“Are You In A Play?” “No, Just Attending One”: The Lolita in the Audience

Trying to get back into blogging has been a challenge, but one topic essentially jumped up and demanded to be written about the other day: Lolita fashion in the audience. We’ve all heard the old “Are you in a play?” comment, but what happens if you’re attending a play? What if you’re headed to a concert? Or even just attending a showing at a local movie theater?

 Pass on the Poof

Yes, I know it’s a bit disappointing not to be able to wear a grand, poofy skirt, but this isn’t the time for your widest, fluffiest petticoats. Not only will your widest petticoats extend over the edge of a seat and infringe on the personal space of others in the audience, they could also make it harder to navigate balcony stairs or theatre bathrooms.

This also goes for attending a concert in the general admission section. Not only will your wide skirts probably get smooshed (and possible spilled upon), they will constantly be invading the personal space of others. Sometimes this can be good—poof has protected my personal space on more than one occasion—but there are still plenty of reasons to keep the poof from getting too extensive.

Instead, go with a little bit of skirt poof. You’ll still look fluffy, but you’ll have an easier time with the event itself—and that event should be why you’re there.

Fashion Stretch: Girls in the Forest

So... this year's been something of a train wreck. I've been nonstop busy and stressed, and the one fashion-related thing that has been making me really happy is that my dear friend K got into mori girl thanks to me and looks perfectly adorable in it. She's developed a style that's lots of earthtones and autumn hues, but she's still not totally comfortable making outfits on her own.

Gee, wherever could she get someone to put together a few sample outfits for her?

I threw these together with her particular needs and uses in mind. The clothing had to be either DIY-able or available in plus sizes. It had to be easily added to a wardrobe that's mostly jeans and t-shirts without the need to go through a full wardrobe shift right away. It also had to fit her shape.

Patchwork Girl II

This outfit is meant to incorporate a really common thrift store purchase (or easy DIY project): the scrap basket skirt. This skirt is in a more traditional broomstick skirt line. K is fond of navy and burnt orange as colors individually, so I combined them here with lumpy and colorful knits and cozy fabrics to make a warm autumn outfit.

Fashion Stretch I: Pretty in Pastel

I jokingly say that my brain is made of cabbage roses, but that type of classic print really is an important element of my fashion sense. However, I think it's important for me to get out of my comfort zone once in a while. So, as I'm trying to get myself back into the swing of both blogging and fashion, I'm going to stretch my fashion muscles a little. This first fashion stetch is revisiting an old experiment: blending my friend Kristine's taste with fairy kei.

Kristine loves 1980s kids properties and comfortable clothing. She's also a plus sized girl and has a more apple-shaped body type than mine. Pairing those two things together is a great way to challenge myself with a style that isn't my usual cup of tea and a shape that isn't meant to fit my body. Kristine also has a standard repertoire of sneakers, jeans, and t-shirts, so anything I did had to be able to mix and match within that existing wardrobe.

Overall, my priorities were:

• Comfort first and foremost
• Plus size availability
• Media Kristine enjoys
• Showing a little leg (she has lovely legs)

Pastel for Kristine I

I started with less of a stretch: ruffly socks, skirts, and mint green. It's not much of a stretch, but it's definitely not an outfit I'd pick out for myself.

Inspiration is Hard to Find: Plus Size Ladies in Alternative Fashion

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I love alternative fashion, but there is one thing that I really do not love about it: the lack of space for plus size ladies.

Not, of course, that plus size ladies don't exist in these fashions. They are just extraordinarily hard to find and, furthermore, sometimes have rather rude comments aimed at them due to their size. This goes double for fashions that got their start in Japan because the average size of the fashion's originators (though not all of them - rock on, marshmallow girls!) is so much smaller than the average size of the ladies hereabouts.

I hate that.

I also hate that it's hard to find plus size inspiration floating around for Japanese fashion styles.

Especially when the fashions tend heavily toward the waifish silhouette, it can be very useful to have references for different body types. What's a curvy girl to do when mori girl is the desired style? It can be tough to tell when there isn't someone to look to. How do dolly kei looks work with a larger frame? It can be tough to tell.

This is doubly important if you're not comfortable with your own body in clothing. I have a dear friend who will not look at fashions on bodies like her own, and it's an absolute shame because her body is a good body because it is hers and because it is a body. I wish she looked at herself and others shaped like her and thought "Yes, I am wonderful."

While I am smaller than I was previously, it's still sometimes hard to get the inspiration I need on this front, so I'm collecting a few names of ladies who have inspired me. Maybe they'll inspire you, too.

Review: I Draw Rainbows, The Nerdy Feminist and Wacky Buttons

This is going to be something of a departure from my usual product reviews, but after dropping off the face of the earth last month I wanted to get back into the swing of things.

In terms of what I've been using my creative energy to do, I'm working on a fandom-inspired punk vest for an upcoming convention. As a result I've been trying to coordinate some buttons together for my tote bag and vest. Because of how the timing worked out, I wanted to do a quick review of my button sources.

Getting Into the Pool: Adding Alternative Fashion to Your Wardrobe

In thinking about how I got into alternative fashion, I realized that there are a few different ways that I have seen people get into their fashions of choice.

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Sweet Treats from Rommily

This post has been so long in coming, but I would rather get it out late than not at all. Reader Rommily was kind enough to act as a sort of shopping service for me, purchasing some German sweets for me to try. It arrived late in December, just in time for a very difficult sick day and snowstorm combo to hit. They really made my day!

The box itself was simple, but I wanted to show off this little detail because it's adorable and reminds me of Miyazaki movies.