Baby's Masquerade Theater

Oops! A little more than a week has passed since my last update! I'm also quite behind in the Ask Miss Caro-chan and interview department, I'll have to hop on the backlog of those pretty soon or be up to my eyeballs in questions and interviews! In the past week I was interviewed for the blog Pretty Wonderland, check out my interview here!

This post is mostly for me to drool over Baby's newish item in reserve, Masquerade Theater. This new series is a subtly Phantom of the Opera themed, the print is filled with swinging chandeliers, sheet music, and candelabras.

This print comes in a few releases, an OP, which have been seen less and less at Baby, a JSK, a skirt, as well as a headbow and a bonnet. Let's have a look at some of these!

The OP is drop dead gorgeous, especially in red. The style of the dress is one of Baby's classic Rococo inspired pieces. The sleeves and ruffles are made of chiffon, adding even more decadence to this dress than the bold gold print and Rococo design already bring!

Sadly, the JSK version of this print is very lacking for me. The front bustle is such a perfect detail, it's a real shame they didn't add it to the JSK. I am also not a fan of the extra wide lace along the neckline, and the tiny straps just aren't doing it for me.

The matching bonnet is gorgeous, and would be the perfect addition to either piece in this print, but I am especially loving it paired with the OP, it's just so over the top decadent! The blog, Make Lovely, recently posted a coordinate with the bonnet and the OP, which was where I first saw this gorgeous print! Sadly, I just spent my Lolita funds on a different Baby dress! But maybe I'll have to do another closet cleanout to raise some funds for this OP!

Lolitas Who Break The Mold: Kelsey of I Do Declare

My next interview for Lolitas Who Break The Mold is Kelsey, the girl behind the American brand I Do Declare. I am going to be keeping the intros to the interviews short, hopefully they speak for themselves!

How did you first get into Lolita?
I found the style though what I might consider the normal route, Mana. I was never a big j-rock fan but it's impossible not to be captivated by your first glimpse of the lace, ruffles and petticoats on that man.

Describe your own personal Lolita style.
Well it's a little bit all over the place. I love classical cuts but I also love pops of bright color that don't normally show up in classical lolita, I love high heeled shoes, hats, pockets, and above all I can't stand knee socks. I'm influenced by so many things that have nothing to do with lolita. For example I think a seersucker suit and a boater hat is the best possible outfit it's hard to translate that to frills, though It doesn't mean I don't try!

When it comes to Lolita and fashion, who or what inspires you?
First and foremost it's got to be history. I've been a giant history nerd for most of my life and lolita has only amplified that. So two of my greatest style icons are Marie Antoinette and Georgiana the Duchess of Devonshire. My other greatest inspiration is my friends. I'm lucky enough to live in New York where we have a very diverse lolita community and I'm always in awe of what the other girls come up with!

Kelsey's Marie Antoinette inspired coordinate.

What is your current favorite piece in your Lolita wardrobe?
It's a tie between two skirts right now, My Antique Unicorn skirt because it's super versatile and it's got pockets and my Met Old Emblem high waist skirt because it's just perfect! The length, the print and the military details, it's great! I think my favorite outfit is my Prince Suit, it's a light blue frock coat and a big fluffy cravat and I love it to death!

What inspired you to start your own brand, I Do Declare?
The biggest motivator for me was that like it or not Lolita is Japanese, and thus the clothes were made for Japanese girls, who are a Japanese height. At 5'8" that means things are way to short for me most of the time. I wanted to make things that were flattering for girls my height and with a western build instead of seeing people pick things that might be adorable but just didn't quite work for them.

Where did you come up with the name for the brand?
I wanted something with a royal flair. I'm in love with heraldic imagery and the history of the UK so i wanted to incorporate that into my brand.

How long have you been sewing?
Since I could figure out how to thread a needle but for the longest time I was afraid of the sewing machine! It seems silly now but I used to make whole dresses by hand.

You've done a lot of fashion shows, what's that like?
Haha, it's exciting! It's a constant freak out until the music starts because I'm so busy doing last minute things, but seeing people wear clothes I've made and seeing people enjoy them is the greatest feeling in the world!

What has been your favorite fashion show moment so far?
I think it's probably in my last show which was at the Wonderland in Spring Dances of Vice. I had made one of a kind Alice in wonderland inspired pieces for the show and the friend who was modeling the Mad Hatter outfit came up with this kooky staggering mad walk and it was perfect! She pulled it off so well!

Mad Hatter outfit being modeled

In addition to sewing, you also do a lot of screen printing, how did you get into this?
I was a visual arts major in high school and although I never took printing classes I learned from friends who had. I started applying it to Lolita when I discovered how much fun it can be! The first print I made that I really loved was the Dinosaur Love print, it was kind of a play on AP's old Mode Girl print.

I Do Declare's Dinosaur Love print

What's your screen printing method? Are you more of a designer? Or do you do all the screen printing yourself?
My roommate makes fun of me for doing everything myself. I design my own prints, make the stencils and print everything by hand. I like doing things this way because it makes sure that everything is up to my standards and that it's all original! So what you see on my Etsy shop, and everything I post on my blog is one of a kind!

What's your next big project for I Do Declare?
Haha, contrary to the last answer I'd like to find a place to produce a few items for me, maybe just two key items (the pleated pocket skirt and my favorite blouse pattern) then I can still do the printing by hand myself. I'm having a tough time finding a place that will make a small enough order for me while keeping the price affordable! Luckily there are a lot of options in the city so it's just a matter of time before I find the right one!

Do you have a Lolita motto?
I think my motto would have to be: TRY EVERYTHING. Try every style once and any hairstyle or makeup trick you can come up with! It's the best way to find out what suits you best!

Thank you to Kelsey of I Do Declare for being my second interview! It's great to see such a historically inspired seamstress in the community. She has not only a blog of her own, but also an Etsy shop selling her creations, including the Alice in Wonderland inspired pieces that were in her recent fashion show. I've personally got my eye on this pink and black velvet dress and this pink and mint striped skirt.

How To Tell Bad Lace From Good Lace

There's no doubt about it, Lolitas love their lace. We will cover whatever we can in it, dresses, hats, socks, fake fingernails, even our cell phones and iPods are probably covered in lace. But a proper Lolita knows that not all lace is good, in fact, some lace can be downright horrible. The right lace can make something beautiful and decadent, but the wrong lace can go so far as to ruin something completely. This post is aimed at the beginner Lolita, who finds the idea of "bad lace" and "good lace" intimidating and confusing.

This post isn't going to so much as teach you about all the different kinds of lace, because just because a lace is a certain type, that doesn't mean that it is necessarily good or bad. Instead, I will focus on a few tips on how to spot the good from the bad. If you are interested in learning about different kinds of lace, check out this great post by Macaron Hearts. Please keep in mind that I am neither a seamstress or a lace maker, and my opinions on good and bad lace are simply from my own experience in buying Lolita clothes, both good and bad, for the better half of a decade.

Why bother with good lace?

The simplest reason is that bad lace is often ugly, and why bother wearing something ugly? Especially something ugly tacked onto what would be an otherwise pretty dress. The other answer is that Lolita is often about having a very extravagant and decadent aesthetic. And cheap lace just doesn't follow that aesthetic because $1 a yard lace from Walmart really isn't very decadent.

A few different qualities of lace

Here are some examples of 4 different lace qualities on various things I own.

Let's start from the top! The best lace on this image is very soft, thick, and has a lot of delicate details. It's generally a very pretty looking lace. The good lace is similar to the best lace in that it is pretty and delicate, but it's not quite as delicate, it is a little bit angular and is sort of shiny. The okay lace is soft and thick, but it's not very pretty. It's not ugly, it just doesn't have a lot of detail to it. Something that also makes that lace simply okay, that doesn't really get through in photos is that the lace is generally weaker feeling than the other laces and was actually fraying in a few places when I got the dress new. You can manage to get away with okay lace by not having a whole lot of it, just enough to detail the hems and ruffles. The bad lace is neither soft, thick, delicate, or even pretty. It is stiff and sticks up really weirdly, it's very thin and scratchy, and the design on it is very blocky.

How to spot bad lace

While there is a wide variety of styles when it comes to good lace, bad lace usually all looks very similar. There are a few tell-tale signs of bad lace. First, have a look at a couple examples of bad lace.

Bad lace from various online shops.

What is it that these two laces have in common? The first is a visible base netting, good lace, even when it's made with a netted base, will usually have a very tight-weave net that is not obviously visible. In addition to a wide netting the details on both of these laces is very blocky looking. Try to think of details on lace as resolution on a picture. A good picture is not pixely and blurry, it is crisp and full of detail. The details on lace are the same way. If you are buying lace, bad lace is also usually cheap lace. If your lace is sold in a store at $1 a yard, it's probably not going to be very good. Unless of course, it just so happens to be on clearance or you are buying it wholesale. Cheap $1 a yard lace is also often very common looking, they all have pretty much the exact same blocky flower design. Nice laces often have many more options when it comes to design.

What makes good lace good?

As I said above, there are lots of different types of good lace, but they also have a few traits in common with each other that make them all good.

Good Venise lace from Cheeptrims

Both of these laces have a lot of curves in the design, there is hardly anything blocky about them at all. While these do have netting-like details, they are there for the purpose of decoration, not as a cheap base to machine stitch square looking flowers on top of. Both of these pieces are also very thick and soft looking while still managing to look delicate. In short, good lace is good because it is pretty, soft, has gentle curves, and is thick.

Good cluny lace from Cheeptrims

One kind of lace that doesn't always follow the "gentle curves" rule is cluny lace. Which is generally chunkier looking than other laces, but that certainly doesn't mean it's bad. Cluny lace is still soft and often delicate looking, it just has a much more "crochet" kind of feel to it as it is actually made from threads plaited together to form the design.

But I can't afford anything other than cheap lace!

First of all, that's probably not true. There are many places to get good quality Lolita clothes for a cheap price, check out my Bodyline posts for starters. But, if for whatever reason, your only choice is a dress with lace of questionable quality, there are a few tips you can follow:

• Avoid a lace color that contrasts with your dress color. One of the reasons that black and white Lolita dresses get a bad rap is because when a dress is sold with cheap white lace on a black background, the cheapness of the lace is very apparent. The same goes for red and white or any other high contrast combo. Once you start going into pastel and white combos the contrast isn't so high, so you don't notice how cheap the lace is unless you really get up close and personal with the dress. Printed fabrics also help hide poor lace quality. But, your best bet is to find a dress where the lace and the fabric color match, such as a black dress with black lace, or white with white lace. In that case, the lace simply becomes texture and detail, not cheap decoration.
• Avoid lace on the bottom of hems, especially if it is wide lace. For the same reasons as above, lace just hanging off a hem is going to be very noticeable, especially if it is cheap, wide lace, which tends to be very thin, often looking very out of place and gauzy. Lolita dresses usually have lace on the hem, but a good dress rarely has very wide lace, even of a good quality, so instead, look for a dress with a very narrow strip of lace, no more than a half an inch wide.
• Remember, most lace can be removed. If you fall in love with a dress that has some cheap lace that you are less than in love with, you can usually snip the lace off. If the lace is just sewn on top of the dress, buy a seam ripper and start picking out the stitch. If the lace is sewn into a hem, snip it down as close to the hem as possible. Removing lace is kind of an annoying task, and unless you are willing to take apart your dress and reassemble it you are going to have to do some close and careful snipping. So if you are buying a dress that you plan to remove the lace from, try to avoid a dress completely covered in lace, it will make your life much easier.

Once more, these bits of advice are only for when a dress has bad lace. I am not saying that Lolita dresses cannot be black and white or cannot have wide lace at the hems, just that if a dress uses cheap lace, those two things are going to make the cheapness of the lace very obvious.

How to make the most out of a bad lace selection

This section is for the crafty Lolita looking to sew her first Lolita pieces herself. Many fabric stores usually only sell lace of questionable quality, especially when it comes to non-white colors. So, you have your fabric all picked out, you've been brushing up on your sewing skills, and have been reading tutorials on how to make the perfect Lolita skirt. Your skirt is almost done, but it's missing something, lace! You head to your fabric store in search of lace only to find rack after rack of stiff and scratchy lace only suited for grandma crafts. What are you to do if your only fabric store has the worst lace selection ever? My advice would be to either follow the above tips about avoiding lace that contrasts with the fabric, or, even better, to use eyelet lace. Most every fabric store carries eyelet lace. Eyelet lace is like a little ruffle of fabric with embroidery and eyelets in them, and it's usually inexpensive.

It's not everyone's cup of tea, because it's usually only sold in whites an is more suited for Sweet styles. But it looks much better than cheap lace, and it's really not that expensive. If you are curious to see how eyelet lace looks on Lolita dresses, Anna House uses a lot of eyelet lace on their dresses.

Where to buy good lace.

There are a few places online to buy good lace for a reasonable price. Cheeptrips sells whole spools of lace for around 20$, but you are going to need to join a group order unless you plan on spending a lot, because they have a minimum order of $65. The Etsy shop Mary Not Martha is also a great place to buy good lace, especially good black lace, which is sometimes hard to find. If you are looking for a specific kind of lace to buy, try Venise lace, it's usually the nicest that you can find for a reasonable price.

Always remember: no lace is better than bad lace

A Lolita dress doesn't have to be covered in lace to be pretty! Sometimes, in the case of lace, less is more. Especially when it comes to low quality lace. If you are shopping for a Lolita dress from a cheaper place, especially a cheaper place that you have no idea what kind of lace they are going to use on your dress, look for a dress that has ruffles instead of lace.

I hope these tips have helped you learn a little bit more about the difference between good and bad lace and how to make the most out of what you can get a hold of. Once more, I'm going to suggest this post by Macaron Hearts about the different types of lace. Especially if you are sewing your own Lolita clothes, it is very handy to know what type of lace will work best for you.

Lolita Dolls: Pullip x Innocent World

Last summer, Pullip teamed up with Angelic Pretty to make some OTT sweet and pink and ruffly dolls. This summer, Pullip has teamed up with Innocent World. Each of the girls comes with a miniature version of an actual Innocent World dress and purse. The details are amazing! It's so cool to see famous prints shrunk down to mini size.

These dolls will be released around mid July and will cost around $150. You can pre-order them directly from Innocent World or through Qcute.

Now, let's have a closer look at each of these cuties!

Pullip

Pullip wears a classic green floral dress and over dress. The dress is lovely and rarely seen bright green covered in decadent floral designs. Honestly, Pullip is my least favorite of the girls, her sculpt is too plain for my tastes, but her dress is probably my favorite of the three. The coat and parasol is sold separately for around $50.

Dal

Dal is more my type of doll! She's grumpy and chubby cheeked and just too cute. She comes dressed in a beautiful tiered dress with a matching bonnet. The lace detail on this dress is just so lovely. She carries one of Innocent Worlds famous violin purses.

Byul

Dal may be a cutie but Byul is really my favorite! There's something about her sculpt that I just love, she's grumpy and sleepy and really retro looking. She has a similar look to some Blythe dolls, only she doesn't have the harshness that Blythe has that always scares me away. She comes with Innocent Worlds recent deer print, and a matching deer capelet. The print looks amazing so tiny, but I would honestly like it a lot more if it came in a different colorway.

Confession: I Constantly Break Lolita Rules, And I Love It.

I was checking the Lolita blogs this morning and saw this post by Part Time Lolita about all of the "rules of Lolita" that she constantly breaks. To some people, especially beginner Lolitas, the fashion can be very intimidating because it seems to have a lot of strict rules that must be followed. But, really, the rules aren't so much chiseled in stone as they are there to both try to define the style and to help beginners. I'm not really going to go into length about these rules, because I have done so before, because what I really want to do is make a list of all the "rules" that I can't help but break, even if some of them are rules that are pretty much considered Okay now.

• I wear fishnets with Lolita. Not huge weave neon fishnets or anything like that, but a small weave black fishnet. It's not something I would ever wear to a meetup or anything, but I do wear it, especially with h.NAOTO filled coordinates or Gothic Lolita.
• I love leopard print. Thank you Meta for releasing some stuff in leopard print and making leopard officially Okay! Before Meta did it it was kind of an iffy thing that the few times it had been attempted it looked way too Rockabilly. Up until Meta did it, leopard print was considered a no-no in the Lolita world.

Peg Bundy approves!

• I like sheer materials. A rule that is okay to break now, but it used to be so taboo to wear a sheer blouse. I, personally, love sheer blouses with Lolita.
  
• I never paint my nails or wear fake nails. So many Lolita's have fake nails that match their outfits perfectly, but I can't even stand to paint my nails. It's just too much of a hassle for me to keep them touched up. Besides that, I do a lot of crafts that often chip my nails and would make detail work nearly impossible if I was wearing fake nails.
• I wear too much black eyeshadow. I can't help it sometimes, I just start putting it on and the Goth in my can't stop, and the next thing I know I have panda eyes.
  

Not this much eyeshadow, but close!
Image is a still from a Smashing Pumpkins video.

• I swear all the fucking time. As if the name of this blog wasn't a big clue :P
  
• I like shiny fabrics. Not necessarily satin unless it's a really thick and nice satin, but I really love Lolita pieces made out of brocade, taffeta, or even a nice PVC. I don't actually break this rule because I really don't have any Lolita pieces in these materials, but if I could get my hands on something I liked in them, I would wear it all the time.
• I don't always wear blouses under JSKs. Blouses sometimes feel too stuffy for me so I usually skip them and just wear a cardigan or a bolero.
  

Shiny fabric done right is gorgeous.

• I don't always wear a petticoat. Okay, so this is another rule I break but wouldn't consider breaking somewhere like a meetup. But on lazy days I usually wear an empire waisted JSK with no petticoat.
• I don't always wear socks or something on my legs for that matter. Again, a rule I break but wouldn't break at a meetup. But if I just have to go to the store or something and it's really nice out, why bother dirtying up a pair of socks? I'd rather just slip on some flats and go out bare-legged. My Metamorphose Marine print JSK is my favorite dress to break this rule in. It's just so beachy and the perfect summer dress to wear without any socks or tights!
  

So, my fellow rufflebutts, what rules do you break? What rules do you wish were done away with? Which ones do you think that should never in a million years be broken? Either leave me a comment with your answer, or better yet, make a blog post of your own.

Metamorphose Wonder Silhouette

A week or so ago I mentioned a new sketch up on Meta's upcoming dress page, Wonder Silhouette. I had high hopes for this sketch!

The dress cut was cute, kind of retro and classically Lolita with nothing really wacky about it. And I was intrigued by the silhouettes along the bottom. Meta doesn't show pictures of their print on their upcoming dress sketches, so I had high hopes for what this might mean. Embroidery perhaps? Metallic screen printing? I had visions of Meta's answer to Angelic Pretty's Puppet Circus dancing in my head, it would be soft blue velvet (who cares if summer is right around the corner!) with delicate silver embroidery around the bottom. Or so I would have let my self day dream about, if I knew Meta didn't always like to throw a curveball in that space full of hopes and dreams between sketch and actual dress. Thank goodness I didn't get my hopes up, because a few days later their English blog showcased this dress.

Really Meta? black and white stripes over a black silhouette? Why do you do this to us? You can't even see what's going on in that print. A black design printed on black stripes is just a bad idea. At least, the pink and blue versions are a little bit better.

Not quite what I had been dreaming about, but it's still pretty cute. The more I look at the pink version the more it grows on me, but that black and white one, no thank you. You managed to take three things I like, stripes, silhouettes, and old school border screen printing and just ruin it.

Lolitas Who Break The Mold: Joey

Welcome to my first edition of Lolitas Who Break The Mold, which will be a series of interviews with Lolitas who, well, break the mold on what it is considered to be a Lolita. People who have made the style work for them, or Lolitas who are just generally very creative. The first interview is with Joey, who is a bit of a rarity in the Lolita scene, a Brolita. For those unfamiliar with the term, it's exactly what the name implies, a boy who dresses in the Lolita style. Not boystyle, but the all-out frills and petticoats of Lolita.

First of all, tell us a little about yourself!
Well, my name is Joey. I am a brolita, obviously, and I dress in sweet Lolita. Outside of lolita I am a high school senior of 16 years of age (I skipped 8th grade) who is going into college next year, University of New Mexico to be exact, and getting a degree in Asian Studies (minor in Chinese Language). I then want to get my masters from Yale and become a professor. Life brief is over… now.

How did you first discover the Lolita fashion? How long was it before you discovered it before you actually wore it?
Although I know it is taboo, I first learned of Lolita through anime. Not like “I saw MisaMisa and was instantly in love” but more like I was just looking online at anime-y stuff and was like “What is this Lolita I keep hearing about” and then I fell in love. I also saw Kamikaze Girls soon after that which made me fall head over heels in love with Baby, the Stars Shine Bright. I discovered the fashion in 2006, I think, but I didn’t wear it until 2009 so that is three-ish years of research, pining for brand, and desperately attempting to improve my sewing skills before I brought my first pieces. Although I had been collecting like random accessories and sweaters/socks/whatever else that was loliable so that when I finally dressed loli I wouldn’t start off as an “ita”.

Did you ever have any doubts about wearing the fashion when you first discovered it?
To tell you the truth, no. I mean, there were times when I wished that I wasn’t a boy so that it wouldn’t be so hard, but thinking about giving it up? I think not. That is not to say that its always been easy, it hasn’t, but I pull through.

I think the only time I ever doubted it was maybe for like a week when I fell in love with Dollfies and gave up all wish to buy Lolita so I could buy one, but then I came to my senses and realized I can’t wear a doll, now can I?

How would you describe your own personal Lolita style?
I think my style is very much about wearing clothes that make me feel like a princess (not in the superficial, ‘I want to be pampered’ kind of way necessarily but in the ‘I have power over the aesthetic values that dominate my life’ kind of way: my clothes being my main form of controlling those aesthetics). My style is about being original and cute and feeling like I am pretty, mostly. Bad description but I guess I never thought about it much before.

Do you have a dream dress or dream coordinate?
Well actually, I am desperately in love with Meta’s Swan Lake JSK in pink. I saw it one day and for some reason I almost died. It was so beautiful. I still hope to get it…

Do you have any style icons? Are there any Lolitas or fashionable people that you admire and are inspired by?
I really love Nana Kitade’s style. I think what is so great about it is that she isn’t afraid to take risks and show that she can be a real person. I love that you can see that ‘rocker chick’ style in her clothes still coming through and I hope that like her I can be a beautiful Lolita but still be who I am.

Do you participate in Lolita meetups? Or are you more of a lone Lolita? Tell us a little bit about your favorite meetup experiences or your favorite place to wear Lolita.
I live in New Mexico, so my community is an eentsy teensy little thing but there are three lolis in my area that I’ve had a few meet-ups with and we’ve had some good times going out to eat, going to a tearoom, or out to take some pictures at a duck pond. They are all really sweet girls and I really love how kind and welcoming they’ve been to me since day one! Thanks, girls!
I have to say that my favorite meetups have been at cons! I love to hang out with my pre-loli friends and goof around and nerd out and then get to go eat sushi with some loli friends and… well, goof around and nerd out.

I really like wearing Lolita to the tearoom in my hometown. I felt like the woman that owned the place was really surprised (in a good way) to see a group of girls (or so she thought) dressed so elegantly/innocently and coming to enjoy a nice cup of tea and a finger sandwich. It was a really very comfortable setting.

Have you ever considered dressing in any of the Boystyles? Or was it straight to the frills for you?
Straight to the frills for me! Whenever I see boystyles I think of my sister (who I think would look much better in them than I) and something that I think is nice but just not for me. I love the huge, poofy skirts and lace and frills and pink and creams and whites and although I would try it out if it was offered for me to, I don’t actively ever really think about doing any of the boystyles.

How do people treat you while you are in Lolita? Have you found that fellow Lolitas are more or less accepting than others?
People on the street pretty much treat me like any one of us weirdos in frills: like a weirdo in frills. I am usually thought to just be a strange girl so I don’t really get like gay-bashed or anything. I think that there is a lot of variation in the way other lolis feel about me. There are those who just don’t really care if I’m a boy or girl as long as my cords are good and they tell me that, and then there are those fangirl fans (whom I totally adore, keep up the lovin’, girls!) whom essentially love me no matter what and then there are those who truly think that I have no place in the fashion.

Sometimes I get worked up over the negativity that sometimes happens and I know I should hold my tongue but I tend to think about it as more of them being against me as a person (which I know they aren’t) and so I get a little OTT angry and say some mean things, but I really am a nice person who is open to everyone’s opinion.

How do you dress for your figure? Do you have any tips for other boys interested in buying flattering Lolita clothes for the first time?
I really try to disguise my flaws while accentuating the parts of my body I like, the same with any girl dressing in Lolita, a boy has to know how to dress his body.
Firstly, do not purchase until you can tell the difference between ita and Lolita. If you, as a boy, post a picture in ita-wear they will rip you apart and think you are into fetishy stuff or ageplay. Research first, then purchase.

Secondly, cap sleeves, cardigans, and high collars really disguise many of the main areas that men have problems with: shoulders, arms, and neck.

Thirdly, buy clothes that fit you! This goes for everyone. Don’t try to fit into something that doesn’t fit you! Commission a dress or something, but don’t try to wear something that just wasn’t meant to be.

What about hair and makeup? Do you do anything special while in Lolita?
Due to my many years of not being a girl, I’m kind of new to makeup and hair, although I do try to do something special.

Makeup should really just be natural, maybe a little mascara or lipstick to accentuate your features, but you don’t want to look like a drag queen, you know?

I can only speak for my own hair which is thick, naturally wavy, and longish/medium-length but I think nicely done delicate curls (keyword: delicate. If you make super tight, Shirley Temple curls, they can look a little ageplay-ish) are really nice at framing the face and a little swooping bang makes your hair look more feminine. Also, I can pull of pigtails with my kind of hair and facial structure and I think with a little natural curl at the end they look really nice if you bring them to rest in front of your shoulders.

Biggest thing: experiment. Do hair and makeup and look at yourself in the mirror, if you don’t like it, chances are it doesn’t look good so try again. It should be fun!

Do you have any other advice for other boys looking to start wearing Lolita?
Just go for it. Do it for yourself. Love yourself. No matter what people say, you can do it. Believe it.

Love the clothes and don’t get involved in the drama. That can really be advice for everyone, actually.

And finally, what is your motto when it comes to wearing Lolita?
Good, Better, Best, may you never rest, until your Good is Better, and your Better Best.

A quick thank you to Joey for willing to be my blogs first interview! And another thank you to everyone who has sent in requests to be featured. I am finally getting around to sending out questions, so if you were interested, keep an eye out for my questions! And to anyone who missed the first post, this will be an ongoing feature, so check out this post if you are interested in being a featured Lolita on F Yeah Lolita.

Back From Anime Boston!

First of all, thank you to everyone who is interested in being featured on my site! I got so many responses from some really awesome people while I was away for the weekend, the whole convention I kept checking my email on my phone to read them XD. Keep an eye out for some upcoming interviews!

Now, about Anime Boston. It was both a nightmare and one of the best cons I've been to in a while. The nightmare happened getting to and from Boston. What was originally going to be a two hour train ride turned into a, I kid you not, eight hour train ride due to track flooding. And despite the fact that before they gave us our tickets they assured us the tracks would be back in tip-top condition on Saturday, by the time Sunday came around all trains to where we needed to go were cancelled. We ended up having to take a very cramped bus back home. In conclusion, you suck Amtrak.

A bunch of the Lolitas attending the meetup. There were so many more Lolitas at AB than this though!

The convention itself was awesome though! So many people recognized me from my blog, which was really exciting for me. I actually managed to miss both the Lolita fashion show and the real meetup though, which kind of sucked for me, but I still got to see everyone. I bought home a fair amount of loot too. Those new shoes, a bento box, a few volumes of manga (I'm currently reading Mushishi, which is awesome I might add), a Hangry & Angry cellphone strap, and a few little things. I have a really bad plushie addiction and had to seriously resist blowing all of my money at the Hangry & Angry table in the vendors room and on Sanrio or Gloomy Bear plushies.

One of my outfits. Excuse my completely durrr pose and expression. Caro-chan seriously needs to practice her loliposes. And lolifaces

Besides that I also managed to commit a pretty big Lolita no-no and bought a pair of fairly overpriced Lolita shoes from the vendors room. Hey, they were emergency shoes, I forgot to bring my flats and my current black sensible heeled Lolita shoes were pretty much falling apart. They could have made it through the weekend, but not any longer than that. So I sucked it up and spent $50 on a pair of $37 dollar shoes. Hey, I guess with shipping it would have worked out to about 50, and I really did need them right that instant. After I put them on I happily marched over to the trashcan and tossed out my old shoes.

A chibi portrait of me by Iris Chen of Deathful.net. She actually recognized me from my LiveJournal XD

There were so many Lolitas this year at Anime Boston! I kept thinking I had snapped pictures of them all and then I would notice new ones that were too fast for me and I couldn't snap a picture of. But here are all the ones I could get a picture of.

Wow! Going through the pictures, there are a lot more than I thought there were XD I remember my first convention , years ago, I saw a mere two Lolitas, but now there are just so many. I can't wait for next year, hopefully we'll manage to get up there in a timely manner and not have the threat of being stranded in Boston looming over our heads on Sunday. Next year I am going to remember to sign up for a vendors table too!