Gothic and Lolita Bible Vol. 31 Review

I usually review any Lolita publication that I read/purchase, but this is a slightly different kind of review. Instead of, this was cool and that was cool, consider this a tongue-in-cheek overlook at the magazine. After all, the girl on the cover has green hair and is supposed to look like a Christmas tree.

Oh, Japan! (I lovingly roll my eyes).

Firstly, stickers. If nothing else, this could be a $20 sticker sheet. I love the stickers. I carefully dole them out, hopefully with plans to keep them forever and ever and ever. My previous stickers have been allotted to my scrapbook cover and my cellphone. I don't know what to do with these yet, especially the large sticker of Christmas Loli, who makes a second appearance. Other notions about these stickers: use even the non-pre-printed stickers. Those cute stars aren't actually supposed to be popped out, but you can use a hole punch or punch stamp to MAKE them be stickers and actually get your $20 out of your sticker sheet.

There are also two Christmas postcards further into the magazine, in both French and English. The Japanese interpretation of a gingerbread house and Christmas Loli makes a third appearance.

I'm not feeling the urge to go in chronological order, so let's skip right ahead to the gingerbread house. Now if you're a gingerbread house maker, or purist, or have ever made one in kindergarten by gluing graham crackers to milk cartons, then you know the rule is, everything must be eatable. Edible. Yes, that. The Japanese have decided that rhinestones, tiny teacup charms, dollhouse dishes, and plastic skulls are eatable. Actually it wouldn't surprise me if the entire house was actually fake cellphone deco food and not at all eatable, which is sort of a cool idea.

On the same notion, they also advertised Christmas cake trinket boxes and clocks. I've seen the cake-clock look-a-likes, but wasn't too thrilled until I saw the Christmas cake version. Namely? It has banana slices. I think plastic banana slices are adorable, personally. It might be possible to make your own Christmas cake clock using cellphone deco food and sweets jewelry foam, actually - an idea to entertain.

A lot of the Lolita brands decided fur was in for Christmas. One of the Metamorphose models is wearing a fur hairbow the size of a stew rabbit, and the tails of about sixty of them around her neck. I love faux in Lolita but some of this was a little... crazy.

There is a section on hairstyles, too, which I especially enjoy as the photos are pretty language-free. Unfortunately almost all of the styles go like this:

1. Curl hair.
2. Tease the hell out of hair.
3. Add bow/mini-crown/teacup/teddy bear/stew rabbit.

They are very cute, and I would love to try some of them. I just can't get past the curling and teasing. Curling, especially with an iron, takes time, practice, fiddling, and energy. The teasing takes time, practice, fiddling, energy, and a genetic predisposition. My hair is too silky to tease - it just doesn't.

There is a a great pattern for a mini-hat however, if you'd like to try the curl/tease/insert method.

There were also some great ads by MAM [Maxicimam - does anyone know how to pronounce this?]. I wish they were easier to get a hold of here Outside of Japan. They have distinctly 'edgier' designs in my opinion. The dress I liked was pink with black tulle lace, campy rick-rack, and screeprinted cherries. Some of their stuff is at least as sugary as Angelic Pretty's, too. They need more love.

As to ads - is anyone else as horribly hypnotized by Angelic Pretty's full-page ads? I'll see a dress on the website and say, 'Eh, it's not that special for $300'. Then I see the ad, my eyes grow big, and I start to daydream of waltzing around in it, while glitter and candies and kittens fall from the sky in a shining rain. The full-page ads in this issue are for the Lady Rose line, which explain why the very thought makes me froth at the mouth with print-lust.

Or maybe I've finally caught something from my decorative stew rabbits.

Labels: review

posted by Victoria Suzanne @ 4:40 PM 1 Comments

Lolita Add-a-Charm

A special new series going up on Lolita Charm! As I explained in my Mission Statement, which you can read in the archives, Lolita Charm has a dual meaning. It first means, a pleasant attitude and polish that is attributed to 'charm school' - but it is also the cute, physical, tiny things that make a Lolita extra special, like the metal star hanging from the tip of a hairbow.

This series is going to be a set of very easy craft tutorials on making your own Lolita Charm!(r) (just kidding!) bracelet. The charms can also be applied to cellphone charms, necklaces, earrings, keychains, anything you want. Personally I'll be making a charm bracelet, but feel free to mix it up. Each article will teach a new charm.

Labels: crafty loli, lolita-add-a-charm

posted by Victoria Suzanne @ 5:05 PM 2 Comments

Uh-Oh!

It can happen without fail, especially in the wintertime. Or maybe like me, you find yourself in more dire straits - sick as a dog, and faced with a long hospital stay. Whether you're trapped by the snuffles or recovering from surgery, this list of ideas will help you keep from melting your brain and losing your cute.

• Paint your nails! Shape and paint your nails in any style or color. I recommend not using falsies because they can be a pain, so try some cute colors and then add decals, paint on small designs with paintbrushes, or added rhinestones. My current favorite is pink with a black French manicure and little black hearts. Bonus points for glitter or pink Swarovski stones! This is especially great if you're in the hospital because people will know you're usually not gooey and bedheady! If you are having surgery however, leave one blank or just add a sheer glitter, because sometimes the check nail color to identify reactions to anesthetizers.
• Wear simple bow clips or a soft bow band to both corral your hair and add some cuteness.
  
• Cute tee shirts are also life savers to slouch around the house in. As said before, Hello Kitty sleep pants or anything cute and cheap and easy to wear is also a great thing to have.
• Coloring books. Drugs can make you very crazy and unable to concentrate. Coloring books are easy, occupy your hands, and for the Percocet-addled, can induce lovely color-based hallucinations.
• Bring a dollie or stuffed animal to the hospital with you.
  
• Make collages from magazines. Fill up journal pages or large posterboards with pictures of things you like - roses, necklaces, pretty girls, perfume bottles.
• Have cute slippers and soft blankets on hand. Wear the blankets as capes and flounce around the house in them. Mine is pink and fuzzy, and my slippers are knitted ballerina style.
• Read some sweet manga. I like Dolls by Yumiko Kawahara, but I also read Kitchen Princess and liked that too (not really Lolita but very cute! She also includes the recipes for the foods made in the issue).
• Watch meaningless television, like dog shows or decorating. I love Yorkshire terriers now! You can also watch animes, jdramas, etc., downloaded to your computer. A few favorites of mine are Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch, Hana Yori Dango, and Tokyo Mew Mew.
• Make felt plushies for hair ornaments, keychains, etc. I recently got The Cute Book by Aranzi Aronzo and can't wait to make Miko-chan a little kitty or terrier friend!
• Online shopping is always a fun option ;)
• For a cute and easy snack that favors sickies, try Campbell's Chicken and Stars. I know that sounds silly, but it's very adorable and I love soup! Add fish crackers. If you're addled by cold medicine, you can talk to the fishies and wage naval battles.
• Drink lots of tea with honey and feel better!
  

Labels: lifestyle

posted by Victoria Suzanne @ 3:44 PM 5 Comments

Introducing Miko-chan!~

Labels: crafty loli

posted by Victoria Suzanne @ 10:53 AM 1 Comments

Sugar & Spice & Everything Vice

I recently got a comment from a reader of Lolita Charm wondering about lifestyle lolitas and their attitudes and philosophies, especially concerning the nature of lolita cattiness and general lolita drama.

I am one of the more vocal lifestyle lolitas and whenever the topic or question of lifestyle lolita is raised, I feel the need to comment (my big mouth :P). So let's first settle all of the questions that I am sure are on your brain - just what, exactly, is a lifestyle lolita, and what makes her different from other lolitas?

I'll be honest with you: there is absolutely not a huge difference between a lifestyle lolita and a 'regular' lolita. In fact, it's a pretty small difference. If I had the ability to graph, I would simply say it comes down to a pie graph (how very sweet lolita!). The average lolita puts maybe 40% of her life into lolita. She wears the clothes, maybe goes to meetups, and in general gets on her with life through a bubble of frills. But the lifestyle lolita seeks to extend that bubble - not just from her clothes, but through her music, her activities like lacemaking, emboidering, baking, her artwork, and her decorating. Mostly the idea is that the lifestyle lolita has extended hobbies that are not lolita but relate to lolita. The other heavily popular aspect of the lifestyle lolita is decorating, like their bedrooms or apartments.

So if you were to look at two lolitas, one lifestyle and one not, you wouldn't see any difference. They dress the same. They act the same. They speak the same. The only difference might be inside their handbags - the lifestyle lolita's Victorian novel, her sweet-deco cellphone, maybe a ball of thread to lacemake with.

And bear in mind that they are not exclusive. You needn't confine yourself to either image. If you declare you're a lifestyle lolita, there is not set rule that you need to dress in lolita 24/7, or only read lolita-esque novels, or only sit at home and embroider. You can breakdance, play video games, or sit around in pink sweats! (A joke of mine: Lifestyle lolita means owning pink sweats. I admit it. I'm wearing them now with an Alice in Wonderland tee-shirt and rhinestone heart earbuds!) Likewise, if you declare you're steadfastly not a lifestyle lolita, there's nothing that says you can't indulge in cupcakes, can't make your own dresses, or listen to classical music. The real point is: the lifestyle of lolita is yours to shape, because you are lolita.

Now, did you catch that little line in the above paragraphs? They act the same. Lolitas, lifestyle or not, have the same personality - that of any girl. Your personality is not defined by your clothes, your hobbies, or the music you listen to. It is defined by your feelings and characteristics. So contrary to the popular misconception, lifestyle lolita does not mean you are the personality incarnate of a Disney Princess. And yes, this means that the world of drama is also populated by its share of lifestyle lolitas. I personally try to stay out of drama if it all possible, because it's a) a huge time and energy suck (with which you could be doing so many other things!) and b) most of it is bogus anyway. Generally drama has only one side of a story, leaving plenty of room for interpretation and embroidering, and very possibly full of miscommunication. Having been an object of drama once or twice, it's not pretty - and most of it isn't true. It is to the advantage of those pointing fingers for the defendant to be as maligned as possible, so things are often taken out of context, misquoted, etc. But this isn't really about the drama, is it? It's about the lolitas themselves.

Lifestyle or not, lolitas are simply real girls. And real girls have been in and out of drama and politics since the beginning of the human race. It is hardwired into us to compete for resources, and the lolita world is no different. We almost romanticize its history, like the Court of Versaille with their royal intruiges. It has its own place, true - but it is not in the clothes or the lace. It's under the clothes, somewhere between the skin and the ribcage - in the heart, the very flesh.

After all, what are little girls made of?

ETA: You can now send email directly to Lolita Charm by clicking the little girl in pink under Send me love letters! in the sidebar.

Labels: discussion, lifestyle

posted by Victoria Suzanne @ 12:33 PM 4 Comments

Gothic Love in a Sweet Heart

As is evident from this blog - almost all of my posts, the decor, and photos of me - I'm a Sweet Lolita. I love almost everything about Sweet Lolita - giant bunnies, cupcakes, the color mint, candy, insane eye gems (does anyone else remember wearing those in the 80s?!). And if you look in my closet (yes, someday there will be photos!) it's mostly pink, yellow, lilac, mint - candy colors.

But I have a small secret.

I love Gothic Lolita.

So just be Gothic Lolita! I can hear you all screaming and clicking away from the page in aggravation. Okay, I'll get to the point.

I love some aspects of Gothic. I like, for example, creepy artwork spray-painted on cutsews. I like objectionable phrases on tote bags, I like poison-apple necklaces, I like barbed-wire crowns (a la Suppurate System). I like black lace.

You'll notice I didn't say I like Gothic Lolita clothes.

I just can't get excited over buying a black dress (as opposed to a dress covered in, say, puppies in tutus catching rainbows?!). It doesn't make me excited and moony like a schoolboy with a ridiculous crush on a girl two forms ahead of him. I can't bring myself to start a whole other wardrobe just because I like a pair of fabulous black platforms hung with skulls and chains.

There has been a lot of talk lately about Sweet VS. Gothic. It's fairly ridiculous, in my opinion. I think people just 'imagine' that there is a feud. I'm a Sweet Lolita and I like Gothic Lolita. I just don't predominately wear it. As you can tell by the poll on my sidebar (which is most likely biased because this after all a sweet-geared site), the Gothic population ranks third overall. There just aren't as many Gothics as there are Sweets or even Classicals, which may change. My friend Julia believes we're going to see a shift soon in more Gothic and Classic appreciation, and she could be right. It'll be an interesting switch. The two styles, Sweet and Gothic, are not so different as they claim to be. Really, at the end of the day, they're two sides of the same coin.

As for me? I'm trying to find some middle ground. I still love pink - bubblegum Pepto-Bismol pink, complete with kitties - but I am definitely drawn to a cute macabre style. Hopefully you'll see some more Sweet Gothic around here on LC :)

P.S. - Isn't this cutsew print adorable?! I love the work of this particular artist.

Labels: discussion, inspirational

posted by Victoria Suzanne @ 6:09 PM 8 Comments

Bored?

Are you... bored? Aimlessly trolling the Internet, rereading old egl posts, or worse yet - watching AMVs on youtube? I feel your pain. In winter, often on break from school, the days seem long. Here the temperature has dropped to 9 degrees Fahrenheit during the day, and snow is on the way. What to do?

I have some suggestions for you!

You can easily spend creative hours - well, at least an hour - playing the Queen of Dorks (Claire Belton)'s new dress-up game. Design your own Lolita with tons of motifs from unicorns to bunny ears. The image above is me, chibified from the game - blonde pigtails and brown eyes :3 I completely admit to being an addict to the game, and like to design dolls from super sweet to Gothic and spooky! :]

Another craft to take up is tatting. Tatting is a little like crochet, and is used to make lace. Today my aunt came over and showed me how to do some basic tatting. You can use tatting to make trim, bookmarks, snowflakes, little butterflies, flowers... an endless list of decorations. As for myself, I just got sick of find only chemical lace at my local craft shops. So I made my own! You can use a shuttle or just a needle. If you're interested in doing knotwork, you can use them on embroidery projects.

Coloring books may sound kiddie - but there's a lot to be said for being able to play with a big heap of colors. Use a 96 box of crayons - and old standby - or new products, like markers, watercolors, or colored pencils.

Make a rag doll. Use an old white or pink tee-shirt for a soft body, embroider a face, and couch on some soft yarn for hair. Then make her tiny Lolita clothes to wear. If you don't want to make one, get out your old dolls. I found an old vintage doll in my closet the other day complete with a full wardrobe, including petticoats and tam-of-shanter hats. I call her Louise Camille :)

Make soup! This might sound a little silly, but it has been a stable of life at my home for the last week. We make a large vat of soup (ours uses a whole chicken but try any flavor you like - potato, beef barely, minestrone, whatever!) and then keep it in the pot in the garage. Whenever one is hungry, the pot of soup comes out of the garage (where it is very cold!) and then is heated on low over the stove. Soon there is fresh, homemade soup! Easy and very filling.

Even if all you've enjoyed was reading this post, I hope you're not bored anymore! ;)

Labels: lifestyle, winter

posted by Victoria Suzanne @ 4:31 PM 2 Comments

Style Tips

I got requests for more Style Tips, so here they are! If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, feel free to drop me a PM over on Livejournal :) The link to my profile is in the sidebar.

• Buy a pair of jeweled, heart-shaped earbuds to use on your CD or mp3 player. I found a lilac pair at Forever Love 21 for only $7!
  
• Go to a makeup counter of your favorite brand and ask them to check out your skin. They may suggest you switch regimens or try a different kind of product, excellent for the new year. I've switched to natural makeup instead of a heavy product, and I've just started to use primer, per her suggestion.
• Pick a new color to work into your wardrobe.If your wardrobe is mostly pink, or mostly black, or mostly red, or mostly blue - branch into a whole new area. It will really give you a boost!
• Start making sweet, simple valentines. Mail them to your friends, signed or unsigned. I've been receiving secret admirer cards for two months now - it's such a mystery!
• Host a fruit-themed party in the depths of winter to remember summer. Mix orange juice, sorbert, and raspberry ginger ale for a colorful and refreshing drink.
• Start wearing some more unusual pieces, like printed tights or stilettos. Pink bootlets with Lolita socks is particularly adorable.
• If it's cold where you live, go outside when it is below freezing and blow bubbles. The bubbles will freeze into little ice spheres!
  

Labels: style tips

posted by Victoria Suzanne @ 4:50 PM 3 Comments

New Year's Resolutions!

My resolution for the new year is to take daily Lolita photos! I wear Lolita on any day when I'm not going to be lounging at home (which means, pink sweats & a Hello Kitty jacket), but I almost never take pictures. To help with my resolution, I'm learning to use my complicated digital camera better, including timer and tripod. So expect to see more of my face around LC!

Saturday was my friend's baby shower, so of course I had to play it up with cupcakes and teddy bears!

Labels: outfit post

posted by Victoria Suzanne @ 10:45 AM 0 Comments

The Dark Side Has Puppies.

I admit it. I finally bought - and have worn - a Bodyline dress. Not just a Bodyline dress, however - one of the sinful 'replicas' they have recently come out with. It a price of $33 USD, how can I resist?

If we use sinful to describe chocolate cake, consider this jumperskirt the no-sugar version. The Bodyline dress I bought - Innocent World puppies in black and white - is very much like a sugarless candy. It is candy. It is sweet, even. It's wrapped mostly the same, it holds together well, and won't make you sick to your stomach. It is food. You can eat it. I promise.

And it's almost not noticeable. It's the same sort of way you munch halfway through a slice of pie and then squint and say dubiously, "Is this Bodyline?" I mean, uh, sugar free. There are small differences.

The fabric is the same print, definitely. The fabric quality is another matter altogether. I don't own the original, but I feel safe in saying that the original cannot nearly be as thin. There isn't any lining, either - it's very light-weight, though this might be good come summer. If you have ever felt the good brushed cotton of brand, too, there is a huge difference. But the actual fabric is good.

There is a shirring panel in the back, but it's not 'real' shirring. By this I mean very little elastic is used, so there isn't a lot of stretch. If you were hoping, like my friend was, that it's going to give you a few necessary extra inches - it's not. The shirring stretches maybe an inch tops. It's really more 'for show' shirring.

There could stand to be a tiny bit more lace on it, though what lace is there is definitely good quality. The lace is soft - not just the kind that photographs well, but is actually delicate in between the fingers. It's not the clumpy plastic lace that melts, nor is it the dreaded 5 cent raschel lace. The bows seem a little off - as if they should be stitched down at the ends, or as if they might be upside down if you looked at it too hard.

That's the key to this jumperskirt. It's a good dress. There is absolutely nothing bad about it. Nothing embarrassing or horrific or terrifying. It just isn't up the fantastic standards of brand. There is no gasp when you first touch the lace, or see the pleats. I know that whenever I receive a new brand piece, I have a ball looking it over first. The shapes in the lace, or the applique, or the lining. I've always liked to run my fingers over embroidery, particularly.

Okay, so I've told you every place where the dress falls short. But -

The print is cute (OMG PUPPIES WITH BOWS). The seams are sturdy and well-sewn, without any loose threads. The design is good and classic. It coordinates well with white, black, or pink.

It is only $33.

Its quality is well-ratioed to its price, I suppose is my point. It's good to be able to wear it more casually, or dressed to the nines. It's good enough to make a cute dress when money is tight, and when dropping $270 on the real thing is not recommended.

Final analysis: I like it. I hope you do too!

*Not an outfit, just trying on the dress. You can see the adorable puppies! Yesss!*

Labels: review

posted by Victoria Suzanne @ 10:37 PM 3 Comments