Baby Steps

image by plenty of flour on Flickr

Even after the other brands continue to advance west - Baby's wild success at their San Francisco opening, now Innocent World's excellent overseas customer service - Angelic Pretty, one of the arguably most popular brands, has only made baby steps. The English website is something to get lucky on, while most girls still head for the Japanese site and the shopping service; the best places to get Angelic Pretty are second-hand like Closet Child or Yahoo!Japan. And if you're not able to attend their events in Los Angeles or Paris, the chances of having much interaction with the brand are slim. But for those of us huddled along the northern edge of the United States East Coast, you can finally get your sugar rush a little closer to home.

Tokyo Rebel announced today that after very long negotiations, they are carrying Angelic Pretty merchandise in their shop, from bags to even a few coveted pieces of the latest prints. While the store is new now, with luck and hopefully a growing fan base, they'll have the opportunity to expand - and make New York City flush with frills ;)

So, in a previous article about Tokyo Rebel, the big question mark hovering over everyone's head was - will their choice of more classical brands effect the local fashion scene? In my recent trip to New York City, the styles were mostly set somewhere between sweet and classic - but since many girls wore their own creations, I don't think it's the influence of the shop. Someone remarked recently that there does seem to be a style polarization by location - the very sweet can be found on the warmer sides of California, a few pockets of Central and Eastern Europe seem inspired to house a rookery of beautiful Gothics. I've always personally wondered if they're inspired by the elegantly dark architecture or the spooky legends of the lady vampire, Elizabeth of Bathory. Do you think one area tends to a specific style?

Hopefully during this holiday break, the Loligirls film crew will be making a sojourn to Tokyo Rebel to check out the details first-hand. They even a have a Loligirls poster displayed in the shop!

Silhouette Tutorial

As part of the It's Your Castle Series, I'll be posting a few easy decorating crafts every few weeks. And I mean easy - no required crazy cutters, specialty glues, linoleum blocks - just things you can mostly locate around the house.

This week Miss Lumpy and I made Victorian silhouettes, the modern way. Here's mine:

Looks kind of like me, right? My favorite part was adding the style to it. I wanted something really sweet and a little fairy-kei, so I used rainbow heart-speckled scrapbook paper for my background, and Swarovski gems as accents. So, here's how it works:

1. Have a friend take a digital photo of you from the side - from mid-bust up. It's best if you do something fanciful with your hair if it's long, to show the nape of the neck. This is actually bow hair :) Make sure you stand up straight! Here is Miss Lumpy's photograph (you can see her finished, classical silhouette here). You'll notice she has short hair, so we made sure to give the back and front some definition and define her curls more.

2. After you have a photo you like, print it off your computer. Then trim around the picture's edges, removing all the background, so that you have the silhouette pattern.

3. Trace onto black paper - crafting or scrapbook is best, as it's sturdy with smooth edges (for example, avoid construction paper). Then carefully trim around the black silhouette. You can also use the picture to shape the image more carefully, like accentuating the neck or perfecting the nose or lips.

4. Cut an oval or rectangle out of your scrapbook paper background. You can get this in all kinds of styles, with hearts, stars, snowflakes, bows, crowns - just go to your local craft store for tons of ideas. I used an oval-cutter to cut my background, but you can also trace a tupperware container (the oval kind) or use your frame as a base (if you're using an oval frame, like mine).

5. Decorate! This is the fun part. Get ribbon scraps, jewels, pearls, and glue (I used both tacky glue, which dries clear, and hot glue for the larger pieces (like the 3D glittery hair bow). When you feel like it's done, affix it to the background paper. Careful - make sure it's straight (unlike me! ;A;)

And that's it! They look cute hung in your room, or given to your loved ones this holiday season (I know my mom would kill for one). It's also cute if you and your boyfriend/girlfriend make a pair and then set them facing on another. Try experimenting with different background papers, decorations, or even switch your black silhouette paper to a bright or dark color (like hot pink, dark red, or chocolate brown).

I hope you give it a try, they're really a fun way to while away an afternoon with a cup of tea :)

Fuji TV Meets NYC

Today was a big day for me - meeting some of the wonderful New York City lolitas, some for the first time! The nature of our meet? Fuji TV, a Japanese television network, had discovered our presence and wanted to see some American frill in action! We spent a lovely day at Bryant Park, eating crepes and (in my case) attempting to ice skate.

If you're looking for something to do in the city, that is the place to go. Now that Christmas season has started, they've erected a miniature town of greenhouses full of cute things. My favorite shops are Stone Flower, very sweet and bordering on himegyaru; and Miss Hoe's, which has more classic and punky items like unicorn rocking horse necklaces and lacy mori-girl dresses. You can also ice-skate at the Pond. Bring your own skates and a combination lock (to use a locker) and your visit can be free! You can also rent skates and duffel bags for keeping your things, if you like.

It was amazing for me, being from Small-Town, CT, to see so many people interested in the fashion - my favorite being flamboyant older ladies and adorable little girls who say they want to play dress-up too :) We were also attacked by a gang of photography students from FIT - the professor's running commentary was hilarious: 'See, see, this like Bambi outfit, very 1990s, Hello Kitty, pink hair, note the feet, very important part of her character, accessories, look at the bow in her hair!' Plus a plethora of small dogs, typically in jackets! And I got to meet all of these lovely ladies, who were some of the sweetest girls I have had the pleasure of poofin' out with.

My outfit theme ended up being bunnies to match the Cherry Berry bunnies in the dress - with my SWIMMER bunny scarf, BABY bunny hoodie, My Melody Pochette, and giant bunny-ear buns. Here's a shot of my hair & makeup:

Here's the full outfit, taken inside Miss Hoe's shop :)

When the television segment airs, I'll make sure it gets it own spotlight on Lolita Charm!

Public Property & Paparazzi

Somewhere near you, someone is staring. You can feel there eyes on you. That's nothing new. But then you see the glint of something in the light - a camera lens. Someone you don't know, who hasn't spoken to you, let alone asked your permission, has decided to take your photograph.

If you go out in lolita, you've probably received plenty of reactions to how you are dressed. That's something that we expect and can handle relatively well, especially as you get used to it. But what if you find yourself the subject of unwanted photographs, either on a cellphone or a regular camera? At what point do you stop being an ordinary citizen and become a museum piece, flash-photography allowed?

The public has this notion that as soon as you do something outside of the realm of the ordinary, you become public spectacle - probably a throwback to the days at the old Elizabethan fair, where for a few pennies you could stare at the physical deformities, which then turned into the circus-era 'freak show'. People are torn between fascination and fear of the 'other', which naturally may cause them to ask questions, stare, etc. You can read more about dealing with the public in my previous article here. But photos add a whole other dimension of issues to the topic of dealing with the public.

For one, it's not something you should put up with if you can. To reduce someone to a mere item or entertainment is not something I support. The public can make their remarks, they can think whatever they like, but they do not get to jeopardy your personal safety or sense of humanity. What these people fail to realize is that they aren't just photographing a thing; there is a real person under the clothes. But let's save the feelings for another day, and talk about something more important: your personal safety.

It can be dangerous to have photos you don't control the location or content of. I was being stalked for a period of time and my college published photos of me without permission in a giveaway notebook - if my stalker had seen it, he'd have known where I could be found and what I currently looked like (having changed my appearance since then), as well as what classes I was taking (due to location). Thankfully this hasn't occurred, but it is something to consider. As soon as a photo is published on the Internet particularly, it has the opportunity to be seen by anyone - as many have found out through Facebook and Myspace. I know that my photos often appear elsewhere, and therefore don't include ways to identify my location - like a house number, for example. As lolitas, posting photos of ourselves is one essential way for us to connect - sharing coordinates, hair, and makeup. But those photos definitely have a way of traveling, so be careful what information you reveal deliberately or inadvertently in them. Now add in that you don't get to control the information of the photos, and you can see the hazard.

It's debated as to what your recourse is on this topic - are you allowed to be photographed in a public place, and what exactly constitutes a public place? The mall, the sidewalk, at your school or place of work? Regardless of what the legal issues settle down to, here are a few ways you can react when you see the flicker of a camera focused on you.

How To Handle The Paparazzi

• Speak up! If someone is making you feel uncomfortable, call them out on it - politely and with a little wit if you like, but let them know that you - and subsequently the people around you - are aware of and won't tolerate their behavior. Usually this will embarrass them enough to flee the scene. If anything, it also sends the message that this is just not socially acceptable behavior - people are people, whether they are perceived as 'normal' or not.
  
• Buddy system. If you're walking around on the streets, have a friend with you or for super-protection, a giant beefy boyfriend of yours. If you're too shy to say something, they will. If they're not used to the public reaction to you, prep them first - "Don't be surprised if we get a lot of attention, and if anyone seems to be bothering us, please say something."
  
• Security! If someone is really, really persistent - don't be afraid to call on your local security, whether it be towards the establishment, campus police, or even your local police. If you're in a store or another place where they don't allow photographs, mention this loudly. You may not have much recourse in a public place like on the streets, but in private establishment, you do.
  
• Not all paparazzi is bad - if they ask politely or seem mostly harmless, I will usually let them take a photo. Recently, I was approached by one of our exchange students on campus, after I saw her taking a photo at a distance. She complimented my style and asked for another, so I didn't really see the harm in that. If someone asks, I will usually also pose for them.
• Fans and parasols: If you're really worried about your face floating around the Internet or a stranger's camera, carry a fan or parasol with you, or if either of these is too big to tote, perhaps a decorative handkerchief. You can use these to block your face if you see someone angling a camera towards you. In a pinch, you can also use books and newspapers, or possibly duck behind a tree or other person. It might sound a little silly, but in the case of stalkers, it can be important (as I discussed above).
  

I hope this helps any of you darlings while you're out in public. If you have suggestions on how to handle the 'paparazzi', feel free to comment! What are your personal experiences with strangers photographing you?

Colombian Hot Chocolate!

A friend of mine recently spent a few months visiting the country of Colombia, and before she went back to school she graciously surprised me with a brick of bitter Colombian chocolate. Since Miss Lumpy came by to visit with a beautiful slice of cherry gateau, we decided to try making it the traditional way my friend suggested. If you want to try it, you will need:

• a block of chocolate
• milk or cream
• a saucepan
• sugar to taste

Pour a cup of milk into a saucepan and heat over the stove (one cup of milk makes about two servings in traditional teacups). Add a section of chocolate (ours was printed with sections - I'd say something about the size and depth of a postage stamp, or perhaps the size of two sugar cubes). Use a spoon to stir the chocolate into the milk, and break it up with the spoon as it gets softer. When it's fully liquid, whisk if until it seems sufficiently fluffy and one liquid. Pour into cups. It does have a thick residue, which you can strain with a tea-strainer if it bothers you - but it's just shavings of chocolate, so that's more to your preference.

The hot chocolate tastes much more like a coffee drink or a mocha, because it's not tempered with added sweetness. Use a few spoonfuls of sugar or maybe whipped cream to sweeten it up if you're not fond on the coffee flavor. The slightly bitter drink is best paired with a sweeter chocolate in a dessert, or a fruit flavor like strawberry or cherry or raspberry.

Psst - you can also sneak a peek at my new Milky-chan onepiece in this photo! It's really sweet, I love that milk chocolate color and the teeny silky bows. You'll definitely be seeing more of it soon!

November Style Tips

• Fight the gray by adding one very bright accessory to every outfit! I like sunshiney yellow, coral, or a really ultra violet kind of pink!
• Save your hair for the week and make a pact - no heat or product! Go for fishtail braids, pin curls, or creative hair accessories.
• Buy yourself a few brightly colored petticoats and be colorful even underneath! They'll be a fun addition only you know about, and can be pressed into service for fairy-kei if you like.
• Sparkle up a set of lace tights... I love these, even prettier than adding lace appliques to plain nylons!
• Make it your mission to find one fascinating ring for each finger - sweets rings, giant cocktails, rings with letters, anything! Wear them all at once like a rock star.
• Hoodies - the hooded sweatshirt - is invaluably soft and comfortable, but not always very cute. Get yourself a plain one from a craft store and decide what it needs - an applique, embroidery? Giant rhinestones?! - And make it work with the rest of your wardrobe.
• Become a regular at your local bakery, enough to give recommendations. You might make friends with the bakery staff, and at the least you'll learn about different kinds of pastries or bread. Today's cake slice from our local bakery, La Palette, was cherry gateau with real whipped cream!
• Want snow, but looking at bare lawns and trees? Cut out a set of paper snowflakes. In the middle of a lovely spring? Use folded paper to cut strings of dolls, heart or stars as streamers, to hang in your room or to surprise a friend with.
• Leave post-its on public restroom mirrors that say, You Are Beautiful. Decide to be an agent of Operation Beautiful.
  

The Magic

"Maybe pessimism is something we have to start applying daily, like moisturizer. Otherwise, how do you bounce back when reality batters your belief system and love does not, as promised, conquer all? Is hope a drug we need to go off of, or is it keeping us alive?"

"What's the harm in believing?"

~Sex and the City

♥ ♥ ♥

"Somehow, something always happens," she cried, "just before things get to the very worst. It is as if the Magic did it. If I could only just remember that always. The worst thing never quite comes."

~A Little Princess, Frances Hodgson Burnett

I'm going to deviate a little today. I am tiptoeing out of the world of material lace and ribbons and edging surreptitiously into the world of real fairy tales - the things we imitate but hope to be true.

For as long as I have been writing this blog, I have been asked, questioned, applauded, and ridiculed for being something akin to an airy-fairy princess. Somewhere between optimistic and delusional lies the true gem that is positivity, which has long masqueraded until the titles of the 'silver lining', 'the Secret', and 'wishcraft'. I choose to simplify this down to terms that make sense even to the smallest children - the magic.

It's the same magic that brings the Velveteen Rabbit to life. It is the magic that unlocks the secret garden to Mary, gives Anne of Green Gables her Idlewilde, and makes a little prince love a rose more than anything else in the world.

These are all examples from literature or fairytales - the place where magic is most prominent. But art imitates life and vice versa, so it goes to show that magic exists in the real world too. But perhaps it's a little harder to come by - because the big unknown is that you have to make it yourself.

People have often asked me about my positivity, especially after the recent article about chronic illness and lolitas. That's not the only problem weighing on girls today, too - other things like stress, schoolwork, eating disorders, relationships, money troubles - all made into a thick lasagna to bring you down.

Some of these things may seem like common sense or even a little silly - but they're things people would do well to put into practice rather than just file away under good advice. In the words of Alice, 'I often give myself very good advice - but seldom follow it.' By practicing these tiny little things every day, you can weather through even the hardest of situations.

• start a gratitude list. I've been doing this on a weekly basis for about two or three years now, and basically it's done like this: write down in a journal, online, wherever, a list of absolutely anything that made you happy that week. It could be a new dress in the mail, yellow tulips on your walk to school, or a first date. The scale ranges from a great new microwave dinner up to getting a new puppy. It doesn't matter what's on it, so long as you do it. By compiling all those things you've decided to spend at least a little time focusing on the positive things that happened to you that week. Sometimes I add photos I really love, or doodle in the margins.
  
• sleep. Sleep enough, even if it means going to bed earlier and recording your favorite shows. Get some nice pillows, a comfortable comforter, and get in there and snooze. It's good for your skin and your mood. My saying is 'sleep luxuriously'. It's written on my white board!
  
• smile. Now that my hair is really noticeable, I get more attention than ever when just out and about - lolita or not. The best response? Just smile! If you've disarmed someone with a snarky comment, then good if you've made someone else smile, all the better! Small interactions make such an important part of our day, really. Humans are social creatures through and through, a fact we can't escape - even though we try, especially in New England where stranger interaction is a big no-no (in New England we like personal space, clam chowder, and for everyone to mind their own bees' wax, apparently). Wave at children in the school bus stopped next to you at a light. Smile at the lady staring at your from the produce section.
  
• cry. When things get really tough, choose a time when you can have your cry. It's important not to keep yourself bottled up. If you're having a hard time crying even though you feel the need to, choose a few melancholy songs to listen to. If you prefer to be alone, you can; or you can ask a friend to stay with you. I think when it comes to harder things like illness or grieving we want to stay strong, and not show emotion; but letting it out once in a while keeps it all from stockpiling.
  
• fuel yourself. As a lolita and a person I know that I have a strong need to see beautiful things and feed the visual area of my brain, so I'm on a lot of image communities. If you're more of an audio person, collect music that makes you feel happy.
  
• sunlight. Get some. Even if it's very dark, there has to be a scrap of it somewhere - or you can buy special lights that replicate sunlight. Back in ye old caveman days, we lived in caves so much that our bodies developed a taste for Vitamin D, obtained from sunlight and giving us a shot of serotonin. Serotonin is that juice in your brain that makes you feel happy. Because in America we've just switched to this funny thing called Daylight Savings, and it's officially pitch-black at four in the afternoon, I might even try switching to a dawn simulator or some full-spectrum light bulbs to soak in.
  

Do you notice a pattern in this list? Every one of these things has something in common. It's you. I didn't mention any ways to deal with your boyfriend, mom, dad, best friend, roommate, bullies, or whatever. You can't change other people. In this algorithm everybody gets free will, the above included. The only person you can change is yourself and your reaction to other people. Make yourself your most important project. Decide who you want to be, what changes you want to make in your life, make a game plan, then do it.

I think this ties in well to lolita. Lolitas dress for themselves, they spoil themselves instead of waiting for anyone else to do it. Momoko of Kamikaze Girls drops everything to make herself happy - and granted she wasn't always moral in doing so, but isn't that admirable? In a society where women are supposed to sacrifice for the good of the family and everyone is supposed to 'take one for the team', isn't it important sometimes to care for yourself? Even though we as lolitas are known for saying, I do this for me, it's easy to get even that wrapped up in other people. When I get up in the morning, I do my best to pick out what I want to wear and how I want to do my hair based on how I feel. Maybe today is a day to doll up, or a day to go without makeup at all. Does anyone else ever feel that they wear makeup or a certain clothing style because people 'expect' it? It's not always easy to flout that pressure, but if you practice, it will be easier. As my Twitter followers may know, my grandmother (circa 1914, by the way!) threatened to shave my head... because I have pink hair. I told her if she shaved my head, I'd shave hers ;P If that's not the result of practice, I don't know what is!

So, how do you live magic, beyond a few extra winks of sleep and a little me-time?

If someone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up as a child, I probably said something like most little girls: a veterinarian-ballerina-princess-movie star. But I think that today I'd still say, I want to be a princess when I grow up. That's sort of a personal thing to say, I know, and that it opens up to a whole bucket of criticism - that the idea of princesses doesn't really exist, and that even if it did, it'd be a load of poppycock. Or maybe the Paris Hiltons of the world are the real princesses these days - rich, tabloid-worthy, and someone we'd prefer not to emulate.

But I don't think that's true. To say I want to be a princess is to say that I want to live my life deliberately, with the intent to see the world as beautiful. I want to have my heart on my sleeve, and proudly; I want to help others be happy, too. We've been trained to say we want a certain profession when we grow up, like a fire fighter, a doctor, an astronaut - but that's what we want to do, not who we want to be. I'm probably going to go into marketing, work at an advertising firm, maybe write a book some day. I'll work nine to five and someday they might insist that I trade out my beautiful pink hair to become a brunette. But that's all secondary. Those are just on the outside. As Sara Crewe said (can you tell that A Little Princess was my favorite book growing up? I had a huge one with illustrations!), 'It would be easy to be a princess if I were dressed in cloth of gold. But it is a great deal more to be a princess all the time when no one knows it.'

I don't think that 'being a princess' is something you ever arrive at. I think it's something you strive to be, not to do - to continuously try to be open, be compassionate, and harm none. You could say that just falls under the title of 'being a good person'. To me, being a good person means helping out at soup kitchens, paying your taxes on time, and recycling. Which are all wonderful things, but they're more about social responsibility. They're not about who you are on the inside - what's in your intentions, your energy, your heart.

Instead, consider your heart your own project. If you try to make magic happen in your life, it will start happening to you.

Put a tiara on top of your soul.
Sew frills onto the hem of your heart!

~Novala Takemoto