more fun to see how other shoes mix with lolita! Obviously not every style of shoe works, but I thought I would share some of my favorites. I hope to make this a regular feature as well, since I'm always finding so many shoes I want!

I love mid-calf boots. Especially with a mid-calf length dress. The style is very reminiscent of a Victorian child's clothing, and is apparent in the costume design of Tim Burton's Alice. Pleaser makes a boot like this for a very nice price. I feel like these would look best with a classic coordinate, obviously because of the Victorian influence, but I also think they would look stunning with pirate or gothic!


One of my favorite pairs of shoes right now is my pair of oxford heels by Rampage! They are ankle high, have a large, flat heel, and are totally cute. They're also great for everyday wear, which is about as economical as you can get with shoes. These are nice for a casual-to-classic coordinate, but are also suited to kodona due to the masculine oxford style.

If you're more into brand shoes (which I am, but man that price tag is just not worth it for something that's gonna touch the gross city pavement), here's an incredibly cute pair of shoes by BABY the Stars Shine Bright! These are styled wonderfully for summer, with open, airy sides and a fun polka dot pattern. And while I think the black and pink are cute, the red just takes it for me, since they match my favorite bathing suit.

But I gotta say, these are the shoes I want the most right now.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Alice and the Pirates Tribute Illustration

Today I figured I would post up a piece of lolita artwork I've done! This piece was done in July 2009 for the opening of the BABY the Stars Shine Bright store in San Francisco. On EGL there was a group of people putting together a scrapbook of images to give to the BTSSB staff as thanks for opening the store. I only own some socks and accessories from BABY, which I really love, so I figured I would draw something.

That said, Alice and the Pirates is one of my very favorite brands. I made a coordinate that was both piratey and Alice-y out of items I found on their website and drew my interpretation of the brand's vision of Alice. This is probably one of my favorite images I've drawn. It was so neat to see it in the scrapbook!

I'll be doing a (multi-post) write-up on pirate lolita soon, so keep an eye out! Just one, since the other is probably covered by a patch. Arr!

Friday, May 7, 2010

Just Be Yourself: Makeup!

Now I know what you're thinking. Why would I start a series about being yourself with makeup, something that masks and camouflages your real face? Well, I revealed my real face to the internet for the first time right up there. The first photo is me having just woken up and brushed my hair. The second is after taking a shower and putting my makeup on. There was zero photoshop interference with those pictures, minus sizing. And I will tell you right now, I feel like my real face is the one on the right.

A lot of girls don't like makeup, and I can totally understand where they are coming from. It is a mask that you put on your face to hide your flaws or to accentuate your best qualities. And in my opinion the same can be said about dressing for your body type! The social views on makeup are complex. It can both draw attention and make you blend in, depending on how you wear it.

Lolitas view makeup the same way as any other women. Some think it's a necessity; why would you spend all that time on your lovely outfit and leave your face plain and boring? Some think it's to be avoided, a crutch that keeps the world from seeing your true beauty. Some just use the basics; concealer, mascara, maybe a little eyeshadow. It's all a matter of personal opinion! And in the end, you should just be yourself. Don't listen to what others think you should do with your face. Do what you think is best. Granted, if you go the makeup route it's a good idea to understand the products and use them to their best advantage, but in the end it is entirely your decision.

One of my personal role models is Doe Deer of Lime Crime Makeup; she started the company from scratch and lovingly crafts her products. Her goal is to integrate bright colors into the makeup industry. To the right is one of her lipsticks, My Beautiful Rocket, a bright orange. You can look through Lime Crime's lipsticks here at her webstore; she has purples, pinks, red, even a bright blue! Her products show that not only can makeup be bold, but it can be fun and vibrant. My personal favorite is Styletto, the gorgeous black. I want to wear it all the time.

Eyeshadow is always a fun splash of color to compliment your outfit. My very favorite brand is Urban Decay, which can be bought at Sephora.The colors are rich and bright, and have really good staying power. If you can't afford $18 shadow though I also recommend Maybelline, a drugstore brand that has a wide variety of colors. The staying power isn't as good, but the shadows last a long time in the compact and only cost about $5 a piece, so you won't have to worry about wasting it.

My own routine involves covering up a good deal of acne, as you can tell in the photo. It honestly looks as though I'm wearing a different skin! I've had to perfect my routine over the years, but it currently consists of foundation, concealer, and finishing powder. The concealer that has saved my life up to now is Clinique's Advanced Concealer. Unfortunately it only comes in two (very slightly different) shades, and doesn't cater to many skin tones or colors. It does show up a little orangey on my face, but that's taken care of by finishing powder, and it hides my acne like nothing else. And to me, my mask actually shows people what my face should really look like if it wasn't covered in ugly red bumps.

So in order to effectively wear makeup with lolita, you don't have to go full-out Mana style blue lips with a pure white face and thick lashes. I mean sure, you could if you wanted, but it isn't required or necessary. Find what works best for you, what you like, and overall what makes you happy. If it goes against your personal beliefs, that's fine. If you can't leave the house without it, that's fine. Experimenting is always fun though, so don't be afraid to give anything a try! Go crazy, have fun! And don't forget, just be yourself!

Monday, May 3, 2010

The Dream Dress


I believe this is a good starting article for a new blog. It's a subject every lolita has interest in - the dress she's wanted since the beginning, the dress she caught a glimpse of and couldn't get off her mind, the dress she keeps as her wallpaper on her computer and stares at longingly. Some lolitas have that one dream dress that they would go to hell and back for, some get a new dream dress every couple months and have a few old ones piled up in their closet.

As much as I would love to own a closet brimming with dresses it's unfortunately not my reality. I haven't been a lolita very long - it's been two years now and I've only just been able to start collecting interest pieces like dresses. I've been focusing on basics like socks, petticoats, and blouses till now, which takes a lot of time and money. The fact of the matter is that lolita does eat up a lot of cash, especially if you have other (expensive) hobbies. So for many lolitas, a dream dress is just that - a dream.



A dress can be a really beautiful thing to see on a person who loves that dress. One of the saddest things is loving a dress, buying the dress (usually for a princely sum), and not having the dress fit or look right. The whole business is a gamble; whether or not you'll fit the dress, you'll have the money, or you'll be even be fast or lucky enough to get it. But in the end, the chase can be just as exciting as opening up that package.

The first image in this post is a dress I just bought from Qcute's site, the R-Series Taisyou Romance Camellia JSK. This is my first dream dress I've been able to purchase, despite the Mary Magdalene design in the second photo being my ultimate dream. I can only hope that one day I'll be able to get my hands on that baby.

Back for some real fun!

Well summer is here again. And I've decided to completely revamp this blog. Especially because I haven't written anything in it for months. So I've decided to make this blog entirely fashion-oriented, with a huge focus on lolita! I'll get around to whipping up some graphics later, but for now I think I'll just introduce the subject matter.

I hope to start writing about things that are important to me personally, and actually putting up articles. I'm more of an offbrand and custom-made lolita, so there won't be much about brands. I'm also not sweet; my favorite style by far is pirate, but I'm also an avid adorer of classic and gothic lolita, so a lot of the content will be about those styles. I'll also continue to post my lolita art, since it does kind of dominate my work. Hopefully I'll be able to put my own unique twist into the sea of lolita blogs that's drowning the internet. And hopefully I'll be able to keep up with posting to Enfant de Pêche! I have great expectations, and a lot of them are multicolored.

Time to get to work on those graphics!