LBC: A Coord Inspired by your Favorite Movie

This week's Lolita Blog Carnival post is another one that encourages to think out of the box. Not every movie is exactly Lolita material! Mine isn't for instant.

I had to think long and hard about what my favorite movie is, since my taste in movies is so broad. I enjoy a lot of different movies, from historical ones, to creepy ones, to action movies and comedy. I settled on two very different movies, but one was a lot more difficult to do than the other. How would I do a "The Fault in our Stars" coordinate?
So, I settled for "The Avengers" and "Iron Man" instead. For these it was a tie, but they have a lot in common. Especially the brilliant Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark.

"It is I! The king of New York!"

I would have done a coordinate with red and yellow armor if I could. That would have been epic! But I decided to celebrate the character of Tony Stark instead of Iron Man. It was a lot of fun mixing and matching the little details of Tony Stark's very polished but practical wardrobe, to find what could be succesfully Loli-fied. I wanted to keep the practical, raw vibe.

I chose Victorian Maiden's Box Pleated JSK as the center piece because of it's polished simplicity. It's a very fitted JSK, which resembles the sleeveless t-shirts that Tony favors. The box pleated skirt is elegant, but practical, and balances the badassness of the simple leather jacket. In his everyday wear Tony's outfits are very understated. To get a little sparke in there, I played up the arc reactor elements. The tights were chosen as a hint to the Arc Reactor energy, for instance. The boots are practical, as close as I could get to sneakers, and also bring an air of power to the ensemble. You could totally kick some ass in these!

Do I even have to explain the "Dora" watch? If I do, what are you waiting for?! "Iron Man 3" came out a billion years ago!

Jokes aside, I hope you like the coordinate. I like it a lot myself. It's very subtle and elegant, but also good for a mature casual day.

Want to see how the other participants Lolified their favorite movies? 

Check out the links below!

Breidholt

LBC: A Coordinate Inspired by the Sea

I felt suddenly inspired when I saw the theme of this week's Lolita Blog Carnival challenge! But actually I didn't end up doing the theme I had first wanted to do. My first thought was "Atlantis Coordinate!" but then summer vacation hit me, and as I'm currently sitting in the cozyness of a small danish holiday town, I was overcome with the desire to do something inspired by the idyllic, danish summer by the sea in Skagen.

What came out of that, was a coordinate inspired by the history of the Skagen's Painters, specifically Marie Krøyer. 

Marie was a  very talented painter, but never became as famous as her husband, P.S. Krøyer. She was a passionate woman, who suffered from bad self-esteem. None the less, she held her own, despite the victorian age she was born in, got divorced and re married for love.

Her paintings were truly beautiful.

However, I'm basing my coordinate around some portraits off her, by the ocean.

And here's a still from the new movie, "Marie Krøyer"

And here's the coordinate I made!

I decided to make a very simple coordinate, cased on a very feminine, lacey dress. I wanted a high necked blouse with simple, old fashioned lace detailing like the one she wears in the movie. The gathering around the bust of Angelic Pretty's Rose Garden JSK seemed very characteristic too. You could leave out the bonnet, but I wanted some kind of headwear. The golden rose brooch is one that Marie Krøyer wears in this darker selfportrait. A victorian updo is a must, I think! I tied in the marine theme in the bracelets, but I kept them modest, to fit Marie Krøyer's style. All in all, I think it turned out as I wanted it to. It's all about a summer in Skagen. All it needs, is a parasol, and you're ready to go for a walk on the beach!

Want to see more summer appropriate "sea coordinates"? Check out the other participants below!

A Heart's Sound

Fawn and the Frills

LBC: Disney Coordinate

This week's Lolita Blog Carnival challenge got a shot of disney magic, and of course I decided to ride the wave till the end and base it around Elsa from disney's "Frozen".
I decided to give it more of an Elsa "feel", though, to avoid going into cosplay territory. 

Hopefully that'll also make it a little more bearable for the ones of you out there who've long since had enough of the good "Frozen" stuff

As the base, I chose Angelic Pretty's Twins Etoile bustier JSK. I wanted something shiny, with a corset-like effect to emulate the silhouette of Elsa's dress. I also really liked the swans on the dress, and I decided to pull it forth a bit more with a feather corsage in her hair. For those of you who don't know, "The Snow Queen" is a Hans Christian Anderson fairytale, and he also wrote "The Ugly Duckling". I think Elsa's transformation into the strong, confident lady is reminescent of the ducklings transformation into a swan, so I wanted to use that a little bit. To keep the sass and maturity of the older disney princess, I chose a pair of transparent thigh high socks and see-through heels.
Finding the type of shoes I wanted was a nightmare, as I wanted something that had a bit of an icy look. I think the lace on those shoes give me that, but I know I'm tiptoeing the line of what is and isn't OK in Lolita fashion. Bear with me here.
I chose a cute lace capelet to resemble Elsa's cape in the movie, and to make sure we've got our shoulders covered
(As if it makes a difference with this one, haha), and of course some snowflake jewellery, because we cannot conjure real ice magic.
Last but not least, I chose a wig for this one. I chose a white wig with blue highlights, because I wanted to take a sharp turn away from cosplay territory, weird as that may sound. Since the wig matches the outfit but isn't blonde and plaited, I think it works.

What do you think? Love it? Hate it? Tired of "Letting it Go"? Let me know in the comments!

Wanna see more disney-fied outfits? Check out the blogs below!

A Heart's Sound

Lolita Glamour
Simple as Vanilla Ice-Cream

Alice in Lolitaland

McDuff's Auditorium

Whimsical Adventures of Me

Coming up: A review of "Kamikaze Girls", the book! So stay tuned!

LBC: A Lolita Coordinate Based on a Constellation

This week I'm back on the carousel of the Lolita blog carnival, and this time, we're taking a trip through space. Of course, that means we have to dress for the occasion, and me? I chose the constellation, "Cassiopeia", for my inspiration!

I decided to take a step back and read up on my greek mythology to learn the story of the constellation, before creating my coordinate.

 Apparently, Cassiopeia was the beautiful but vain mother of Andromeda, the wife of the hero Perseus. Cassiopeia was also the queen of Ethiopia, and because she bragged about how she thought herself more beautiful than the nereids, Ethiopia suffered the wrath of Poseidon and was destroyed by a sea serpent.

A fascinating story, I think. 

I decided to build my coordinate around the mythological figure: Cassiopeia, the beautiful but vain queen.

And this was the result!

I picked Alice and the Pirates' "Gather Chiffon" jumperskirt, to keep the centerpiece very recognizably Lolita, as I knew I'd go very, very far out the "Ancient Greece" tangent with the rest of my coordinate. That piece is one of the most iconic AATP dresses, I think, but it also has the gathered bodice and flowy-look that might lead you to think of a toga, a little bit.
Next, I decided to go all out on chunky, attention-grabbing gold accessories. The dress in itself is very detailed and opulent, but since it's just plain white, I think it can handle a little bit of "bling". This coordinate needs to be fit for a queen vain enough to destroy cities, after all!

But since we're talking a queen, I wanted to keep it mature and elegant. I added in the veil to cover up the shoulders in an elegant way, and if you want, it can be draped in a toga-like fashion.
I had a bit of a problem finding the perfect pair of shoes, as I think regular greek sandals would look a bit silly. In the end, I chose a pair of heels that had the look a little bit.

To top it all off, put your hair up in the braided, greek version of the "hime" hair do, and there you go! Ready to rule the world, 800 BC!

Which constellation would you honor, if you went on a picnic with "The Little Prince" among the stars?
You can find more inspiration below!

Sparkling Girl

LolitadokineDarkly DarlingBreidholt

LBC: The Most Challenging Substyles, and How To Pull Them Off

For this week's Lolita Blog Carnival, the topic is to really challenge ourselves and make some really difficult stuff work out in Lolita's favor.
And why go the easy route? I've been working hard on this styleguide for a couple of days, and so I choose YOU:
Sweet Punk Lolita! 

We barely ever see punk Lolita done with sweet elements. It's usually your typical gothy, mainstream-punky substyle of Lolita, but I really like the idea of sweet Lolita being combined with some more kickass elements. Because why do you have to be gloomy to be tough? And this comes from a big admirer of the dark beauty that goth represents, mind you!

So how do I think you can balance sweet with rough'n'tough in a way that won't clash, or seem unbalanced? In my opinion, it's not enough to just throw on a leather jacket and call it a day.
Let me give you a couple of pointers, before I present my idea of a sweet punk outfit to you.

1: Think about what look you're going for!
What image do you want to convey with your outfit? A cute biker? A punk-style magical girl from one of your favorite mangas or comics? Do you wanna go more "torn fishnet" or more "leather", or a combination of the two?

2: Balance your elements!
You want to have an equal amount of punk and cute in your outfit. If you're gonna go for torn fishnet socks, choose some cute dolly shoes. If you wanna wear skull bracelets, try to incorporate some bows too. 

3: Follow the rules!
(or guidelines. Whatever you prefer to call them)
I know, I know, punk wants to be a rebellious style, but if you want to combine it with your Lolita and still be able to call it that, keep the guidelines in mind! This is especially important when you attempt something as experimental as punk Lolita. Punk is all about everything that Lolita is not- The torn, things falling apart at the seams, the rough and being "Ready to Fight for Freedom"! Lolita is pretty much the polar opposite. You can see how combining the two is walking on a thin line, but following the quidelines should help, if you also keep in mind to balance your elements. 
At least keep your ankles covered, keep the full, knee-length skirt, cover your shoulders and wear something on your head, until you're sure you know exactly what you're doing.


So, let me present to you my ideas for how you could put together an outfit..

For my very basic outfit above, I chose a Lolita biker as my style inspiration. I chose this particular JSK because of it's typical pastel elements, but it also has a bright color, the vibrant pink, that I could play up with the jacket. I wanted the jacket to really stand out as a focal point. I chose a pair of elegant fishnet tights and practical boots, but to keep it from straying too far into non-Lolita territory, I seperated the two with a pair of typical kneehigh socks. Also, to balance out the pink with a bit of blue.

Hairband by Babydoll. 

For hair accessories, I'd pick a spiky headband, with some cute pink touches, like the one above, positioned in front of a pair of fluffy, playful twin buns! A playful hairstyle would be important for this hairstyle, in my opinion. You could add a couple of bright pink bows to the buns, too.

From pinterest.

By Nile Perch and Swimmer

To spice up the jacket, I would add a couple of cute pins. Since punk is all about rebelling and standing up for what you believe in, I'd probably pick buttons who supported women's rights or animal rights, but you can also go another route and just choose cute buttons with cupcakes or other sweet things to your liking!

Necklace by Bandai.

To go further into the "Girl Power!" territory, I'd put in some girlpower elements like Magical Girl accessories. I love the magical girl concept, even if I don't watch a lot of animés myself.

They were a great part of my childhood, and I still refer back to these memories when I feel lacking in the confidence department. I chose a relatively simple silver pendant, as I felt it suited the colorscheme of the coordinate the best. I'm debating whether or not it would look good with a pink leather collar too. What do you think? I'd wear multiple bracelets with this coord. A mix of pearls, bows and leather bracelets.

To wrap this up, I want to show you guys a gorgeous leather jacket I found, that I think would look amazing with a vibrant sweet punk Lolita coordinate!

This UNIF jacket, which I found on "Dolls Kill"! I think it's absolutely gorgeous, with just the right amount of crazy pastel madness that has been to typical of Angelic Pretty over the last couple of years. Grab it before OTT goes out of style completely! I know I want to, if the price didn't make my wallet groan in pain.. 

That was it for this week, folks! I hope I inspired some of you guys to explore your more hardcore, girly side.

Want to receive some more advice on hard-to-pull-off Lolita looks? Check out the blogs below!

Breidholt
Lemon Tree
Sparkling Girl

Daily Fuckery
Fire Extinguisher
Sleeping Sweets
Alice in Lolitaland
Hello Batty

LBC: Coordinates for a Themed Vacation!

This week's Lolita Blog Carnival theme was one that I found quite difficult- "A Themed Vacation"?! I've never heard of such a thing before! Themed parties, yes, but a vacation with a theme!?
I don't know if I quite caught the idea of it all, but I felt suddenly inspired as I sat there, grumbling to myself about what this "themed vacation"-deal might be all about.

The outfit below was the result!

I decided to name this outfit "Lolita with a Seoul"- My theme was modern korean fashion! This is what I thought a Lolita might wear while shopping in Hongdae, if she wanted to wear Lolita, but in an appropriate and fashionable way!  From what I've seen, most korean fashion tends to be very romantic and girly. Bows, lace, elegant shoes and pearls and cute fedoras tend to be very popular. This mixes very well with Lolita. I wanted to play up the lace part even more, and chose a pair of shoes that are neutral, and has a bit of a dolly look too. Long necklaces are popular in korean fashion, and I chose an oldfashioned pendant to incorporate an oldfashioned flair. A nudge towards Lolitas victorian roots, and pulls the lacey elements in the same direction. 

Now I'm looking forward to seeing, how the other girls understood this week's "assignment", and if I'm totally off-target.. I had fun, no matter what!

LBC: 1 Piece, 4 Seasons

This week's Lolita Blog Carnival was a great practice session if one was a little bit stuck in the co-ord department. Also, it gave me a chance to play around with Polyvore, which is always fun!

For my 1 piece, I chose a dress which has no seasonal "vibe" to it as such, but I wanted something that was not plain and easy to work with, either. Therefore, I went with Baby the Stars Shine Bright's "Kitty Kitty Rhapsody" print! 

(I'm a sucker for cats... I need that print in my wardrobe at some point!)

Fall Coordinate

For the fall coordinate, I wanted to play up the cream aspects of the print, with just a little bit of the pale pink thrown in there as accent colors. With that in mind, and also kitty cats, I chose the fawn fur, which again gave me the chance to add in some darker fall colors. I think the fawn fur nudged me in a more outdoor-sy direction, so I went for a pair of comfy looking victorian boots and a hat that resembles a victorian riding hat. Perfect for a walk in the forest! All in all, I think it turned out very classy and very different from how I usually see this dress coordinated. 

Spring Coordinate

For spring, I thought it would be most appropriate to play up the gentle pink color! And what goes better with gentle pink than chiffon and princess themes? Instead of white, I decided to go with cream, as it suits the print more. The sheer tights with little polka dots and the sheer collar of the blouse adds a princess-like feel to the coordinate. I went with a bonnet and flowers because of the romance. The cat ear headbands could be used along with the flower clips, if bonnets are not really your thing.

Summer Coordinate

For summer, I really wanted to make the hot pink details of the print pop! And when I found the hat, I just had to go in kind of a sailor-ish direction. What I had in mind for this coord, was a nice walk along the harbor, eating icecream, eating lunch out of a picnic basket and enjoying the sun and smell of the ocean. Very much the danish summer for you! 

I should have added in a pair of cat-eye sunglasses, now that I think about it.

Winter Coordinate

For winter, it is all about fluffy snowball kittens. I wanted to make this coordinate as fluffy and snowy as possible, without resorting to cat-paw mittens. I chose a soft cutsew instead of a blouse, because I wanted a cozy coordinate as opposed to "formal". For extra warmt, I added in the bolero. We're still in the princess-like department, as you can see from the ribbons, pearls and lace. I wouldn't recommend walking on slippery surfaces in those boots. They're purely for decorative purposes.
Oh, and the snowflake is a pendant! How cute is that!?


This week's theme was a lot of fun! It was very interesting, making a single print that might seem a bit "closed off", work in a bunch of different coordinates with very different themes, color schemes and "weather conditions".

Still stuck on how to make "that dress" work for the upcoming spring? Check out these blogs for inspiration!

Elegant Poupée

Breidholt

Vanilla's Traumfabrik
Whimsical Adventures
Wearable Magic
Poppy Noir
Helado de Cereza
New Vogue Children
Electric Carousel
Pretty Little Habits
The Bloody Tea Party