Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Bought more clothes!

You know, the only way to really control my shopping habits is to shop by NEED and WANTS. Judging by both, I’ll map out a rather large shopping list and then start doing some research.

Right now, I’m shopping for Summer-Autumn-maybe-some-Winter.

I already know for a fact that my Autumn and Winter wardrobe has been severely lacking the past couple of years. I have, who knows 3 long-sleeved shirts? I’ve been mostly relying on hoodies and cardigans to get me by. But, I can’t help but feel hoodies have become like my hobo-back-up. While my cardigans are being worn to death. So, I just bought some shirts off the EGL_Comm_Sales:


Both are rarely cute. Not going for anything too crazy during Winter - I have been known to give up on looks sometimes in favour of simply just dressing for warmth.

Got new booties!


So, I finally caught the UPS guy after buying these at the Spring store at the Eaton Center last Friday. :) New shoes! I have so many shoes - but not all of them are practical or waterproof. Spring was having these for $24 ($26.95 after taxes) and they didn’t have any in stock. So, I had them shipped to my apartment. They are perfect for many genres: Steampunk, Dolly-kei, or Mori Girl. LOVE IT!

I also just ordered from ELF. Many blushes. Can’t wait to get it. It cost me $30 for like 7 products when it would normally cost me $30 bucks for one product at Sephora. In a few hours, I’ll be doing more shopping. Within reason, of course.


Saturday, June 12, 2010

Dolly-Kei Coordinate

This is perhaps my first ever formal Dolly-Kei coordinate. It was my friend, Emily’s birthday. I had a night out with some close friends and Lolita friends. Awesome times. A shout out to Emily - HAPPY BIRTHDAY! ENJOY YOUR GIFTS.

As for my coordinates. Any thoughts or criticisms would be appreciated.






Photographer: Aya (My business partner)
Location: Osgoode Law Hall - Toronto
Hat: Kensington Market - $10
Hair Roses: Claires - $5
Shawl: Gift from significant other
Blouse: Sirens - $5
Wristcuffs: Noirette - My brand and handmade
Bangles: Vintage from Goodwill via Mom - $1
Belt: Urban Planet - $8
Skirt: Ofelia Ljuv - My brand and handmade
Bowtie Stockings: XX1 - $8
Over-the-knee boots: Steve Madden - $140
Unseen Bag: Goodwill Pound - $1

Funny how the most expensive thing on me is my gorgeous Steve Madden boots.



Friday, June 4, 2010

Love, Life, Lust.

Aya and I with out Lady Gaga Headbows from Pmall!

I have a lot of missed posts to make.

But, my accumulative posts would sadly be about my spending habits, shopping, and inspirations. Mostly, my shopping. However, I promise to start updating all my blogs (maybe even LJ) more often. I have to start planning some sort of scheduling and posting inspiring posts. Must drill into myself more self-discipline.

Yesterday, my significant other and I went to see the of Get Him To The Greek. It was surprisingly one of the better comedies I have seen in a while and he agreed. It was vulgar, random, self-deprecating, and good to honest hilarious. I was very surprised that the general opinion of netizens didn’t differ from my own (via my iPhone Movies App that is paired with Rotten Tomato Reviews). We then stopped by Aya’s workplace and picked her up so we could go eat Wanda’s Waffles (they had sadly raised their prices by almost $1) - which my significant other was quite into and then dropped by a McDonald’s that Aya’s friend is the manager of - discounts for the win. Business and personal life was discussed. It somehow felt as if when we both took two steps forward somehow something in our personal lives would set us back a little.

Earlier in the week we had both visited Pmall to officially close our Gagoo Locker Box:


Goodbye, useless locker box at Pmall which never sold much because you had shitty sales people. Lesson learned, we will never ever do consignments with Chinese fobs again. I’m sorry, but you guys don’t take the initiative to know us, our product, or learn how to make sales. It’s pathetic. Worst business mistake we have made since we started.

Somehow, Aya and I wanted the huge sequin headbows we both saw on the Liz Lisa site. As you may perceive - one of my bestfriend’s, Aya, has gone GAL or GYARU. Most of her recent purchases were through a shopping service in Japan for Liz Lisa stuff. She has the bags, the OPs, the skirts. Liz Lisa and Vivi have been mostly her constant inspirations and she is basing her brand on this sort of thing - not surprising seeing that she is a part time OTT Sweet Lolita.

The bows were being priced at an unbelievable $60 dollars each. Aya had been there before and we were both indecisive even when offered the for $40 each. We then mentioned that the Liz Lisa site had them for $20-$25 and as we were about to leave the sales lady offered us $20 each which is what we considered to be their equivalent worth. We paid, and were happy:


Then, she treated me to Korean and Sushi dinner at one of the restaurants at Pmall. We de-stressed about Anime North and our personal lives. God, it’s been a whirlwind of stress, stress, stress for both of us. But we ate well - her food though smelt like rotten preserved cabbage:


We then went more window shopping and fount this cute top which reminded us of Emily Temple Cute. I didn’t buy it because it looked much too easy to make.


And, yesterday I sent in my skirt order for the Korean Lolita brand Mew&Lief.

I am buying a skirt in this colorway and print:


I didn’t buy the JSK because it was much too big for me and I had seen the SKIRT IN REAL LIFE! A fellow Lolita visited our Marionette Anime North 2010 Crafters Corner table and I just had to snap a picture of her with Aya’s iPhone. OMG. And I TOUCHED IT. IT WAS A MUST HAVE. AND, my friend - Emily went Sweet Lolita for AN 2010. She’s normally Gothic - but she looks so awesome in Sweet!


Some god ordained a screw-up at the factory Mew&Lief printed at and they had to switch printers and open orders to meet the larger quantities of printed fabric.

This is a skirt I would KEEP KEEP KEEP forever and pass down to my…progeny?

Also, here are some skirts I had made for Anime North 2010. Not my entire stock - I didn’t have the time to take pictures of everything. But, the Candy skirt sold but my ‘Granny’ stuff as my little sister calls it, didn’t. Note to self: Gothic, Sweet, and Sweet-Classic sells at AN.


But, I didn’t want that skirt to sell. I love the old feel of the print and vintage feel it gives me. Of Dolly-kei. I feel like I will be working with Mori Girl and Dolly Kei more then ever. Been so inspired.

Here, I leave you with pictures of my most recent purchases and what I have to work with. Boater hats that were bartered down from $13 each to $20 for two. Thanks, to Aya again. A really adorable fabric I bought 1.5 yards of.


VM georgette chiffon that Aya found at an Italian fabric store on Queen West we have to make something out of.









Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Anime North and the Aftermath (iPad)...

Before I went off to Anime North I had conned my sister into pretending to be me so that she could buy the iPad for my significant other for his Birthday (far far away in October). It worked, we got the iPad and this is me holding the glorious piece of technology:


I look grimy in that picture. But, I had just arrived home with two freaking huge pieces of luggage. Left the rest at my ‘rents condo.

Anime North was…let me keep it short. Beyond stressful. There were times I wanted to break down crying. I was at such a shit location in the Crafters Corner. But, in the end it seemed worthwhile enough to pursue the whole venture again next year. My mom’s amigurumi was really pretty and sold quite well. Competition was furious. And, I AM IN LOVE WITH THE MORI GIRL TABLE BEHIND US. So, in love that I dream of gnome wristlets every night. I want to make one but at the same time I want to support them. BWHA.

I’ll be spending the next few days updating everything from the Marionette Wordpress, my own Noir et Ofelia design Blogspot, the Facebook fan page, and getting together with my counterpart, Aya to get things sorted out. My mom and I will also be working on her Etsy, Mommigurumi and some new designs for Ofelia Ljuv. I’ve decided that purely amigurumi while anything that I specifically request will go to me - acorns, strawberries, and such for fashion are mines.

I’ll make a picture post soon. I didn’t bring my camera from my hotel room to take any pictures. My friend, Emily, has all of them.