Creating a coord based on a historical figure

As I told in my inspiration post I get a lot of my inspiration from historical places, characters, paintings or even books.
But getting inspiration from those things is one thing but how can you translate that into a coord?
This is where this post comes in handy. I've collected two of my favourite inspirational characters and made some coords based on them.

Jane Austen 1775-1817 // Writer

In the late 1700s the fashion became less elaborate and a lot simpler but around this time it was the point where cheaper copies of the fashionable clothes where sold to all members of different classes. Which made a big start in the fashion as we know it today and it began to be a part of a way to express yourself. 

When it comes to Jane Austen, her style was minimalistic compared to Marie Antoinette who I will cover in a bit. When I would translate her style into a lolita coord I would pick a dress with a square or high neckline, preferably an OP. 

Other than that I would also go for a light cotton fabric and maybe some chiffon details. Lace details would be minimal and for the headpiece I would go for a rectangular headdress or a small bonnet. 

Headpiece: Victorian Maiden

Dress: Seraphim

Shoes: Yuni Fairy

Marie Antoinette 1755-1793 // Fashion icon, Queen of France

Where to start with such a royal and inspiring lady. Marie Antoinette is I think the most famous fashion icon from her time period. She was the first to pose in a sheer dress for a painting which was really shocking at that time cause who want to be seen in an underdress? 

As for fashion inspiration, the bigger the better. Marie Antoinette was know for her elaborate dresses, big hairstyles and for wearing hats. Nothing was too expensive for her, she was know as Madame Déficit in the country. Cause France was on the edge of going bankrupt but she kept on with spending money for fashion.  

When it comes to translating her style into lolita fashion you can go either way. The first option would be to go all out with the highly detailed designs with lots of ruffles and lace or you can go for her famous sheer painting and keep your coord sort of simple but really stylish. 

I've used Marie Antoinette as inspiration in my own coords too, mostly for hairstyling but I'll share those in the end. 

Dress: Baby, the stars shine Bright

Hat: Baby, the stars shine Bright

Shoes: American Duchess

Dress: Victorian Maiden

Hat: Fan+Friend

Shoes: American Duchess

The following ones are the coords I made over the years where I used the same time period as my inspiration. Especially the big hairstyles and lots of lace details are a must for me. I would love to create a coord based on Jane Austen too one day cause I think it fits really well in a day to day style.

One of the key points for me is that I rarely use wigs for creating such hairstyles. I really like to use my own natural hair for it. It gives it a more authentic feel to me. And other than that full bangs weren't really a thing which makes it really easy to use my own hair for hairstyles. 

Coord 1 // Dress: Little Dipper, Blouse: Little Dipper: Shoes: Cotton Candy Feet

Coord 2 // Dress: Handmade, Blouse: Dear celine

Coord 3: Dress: Baby, the stars shine Bright, Blouse Little Dipper, Shoes: Cotton Candy Feet

Do you have any historical figures that inspire you for your lolita coords? 

I would love to get to know them too. 

Lots of love, 

Poppy xox 

This post is in collaboration with the Lolita Blog Carnival

More posts about this topic:

Cupcake Kamisama

The Bloody Tea Party

Inspiration, where to find it // 10 Day Lolita Challenge

Inspiration, we are all looking for that one magic thing when looking for inspiration. To some it comes overnight. While with others it takes weeks of planning and trying stuff out to see if it works. 

To me I get either inspired by the dress or I have a sort of feeling in my head that I want to go for with my coords. But I still feel stuck a lot of the times especially when I'm not feeling anything for the dresses in my closet. Or I feel like I'm repeating myself. 

But this is where other people come in to the picture! I don't find myself being super inspired by other lolita girls anymore. Maybe that's because I don't follow the right people on social media, I don't know. When it comes to inspiration I tend to get most of it from 1800's and early 1900's. 

This time period is what spikes my inspiration every single time!

For lolita fashion I do love a lot of coords but I rarely use other coords as my inspiration. But let's see which coords are inspiring to me at this moment and why. 

It may look a bit weird to pick a simple back coord to find inspiration in. Though this dress and styling is just perfection in my eyes. I would love to make a dress inspired to this one and create this hairstyle with my own hair or a wig. It is a cute updo and I love that this coords works for an everyday coord too. This represents really well how I would like to dress on a day to day base. 

Frills!! Don't you agree that frills are life and so perfect? I picked this coord, pose and overall styling cause I get inspiration to try out more things with my wigs in the future. I love how fluffy but elegant this hairstyling looks, paired with the frills it has the perfect feel for something I would wear too. 

Everyday style goals right here!! What to say more, this is just gorgeous. I really love how simple and elegant this look is. Definitely something I would love to wear too on a day to day base.

This last picture says it all, just look at it. Pastels everywhere and the perfect OTT sweet hairstyling in my eyes. I attempted a hairstyle inspired by this look, which is actually from 2008 did you know? 

They created this hairstyle for a Metamorphose add if I'm correct. But this photo reminds me of not to forget about my passion of crazy hairstyles. Seeing this makes me want to go all out again with my next coord! I'm also dreaming of creating crazy hairstyles and fancy updo's on others one day, not sure if that will ever happen but we can always dream! 

As you can see I picked Misako Aoki in all my inspiration picks, her everyday styling is really easy to wear and super adorable. Most of the times I see new photo's of her on instagram and there is always something that catches my eye, and it gets me thinking. Like this is something I want to wear or make myself too, maybe I can try this out one day or see a cute accessory that I want to add. I think this is the most important part of finding inspiration. To me it needs to be something that inspires me every single time again and again, this is how I know I truly love it and want to incorporate it into my own coords and styling. 

It was really hard for me to pick these 4 photo's, but somehow it shows me what I want to wear in the near future and how my everyday style will evolve I think. I'm not planning on selling my wardrobe, maybe some pieces that aren't feeling like the current me but that is something for the future. 

So far I'm still happy with my wardrobe and especially my own style. My day to day looks do need some extra effort and time to fully grow on me. Though that will come overtime as well! We just need to hold on to it. 

Where do you find inspiration? I would love to know! 

Lots of hugs, 

Poppy xox 

How to make the perfect wardrobe post // 5 easy steps

Wardrobe posts, you either love making them or hate the fact that you want to make one but don't feel like putting up with the effort that goes into making one. As for myself I'm definitely on the last group!

But unlike every other year I've made the effort into making a wardrobe post this year. My first wardrobe post was one that I am not proud of at all when I look back at it. It is lacking in quality, details and especially it doesn't represent me. It feels empty and plain. Nothing wrong with plain wardrobe posts don't get me wrong here but pairing that with the other missing factors it isn't something that I'm proud of.

Now I don't going to tell you to buy the newest camera on the market or to invest in something that makes your wardrobe post stand out a bit more. But I am going to share 5 tips on how you can make your own version of a perfect wardrobe.

Daylight is your best light source

We all know that you need some light in order to make a photo. All light sources have different colors going from a more blue tone to a more yellow tone. This shade will reflect on your actual photo. With daylight you sit right in between the blue and yellow tones which gives you the perfect representation of your actual dress without the need of adjusting your photo's through a photo editing app. 

Also this light source is free and available all day, the only thing you need is a window in front of your photo spot. 

Other than having daylight in your room is the placement of your photo corner also an important factor to keep in your mind. The best placement of your camera is going to be in between the window and the things you want to make photo's off. This gives the best overall lightning and no harsh shadows. 

Left = facing my window

Middle = window on the side

Right = window behind me

As you can see the lighting differs in all the three photo's and they where made in the same moment with my phone.  

Don't rush your photo making progress

This one is so easily to forget but please take your time when making the photo's. Make sure your dresses lay correctly, no weird folds or ribbons left untied. All these small details pay for themselves in the end. When you take your time to properly display your pieces in every photo you will enjoy working your way through it when making the actual wardrobe post. You find yourself in awe over your dresses and see all the little details just like the stock photo's of brands like Angelic Pretty or Baby, the stars shine bright. 

With my own wardrobe post this year I started rushing through things when I was getting tired after multiple hours of shooting my items. And it really shows, at least I see the flaws in the photo's. Blouses that where a bit wonky, dresses not hanging straight on my dressing doll or even weird pleats in the skirts where the lining of my dress was all scrunched up underneath.  I needed to redo some of these photo and still some slipped through! 

It was better for me to spread the process over multiple days instead of one evening. But I wanted to finish it that night before I wanted to go to bed. This was the worst idea ever and it shows in my eyes. 

Small items are even smaller on photo

Dresses show up really when on photo cause they are big and you can fill up the frame really well without skipping out on the details of a print. When it comes to smaller items like jewellery you need to take a different approach. The moment you put all your necklaces in one shot you loose a lot of detail. In my first wardrobe post I places all the same type of items in the same shot, so all headbows together, same for socks and necklaces for example. This ended in one giant mess and a wow effect on how much stuff I had instead of showing off the details of the items. For my wardrobe post this year I took the time to place for example my necklaces in pairs of 4 together for a close up shot. Same for my headbows, placed by brand or color palet with a max of 5 if I'm correct. This was aesthetically pleasing and a lot easier on the eye. 

Top: Old wardrobe post on LJ

Bottom: New wardrobe post on my blog

You don't need to post in Januari

Back in the day when the lolita community was mostly active on Livejournal Januari was the month where you could post your wardrobe. This was the theme of the month! Though times changed and we aren't active on Livejournal that much, people post their wardrobes on Facebook, personal blogs, instagram or make youtube videos about their wardrobe. Some still use livejournal to show off their wardrobe but the amount is a lot less than it used to be. 

With this change comes the time frame when people post their wardrobes. I wanted to add this point after seeing a video on youtube where a girl talked about the fact that she wasn't going to make a wardrobe video yet. She explained that she used the wardrobe posts to look back on the past year and to reflect on how her wardrobe has evolved over the year and what dresses she is going to let go. But this was something she does at the end of the year instead the beginning of a new one. 

This made me think about the whole wardrobe month and the deadline we all put on ourselves. You don't need to finish all your photo's in January, you can start in the middle of the year if you want. You also don't need to post your wardrobe in January, there is still February of even December like the girl in the video so you can look back on the past year. Don't focus on just one month, if you can't finish it in time no one gets killed for it. Yes it is nice to expect all the wardrobe posts of your friends or the people you follow online in Januari but I also think it would be way better to have one wardrobe post in a year instead of none.

Not everything needs to go on the photo

A wardrobe post is a representation of your wardrobe but this doesn't mean that you need to put everything on the photo for the sake of making a wardrobe post. This is a rookie mistake I think and definitely something I learned along the way. Sure you can make photo's of every single item you own but do you want to show off those simple cardigans you wear on a daily base or all the non printed tights you wear with your dresses? I know I don't want to show that to other people. When I look at myself, I love looking at wardrobe posts where there are pretty items on display. Dresses, Brand socks, unique cardigans, jewellery or even special shoe designs. I'm not really interested to see a collection of forever21 blouses or plain white tights with dirty spots at the soles. I made this mistake myself with my first wardrobe post as I thought that I needed to make photo's of everything that I owned or used while wearing lolita. Going from plain tights to thrift store blouse that I didn't wear or older items that looked pretty dead in the picture. If an items doesn't look good on the photo rethink for a second if it adds something to your post or not. 

This year I picked only my dresses and combined them with the blouses I wear the most, accessories, headpieces, brand socks and handbags. This selection filled up both my time as well as my wardrobe post pretty well. And I feel that I'm not missing anything this time. I look back at my photo's with a smile on my face and see how well everything is showing without showing off some older items or items that I don't really use in coords like tote bags or hats. 

You have to deal with a big mess

So a little bonus tip from yours truly, be prepared for a giant mess if you are like me! 

I knew I had a lot of stuff but when I pulled everything out after making the photo's I realised how much stuff I actually gathered over the years. 

As I wasn't putting my items away after each photo I ended up standing in the middle of a giant pile of lolita items. Spreaded over my bed, into the corners of my room and everything was one big mess. Though putting everything away while making the photo's wasn't an option either cause it would mean that it would only take a lot longer. And if you remember I said that I was doing this in the evening a couple of hours before going to bed. Not so smart Poppy, not so smart! 

Luckily my dear friend Josine would come the day after and we decluttered my room together in the afternoon. Putting everything back in place and organising my closet again. While she enjoyed taking a closer look at all the pieces in my wardrobe I enjoyed the reorganisation of my wardrobe. It was a lovely afternoon! 

The battle zone of my 2018 wardrobe post

I hope to see you next time for a new post! 

This post is in collaboration with the Lolita Blog Carnival

More posts about this topic:

Spirit of the Teacup

Crimson Reflections

Cupcake Kamisama's lolita world

The Bloody Tea Party

Roli's Ramblings

What inspires me when building a coord

Finding inspiration for a coord is for some of us like a second nature. While if I look at myself I sometimes struggle with finding a concept for my coord. But I do have some tips and tricks for finding inspiration when you have a lolita-inspiration-block. As I don't really get all my inspiration from other lolita girls but also from looking at my dresses. From new items in my closet or movies that I watched.

Choose your main piece

This will be the first building block for your coord. With your dress you can sort out matching accessories that go well with the colors of your dress. Don't be afraid to make odd color combinations because as long as they are in the same color scheme it could work out in the end. Think about matching all dusty tones with each other, they have the same color tone so they work well with each other. This way you can find new coords with the items you already have. 

Giving your main pieces a closer look seems a bit weird but I tend to overlook details in print. After many years of owning a print I forgot about some small details. Like for example I found a unicorn in my Milky Planet JSK when I wore it the last time for the twin meet. I was completely in shock about this since I was 100% sure that there wasn't a unicorn in this print. Since I only remembered ice creams and bunnies. So this gave me a new boost to make a new coord with this print. 

Think about accessories

Accessories make a coord really pop out from the rest. I always pick my accessories according to the color theme of my base coord *main piece and blouse* 

This is where I get the most inspiration, playing with different bows, florals clips, hats, bonnets or even necklaces and bracelets. 

If I'm not working with a theme I go for what feels most like me and what makes me smile when I look at it. 

Get something new

My biggest inspiration comes from either combining things in an odd way or by getting new items. Those are my two main inspiration sources. Even if it is just as small as some floral clips, a new necklace or brooch. Having something new gives you the opportunity to work with your new item and see how it matches everything in your wardrobe. 

I love coording my dresses and accessories together on my free days to see how many combinations I can make.  If you don't have the money to buy something maybe you can try making your own things? It is definitely not always cheaper but that way inspiration might come to you even faster.

Still no inspiration?

If I'm really stuck with a coord I tend to visit online shops looking for items that cheer me up without buying them. Getting my mind of a coord helps a lot for me. In the past three weeks I was in a lolita-inspiration-block, feeling down about everything I put together nothing fitted like I wanted and it felt all the same. So I ended up getting my mind onto something else. 

In the end I found my inspiration back after talking to my friends about it and telling about the coords that I planned out.

Talking to friends about having no inspiration or sharing your coords with them when you feel stuck gives you a new view on things. For me this helps a lot! 

Currently I'm having so much inspiration that I need to write them down and draw things out for the future. 

So what inspires you when making a coord?

Please let me know! 

This post is in collaboration with Lolita Blog Carnival. 

More posts about this topic:

Cupcake Kamisama

5 tips to beat the heat in Lolita

When wearing lolita we all know that when it starts to get warmer outside we get really inventive with our coords. We do anything to keep ourselves cool in summer but we still want to look stylish and fit all the boxes within the fashion. 

Here are some of my favourite tips to keep your coords as airy as possible. 

Choose for a loose fitting OP

OP's come in many different shapes and sizes, that way you can pick the perfect dress for your body type. In summer I prefer lose fitting OP's, these dresses don't cling onto your body when it's hot outside. When you wear an OP you don't need to think about adding an extra blouse underneath or a cardigan to cover up your shoulders. 

Ankle socks for the win

Little ankle socks are great for summer and add some cuteness to your coord without the heat of OTK socks or tights. They are many different types when it comes to socks, you can go for a retro look with sheer socks or socks with lace on top. 

Some say you can't wear ankle socks with lolita but if it works with your coord go for it! 

Bloomers to prevent thigh chafing

This isn't your standard tip but this is definitely my number one tip when it comes to high temperatures. I know there are some products on the market to help with this problem but through my own experience that those chafing sticks don't help that well for me. That's why I wear light cotton bloomers that cover my thighs. This way my legs are protected with a light fabric and I don't have any pain from chafing or that horrible feeling of rubbing thighs. I really hate that feeling! 

Want to wear a JSK? Add a short chiffon blouse 

This year I added some basics into my wardrobe and some of them are cropped chiffon tops. They sit just beneath my bust line which makes them very short but perfect for under a JSK. Because of the chiffon fabric and the losse short fit it is very airy and doesn't cling to your body. I love wearing these short blouses under my dresses in summer time and I wish I had them sooner! 

Natural hair all the way

Especially for those casual days or smaller meetings you can use your own hair to create a nice hairstyle. A wig is very easy but also very hot, you can compare it with a hat that you don't take off when going inside our outside. You are sweating like crazy with a wig because the heat can't escape from your head nor does the wind come to your head to cool you down. For events you can choose for a half wig or go die hard with a full wig. But I suggest to keep your wig off till the very last minute before leaving the house and take it off when it is starting to irritate or you feel over heated. 

Bonus tips!! Cause we all love a bonus tips

• Bring your own water bottle with you with cold water. We lose much more water when it's hot outside so stay hydrated.

• If you have a parasol, use it to provide some shade when walking and sitting in the sun. This will decrease the temperature a bit.

• You don't need to wear a petticoat 24/7 when wearing lolita. At smaller events or meets you can easily remove your petticoat when sitting on the table or on the ground for a picknick. Just add your petticoat again to your coord when making photo's. 

• If you are feeling unwell because of the heat say it to your friends. Find a place out of the sun or go outside for some fresh air, sit down and eat something to help your blood pressure rise again. If needed remove excess layers like petticoats and wigs to help you cool down again.

Want more tips? Check out these blogs

Vanilla Bear

Cosy and Comfy lolita coords

Can lolita be cozy and comfy at the same time? Yes it can!

At least in my world it can completely fit into the lolita world and I'm going to give you some tips and tricks to make your own lolita coord that can be both cosy and comfy. 

For me a comfy coord consist out of breathable fabrics, room to move and most of all flat shoes that don't hurt your feet. I'm on the larger side of the lolita spectrum when it comes to sizing so I specially made this list for what is comfortable for me as a bigger lolita. For reference I'm a size US 10, EU 42 on top and I fit comfortably in most of the dresses with shirring. 

Most brands offer different varieties of cutsew tops. These tops are made of a stretchy cotton t-shirt like fabric and have simple lace details or little bows on the collar or sleeves. Some have short sleeves which are perfect for summer and in winter you have the ones with longer sleeves. I know that the sizing can be quite scary since it goes up to a bust of 88 most of the time so having a larger size can scare you off a bit. But I can proudly say that these cutsew tops are suitable if you are over these measurements. The only thing I would take into consideration is the width of the sleeves, yes they do stretch along with the rest of the shirt but it can look a bit odd if it needs to stretch to it's max to fit. But this is personal preference! 

My other go to blouses are the ones I find in clothing stores like H&M or a Primark, they have a large variety of sizing and cute blouses that go with lolita very well. When shopping in these stores you need to look for cute collars and sleeves cause most blouse will be covered up with a dress anyway. If not you need to look out for a nice overall shape too. Most blouses I find in these stores are the ones with a necktie or blouses with cute lace or embroidery. The plus side of buying a blouse in a normal fashion store is that you can choose the right size for your body type. No worries of buttons that don't close up completely or that they don't really fit as comfortably as they should be. 

Brands like Axes Fame are also amazing when it comes to finding blouses for lolita. A lot of my friends buy blouses from this store. Though a lot of their clothes are in either one size or M size which is to small for me. From time to time they will have some blouses in size L and those fit nicely! At the end of this month (March 2017) they will open their international webshop. So let the shopping begin!

Shirring is the best invention within the lolita world I must say, this way the clothes fit a variety of people and are comfy at the same time. But not every dress with shirring is the same. There is a little catch! When it comes to comfort I prefer with hands down the dresses with full back shirring.  These are my go to dresses for every day wear too. Or even full shirring dresses too. All though these don't look great on most people, but if you dress it up with a nice vest it can be really cute! 

But shirring in dresses gives you room to move and lounge around!

I'm the proud owner of a collection flat shoes that go really well with lolita fashion. When I shop for flat shoes I tend to look out for the right color and model. Mostly I go for typical grandma shoes as my mother calls them. But they go really well with my classic wardrobe as well the lighter colors that I own with some of my lolita pieces as well. Most of my flat shoes I find in regular shoe stores and I want to try out B.A.I.T shoes for a while now. They have a cute line of flat shoes that I like so hopefully I can buy them one day. 

Besides my granny shoes I have a small collection of pastel sneakers in mint, sax and pink for my sweet lolita coords. These shoes are definitely my comfy go to shoes when I want comfort and cuteness at the same time. 

Tea parties are also in my flat shoe family but believe me they are not that comfortable at all unless I put a blister band aid on my heel to prevent for any blisters when walking. That is the only thing I dislike about them, they give me blisters in the first 10 minutes of wearing.

Lately I found out that if I remove the ankle strap that it improves the comfort of my tea parties a lot. No more blisters for me this way, though it takes away the overall sweet look of it too. But if needed I can wear the tea parties this way too without any pain. 

To be honest I tend to wear flat shoes most of the time when wearing lolita and I always bring of flat shoes with me to a meet up for when I'm wearing a small heal (aprox 3-6 cm max) because of some joint issues. I prefer comfort over looks, so having an extra pair of flat shoes to switch is a great solution for me. 

Let's be honest, wigs are hot and you get greasy hair afterwards. In winter it is a nice add to beat the cold but overall you don't want to be sweating all day when you are already going for a comfy and cozy lolita coord. 

I tend to save my wigs for bigger events of special meetings but not for everyday coords or for the days where I want to be comfy. Those days I go for a hairstyle with my natural hair. On my youtube channel I have a couple of hairstyles that I made with my own hair and are suitable for lolita as well. Please go and take a look if you want some inspiration. More hairstyle videos will follow in the future! 

Last but not least I want to talk about the accessories that you use with your lolita coords. You can use as much as you want but for my own preference I tend to go with minimal items. I have some go to items like a brooch and a necklace that goes with the theme of the print or dress. But that is it, no bracelets unless I don't wear a vest and I'm always wearing my wedding ring and our 5year anniversary ring. As well as my ballet shoes necklace. 

For hair accessories I mostly grab a small bow, headbow or flower clip. Nothing special in this part cause the rest of the coord is already minimal and comfy. Sometimes I like to add a nice hat or barrette to my coord to change the look a bit. 

Handbag wise you can use whatever you prefer and what fits your style of the day. Or you can go for a small backpack if you want that can look really cute too! 

Overall you need to see what works for you and within your own style. I tend to go for full back shirring dresses and blouses of off brand stores and flat shoes. But if you fit very comfortably in a beautiful OP and can wear heals 24/7 go for it. I hear that a lot of girls who are a smaller size do like to wear OP dresses a lot because they are so comfy. 

It is all about dressing to your own size and comfort levels. 

Have lots of fun when making your own comfy and cosy coords within this fashion! 

See you next time! 

Poppy xox 

Want more inspiration or tips for a cosy and comfy lolita coord? 

Check out these blogs!

Cupcake Kamisama's Lolita World

Art Du Noir

Fall survival kit - Lolita Style

I think I can officially say that summer has come, temperatures keep on rising and the sun is out almost every day since about two weeks. But with fall around the corner I thought it would be smart to work with one dress to create four different fall approved coords. 

Fall in Belgium can be super tricky, some days are like summer while other are rainy and cold. To be prepared for every situation I came up with these 4 coords. 

In this series I asked on Facebook which style you wanted to see and the majority voted for sweet lolita. Not the easiest one to come up with fall coords especially because of the fact that I tend to wear darker dresses and autumn colors in fall. So I needed to bring all my skills out to make a sunny fall coord that would be suitable for the season. 

When it comes to fall there are some points that you need to keep in mind before you start wearing your favorite coord outside.

• Does the print run out when it gets wet?
• This information can be found on the washing lable or if it's an older dress you can find the info also on Livejournal (last update 2015 in comments)
• What am I going to do? 
• Being inside all day need a different type of coord than one where you are going to be outside most of the day.
• Is it a sunny or a rainy day?
• This part is important for the shoes, you don't want to wear open or lower shoes when it rains. I had many mud stains in the past on my socks because of this, luckily they came all out but still better safe than sorry.

With this information all set you can plan out your outfit for the day. I went with a halter JSK from Angelic Pretty named Milky Planet. This print is water proof since it can be washed in the washing machine, therefore I don't need to worry about any bleeding. My plans for the day can be found under each photo as well the weather type. 

Let's check it out!

• Plans: Shopping - Going out with friends in the city
• Weather type: Chill fall day - no rain
• Key points: Long sleeved blouse, Jacket, tights
• Pairing a long sleeved blouse and a jacket gives you enough warmth for a chill autumn day. When you are shopping or on a day out you don't know how the weather will change so having the jacket as an extra layer gives you some room to play with the coord.
• Tights are a must have in fall if you ask me, though I love to wear them all year round but especially in fall and winter it is nice to have your full legs covered. 

• Plans: Lunch date - High tea
• Weather type: Rainy 
• Key points: Short sleeved blouse, cardigan, boots, tights
• A short sleeved blouse is perfect for being indoors most of the time as well as a cardigan. Which can be taken off when it's getting to hot. 
• Boots will keep your feet dry and warm, also they protect your precious socks from any mud splashes
• Tights on a rainy day go hand in hand, it's warm and easy to wear. Also I don't like to wear socks with boots, this can look a bit weird to me.
• Extra focus point: 
• I add a long coat as well to keep me warm outside and protect me from the rain. Also an umbrella is necessary on rainy days. 
• Keep your hairstyle simple and natural, the rain can do strange things to your hair or wear a wig to be sure of a rain proof hairstyle.

• Plans: Casual meeting in the city, walk in the park
• Weather type: Morning rain - afternoon sun
• Key points: Long sleeved blouse, ankle boots
• Both the ankle boots and the long sleeved blouse go perfect for a day when rain an sunshine are combined. Pair it up with a coat for outside and you are covered for the day.  

• Plans: Shopping
• Weather: Sunny
• Key Points: Sneakers, OTK, cut sew
• Sneakers are mostly a no go with lolita but sometimes you need to break the rules to be comfortable. These pastel sneakers go hand in hand with sweet lolita and other pastel fashion styles, you can find many different pastel kawaii sneakers on storenvy if you look for it. 
• OTK socks are great for when the sun is out they are warm enough and give that extra touch to a coord. I wouldn't wear OTK socks on rainy days mostly cause of the colder temperatures that comes with it. 
• Cut sews are the most comfortable options out there for blouses, they are still super cute and go well with a dress. These type of blouses are made of stretchy cotton which make them a bit warmer than a standard blouse and also a lot more comfortable since it will stretch out when you move so no limitations when you want to reach to that handbag on top of a shelf in the stores. 

Good luck with your coord planning this fall, do you have any tips that you want to share? 

Let me know in the comments below. 

This post is a part of The Lolita Blog Carnival or The LBC for short, check out the other posts from my fellow bloggers.

• Cupcake Kamisama's Lolita World

Lolita as your daily wardrobe

When I take a look at the past two years I can really say that my daily style has changed over time. Never thought I would be a "daily lolita" or at least wearing lolita/otome coords more than once a week or even a month. It used to be only for meeting purposes but over time I started to feel a little empty on the inside, I wanted to wear what made me happy and not so much for functionality.

About two years ago I started to wear more and more dresses on a daily basis, though when I needed to go to work by bike I would wear some jeans which felt so uncomfortable. The button sticking in my belly, the fabric that didn't felt nice and soft. It was more out of functionality that I was wearing those because it was easy to get dressed into my uniform at work. 

When changing your wardrobe a little at a time you get used to dressing a bit differently, it does take some effort and courage to do. Especially when you are that type of person that never wears a dress except for meetings but over time you will get the hang of it. 

These days I'm adding more and more classical pieces to my wardrobe which need to fit into my list of requirements. 

• Simple cut
• No in-your-face print
• Minimal lacing/frills, no lacing is better
• Comfy fitting

The list is not super long but this makes it a lot easier to find the right dress which you can wear on a daily basis. Not all my daily wear dresses fit these three boxes but sometimes you just have to make it work. 

Most of the dresses that I own have a print on them and can be considered as an in-your-face-print. Though it is pretty easy to tone these dresses down. I've made a small collection for you to show he difference what my daily wear vs my convention wear looks like and my overal daily wear which has still some hints of lolita fashion in it. 

The first one is Wrapping Heart from Angelic Pretty, it is a dress that you don't want to wear on a hot summer day because of the fabric but it is really suitable for a colder spring day. Because of the huge amount of frills on top I always try to make the rest of my coord as simple as possible for daily wear.

Left: Casual, shopping day // Right: Convention

Milky Planet from Angelic Pretty is one of my go to dresses when it comes to daily wear, first reason is cause I love the print to death but it is so comfy and perfect to wear without a petticoat. Yes you hear it correctly I do wear some of my dresses on a daily basis without petticoat! Most of the AP dresses have a little petticoat build in already so you still have a little poof with you.

Left: Casual for traveling by car // Right: Japanse fair

Innocent World has the best casual dresses in my size, I do have a weak spot for Jane Marple, Victorian Maiden but sadly enough they don't make that many dresses in bigger sizes. But both of them are also great for an every day wardrobe, but it is a total different style. Enough talk about anything else than the next dress I want to show you. It is the Forest Animals Torchon Lace dress from Innocent World.

This dress has a bigger in-your-face factor going on, as well as a lot of lacing in the front but because of it's comfyness I get a lot of wear out of this one. I don't have a convention coord for this dress sadly enough though I don't think this will make it to my event/convention options I think because of it's casual-ness feeling to me.

Left: Casual, day out // Right: Casual for traveling by plane

Up next are some of my daily go to outfits for when I don't feel like wearing a lolita dress even though there is one in there. These coords are mostly for the days that I go to work, simple to wear, easy to change and no fuzz. All the clothes are from Primark, H&M, C&A and Angelic Pretty, just because I can, why not it's Milky Planet!

Last I want to show you my coord of today, I went on a small bike trip to the pharmacy. Yep, I do wear my lolita clothes for bike trips as well, even bigger trips for about two or three hours. Today I felt a bit out of place with all the cars next to me. Mostly because I felt so lady like with my basket on my bike, it really felt like I was in the middle of the year 1900 or so. I'm bad with history so correct me if I was in a different time..

Dress is from Sweet Mildred and perfect for daily wear as well.

As you can see, wearing lolita inspired clothes is something that comes over time and it is something that will grow on to you, the more you experiment with it the easier it will get. 

When I wear lolita both on a daily base or to conventions and meetings I always do my own thing. I'm not aiming to fit in a box yet I'm still a lolita in my eyes. My coords aren't posted every single day cause on some days I wear my PJ's too. 

I feel that you need to wear what fits you as a person for that day, do you feel like breaking all the rules and add colors to your coord that doesn't come in your dress but it still looks amazing? Go for it! It's not that the police will stop at your front door to say that you are breaking the lolita laws. If you like what you wear, you wear it with pride and a big smile on your face! Those ones are the best outfits to wear..

This post is a part of The Lolita Blog Carnival or The LBC for short, check out the other post from my fellow bloggers.

• Rose Nocturnalia
• Cupcake Kamisama's Lolita World
• Pastel Peggy

What are your choices for daily wear? Please let me know in the comments below I would love to read them. 

See you next time! 

Love Poppy xx

HOW TO: Classic twin fishtails

Comming up with a hairstyle that is simple yet cute isn't always that easy.
I got inspired by the pictures I saw from the Long Ears and Sharp Ears studio release Museum of Fairy. Which is such a wonderful print if I may say.

The styling that they used for the hair can be used for both classic and sweet lolita. I recreated this hairstyle for you using my Lockshop Mermaid wig in the color blond. This wig is sadly not available anymore but they have plenty of more amazing wigs in their store. So please check them out as well.

You can find the whole tutorial on my youtube channel!
If you have any requests please let me know in the comments below

Lolita Blog Carnival - A lolita lifestyle? Does it really exist?

Every lolita has the dream of being a lifestyle lolita at one point in their lolita life. Atleast that's what I think that happens in their life. But is there such a thing as a lolita lifestyle? Are the dreams and ideas we had as a starting lolita real? Let's take a closer look at a lolita lifestyle, or at my opinion about it.


There are many sites on the internet that give you a look at the perfect lolita lifestyle. I did some research and came to the conclusion that everyone has a different vision about what a lolita lifestyle is.
Some sites are made up out of a list to follow along, others with advice on how to incorporate lolita items into your daily life. But none of them talk about the things in life that you can't control.

When you are a teenager or someone that goes to school, it's most of the time easier to incorporate lolita items into your daily life. Which makes it a bit easier to define yourself as a lifestyle lolita. Since you basically can wear lolita everyday. But what about the girls that call themselves a lifestyle lolita but aren't able to wear lolita items everyday. Maybe they are studying to become a vet, a lawyer or even someone who builds houses everyday. We can't leave the boys out right. Are these people not a lifestyle lolita?

To me a lolita lifestyle isn't about the guided rules of the perfect lolita lifestyle. Drinking tea, make your own kawaii accessories, collect everything cute and basically decoden everything what you find in your life. I don't say that these things can't be a part of your lifestyle. But they don't define a lolita lifestyle.

Most of the lolita girls worldwide know about the movie Kamikaze Girls. It's about the story of a sweet lolita girl that loves to embroidery and start working for Baby the stars shine bright. At least that's the lolita side of the story.
I think a lot of the beginner lolita's dream of this perfect life filled with frills, wearing lolita as sleep wear, a room full of lolita clothes and items like Misako Aoki has. Though when they grow older and get more life experience they see that this lolita dream they had wasn't really realistic. And that it changed over the years.

Misako Aoki's lolita room, a dream that a lot of girls have. 

It's also my dream to have a lolita dressing room one day.

Sure you can do all the frilly things you want, wear all the frills you want and basically live the life the guidelines tells you to do. But do you really enjoy it? Every single day of your life? Even when you're sick? Or go to your sport activities while wearing all those frills. Your life exist out of a lot of different interests and things. So far I haven't met a single person that doesn't like just one thing. Though this doesn't make you a horrible lolita, this makes you only human.

As you can see I have a strong opinion about a lolita lifestyle, in my eyes there isn't a single rule that you can apply to make you a lifestyle lolita. You don't need to wear lolita 24/7, you don't need to be kawaii all the time, you don't need to love tea or fill your house with antique furniture. You don't need to do a single thing from these lists to be a lifestyle lolita. Allright maybe one thing and that are lolita clothes. It's hard to be a lolita without wearing the clothes right?

But there will be some people out there that will disagree with me on this point, but for myself I'm a lifestyle lolita. Why? I try to wear lolita as much as I can and as much as I like, I attend the events with a big smile of joy on my face, I travel many hours to be with fellow lolita friends even if it's just for a casual day in my sweatpants watching a sad movie together. I call myself a lifestyle lolita cause I feel like one. Currently I'm working in a nursing home where I'm not allowed to wear heavy make up, jewelry or frilly clothes. I need to wear a nursing uniform and follow the healthcare guidelines. My workday starts at 7:30 in the morning or at 7:00 depending on the shift. I'm also going to work on my bike. But you will never see me wearing lolita or cute clothes to work, not even one kawaii thing in my hair. Why dressing up in the morning to ride my bike and change at work into an uniform? I'm just to lazy for that. And it's not like the elderly at work will say that you look way better with a cute bow in your hair.

For me a lolita lifestyle is about how you feel connected to the fashion and about the sparkles in your eyes when you see the fashion or wear it. It's about the butterflies in your tummy when you meet new and old lolita friends, and that feeling when your dreamdress arrives. If you don't like to do picknicks in the park, don't want to wear your coords when it rains or if you don't like to do anything that is listed on the guideline websites for having a lolita lifestyle it's totally fine! You are unique and you love the fashion. That's all what matters in the end. Don't label yourself, no one sees the tag anyway.

Want to read more about a lolita lifestyle? Check out the other blogs of this week.

❤︎ A heart's sound ❤︎

❤︎ Art du noir ❤︎

❤︎ Under the parasol ❤︎

❤︎ A lace jail ❤︎

❤︎ Courtly Dreams For Burgher ❤︎

Credit first photo: Deerstalker Pictures

Old school! Say what?

Today in Frills for all the one and only Old School Lolita style. Last week a friend told me that she didn't feel comfortable with her own style. She doesn't wear wigs, make up or uses a lot of accessories. What this all about? Let's take a look on this type of lolita.

Lately I've seen a lot of girls toning down their outfits, OTT is still a big thing within the community. But for the majority of the time they also want to go back to the roots of where lolita started or go back to the foundation of where lolita is based on. Which is victorian clothing, think about princesses and Marie Antoinette having fancy dance party's with beautiful detailed clothing.

Prints are not really a must anymore, classic and toned down colors are now a big trend. Still this isn't really old school. When you think of old school the first thing that pops up in your head is the rectangle headdresses that everyone used to wear back in the early times of lolita fashion. Also knee high socks with ruffles and rocking horse shoes or even the platform shoes. Pair this with a solid colored dress with lots of lace details or the old fashioned tartan fabric and you have your first old school outfit ready.

If you ask me what makes a lolita outfit old school, I will tell you that you need to stick with the basic styles and their rules. Yehaa here we go again, the rules.. I hear you yawn, I get it.. But for old school lolita it's important to follow these rules since they where mandatory for the whole look. These days the rules are bended to have your own unique style which is wonderful but not like it used be. 

I found some inspiration in my Kera magazine that I wanted to share with you I hope it will inspire you to come up with your own coord!