Outfit Snap: Instagram Migration

Outfit Snap: Instagram Migration

It’s probably been obvious if only because I haven’t posted anything under “Outfit Snap” in years, but I consider this category of post officially retired. ♥

https://www.instagram.com/p/BzJcZQEHw6K/

With the way things have changed, both in terms of the English-speaking lolita fashion online communities, blogging, and my own personal clothing habits, it seems like a good time for this category to be laid to rest. When I started writing here, pictures of people’s individual coordinates were slightly less easy to come by than they are now. I didn’t wear lolita fashion as frequently then as I do today.

I’ll still be sharing pictures of my outfits exactly the way I have been doing for a few years—on Instagram!

Perhaps if there’s a particular event or outfit I might someday resurrect this type of post to highlight it, but until that mysterious set of circumstances arranges itself, outfit pictures will continue on Instagram rather than individual posts. 📷

Outfit Snap: Minori Meets Texas

Outfit Snap: Minori Meets Texas

…(And Alice Meets Minori ♥)

In early June, I traveled with the Lolita Collective to A-kon in Dallas, Texas. (It becomes clearer as I get older that I’m the kind of workaholic who finds nothing unreasonable about taking days off of work to do other work elsewhere!) I did not participate in most aspects of the convention; there’s a lot to be done when working, so my time was spent in the dealer’s hall unless it was closed—and that’s the best time for rest and nutrition. Because of this, I was not able to attend any lolita events. It was very exciting that Minori was in attendance, although I did not see her Q&A or the fashion show.

I felt very lucky to still be able to meet her—her table was located next to Lolita Collective in the dealer’s hall! ♥

Her interactions with her many fans were so heartwarming to watch! 💖✨ (I had many opportunities, after all, being nearby.) The level of excitement from her many fans remained very high, and it seemed like she was very kind and generous to everyone seeking her autograph or a picture with her. Her booth stayed quite occupied when she was present; her presence was clearly a much-desired attraction for the event!

Thankfully, she wasn’t so busy and I wasn’t so busy that I couldn’t take the opportunity to meet her as well~! 🌟 She was so nice, and so very-very-very-very cute!

Minori and me—this picture is from Minori’s Twitter! (Teppei Takazawa took this great picture—it looks great on Twitter!)

On Saturday she wore her “wormhole” outfit, inspired by the wormhole in the Christopher Nolan movie Interstellar. Her makeup and wig complimented the colours so beautifully! 🌠

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Outfit Snap: Downton Abbeyish

Outfit Snap: Downton Abbeyish

Teatime at the Langham Outfit
I picked my accessories and other outfit pieces to match this jumperskirt, as I feel it has a 1920s impression to it.

In February I went to a teatime meetup at the Langham. The theme of the event was “Downton Abbey”, as that was the theme of the tea menu. No one was expected to wear costumes or go to great lengths to fit this theme, but it was something we agreed to keep in mind. It just so happened that I had an Innocent World jumperskirt (a Christmas present from 2013) that seemed like it could be a perfect choice for this occasion~

The jumperskirt in question has a dropped waist with a relatively narrow skirt, a style that reminds me of the popular drop-wasit dresses of the 1920s. It has many tucks, gathers, and embroidered lace adorning it. The off-white colour can be puzzling because the lace is a slightly different shade than the rest of the dress. Ultimately, this made it easier for me to match it up to other things in my wardrobe!

It would have been more period-appropriate to wear the dress without a blouse and with long gloves. However, I didn’t have gloves and worried about when I would ever use them again. I also prefer not to have bare shoulders even in warmer weather–and it was still frigid in February! It was a pretty mild day that day, still requiring being bundled up to avoid freezing.

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Outfit Snap: Evening at the Student Ballet

Outfit Snap: Evening at the Student Ballet

Last night I saw the Joffrey Academy of Dance perform Sleeping Beauty. I’ve been itching to see a ballet performance, but lately that has not been fitting into my budget. As this performance involved students from the school, not the professional ballet company, tickets were very affordable ($15). At that price, I thought it would be worth the risk even if the performance was not very good.

Doing something fun is always a wonderful excuse to dress up, so I did.

Outfit Planning
I’ve rejoined Instagram, although I tried to resist. It’s just so much fun~ I do love the filters and what-not, even though they’re gimmicks.

I spent the day sitting at my desk in my office and obviously I’d be sitting for the ballet, so I opted for a more casual style of outfit. For those reasons I chose not to wear a petticoat, even though petticoats are lovely and wonderful fluffy clouds of lolita prettiness. No one can see it when you’re sitting down, and I didn’t want to be an annoyance to other theatre patrons by having “skirt overflow” onto a nearby seat. (I’m glad I made this choice, because the seats in the black box theatre were very narrow non-permanent bleacher-style seats that were very close together indeed.)

Evening at the Student Ballet
We barely managed to snap this picture before the rain picked up again. It was very off-and-on prior to the performance time! You can see how dappled with rain the sidewalk is.

I have two ballet-themed pieces, but I chose not to wear them. Instead I opted for this skirt, which was a present from my mother a few years ago. I have a bit of a hard time coordinating with this skirt due to the blue. This time I highlighted the black in the outline of the artwork. The weather was just barely warm enough to get away without wearing a coat as long as I wore enough layers. This ancient sweater is one of my favourite things to pair with a skirt for a casual outfit–it’s just the right length for a lolita skirt and it’s warmer than most of my brand cardigans. I pinned a few ribbons on it for an extra little touch~

I really enjoy contrasting these black socks with lighter shoes, so I went ahead and did so. The socks and shoes were very popular with my coworkers; I received positive comments on them all day. XD

I ultimately didn’t wear a hair accessory because I was worried about obscuring the vision of anyone seated behind me. The audience consisted mostly of relatives and friends of the students performing; I didn’t want to ruin their experiences. I packed a bow in my purse, thinking I’d put it on after work but before the ballet, but it was more convenient to omit it entirely.

We had an absolutely lovely time at the ballet–the students were very skilled! I was very impressed. The Lilac Fairy, Princess Aurora, Carabosse, and Prince Désiré danced beautifully~! ♥ Watching Prince Désiré perform his jumps and leaps during the wedding act made everyone in the audience marvel; he was able to get so much height and maintained lovely form. I’d definitely see the academy perform again; it’s clear that the school puts a lot of time and effort into their student productions. Even the pre-pointe children playing sheep and trees did an excellent job with their roles. Even though I wasn’t related to any of the performers, I felt very proud of how well they did! I hope they and their families felt that way, as well. ♥

Outfit Snap: Knit and Frill

Outfit Snap: Knit and Frill

Over the weekend I attended Vogue Knitting Live! Chicago 2014~ I first attended in 2012, as I was lucky enough to win an attendance package for marketplace access and a single lecture. I purchased an additional lecture, but I couldn’t quite afford to take a class. I hoped to be able to do so last year, but that was not possible either. This year, I was prepared–I registered bright and early, convinced a friend to join with me, and was able to take a few classes. ♥

I wanted to put my frilliest foot forward, but I also wanted to highlight knit pieces. I realized that I don’t knit very many things for myself, which made coordinating a bit more complicated than I originally anticipated. For a bit I couldn’t quite put my finger on why I had all of these ideas of things I’d like to make for myself and so few of them have been projects I’ve worked on. During the event I suddenly understood why. My clothing is primarily a very specific shade of pink. The yarn that I see and buy is typically a clashing shade of pink. I’m going to have to keep my eyes open for “the right pink.”

Friday VK Live! Outfit
This mirror and I became close friends for outfit pictures over the weekend, haha~

On the first day I opted to wear a yellow hat featuring my favourite hat pattern. It is pale yellow, so I pulled out a pink skirt with yellow accents. (I did not wear a petticoat on any of the days in attendance, because the classrooms and marketplace can be very crowded. To take up extra space felt rude.) This skirt has always difficult for me to coordinate; it contains a number of pinks that are unique from most of my socks/cardigans/etc. I really like it with this turtleneck in autumn, though.

I also wore a crocheted scarf. A friend and fellow lolita made this for me many years ago as a gift. It’s a nice touch when the weather is on the chillier side. I love the giant rose blossoms on either end~ ♥

Saturday VK Live! Outfit
I’m really not the best at taking pictures of myself, so it took a lot of tries to not get something so blurry it wasn’t useable.

On Saturday I really wanted to wear this large cabled hooded pull-over cape. I’ve been eagerly waiting for the temperature to drop a bit so that I could wear it~ (Actually, it was much warmer on Saturday than I anticipated it being, but thankfully the air conditioning in the hotel was intense enough that I didn’t regret putting this layer on.)

It has a very “idyllic forest” feeling to it (honestly everything designed by Tiny Owl Knits does!), so I felt the tiny forest animals on the border of this Innocent World one-piece would set this off well. Additionally, there are hints of the same pale green and a slightly darker green in this dress’s print. It helped avoid the green colour standing out in a way that seemed ungrounded elsewhere.

It Has a Hood
I love this hood! Especially the tassel on the end~

I pulled my hair up in braids to avoid larger hair accessories. I thought I might want to pull the hood up, not that the weather was really making that necessary, and I didn’t want a larger bow to get caught in the hood. The small bow clip was just enough to set it off.

Sunday VK Live! Outfit
I kept thinking I would find a different spot to take pictures, but again and again this was most convenient.

Sunday was the last day, and that’s when I realized I was running out of knit things to wear. I have a few pullover sweaters, but the weather is not cold enough yet and they are enormous “snuggle up in this and never come out” sweaters that would look very silly with lolita attire. I have a few shawls in colour choices that match nothing. I fell back on this cardigan. I knit it to a longer length that I prefer to wear with jeans, so it hits my skirt at a strange length, but I was determined to wear it.

I opted for a high-necked blouse to avoid a collar overlapping the scoop neckline of the cardigan. I had to wear the tartan skirt because I took a class on knitting a fabric that resembles woven tartan! (I wanted to stay “in theme,” haha~) The gray tights are not my favourite in this picture, but they seemed significantly paler and a closer match for the cardigan’s silver tone in better lighting.

Swatch Matchin'
Swatches from our instructor were passed around during the plaid technique class, and I matched this one pretty well!

My non-standard attire made it really easy for my friend to spot me in a crowd, always handy at a busy event! A few people approached me over the weekend stating that they met me in 2012 and remembered me from then! One such person was the lovely lady who taught me to crochet at the “beginner’s lounge” two years ago~ I definitely owe her a lot; I’m not crochet-savvy but I can do enough to get around for what I want. I’m really looking forward to next year’s Vogue Knitting Live!

(A more knitter-focused recap of my experience at Vogue Knitting Live! Chicago 2014 here~)

Outfit Snap: Summer Polka-Dots

Outfit Snap: Summer Polka-Dots

The weather has been pretty intense lately, not just for my area but for all sorts of areas of the United States. In the Midwest, we’ve suffered through a few heat waves. I don’t have air conditioning, and when the heat is so high and there’s no coolness at home, I really don’t want to do much of anything–especially dress up. I really love all of my beautiful frilly clothing, but I can’t feel happy and pretty and fluffy if I’m hot and sticky and sweaty. It’s gross!

My husband and I have been trying to escape to places with air conditioning as much as we can when the weather gets too unbearable in our own home, but when I’m traveling and it’s hot I don’t want a heavy bag. I’m not all that willing to bring my lolita clothing with me if that means I have more things to carry and worry about bringing back with me when the weekend is over. As a result, I haven’t done much of anything. I’ve regretted that I can’t take part in something I really enjoy, but at the same time it just doesn’t seem reasonable. Being uncomfortable just makes me grumpy, after all–I don’t want to voluntarily make myself irritable~

This weekend was the “Mega Meet,” one of the larger lolita fashion gatherings in my area. Lolita come into Chicago from suburbs and even other states. It’s generally a lot of fun, and I get to see friends that I otherwise don’t see. I was dreading the weather report, afraid that the temperature would spike again, but thankfully it was a pretty mild day! ♥ It was so nice to dress up again~!

Polka Dots
This was the only picture that I stood still for, really! There were just too many people that I hadn’t seen in SUCH a long time!

I don’t really plan my outfits too far in advance, for the most part, and this was no exception. I decided to wear the polka-dot dress because I thought it wouldn’t be too heavy and I wouldn’t need a blouse. I own several polka-dot accessories because I have another dress with the same polka-dot fabric, so I added the polka-dot choker that original came with the other dress. The dress has sewn-in straps that typically criss-cross in the front and tie behind the neck, but it was too much with the choker, so I tucked them down the front of the dress instead. X3

The socks were also polka dotted, and so is the parasol. I like the contrast of having the parasol and socks be white with pink polka dots, as opposed to the dress’s pink with white polka dots, just so that the same pattern wasn’t too overwhelming. If my dress and socks were the exact same colour and pattern I don’t think I’d be satisfied.

This dress is actually very short, so I wore an underskirt with it to add some length. One of these days I intend to have a white ruffle added to the bottom of the dress itself, but until that happens this is the best solution I’ve come up with. I don’t generally mind the shorter dresses, but this dress is very, very short–when I compare it to my other dresses, even though known for being less-than-lengthy, it’s always at least a few inches shorter. I don’t want to give it up just because of the length (or lack thereof), though~ I really like the design.

Untitled
I didn’t have another picture of my outfit, but this picture is courtesy of “mylaar,” borrowed with permission~ ♥ The sunglasses were basically a permanent part of my outfit.

I opted for a white side-positioned hairbow for a little bit of contrast. I tried to pin my pigtails up a bit around the hair elastics. I wanted to mimic the volume of clip-on pigtails, without having to actually wear clip-ons. It wasn’t very successful, but it’s something I’d like to try again sometime. I probably should have worn a style that kept my hair off my neck entirely–it wasn’t blazing hot, but it wasn’t cool either! Thank goodness there was a nice breeze when we were near the lake~

Overall, I was really happy to wear lolita again~ Whenever the weather cools down and stays that way, I know I’ll be dressing up more frequently. It’s just too much fun!

Outfit Snap: Snowstorm Anniversary Weekend

Outfit Snap: Snowstorm Anniversary Weekend

The end of January contained three important events–another 3-day weekend for me, a snowstorm, and my 2-year wedding anniversary~ ♥ I had a really wonderful time.

Usually my husband and I like to celebrate our anniversary by spending a night or two in a hotel downtown for one very, very, very important reason–a thermostat! Our apartment has whole-building radiator heat that we have no control over. Sometimes it is downright frigid in our home! (I can’t bear to run a space heater due to the accompanying rise in our electric bill. We tried it once and it felt like highway robbery! Usually we just layer on clothing and drink warm beverages.) Upon check-in we crank the heat way up and proceed to bask in the warmth.

This year it didn’t look like we’d be able to do this. I had earlier decided that it was a rather unnecessary frivolous expenditure and thus removed it from our budget for the month, only to start regretting that removal when the days inched along and the temperature indoors felt like it was dropping. My father, who travels frequently for business, saved us by using some reward points to secure a room on very, very short notice. (Literally the day of.)

However, this was also the day of a very severe snowstorm. So severe that buses and cars were rerouted from Lake Shore Drive to prevent anyone getting stranded, buses routes were cancelled, and taxis skidded around on the snowy and icy roads. It usually takes us about fifteen minutes to get downtown using buses or trains. On this day, it took hours. The buses we tried were cancelled, the taxis looked like suicide, and finally we retraced our steps–through the blizzard-like conditions–and boarded a train, then walked to the hotel. My husband had worked all day, and he was absolutely worn out. I have a sordid history of dragging this poor guy out into the most inclement weather possible; I’m lucky he’s so kind and patient with me.

For the Snowstorm
This photo was taken pretty late! We traveled far too much on this day!
The outfit picture was something I really wanted to get a snapshot of, but at this point it was very late, we were both very wet from the now-melting snow that had coated us, and he was too exhausted to hold the camera steady. I had chosen my outfit based on the foolish insistence that I wanted to dress up even if it was a snowstorm. I wore my red jumperskirt because I know it is colourfast and won’t be ruined if it gets wet. I paired it with a black shirt and black tights for extra warmth, and layered a cardigan as well.

This was one of my earlier attempts at French braiding my hair. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, but never really learned. I’ve been teaching myself slowly since then, and I’m getting a little bit better at it, but it isn’t perfect. I really love the style because it helps keep my hair out of my face and neatly arranged. It really came in handy on a day like this; even after being out in the snow for hours my hair didn’t look like a puff-ball!

Gray & Pink
I really like the combination of gray and pink~
The next day we took a trip to the aquarium to see the jellyfish exhibit. We had visited the aquarium the day after our marriage, so it was both fun because we like the aquarium and fun because it was reminiscent of such a happy memory~

I bought this gray sweater nearly a year ago intending to wear it with lolita, but I kept holding off on it because I really felt I needed gray socks or tights to match with it. A few days before I had spotted a cute pair of gray tights, and then I remembered that I also had gray legwarmers. Now I want to incorporate more gray into my wardrobe~

Winter White 1
I was so happy to wear this dress again~!
I was determined to wear my wedding dress on the actual day of my anniversary. I’ve been planning for this for a while; it was something I wanted to do the previous year. I didn’t want to wear my wedding dress in the same coordination that I had worn it on my wedding day, mostly because I was really, really, REALLY cold. I searched around for a blouse that would compliment the dress, but I didn’t find one before last year’s anniversary–although I did find and purchase one shortly after. I’ve been saving it since then and was very excited to finally wear it.

I paired it with the same hair ribbon and shoes that I wore on my wedding day and plain white stockings.

Winter White 2
I really like all-white coordinations although I rarely wear them.
I still have more plans for this dress. I love it so much that I want to wear it rather than seal it away somewhere. I’d like to feel like I’m getting my money’s worth from it, hee hee! My next plans involve finding white lace tights that would match it well, or maybe white socks topped with tulle lace, and a white bolero. I don’t own any boleros, although I always think about how useful one would be; I think I just need to find the right design~

Outfit Snap: Three-Frill Weekend

Outfit Snap: Three-Frill Weekend

I feel like I’ve let too many days slip by in the autumn and early winter where I didn’t dress up (for no good reason) and very much wished that I had! I want to prevent that this year, so I’m making an effort. I keep forgetting that I have to keep making an effort, I can’t just stop at some point and expect momentum to keep me going.

Pink with Lemon Yellow
The lighting in my place just doesn’t seem to get any better, even if I try different lightbulbs!
I spent Friday with some friends, and I decided that I wanted to wear a knit shirt of some kind rather than a blouse. I remembered that I have some cutsews that I bought from TaoBao that I’ve actually never worn, so I pulled one out. It’s a pale lemon yellow with a really detailed collar. There are ruffles of lace, a few ribbons, and even rhinestones arranged in a way that looks like a necklace. I paired it with one of my favourite jumperskirts; I love the light and fluffy layers of the skirt.

When the weather is chilly and snowy, I like to keep my hair away from my face. I’ve always liked the look of pinned up braids, ever since I owned a Kirsten doll as a child. It’s something I’d like to master, as my hair can be pretty heavy and tends to un-pin itself, plus tucking in the ends of the braids isn’t something I’ve quite gotten down. I feel silly with little spikes of flipped-up tails peeking out somewhere behind my ears or at the back of my head! I wore my new favourite bow as the hair accessory of the day~ I’m really smitten with it!

The yellow sweater just happened to match my usakumya slippers! ♥ They’re the same shade of yellow~

MEGA LACE
I didn’t notice that my collar was flipped up–oops!
The next day I headed off to a Pullip meetup~ I have two Pullips at the moment, and I think the Pullip hobbyists in my area are really fun people. ♥

I really wanted to wear the blouse that I had received for Christmas, so I flipped through my closet to see what might go well. The blouse has really wide lace that gives it a very bold and old-fashioned look. I wanted to pick a jumperskirt with lace of a similar impact, so the blouse wouldn’t seem too overwhelming. I was aiming for balance. I chose this jumperskirt because the hem features some wide lace and there is very large lace on the bodice. The jumperskirt and the blouse are from the same company, and the laces used on both pieces are very much alike, although not identical.

I wore pink socks with a rose pattern and white lace at the top, but you can’t exactly see them when they’re tucked into my boots! In this kind of weather, however, the boots are a must. There’s so much slush and ice out there; I’d rather have surer footing than ruin my pretty shoes!

Simply Pink
A friend of mine took this picture at the swap meet; I’m so glad she shared it with me! My camera was having issues again.
I didn’t really wear anything spectacularly unique to the swap meet–just one of the pink and white outfits I favour so much! I really adore this dress; I’m so happy to have finally acquired it! This very same dress was the second “brand” dress that I owned…but in black. It was a lucky pack item several years back. It’s a very comfortable and cute dress, but because it was black I didn’t wear it all that frequently. I eventually traded it with my little sister, who loves black, thinking I could find it in white or pink–but it never seemed to turn up. When I spotted it in autumn of last year, I was thrilled! ♥ I wore it over the blouse from the recent Angelic Pretty set. We noted at the swap meet that there were three (or four?) of us all wearing the same blouse…and another friend of mine just received one, too!

I styled my hair in these curls because I was lucky enough to get a ride to the swap meet and didn’t have to worry about wind and rain or snow adding any more frizz than I already have. This dry and often damp chilly weather is not exactly friends with my evil hair~ I almost wore that same pink bow again, but opted for a different one to add some variety.

It was a lot of fun to dress up three days in a row~ ♥ I want to take advantage of it when I can!

Outfit Snap: Girly Ribbon

Outfit Snap: Girly Ribbon

I couldn’t wait to wear the entire outfit from the Girly Ribbon set…so I wore it! (Isn’t it nice how easy that sort of thing is? ♥) I was lucky enough to have a Saturday to spend with my husband, so I dressed up. We went out to breakfast, ran errands, played video games (I’m working on Ribbon farm now in Harvest Moon: Tale of Two Towns DS~), and enjoyed a leisurely dinner. It was a particularly interesting type of day because I received two comments about my outfit that were more than simply “cute!” or “It’s not Halloween!” It makes me feel like there honestly is more information about lolita fashion reaching the general public, albeit very slowly.

Our waitress engaged me in a fairly long discussion about my outfit. She had been staring at me for a while, and finally ventured to say that she didn’t want to be rude, but I was wearing gothic lolita–right? I did my best to explain that I was wearing lolita fashion, but not particularly gothic. She was very intrigued and kept coming back with more questions. She really wanted to know more, and the questions she chose to ask were those I’m not quite accustomed to being asked randomly; I thought it was neat to see how seriously she wanted to learn about the style.

After dinner we stopped for hot chocolate, where we were briefly interrupted by a young man. He had been sitting at a nearby table, and my husband and I were chatting and waiting for our hot chocolate to cool off, when he turned around and caught our attention. “Is your outfit inspired by Japanese lolita fashion?” he asked. I replied that it wasn’t inspired–it was Japanese lolita fashion. He commented that he liked that my outfit wasn’t as overwhelming as some coordinates he had seen, and left soon after. I am still very curious as to where he normally viewed lolita fashion; perhaps he was a reader of Kera or followed some other aspect of Japanese culture where lolita fashion occasionally made an appearance.

Girly Ribbon Set
I really love all of the items in this set! I’m so glad I managed to get one!
I didn’t choose to do anything particularly creative or unusual; for the most part I’m wearing the entire set as it was packaged. I really like the way the items look when coordinated together, after all, so I wanted to enjoy it that way. I like the blouse’s long sleeves, particularly because the weather is a bit chilly, and I adore the scalloped edge and white ruffle of the jumperskirt. This hairbow is probably one of my new favourite things; I want to wear it constantly.

Pink and Girly and Ribboned
Just another picture–I was lucky to remember to take these before the sun had set, so we could take advantage of the natural light.
I did not wear the over-the-knee socks that came with the set, however; I chose to wear the white socks with pink hearts and the BABY the Star Shine Bright “B” that I received for Christmas. I know they’re not popular, but I really like knee socks~ ♥ I chose to wear these boots to keep my feet warm. I prefer warm feet to pretty feet if I’m going to be walking around all day. It really came in handy, because I forgot my bus pass in my other coat so we had to walk everywhere even though we had planned to take a bus home from one of our errands. Whoops!

I’m sure I’ll wear this outfit again; I really adore it! ♥

Outfit Snap: Starting Off the Year

Outfit Snap: Starting Off the Year

As Thanksgiving and Christmas flew by and the end of the year approached, I started to think about how I wanted to start off the upcoming year. I’m not really a superstitious person, but I like the reliability of rituals and traditions. I try to make some kind of effort to begin each year in the spirit of the way I want to enjoy the rest of it. I don’t want to think back and wish I had done anything any differently. This particularly matters to me because I usually see my immediate family on New Year’s Day. Sometimes we can’t all be together for the other holidays due to various obligations, so we try to get together on the 1st. I love my brothers and sister very dearly, and now that we don’t live in the same home I don’t want to miss the chance to enjoy their company!

My husband and I both had to work on the 1st, however, so we had to get everything planned out in advance! The only picture I managed to get of what I wore is pretty low-quality–it wasn’t taken until after we made it to my mother’s house for dinner.

For the New Year
Quick snapshot taken in the dining room. It was the best we could do at the time!
I knew I’d be at work all day and then having dinner with my family, so I wanted something more casual than formal. I also wasn’t sure what the weather would be like. It hasn’t gotten particularly wintry here yet, which makes me very concerned about how the weather might turn around February. That said, it isn’t exactly warm most of the time–and it is definitely not always warm at my office. I chose to wear this jumperskirt because it is one my little sister (although not the little sister I saw for dinner) made for me. ♥ It’s lovely in its own right, but the fact that it was made for me means it fits perfectly, doesn’t have any of the details I dislike, and has pockets. Dresses with pockets always make me happy.

I paired it with a cream-coloured lace turtleneck and knit tights of a similar shade. There’s a pink ribbon in my hair, but you can’t exactly see it in pictures~ I didn’t wear my lolita coat but instead my daily coat, and when I do that I rarely wear actual hair accessories due to the hat or earmuffs that I wear with my coat. The brown boots are a staple of my cooler-weather outfits, whether they match or not. They protect my socks in the event of inclement weather, and they also let me wear extra layered socks to keep my toes cozy~ If I’m going to be doing a fair amount of walking, like on my way to work, it really comes in handy~

Late-Night Outfit Snap
Another late-night indoor and totally awkward picture! This is an unfortunate theme lately.
I packed more frills to wear the next day. I was unbelievably lucky and received several lovely lolita pieces for Christmas from my mother, so I wanted to show my appreciation by wearing something while I was at her house. One of my gifts was this beautiful cardigan. It’s a beautiful shade of pink with a metallic thread that gives it a definite glimmer and shimmer, and I love the little bows between the buttons, at the wrists, and on the back! They’re so cute!

I’ve never been able to coordinate this skirt in a way that I’m happy with, so I thought I’d give it another try. Nope, still not satisfied. The print is cute and I love the glitter, but somehow it manages to match absolutely nothing that I own on a very regular basis. It seemed to match the sweater at first, at least to some degree, but it’s still a bit off. I had to bring everything with me, as we stayed overnight at my mother’s house, so there wasn’t time to revise my decision in the morning. I thought I had pink socks to match the sweater, but I actually forgot to pack them. ;_; More off-white tights, instead.

With this outfit, I didn’t really feel like I was wearing lolita as much as just something girly, but I’m still much happier having worn it than wearing something totally casual. Lolita (and girly things) makes me feel much happier than anything else. It’s still something I really adore~ ♥