Glacée: A New English Language Lolita Magazine!

In my last post I hinted at a project I've been working on with some other Lolitas, well, the day has finally come where I can blab as much as I want about it :D



I'm part of a Lolita magazine team! The magazine is called Glacée and and will be a print magazine all about Lolita and living elegantly both in and out of the fashion. There are a lot of us working behind the scenes on this including the Lolitas behind:

Even though there are a bunch of it working on this together, we're still looking for submissions from talented artists, writers, journalists, photographers, or any other creative Lolitas who would be interested in helping us put together our debut issue. Glacée is a magazine about the Lolita fashion, by real life Lolitas.

I'm really excited to be working on such an awesome project like this! I love Lolita magazines and have a huge pile of Keras, G&LBs, Gosuroris, and even a handful of more obscure Lolita magazines that only ever saw a couple issues, so it's really exciting that we get to work on not only another one, but an English language one aimed at western Lolitas.

Click the banner above to check out our blog for more information, including a list of things that we could really use a little bit of help with.

So, if you've always wanted to get your picture, art, or writing printed in a Lolita magazine, this could be your chance! So check out the blog, follow it even, because for those of you who are interested in contributing something but are too shy or don't have the time to write a full-length article there will be occasional polls and questions for people to get involved with and your response could be featured in an issue of the magazine!

The Details That Make The Dress

A Lolita outfit is often so much more than just a bell-shaped gathered rectangle skirt with a cute print and some ruffles. Lolita dresses often have many details that are sometimes overlooked by even the people wearing them! In this post I'll be going over just some of the many different details that are found in quality Lolita pieces, so that those of you who may not be lucky enough to have a Lolita piece or two will maybe learn what to be on the look out for when it comes time to buy some Lolita pieces or make your own. As well for those of you who are very familiar with them to learn to take a second glance and appreciate the details that go into making a Lolita dress, or blouse, or skirt, or even a modest headbow perfect.

While doing a bit of research for this article I stumbled across the phrase "heirloom sewing" while looking at different kinds of dress details. While most of our Lolita dresses aren't lovingly hand crafted by our mothers or grandmothers with the intention of being passed down to our children, Lolita still shares a lot of the same details as these heirloom pieces. It's obvious that a lot of love went into the design of these dresses.

Please note that I'm using BtSSB stock photos because Baby posts a lot of large, high quality detail photos (compared to other brands) on their webshop. No reason other than that, all brands and most places that sell Lolita clothes have the same exact kinds of details as the ones shown on here.


Bows
Bows are a simple way to add some cuteness and elegance to a Lolita outfit. There pretty much isn't anywhere you can't stick a bow on a Lolita dress! Going down the front of the bodice, on the skirt hem, on the sleeves, pretty much anywhere there is some free space a nice bow can go! Check out this tutorial about how to make really nice looking bows.


Pintucks
Pintucks are a very common Lolita detail, and are found on many Lolita dresses, blouses, and even bloomers. They're often found going around the bottom of a skirt, or running down the front of a blouse. They add a very vintage feel to dress designs, and are most often found on solid color pieces to add some interesting texture to the piece. If you would like to try making your own pintucks, check out this tutorial.

Lace Hems
While Lace is often used for decoration, crisscrossing a dress or running the length of skirts, it's certainly not mandatory, but you'll be hard pressed to find a Lolita piece that doesn't have at least some lace running along the hem. Even simple Lolita skirts that feature prints instead of details will still usually have a little bit of Lace running along the bottom hem.

Beading Lace
When lace is used to decorate dresses, and not hanging off hems, a common way of adding even more detail is to use beading lace, which is a strip of flat lace with a channel running through the middle where a strip of ribbon is run through. The ribbon is often tied off in a cute little bow were the seams meet!

Shirring
Since most brand pieces come in one size only, they tend to rely on shirring so that people of different sizes can fit into their dresses. Shirring can be found in many different places, either a small panel along the back, the whole back of a bodice, the whole bodice, or even on the straps. There are a couple different ways to do shirring within the Lolita fashion, one relies on thin strips of elastic (but not usually elastic thread, that rarely works with the thicker fabric that Lolita dresses are often made with), the other relies on elastic casings. Shirring, when done right, often creates a very interesting and elegant fabric texture, but when done wrong it can make a piece look ill-fitting.

Corset Lacing
Corset lacing is a detail that used to be found on nearly every Lolita dress but has faded a bit in popularity. Now it's pretty much just confined to the backs of dresses so that they can be made smaller, not on the fronts of bodices or even running down a skirt. Corset lacing is often achieved by running ribbon through lace with loops, but sometimes grommets and even little loops of ribbon are used.

Gathers
Like shirring, gathers provide an interesting and elegant texture to fabric, but unlike shirring, gathers aren't meant to be stretched out and are stitched in place. A common place to find gathers is on the bust of a bodice and even sometimes along a skirt. They are often reserved for dresses that have a more elegant or even Victorian look to them.


Ruffles
Ruffles are just as common as lace along hems on Lolita dresses, and when making your own Lolita clothes, or buying on the cheap, when good lace can't be acquired it's recommended that you look for a dress with ruffles instead. Although, ruffles are also commonly combined with lace.

Embroidery/Applique
Embroidery and Applique isn't too frequently used, but when it is the effect is very striking! Floral and vine-like designs are a very popular motif on Lolita pieces,but bigger, more elaborate designs are used as well, as a focal point on skirts and coats. Metallic gold thread is often used in Lolita embroidery, giving the embroidery a very lush and decadent look.

These different design details are used in abundance on Lolita dresses, one plain colored skirt might have pintucks, gathers, lace hems, ruffles, bows, beading lace, and even embroidery as well. In an older post about an Old School Sweet Lolita style, these elements are often used in copious amounts to make plain colored dresses stand out in a very over-the-top way that doesn't rely on bold, rainbow prints. And indeed, before custom prints were commonplace in the fashion, brands relied more on different details to make their pieces look interesting and decadent. I've noticed that over the years brands seem to be relying more and more on prints to make their pieces interesting and having a much simpler base dress. If you look at nearly any one of the big "must have" print dresses, and try to see the dress through the print, you'll notice that they are relatively plain dresses. A bit of lace on the hem and some ruffles on the bodice perhaps.

For the Lolita who sews her own clothes, consider learning to do even a few of these techniques to add to your next piece. Even learning how to do pintucks and make nice ruffles can lead to so many different options when you make your next piece.


These are both the same basic skirt, a gathered rectangle, but with pintucks and ruffles and lace, it makes the skirt look completely different, and undoubtedly Lolita. While learning these things might be tricky, and the skirt on the right would indeed take more time, effort, and a little extra money for a few more yards of lace, sometimes the extra effort can make a huge impact on a relatively simple gathered skirt.

While the dress with heirloom styled details isn't seen as frequently as in past years, brands still do make a lot of pieces with them! You just often have to hunt around in a sea of bold prints and simple designs. Here are a few of my favorites that are currently being sold on brand websites.

As you can see, these dresses all feature at least a couple of different kinds of details, even the very simple Innocent World JSK features pintucks, corset lacing, and lace along the hem, making it go from a plain pleated dress to what is obviously a Lolita dress.

I hope those of you who are relatively new to the fashion and considering making, or even buying on the cheap, their first Lolita dress have learned from this post that while a simple bell shaped skirt with a fitted bodice does indeed make a Lolita dress, there is really so much more to the style than just the silhouette!

What are some of your favorite Lolita details? My favorite is definitely pintucks! They instantly remind of of billowing Victorian nightgowns and chemises. They're just a simple little line of pleats and stitches, but they really can make a piece go from kind of boring to just right.

I've been very quiet on the blogging front for the whole month of February! I hope you all can forgive me for that, I've been working on a semi-secret project with a few other Lolita bloggers, crafters, artists, and just general Lolita enthusiasts for the past few weeks and I hope to be able to finally blab to my hearts content about it soon!

30 Things Every Lolita Should Have

This post is inspired by Star Princess's blog post, 50 Things Every Himegyaru Should Have. I was checking my blog roll and noticed it, and even though I'm not a Himegyaru I found it very inspirational! Both in an "I definitely need that!" sense and a blogging sense! So, I'd like to do my own Lolita version of a list like this. But please, check out Star Princess's Himegyaru list, even if you don't consider yourself one, there's still a lot of overlap between Lolita and Himegyaru, and it's a super cute list anyways!

I've actually shortened mine to 30 since Star Princess covers a lot of important things, and I don't want to repeat hers exactly, since I'm already stole the idea to do this list from her ;) Please keep in mind that this is by no means a "you must do these things, or else!" list, it's just for fun and is somewhere between lifestyle and practical.



Every Lolita should have:
  1. A workable Lolita wardrobe. Whatever this means to you, either a couple mix and matchable outfits, or a whole walk in closet filled with frills.
  2. At least one petticoat! To achieve the perfect poof.
  3. A good mascara, to create a dolly-eyed look.
  4. A Livejournal so you can watch and comment on EGL.
  5. A feedback page for the egl_comm_sales so you can sell off what you don't wear when it comes time for closet cleaning and buy some cheap second-hand pieces to fill the void!
  6. A favorite style, even if you can never stick to just one!
  7. A dream dress, either hanging up in your closet or one that you can dream of one day owning.
  8. A favorite shopping service, so you're ready when your dream dress goes up for sale on a Japanese auction site.
  9. At least one piece of brand, even if it's just a headbow or a tote bag, it's always nice to have something that was made by one of the people who popularized the style you love so much.
  10. A winter coat with enough flare to fit over your skirts and not squish it (if you live somewhere cold enough!)
  11. A frilly "house dress" for when you want to wear some frills but you don't feel like going anywhere.
  12. A collection of Gothic & Lolita Bibles, so you can ooh and aah over all the pretty clothes. Scans are just as good as the real thing, but scans don't come with stickers and patterns!
  13. A Malice Mizer album because, let's face it, whether we like it or not, Mana is Lord of the Lolitas.
  14. A mix CD of songs that remind you of Lolita, so you have something to put on while you get ready for meetups, to add a little bit of extra loli-ness to your day.
  15. A copy of Kamakazi Girls. The manga, the movie, or the book, it doesn't matter! Even if you don't care for it, you should at least know who Momoko is.
  16. A Lolita blouse or cutsew that you can wear with "normal" clothes like a pair of jeans or a nice skirt. For when you have to do something mundane, but don't want to leave all the frills at home!
  17. A dress that's not your normal style at all. Maybe it's a super sweet print in a closet full of Gothic dresses, or a Punk Lolita piece in a closet full of Sweet dresses.
  18. A parasol to keep the sun out of your eyes.
  19. A Tide To Go pen, just in case you spill something!
  20. Something you made yourself. A necklace, some sock toppers, a hair bow, or even a whole dress.
  21. An elegant local place that you could have an impromptu meetup, just in case you find another Lolita in the area.
  22. A pair of comfortable but cute shoes, for days when you're all dressed up but know you're going to be walking a lot.
  23. A pair of boots or even cute rain boots, for when the weather is less than nice but you still need to wear Lolita.
  24. A pair of wrist cuffs, to wear in the summer with short sleeves, and to wear in the cooler months with long sleeves to add a little extra ruffle to them. Or even to wear as sock toppers when you need to!
  25. A pair of fluffy and cute slippers, so you don't get the bottoms of your socks dirty while getting ready or walking around the house.
  26. A piece of clothing/accessory that always manages to impress people. Maybe it's a perfectly styled wig, a rare print, a unique hand made piece, or something over-the-top extravagant.
  27. An elegant place to relax after a day of wearing all the layers and frills of Lolita.
  28. A tube of sock glue, for that pair of socks that you can never get to stay up.
  29. A favorite color or motif so you can get excited when designers release something featuring it.
  30. A story you can share whenever people ask you "How did you first discover Lolita?"
So what do you think? Have you got these all pretty much covered or do you still need a few of these? Or, on the other hand, do you disagree completely and do you think these don't really matter for a Lolita?

I really like lists like this, even though they're sometimes silly and not always realistic. But they have a certain, almost nostalgic, charm to them that makes me remember why I fell for the style in the first place!

What I Learned Vending Lolita Goods at an Anime Convention

Last weekend I got the chance to vend at U-Con, a local anime convention. While I vended there last year this year I was a lot more prepared and did a little more than just lay things out on a table. I tried a few different things throughout the course of the weekend to catch people's eyes and in this post I'll be talking a little bit about what I learned.


This is what my table looked like Friday morning! Sorry I didn't get any closeups or pictures of the other layouts I tried, I was pretty busy!

Now, this might not work for everyone, but these are the trends that I noticed at my own table. I know that a lot of Lolita's have their own handmade shops and have considered vending, at an anime con or elsewhere, so hopefully what I've learned might help you out a bit if you decide to vend.
  • I had a wide range of prices, but more people went for the mid to high priced items. I sold things from $2 to $35 dollars, and I was really expecting to sell a lot more of the $5 and under stuff than I did. The first year at this same con, I had mostly cheap stuff, and the cheapest stuff sold the most. But this year most people passed up small purchases to buy more mid to high priced things at my table. I have no idea how this happened and I don't know if it was a fluke or if it's just a fact of selling.
  • Classic goods sold better than Sweet goods. At least for me! I had a lot of people come by and ooh and aah the cutesy Sweet stuff and then leave, but most people who ooh and aah'd over the Classic ended up buying something! Oddly enough, the Classic items were more expensive than the Sweet items. As with the first point on this list, I was not expecting this!
  • People are afraid of messing up displays, and might not buy stuff off of them. Before this con I did a lot of research (i.e. blog reading) about displays and so many people said to have a nice vertical display, as it attracts more people. So I brought my hat boxes with me and made some fancy standing frames to drape necklaces on, just so things had somewhere to go instead of just flat on the table. But, I found that people didn't buy things off of the displays! My boyfriend was in the booth next to me selling pins, some of which he had laid out on the table and the others in bins and people actually asked if they were allowed to sort through the pin bins! So, I really don't know what to think about the vertical display rule. Maybe my booth simply wasn't vertical enough for it to work? If I had to make a decision for the next con I think I would still stick with vertical displays but only have a few pieces on them, just to draw people in, but to have most of my stuff laid out where people could freely touch it. I would definitely not sell anything in a bin again though, even if it did make my table look neater.
  • People love business cards, maybe a little too much! I had 2 big stacks of business cards, and people loved to take them, which is a good thing! But, I found that a lot of people were just "Business card collectors" or taking several at a time simply because they were in big, tempting, free stacks, which is nice for them, but not really helpful for me. After a while, when my card stacks started dwindling down to only a dozen or so people only took them when they were obviously interested in what I was selling. I think that the next con I go to I will bring just as many business cards, but only lay them out a few at a time. While it's great that people were leaving with my Etsy URL, it's not that useful for me that so many of my business cards are probably sitting in stacks of 2 at a time at the bottom of a purse somewhere with 100 other business cards.
  • Write everything down. I had a little note pad where i wrote down what sold and for how much. As annoying as this was it's very helpful! You can easily see what is selling, and how much you've made and keep those records for later. I also had some fun counting up my total every now and then and giggling over it XD
  • Talk! Talk! Talk! Say "Hello!" to everyone that even looks in your general direction, if they come over, talk to them. Then talk some more, tell them about what it is you're selling, how you made it, and just be friendly with them. The vendors room at this con was a mixed Artist Alley & Dealers room so I actually had to let people know that I made what I was selling, this usually intrigued people into, if not buying, but staying a little longer. Being friendly to people is good for you too, I actually met a few people who I sold things to before, one girl was even wearing a necklace she bought from me last year. Needless to say, I was very excited to see that!
Again, I don't know if these things were just particular to my table and the con I was at, but I figured I might as well share them with other Lolitas who are interested in vending at cons one day. This spring I'll be at Anime Boston vending, which is a much, much larger con (and Artist Alley!) than U-Con, so it will be very interesting to see how different the experience is.

Have you vended your art or crafts at a con or art show? Do you have any tips and tricks to share? I find that most of the "Artist Alley vending tips" are aimed at 2D artists selling prints and the things that attract anime print buyers is considerably different than attracting Lolita accessory sellers.

If you are interested in some more Artist Alley vending tips, check out the ShadowScript blog, as the artist who runs it vends at a lot of conventions and often has some really great tips and writes a lot about the subject. She sells both 2D and 3D art, so her tips are pretty relevant no matter what kind of art you're selling!

Vampire Requiem Re-Release, BtSSB coming to NYC

Sometime last year Baby released Vampire Requiem, their answer to Moitie's famous Iron Gate. It quickly became one of Baby's most popular prints, ever, with it's Gothic charm. Recently Baby has announced that they will be re-releasing this print, as a JSK and a corsetted skirt, in black, red, and a new royal blue color.


The re-release is wonderful news to some, sort of shocking to others. Re-releases are bad news to some Lolitas because it means that their rare and expensive dress, a dress that they may have spent hundreds more than retail on with the justification of "Hey, I can always sell it later and get how much I spent on it!", might now suddenly plummet in price now that a big chunk of the people who missed out the first time around can all the sudden get their hands on it for retail price. To some, Lolita is a collectible hobby and they view some of their pieces as investments. On the other hand, re-releases allow more people to get something they seriously love and have no other way of getting.

Personally, I think re-releases are great. I think they're best when they're slightly different from the original release, either released in a different colorway, the print is slightly different, or the cut of the dress is different. What are your opinions on re-releases? Do you love how exclusive rare prints are? Or do you feel that other people owning the same print as you shouldn't effect how you feel about a print?

In other BtSSB related news, Baby and Alice & the Pirates are coming to NYC! They'll be replacing Angelic Pretty in NYC's Tokyo Rebel store. While this is bad news for AP fans, some good news is that the last of their AP stock will be on sale.

Finally, I just want to say, sorry for the long time between posts! Over the weekend I was vending at a con and for the week or so before it I had been really trying to get some final things done. Also, maybe you've noticed, but I have a new layout :D Let me know what you think about it!
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