Dreaming of Carousels & Carnivals ;D

I have ALWAYS loved going to carnivals & riding the carousel growing up, so naturally, I'm drawn to almost ALL of the Lolita Carousel prints...& I've owned a few for a while...but then ended up selling them...

 I bought this handmade Sweet Rococo print skirt & then embellished it with eyelet lace on the bottom...& I even made waistties...but I only wore it once...& then sold it...somehow the color & pattern never quite matched :/

 then after much debating, I bought the highly coveted Bodyline carousel bag & skirt ;D

I had every intention of wearing it, but somehow the measurements were different & it just barely fit me :(  I ended up selling these as well...

And finally, I managed to snag a brand skirt: Angelic Pretty's Twilight Carnival ^_^

NOT the jsk...I got the skirt ;) but I got it in Ivory, like the picture ^^

Now, this skirt was SUPER PRETTY & I loved everything about it...but...the design of it was weird & it was unfortunately too tight for me :(  So, this one was sold as well...

And after all that, I sort of gave up on the idea of owning any carousel prints...but then...new ones started popping up ;D

First I saw was IW's Merry-go-round

I much prefer the onepiece version as it looks a little more classy ^^

 And of course, there's an amazing matching bag, which helped sway me ^^

But then...AP is coming out with Day Dream Carnival & there's this very lovely JSK version with some chiffon detailing...and the matching tights are super cute ^_^  I wasn't in love when I first saw it, but more & more it's growing on me...And, I'm planning to buy a new Lolita wig, which will look AMAZING with this, so I'm even more tempted... ;D

But...before all that, I need to first sell a bunch of Lolita items I don't wear/haven't worn and then, reorganize my collection(i'm getting more too)...BEFORE buying any new prints...but who knows, maybe this year, I will finally get a carousel print I like XD

Surprise find ^^

I REALLY wanted to find a nice Lolita/vintage looking bag to wear with my classy items, like JetJ & AATP, so I would check out the comm sales, brand sites, closet child...but I didn't find one I really liked :/

Then, I decided to try Etsy since I wanted a vintage look as well...& I came across an interesting listing:
Someone was selling a bag, book, gloves & handkerchief all together ^_^

I debated about it for about a minute & then just decided to buy it XD
So, here it is, my "Church Lady Set" ^_^

Items were packed in newspaper & styrofoam

And first, was the hymnal ^^

 then, a lovely handkerchief & gloves that actually fit me ^_^

Then, the bag, which is worn, but in pretty good condition.

 And it's not too bad a size ;)

 I just love how simple & dainty everything is ;) AND, when I saw the set, I immediately thought of pairing it with...

My AATP Hymn OP ^_^

I can picture doing a photoshoot with these items...maybe in front of or near a church...or maybe in a garden...but I STILL need to find or make a headpiece to go with it ;P

Innocent World LP "Fashion Show/shoot"

A friend asked me to do a "fashion show" with my IW lucky pack items...& I had JUST cleaned the room a bit...SO, I thought i'd give it a try ^_^  It ended up being a lot of fun & it was great thinking of different accessories to use with the pieces ;)  Although, I kept it very fashion show like & kept the same blouse(frill ribbon standing collar blouse in navy) , tights from icing & a pair of maryjanes for each coord ;D

I'd like to imagine some darkly epic background music is playing while wearing these outfits XD
And just ignore the fact that I'm the one taking pics of myself in the mirror ;P And, i'm wearing glasses since i'm too lazy to put on contacts ;P

Anyways, Enjoy! ^^

 JSK w/ a vest worn w/ my new Chess Story Mad Hatter jacket

 And w/out the jacket

 Rose Panel 2-WAY JSK in navy & I decided to hold some flower
(I think i'm gonna sell this one though... ;P )

 Acanthus short jsk in black w/ handmade cape(not by me) & handmade birdcage crown(by me)

 and w/out the cape

A close-up of the design on the acanthus jsk

My pack was very dark themed, so I went w/ Gothic/Classic coordinates ;)

MORE LOLITA SHOPPING & BABY SF review ^^

Along with the excitement of Lucky Pack season...I also made other awesome purchases through the comm sales AND I recently did another BABY SF order ^_^

But first, the comm sales loot ;)

I've been slowly building up my Lolita Wardrobe & trying to find Wishlist items...so, here are some recent hauls ^^

 1) A Lolita winter item: BTSSB's bunny eared cape ^_^

I actually really wanted a lolita coat, but...I'll probably melt here, so I figured a cape would be close enough & keep me warm ^^

 the bonus is definitely the bunny ears XD

2) Outerwear ^^ Chess Story Mad Hatter Jacket

Okay, so this is kind of an impulse buy, but i am majorly OBSESSED with all things Alice in Wonderland themed, so I HAD to get this ;) Plus, a jacket like this will be good for Kodona ;D

3) And then...the wishlist item: AATP Grimoire of the Moonlight Forest corset skirt ^_^

I fell in love with this print first, because the print has a nice vintage feel, so I can wear it in Lolita styles as well as Dolly Kei coords ;)  The name also made me want it too ^^

And now...my 2nd BABY SF review...i think ;D

One key item that i have ALWAYS been missing in my Lolita wardrobe has been...a Parasol ^_^

And not just any parasol, a very frilly one to be used during meetups & such ;)

I would see them on the comm sales, but the prices were always a bit too much...especially shipping...so i got discouraged...And then, a friend of mine was telling me about her experiences ordering from the SF Baby store & so after a couple of successful orders with them, I thought, maybe I can get a parasol from them? Unfortunately, at the time, the SF store was not shipping parasols ANYWHERE :(  I was then convinced I'd have to either find a shopping service or just pick one up if I ever got the chance to go to the SF...

AND THEN...one day on the BTSSB SF fb page, they announced that they were now SHIPPING PARASOLS ^_^

ECSTATIC, I quickly inquired about their stock of parasols to see if there were any I wanted...& Lo & behold, they had a white one in a design I liked ^^

After a few more emails with the store about another item, I ended up just buying the parasol and...IT WAS TOTALLY WORTH IT XD

First of all, it came in super secure packaging AND the shipping was a decent price, under $20 ;D

I'm definitely satisfied with ordering through this store & I'm so glad I kept waiting & didn't just buy one off the comm sales...b/c now i have a beautiful brand new one & i can't wait to use it ^_^

Okay, time for Pictures ;D

 I have a twin sized bed, so u can imagine how big this is O_O

 Super secure packaging ^_^ they put paper at the ends as well, so it wouldn't move around

 & they even wrapped it in one of their shopping bags ;)

 twisty tie for the neck part

 And after taking off all the tape pieces (there were a lot)...there it is, my new parasol ^_^

It's their Rich Frilled Umbrella in white ;)

 And...i may get bad luck for this, but...I opened it to show the fullness & ruffles ;D

There's even some bling by the logo ;D

I'd also like to say that the BABY SF store ships out SUPER FAST every time & I can receive my item/s in as little as 3 days...i'm DEFINITELY going to keep ordering with them...especially since the main online shop changed their policies ;P

Innocent World Lucky Pack ^_^

There is a very special time happening for Lolitas everywhere...& that is...FUKUBUKUROU or LUCKY PACKS ^_^

Last year (2011) I managed to get a Metamorphose lucky pack, which was a little over $100 & i got a blouse, skirt & headband ;D  And even though I got some amazing items, I ended up selling the skirt mainly b/c it wasn't a great fit on me :/  

And so...i decided i wouldn't do any Lolita lucky packs this year (2012/2013)...but then...I kept checking the LJ lucky packs thread & I saw that Innocent World started having theirs up for reserve...& that temptation got the better of me & I gave in & got the "cheapest" Happy Pack A, which was still over $300 ;P

I was going to wait until December to purchase it, but i started reading about how one should order early b/c supply is limited...they good stuff will be gone...etc etc...SO, at the end of November, I placed my order...which ended up being the smarter move, since the next week...they took down the reserves saying everything sold O_O

Overall, ordering went pretty smoothly:
Nov 28: placed order online
Dec 5: paid for lucky pack
then, i figured i'd have to wait until Jan for them to start shipping them out...but then...
Dec 26: Lucky pack shipped out XD
Now, everything was going well up to this point, but then...my package got stuck in customs :/
It ended up being a little better than my jetj dress, but I still had to pay the customs fee...
& then the package finally arrived today(Dec 2) ^^

And after coming home & settling down a bit...i quickly opened the box & checked out the loot...& I was NOT DISAPPOINTED ^_^  Now, what everyone waits for...PICTURES XD

 As always, a lovely note from Mai Sakamoto & my receipt ^^

1) High collar blouse...which i thought was black...but after looking it up...i'm pretty sure it's 

the Frill Ribbon Standing Collar blouse in Navy ^^

 http://lolibrary.org/node/9533

2) I believe these are the Dot Ribbon OTK socks in brown/beige...i think ;)

A friend has the black version ^^

3) Rose Panel 2 WAY JSK in Navy...i think...there's no black, so it must be navy ;)

when i first tried this on, it didn't fit that well...but i think i'll try it again before deciding to sell it or not ^^

http://lolibrary.org/node/8863

 4) This one i knew immediately...Acanthus short JSK in black ^_^

I was hoping i would get this print & when i saw it i was sooo happy XD

It's such a beautiful print & I just love the embellishment at the top ^^

 http://lolibrary.org/node/8385

Last but not least, Another black jsk called JSK with a vest...&...i thought the print was polka dots...but...it's actually a TRUMPS PRINT O_O 

OMG! this dress just became a MILLION TIMES MORE AMAZING ^_^

http://lolibrary.org/node/8292

And with that, I got my interestingly Dark themed Lucky Pack XD

Which was the PERFECT pack for me today after listening to vkei all morning & @ work ;) And!  there's no such thing as too much black ;D  I also feel like maybe the IW people must know me...since there's no pink in this either, heh ^_^

Next, I'd like to try & get one of the bigger packs...& hopefully get a bag in it :3

Juliette et Justine/ Rakuten Review ^^

After drooling over the BEAUTIFUL JetJ dresses in vol 45 of the GLB, I decided to splurge & get one(i already wrote about it many times in previous posts ^^)  XD  But, after checking out the website, I couldn't figure out how to register for their site, so I went through Rakuten:

Official site:
http://juliette-et-justine.com/

Rakuten JetJ:
http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/juliette/

The dress wasn't quite ready on the main website yet & instead they were taking reservations...so, i put mine in ^^ Then, Rakuten emailed me & JetJ confirming my order & later, i got my invoice. I quickly paid, but b/c it was a reserve, I was notified that the dress wouldn't be shipped out until the end of the next month.  And so, the waiting game began...which went well until it was past the end of the month & going into the next month....I got another email...BUT! It was an email saying that there was a flaw in the printing of the fabric & so it would take even longer for the dress to be shipped out :/

They also gave an option of cancelling the order at that time in case i needed it by a certain date...but i didn't, so i kept waiting... thinking it wouldn't come until the next year...  But then, about a week later, i got the email that said MY DRESS SHIPPED OUT!! I thought, yay! i'll still get it in time for Christmas ^_^ AND THEN, today....I finally got it...& it's waay more beautiful in person...but that seems to be how it is for a lot of brands XD

Anyways, as usual, here's the timeline...& then...what everyone looks for...PICTURES ^_^

Sept 18: Ordered through Rakuten, email sent to me & JetJ
Sept 20: Received email directly from JetJ with notice of invoice sent(through paypal, yay!) & that I have 7 days to pay.
Sept 21: Order confirmation email sent from Rakuten after paying.
Sept 25: Email from JetJ saying when item will ship out & that they'll send tracking info when it does.

Dec 4: Received email from JetJ explaining about delay & giving option to cancel order in case dress won't come it time. (I decided to wait it out...i REALLY wanted the dress...)
Dec 13: Email from JetJ saying order shipped & gave tracking info (EMS).
Dec 18: PACKAGE ARRIVED...BUT! I was charged with a pretty high customs fee...
they DID NOT mark down the cost & kept it at the retail value O_O
~But, it could've been worse, so i'll just accept it...my mom had to pay it though since i was at work, so now i have to pay her back...i'll just make a mental note for next time XD

 Yay! It finally came...unfortunately, with customs charges...

 After having issues taking off the outside wrapping, i came to a simple cardboard box

 & inside, my invoice & a card & sheet showing my item ^^

 And then, the package, which was wrapped so nicely ^^

 Finally...MY DRESS ^_^

 IT'S SOOOO BEAUTIFUL!

 Some pics of details...

 Tag with size

 And the fabric is so gorgeous, soft & lightweight...here's the front

 And the back ^^

 And then, moment of truth...IT FITS! HOORAY!!

It actually fits me REALLY well, which i was so surprised...i actually won't need to "cheat" for this one ;) 

 closeup of print...there's pleating, so some of the design is hidden ;)

And a back view ^^ I HAD to try it on with the matching tights ^_^

Overall, I was super duper excited to order my first JetJ item & now that I know my style is more classic, I may have to invest in more later on ;)  XP And I'm officially in love with all things Bordeux XD Now all I need is a long petticoat ;P

BLOG NEWS: I'm waiting for one more item...& then...WARDROBE POST XD Coming VERY soon ^^