August 23, 2013

Launderette Pirates

Ever noticed how lolitas can turn even the randomest of places into epic photoshoot sets? I mentioned photos in a launderette during the lolita convention... Here they are! We were acting silly while waiting for the restaurant to open, and had lots of fun!

 

Keeping clean...

  
 This could be a vintage add for washing machines...

 
I love all the goth seriousness...
 
And the goth silliness!

From left to right: Tro-Tro, Ludwig, Lou, Bécha, Marie, and me.


Photos from Tro-tro.

August 16, 2013

Lolita Blog Carnival: Lolita + Cybergoth

I never wore this style  myself, but I have seen outstanding coordinates, albeit very few!

I am slowly gethering items to wear it, so I thought why not plan out a little more precisely what I want? Polyvore, here I come!


Cyber staples: respirator, headphones, dreads, corset, high heels and boot covers, mixed with an Angelic Pretty OP, light pink everywhere, and cute accessories!



What styles did our fellow rufflebutts come up with? Lets see!



August 10, 2013

Comtesse Sofia Collaboration

I was recently approached through one of my friends for a photoshoot collaboration with high end scarf brand Comtesse Sofia. They specialize in luxurious silk scarves printed in Russian-inspired motifs.
It was very quick, once I agreed to the shoot. We had a date settled for the following week, on the 1st of August.
After that it was a matter of sourcing location, styling the outfits  and cretaing a backstory. Whenever I plan a photoshoot, I like inventing a story to go with it, using the set adn accessories, rather than just picing a random backdrop! I am used to staged photshoots, from modelling in  my university, creating my own shoots and from lolita, so I did my best to keep it simple enough that we could shoot two outfits in the evening.

I created moodboards with Polyvore for the photographer and for the company, which they were pleased with, I think.

Voyage
Our location was Gare de l'Est to suit the traveling and slighlty steampunk aesthetic of the first outfit. Pink with white and brown accessories, to stay classical yet sweet, and complement the look of this first scarf, the Rendez-vous in Tuileries. I really like train stations in France, they are always old buildings hinting at the industrial revolution with all the glass and metal domes and the grass-shot tracks. Besides, the name of the scarf refers to a meeting, and where better to express that?  (I didn't really select any photo,I put them all because I love them s much!)





 






Canal Saint Martin
For a change of style, more outdoors-y and fresh, I chose the bold colors of my Bodyline Wine Roses skirt, and simple brass accessories.  I hesitated between these two scarves, because I wasn't sure the reds would match in the white scarf and my skirt, and we finally went with the green colorway, Cyparisse Breeze, which by the way is their latest print! We found a nice embankment to shoot, with a welcome breeze. I planned to bring my parasol, but it broke that very morning! Luckily, my mom had one which she let me borrow.
 

The photographer, Adeline, was really professional and had time to chat before the shooting which made me more comfortable. Isn't it a bit awkward when you simply greet someone, let them take photos, and leave? My friend Penny was there as well, so I had tons of attention ^^ The two locations were near each other, but the heat was really extreme, I was worried my face would be too shiny... Well, I guess it worked out in the end!

Comtesse Sofia

The photoshoot meant I had the chance to wear their products of course! The scarves are gorgeous: the fabric is very fine, soft wool, printed with intricate motifs in vibrant colors. The scarves are a kind of glossy  mat, if taht makes sense, rather than dull mat, and the fringes are shiny silk; the logo is beautifully embroidered in the corner. I loved nestling in the large green scarf, it was so comfortable. I wore these in summer, and they are great for a chilly evening instead of a jacket, but I can imagine that these would be perfect to keep warm in the colder months, and yet remain elegant. The scarves also come in three different sizes, shown on this useful chart:
size-guide
 Even the smallest one that I was wearing, in the first photos I believe, was really large. Prices range from 90€/ $130  to 185 €/ $255.

The company really focuses on high quality, from the materials, to the making, and the packaging. The designs are inspired by the 19th century and by a very famous french author, la Comtesse de Ségur. This luxury brand is definitelly worth keeping an eye on!

Their website and their blog, which my friend keeps!

 Souvenir shot of Penny and I! Thanks to both her and Adeline <3

August 7, 2013

Tea Party


 Ready for some tea party goodness?








Delicious flower tea, pancakes, yogurt cake, chocolate and fruit...


Li-li (Alice in Lolitaland) and I have gotten along since we met ealy in July, and this week-end we had a sleep-over/ tea party. No words can describe how great it was! We watched Shimotsuma Monogatari while doing nail art, window shopped on Taobao, talked uninterruptedly about books, anime, manga, films, and dramas... We have so much in common that we never stopped chattering!
On Saturday we picked Li-li up from the train station, went grocery shopping for the tea party, checked out some manga at the bookstore, and headed home, for Kamikaze girls and planning Sunday morning's  tea party!
There were also family friends over on that night so we had a nice dinner in the garden and finished our movie pretty late, not to mention we got hooked on Taobao, and started planning group orders... I always hesitated buying from there, but with her help I will finally be able to!
We chose our outfits on the following day and got everything ready, the table set and the treats baked. Pictures will show how crazy we went here! We didn't really care about making too much (as you can tell by the full table) because left overs wouldn't be wasted, so we just had a variety of tea party foods for the fun of it. I finally pulled out my flower tea which I preciously saved for such an event -I have been dreaming of this for years, and it was delicious, not to mention beautiful!
We had a walk to the riding club and had a blast imitating Momoko (because Orgeval is about as lost as Shimotsuma), and planning our future blog collaborations, videos (!), and becoming pen pals.

 






Shimotsuma silliness...

 Good things come to an end...



I am so glad Li-li posted on EGL about coming over and that I answered her call for french lolitas! I made a great friend, and I will be so sad to see her for the last time this weekend TT-TT  From then on, we'll keep in contact on Internet, but I really hope we won't have to wait too long to see each other! I definitely enjoyed this time so much! If you meet her in the USA, you are lucky ;) I'll miss you Li-li <3

August 2, 2013

Lolita Blog Carnival: Favorite brand - AP or BtSSB?

These initials seem to still rule the world of lolita, despite recent indie brands' gain in popularity. Of course, this has to do with the reputation these two brands built, and with their particularities. Both Angelic Pretty and Baby the Stars Shine Bright are, arguably, geared towards sweet lolita (of course, they come out with classic and gothic coordinates, but I will focus on sweet, as it does seem to me to be their main cue.)

Ready? Fight!


Let's start with brand identity.

In an interview Kumiko Uehara defines what she designs as dresses she hopes will make the wearer happy and feel like a princess.

AP rides on the OTT side of life. According to their website, the brand concept is to "provide adorable clothing covered in lace" for girls to keep alive their dream of being "fairytale princesses." Sounds familiar? So the concepts are pretty much what we consider lolita to be, in essence.

But their is a real difference in their styles.


Baby to me really has that luxurious, elegant look that makes me feel like a princess. That is the first thought that popped to my mind when I tried on my first Baby dress. It is overall a more mature style of lolita; I would call it classic sweet, if not oldschool sweet. When I tried on the AP dress in the store, I thought "I'm a lolita!" (and that was delightful in itself), but nothing beats feeling like a princess! ;) Baby relies more on fabric choice and details, sewn in embellishments, like pin tucks, ruffles and even just well placed seams. Granted, they don't always look the best - this dress deserves a little rethinking...


  Angelic Pretty usually sports more frills and lace, and a higher waist, not to mention crazy cute prints, which creates more childish, cute lolita style.They clearly saw where lolita was going with OTT and catered to the trend. Now I love those prints (for the most part), but sometimes I do feel like the dress itself becomes secondary; the print takes over and the cut is rather basic. AP then lacks the intricate detailing that defines lolita for me.
 Though this print is very cute, the garment itself is of a rather plain cut -though obviously anything more elaborate with this kind of print would be a little overwhelming.

I have come to like plastic jewellery from loving OTT sweet, and you have to admit, AP's rings are just too cute, but I used to hate it. Oh, and I love Imai Kira, so points for AP. Another specificity of AP is their colorways, with lots of pastels and wide range of colors in each prints, compared to the more monochrome designs in BtSSB.

This week's them was to talk about our favorite brand, so my own take on the topic was rather to compare these two brands I love. There are many more, and I'm not sure I can decide on a single one. In the end, I like both brands, it just depends on what style their latest model is. 

Time for some love! I may not be fond of all their designs (just because they're brands doesn't mean everything they do is perfect!), there is a reason why they get so much attention!

That said, I don't look at the burando when I look for a dress, I do look at the item itself! My wardrobe includes Bodyline, Metamorphose, Baby the Stars Shine Bright, handmade, vintage and non-lolita. Also, I only jokingly pit these two against each other - just beacuse they are the big names doesn't mean you have to join a clan and only love one!

I'm looking forward to reading about brands! Hopefully some indie brands will be presented - I love quite a few, but never bought from them so I can't really talk about them properly.