A Sweet Lolita's Letter to Santa

Hi all,

With Christmas coming up this week I'm going to take a couple of weeks break over the new year.

Before I leave you all for a break I'd like to share with you a little Christmas poem I've written about a Sweet Lolita writing a letter to Santa.

A Sweet Lolita's Letter to Santa

Dear Santa <3, I’ve been very good.

So, I was wondering if I should

write out a Christmas list for you

just little things and only a few

well, perhaps a couple of big ones too

I may as well start with the best

Royal Chocolate is my dream dress

I’d really love it to be mine

but it sells for twice it’s price online

Just the 2011 JSK in beige would be fine

Will there be an AP chocolate pattern?

Is there some way you could make it happen?

I even reserved a shopping service

but after October I got a bit nervous

If you could do that this letter'd be worth it

I’d like some lashes from Dolly Wink

and some lash glue, while I think

Could I also get some hair clips please?

You never can have enough accessories

and some pink, red, sax, and gold tea parties

I think that's about everything

Except for cool weather this summer and spring

From Me PS I didn't even forget

to pay off all my credit card debt

so please re-release the Cats Tea Party set

Ok that's all from me for 2015! Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everyone.

Until next time...

My last purchase for 2015

Hi all,

Managing to get a Happy Pack from Baby the Stars Shine Bright was definitely the most nerve-wracking part of my week. Although I have bought a Lucky Pack before, I have never done so directly from the site and boy, was it an experience.

If you took part in the release you would already be aware of the ferocious click battle that it was. I was trying to access the site 20 minutes before hand and even then I had difficulty. I was desperately trying to access the site from the time of release and managed to get a text version and log-in. After than I couldn't get through at all, it was through the kindness of a friend that I was able to get Hello Dear Bunny's Little Enchanted Room JSK in sax and ivory. I am thinking of ways to thank my friend for the monumental favour they have done for me.

I'm going to make the Happy Pack my final purchase for 2015. My goal is not to buy anything Lolita fashion-related until I head to Japan in April 2016. Until then, I'm going to save my money and thoroughly plan the items I would like to buy when I'm there.

I am so excited about the rabbit clasp pouchette, which I plan to match up with my Alice in Wonderland print as soon as get it back from Japan. As for the dress itself, my absolute favourite part of the print is the too adorable pig popping out of the tea pot.

Do you get yourself a Happy Pack this year? Do you have a friend who has saved your frilly bacon? Let me know!

Until next time...

My wardrobe at the end of 2015 (picture heavy)

Hi all,

With only a few weeks left at the end of the year, I'd like to take an objective look at my wardrobe and talk about what is good about my wardrobe and what could be improved about it.

First of all, here is an overview of my wardrobe. There may be an item or two missing and I'm deliberately not including my pink items purchased in 2012/13 but I've tried to get most of them in here.

Three positives about my wardrobe

1. My wardrobe has become a lot more cohesive and flexible.

2. Most of my purchases have been within the colour scheme I set up at the beginning of 2015.

3. I have a lot more accessories that I can coordinate with.

By setting up a colour scheme and buying more accessories and blouses this year I have begun to create a wardrobe where the pieces work with each other so the main pieces I have can be worn in more than one way. In fact, with the exception a pink bolero and a mint blouse, all the pieces I have bought this year have been within the "navy, brown and ivory" colour scheme I set up at the beginning of 2015. After my recent Innocent World order I also have a hair accessory in all three colours in my pallet, a dark pair of shoes and a bag in the same colour. This will be something that will really help when trying to finish off my coordinates. I have a white pair of shoes and a white bag as well but I think that working on a beige or sax blouse and shoe set might be my next step in 2016.

Three negatives about my wardrobe

4. Most of my purchases are "special occassion" wear.

5. I have purchased more dark coloured and or cold weather items.

6. Even though I bought within my colour scheme I did a lot of impulse buying.

If there's one issue I can put my finger on, it's that I purchase too many items that I would consider "special occasion wear". My fear of frumpy blouses that might make me look heavier also feeds into this as I tend to buy chiffon and silky type blouses instead. As a result I don't have enough items purely for meeting friends casually, which is the majority of my Lolita outings these days.

I feel I need to change the way I think about my colour scheme as well. Navy and brown are dark colours that are usually associated with winter and autumn so it doesn't quite match the weather in Australia, where it's usually 17 degrees Celsius by lunchtime in winter. If I buy prints with a lighter background with navy or brown as accent colours my outfits would look far more lighter and cooler than a completely dark coloured dress.

Best and Worst Purchase of 2015

I'd like to award my best and worst purchase award.

First of all - my worst purchase. This was a tough decision to make but in the end I went with the item that was impulse bought, didn't fall into the planned colour scheme and doesn't suit the weather in Australia.

Congratulations to Snow Crystal Bolero from Baby the Stars Shine Bright.

The best purchase goes to an item, which I thought carefully about buying, was within the colour scheme and works well in the hot Australian climate.

The best purchase of 2015 goes to Baby the Stars Shine Bright - Collection Douce Chocolate Praline JSK in Sax.

Three improvements I can make looking at the above

7. Make a more specific buying guide for 2016.

8. Purchase more warm-weather friendly items.

9. Think about how and when I can wear an item before purchasing rather than if it just "fits" into my colour scheme.

The temporary high of a stable income led to a few impulse buys over the year. The only thing that curbed it was the colour scheme I set up so I'd like to make a more specific buying guide for myself in 2016. This will include what style pieces I could consider buying, what sales to participate in and budgeting to further improve my wardrobe and reduce unnecessary or impulse purchases. 

I would also like to incorporate the following purchasing tip I got from a fashion book: before purchasing imagine three different coordinates using your current wardrobe - this is from "My Basic Note", a fashion book I bought in Japan by "Oggi" fashion magazine editor Naho Mihirogi. In the book the author recommends creating a smart casual coordinate, a coordinate using a different colour and a different coordinate but you could consider a casual coordinate, event coordinate and different colour coordinate just as easily. This way you have less pieces but a wardrobe that you can wear in different styles and situations.

I'd like to continue to post my progress on my buying guide, budget and ideas about making a cohesive wardrobe. This might not be the last you see on this topic. To finish off I'd like to share a couple of pictures from Saturday, which you may or may not know was International Lolita Day. I dressed up in a couple of outfits, my two most recent additions: Mystic Chiffon OP in Navy, which is so gorgeous and Kuma Kumya's Sweet Chocolate! Yes, I finally got it and in the colour way and style I wanted. I'm really looking forward to making some gorgeous coordinates with both these pieces.

Until next time.