dress, polyvore

Dressing up a dress

I was thinking about how some of my dresses I only wear very rarely, because they’re not versatile.  I don’t go to cocktail parties very often (or never) but I do go to university, to work, to the shops, to church, and occasionally to fancy events like performances and parties.  So if I want a dress to really work for me, it needs to be able to be worn casually and dressed-up.  I made a few polyvore coordinates using a dress I own from UniQlo.  I liked it because it’s cute and spotty, and also because it’s a collaboration with the cute Japanese brand Milk.  Plz excuse how it looks in the coordinates, it looks way better on a human.  Most Milk dresses are like that I find!
First coordinate: Casual.
This is the exact coordinate I wore in Sweden when we recorded Maria’s piece.  Grey jeans, cons, dress and cardigan.  The dress is short enough that it looks good with jeans, as long as they’re the skinny variety.  This is a good look for going shopping or whatever, because it’s comfy.
Casual
Next: Fun!
In this coordinate I wanted to play up the cute pink and blue spots on the dress by pairing it with pink tights and cardigan, and a blue brooch and shoes.  Love those shoes!  They’re Melissa.
This kind of coordinate is good for parties (fun colours yay) or a casual day where you want to add a bit of colour (except maybe not with those heels!).
Fun
Lastly: Classy.
What is a classier colour than black?  There is no classier colour!  This coordinate is pretty simple, the belt and necklace are the only items added really.  It’s still fun though, with the spotty shoes from Irregular Choice.  I’d wear this coordinate to dinners, cocktail parties and the like.  This dress is still a fun dress no matter how you wear it!
Classy
Maybe I’ll make some more posts like this.  It’s the kind of thing I like to do!
dress, dresses, melche shutilforc, victorian maiden, wishlist

Dresses for the Summer

Since I’m going to America in their Summer (my Winter), I’ll need some nice cool dresses to wear!  And all the great brands are coming out with new dresses for Summer in Japan!  Here are my two favourite that I’m considering buying:
First is another Melche Shutilforc beauty.  It comes in two colourways, this gorgeous brown X pink, and a cream top X light blue floral skirt.  This was only released today I think!
It also has a detachable halter neck with frills.  Cute!  I also really like the underskirt peeking out.
Which colour would be best on a paleface like me?
And this lovely Victorian Maiden summer dress.  It comes in three colourways: this one (cream and purple flowers), cream and yellow flowers, and black and white gingham.  I think I’d go for the cream and yellow colour.  This is still on reserve, due to come out in May.
I’m not usually a fan of fully shirred items, but this is done very well.  It’s nice and understated.  I like the ruffled neckline.  It looks so cool!  Able to be worn without a blouse for maximum air flow!
One thing these dresses have in common is that they’re quite casual.  I could wear these to the shops, or to a cocktail party, depending on my shoes and how I wear my hair.  I like clothes like that!
To be able to wear them in America for what I’m doing, it’s important to be able to breathe and move easily.  A lot of dresses I’ve bought (thankfully not the expensive ones!) are really pretty but constrict my giant rib cage* and so never get worn.  It’s kind of a shame!  I would like to fix them but don’t want to fail and ruin a lovely dress.  The Melche Shutilforc dress looks a little constricting but the VM one looks amazingly comfy.
I added these two dresses to my Wishlist, because in all honesty, I wish I had them.
dress, wedding

Mind: blown

I just read this blog over at Painting The Roses Pink about lolita weddings.  She posted up the usual stuff, churches, cakes, invitations, and dresses.  But some of the dresses blew my mind!  They’re by a Japanese brand called Sugar Kei, which as far as I can tell, rents out amazing wedding attire.  Maybe that’s what Japanese people do for weddings – rent dresses instead of buying.  Sounds sensible, but a bit sad to give it back afterwards!  Anyway here’s the eye candy:

Speaking of wedding dresses, my parents brought my Nana’s wedding dress from 1940 home from Melbourne.  She left it to me when she died in 2009.  She actually wanted ME to get married in it a few years ago, but I politely explained that I wasn’t getting married and I also wanted to buy my own dress.  It’s 70 years old so quite dated!  It’s a bit damaged, but in pretty good nick for something so old.  I might steam the creases out and take photos some time!
Dresses!
co-ordinate, dress, juliette et justine, outfit

One dress three ways!

Today it was finally cool enough to wear this dress without worrying about sweating! I have a low heat tolerance.  I bought this dress a few weeks ago from the EGL sales community and have been dying to play around with outfits since.  It’s by Juliette et Justine, and is called Fleur et Rose.
It is quite a long dress with an A-line shape, so it’s not the puffy “lolita” silhouette but a much more demure, elegant shape.  I curled my hair 🙂
First, a simple co-ordinate.  This dress is so pretty you only need shoes and pearls to make it work!
Shoes: Vintage, from a cute shop in Perth.  I love them, they’re my sparkly ruby slippers.
This one is a bit teacher-ish.  Offbrand blazer and brooch, shoes from MaruiOne in Shinjuku (can’t remember the brand).

I think this works quite well but is a little harsh with the black x florals.
Shoes: Betts
Gloves: Vintage
Bolero: ValleyGirl
Choker: Diva (I think)
The room is actually about to get new carpet in, and has just been painted!  So it’s a good place to take outfit photos.
Cross posted to Daily_Lolita