Things To Do When You Are Feeling Poorly

A friend of mine has come to visit me for a week, and wouldn't you know it, I'm sick. Our day so far has consisted of me sleeping, coughing and blowing my nose to the music of Lego Starwars. I'm hoping that I'll get better soon so that we may actually do something that would make his 14 hour drive worth it!

Anyway, here are a few things I have thought of to do when you are feeling poorly to make yourself feel a little better.

• Wear a head eating bow in bed.
• Adorn any friend, parent or stuffed animal in a similar bow.
• Listen to every song on your ipod whilst resting.
• Browse your favorite lolita brands website and make a wishlist of items you'd like
• Read a book, or if you are too tired, have someone else read to you. Reading a story aloud with someone else may take much longer but it's very fun.
• If you are lucky enough to have a pet spend some time petting them or fall asleep with them snuggled up in your bed, I'm sure they'd appreciate it.
• If you are into anime watch a very girly series that does't require a high level of concentration, like Sailor Moon or Tokyo Mew Mew.
• Paint each nail a different color and then finish them off with some glitter polish.
  
• If all else fails bundle up with your favorite soup and watch your friend play the Wii. Occasionally give input as to how they are doing or loudly shout instructions, they will love this.

^^Drake adorned with an alice bow. He is clearly thrilled.^^

A Trip to the Mall

Yesterday I met up with a new friend of mine, Alex, a talented artist and adorable loli! We went to the mall together, I had a great time with her. We both did a pretty good job of shopping, Alex bought some really cute jewelry at the Hello Kitty kiosk and I helped the employees at Forever 21 reach their target sales for the day.

I was surprised by how many people recognized what we were wearing as lolita, one guy even identified the dress Alex was wearing as Baby the Stars Shine Bright! We were very impressed with him. We also encountered our fair share of creeps, a middle aged man with a really long beard followed us around the mall, and a boy with mascara tears stains strategically placed on his cheeks pretty much asked us to go to bed with him. We pretended to be lesbians in order to get out of the situation and he was like "Oh! You're gay! I knew it all along!". Yeah...

After we were both shopped out we headed for Joann's to find some fabric to alter one of my skirts, we plan on getting together for a sewing day soon. We also hit up a discount book store where I bought both The Phantom of the Opera and The Princess and the Goblin for under $5! Yay!

It was getting pretty dark and extremely cold so we both headed home, but I'm really glad to have met Alex. Stay tuned for future meet up posts!

Cheers Santa!

I hope that everybody had a wonderful Christmas! Mine was fantastic, I had a wonderful time with my Mum (although she was feeling a little poorly) watching movies in her house, and then we went over to my adopted Aunts home for lots of yummy food.

Gift wise I've been an extremely lucky girl, Santa didn't leave one single lump of coal! My Mum got me a digital camera, it's perfect! As soon as I buy a memory card I'll be snapping outfit shots much more often. My Aunt gave me a gorgeous pink tea set which I just adore, I can't wait to host a loli tea party soon! My pen pal, Dalliann, sent me a delicious candied apple which I gobbled up on Christmas day (so no picture) and an adorable little tea cup tree ornament! The picture is awfully blurry, for some reason I couldn't get my webcam to focus at all (thank goodness I have a new camera now).

Anyway, the point of this post was to give a big thank you to everyone who sent me a gift, card, or e-mail wishing me a Merry Christmas. I am very grateful for having such wonderful people in my life! And I'm also thankful for everyone who reads my blog, you all make it worth writing!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Her Curious Elegance!

I hope that your Christmas day is absolutely magical! 

Love,

Raegan

xoxoxoxoxo

Loved Ones and Loli

I'm lucky to have many people in my life who are supportive of my frills; lolita might not be something they would wear, but they are always fine with me wearing it. Unfortunatly I know some girls whose friends or lovers are less than pleased with their loli wardrobe. Listening to a person you care for making negative comments about the way you look more than just hurts, it can effect your self esteem drastically. I had a friend who was convinced that lolita was a sexual fetish and would treat me much differently when I wore it around her, it made me wonder "If this is what a friend thinks, what does everyone else think?".

So what do you do when someone you love is unsupportive? Explain to them that the fashion is something you enjoy and that when they criticize the way you look it really hurts, they may not be aware of how deeply their comments are cutting. If they insist that it is a deplorable style then just tell them that you won't hang out with them when you are wearing it (which might be a quick fix if you don't wear lolita very often).

It's not unheard of for loved ones to give you an ultimatum; either the frills go or they go, which is a terrible situation to put you in. At this point you should ask yourself, wouldn't they accept you as you were if they really cared? In my opinion, any friend who asks you to give up something you love isn't a friend at all.

Luckily for every person out there who will put you down for what you wear, there are a million others who will embrace you no matter what. Make sure to appreciate those in your life who love you regardless of how you look, and always provide them with the same grace.

Review: Sucrecie Magazine

Sucrerie magazine is celebrating it's one year anniversary, so as a long time reader I've decided to review the latest issue.

Unlike the Gothic and Lolita Bible or Kera, Sucrerie is a magazine whose demographic is Western lolitas which is extremely refreshing. All of the content is submitted by real lolitas so the magazine has many viewpoints and has a community feel to it.

This quarters issue has some great articles in it, I particularly loved the one about rocking horse shoes as I have been extremely tempted to buy a pair. I really enjoyed the book review on Bambi: A Life in the Woods. I'm always looking for classic stories to get my hands on, Bambi was something I had not yet considered but it is now on my list. I also like the serialized story "Violet Ichigo" which is about a western Jpop star whose career is on the way out.

My only gripe with Sucrerie magazine is that there are often typos and that each quality standards of some submissions is not as high as I would like. However it is still an extremely enjoyable read and I recommend it. I printed out the pages and stapled them together so that I could bring it to work with me!

Sugary Carnival Dream Dress

Oh Sugary Carnival dream dress,
One day you are going to be mine,
Each pony is worth twenty hours,
Of waitressing overtime.

The work will make victory sweeter,
I'll celebrate, shimmey and skid,
Unless I am bitching and bawling,
Because I have just been outbid.

When I Look At You I'm Happy

How did you get into lolita? Where you unexpectadly exposed to a gorgeous, frilly princess in public? Did you stumble upon the style online? Did you read an article about it in a newspaper? However you first discovered our fashion, the reason it captured your heart is a fond memory for many.

I first encountered lolita by seeing a picture of Misako Aoki online. Her clothing, her hair and her doll like appearance just took my breath away! After a little research I discovered the lolita sub-culture, and once I had recovered from the initial price tag shock, I knew that lolita was for me.

Misako Aoki has remained my lolita inspiration to this day. I bought a Baby the Stars Shine Bright postcard featuring her, which I purchased a cute frame for and hung on my wall. Whenever I doubt my looks or my strength to carry out my day to day life in lolita clothing, I look at that picture and am reminded of everything that enchants me about our style.

Do you have a lolita who inspires you? She or he could be a model, a friend or a girl on egl. If so then maybe you could print out a photo of them (with their permission of course) and place it by your mirror, that way you will be encouraged to dress in lolita more often and will remember that you are not alone.

Just keep in mind that you should never compare yourself to your inspiration, what makes you beautiful may not be the same thing that makes her beautiful and vice versa.

P.s. If there is someone whose style you admire then let them know! Send them an e-mail or make them a lolita valentine!

Swinging Lolita

I'm not much of a math person, but even I know that swing dancing+lolita=joy. I love swing dancing almost as much as I love dressing up, so I'm delighted that the preferred attire to most swing clubs is a big poofy dress!

Last Friday I went to Pensacola swing, a weekly event where people get together and dance the night away. I had such a great time and received a lot of compliments on my JSK (which I opted to wear without a blouse as it was bloody hot).

Swing dancing is a very loli-able hobby, I'm surprised that it's not up there with sewing and baking! It's lots of fun, an excuse to frill out, plus it's an opportunity to burn off all the cupcake calories! Prices are often very cheap (our tickets only cost $5) and most clubs offer free lessons for beginners before the dance officially starts.

My only advice is not to wear your most treasured dress as it will get sweaty, and wear shoes you can move in easily. And for gods sake wear bloomers if you are planning on being thrown all over the place, after all you want people to admire your lovely dancing, not your lovely bum!

I Can Only Bring ONE Suitcase?!?

Tomorrow I am heading to Tennessee to stay with my mum for winter break. I've been looking forward to my trip for a long time, but as much as I've been anticipating the holiday I've been dreading the packing. My mum lives in a one bedroom apartment so I can't bring all of my stuff with me as it would clutter up her place almost immediately! I decided to consolidate my favorites from my lolita wardrobe into one suitcase so that it wouldn't take up too much room, I must say that I was skeptical that I would be able to bring very much at all.

Surprisingly I was able to fit all of this inside one, medium suitcase:

• Two JSKS
• Two skirts
• Two cutsews
• One blouse
• Two pairs of boomers
• Two petticoats (one is mega poofy)
• Four pairs of shoes
• One shoebox full of accessories
• One bag
  

Crazy right? I was really impressed that all of it fit inside without any fighting with the zipper. The main trick to fitting that much stuff into one suitcase was a combination of folding some items yet rolling others. Of course there is nothing to be done to decrease the space items like shoes take up, so I simply put them on top of my folded JSKS and curved the rolled items like skirts and cutsews around them, thus using all available space!

It helps to pack all accessories like socks and jewelry in a small shoebox so that they don't get damaged by your heavier items. Also, only pack accessories that you know will match the outfits you are bringing, it doesn't make sense to bring something if it isn't going to match any of your coordinates.

I'm so excited for my trip, I hope to meet up with some lolis while I am in Tennessee. Stay tuned for future meet up posts and good luck packing all your frills on your next trip!

Dress Up Box: Library Loli

Recently I had a photo shoot in my universities library, it was a lot of fun and certainly helped to relieve my "finals week" stress. The outfit I wore is one of my favorites, I just love the color and shape of the JSK!

If you'd like to see more pictures from the shoot please check out my post to the daily_lolita livejournal community!

Here's what I was wearing:

Jsk: Infanta
Blouse: Kids Yoyo
Socks: Baby the Stars Shine Bright
Shoes: Harajuku Lovers

Apples or Oranges, We're All Still Fruit

When explaining lolita fashion to people who have never heard of it, I like to get into detail. I explain the anatomy of a lolita outfit, where the fashion came from and show them pictures of the different lolita sub styles. The picture part is generally where I lose them. Most people are very confused about how such drastically different styles can fall under the general umbrella of lolita, and recently I've been pondering that.

Lets take a closer look at two sub styles, for example classic and OTT sweet. Classic lolita tends to resemble a young Victorian woman, while OTT sweet is just the opposite, often emulating a modern day (or techno future?) little girl. Classic uses soft colors and floral patterns, where as OTT sweet outfits usually include a busy print in bright colors. Classic lolita makes a statement, OTT sweet lolita screams it. It's funny to think that both styles, which seem so far away from each other, evolved from a common ancestor. As my guy friend recently pointed out "the only thing they have in common is the fact that they're both poofy".

And while it is true that sometimes the only thing tying the different styles of lolita together is the silhouette, isn't that a good thing? Only having one kind of lolita in the world would be like having only one breed of cat, and that breed being Egyptian Hairless. Even if you adore furless felines, after a while you would start to miss having some fluffy ones around, even if just to look at. If all lolitas dressed in the same way the fashion would certainly be easier to explain to people, but it would be a hell of a lot more boring. Personally I'm happy for the diversity we have in our fashion. Being a lolita means something different to every girl (and guy), but I think we can all agree that if something as simple as clothing has enough power to make a person happy, then no matter what the style, our fashion is truly extraordinary.

The Best Thing One Can Do When It's Raining Is To Let It Rain

Rainy days spent indoors are wonderful, they make me feel so relaxed, so happy and so very lolita. There's nothing better than treating yourself like a queen and simply doing whatever you feel like.

Today was cold and wet, I would have given anything to be cozy in my house but instead I spent it traipsing around campus (next time I'll have to have an extra indulgent day to make up for it!).

Here is a quick list of ways to enjoy your next rainy day.

• Feel beautiful! Do your make up & hair and get dressed up in loli pajamas, whether they be a cutsew and bloomers, a long nightgown or pajamas embroidered with bunnies.
  

• Curl up on the couch with a favorite book. I'm saving "The Last Unicorn" and "The Princess and the Goblin" for such an occassion.
  

• Turn off the lights, open the curtains and watch TV. The relative darkness of a rainy day makes it feel so cozy!
  

• Gather all your stuffed animals and snuggle up together for a nap.
  

• Make a pot of tea and savor it slowly.
  

• Decorate! Make some paper stars and hang them from the ceiling with string or create something new for your walls.
  

• Have a daytime slumber party with your friends! Play games, chat, eat treats and share a blanket on the floor.
  

• Take a long, luxurious bubble bath.
  

• Print out pictures of lolita items you love and make a scrapbook.
  

• Mix glitter into your nail polish and give yourself a manicure.
  

• If you feel up to it throw on a pair of wellies and go dancing in the rain!

Game Review: The Wizard of Oz Beyond the Yellow Brick Road

How is this game related to lolita fashion? Because in The Wizard of Oz Beyond the Yellow Brick Road, Dorothy is a lolita. That's it. The game has nothing to do with clothing but it is very refreshing to play as a lolita character!

This game is for the DS and is essentially an RPG, although it is extremely simplified. You play as Dorothy, a cute country lolita sporting red cowboy boots, as you run around Oz collecting eggs, battling monsters and meeting friends. The graphics are pretty good for a DS game and the soundtrack is varied enough to stay interesting.

One of my favorite things about the game was that you get to customize almost every characters name! So instead of playing as Dorothy, Toto, Scarecrow, Lion and Tin Man I played as Raegan, Suki, Panda, Jer Bear and Sulty, that way my party was full of all my friends!

The game is really easy but I don't find it boring, it's simply something you can unwind with at the end of a long day. The battle system is uncomplicated and the controls are very easy to pick up, I think that this would be a great introduction to video games for new gamers.

If you are a fan of the original Wizard of Oz movie then you may not enjoy the completely different take on Oz, there is no "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" here! I was not too keen on the movie but I did love the books, and to me this is a fun, loose interperation of a childhood favorite.