Lolita Closet - Metamorphose's Fancy Egg High Waist Pinafore JSK

This week's post, let us look at Metmorphose's Fancy Egg in the high waist pinafore version in pea green. The third post I have for the Fancy Egg print, this dress belongs to my friend, Keiko, who asked me to keep an eye out for it and to buy it if it ever popped up on the second hand market. It is her grail dress and she been obsessed with it every since the print was originally released, so for awhile I would check for this dress. Only lately, I have spent a lot of time looking for this dress and eventually I found it in this version and it came with the matching headpiece!

Metamorphose Fancy Egg in pea green

The pea green color was definitely one of the more unique colors in the original colorway options and I was surprised that it was a bit more muted in life and not as bright. It is definitely not a mint green, but leans more towards a more earthy tone of green. It might be hard to tell since my carpet is pink, but it is a very lovely shade of a soft green.

The dress has an empire waist cut and the main part of the bodice is embellished with diamond shaped trim and satin and grosgrain ribbon on the center panel.

Bodice details
 

You can see the different types of trim and lace that decorate the bodice and it is all dyed perfectly to match the green colorway. The skirt is gathered into the empire waist and can accommodate a medium sized petticoat.  The dress has a side zipper to help you get into the dress. Keiko told me, it is quite comfortable and because it is high waist dress, you don't feel constricted when you eat.

Back of the dress

The dresses in this series do not have fancy buttons for the shoulder straps, and it one of those things I wish they could have spent a bit more time on since I think any kind of shank button or even a fabric covered button would have worked better than the plastic one they chose.

The back panel features a quarter panel of shirring, and you can lace up the back with satin ribbon. I noticed that this dress did not have waist ties, which is a bit more unusual and uncommon for a lot of lolita dresses. I would say a majority of dresses in my collection come with waist ties.

Details

Once again, the print is beautiful in any of the colorways and I think the pea green brings out more of the gold details from the print. You can see the subtle lace print on the border and the hem is finished with the green pea fabric.

Mini-hat!

When I found this dress, it came with the hat headpiece that none of my friends knew about! I knew it existed but I preferred the barrette or the bonnet over the hat head piece. It's actually really cute in life, since the hat is stuffed and is very soft and light weight. There is a hair comb on the underside and the two ribbons are sewn on the side. The ribbon on the hair is removable so you can use that instead as a hair piece instead of the hat. The ribbon is made from chiffon and has a small cameo decoration on it made from plastic.

I might take a break from this print and move on to other things in my closet for future posts for now. I do have the black colorway of this print, so that definitely will come up later on!

I hope you enjoyed looking at Fancy Egg with me and until next time,
Stay fancy!

Lolita Closet - Metamorphose's Fancy Egg Tuck Pleated Pinafore JSK

Let's explore and examine one of my favorite prints in my closet, Metamorphose's Fancy Egg, also known as Egg Art. This version is the Tuck Pleated Pinafore JSK in medium length. Ever since this print was released in 2012, I knew I had to have it. Initially I bought the ice blue skirt directly from Meta, which I blogged about awhile ago. Over the years I've slowly accumulated the rest of the colorways and at some point, all the colors were in my closet. Meta recently re-released Fancy Egg in some new designs and included a red colorway. I still prefer the original colors rather than the new ones. Let's look at the original pink colorway in the pleated pinafore design!

Meta's Fancy Egg

I acquired the pink version of the pinafore JSK with the barette as a set. Initially I wasn't sure if I would like the color, since I normally do not gravitate to pink lolita dresses. However, the price was really appropriate and it was a deal that I could not pass up. I also thought it would be a nice piece to add to my Fancy Egg collection since I had already owned an item in the blue and black colorways. The silhouette is quite lovely and I have to admit that the medium length makes it even more elegant than I imagined.

Front and back detailing

The bodice has a yoke that includes pleated chiffon detailing and two brooches that are removable; one small bow and the other is a lace cutout with a "M" emblem placed on some satin ribbon. The overall print is designed with a harlequin motif and is more subtle with the pink colorway. The skirt is pleated rather than gathered at the waistband and the waist tie is made from chiffon. Although the chiffon gives a lovely airy effect, without any interfacing, it does not maintain a bow shape that you would normally have with waist ties made from cotton.

The back has a quarter panel of shirring and features lace up button holes with pink satin ribbon. There is also an invisible zipper on the side for you to use to get into the dress. I was not particularly fond of the buttons they used for the shoulder straps and in time I might replace them with pink or gold buttons.

Back

This dress falls right below my knees when I wear it and I really like that I don't have to roll up my petticoat because it's not short on me. The pleated chiffon hem is really fun to walk around in since it shifts constantly with your steps. The fabric is made of a lightweight cotton so it's a great choice for summer or hotter days. You have to be careful not to snag any of the chiffon pieces on anything since it pulls quite easily. The inside of the dress is lined with pink polyester lining.

Details of the print

The main reason I love this print is the Faberge eggs and all the fascinating details in the print. It's so much more magical to see in life and I constantly talk about and show my friends this print all the time. There are so many hidden gems in the print and I always find something new when I wear it.  

I recall wearing this dress and some ladies saw me walking down the street and they stopped and stared a bit, and hid around the corner just to see me walk by. I thought it was quite cute and they stopped me to say that they loved my dress and had not seen this fashion before in Toronto. 

I hope to wear this dress more often in the future. I was not deterred by the pink color and I definitely love the design of this dress. If I manage to find this dress in a different colorway, I might end up adding it to my collection.

Until next time!
Stay fancy!

V&A Lolita Exhibit

Last month on my trip to London with my sister, we popped by the Victoria & Albert Museum to check out the Hollywood Costume exhibit. My sister had been waiting two years for this exhibit and some of the costumes we saw were really amazing and it's so different seeing them in life rather than on the movie screen. (My favourite has to be the Dolly Levi gold dress from Hello, Dolly!)

There was a 45 min to an hour wait to get into the exhibit, so my sister and I walked around the gift shop and planned to head into the gem room, because we love sparkly things~! However, on our way there my sister got side tracked for some reason while walking by the Japanese antiquities room. I knew that the V&A had a small exhibit dedicated to lolita fashion and how British culture has influenced it, but from what I knew, it was on display from March until August. However, the museum has extended the exhibit until February 2013! So, if you visit the V&A museum before then, you'll see the lolita exhibit in the Japanese section on the main floor! You can't miss it because the displays have pink windows!

Kitty and the Bulldog: Lolita fashion and the influence of Britain

Kitty and the Bulldog explores the way in which British fashion – notably Victoriana, Punk and Gothic – has influenced the development of Japan’s ‘Lolita’ style, a cult fashion movement whose defining feature has been its preoccupation with cuteness, or ‘kawaii’. The display features nine outfits recently bought in Tokyo for the V&A's permanent collections. - http://www.vam.ac.uk/

My camera couldn't make due to the dim lighting in the room and the contrast between my coat at the displays was too great, so the lighting was off! So, I must apologize for the quality of the photos (>_<;)

Left: Baby the Stars Shine Bright, Alice and the Pirates    Right: Innocent World

Examples of Sweet lolita, that venture into classic and a bit of gothic for the AatP dress.

I really love the styling they used for all the mannequins. I also noticed that all the wigs used were from Priscilla. Good to know they didn't cap the budget on wigs since Priscilla wigs are quite expensive. I really like that bag on the BtSSB display. . . Oddly it was on the outlet page on Baby's online site, but it was sold out. (-__-;)

Left: Moi-Meme-Moitie     Right: Putumayo

I'll have to admit I'm not expert on Gothic lolita, but I love looking at Moi Meme Moitie's clothing. There are minute details that you have to see up close that I couldn't capture on film, but the custom lace is gorgeous and the simplicity makes the overall outfit very elegant. 

Putumayo! I don't own anything from the brand, but I always like looking at their ads in my Kera magazines. Their branding is geared towards punk lolita. I also like the Hangry & Angry stuffed doll that's part of the styling!

Left: H.Naoto's Sixh. and MINT Neko    Right: Mamechiyo

H.Naoto has so many lines, I can't remember most of them. Apparently the outfit is inspired by Vivienne Westwood and falls into the punk and visual kei category. 

Mamechiyo has some lovely contemporary works that modernize the kimono. I've known of the designer for awhile since Magic Pony exhibited some of her work many years ago here in Toronto! The description for this display categorized the style as "Japanese Lolita" and is more demure and explores Japanese traditional dress.

I'm really happy that I got to see this exhibit before it went away. It was purely by accident since I didn't know it was extended. It's just interesting and fun to see a fashion/hobby that you're devoted to in a display at one of the best Art & Design museums in the world. 

Also, it also brings lolita to a broader audience and hopefully more people see it as a fashion rather than a costume. 

♥

Lolita Closet - Bodyline Carousel JSK in Black

It's been awhile since I've done a closet post! I really think I should wear lolita more often, but I haven't had the chance to plan many outings to wear my dresses to. This time around, let's look at my Bodyline Carousel Dress! Also known as the L144 dress on their site, it is unofficially called the Carousel print and is a popular and iconic print from Bodyline. It comes in black, yellow, pink, lavender and saxon blue!

Bodyline Carousel Print (L144)

I acquired this print while I was shopping at the Harajuku Bodyline location in Japan. At first I had saw the skirt version and I really liked it, until I walked over to the OP and JSK rack and immediately my eyes went to the JSK. I also purchased the matching knee high socks and the head bow to go with the outfit.

Bodice

The complete set was very affordable and the print was extremely cute. That's the nice thing about Bodyline, is that it is a good starting point for a lolita. Even if there are negative connotations with the company and because of it's prior history (of being a adult costume shop), nowadays, you can find some fun and charming prints in their lolita section.

The straps on the JSK have elastic built into them, although I found no need for it to stretch. The dress features a side zipper and the bow in the front is removable. There is black lace trim along the front and integrated into the design on the dress. It actually blends into the fabric design, but it adds some visual texture if you're looking closely.

Back of the dress

There is a shirring panel on the back of the dress and it is hidden by the ribbon corseting. Since this was the last dress they had in the store, it was size LL. It was actually a bit loose on me, but I was really surprised that I would have to buy an LL sized dress. However, since Japanese sizing is graded very small, it makes sense that I would have to get an L or a LL. 

The waist ties are permanently attached to the side seams of the dress. I've seen and read about fellow lolitas who removed the waist ties from Bodyline dresses because they didn't like them! To each their own (^__~*)!

The knee highs were very cute! Initially I didn't get them when I bought the dress, but on a return visit, I decided to get them because they were not expensive (500 yen) and it would help complete the set. The socks feature one of the carousel horses and the colored stars that appear throughout the print.

The lace used to line the hem of the dress isn't of particular high quality, and can be a bit scratchy, but if you have a petticoat on, it is not a problem.

Carousel Print

The print itself is very adorable, featuring horses and stars, it has a very whimsical feel to it. They used this part of the print to make the matching tote bags out of. This past summer, I decided to get the bag since it was in stock on the site. At the moment, I don't have a picture of it though! /(>_<;)\

Headbow, pink version

The Harajuku store and online site did not have the black version of this head bow in stock. To be honest, I've never seen it! So I opted to get the 'pink' version of the head bow which has white lace instead. Because there is white occurring in the overall design of the print, it matches quite well and helps it stand out against my black hair! (*o*@!)

Although I have the complete set to this outfit, I've never worn it all together. I think it would be too over the top, but I like having all the pieces to this set. It's probably the only set that I own that is so complete!

As I write this post today, the dress is not in stock on the Bodyline site, however the skirt should still be in stock. But because this print is quite popular it does come back ever so often! This dress I got during it's second release. So, if you're looking to get it, just keep your eyes open for it!

Until next time!
♥

Lolita Closet - Metamorphose Room Print

Ever since we wore lolita in Japan on our last trip, my sister has voiced that she would probably never own a brand print because sizing by brand companies is non-existent. It's hard for more fuller shaped ladies to wear lolita since most brands have one-size only items. Although most designs feature shirring panels, it's still difficult to find a dress that accommodate you if you're busty or have a fuller shape.

My sister wasn't deterred and still dressed up in the spirit of lolita when we were out and about in Japan. Right now the only brand pieces she owns are from Bodyline since they offer larger size ranges for some of their dresses. I've been keeping my eyes open to find a brand dress that my sister would like and would also fit in. After a few months of searching, I was successful.

Here is Metamorphose's Room Print JSK (Fully shirred)

Metamorphose Room Print Shirred JSK

The nice thing about this dress is that the bodice is fully shirred and can stretch up to 48", perhaps even 50". Even when I tried it on for fun it looked fine on me and I have a 34" bust. I think the border print design of this dress is adorable. It's based on a princess or fairytale room which is a theme that's consistent with Metamorphose.

Detail on the front bodice

Since the bodice is fully shirred, there isn't a zipper. Although you could probably just slip the dress on, one of the nice design details Meta did was to add a functional placket on the front. It's hard to see, but the bows can untie and you can unbutton the buttons to help you slip the dress on easier. The white lace and ruffles frame where the placket opening is. 

Detail on the inner part of the placket

Another nice detail Meta thought about was to add a snap at the top of the placket. Since the button at the top is about 1" away from the edge, they added a snap to help reinforce the shape and reduce stress on the top button. They really thought it out well!

Removable bows

The dress comes with two removable bows that are placed on the straps. I suppose if you didn't have the matching head band you could have turned these into hair clips. They're a nice cute shape and subtle within the design of the dress.

Metamorphose Room Print detail

Here's a picture of the border print! True to Metamorphose's designs, they have added many of their trademark swans into the print. They are in the motif on the door frame and the handles on the window frame. Until I looked closer I noticed they also added a pair of swans on top of the mirror frame and as the decoration handle for the drawer on the vanity. The picture frame has an image of two swans looking at each other. It's very whimsical and are classical Metamorphose details!

The print also features a cat and a poodle. It's very hard to spot the poodle since it blends into the background. The colorway is faulty for this because the poodle is more prevalent in the white/pink colorway. In the picture frame on the dresser, there's a photo of the poodle and cat next to each other like best friends!

You can also see that Meta used a simple lace along the hem of the dress.

Back of Room Print

This dress has the thinnest waist ties when compared to the dresses that I own. It doesn't take away from the overall design but it intrigued me to see that they were thin. The shoulder straps are adjustable if you remove the buttons and reposition them to fit yourself. There are two buttons per strap.

The dress features a black lining and has a built in layer of tulle to add some volume which is a trademark of most of Metamorphose's dresses.

Matching headband

This is the matching headband for the dress. It has wire built into the bow so you can adjust and shape the bow to your liking. It's similar to my Swan Lake headbow. There are some pearl accents on the bow and the previous owner added a pink Swarovski crystal in the center for some sparkle. 

There is a bit of a nightmare story attached to this dress and I wasn't expecting to have to restore it. The previous owner decided to hot glue gun some rhinestone bows onto the print, and while I knew that it was there I didn't think they were so prevalent. I was not fond of them and neither my sister. (I believe her reaction was shock.) So I took a few days to remove the bows and get rid of the glue from the print. After lots of spot cleaning with water, solvent, tweezers and endless patience, I've removed 95% of the glue but there's still a bit on it that I cannot get out without damaging the print and fabric. Overall the restoration worked out well and you can hardly tell that there was any fault to the print. 

The only things I left on the dress were the pink Swarovski crystals that were places on the pink stars/sparkles. It was subtle and didn't take away from the print so I left them.

The dress is ready to be presented to my sister, so I hope she's happy with her first Metamorphose dress!

♥

Welcome to @Home Cafe

I keep forgetting to post up some pictures from our trip to Japan, so here's another episode of our trip! On our designated lolita day, we set out to go to a maid cafe, specifically @Home Cafe Donki in Akihabara. There are two locations of @Home in Akiba, Donki signifies the one located in the Donquijote building (yes, I realized it's spelled funny). This one had a dining/living room, basically a seating area that the other locating didn't have.

Keiko and I waiting to be seated, @Home Cafe. Pic Credit: Bosu

It's better to go to a maid cafe with someone who speaks some Japanese. Although most cafes will have an English speaking maid, I think the experience isn't as genuine since it's a bit mistranslated. If you understand Maid Cafe culture, it's more cute and endearing. Being a maid at our annual charity maid cafe at Anime North, I've been infused with knowledge of this culture, (whether I liked it or not :P )

They do have an English menu, which helps, and they let you look at that while you are waiting to be seated. We had 5 people in our party, and only waited about 5-10 minutes at around 3pm that day.

The maids were very cute and were surprised that we all showed up in lolita!

My sister's Halloween dessert. That pumpkin was super cute!

Since it was a week and a half before Halloween, they had started to promote their Halloween special, which was a dessert (pictured above) and they had a card that went with it. If I recall, if you had the dessert 8 times, you could redeem the card to get a special picture with the maids or play a special game with them. The dessert was cubes of shortcake, drizzled with chocolate sause and orange syrup, with taro ice cream and strawberries and whip cream on top. The little cream puff pastry was decorated like a jack-o-lantern. It's looked really cute but my sister said it was a lot of weird flavors all in one. The dessert was 500 or 600yen, and it came with a cute sticker.

Interior of @Home Cafe. Pic Credit: Bosu

You're not supposed to take pictures inside the cafe, but we took a few anyways. Shh!

The way maid cafes work in Japan is that you pay an 'entrance sitting' fee and then you pay for your addition food items on top of that. The sitting fee for @Home is 700 yen. Drinks vary from 500-700 yen each and food is around 1200-1700 yen (I think, I don't recall exactly). There are different combo sets that usually work out to be a good deal, as they include a drink, food dish, and either a picture of you with your maid or some 'moe' candies. 

We ate before we went...so we all ended up ordering drinks or a dessert. Maid cafés aren't known for their food, it's more for the experience. When they give you the drinks, it's very cute. They have you send love to the drink/food before you eat. We were served by at least 4 different maids and they talked to us and asked us where we were from. Each maid has their own theme to make them unique, one girl was accessorized with Pikachu accessories!

My Polaroid and my Mistress card from @Home Cafe.

 We chose the option to take a Polaroid  with the maid of our choice. Since we couldn't read their names, they brought over a clip board with pictures of each of the girls and we pointed to who we liked. My maid started talking to me about lolita and whether I wore it at home, and with my horrible Japanese I manage to convey that I wore it sometimes. You're allowed to choose an item to take a picture with from a wall of plush toys and accessories. I picked the alpaca, because it's Awesome!

To take a picture with a maid is 500 yen.

When you go to @Home, you're presented with a Master card, every time you go visit their cafe, you slowly power up. Once you level up, you get a different card. The one I have is considered Bronze. The next table over, one of the guys had a Black one! I wonder how many times he went to get that one.../(>__<;)\*

The message Keiko and I left for the maid of @Home Cafe. Pic Credit: Bosu

One of the maids came around with a notebook and asked us to leave a 'memory' in it. Becca wrote an entry and then Keiko started writing hers. I just finished it up with a sentence in English and then drew a picture of us in our outfits so they could remember us ♥ 

Moe hand wipes and chopsticks.

 Before we left, they presented each of us with 'moe' chopsticks. It was really cute, except they're just take out chop sticks.. (^__^;;)* When I was packing to leave Japan I somehow ended up with all the wipes and chopsticks...

Each seating is about an 1 - 1.5 hours long, where you'll be served with your drinks / food, everyone in the room will play a game against the maids on duty, take your polaroids and have some conversation with your maids. We didn't opt to play the game because if you win you have to go up on their small stage and they talk to you in Japanese and you have to respond. I was also busy finishing up the drawing in the notebook. 

Overall, the experience was really fun. It's a shame none of us did the special drinks or food because I have heard that the presentation is super cute and over the top! I'm not particularly fond of the sitting fee because it add ups to your total. I only had a drink and took a polaroid with my maid and it cost me 1700 yen. 

I think I would go again for fun with some friends if the chance popped up though! 

So, see you soon @Home? ♥

Peas in a Pod

Peas in a Pod x 4!

I love Peas in a Pod from Toy Story 3. They didn't make that much of an appearance in Toy Story 3, but I think they are one of the cutest characters they created for the movie. I've collected a few variations of Peas in a Pod from around the world and each has their own differences!

I've named them Athos, Porthos and Aramis after the Three Musketeers.
(Porthos is the really happy one, Athos is the little smile, and Aramis is just happy.)

1. Giant Peas in a Pod, from Japan. each Peas is bigger than my head! It's so cute, I got it as a birthday gift from my sister and her boyfriend from our last trip to Japan.

2. Baby Peas, from Canada. These I bought here at a local Disney store, each pea is really chubby and fat. :)

3. Baby Peas, from London, England. First peas I managed to locate after going to the Disney store along Oxford Street. 

3. Baby Peas, from Japan. My sister picked these little guys up from an earlier trip to Japan last year and they really amuse me! The peas are smaller than the other two but they're strung together! How odd and funny is that? (^__^*)/

The GazettE: Revisited

* Happy New Years everyone! *

This is an update from the concert I went to in October when we went to see The GazettE in Japan. Our friend Becca found a picture they took during the live and she sent it to us. Since we weren't allowed to take pictures at the concert, this was really amazing for us!

The GazettE live @ Kounosu City Cultural Center on Oct 19, 2011

If you enlarge the picture, you can see my friends and I in the front row. We're along the left side, in the front row (infront of Aoi and the mega speakers). We stick out a lot...cause I guess we're a bit taller than the rest of the attendees, and we all have our hands up!! 

\o/  |o| \o/ \o/

Haha funny how my hands are straight up in the air, I didn't want to have my hands infront of my friend's faces when we were cheering and doing the moves to the music!
The band members would stand on their platforms when they performed so the rest of the fans could see them better. Aoi stood on his almost 90% of the time!!

But look how close we were to the stage!! We could have crawled up there and mobbed the band. (@^0^) ♥ ♥!!

Lolita Fashions - Pt. 3 (featuring Baby, the Stars Shine Bright)

Baby, the Stars Shine Bright is one of my favorite lolita brands, and the first one I knew about when I first learned about lolita fashion. One of the more expensive brands out there, however their prints are quite sophisticated and the lace and materials used are quite lovely. 

Baby is well known for their sweet (amai) prints and they have some great classic designs too. Their collections often also feature a rabbit, named Usagi-chan. Because I really love fairytale prints, I believe Baby is one of the best companies out there who have put out many different classic fairytale prints. It's an interesting concept because lolita is built upon the idea of princess-like attributes, and what could be better than wearing some exceptional dresses and bringing some lace and frills into your life while encompassing this ideal?

The first experience I had with Baby was when we went to Tokyo a few years ago. In my guide book one of the areas mentioned to go to was the Baby showroom, and when I showed it to my sister she immediately said she wanted to go there. I wasn't so enthusiastic about lolita then, but it didn't hurt to go see what Baby had to offer (^__^")

The showroom in Daikanyama is the flagship store and would ideally carry all of the present collections. Oddly enough, it was tucked into a corner of a building entrance and it wasn't until I mentioned we would have walked past it already and turned back we saw the plaque on the wall. 

Baby the Stars Shine Bright Daikanyama. The sign was so small that we walked by it.

Down the corridor you see the doors to the store.

 You aren't allowed to take pictures inside the store, like most shops in Japan. The store is quite small, I was expecting it to be larger, but space is hard to come by in Japan. The shop assistants are so adorable! They tried to help us as much as they could even though they spoke little to no english. My sister would ask them for certain sizes or colors for shoes and I would have to try to tell them in Japanese. They were so sweet and when they both gave us a 'sold out', it was so funny and cute. They did however, recommend another pair of shoes to my sister which she did buy. They are super cute, but sadly they do not fit anymore (>__<) and my feet are too small to wear them. 

Baby shoes from their 2008 collection.

My sister did buy an umbrella from Baby too, and I have to point out she hasn't used it yet. Don't know what she's waiting for. (^__~)'

One of Baby's newest collections is Rin-Chan's Black Cat. Rin-chan is part of the staff at Daikanyama. The collection features a cute dress, blouse, handbag, and some accessory pieces. I actually really like the dress and the bag. It's really charming and cute. I think style correctly, it can be very versatile. (Although I don't know if the tail is removable. I hope so?)

Rin-Chan's Black Cat OP with the blouse. The back has a tail! Check it out here.

Rin-chan's Black Cat purse. It's so cute!

I don't know if Rin-chan worked at the Baby store when we were there, but I think it would be so cute to meet her! She is adorable! The price for the OP is a bit steep, however, compared to their "For Pure Maiden" set, it's cheap. Which I can't say is a bad or good thing. I think if you really love it, you just have to go for it. Go big or go home! I don't know if I will consider getting this set...but it definitely is on my wish list.

If you have ever wondered what it is like to be in a lolita shop, it's actually not a scary experience. Yes, there's an overwhelming amount of pink in Baby stores, but the staff are very kind and let you browse through things on your own. Granted, the experiences that I was in Baby, I was talking in english with my sister and friends, so they tend to shy away until you approach them for some help.

This is such a cute video! Misaki Aoki is a model for Baby and Rin-chan is there to help her out at the store. I love Rin-chan's voice... \(^__^-)/

What I find interesting from Baby is that they explore the use of velvet and more luxurious fabrics. Usually their more high-end expensive items have so much workmanship featuring the use of chiffon and tulle. Most of the time the design is a bit out there for me to consider but it's still so lovely to look at!

Baby's Odette OP. The original price was 102,900 yen! Lolita Couture!

There are so many dresses from Baby that are so beautiful to talk about. I'll leave this particular post with the Cinderella Jewelry print from last year. If I could ever find it at a reasonable price, I think I wouldn't hesitate to buy it. Something about this print gnaws at me and I really want it if I could have it. The print is gorgeous with the Cinderella motifs in the frames. However, it is a very popular print and it's hard to find because of it's popularity.

Baby's Cinderella Jewelry JSK (2010)

Here are some of the panels on the print. Each frame features a different iconic scene from the story of Cinderella. You can also see the details of the pearls and other jewelry motifs built into the design.

Cinderella flees the castle at the stroke of midnight.

The glass slipper is returned.

 I think Baby offers so much with their designs and prints; so much fantasy and reminders of a time long past. It makes me very whimsical. It's true their products are quite expensive, but I think the workmanship and the thought that goes into the designs and prints reflect an extensive amount of work and in the end it's worth it. With all things, you should love the what you purchase and have an emotional attachment to it, and sadly, there's too much of this emotion when I look at some of Baby's designs! My poor wallet! (>__<)

My next post, I'll talk about my most recent Baby acquisitions. Stay tuned!

♥

Experience of a lifetime - The GazettE Live

It's about time I start talking about some of the experiences I had during my trip to Japan last month!

The last time I went to a J-Rock concert was quite a while back...and it was here in Toronto. Dir en Grey had a North American tour and I jumped at the chance to see them live. Fast forward a couple years...

The GazettE

Bossu had brought up the idea that we could go to a Live in Japan, and I totally jumped into it saying I was in! I was really excited to see any J-Rock group live in concert! Just so happens that our trip coincided with some of the tour dates for The GazettE. To cut some details short, Bossu & Keiko's friend in Japan, Becca, (who I had never met..but kind of knew who she was), got us 4 tickets for one of their Lives. The nice thing about the ticket system in Japan is that it's randomly assigned, so you pay a base price, but your seats can be anywhere.

Imagine our surprise when Becca told us, WE HAD FRONT ROW TICKETS!! I think I had a heart attack...and then the pressure was on. I was forewarned ahead of time that rock concerts in Japan were a bit different than the ones here at home. No moshing, which is good! But there are these special furi moves you should know that go with the music. At first it wasn't a big deal since the likelihood that we were going to be behind someone to follow the movements was very high. However, when you're front row...you don't have anyone to follow!

Begin the hardcore GazettE boot camp! Becca took the time to make video tutorials for us to learn the moves to the music. Three weeks before the concert, we lived, breathed and committed ourselves to GazettE. We couldn't be 'dead fish' in the front row! Had to make Becca proud! Keiko came over a couple times to practice with me. Gosh, I am horrible when it comes to head banging, my neck muscles are so weak, it's not funny. \(>__<;)/

 The video above is a great example of audience participation, a lot of it is head banging though. I just remember going into work after practicing one weekend, and I felt like I was paralyzed from the shoulders and up.

The morning of the concert, we still did a run through of the potential set list. I think I had two fears. One was flinging my neck off...and the other was getting tired quickly. I wasn't remotely bothered about the moves or freaking out about it...because if we didn't know them by then...well, it's kind of a lost cause. You can't do anything about it. I figure...as long as you try, and just look to your neighbors, you can figure out the motions...right? Right?!

A picture of us. Me, Bossu, Becca-san, & Keiko

What I found really interesting is that the girls were various fashions. Some are in very trendy clothes that you would probably see in Nonno magazines or somewhere in 109 Ladies, some are in Gyaru styles, Punk, GazettE cosplay, etc. There were 4 girls behind us dressed up as maids, they were really cute! However, they did so much head banging, I though their extensions/wig were going to fall off!! O__O! Before the Encore started, they stripped out of their maid outfits and underneath was a whole new set of clothes. I thought it was really funny... :)

Venomous cell tour '11. Stage. Photo Credit: Bossu

We don't have any decent pictures of the concert. Taking pictures during a Live is a big no no in Japan. Bossu just managed to sneak pictures of the stage and the venue before the guy holding the sign for 'no pictures' walked by. 

The concert venue. Photo credit: Bossu

Ruki commented how he quite liked this venue for it's unusual layout and how it was all black. 

We were so close to the stage...if I just bent over the seats that were blocked off in front of us I could have touched the stage. Maybe, if I had wanted to get mobbed by a bunch of fangirls and the security staff...I could have climbed over the seat and knocked out Aoi and kidnapped him. HOWEVER, my conscience said, "Don't do it, for you'll disgrace yourself and your peeps." LOL

It was probably one of the best concerts I've ever been to. The energy was electric and it was really fun. I thought I was going to pass out after the 6th or 7th song because I was still sick, but I fought through it. Towards the end I definitely ran out of steam for headbanging, so I did the simplified moves and watched the band (Thankfully, the girls next to us stood around a lot too, so it wasn't just me standing while everyone else was head banging). It's really neat seeing the band head bang in sync with the audience!! And the hair that flies around..! Keiko got me in the eye a couple times... :P

My ticket. Front row baby!!

Booklet and mini promo-posters handed out to us, and some merchandise.

The experience is so hard to describe. There are hardly words because it was just so amazing. Definitely a great experience to have gone through, and I have to say, if you ever get a chance to see a J-Rock concert in Japan, do it! 

♥ ♥ ♥ An Awesome THANK YOU to Becca!! 

For without her, we would not have experienced this!! ♥ ♥ ♥