Wardrobe Spotlight: Swan Lake

I'm sure we all have that one piece that stood out to us when we were first discovering lolita. I had been aware of lolita for some time, but had only seen old-school sweet which, while cute, didn't really capture my attention (or rather, my wallet) too much.

But then, in 2008, there was Metamorphose's Swan Lake.



The first print I ever saw, and I fell in love with it! I love the high-waist skirt in black the most, but after searching for a long time I never found any in black. Well, that isn't true - I found a black JSK on an auction site, but my bids were blocked by the seller as they didn't want it to go to a foreigner! But then I found this one, the pink OP, for 4000yen. Even though I don't very much like OPs and the collar and sleeves are missing, I couldn't miss out on an opportunity to own my first dream print!


So here it is! There's a slight built-in petti, and lace-less shirring on the back. The tulle accents give it a princessy feel!


All of the bows are detachable. I prefer it with them on, but the pintucks mean there is still enough detail to get away with taking them off. The fabric seems a little worn (probably just from age) but it's soft and the print is bold. The waist-ties are detachable and held on by two fabric-covered buttons. A waist-tie is long enough for me to use as a belt, which is handy for my salopettes as they need drawing in and I don't own a real belt in any colour other than black.


Ribbon accents on the sleeves! It doesn't seem like they actually hold the sleeves tight though which is a shame, as it means I can't loosen them! Since I don't have the full sleeves I might remove all the buttons since they dig into my arm, but I think I might have to cut the elastic too as the sleeves are so tight that I'm in pain when I wear the dress at the moment! Which is odd as I thought Metamorphose was good for the slightly plus-sized lolitas...and I'm not plus-sized.


Those swans! There should be more bird prints in lolita.


And of course the headbow which came with it. I love the pearls <3

I hope I can figure out a good coord with it soon...I have reservations because I'm so used to wearing JSKs. And let's face it, it is a really tacky dress!

So that's it for another wardrobe spotlight! Let me know if there are any pieces you'd like me to feature =]

Fairy-kei Day 5 ~ Places To Buy Clothes

☆ Day five: 5 of your favourite places to buy your clothes.

Hmmmm...I don't really know! I get pretty much all of my clothes from the Internet, and while I absolutely adore fairy-kei brands I don't have room for new clothes and I just can't afford them at the moment. Well, I could, but I'd have to sell a lot of lolita clothes which I don't want to do, or stop collecting ponies which I also don't want to do!

As far as actual stores go, I really only shop in Primark (and occasionally sales racks in H&M and New Look). But fairy-kei-wise they are good as their tights and knee-highs are so much cheaper than everywhere else! Also apparently mint is supposed to be the 'in' colour next Spring, which I hope is true because I absolutely adore mint and I'll be able to pick up lots of cheap stuff ;P


Sorry, I kinda avoided today's question! This morning I had a meeting which was only ten minutes long, so I treated myself with walking back from university. While the wind was cold at first, once I'd warmed up I noticed what a lovely day it was! The sun was shining and the weather is still weirdly mild for this time of year. It's perfect bird-spotting weather since the trees are all bare. I saw several robins, bullfinches, goldfinches, house sparrows and even some cute little wrens!


The only problem with walking home is that I have to go through town and I can't resist popping into the toy store to see if there are any ponies I don't own yet. I always think they won't have any new ones, but nearly every time so far they've had ONE I don't own yet, and I HAVE to buy it xP This poor pony looks stoned though!


(I also have to walk past Sainsbury's, hence the Jelly Tots...they're only worth buying in the Christmas tubes!!)

I also got this demented-looking plush swan in the mail today to go with my Keyper swan collection. They look sooooo cute together, I think!

Bodyline Buys

Like a lot of lolitas, I just *had* to take advantage of the £1 shipping that Bodyline has been offering. I haven't ordered from them for a while as their prices are too much nowadays, but I knew I wanted the military JSK when it was released and I was in need of shoes too, so I jumped at the chance!


Here's the JSK! I had a hard time choosing colour as I liked pink and red too, but decided I have too much of those colours already. Thus, I was brave and went for this green. It's much prettier in real life, and the material is the usual stretchy Bodyline fabric. The only problems I've found so far are that the gold trim is scratchy (although at least it's pretty, unlike the horrific lace they stuck on the OP) and the waist ties aren't detachable. This cost me only £25, which I think was a bargain! I didn't buy the matching headbow though as it was £8 and had aforementioned icky lace.


I did however buy the matching socks. Although they don't match. The colour is totally different. I don't know why I was surprised, last time I bought matching socks from them they didn't match at all either =P They're sweet though (hope they fit around my calves without deforming too much!). They cost £4.


The shoes I decided on. I needed some red shoes as I have 2 red skirts and 2 red JSKs, along with other items which have red in the print. I had wanted boots but they looked really cheap (but weren't actually cheap!), and considered tea party type shoes, but went for these in the end as they have a heel and I'm dwarfed by most of my local community! I went for 23 in size which I think is as well-fitting as they could be, but they DO NOT fit! I'd been worrying about length and width, forgetting that I have really deep feet. Even with the straps on the longest length they're really tight, as is the ankle strap due to where it is placed (because I'm sorry, I do not have fat ankles...and I thought Bodyline was supposed to be plus friendly anyway?). Hoping they'll stretch out with wear, although my feet will still look deformed in them. And the style of shoe makes my feet look massive, so I wouldn't recommend them for bigger-footed ladies (but then I might just be being paranoid mwahaha). They were £25.



Aaaaaan 2 pairs of tights, just because! I wear tights a lot (since I usually wear shorts rather than jeans), and I thought these were pretty cute. They only cost £2 per pair. Hope they fit, I do generally have problems with tights - either they're too small to fit around my thighs or they're too baggy at my ankles!

I could have spent so much more on Bodyline, but think I kept it to a reasonable level (£59, marked down to avoid customs). That said, I am rather tempted to make another order for tutu skirts before the shipping is raised again as I kinda need them for fairy-kei.


Also I bought this cutie yesterday as a Christmas hair accessory. I had been hunting for ponies, but to no avail...so I went in to 25th Dec to cheer myself up! I'll probably have to change the clip on it though - I didn't realise that it's plastic, so it doesn't give enough grip on my hair. But then, it *is* supposed to be a Christmas decoration =P

Aside from that, my buys recently have been limited to toys for my collection and Christmas gifts for others! There are a couple of Glitterhell items I definitely want to buy, but until the seller makes a size chart I can't risk ordering anything (and knowing my luck, they'll probably sell out before then).

Have you guys bought anything cool recently? Anyone else done a Bodyline order?

Isle of Wight Overview

I was on the island all last week! We go there at least once a year, so it's not that exciting anymore, although it was my first experience of Cowes week! Although since I know nothing of sailing it was just boats bobbing around this way and that, but it was a lovely day out nonetheless.

We didn't really do much other than go for walks, so the most of the photos I have are of the birds I saw (I love birds!). Irritatingly I didn't have my camera when I saw the most interesting birds, two very orangey turnstones. There were flocks of geese doing formation flying around Yarmouth that day too!


Bog-standard seagull haha. Saw a few terns too, and swans, ducks and a heron.


Two oystercatchers!


Sea holly.


Portsmouth's Spinnaker Tower as seen from Ryde.


Pretty tower in Ryde.


One of many little egrets we saw...they aren't even supposed to be in this country! And a black-headed gull skulking in the background.


Two gulls and two cormorants on a boat/mooring.


Lapwing and two ...er... I think they're black-tailed godwits but I'm not sure.


Curlew.


Hope my photos haven't been too boring for you guys! I'm going to get the Hyper Japan photos next time I see Rob and should be doing more frilly things soon~