First Lolita Attempt~

I've always loved lolita fashion - in fact, it was a hobby-related love of mine before kimono or even cosplay! In London, I rarely went to Camden Town Market, but whenever I did, I almost always made a beeline for one of the lolita shops there. However, being rather stingy and unsure of how well it would suit me, I rarely ever bought anything.

Last week, I had received my first paycheck from my first official job. I decided to treat myself. Having recently found a few lolita shops around KL, I tentatively searched one out.

Although unforeseen events kept delaying my trip to the shop last weekend, I finally managed to make it late on Sunday evening. The shop (i-Socks in Times Square, if you want to know) is rather complicated and bothersome to understand - there are 4 or 5 outlets on the same floor of the same mall, and all but one of them are open to the public. That last store is the VIP store, which of course sells the better stuff.

In order to get to the VIP store, you need to go to one of the public ones and make a purchase of RM20 or more (I've heard varying minimum prices, but this one seems the most common). The shopkeeper may then give you a slip that will allow you a single-time entry for up to 3 people into the VIP shop. There, you must spend a minimum of RM100 (or so I've heard. I definitely went waaaaay past that) to obtain a VIP card, with which you may enter the VIP outlet anytime.

Of course, all this research was done before I went to scope out the shop :P

So in we (my sister, her boyfriend and I) went into a few of the public shops. I found a few things that I liked in one outlet, and bought them. Along the way, I was discussing lolita fashion with the shopkeeper, and she suggested that rather than dresses (which I'd mentioned I liked, but was worried about how I'd look in) I ought to try a skirt + blouse + corset combo. I rather liked the idea, despite having never really tried it out before, and immediately thanked her for it.

Once I was in the VIP store, I asked one of the salesgirls there for her opinion on what would be nice, and what would fit me. I mentioned the combo that was recommended to me, and that I liked black and white the best. She began pulling out stuff and coordinated an outfit for me, complete with shoes and headdress.

I did browse around the whole shop, in the vain hope of finding something else that fits me, but didn't dare buy anything other than the outfit that we'd already picked out.

And so, I finally bought my first lolita outfit. The best part of it is that it was on sale, and I got 30% off everything! Yay! Also, I paid for it with my own money - so no one can complain about spending money on such things, because it is, after all, my own money. Yay!

When I got home, I was really excited about putting it on. However, I had to wait, because first, I had to cook and eat dinner, shower, dry my hair, etc etc. By the time I'd finished doing everything and had the time to dress up, it was already midnight, and everyone was in bed.

Buuuut... I was so excited over my first lolita outfit that I couldn't sleep, and ended up trying on the dress anyway! ^^;

Here are pictures!

Front:

Back:

The outfit still isn't complete yet - I haven't gotten a good pannier, or a proper bag, and I'm not entirely satisfied with the stockings and shoes. I rather think I'd prefer white stockings with a bow, and black shoes with white lace. The pannier I'm using is also an old tailor-made one that's really flat now, and I have absolutely no lolita bags whatsoever! Oh well. Back to the shop this weekend!! XD XD

I also kind of have a slight issue with the corset - while I really like this look, I've read that corsets and lolita just don't mix. Well, I'm not really sure if what I read really meant proper figure-shaping corsets, or "bodices" like mine. But either way, I've heard that it doesn't sit well with lolita except in a few styles (corsets feature quite often in the aristocrat style) or if it matches the outfit in general. I'm really worried about whether or not this outfit does conform to proper lolita guidelines :/

On the other hand, I think that maybe it might look better if I added white lace to the corset? Or maybe I could leave the corset as-is, and use it with a black blouse, long skirt and elegant hat to achieve the "aristocrat" look. All you lolitas out there, what do you think?

I did think for a while that since this outfit was recommended by the shop people, it should be proper lolita. But then, I've read some very mixed reviews of i-Socks, so I'm not 100% confident that I can trust that the corset is lolita.

Some people love the shop and proclaim themselves everlasting fans of the shop. Others look down on it with scorn and say that the store sells low quality stuff (quite true to an extent, but the things in the VIP shop seem to be of a nice quality. Then again, what do I know?) and that this store is to blame for giving the lolita look a very "lala" reputation in Malaysia. ("Lala" is a very difficult term to explain... ^^;)

I myself, as a very new person to this sort of fashion, can't really form an opinion until I've tried the branded items. Only one problem: SIZE! I've looked through the brand shops' online stores, but I come across things that fit me very rarely. :( So for me, I'll take what I can get, and so long as I can fit into the clothes, I'm not really bothered much about quality for now.

I've found a few other lolita shops in KL. I'm thinking of slowly going about to check them out ^^ I also stumbled across a forum post with a list of lolita shops in Singapore. I'm thinking of organising a weekend trip down to Singapore so I can shop away the whole weekend! Yay!

*coughs* Well, enough of all the rant. Please comment ^_^ Thanks for reading!

Outfit Snap: Sweet lolita dress and kitsuke

This evening, I wanted to play dress-up a little. I've been wondering for ages how my sweet lolita schoolgirl-style dress would look with my white shoes from Singapore, so I put it on to see. Here are pictures! Okay, bad lighting = bad pictures, so forgive me for that.

This one is to see the colour! I love that shade of pink!

And to see the back.....


The hairstyle (actually just two clips in my hair) reminded me of Meiji schoolgirls in hakama, so I felt like wearing hakama. I have also been dying to wear this orange furisode for a few days now, because I keep remembering how cheap it is ($30.30 for BOTH the furisode and matching juban!! well, $85 if you include shipping, but it's still really cheap, especially considering the furisode is mostly shibori!). I've been trying to match the furisode and an obi to accessories, but I have yet to find anything that really "clicks" for me.

Since the furisode was out already, I decided to wear the furisode with the hakama, since it didn't look all that bad together. However, for the obi (the green strip above the hakama), I didn't have anything very suitable, so I just took whichever looked best and used it. Here's how it looked:


Sorry for the bad pictures again, but my camera started going all wonky on me, so I couldn't take anymore pictures. I didn't even get to take pics of the sides and back! :( Boo...

Wearing a hakama on my own with a furisode isn't as easy as it looks. It was my first time tying an ohashori on a juban, and the collar kept slipping! As a result, my furisode was also very messy and the front collar kept slipping too. At least I did a pretty decent job of it! Or so I think, hehehe...

*sighs* I'm not looking forward to trying to fold the hakama again for storage!

Outfit Snap: Red Dress & Blue Goldfish Yukata

I promised on Sunday I'd post my red dress, but on Monday, when I typed out the entry, it turns out I'd only saved it on drafts, rather than posting it -_-" So I'm scrapping that post and retyping a red-dress one!

So here goes my red and white dress:





Isn't it cuuuuute? *hearts* I think this one looks better on me than the turquoise one, but they're essentially the same design, just a different colour. Maybe it's the neckline..?

I wore a yukata to Waitrose and the drycleaner's today! The weather was really nice and I'd just taken out my sky-blue kingyo (goldfish) yukata and thought it'd be perfect for the weather. I matched the sky today!



Yeah, the bow is slightly lopsided. I forgot to fix it before taking the photots. Also, the collar isn't pulled back enough, but for some reason, today, the collar just didn't want to stay back. *shrugs* Oh well..

Hehe, I know I'm probably too old to wear pigtails, but when I saw this yukata (the obi is from my red bunny set, and just happened to match it absolutely perfectly!), it immediately made me feel as though it was for young girls (think 13 to 15 years old). So, in the spirit of "looking young", I thought I'd put my hair in pigtails. Plus, a bun seems too formal, as does a pony-bun, and a ponytail is too normal. Hehehe. It kinda makes me feel like an anime character, really =^_^=

Acutally, with regards to the obi.... I'm very happy with this obi and yukata combination, but I thought that when I get home, I could probably pair this with my pink and yellow pre-tied obi. It's pink on one side and yellow on the other, and both colours show on the bow. Because of the goldfish, pink would look really good! On the other hand, if I wanted a duller colour, maybe dark olive green? For a calming colour, I'd just use white.

Ooooh I love this yukata! The colour schemes immediately come to mind once I take it out and put it on. Maybe I should do the same for all my other uncoordinated yukata? I've already pegged my other green yukata on having a dark red obi (which is on its way) or maybe yellow, or the same pink-and-yellow tsuke obi. Again, I'd pick white for a calming effect. *hearts*

I really ought to take more pictures of my yukata coordinates, shouldn't I?

New dress!

In one of my older posts, I mentioned that I'd bought a dress with a turquoise and pink pattern. Well, this morning, I was feeling restless cos I couldn't sleep with my blocked/runny nose (it feels so odd when one nostril is blocked and the other is leaking like a tap), so I took pictures!

Please bear in mind that this is a size 12 dress on a size 10 mannequin, so the dress looks very loose. It's more fitting on me, of course.

Front:

Side-front:

Side-back:

Back:

Upclose of front, to show pattern:

What think you? It does make my hips look like giant pears on a fat day, but if I wore the body-shaping thing, it doesn't look bad at all (and makes me feel pretty hehehe). Oh darn, I'd just realised I forgot to take pictures of the pair of shoes I have that might match this dress. Ah well, maybe next time?

Also, I think that if I really think I don't look good in this, my sister might wear it. Well, Ling? Will you wear this or is it too my-style?

P/S: I'll be updating everyday with pictures of some of my dresses! Tomorrow I'll probably put up pictures of my red dress hehehe.

Dress dilemma....

Good God, I'm turning into such a clothes freak! And the problem is that, with online shopping, I can buy almost anything I want, even without my parents knowing! (of course, once I reach home and bring these all out is another story altogether...)

Now, I just recently won this off Yahoo Japan Auctions yesterday (yes, I checked, and the sizing is good): Patrick argues it's not really my style and it really doesn't look 'me' (and frankly, I agree) but I want to wear something like it once and see if I look alright. Even if I AM fat and may be unable to pull it off. Besides, I can always sell it off on eBay if I dislike how I look in it hehehe..

Now, I've been searching through eBay for more GothicLoli stuff (simply cos it's easier to use the search functions) and I found these two dresses that I like.

First off is this one, which costs £50 for both the dress AND the shipping:

I really really like the bit where ribbons form an X over the collarbones. However, I see major problems with this dress. A: My arms are huge. Can you just imagine how they'll look in that type of armholes?? Not that I usually care. I wear that sort anyway! hahaha.. B: That style really really emphasizes on the boobs. Seriously. My chest will look like torpedoes in that dress! (or so I feel). C: I'm not sure that colour suits me well. I mean, sure, yeah, we can order it in different colours. But I like this one! However, if I don't get this colour, I'll probably get it in white or cream, simply because it's such a 'me' colour. Ling, what do you think?

Secondly, we have this one, which is similar to the first dress, but with more details. It costs EU83, including shipping. Which one do you think will be more flattering for me?

Lastly, we have this dress, which also costs £50 including shipping:

Simple and sweet. Only thing is I really hate the idea of me wearing a short jacket, so the probability of me buying/wearing this is really low. Just thought I'd post a picture, though :P

Sooooooo... To buy or not to buy? For the first picture, the pink dress, I'm planning to buy chunky lolita shoes to match. Will probably venture to Camden Town to get them, but if I can't find suitable white shoes (or a matching shade of pink), I've found a pair online that would look good with it.

Someone's got alot to confess before Easter~~ (=^_^=)"