Lolita 52 Challenge: Week 8

~ Why don't I wear Lolita more often? ~

• It takes effort. Planning a coord, putting all the layers on, make-up, hair, cramming everything into an impractical pretty purse. Just ugh!
• It's impractical. Not just the bag, but skirts that knock things over, blouses so tight you pop buttons when you try to reach into a cupboard, headbows that hit low ceilings, being unable to fit into a cubicle of a public toilet.
• Other people are dicks. You will get stared at, laughed at, and abuse shouted at you. I'm uncomfortable around people anyway and was bullied through school for no apparent reason, I'd rather not give people ammunition or extra reason to harass me. Even when they're being nice it's a pain as I don't like talking to strangers, and people expect me to be as bright and happy as my clothing when I'm actually a grumpy sod who wants to be left alone! Oh, and they'll assume it's fine to touch your clothes because it's not like you're a person who deserves their own space or anything.

Lolita 52 Challenge: Week 7

~ Why I wear lolita ~

This is an interesting question as it's something I don't really think about much.

When I started wearing lolita, I guess I just fell for the look. I'd never been into fashion before that, and while I looked like a total weeaboo trainwreck at first I think I've become much more fashion conscious because of it. As soon as I had financial freedom when I started uni I started buying the clothes. Wearing them set me apart from everyone else. I hadn't really made friends very well at uni, but at least everyone knew who I was haha. It helped me become more confident and care less about others thought, although I'm often still self-conscious I just get angry now instead of sad and power through it.

And just to embarrass myself:


Ugh cringing so hard! Proof that you can look like a total ass in brand. So weeb. My shame. (Also why can't I still be that size?!)

At the moment I don't wear lolita very much as it just seems like a lot of effort. However, I love going to meets as I don't get to see friends very often, and it is lolita that brought us together. I thought about quitting, but I didn't want to risk losing any of my friends or missing opportunities to make new ones!



Also if I wear it on a good day, my mood is much better than when I don't!

~Dream Fantasies~

Here are my lucky packs! This is my third year in a row buying them. You can see my SS review here.

Please forgive horrid photos, the lighting here at home sucks, my duvet cover is totally non-kawaii, and my camera is on its last legs so everything is blurry too! I may take photos again when I get back to uni, but my camera will still be dying.


Tadaa~!

Dream Fantasy Salopette Set - ¥10,500


Equal to around £72. Sadly I ended up with pink for the third year in a row when black had been my first choice every year, and pink the third choice both the first year and this year =[


Here's the set (minus the socks as I managed to forget about them for the photo, oops!).


Initial impressions of the salopette aren't great. In this colourway it does look like oversized baby clothes, although on second inspection it is growing on me already. The print is reminiscent of Milky Planet though, which is one I still like despite no desire to own it anymore (unless in miniskirt form).


The stitching at the hem is quite visible and the lace isn't cut well (the overhanging bits make me cringe) and is rougher than usually found on AP items. However neither of these things would be noticeable when worn.


The star lace is soft though, and the icing buttons are cute.

It looks so short and wide though! I'm not sure whether to keep it, trade it, or just get rid. My legs are nowhere near slender enough to pull off something this short without looking more shapeless and tubby than I already am. I haven't tried it on yet though, so I'm hoping I'll be pleasantly surprised.


Cute barette, still don't know how to use these really as they don't stay put in my hair.


T-shirt same as always, I now have 4 of these tees that all look the same! I wish they'd make them an inch longer as they fit me well otherwise (this seems a little longer to the eye, but may distort when worn), and a bit bummed I don't have a black one, but no doubt I'll use this one all the same.


Socks! Very cute, but the colours are a bit off compared to the salopette colours. They look thick and long though, which is great.


And the bag, a bit small for me (not enough room for emergency drink or snacks! The usual lucky pack bags have room for a huge tub of stir-fry and small bottle of vodka...), but still a good size for a small, strapped bag. It will definitely be fine for non-meet fairy-kei outfits for running to the shop or whatever, and has a little internal pocket for keys which is always a plus.

Dream Fantasy JSK Set - ¥15,750


The price above was the price from store, roughly £108. Mine ended up costing ¥18,600 (£127) at auction, which wasn't a bad deal, really.


Here's the set.


The JSK seems slightly better quality than the salopette.


The stitching is still visible but not so much, and the lace is cut much better.

Only criticism is that the white looks somewhat grey if you look closely. The white lace looks much nicer in real life, I had worried the blackXwhite would look cheap/ita.


Matching headbow is cute, pretty much a regular AP headbow. Bit plain, tempted to get some cute beads on there.


The blouse is adorable! No detachable sleeves this time and they look kind of baggy, and sadly no shirring at all. It looks quite well shaped though, so hopefully it will accommodate my bust without being overly baggy on the waist. The buttons aren't cute but the ribbon at the neck makes up for it.


More socks! The colours match a little better for these I think.


Bag same as before. Since I was expecting 2 black packs I'd have had to sell this and the spare socks, sadly since they're different I'll end up keeping both when I could really do with the money!

Overall I'm relatively pleased with my purchases as I ended up with two whole outfits for around £275, which is quite a bargain! And no doubt I'll order something next year also, and hopefully I'll finally achieve black salopette success!

Yunni Sweet Like Candy Review

Price 4/5
Shipping 4/5
Communication 3/5
Overall 3/5

When I decided to try for a lucky pack, I knew I needed a shopping service as online ordering is usually a pain in the backside (although I did actually catch the packs on the international site this year, which is annoying!). I had seen this shopping service on Facebook and a few friends had also liked the page, so I decided to give it a go. I couldn't find any reviews, but many of the commenters seemed to be returning users and they seemed happy. After a little poking about it turned out this person was supposed to be giving me free acrylic nails to model ages ago...I never heard back after confirming which print I wanted them to match.

The fees for this service are 12% + Paypal + ¥250 for bank fees. There are cheaper services out there but I figured that they'd be full already, and I know some charge much more during lucky pack season!

I requested a reservation spot on the 9th and paid on the 12th of December, before the online reservation. Unfortunately there were too many orders for me to get one though, so I had to wait for the instore release at the beginning of January. My salopette was confirmed on the 2nd, but my attempt at Toy March was unsuccessful as they were released in such small quantities (4 per store, I think). The colour of my salopette was not mentioned so I'd assumed I'd gotten my first choice, and by the comments on her page I was first in line for the salopette set as right after the internet reservations I was the only person after a salopette set at all, so you can imagine my suprise when I opened my pack to find my 3rd choice colourway (either there were none or people with no back-ups got priority, doubt I'll ever know though).

I requested the remaining money be refunded on the 2nd of January but got nothing (and much more money is kept by the service when it's a lucky pack refund), so on the 6th I requested auction bid on the JSK set instead as I saw that people making requests were getting replies. I got winning confirmation for on the 12th, 3 days after the auction finished. The seller forgot the socks so sending was delayed.

Most communication was slow and a bit confusing and ambiguous. Looking at the exact dates it doesn't seem so bad now so maybe I was over-reacting at the time, but when that much money has exchanged hands a small amount of time seems like a lifetime! I say ambiguous as I thought my package had been sent out when it was the auction set that had been sent to the service, and a message was sent to me saying it had been sent when that message was intended for someone else!

My packs didn't get sent out until the 1st of February, and upon checking tracking a day later I found that the package was going to my billing address instead of my postal one, despite me re-confirming it previously when I'd realised that I'd accidentally used different addresses in my payments. Luckily it went through customs with no hitches as it would have taken forever otherwise being that I don't live at that house! The package arrived on the 4th, nicely and safely boxed.


While I'm glad I didn't have to pay customs, I'm annoyed that my package got marked down to ¥5,000 value as I've had bad luck with post recently (although it seems I was just scammed by HMV rather than postal issues) and I wouldn't have been able to claim had it been lost. Also one of the tags was left in the bottom of the box, so if customs had inspected it I'd have been busted and would have had to pay a ridiculous fine (I think they can fine up to £1,000!). I suppose I should have specified that I wanted it marked at full value, but since it's illegal to mark down I'd assumed the legal option would be default. More fool me.

Overall I would probably try to avoid using this shopping service again, but would still consider using it. While the price was acceptable, the service was quite unprofessional, although I realise that lucky pack season is a stressful and busy time, plus snow and illness intervening. Furthermore someone else is helping to run the page now, so it may be more efficient in future. The fact that I'd know what to expect would mean future experiences with this service would probably be viewed more positively even if the standard was the same.

Lolita 52 Challenge: Week 6

~ My favorite Lolita brand ~

I think that should be pretty obvious...


Even though my tastes have been changing and I'm not really (nor have I ever really been) a fan of true OTT sweet, I always come back to Angelic Pretty. I love their prints, I love their non-lolita pieces such as miniskirts and riders jackets, I love the pastels.


It's also great when they do something a little different to their usual, like my dream item, Gloria.


I'm still gutted that I missed out on this skirt! I don't think I'll get another chance at owning it, either.

I have also been loving these OTT dresses with princess sleeves that they have been putting out recently. I wish I'd had the money to buy Sweetie Chandelier, even if partially just to make a Biffy Clyro reference...I'm not sure my arms would fit in those sleeves though!


What is your favourite brand?

Lolita 52 Challenge: Week 5

~ My wardrobe turnover ~

Okay I have no idea what that term really means. Surely that's ditching a bunch of stuff and buying new stuff?

I really ought to do so. I own so many items that have never been worn, merely admired and then stored. I feel stupid if I wear loltia in public sometimes, and while I don't really care what people think it really dents your confidence when people feel the need to laugh in your face or slag you off loudly when you're just minding your own business. Or the good old 'how can you be so grumpy when you're dressed like that?!'. How about because I'm hungover, in a hurry, no buses running, and assholes like you thinking you get a say in my personality based on my clothes?!

Ideally I need to shed all the items I can't coordinate (such as my two poor Innocent World skirts that don't match anything I own), things I feel too dressed up in (hellooooo most of my Angelic Pretty stuff, especially you Starry Night Theater), and thing that don't fit (such as my Metamorphose mini-skirt that is made for someone with no hips, a bunch of things that are just too long, and my beloved but not-busty-enough Emily Temple Cute dress). My most worn items are ones that can be toned down, and so skirts are probably a better thing to hold on to than dresses. Even if I fail to get rid of anything, I definitely need to rotate my items around, and store them more sensibly so I can easily get to what I want.

Gorgeous, but too long, not cupcake-shape, doesn't match anything!

However it is tough to part with things, especially when I have no idea what price to put on any of my pieces and the fact that there is nowhere I'd feel safe selling at the moment. I always used to use Ebay but their fees have risen and I've been getting really screwed around by both buyers and sellers on there recently! The comm sales has been going downhill too, from what I hear (I don't tend to frequent it as I had to ban myself a few years ago...).

I'd like to instead dabble in a bit of classic, although I'm less inclined to now that everyone I know seems to be making the same move. I have always loved painting dresses though, and I really want an OTT classic dress from Mary Magdalene (and I've managed to avoid making an Angelic Pretty purchase that has the same dress shape so far, but I can't hold out much longer. Only didn't buy Little Bird's Symphonia as I had no money at the time, and trying my hardest to not buy Sweetie Chandelier even though it reminds me of Biffy Clyro haha). I feel that OTT classic would feel more comfortable than sweet, as people can't say you look like a child. Plus my boring brown hair would complement it better.

Right now I have to start thinking about what to do, what with moving back home at the end of the year (where there is no space for anything) and needing to raise cash so I can get the hell out of there again. Sorting things to sell will be really difficult though as my mum decided to put a ton of my stuff in the loft without asking first, grr! As if it wouldn't have been difficult enough anyway!