Lolita Art

 Hello and welcome!

This is my first post in a while. There has been a couple lolita art contests sponsored by Baby, The Stars Shine Bright and Alice and the Pirates, as well as a couple of #drawthisinyourstyle challenges by lolita artists. Some truly beautiful pieces have been created for these contests and challenges, and it got me in the mood to talk about lolita art in general.

One of the artists participating in both BTSSB drawing challenges is also holding a Draw This In Your Style challenge. In Instagram, their username is snow_priestess. You can see that snow_priestess' highlights includes the DTIYS entries for the challenge so far. The deadline to turn in your entry is October 11th as per this post. 

Another artist who has started a DTIYS challenge is one of my lolita artist favorites, Lulu Van Hoagland. Lulu's art for this challenge can be found in her Instagram post here. Lulu's artwork is simpler and evokes a melancholy feeling. I don't think there is a particular deadline for this challenge, but you may want to do it sooner than later!

Honorable mention to the always amazing choconokecha. Her art Insta is can be found here. I mentioned her in this list specifically for her entry to the BTSSB contest, which can be found on her twitter.

I draw a bit myself, but I'm nowhere near confident enough to do commission work or participate in contests, so I've been content just drawing for fun. Here's one of my most recent pieces: 

Do you like to draw? Or do you prefer to commission works when you are able? I'd recommend to give the Draw This In Your Style challenges if you have the chance. Even taking a picture inspired by them is fun!

Until next time,

Keiko

What's on My Mannequin? - February

Hey there~

It's-a me, Keiko! I have returned with another blog post (two in a row? Really?). This time, I have made a coordinate inspired by upcoming Valentine's Day celebrations.

Kuma Kumya's Royal Kingdom Valentine's Coordinate

I picked this JSK because it has tiny hearts going along it

 Rundown

Crown, JSK: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright

Wonder Queen Red Bag: Angelic Pretty

Shoes: Bodyline

Blouse: The Floral Notebook
Red Ribbons, socks, Zelda heart container necklace: Offbrand

BTSSB Butterfly Crown

I got this necklace with an etsy order a while back

Fun Fact: This is not the original button.

I picked the socks because they had a
pattern similar to the lace on the JSK

I don't feel like this coordinate is fully finished. I am missing something red at the top with the crown for it to be well-balanced. I tried adding the ribbons, but they are not the same shade of red as the rest of the outfit. My second pick is to use the detachable middle bow of the JSK as a hairbow on a wig. A long blond or milk tea wig would go well with this princessy outfit.

I don't really have a lot more to coordinate this JSK with, as I bought it only because I liked the print. It really stands out in my wardrobe as the only piece of its color combination. I think pairing it with brown accessories or more golden ones would be an easy way to go. I really need more red accessories, as it is a common 'pop' color in my wardrobe.

How would you coord this piece? I'd love to hear your ideas!

5 items I don't use often

Hey there peeps~

As winter approaches and I start avoiding certain items in my closet ill-suited for the cold, I've been thinking about items I avoid in general. This resulted in putting together a mini-list of accessories I generally don't use when wearing lolita --or pretty much anything else, for that matter. The list is as follows:

Earrings

Melty Ribbon Chocolate Earrings

I generally don't wear earrings very often. I either put them on once and wear them forever, or take them off once and never wear them. I can get away with this in lolita since wigs usually cover my ears, but I usually prefer to go without because I don't deem them that important anyway.

Gloves

Chocolate PieceWool Gloves

You'd think that, for someone that lives in one of the coldest part of the country, I'd own a lot of winter wear for lolita. Nope! I own next to no outerwear and, within that low-priority group, gloves are near the bottom. To be fair, I dislike the sensation of gloves in general, even if the temperature is in the negatives, because I don't like not having feeling in my hands. I really appreciate being able to solidly grip items in my hands, and I feel like I can't do that with gloves on. Still, lolita ones are so cute I might just cave~

Scepters

Butterfly Crown Scepter

I like how they look but they're hard to incorporate to my outfits since they tend to be more extravagant than what my simpler style merits. As much as I love them, I must also admit that they're impractical to have to carry around as well.

Short Socks

Royal Chocolate Crew Length Socks

Because the weather is so cold most of the year, I usually stick around with tights or OTKs. Crew length socks are cute, but they are pretty much a summer-only accessory, and summer where I live it's pretty chilly and short, so they are relegated to the bottom of my sock priority list.

Plush bags

Porter Chocolat Bag

As cute as I think they are, plush bag have zero space. This makes them highly impractical to carry around, so they are usually a no-go for me. This is the reason why I stay away from Usakumya and Kumakumya so much. The only real exception to this is my Porter Chocolat bag that I have yet to use in a coord for the above reason. It's just so dang cute!

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Are there stuff you stay away from in lolita? Do you have any accessories you love but don't really wear? Feel free to share your experience below!

That's all I got for today, but stay tuned~

Keiko out!

I got married! Yaaay! (Warning: Picture Heavy)

Hello everyone!
Keiko here~

Sorry about the long pause in posts. I just finished a suuuuuuuuper hectic marathon starting with college finals, graduation, moving, getting married, and traveling with my family!

It all began in May with my (luckily) few final papers, including my senior thesis. Then I walked across the stage in normie clothes because I found out last minute that our college had guidelines on what to wear to graduation under the gown orz. I was so excited to wear Melty Cream Doughnuts, too...

After that, my then-fiance and I moved in together and traveled to Baltimore, where we would later get married. It was super stressful, and I really wish I could have visited the local comm, but at least I got to wear a lolita dress AND get married on International Lolita day!

This dress is way more complex than I'm used to

Funnily enough, the dress I chose is Baby, The Stars Shine Bright's Papillonnage en éclats Dance JSK in Ivory x Sax. I say 'funnily' because I avoid sax blue in lolita and Baby's style is usually not compatible with my taste-- I'm more of an AP girl. But the moment I saw this dress in Baby NYC's storefront, I knew I wanted it for my wedding. I love its layered skirt. The bottom fabric looks airy, fluffy, and soft, and the transparent ivory overlay gives it a dreamy feel.

This dress has lots of exquisite details, from the soft boning and embroidered blue flowers and leaves on the front, to the subdued pattern on the bodice and waist ties. I would probably say that my favorite part is the delicate lace at the bottom of the skirt.

Still, Papillonnage has more details than I am used to, and there were few coordinate pictures at the time for inspiration, so I had to seek advice on how to coordinate it. The contrasting fabrics in the bodice and skirt were different from what I was used to from my AP dresses. Even my switching JSKs had similar fabrics, so I figured I'd work with the chiffon-y overlay as a base and try to match my top-wear so the dress would not look too bottom-heavy. 

I had to introduce this dress to a lot of people who have no idea what lolita is, so I figured I'd play it safe and not go too OTT. A simple princess-sleeve sheer or chiffon blouse would do the trick --if I could only find it. I ended up wearing the flower-patterned, ivory bolero with three-quarter sleeves pictured above, but it took a looooot of searching and freaking out. I wouldn't necessarily say that it's my best coordinate, but that's what happens when you leave important things for the last minute

Initially, people expressed doubts about the dress. My husband's family and my mom are more traditional, so they were surprised I picked such an 'out there' thing to wear. It made me second guess my decision many times, but my husband was super supportive and always jumped up to say that it was our wedding and we should do what made us happy -- he was super sweet about the whole thing!

Ultimately, though the weeks leading up to the wedding were really stressful, everyone had fun and I was relieved that, though my first wedding was my own, people liked how it turned out.

Have you ever been to wedding? Were you able to wear lolita,  or was it a normal wedding? Let me know in the comments below~!