Chanced upon very nice lolita coordinate

I was surfing the forum, Lolita Fashion.org and saw a very nice lolita coordinate from one the forum members, Jola. I really like the pink strawberry dress that she was wearing and really thought she carried it off really well. I have to say also that her red hair is so pretty! I would to get a wig that is similar to her hair style. She also reminds me of characters in the fairy tale, like a girl exploring a garden or something. Well, this is really very good coordinate. Thumbs up for Jola! And not forgetting the pretty strawberry basket - it looks yummy! Haz!

Thanks to Jola who is willing to share her pic here! :)

Well, I don't think I will look as good as this if I wear this Baby JSK. There are just some lolita styles which I feel I can't carry it off well. But sometimes, we never know. It's like - I have never dreamt that I look good in country lolita but it turned out quite okay actually. I think I might wanna start trying out in Gothic Lolita, and I'm also looking forward to wear my ROM and Wedding Shoot classical lolita dress from Innocent World.

Country Lolita

Short trip to BA 28th April

After receiving an email from Black Alice, I decided to make a trip and see the accessories that had just arrived. The weird thing is that each time I go to BA from school, it will be raining. This happened like 3-4 times already. Luckily, it has only started to drizzle when I reached Dhoby Ghaut. But the drizzle was actually getting heavier. Still, I managed to run into the building before the rain became uncontrollable.

I was kinda tired today because I didn't really had a good night rest yesterday. I was still suffering from the horrible indigestion which started on Monday evening. I could feel my intestines squeezing and bloated. I told myself, "I just have to go to Black Alice. I will feel better after that." True enough, I did.

It was Su Yee who was tending to the shop today. When I saw her, my spirits was definitely lifted up. Even looking at the loli clothes made me feel better. Without wasting much time, I browsed through the accessories. Well, the first thing Su Yee told me was, "There's new arrival of baby items today! All very nice!" Haha yeah, that was why I was there! She handed me the a head band from Baby. Ooh! It was pretty! I was wondering it matches my ROM outfit though.

After awhile, I decided on a parasol. I have not yet owned a parasol from Baby. Their parasols are elegant, sweet and very versatile! It matches with almost any of the lolita outfits. And definitely, I will want to get an off white colour one. I've always wanted to get it but it is usually sold out in Black Alice and even on the Baby website. Although I've already ordered a parasol from Innocent World, I could not resist the Baby parasol. As Su Yee was helping me to issue a receipt, I was trying on some JSKs from Baby too. And whoa! I love the Alice Portrait JSK. IT WAS GORGEOUS! GORGEOUS! GORGEOUS! The material is satin-like, so smooth and comfy and of course not heavy at all. But it costs $445!!! ARGH!!! I CAN'T BUY!!!!

I decided to think about it. Seriously think about it and not be impulsive like I usually was. I'm actually proud that I could resist the temptation! HIP HIP HURRAY! I think Kelvan will be very proud of me too.. and maybe... he might sponsor or like what my colleagues say "make a co-payment" of that dress for my birthday in May.... Ermz.. ??

Besides that wonderful dress trying, I had a great chit chatting session with Su Yee. I still have to say that Tim made an absolute wise decision to put a couch in the shop. We talked about lolita and many things under the sun. I felt the stress far away from me and fatigue just miraculously faded away. When I started to head home, the feeling was quite sian. It was 6 p.m. The train was packed and it seems that the journey home was super long and draggy. Nevertheless, I'm glad that I gave myself a short break and entered into the lolita world for just a few hours. It was worth it.

How I started?

I've always adored lolita fashion when I saw girls dressed in lolita dresses in magazines and on the internet. When was that??? Ermz..secondary school? JC? And seriously, I never expect myself to dress in loli one day. It was kinda impossible because firstly, I have no idea where I can get the dresses and of course, it should be expensive.

I did know what cosplay was but could not tell the difference at that time. I only knew one thing - both cosplay and lolita are popular in Japan. I did not bother to find out the difference at that time because there was no way I would have the chance to dress in loli or to cosplay. No $$$ and of course, mom would not have allowed.

This continued till like 2 or 3 years ago when I went to Haru Shop at Far East Plaza. I did not go there purposely to buy anything. I knew Haru sells lots of the Japanese school girl costumes which I was a fan of at that time, cosplay costumes etc. I actually just wanted to see what they have. Well, window shopping is free! And there I saw a very beautiful red dress with white lace. The salesgirl was very friendly. When she saw me 'molesting' the dress, she just asked, "Wanna give it a try?" I just wanted to satisfy my curiosity - How will I look like?

Before I knew it, I fell in love with the dress. I always thought I wouldn't fit because I'm too skinny. But it was not too bad. Besides that, I tried on a Japanese School girl costume. It was a dream come true!!! So what did I buy in the end? Red Lolita dress ($100 plus?), Red Mary Janes ($88), Red Pannier and a Japanese school girl costume (i forgot the price). But these clothes and shoes sat in the storage box for some time till I wore it for a makeover photoshoot 1.5 years ago. It's also the first time I wore a wig.

It was after the photoshoot that I started to get a little interested in lolita fashion. I started looking at lolita stuff from ebay. And I started doing some 'research' on lolita fashion. After a while, I bought a blouse and a lolita skirt from Haru. It was selling at half price. From there, I got to know Bodyline web address which started my Lolita shopping!!! And I also ventured into In the Starlight which is based in United States. I bought many items from there but sadly now, they have already closed down their business. SADZ!!!!

A year ago, my boyfriend (then) told me that there's a lolita fashion shop at Cathay. When I managed to visit it one day, I was WOWED! The dresses are real pretty! Actually what wowed me more was the price. hahahaha! At that time, I could not imagine myself buying a dress at $300 - $400 plus! I tried on a blue jsk and it was really pretty. But I could not bring myself to buy it. Eventually I gave in when I visited Black Alice the second time. I was with my sister and my sister told me, "If you continue to wait, it might be sold already the next time you're here. You like it then can liao lor." I didn't expect my sister to encourage me to buy it. Now that I think about it, she has bought many branded stuff that cost even more than that! This is my first JSK from BTSSB and also from Black Alice.

Gradually, I realised that cosplay is not lolita. Cosplay is role playing a character from a story - anime, movie etc. whereas lolita fashion is a type of fashion, just like punk or bohemian fashion. But it's hard to explain to people what lolita fashion is. When relatives or friends ask me about lolita, they come to the conclusion - Orh.. cosplay la! Well, it's not easy to clear the misconception as both cosplay and lolita fashion both involves dressing up. Well, here's the difference:

Lolita fashion

Cosplay

(Yuuki Cross from Vampire Knight)

After awhile, I realised that the first lolita red dress that I have is actually more of cosplay lolita. Cosplay lolita is actually a kind of lolita in which it is worn as a costume and it is filled with much lace. It's not considered as elegant as the actual lolita. But who cares? It was that red lolita dress that brought me to lolita fashion. After the photoshoot, I have not worn it again yet. It still sits in my storage box at this moment. Still, I can't bear to give it away or to sell it. Each time I open my storage box and look at it, I will just hug the dress eventually. Well, I will definitely wear it one day again to relive the moment that brought me to lolita fashion.

This is nice! That is nice! EVERYTHING IS NICE!

The thing about lolita fashion is that there's no end to your collection. When you go to the BTSSB website, Innocent World or Angelic Pretty website, everything is nice or maybe if u have the money, you will want to buy 80-90% of the stuff. But it's expensive, especially the branded ones. Sometimes, I refrain from visiting the website so that I will not be tempted.

But even we go to cheaper sites like those from Taobao, it is not as if we will not spend a bomb. Because it is so much cheaper than the branded ones, you tend to buy more because it's much more worth it. First, you tell yourself you wanna get a pair of replica shoes. Then because it's cheap, then you start to buy two pairs. This is to make shipping more worth it too. After shoes, you see the socks! OH MY! SOCKS!!! Different colours of the same design all look so cute!! You feel like buying all. After you select all the lolita stuff u wanna get from Taobao, OOPs! It kinda costs a bomb already. Then you start to deselect... that's when you find it real tough to fight against your inner self. IT IS A STRUGGLE! PAINFUL!

Then you start discussing with your loli friends... what they are buying. I don't know about other lolis but when I know that everyone is buying a lot, then I don't feel so bad. hahaah! And I'll deselect less. But the fun part is the discussion especially via facebook. Everyone will see what they like, ask about sizes, which colour is the best, and we all spree together. That's kinda fun!

And of course I have to mention trying out the loli clothes at Black Alice. Oh my! It's real fun! I mean, sometimes you are not sure whether you wanna buy but you just wanna see how you look like in that dress. And one dress get tried on from one loli to another, giving comments and after that, wow at each other when the dress is tried on. The whole process is just so heart warming. It's like a big family. And of course, you end saying again, "Everything is nice!" But purely the reason is also --> "Everyone is so friendly and nice too!" That's the loli community.

Getting into the Lolita World

Finally, I've decided to set up my very own Lolita blog. So far, I've not decided what to put inside this blog. Well, of course, lolita is the main theme.

As I look back when I first got into the world of loli fashion, I was kinda overwhelmed with the things related to lolita such as parts of a lolita outfit, how did it come about, what kind of make-up goes with it etc. Most importantly, I managed to find many girls who are also into lolita fashion. It was just so great knowing them and also to find out that I'm not the only one who is embracing this form of fashion which is still considered 'cosplay' to many. Getting into lolita has allowed me to escape, gave me a chance to dress up and make many loli friends.

Every time I dress up in loli, I feel different. I feel as if I'm not in this real and practical world. It's like I'm in another dimension which I just want to look and feel pretty (I'm not trying to say that I am pretty but wanna feel that way) and to be the other side of me. Sometimes, I feel that I have another personality but okay, this is creepy. The other side of me just wants to be a little girl, never to grow up but just enjoy every moment that does not require me to think about $$ and work - having tea with friends, going out in the garden (which explains my photoshoots), exploring everything around me, carrying baskets and flowers etc.

I do get a little sad when I leave my loli friends every time we end our gatherings. It means - back to reality. Escapism will come to an end eventually. At least I found and have the chance to escape. It's a beautiful dimension. This makes me look forward to every lolita gathering or photo shoot I go to and of course, to treasure the time I have with my loli friends. I'm glad I've found this dimension. A wonderful dimension.