Disturbia

I've recently started a second blog called Old Habits & Lost Baggage about my journey to sobriety, but since that's not very fun I figured I'd post here again too. Because buying clothes is much more fun 😅

I recently made my first ever order with Disturbia as I fell in love with these ridiculous shorts.

Beetle Shorts - model wears size 8

I always have a hard time with sizing online as it's so inconsistent, even within brands a lot of the time. My estimated measurements had me between a 10 & 12, so I initially ordered the 12. They were pretty baggy, I was surprised! 12 is often a bit tight on me these days. The waist wasn't too bad but the butt and thighs had far too much fabric for me.

Size 12

They also had the back patch sewn upside down somehow, so really hoping they'll be kind enough to refund my postage since they're technically faulty as I'd have had to return them anyway even if they had fit.

So I returned them and risked the 10, which fit perfectly! The shorts are a little thinner than I'd like, but not sheer and they're pretty eye-catching.

Size 10

I wear a lot of black & white (mostly black), so they're a good way of spicing up what would otherwise be a plain & boring outfit.

I'm not sure I would order from them again, but would depend on if I found anything else I really liked. £33 + postage seems a little steep to me for 'normal' clothing, though return postage is covered at least. Now to hope for some nice weather to get some wear out of them!

Aliexpress Harness & Garter Review

I've been wanting a fashion harness for ages but they are generally really expensive. So when I found out that Aliexpress sell many of them, I had to give them a go!

I ordered on July 5th, and they received today on the 22nd, so it didn't take too long, really! Shipping was free, and there were no customs charges.

I obviously didn't read the listings properly as 2 of the harnesses I ordered were apparently little wholesale lots! So I have a bunch of them to sell now, oops! It's also worth noting that these are replicas, and I have a feeling some sellers use images of the original rather than of their own product. The seller I used was dong lou.


This first one was £11.56 for 2.


As you can see, several of the straps need adjusting on me as they're too long. Otherwise, I think this is pretty accurate to the photo.


This second one was £5.48 for 1.


This is how I was expecting it to fit, and what I will try to alter it to be.


This is how it actually fits. A tad too big and long! Obviously the tags need to be removed, it was just easier to try on by leaving them in.


This third one was £4.65 for 3.


This one fits a little long too. It's odd, they all have adjustable back straps, but it's the length that's the issue for me!


I also thought I'd pick up some pentagram garters as I've always thought they looked cool. These were £7.45 for a pair.


As you can see, they're too long and the straps are much too thick. Also while one is stitched fine, the other is totally different and has lots of exposed edges, which kind of sucks.


They're also super duper unflattering and make me look like a ham or something. I know I have fat on my thighs, but they're as toned as they could be!! orz


Lastly, I also picked up some simpler garters for £2.67.


These are a softer, shinier material (all the others are kind of scratchy), and look thinner than the sale photo. They stay up better than I'd expected, but it's impossible to make them look straight! The clips seem pretty decent though.

While I will have to alter pretty much everything, I'm kind of glad I ordered as I was able to get all this stuff for around the price of one harness from somewhere else. I can also hopefully make back some money by selling the spares! I don't think I'd buy again though. I'll just save up for one decent harness if I get much use out of these ones.

Lolita Blog Carnival: The Most Challenging Substyles, And How To Pull Them Off

This Lolita Blog Carnival theme is pretty challenging in of itself! I wasn't sure how to tackle this theme as the difficult styles just don't ever seem to be done.

The style I'm choosing is PUNK.


Now, I think a lot of the problem with this is that people don't really know what punk as a fashion is anyway. Punk is not Hot Topic mall-gothy tat, which is what far too many people seem to think it is. It's about expression, going against conventions, and essentially about freedom.


I see a lot people calling punk lolita 'ita' as it breaks rules and uses tacky things like chains and safety pins and tartan, but THAT'S THE POINT. Obviously it has to adhere to the lolita 'rules' enough to be punk lolita, but you've got to have fun with it too! I'd probably agree that in a lot of cases it isn't lolita at all. But it's too sweet to be punk also!

I also think that punk overlaps with ero a little, since fishnets and shorter skirts are common.


Putumayo is a good brand to start with.


Honestly, I think to get punk lolita right, you just have to have a punk attitude. If you care that other people will think you look totally ita, then it isn't the style for you. Because you probably will look ita, and that's okay! I think because punk and lolita are such different styles, it's impossible strike a perfect balance between the two.

I figure I should put a little list of things to consider when trying to create a punk lolita look...

• Tartan has huge ties with the punk look, so tartan it up!
• In terms of colour palette, black and red is probably the safest option, but white, pink, purple, and green are also good options.
• Fabrics like leather can be used as accents.
• Chains, studs, and pins are great, especially on more deconstructed pieces and layered outfits.
• Keep it fun! Try to look more sweet than edgy.
• Chunky boots and heels are perfect. Get the Docs out!
• Armwarmers and legwarmers are fine! Mismatched stripy socks over fishnets make for perfect legwear.
• Common motifs are skulls and trumps.
• This is probably the only style where hats (especially mini ones) are more common than ribbons.

Honestly I think that I like this style because there are so many cute punk-style outfits in J-Pop! Buono! have loads of cute ones.


And some AKB0048 just because I love these outfits and I'm enjoying watching the anime right now.

I'd imagine a lot of people will disagree with me here, since the outfits I posted are much more punk than lolita (and because I actually like DollDelight and most people don't). But that's just my personal preference for this style, I guess!

Which substyle do you think is toughest?



Breidholt ♥ Daily Fuckery ♥ Lemontree ♥ Northern Star ♥ Sparkling Girl

Frock On!

Last Saturday was the day of the much anticipated Frock On! event in London.


We had to get up at 6am which was painful after a late night of watching scary videos and snuggly-wuggly poodles! Unfortunately the bring and buy opened at the start of the event as opposed to a little later as was suggested by the programme, so I think we missed the bargains! I was also too lazy to take anything to sell, which I regret now.


I had intended to wear a simple old-school coord, but I ended up going a little crazy with it as my rocking horse shoes matched the style, and Ziggi convinced me to wear a bonnet as she was wearing one too! The dress is BTSSB's Lovely Sweet Room, and the bonnet is Angelic Pretty's Glass Bottle of Tears. My bonnet kept pushing my headbow down all day so it wasn't particularly comfortable!


This was Ziggi's outfit! We matched pretty well, and she looked totally gorgeous. We only saw the first fashion show (we went to Subway while the other was happening as we were all hungry), but there were so many gorgeous dresses! Unfortunately I didn't get any good photos due to the lighting and my increasingly slow camera. My favourite was this Juliette et Justine one as modelled by Chokelate.


We mostly wandered around looking at stalls and chatting to fellow frillies! I was so stuck on what to buy. I ended up buying the Innocent World dress pictured below. It was £150 and turned out to be a big mistake as there are some little faint stains, it's worth less than what I paid anyway, and it's WAY TOO SMALL. It's such a shame as it's a gorgeous dress with lovely thick fabric, and it's much more the style I want to move towards.


I almost bought the Angelic Pretty Milky Planet rerelease JSK in lavender, but talked myself out of it (still tempted to contact the seller and get it, but I know I shouldn't!). Was tempted by a BTSSB Red Riding Hood JSK too...I wish I had bought it! There was also a painting dress but it would have been too small.

I really should have bought some Grimoire tights but I couldn't bring myself to spend £30 on a single pair, just as I couldn't bring myself to spend £20 on a flower crown even though they were stunning. At the next event I definitely intend to buy both!

My favourite item that I saw was a gorgeous shiro JSK by an indie brand...but it was £500!


There was a Gok's Fashion Fix style show where brand and offbrand outfits went head-to-head, which was really fun to watch.


There was also a posing demonstration (including the 'Malfoy step'!), and a Q&A with the indie brand designers.


The venue was great, loads of false book cases, amazing paintings and chandeliers, and the toilets had a sort of dressing room with lots of little seated mirrors and even a chaise-longue!


There was also a photo booth!


I didn't win anything in the raffle, but I did have my super VIP goodie bag that came with my ticket. This was what was in mine.


I still can't figure out what the BTSSB usakumya thing is supposed to be used as!

I also picked up Sophie's bag for her as she was too ill to attend. She got some super-cute BTSSB socks!


I had a really nice day, but I got tired very quickly! I'm also sad that I couldn't attend the tea party as I think it'd be much more my kind of thing. I'm making a promise to myself to go to it next year for sure.

Attending this event has really gotten me interested in lolita again! I want to sell off a whole bunch of OTT sweet pieces to I can buy some more wearable pieces and dream items! Although this will take me a long time as my stuff is still in the loft and I'm rather too lazy to sort through things and go through the hassle of selling...

Lolita 52 Challenge: Week 12

~ Combining other fashions with Lolita ~

I definitely think this is a good thing, even if it can lead to the occasional trainwreck. I've seen lolitaXfairy-kei cross-overs often, and I think steampunk lolita is great when done right too. Same goes for cyberlolita, although I know that one gets a lot of hate.


I can't think of any more off the top of my head, can you?

Juliette et Justine Tea Party Club Meet

(Very long post and lots of pictures. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! But feel free to just look at the pretties and not read it eheheh.)

As I am sure many of you will already know, Saturday was a big day for the British lolita community! For the 5th anniversary Tea Party Club meet there was an event with Juliette et Justine and Gothic Lolita Bible! There was also the first brand tea party in the country on the Sunday, although sadly I couldn't afford to attend.


Here's the ticket! It arrived the Monday before the event which got me all excited.

I was pretty stressed getting my outfit ready late the night before (I'd spent the day at the beach!) and was annoyed that I wouldn't have time to do anything with my hair. Had to get up at 5.40, eat & have a cuppa, do make-up, throw clothes on, stagger to the bus stop for the 7.16 bus. Ended up getting to the stop 20 minutes early, but I couldn't risk missing it! Got to the train platform half an hour before it left too, but wasn't really avoidable. Met frilly friends on the platform and the train.



Tube to Charing Cross!


We got to the venue with a few minutes to spare. Enough time for a chat and some photos!


lol at the woman in the background xD

Since we had VIP tickets we went in at 11 and picked up our goodie bags! Then we went to the sales room to have a look at what was on offer. I was blown away by Juliette et Justine's dresses, but no one piece stood out so I didn't bankrupt myself by buying anything.


The bustling sales room.


And the hotel itself was pretty gorgeous.


Couldn't resist getting a photo with those paintings in the background with the beautiful Chrissi.


Outfit rundown time! Bag and dress are Baby, The Stars Shine Bright, necklace and bracelet are from a BTSSB collaboration with Sanrio character Charmmy Kitty, and everything else is offbrand (headbow from H&M, blouse by NafNaf, shoes from Peacocks).


Once everyone was in and settled there was a Q&A with the guests and we were given a questionnaire about ourselves for Gothic Lolita Bible. After this there was a scavenger hunt (which we failed miserably at) and time to go get lunch. Started to get a headache as it was so hot despite the air conditioning (it was much worse outside).


Accessory shot I took while waiting for the fashion show to begin! There were also opera-esque singers at this point, but I really didn't rate them.

I took so many fashion show photos, so I'll just post a few of my favourites.






I loved all the dresses (well if you ignore the one with boob-grabbing, peen-flashing cherubs), especially the really OTT ones! If I manage to part with some sweet pieces in time to raise funds I'll probably order one of the book dresses as they're simply stunning. I also loved that alice-themed one as it fits more with my Angelic Pretty pieces in a way.


After more free time there was a big raffle, although I wasn't one of the lucky ones. Here's a blurry snap of our wonderful hosts Kyra and Michaela while they were calling up winners.

The highlight of the day was somewhat unexpected. After Kyra thanked the guests Dom took to the mic to thank Kyra for organising everything so wonderfully, and then he proposed! I could see what was coming just before it happened and was instantly crying tears of joy. I love them both to pieces so I couldn't be happier for them! Even remembering it brings a tear to my eye.

And after everyone destroyed their make-up with tears, the big group photo.


Click the photo for source! Sadly some people already had to leave before this was taken. I was right at the back so only my hand is visible -_-'

And thus ended the event! After saying goodbye to everyone and giving Kyra a big hug, I went in search of a pint with Bexy and Amy which led us to a pub called Sherlock Holmes. We also got a few cans for the journey back before grabbing the tube and then the train. So sad to spend such a short amount of time in London.


Oh my glob, why do I derp so?

The train seemed to take forever due to being so tired and the fact that emergency stop kept happening for some reason (I suspect dementors).


Drinking with my pinkie out because I'm a sophisticated lady and all.

The plan had been to go out with Bexy afterwards, but my heat-sickness didn't go away and the booze probably didn't help matters, so I went home instead. Well, I say I went home - the next bus wasn't for over an hour and a half so I had to sit at the bus stop dehydrating like mad until 11.33 and then bear a 40 minute bus journey and the 10 minute stagger home, in which I was followed by drunken men. One of whom was bearing a lightsabre. My life.

And so while I wish I could have attended the tea party also, it's probably best that I didn't as I was tired and my body ached so much by the time I got home. But it was such a great day \(^u^)/