Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Let's Go Back To School! (Fairy kei and Sweet Lolita Back To School Guide)


Dear Frosted Cake Toppings,

It's that time again boys and girls! Time to go back to school~ I thought I would make a post to help out those sleepy fairy kei girls and sweet lolitas who don't like to wake up in the morning. I always didn't like to get out of bed when it was time for school and would of faired better the first part of the day just staying up all night, though then later in the day I would be passing out! Anywho, this post will cover ways to look cute, even when your too tired to put in the effort or don't have a lot of time in the mornings before school.

Princess Skiteanna's Guide To Sleepy Princesses Going Back To School



(This was written with the assumption that the reader wants to wear fairy kei or sweet lolita to school.)

Step 1: Make Time To Plan Before You Head To Sleep!
It may seem like a no brainer, but don't let time get away from you! I know when school first started each year for me I was able to plan the first few weeks then for some reason I just got lazy and plans fell through. Remind yourself somehow that you need to set out things for the morning. Ever since I discovered the "Sticky Notes" function on my computer I have been able to keep myself on a schedule like never before. I'm a computer addict myself, so I am able to see the sticky notes several times a day. I write something I need to do that day and maybe make daily or weekly schedules of things that need to be done. So, if you just make a small note to make sure you have clothes set out for the next day by, say, 7 o'clock then it might help you remember! Or, if your not big into the computers you could just go the old fashioned route and write it on your hand~ Try not to put things off and get too busy or you may find yourself passing out at night and rushing to get ready in the morning! (Sticky Notes can be found on most if not all Windows 7 computers, I don't know about others since I have Windows 7, but you could always check. Plus, added fun, you can make the notes pink! I wish they had cute stickers to add to them too!)

Step 2: What's The Plan? 
I have had the problem of going too elaborate for a school day. I wake up and I am just too tired to put on the layers and layers I had planned out and end up wearing something dull and uninspired. When planning school outfits always take into account your normal morning energy level. Also, another mistake I have made in picking outfits for school is not taking into account comfort and convience. We are at school and possibly on our feet for many hours and the halls are crowded with kids and sometimes it can be a tight squeeze to get to our desks. Now, we don't want to be getting ran into all the time and we don't want to run into things which might disturb the other students or cause things to be knocked over. We certainly won't appear as poised ladies that way (usually)! When planning outfits we have to take a lot of things into consideration like the things I have mentioned. Make sure it is an outfit you will have no problem wearing all day at school and will be willing to change into in the morning. (Try and give yourself at least an hour to get ready and make sure to decide if you want to shower in the morning or before you go to bed.)

I threw together a few example outfits on Polyvore for fun~ Let's go look how they turned out!

In this first arrangement I tried to make an outfit that works for both casual lolita and fairy kei and would be fairly simple from top to bottom. The picked items are not set in stone items, just ideas of the types of things that would work, something cheaper could easily be substituted. 
Instructions for this type of look 
Head: Just pull back your normal hair into pigtails or some hair style and decorate it simply with cute hair clips.
Torso: Find a cute cutsew that matches in color scheme with the outfit in some way.
Bottom Half: Just find a skirt tha could work in casual lolita and/or fairy kei that also has a color scheme that works with the rest of the outfit. (In this case mint/pink/lavender)
Legs: For this I just have plain tights because I prefer them, but socks could serve the same purpose. 
Shoes: For these shoes I thought something fun to do would be to mix and match the colored shoe for a bit more fun and it went with the mix and matched-ness of the hair clips. What I wanted was on this side < I wanted a mint shoe and the other a pink or lavander shoe, but for some reason I couldn't find a mint shoe on Polyvore like that.
Bag and Accessories: I just chose a lollipop bag, but any cute matching bag would work. As for other accessories something simple like a few pink and lavender bracelets and some kind of necklace. For this outfit a good necklace would be one with a lollipop to match the bag. (Also, I think large pink glasses would be great accessories for school to give you that "smart and cute" look ;) )

For these outfits I paired a more fairy kei outfit with a more simple sweet lolita outfit for some variety. Just follow most of the guidelines above for these outfits too. For those of you who love fairy kei, I would try and steer away from the tutus and tights combo during school and for you lolitas I suggest you don't forget your bloomers at home(A lot of schools have stairs and we can't be sure what people walking below us can see.) Also, when wearing petticoats under skirts try to wear a less poofy one and keep it more casual to give yourself room to walk around things. The shoes should be comfortable, something easy to walk around in that will likely not start to hurt your feet. I also included a jacket on each, because you have to remember a lot of the time schools keep the air condition very high, so even if it's warm outside, it may be cold inside. 

This outfit is one I found that would be perfect for wearing fairy kei to school. It is simple and not too poofy to walk the halls.

These casual lolita outfits would also be just perfect for wearing to school. The poof is a bit smaller and they are sooo cute and well coordinated. The hair is also good, a simple style for a sleepy morning~


Step 3: Remember Hair and Makeup
Even if you have a wonderfully designed outfit, it can be taken away from considerably if your hair is an unbrushed rats nest! Of course you don't have to do anything fancy~ If your super tired in the mornings you could just have a simple prestyled wig ready to go or do a very simple hair style. Here is a link to a great video for simple, quick, and easy hair styles perfect for school! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ha6kjiY_VU&list=UUIdyhVaEoOKd28MEm60A8VA&index=16&feature=plcp) and this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvZ5TvrWN_E) For make-up some mascara, eye shadow, maybe some white eyeliner, and generous amounts of pink blush to the cheeks (Maybe concerler if you need it.) I'm sorry I wasn't able to upload make-up and hair tutorials of my own for this, but I am not able to film right now, though I would love to try my hat at make-up and hair tutorials in the future! (Though I have no expertice with that at all really.. hehe!)

Step 4: Try and Smile!
When you have a smile on your face you'll feel happy and look more approchable, even if you are really super tired and feel a bit like a groggy grumpy monster~ You don't want to give all of the possible new friends the wrong impression!



Step 5: Check Your School Dress Code!!
Maybe this should of been number one. Go on your school website or something before school starts and see if a dress code is listed. Breaking the dress code could result in being forced to change or being sent home. Be sure you know what is appropriate for your school. Another thing to take into consideration is if you have a lot of messy classes, like pottery. (I had that one year and could almost never wear fancy clothes to school with the constant fear of the clay splattering all over them.) Here is a nifty little guide to being lolita even in a school uniform! http://www.wikihow.com/Be-a-Lolita-in-a-School-Uniform

Now to the next thing I wanted to cover in this post, back to school sales!! I don't know about all of you, but I love back to school time for one reason. BACKPACKKKSS! I am a backpack NUT and they have some of the cutest ones ever and I need to get back to the store to pick them up before they are gone. You don't have to be headed to school to take advantage of the sales, I graduated highschool last year and always make sure I look at all the stuff for back to school. They have cheap things good for any artist or writer that are very cheap! Plus, they are great for keeping things organized around the house. Just a passing thought, but don't forget to check those back to school sales before they're gone!
I am actually doing another post after 3 in the morning, it's 5 am right now. (OTL) I pick horrible times to write for my blog, but at least it gets done. Though, I kind of think I forgot a lot of things I planned to include in this post! If I remmeber anything I will just add it later, I am starting to get so sleepy that I can hardly type coherent sentences anymore. Talk to you soon! Have a sweet day and if you have any tips for back to school or ideas for future blog posts feel free to leave a comment! (By the way, if you do a few jumping jacks when you wake up you will get the blood flowing and feel more awake!)

As Always and  Ever So Sleepily Yours,

Skiteanna La~Sweet

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Let's Buy On A Budget! (Skiteanna's Guide To Everyday Fairy Kei and Sweet Lolita on a Budget)


Dear Frilly Colorful Angel Food Cakes,

Hi everyoneee!!!! I had an idea to do this guide in the shower (where all great ideas seem to happen!) I thought that since I was using these same tips to help myself maybe I could help others too! This is a living post and I will be adding more to it as I think of new ways to better it! Now on to the guide I was talking about!!)..

Princess Skiteanna's Guide To Fairy Kei and Sweet Lolita on a Budget 


(This is written under the assumption these readers I talk about want to increase the size of their wardrobe quickly or want to wear everyday or as often as possible.)

Step 1- What Do You Have Already? 
This is more of a step for fairy kei girls/boys(Though, a lot of accesories and things can easily be used for both fairy kei and sweet lolita), you may have many things perfect for a full fairy kei outfit already in your own home. If you had an interest in things that pretain to the style before you even knew the style existed you could have plenty of workable T-shirts you bought at the mall, thrift stores, or even Walmart! Many places sell accesories, tutus and tights that would be perfectly acceptable as well. Even if you are thinking right now that you have nothing and are going nuts just waiting for more money, you could very well be wrong. Fairy kei is all about 80s retro kid culture, ask your family members that may have even lived in the 80s if they have their old clothes stored some where then if you can maybe have some and have a ball! Even if your first couple of tries aren't what you are even willing to label "fairy kei" yet, you could always call it fairy kei inspired and wear it while still feeling good about it. I still suggest going through everything you own and laying it out and examining it. You may not see it's usefulness now, but once you learn to look at things for what they could be rather than what they are you may find you have more already than you ever thought. A good way to do that is to gather a since of what clothes can become through inspiration, which leads right into my next step!

Step 2- Do Your Research!! (Gather as much knowledge and insperation as possible)
Look up the style you love, research it, look at all the pictures of it you possibly can, and save the ones that inspire you the most and look at them as often as possible. I have one folder for outfits others out together and a folder inside it for specific items I may want to add to my wardrobe someday that are affordable and not insanely out of my price range. (Though, then I do have a folder for dream items that would be GGREATTTT to have, but right now it would be a bad investment to buy.) Good sites to just sit and look at outfit ideas are lookbook.nu, livejournal communities (Will list some), fashion/personal blogs, and tumblr.

Step 3- Buy Smart! (What can you use in several looks rather than just a few?) 
One of the most common early mistakes people make is just deciding to work really hard and spend all the money on one outfit and the matching accesories and what they end up with is one outfit. If your on a budget and hungry to get started (like many are) you may want to save the big outfits for later when you already have plenty of outfits and accessories you can mix and match infinate ways. Thrift stores and sales communities have things for very cheap and many starter fairy kei and lolita outfits can be made solely using Bodyline.co.jp, I have very few complaints on the things I have bought from Bodyline over the years and think that it is a great place to shop. If you can't shop online I would ask around your local fashion communities and see if anyone is selling and maybe you could meet-up and exchange money and items, that is a way to save on the shipping if the gas isn't too much as well. When you are ready to buy ask  yourself this question before you close the deal, 'How many outfits can I make with this useing what I already have?' This is a very important question if you want to wear any fashion daily or very often. You likely don't want to be stuck wearing the exact same coordinate, you want to be able to mix and match and always keep it fun and exciting, right? I want that and I think a lot of others do too!

Step 4- Play Like Polyvore! (You can skip this if you can just do it in your head!~)
You could use Polyvore for this, but I have noticed not everything is on Polyvore and if you want specific items you could just do it like this, take photos of all your clothes and load them on to your computer, (like Poupee girl) if you don't have a camera you could try to find pictures online that are of the clothes you own and save all the pictures to a folder to keep them easy to find. After you do that you save pictures of things you want to buy and have decided you could do something with (Possibly in a different folder). You could use paint and put together as many possible full outfit coords you can using the clothes until you decide buying whatever it is you have in mind would be a good investment.

Step 5- Build Your Wardrobe! 
Now that you know the basics, you are ready to buy! I think it would be a good idea to have the goal of at least a weeks worth of seperate fairy kei outfits and a weeks worth of sweet lolita outfits (if your interested in doing both like me and if not just a week or two of one of those fashions.) The outfits can be mixed and matched around so you can successfully wear it everyday! If you have a weeks worth of both that gives you plenty of time to do laundry and prepare outfits for the next days. I am currently in the process of reaching my goal with very little money right now, but I have very high hopes that someday I will reach it and then go even further!

I have found this to be the best way for me personally to reach my goals and I thought theses steps might be helpful to others as well~! I am so so happy to have some people checking on my blog I have seen a few views here and there and I am so glad to know that someone somewhere is reading this! <3 Much love to the readers out there!!

If anyone has other helpful tips please comment with them and help everyone reading and me to better our wardrobes~ (Please tell me if there are any spelling or grammar mistakes at ALL, this was all written really early in the morning before I lost my train of thought!

Links
Fairy Kei Sales Community- http://80s-cuties.livejournal.com/
Sales For Just Bodyline- http://bodyline-love.livejournal.com/profile
Daily Lolita Outfit Ideas- http://daily-lolita.livejournal.com/profile
Good For All Things Lolita- http://egl.livejournal.com/profile
The Sales For The Above Community- http://egl-comm-sales.livejournal.com/profile
Community for Popkei/Fairykei- http://popkei.livejournal.com/profile / http://fairykei.livejournal.com/profile


You can also just look up the community that may exist locally for you! (If one doesn't exist make one and hope for the best! Facebook pages are also good for getting the word out about your comm.

Sleepily Yours, (Again...come on it's 3am!)

Skiteanna La~Sweet

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Let's Go Shopping! (Online Shopping Site That Gives You stuff For FREEE!!)

Dear Sweet Lovelies,

Today I came across a site that seemed like a lot of fun to try! It claims that if you don't want stuff you can give it away for free and get credits to get stuff for free that other people are offering! It sounds wonderful in my opinion and I thought many of you would love to give it a try as well! The most you ever pay is shipping and most postings I've looked at while browsing have FREE shipping!!

https://www.listia.com/signup/1919241 This is my invite link, it claims to give 100 more credits to people who I invite(or that are invited by a member in general) so if you join through the link it helps us both out!

Please tell me of your experiences with this site in the comments!! I'd love to know how it turned out for others~! (:D)

I have a few ideas for new posts and I'm going to try to post several times a week to make up for lost time. I just recently have been sent a few things including fairy kei tutus and lolita petticoats and have been so grateful for that! Hopefully the rest of my stuff will be coming right around the corner! Also, I just started watching this season of America's Got Talent, I didn't have regular cable for a while and ended up missing when it started and just thought to watch it. I love that show! It is amazing to see all the creativity people have and is always a lot of fun (Especially the audition stage)! I don't know about you all, but the outfits are always one of my favorite things to see on the show! Some of them are so wild and original (remember Prince Poppycock? :D)

Anyways, that is really it for this post I just thought I would share the website with those of you that haven't seen it.~

Look at this amazing phone case listed here on the website! SOOO cute! http://www.listia.com/auction/5681434-kawaii-deco-lolita-harajuku-style-bling

Hoppily Yours, 

Skiteanna La~Sweet