I'm not a magical girl but I dress like one

Mary || 26 || she/her Greensboro, NC This is a sideblog dedicated to j-fashion and my adjacent activities. In lolita I primarily wear gothic and classic, though I’ve dabbled in sweet and guro, as well as otome kei, mahou kei, and ouji/boystyle. Other interests include sewing, vintage hair styling, dancing (mostly lindy hop and blues), M:tG, comic books, reading, history, feminism, and arguing with people on the internet. 

[sailormerry]

Haven’t been on in a while, but on the topic of handmade lolita, here’s my coord from Halloween. my local comm has a big Halloween party every year and everyone kind of goes all out, so I wanted to make something really nice. This year’s party was witch themed (last year’s was shironuri), so I went with an alchemist concept. As mentioned in a previous post, I made the dress itself pretty inexpensively (I spent like $50 on the materials), but put about 40 hours into research and hand embroidery. The alchemical symbols on the dress are separated into categorical columns, like the center is planets, another columns is metals, another is organic matter (stone, wood, crystal, etc.), another’s seasons, and the last is the basic elements (Earth, Water, Fire, and Air). The back skirt panels feature the classic elemental combos, like Earth and Water makes mercury (I think- I don’t remember the specifics). 

This was also my first time making a hat, which turned out ok, I think. Not the best thing ever, but acceptable. I ended up winning “spookiest coord” in the coord contest, so I guess overall everything was a success! Next time I wear this with lolita, I will likely wear a bigger petticoat. I was going for more of an EGA feel, but looking at pictures I think I want more poof. 

Here’s the coord rundown, with some of my progress pics posted under:

Dress and hat: handmade Shoes: American Duchess Purse: Killstar Jewelry: Witch Worldwide, vintage, and offbrand Blouse: Charlotte Russe Belt: Rue21 Tights: offbrand Forehead moon: etsy 

And for funsies, here’s last year’s “silly” group shot vs this year’s:

[frilly-confessional]

What the fuck is wrong with handmaking lolita pieces? Like shit man $50 can get you some high quality fabric if you know what you're looking for, and not everyone has so much money to spend on a dress. Fuckin. You don't have to be so elitist. Get a hobby and stop making fun of people (it's not just girls who are into lolita) who don't wanna spend their life savings on a dress

frilly-confessional

[mariasusanwhite-deactivated2022]

Spending money on one’s own hobby doesn’t necessarily make one elitist. All hobbies cost money, including sewing. Actually, I doubt this anon very much, I doubt if they really sew because they said they can make a decent dress with 50 dollars of fabric. However, fabric isn’t everything about sewing. Firstly, you can’t sew without a sewing machine, and a decent sewing machine costs a fortune nowadays, which costs the price of an Angelic Pretty new release. Also, you’ll need a lot of laces, elastic bands, buttons and various garment accessories, which cost money. Last, is what the anon said, the fabric. What you can buy in the US with 50 bucks is a decent bed sheet or a window curtain, not a lolita dress or good fabric for Lolita dresses. All of these needs money, and you’ll need to save a lot of money, not any less than buying dress from brands, and much more than buying from taobao indie brands. Yet, this anon is so ignorant about this, and I can tell this anon has never had their hands on a sewing machine. Seriously, anon. Like you said yourself, get a hobby and stop saying those who have a hobby elitists.

[sailormerry]

You really should keep in minds sales. $50 goes far for me in handmaking JSKs. You can get a pretty good corduroy or sateen online for about $10/yard, and for a standard jsk with 60″ wide fabric, 3 yards is all you need. I typically stock up on lining fabric and interfacing when I can use a 50% off coupon at my local Joann. If you’re trying to make a dress from a fancy print, then yeah you’re probably going to have to shell out for something imported or from Spoonflower, but if you’re making solid basics or embroidering a solid fabric, $50 can go far. It ultimately comes down to taste and knowing what you’re looking for and where to find it. 

[frilly-confessional]

I am 1000% done with people who say "I can make it for $50"so so can sweatshops. That doesn't make it good. If you had any pride in your work you'd invest in it. Actually spend money on quality materials not bed sheets from Macy's. I honestly feel bad for new girls who are convinced handmade doesn't cost much.

frilly-confessional

[sailormerry]

You can make good stuff for $50, you just have to be discerning. This was my dress from my comm’s Halloween meet and I believe I spent about $50 on it. The breakdown:

Corduroy for the shell fabric- $30 Cotton broadcloth for the lining- $8 (I bought this during a major sale at Joann, so I was able to purchase it for like 60% off) Embroidery thread- $2 Zipper- $1.50 Front closures- $6 (also on sale at Joann) Lace trim for the lining- $4

The mistake I feel like a lot of handmade lolitas make is that they try to do something complex, when it works best when you keep it simple. By sticking to simple designs, it allows you invest more into the fabric itself, rather than blowing your money on yards and yards for ruffles or lots of lace. Plus, you don’t have to hand make your entire coord. My blouses are mostly offbrand or indie brand blouses, and I pair them with a handmade jsk. I also invest into my accessories, which I use all the time, not just with lolita. I like brand purses and shoes (American Duchess is goddddd) and jewelry, and they really help elevate a coord. 

[frederica1995]

The Saint’s Prayer series reservation from CEL

Reservation period: 2016/09/24 ~ 2016/10/08

 JSK ¥ 488, OP ¥ 528, includes fake collar and belt

[mariedauphine]

Wear your best Sunday outfit ❤️ 1/10/16

[thebeachboys-deactivated2020050]

[sailormerry]

2007? Oh honey. Try going back to 1999. I remember going on a chat room with a friend when we were in the 5th grade and we were talking to some stranger. It turned weirdly sexual and we were like ABORT ABORT WHAT DO WE DO

[negaverse-scum]

My main outfits from Hoshicon 2016 last weekend! I’m a staffer, so there were quite a few other outfits in between, but since I’m the Assistant Cosplay Head, I’m not restricted to the staff tshirt for all three days.

Day 1- casual gothic Wicked Lady (from Sailor Moon), featuring one of my handmade dresses

Day 2- I was one of the cosplay contest judges, so I wore my vintage inspired Rose Quartz (from Steven Universe) cosplay, featuring the chiffon sundress I made for the occasion

Day 3- I cohosted the lolita tea party on Sunday, so I wore a coord featuring my Moon Jelly Princess OP from Haenuli

[sailormerry]

Not strictly lolita, but here's what I wore all three days of hoshi. ✨💖✨

[sailormerry]

My coord that I wore to the tea party at Hoshicon last weekend! This is the first time that I’ve really gotten to dress up in lolita since dying my hair pink again and I’m really pleased with how this coord came together. I had some errands to run outside in the heat afterwards, so I did my best to make this cohesive yet comfortable. I wish I had more time to do my hair, but I was so tired the night before that I passed out before I could put my hair in curlers. 😭

Dress and headbow- Haenuli (Moon Jelly Princess) Shoes- American Duchess Necklace- Bling-Up (they made custom necklaces for my comm) Star ring- Jelly-Ultra Star bracelet- Magic Pop Seashell earrings and seashell brooch- Summer Blue Jewelry Socks, purse, star clip- offbrand

[sailormerry]

I haven’t posted here in a while (I work 50 hours a week now and haven’t had much time for lolita), but here’s a coord I wore a few weeks ago for World Goth Day.

JSK: handmade Blouse: Charlotte Russe Shoes: Vivienne Westwood X Melissa Parasol: BTSSB Purse: Killstar Ring, earrings: Restyle Tights, belt, hat, sunglasses, nose ring, misc. other jewelry: offbrand

[sailormerry]

I managed to score the new black Kylie Lip Kit and I’m kind of really entertained by all the people who are like “whyyy is it so harrrrd to get theseeee????? why do they sell out so fastttt????? how do i deal with thissss????”

I’m like lol y’all have obviously never dealt with an automatic honey or angelic pretty release

lolita has thoroughly prepared me for the online cat fight

[sailormerry]

I recently moved and finished unpacking this weekend. I'm so happy to be able to properly display and store my lolita stuff now! My new closet is HUGE, and has large shelves (that you can sort of see) on each side and are perfect for storing my purses, hats, head things, and petticoats. And all of my shoes have a storage spot now! On the blinds over my desk, I clipped all my clippy head things and brooches (no lack of a better place of putting them- fortunately that window doesn't get direct sun), and taped all of my lolita post cards around the window paneling. I also attached some hooks on the wall to hang all of my necklaces. 😊

[don-tkeepcalm-blog]

Details of the outfit I wore to a meeting last weekend (which btw was hella fun). I really like when people say I reminded them of Miss Peregrine.

OP: Le Carrousel

All the rest is offbrand.

[alastairscarborough-deactivated]

Bustier + Skirt + Clip : Innocent World Blouse, Tights & Underskirt: Taobao Necklace: Bodyline Bag: Aliexpress

First time coordinating, I finally got enough pieces together to start forming bbaby’s first coords. I realize now that I lack hair accessories however, and not sure about the straw hat. I shall post myself wearing this soon. Happy I finally own brand!

[sailormerry]

I’m selling a couple of things on Lace Market! One in my navy Little Dipper OP (there aren’t any stock photos of the navy color, hence the red and lavender pics), and the other is my navy Long Ears and Sharp Ears Goldfish and Fireworks JSK set! They’re both plus size friendly! Check out the listing for more information and more pictures.

Little Dipper OP: http://www.lacemarket.us/navy-colored-little-dipper-cat-embroidery-op-size-2xl/ LESE set: http://www.lacemarket.us/lese-goldfish-and-fireworks-set-plus-size/

Feedback: http://www.lacemarket.us/author/scarymary/

[tea-cups-and-cute-pups]

What kind of petticoats are you supposed to wear with Haenuli dresses? All of mine are way too short and maybe the new shape? I need help!!

[sailormerry]

For my For Juliette OP, I usually wear my super fluffy Malco Modes petti or my bell-shaped Classical Puppets one. Her dresses are pretty heavy, so I would advise getting something with a lot of poof.

[sailormerry]

The stirrings of a Gryffindor-inspired coord for my comm’s meet at the ren faire, though I have no idea what I’m doing for my legwear. I’m thinking maybe some kind of lace or patterned tights in the same wine color as the blouse?

Also I love this blouse and wish Charlotte Russe carried it in black, but at the same time I’m grateful that they don’t because it meant that I bought this wine one instead and that’s forcing me to do something new with this dress (rather than a stream of constant black on black coords). But then again my ouji set might arrive in time or it could be cold so idk if this is what I’ll actually end up wearing.

[fembelina-deactivated20200503]

@negaverse-scum is it weird to see yourself on your own dash? Love this coord, by the way.

[sailormerry]

Lol I only ever ended up wearing this specific coord once, but I probably should again. I need more of that shade of wine in my wardrobe.

[sailormerry]

Lolita asks!

A: Do you own anything from Angelic Pretty?

B: Do you prefer Baby the Stars Shine Bright or Alice and the Pirates?

C: Cutest accessory you own?

D: Dream print?

E: Do you put together coords for various holidays? What’s your favorite?

F: Do you have any lolita friends?

G: Gothic or sweet lolita?

H: How do you deal with getting “weird looks” because you’re dressed differently?

I: Do you think you ever went through an “ita” phase? Describe.

J: Take a picture of all your lolita jewelry!

K: Are there any other styles that you like, such as fairy kei, etc?

L: Are you lifestyle lolita? Do you wish to be one day?

M: Do you watch anime or read manga?

N: Favorite new 2013 print?

O: OPs, skirts, or JSKs?

P: Favorite place to go while dressed in lolita?

Q: Create your own question!

R: Rate these brands from your favorite to least favorite: Angelic Pretty, Btssb, A&P, Innocent World, Bodyline, and Metamorphose!

S: Do you think Sugary Carnival is cute, or overrated?

T: Favorite flavor of tea?

U: Cute underwear or bloomers?

V: Do you like to wear vests or cardigans?

W: Take a picture of your lolita wardrobe!

X: What’s the worst print or dress you’ve seen?

Y: Upload a picture of yourself in lolita.

Z: What do you love most about lolita fashion?