Classical Doll ♥

Sydney Supanova Convention!

2011-06-21T10:10:00.002+10:00

Hello!

This past weekend was Sydney's biggest pop culture convention of the year - Supanova! There were records of over 20,000 people attending on Saturday alone. It was more crowded than ever before!

Tash, Jess, Ko and I bought weekend tickets and stayed at a hotel together on Friday and Saturday night.

There's not much else to say, besides it being a fun but VERY exhausting experience, so I'll let the photos do the talking!!

Friday night:
We went to the convention to give some of my Lolita items to the One Day In Paradise Stall for reselling. Afterwards we lined up to get a token for a photo with Tom Felton! We stayed in that line for 3 hours!!!!!!!!! Afterwards we just went home because we were tired, cold and hungry! We explored the hotel (at 12am), they had a huge terrace which had views over central station and the city.

Saturday:
I dressed in Classic Lolita ♥ Most of my items were Innocent World.

On the train there!

With our hot friend Jacky as Amber from Suckerpunch. (She made her costume!)

Then we found the Monopoly man, who gave us $500 each ;D

With my friend Max as a ghostbuster!

Where's Wally!

Batman!

With a guy dressed as Shinku from Rozen Maiden

Two Tuxedo Masks from Sailor Moon.

Gladiator men!

annnnd... photo of the day:

With Tom Felton!! I can't believe I got to meet him! We hugged and he said "I like your hat" XD and I could barely stay calm when I said "It's sooo nice to meet you!!" This lasted only 15 sec though D;

On the train back..

Sunday:
Ko and I decided to be schoolgirls!

On the train there!

Schoolgirl friends from different schools XD Anna, me, Cming and Ko !

Xmen (?)

(???)

Jack Sparrow!!!! :D

Gladiator men again haha.

Waiting for Cosplay Competition to start... Feeling exhausted :( We sat there for 4 hours in the end!

KAMEHAMEHA (?) competition. The little boy won!

Being arrested...

Self explanatory!

2011 Sailor Man!! (we look for one every year!)

That's all ! But here is another bonus photo of silliness in the hotel:

It was such a fun weekend, but really exhausting.. We all agreed that we'll attend on the saturday only next year.

I hope you had fun reading this! ♥
Juliette

My first deco project! ☆彡

2011-06-12T20:44:00.007+10:00

Hello!

Last week I went to a vintage & antiques fair. One of the things I bought was a petit-point powder box. It was quite dirty and could have been much prettier.. so I decided to polish it and deco it! ♥

I forgot to take a "before" photo, so this is with half the box cleaned for comparison!

The dirty side..

And the clean side! ♥ It made a big difference already!

Then it was time to bring out the deco supplies and experiment with a few different designs.

I decided to put a circle of pearls around the top edge.

Then I glued them down carefully! It looked very cute! (sorry for the sparkles, I couldn't resist..)

I continued to experiment.. using larger sized pearls and rose cabochons, and calculating the right amount before gluing them down.

At the back I finished with 5 pearls!

The finished result! (Sorry for the bad lighting) I still have to decorate the inside, but I'm quite happy with how the outside looks! <3 It's a bit more sweet-looking than I had hoped, but it still suits the classic aesthetic and is a lovely addition to my bedroom and it matches my decorations! ♥ ♥

Another time I shall post with how the inside looks! What do you guys think? You're welcome to suggest what to decorate next! :)

♥ Juliette

P.S. I heard a beautiful piece today by Purcell. I will strive to find the exact recording I heard, as it was so stunning.. but for now this recording shall suffice. The text is so powerful and moving..

If love's a sweet passion, why does it torment?
If a bitter, oh tell me whence comes my content?
Since I suffer with pleasure, why should I complain,
Or grieve at my fate, when I know 'tis in vain?
Yet so pleasing the pain, so soft is the dart,
That at once it both wounds me, and tickles my heart.

I press her hand gently, look languishing down,
And by passionate silence I make my love known.
But oh! I'm blest when so kind she does prove,
By some willing mistake to discover her love.
When in striving to hide, she reveals all her flame,
And our eyes tell each other, what neither dares name.

Use of Tumblr

2011-06-11T17:10:00.004+10:00

Hi everyone!

This is a brief message to let you know that I tend to use tumblr too sometimes. Although some images are NSFW. This is still my main lolita blog.

Here's the link: http://eggshell-blue.tumblr.com/

I have an entry coming up in this blog about a little box that I deco'd a few days ago. It's nothing special, but I took progress pictures, so I thought I might as well share. I have not decorated the inside just yet.

I have had a wonderful few days lately, I hope you all have too!
♥ Juliette

Misc + Concert + Film

2011-03-21T20:39:00.009+11:00

Hello dears!

Firstly, I'd like to post a few little things which are a bit miscellaneous. This blog entry will be quite a short one, so I am filling in space with pretty and interesting things!

A little while ago I went to Bondi to visit Spotlight as they were having 20% off everything, and I needed some more fabric for my cosplay. While there I walked through the shopping centre and saw a lovely window display for perfumes.

Being a design student, little things like this capture my eye. I love how sensual and aromatic the set looks; flowers instantly add a romantic, feminine and nostalgic quality.

Something else which is quite romantic is the view from my bedroom window!

I love living on top of a hill, on the highest level of our apartment! Most of the time the summer sunsets are blocked by buildings to the left, but in winter I have a perfect view of them. Sunset is by far my favourite time of day; such a sweet, lingering atmosphere.. but also melancholy.

Anyway, it's quite hard to see in the above photo [click to enlarge] but my favourite thing about the view is the church in the distance (a little triangle around the centre of the photo) and have spent many years gazing in that direction :)

In fact, I went for a walk in the church's courtyard last week.. ♥
Lately I have been wearing a lot of casual Lolita.. (please excuse my parent's dirty mirrors..)

I need more non-print skirts and dresses. I won something on Mbok just yesterday, I can't wait for it to arrive! ♥

On Friday night I went to see a concert by the sydney consort. It was held at St Augustine's Church, Balmain.

The program consisted of Handel, Vivaldi, Johnson, Loeillet de Gant, Bach, and Tedesco. There were several pieces for two harpsichords, which was wonderful to hear in person. The other instruments were 2 guitars and a violin. The concert was lovely, but I was extremely exhausted and sleep deprived, so I was very glad to get home that night.

The next morning, I had a nice breakfast with my bf, and then went to Manly with a few Lolitas, as we were 'extras' for a Lolita movie that our friend was organising. Everyone had luggage cases full of clothes / props and the ferry ride was very exciting and scary - the huge ship was rocking quite badly because the water was choppy and it was a windy, rainy day. The motions could even be seen from a distance!

That day we unpacked all our things and arranged the set (2 rooms). The aesthetic of the film was OTT sweet lolita. Here are a few sneak peeks:

The next day was a 6am start, and we all started getting ready!

I was happy to add subtle classic hints to my outfit that day! ( no photos just yet!)

In between shooting Jess and I were being silly :)

Normal :) & :[

Cheeeky ;p & 8p

Sleep deprived! 8D & 8D

Then Holly joined the party and we were alllllll so tired!

Just like I still am now.. I'm not really sure when they will finish editing the movie, but it may be a few months at least :( I am NOT looking forward to seeing myself, oh dear.. XD

I hope you all enjoyed this post, it was a bit longer than expected..
♥ Juliette

Marionette Video

2011-03-17T21:30:00.003+11:00

I'm not an Ayumi Hamasaki fan, but the backup dancers in this video are amazing, the baroque style dance/wrist movements are executed so well with a combined clockwork doll/marionette idea!

I just wanted to share! :) [The first half is better than the 2nd half!]

A new post is coming soon!! Don't forget to ask me a question on formspring!! http://www.formspring.me/ClassicalDoll

Juliette

Gothic & Lolita Bible Volume 39

2011-03-16T20:39:00.007+11:00

Hi everyone!

Today is a small entry about the latest GLB which I bought recently.

The first [and last] time I bought one was many years ago when I first got into the fashion, and I bought the 1st volume, in all its "old-school" lolita glory. Since then I didn't buy lolita magazines, until I discovered KERA and since they were more affordable, and included all the other Japanese fashion that I like, it was the only lolita-related magazine I bought.

So imagine my delight, when I bought the latest GLB and found so many wonderful things!

As soon as I open the cover, there is half a page of 'Baby, the Stars Shine Bright' stickers! ♥

The page layouts are sooo cute! A nice change from the more cutting-edge designs in Kera.

It was exciting to see a photoshoot! (I need that bonnet! ♥)

Making doll clothes is so sweet! I liked basically every photo in this series, but I won't spam you guys with them all!

There was also a few dresses which I have added to my wishlist, primarily this IW x Gosick OP (which i've eben eyeing since the first NEWS of it being designed!)

And this gorgeous Juliette et Justine dress, such a baroque print ♥ (I need those wallpaper tights too!)
Print closeup (click to enlarge) ♥

Another cute detail was a 'clothing care' double page spread, illustrated by Imai Kira! It's so cute, showing how to correctly wash / iron blouses, and how to store petticoats/shoes/bags correctly among other things!

As usual, had a small manga section which I'm sure is in every issue. I love this artist too!

One of the best things in this volume was the GREAT amount of Innocent World items /co-ordinates! Best of all was a pattern for this lovely OP!!

I will have to decide what colour I want it in.. it's so sweet in navy... ♥

Some more cute patterns - I love detachable collars!! I want to make one soon.. have to decide on a colour.. any suggestions? I would love to have a plain ivory one with lots of lace and a brown bow, but I can make multiple!

A set of fake nails which I bought for a special project.

Lately I've had some extra time to sew so I've made progress on Victorique's bonnet..

I don't like how the gaps at the top are so far apart.. but then again.. who cares! I'm sure it won't be too noticeable when worn.

If you're curious.... here is the scary looking base I made from an old straw hat! (first time making a bonnet, I know it looks terrible!!)

I want to finish it this week.. I managed to finally buy all the fabric colours I need for the cosplay!

(I know most lolita's do not like to be associated with cosplay or anime, but I only got into it this year! Last time I had any interest in anime was at 14 years of age. I am using this cosplay as a practice for sewing dresses / bonnets too!)

That's all I can write at this point in time, thanks to the recent followers of my blog, I'm so happy!!♥

Juliette

Rococo Picnic

2011-03-13T00:10:00.002+11:00

Hello!

As promised, the photos from the picnic, held at the historic Como House! ♥ (some photos are borrowed from friends, but most of them are mine!)

We were all seated near this lovely fountain!

A perfect scene, except the cars in the background. Frilly girls everywhere, leisurely strolling or sitting, enjoying the dreamy atmosphere, enhanced by the harp's serene sounds (under the tree).

These people hired their costumes :)

They looked so authentic :)

But wait, romance in a secluded area! ♥

The flawless Amy and her boyfriend! I was so happy to finally meet her, she is amazing :)

Perfection!!!! ♥

A lovely melbourne lolita that I met on the tram on the way there :)

Amy powders her hair - the birds look worried!

The lovely Liza! We went on a tour of the house, but were not allowed to take photos inside, so I took a few on the balcony..

A small part of the picnic setting :)

Cute sleepy dog! It yawned right after this photo ♥

Just like a scene from a movie!

A game of croquet~
super cute lolitas!

After the harpist left, we were graced by four lovely voices!

There's hardly any photos of me because I looked so terrible!! I really should have bought a wig, and I couldn't wear the dress I was planning to, so everything was quite rushed :( Here are two little photos, please pay no attention to them!!

I had an amazing day, I was so sad when it was over.. I hope there is another event like this soon!! :)

I hope you enjoyed this post!
♥ Juliette!

☆ Melbourne Trip - Part 1 ☆

2011-03-08T23:19:00.000+11:00

Hello everyone!

On Friday 4th March I went to Melbourne with my bf. The plane left very early in the morning, so we had to wait a few hours before the hotel could let us in to our room.

I spotted an advertisement about a Disney exhibition, so to pass the time we went there! ♥

Sadly no photos could be taken inside the exhibition. There was a special section for every Disney princess (excluding Mulan and Jasmine[too 'sexy' for children apparently!]) and it included ORIGINAL storyboard sketches, cels, moulds and some animation (usually songs).

It was so lovely, I'm really happy I got the chance to see it. It would have been better if I was wearing lolita that day, but oh well..

On the following day, I was alone as my bf went to the air show, so I met up with a friend and we went on a horse carriage ride in a part of the city! Many photos were taken!

So exciting!!
It was a victorian style carriage, with carpeted and cushioned interiors, and also a roof!

This photo was quite over exposed, but I still like it (so much wonder and amazement!).

This was the only photo of the carriage, and I looked terrible! It looked very much like the horse carriages in Gosick, an anime I started watching this year. ♥

(okay not very clear pictures, but hopefully you get the idea!) We had white horses too :)

After the carriage ride I went to have some High Tea at the Hopetoun Tea Rooms.

Delicious window display!

I just had to pose in front of it :) ( my face looks a bit strange, sorry!!)

I had the most delightful Mademoiselle Grey tea, and [when I went back on Monday] I bought a box of it to take home ♥ The taste is ever so delicate, as it is infused with rose petals.

The next day was the grand Rococo Picnic, but that deserves a post of its own, which will be coming soon! I need to get to sleep as uni starts early tomorrow.

I hope you enjoyed the recount thus far. (less text, more photos!) ♥
Juliette

P.S. If anyone is curious, here is my flickr account, where you can see my small doll collection and their background stories :)

Warehouse Photoshoot with Holly

2011-03-02T22:38:00.000+11:00

Model: Holly (with a handmade dress!♥)
MUA/Lighting Assistant/Styling: Cming (she was absolutely fantastic!♥)
Photographer: Me

I might just skip on recapping that day since nothing interesting happened, besides a group of photographers rudely using my set/model for "test" photos.. this shoot was a month in planning, with a great deal of time and effort dedicated to achieving a good result. Luckily they didn't stick around for too long, but it was still unnerving. :(

Anywho, on to the photos you've been waiting for! I included some funny/"behind the scenes" photos.
The watermark is just my deviantart account for now(not that you'll find these photos there just yet), I really must set up a website soon!

I hope you enjoy ♥ ** click to enlarge**

I have about 4 favourites from this set, which I will possibly upload to my portfolio/art sites evetually. I realised I forgot to share Cming's Sailor photoshoot on here..

I think this might be my last blog entry until next week, for I am going to Melbourne on the weekend. I shall attend the Rococo Picnic hosted by the lovely Amy, and there will be possibly photos from that event also! I'm sooooo excited for it!! :D

I hope you enjoyed this post, let me know your favourite photos~ ♥
Juliette

Q&A

2011-03-02T18:09:00.000+11:00

Hello dears!

I decided it would be fun to set up a formspring.me especially so I can answer a question every time there's a new post!

You can ask me questions anonymously if you so wish. Please keep it somewhat relevant to the blog, if you wish for it to be answered here, otherwise I will just answer it on the formspring page! :)

(Rude and inappropriate questions will be deleted.)

A post is coming in a few hours time, with the long-awaited results of the photoshoot.
(I am feeling very insane at the moment because I'm already thinking about uni assessments and I'm trying to work on 3 unrelated things at once!!)

See you all in a few hours! ♥
Juliette

Gift Fair + Convention + Baroque Concert

2011-02-27T17:05:00.000+11:00

Hello Everyone! ♥

I have just noticed I have 15 followers now, thanks very much! :) This week has been so crazy, I haven't had time to post, but surely, many things have happened!

There was a Gift Fair on at Darling Harbour Convention Centre, which is for business owners only, however my mother usually gets me an extra pass so I can browse the lovely things that are sold there. The majority of it is home decorating, toys, jewellery, some clothing, ceramics, fake flowers, and household devices.

There is a lovely shop which I like to visit every time I go; Miss Rose Sister Violet which sell all kinds of lovely things, handcrafted with gorgeous fake flowers; from hair pieces, to lamps, makeup bags, sweetly perfumed sacks of pot-pourri, and the list goes on and on! Everything is adorned with delicate lace, floral fabrics and shabby chic aesthetics. I'll let the photos do the talking.. ♥

The set up of the shop was simply divine, and very inspiring ♥ I have made a plan to decorate my dresser/mirror with the folded sheet music aesthetic like they have surrounding their store, it's so sweet and elegant. I need to visit some stores which sell old sheet music, as I want it to look authentic, printed-out sheet music won't have the same effect!

Of course I couldn't resist buying a few things from there (and from the gift fair in general) so here are a few things I bought:

From Miss Rose Sister Violet, a board for displaying brooches / hair accessories, and also 3 lovely hair pieces (6 was the minimum order, so I split it with my friend and fellow blogger Ria who came with me on one of the days). I gave one of mine to my dear friend and also fellow blogger Ko. She came with me on another day, and we were so inspired that we decided to buy lots of fake flowers and lace and make our own accessories to sell! ♥ Most of these items are going to be shipped to me since they were not selling everything "off the stand", only a few items.

I also got a huge (60cm x 60cm) cushion I couldn't resist, from a designer cushion stall! I am planning to buy an old chair from a thrift store and re-upholster it, but i'm not sure if it's still there.. in any case this cushion nicely supports my back on my piano chair!

I also bought a gold photo frame with 3 'windows' and angels on top. I am making a cross stitch for it, on 25 count fabric, it's so small that I'm on the borderline of needing a magnifying glass, but at least it's not 32 count. I will share the photo of the frame when I have completed the cross stitch (hopefully end of this week) :)

Lastly, I bought a large tote bag from leathery material, it looks very dolly-kei! I forgot to take a proper photo of it, so forgive me for the unclear webcam image.

Tomorrow I will upload some shots from the photoshoot I did with my friend Holly! ( I am so behind, I know!)

I'll finish off this post with a small recap of yesterday; I went to the Armageddon Convention which was pretty small and uneventful.. I did get to see a few lolita friends which was nice, and we took many funny photos, here's one of them:

With my dear Ko and Jess! It looks like a 'photobooth' picture, but it's not.. our twinning is so symmetrical! The roof made this photo look scary as well! We had dinner in the city after the convention.

After the dinner I went to City Recital Hall Angel Place to see a baroque concert, "Amore Italiano" with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, who are truly masters of playing on historic insturments. The program consisted of love songs from Renaissance and Baroque Italy, and they were sung by a guest performer, Marco Beasley.
He did an amazing job of not only delivering the music beautifully, but ejecting emotion into every piece, whether it be full of vivacity, or deeply melancholy, and he did this by acting on stage! It was truly delightful to see - he made funny faces/actions, sombre symbolism/showing anguish in his face with eyes closed, even had a long piece of blue satin for a prop. A truly spectacular performance and I'm very glad I went!

In the intermission I met lots of lovely people who were just friendly and wanted to chat about the performance and music, and we shared our musical backgrounds.

The continuo organ was played by Paul Dyer, and it was decorated beautifully with the pipes visible and angel statuettes. Sorry about the stand being in the way.

I hope you enjoyed this post ♥ I shall try to upload the photoshoot tomorrow!
Juliette

GET

2011-02-16T21:13:00.000+11:00

Hi~!

Today I recieved my Closet Child order :)

My no-spending-on-lolita-in-February plan is still working out well, because technically I placed the order in January (and waited a month to be invoiced)!

First, the accessories! (click to enlarge)

I'll take a more detailed photo another time. Above: fluffy scrunchy, classical/gothic blue cameo brooch, pink pearls necklace with detachable bow and fluff ball, black crown ring, deer necklace (heavy!), angel frame necklace (I thought about co-ordinating it with my cage dress when I'm finished!), and lastly an emblem necklace.

It was so fun unwrapping the accessories because I forgot which ones I ordered! I really wanted to do a black x blue co-ordinate for a really long time, so I'm collecting items for it ♥

Next, the clothes!

When a dream IW dress popped up I had to get it! It's one of the very very few prints I like with music notation, as it looks hand written rather than "computerised" like most prints. It's so sad, because music is everything to me, and I still do not have a music print because I was so picky (and holding out for this one!) with the only other exception the hymn print which I've talked about in an earlier post.

Detail photo: Notice how there is actually an angel among the rose!! ♥ Also, sadly the dress doesnt fit (but I had to buy it anyway, sigh) so I'm thinking of making it into a high waist skirt, but the bodice is sooo cute I feel bad about cutting it up. Adding shirring is an option, though I dont know if it will do the trick since the dress sits a bit strangely on me already :( (and then after I bought this I found out a shirred version was released, nooo!)

Anyway, here's the other item I bought!

Kind of really difficult to make out, sorry :( It's a black bolero/cropped victorian jacket type of thing by Exentrique. The back of the sleeves have pearls attached, there's a flocky dragon style print, and there is a bow at the front to keep it together! THIS IS AMAZING! It was an impulse buy, and I wasn't sure if I'd like it in real life, but it's absolutely gorgeous!

Since I'm falling behind in GET posts I'll put the other things I have purchased recently in this post too!

The blouse from a post ago! There was actually a bit of confusion, and in the end I got the right one ;D

With the bow tied up it looks so much more doll like! ♥

A quick co-ordinate.. (sorry for messy everything; hair, room, etc). It looks quite cute with the sleeves pulled up! I can't wait to wear this blouse in winter :)

Blooooomerzz. I needed long white ones :)

Very pretty pressed powder, It smells like rose/has rose extract and is SPF50+ ♥ (I will be buying lots of DollyWink cosmetics soon!)

Today I went location scouting with Holly for our shoot, here's a sneak preview!! ;)

So exciting! I can't wait :D It should be done in a week!

Then we went to Norita to play JENGA and eat/relax :)

Lastly, we went past the Asian CD store, and I HAD To buy a Girl's Generation poster! I walked past it too many times wanting it >_<

So here it is..

..brighening up my room! ♥

Sorry for the long delay, I got very sick helping my mother on Valentine's Day and the preparation for it (she is a florist, it's the biggest, craziest time of year) with minimal sleep too, which I am trying to catch up on! I have a few ideas for upcoming posts ♥ :)

♥ Juliette

Tea Party !

2011-02-10T20:24:00.000+11:00

Hello dears!

I have 10 followers now! I'm so happy, thanks you guys! :3

On Feb 5th I went to a Lolita tea party, held at a Sydney Loli's house. She did an amazing job hosting the event, with immaculate details everywhere, from food/drinks to the decor of her house! All the girls who attended agreed that it was a million times better than the Tea Room at Queen Victoria Building , who charge $40 for a small (but filling) meal of bitesized pieces, then usher you out, as the tables are booked 1 week in advance and there is high demand. Of course it's lovely there, but it was nothing compared to this!

Anyway, on to the photos! (all taken by my lovely friend Cming ♥ )

The house was so beautifully decorated with antique things, teacups and paintings!

YAY!

Cute dog! She had 3 ♥

Mini sandwiches and amazing punch drink! (it was around 36 degrees outside that day!)

Mini quiches, all handmade and so delicious!!

The lovely hostess pouring us tea in antique teacups!

She made heart-shaped pieces of colourful sugar for the tea!

Enjoying the lovely tea~! ♥ (I picked a pale blue teacup!)

And eating delicious cake, with my love: raspberries! XD

I wish I lived in that house!! We socialised after eating to have a break, and played with the dogs too! :)

We\ were taken to another room, for the 2nd serving of food!! All handmade by the hostess! ♥ TONNES of food, we didnt even get to try everything because we were so full!!

Everything was perfect, down to every last detail! I am still in awe of it all ♥

Chandeliers in every room *-* Group photo time!!

A normal one and a silly one ;) also, one lolita left before we took this photo! ;(

Anyway after the high tea, two friends and I went to watch the Chinese New Year parade! It was lots of fun :)

I hope you enjoyed this post, everyone! When was the last time you had high tea, or baked something sweet? :)

♥ Ju

New Items (preview)

2011-02-09T21:33:00.000+11:00

Hello!

I just wanted to share a few previews of my new AH blouse. Although the design is lovely, I am greatly disappointed at the fact that it doesn't fit despite me giving my measurements, and desired length, etc. It seems they ignored it all.. :'( The buttons at my chest gape really badly, and the back of the blouse is so long it goes all the way past my butt! D;

Looks like another under-jsk-only blouse :'(

It's very old school gothic / classic and more baroque inspired, with gathered sleeves at the wrist, 3 rows of frills on the front, and a high neck collar.

More to come soon!
♥ Ju

GET + good news ♥

2011-02-01T22:21:00.001+11:00

Hi everyone!

I have a few things to mention in this post :)

Firstly to get my parcels out of the way, I want to share what I recieved on Monday! ♥

First box: items from the IW sale. Delivered by an awkward man, who looks at me and says my name, as if recognising me, and asks if I remember him. I vaguely do but not really, so I say no, and it happens he was in my class in year 4, and I saw him one other time several years ago when at the public library. It seriously creeped me out because he looked about 40 :/ then he started making small talk, like "what are you doing these days" and I replied "umm.. uni.." and then it looked like he was going to ask something else, but I cut it short and said thanks and closed the door slowly. I don't like seeing people from my childhood, especially a select few bunch of people, and he was one of them. I feel bad about it, but I'm really annoyed now that he knows where I live... :/

Anywho! On to the items :)

Navy trench coat with detachable capelet, and navy OTK socks.

The socks have cute heart perforations (?)

Worn. Sorry for the ugly photo. As you can see it *just* fits which is good. The back view is super cute, but I will get better shots when it's actually cold outside. The only problem is that the button on the left side of my chest is a little awkward but I think that was my fault. The coat is heavier than I expected, as it is lined (with cute white and pink polkadot / ribbon lining!) and it feels like umbrella texture fabric(but nicer!).

Socks! And the next item, my dream dress for ages! ♥

This is the back view of the bustle ♥

I was so happy when I opened the box and saw it! The first thing that surprised me was the different colours than I had expected! On the site they edit their pics a lot, so it's hard to tell the exact colour of things. This dress has a lot of beige accents, which makes it look very antique~ ♥ The next thing I noticed was the detailed print! Truly spectacular seeing it up close :) no photos yet! The poof is fantastic too, the shape is perfect!

ANYWAY in the above photo I was wearing a corset, in the hope of making it fit, but alas it is slightly too small ! It seems their measurements were slightly off again on the site, which has happened to me before. I don't mind altering brand though, as it's 'just clothes' and if I really love a piece I dont want to sell it for a very long time (if ever!), and get enjoyment and wear out of them. So lucky that this dress should include waist ties, as most IW things dont! My next step is to find a VERY trustworthy and affordable seamstress / alterations place and get this done by March..

It's the same print as my pullip Lenore's dress, though not the exact same dress design, since hers has no bustle and I really wanted one, so I opted for this option instead. Unfortuantely it's quite short on me ;( but oh wellllll. I still want to twin with her some day :3 *need a long blonde wavy wig*

My 2nd parcel contained my long-awaited Lief dress!

The two white ones are for 2 lovely friends who decided to group order :D I'm the odd one out and went for gold on black print, I couldnt resist..

The length is totally TO DIE FOR. I want all my dresses this length ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ It hits me somewhere around my calves which is nice. The quality is superb!! The print is very clear and crisp. The velveteen material feels so~ good, very smooth. soft and flowing. The draping is excellent, as you can see. For the photo above I put my petticoat on very low, and it creates the most gorgeous poof! I need to invest in a long petticoat asap!

That's it for the new packages this week :)

The good news I mentioned earlier in the post is small, but exciting. Early dance classes begin again on Thursday night, and also I will be continuing harpsichord lessons hopefully around the 21st Feb. I am trying my best not to spend this month, and instead sew some dresses, and furthermore I start uni again towards the end of this month, so it's all quite exciting!

The weather is shocking this week, it reached 41 degrees today where I was... and currently it's 29 degrees, I dont think I can sleep in this heat. The rest of the week is promising temperatures of 32 - 35 :( Please, let this week be the end of high temperatures until next summer!!

I hope you're staying cool, (or warm if you're in another place in the world!)
♥ Ju

☆ My Trip to Armidale & Glen Innes ☆

2011-01-30T12:58:00.000+11:00

Hi everyone, prepare yourselves for a huge picture post and recount of my trip last week!

★ DAY ONE ★
On Wednesday 26th Jan (Australia Day) I awoke with Mr Boyfriend at 6am to catch a flight to Armidale, where we would then catch a connecting bus to Glen Innes.

This trip was wonderfully and lovingly planned by him as a present for my birthday [Dec 5th]. I expressed several times last year that I longed to visit Glen Innes again, as I had gone there a few years ago. It is a small town in northern New South Wales, 4 hours from Brisbane and around 7 hours from Sydney, which my family and I endured by car last time, taking around 1 day of travelling with stops. This trip only took us 3 hours to get there however ;)

I took this while waiting at the station, when we had just missed our train. In that small amount of time my JSK's strap buttons fell off too! I only found one. I ended up using my mintymix waffle brooch to hold the strap up, lucky I brought it along. While we waited we took photos of a fog-covered harbour bridge!

The train came, and thankfully the connecting train at Central didn't leave yet so we still got to the airport early! The food was expensive and not very delicious (that's domestic terminals for you D; )

On the plane before take-off, while we were still very sleepy!

We were in a very small plane called Dash-8 300 (?) and I was sitting in a window seat, right next to the wing/propellor!! I could feel every slight movement, it was terrifying! D;

Taken 5-10 minutes after leaving Sydney, you can see how close the propellor was! x_x

I'm not sure where this was, but it instantly reminded me of Lord of the Rings style scenery! Very picturesque :) The large water body looks a little like a dragon!

When we arrived in Armidale Regional Airport (about a 1 hour flight), we caught a taxi to the city centre, and when we got there, the taxi driver turned off the meter and continued to drive us around the town for an extra 5 mins, showing us the information centre, shopping centres, parks, cafe's etc. It was very kind! We decided to go to sit in a park and look at the churches to pass some time and to rest after our flight.

It looks so fairytale-like ♥

This was right next to the park. Actually, there was a church on every second block almost! There were about 3 surrounding the park. We sat down and I went for a walk around the church.

When I returned to Mr Boyfriend, I saw an old lady sitting and talking to him. I approched them and learnt that her name was Beth and she had just exited the Australia Day service that the church had just had. She was very kind, asking if we were doing anything special in Armidale (we had our luggage with us, and were dressed "unusually" XD) we said that we were just here to look around and take photos etc, nothing special, since we were going to Glen Innes later in the evening (we arrived at around 9am, and our bus wasn't leaving until 6:20pm!!).

The temperature was climbing very quickly too, with max of 36 degrees that day! Beth offered to take our bags so we don't have to carry them all day, and she would meet up again with us before our bus leaves. It was really kind of her, and I know she was a kind old church lady, so I did trust her, but I couldn't bring myself to let her do that for us! She also offered to take us to her house (with air conditioning, she mentioned) so we can rest and have some lunch/tea.

A painfully kind offer, seeing as she just met us!! Again, I simply couldn't accept, also because, well.. something bad MAY have happened, you never know. But she drove us down to the shopping centre, asking again if we would like to come to her house. After declining for what felt like the millionth time, she gave Mr Boyfriend her phone number, in case we wanted to later. We decided not to go, but that we'd call later anyway and say thank you (which we forgot to do >_<) I forgot to take a photo of her! D; So we ended up spending the whole day in the shopping centre.. sitting in Gloria Jean's for many many hours. I went shopping/exploring in that time too, in nearly every shop. Killing time was so hard there, I didn't know if we would make it out alive. x _ x We did every procrastination technique we could think of, including: shopping, eating, internet, reading, music, writing/drawing, browsing stores.. and we still had around 5 hours to go! Unbearable boredom! At least we were cool indoors.. one step outside and we would have been cooked alive.

We had a snack, and this was what they call "small" size over there. I couldn't finish them.. in fact I felt so full/sick the entire trip that I was hardly able to finish any food, I felt so wasteful.

After a while, when all the shops had closed, and we were sitting on a seat, I could feel my brain melting from boredom so I decided we should go outside (it would have cooled just a little, but still was around 31 degrees) and walk to the train station, or at least try.

We did just that, I had to open my parasol too (and wearing lolita I already looked out of place) but everyone just stared rudely. We got to an intersection and were deciding which way to go, when all of a sudden we noticed a big group of scary gangster teenagers heading our way, so we just walked the opposite way. To our horror, they were watching us, and following us!!! I was so terrified lol! Who the heck would choose to be out in this heat, let alone stalk someone! We made a sharp right turn, and headed into a different shopping centre, in which all the stores were closed by now, contemplating the scary things that might happen if they follow us in there.

Thankfully I saw their reflections going the other way, into a park (in that heat, are they insane!?).

And so began, boredom #2. But at least these seats were comfortable, and the complete lack of people meant we could rest properly!

As time finally ticked towards 6pm we went outside and caught a taxi to the train station, where our coach bus would be stopping. But 6:20 came and went, and still no bus.. several other [strange] people we waiting too, until a message was read out that there will be a 50 minute delay. We were so exhausted, that when the bus finally came it was a really wonderful feeling! We were on the way to the final destination ♥

There was a lovely sunset as we were driving, so I took a few artistic photos.

An old train that is not in use anymore, Mr Boyfriend stated :)

I really love this photo, especially the sun-drenched hay fields and the subtle fence.

When we arrived in Glen Innes it was 8:30 and quite dark. The woman from the B&B that we were staying at called to make sure we were okay, as we came 30 mins later than our estimated time of arrival. My heart stopped as soon as I saw this beautiful place!! There was a row of white roses on either side of the path leading to the front door, so romantic! ♥ Inside was even more lovely! Antique furniture, old carpets, a large wooden staircase.. I was so so happy!

The owner met us and gave us our key and said "oh no, you had to spend a whole day in Armidale? You should have called, I would have driven there and got you!" (so kind!!)

We went up to our room, which was also breathtaking! It was separated into 2 rooms, one bedroom area..

...and a 'living room', with a table, couch, television and mini-kitchen.
Pretty wallpaper, decorations, embroidery chairs.. (me in the above photo ;D )

★ DAY TWO ★

We woke up to this scene:

This was only at 9 am, but you could tell it was hot outside already! Luckily our room had an air conditioner, and we didn't put it over 18 degrees the whole time we were there ♥ :D

I really wanted to take a photo of the beautiful entrance! (this is the view from the door!)
We went to a cafe in the morning, in which old people talked to us for a little while, saying I looked lovely (how sweet!) and then we explored the main street for a while (the only street with shops / food in the whole town).

We visited an antique shop first, because I was hoping to see the broken pump organ that was there last time I went, but alas it was not there. Although I did find a very nice teacup which I really regret not buying now >_<
It looked extremely similar to the IW dress I will be recieving in the mail this week!!

But then for $85 for the teacup I didn't love it that much.. plus it wasn't IDENTICAL to the print, so I thought, oh well.. I bought another teacup which sadly wasn't brand name (i.e. English bone china) but it was only $5 and I found the design to look very medieval and interesting :) (no photos of it yet)

We also visited a book store afterwards, and I found a few old books which I really wanted (because they were pretty)...

However at $95 and $55 I decided not to get them. Instead I got a book of poems by Goethe . The cover was really beautiful and it was $35. Inside is all in German, however it's also pretty because it's all in blackletter font!

We saw a super huge old Webster's Dictionary too..

After that we visited a few more places, including the sewing shop, where I bought a white rose ribbon for my hair (last time I bought the exact same thing, it's tradition XD ) as well as white heart lace !! ♥ I also saw SWAN LACE it was sooo beautiful! It was torchon lace with a swan and with a rose alternating! That's another thing I regret not buying!!

Afterwards we went back home to escape the heat and watched a dvd. All of a sudden there was a huge storm with hail, so we were stuck indoors the rest of the day. I wanted to do a photoshoot on this trip, so I decided to do it inside, since it looked so much like a dollhouse! ♥

(My favourite! ♥ )

I haven't had time to edit more, but you get the idea :3

Believe it or not, that's pretty much it for Day 2 !

★ DAY THREE ★

On the third day we had breakfast at a bakery, which was very disgusting >_< href="https://dl.dropbox.com/u/19859978/IMG_5085.jpg">

We came across an abandoned railway station (which was being reconstructed).
There were wild flowers and weeds growing over the railway tracks, and I really wanted to go down there, but I happened to be standing on a huge ants nest and freaked out. Also Mr Boyfriend found a big blue tongue lizard in the tall grass, so I decided not to venture down there.

We took a walk through a park on our way back to the house. This picture made me sad because there were huge oak trees lining the path, and now these small fragments who were once part of something majestic are now meaningless and discarded.

I started writing a mystery/horror story about this town last time I was here, it revolved around this convent (which was for sale then, only $50,000 for a whole convent.. it must have been haunted or something.. >_< ) the school next door, and the church next door to that. After our walk we headed back home to hide from the heat, and pretty much watched dvds/tv again and rested :)

★ DAY FOUR ★
We woke up at 6am to catch the 7am bus back to Armidale and spend a few hours there again (though not as much as the first day!!) We went to a coffee shop to escape the freezing weather (14 degrees and I was wearing a sleeveless shirt and short sleeved cardigans >_< ) and then went to the park where we first met Beth (hoping not to run into her lols). We just took photos of the fountain and waited for the time to pass, which took ages again!
Then we caught a taxi to the airport and caught the plane and got to sydney, where my father picked me up and I went home to have a nice fresh salad made by mummy ♥ :D

It was quite a nice trip, although I wish it was not so hot, nor as many people (especially bitchy teenagers!) but of course, this trip had amazing aspects of its own !

Sorry for such a long post @_@ But I hope you enjoyed it!

♥ Ju

ANALYSIS: Belle, Bonne, Sage x AatP Hymn print

2011-01-21T19:44:00.000+11:00

Hello! Today's entry will be very descriptive, prepare for a little lesson in medieval music!

AatP's Hymn print has been on my mind a LOT lately, it's definitely slipped into #1 on my wishlist in the last few weeks. I missed it on the sales_comm just yesterday, so I'm feeling very disappointed! To vent this feeling in a useful way, I would like to share with you a comparison which you may not have known about in this print, which I discovered in my late night browsing a while ago, and made me love it tenfold :) (I'm quite proud of this discovery!)

Firstly, you will notice that one of the main aspects of the print is the heart-shaped manuscript.

You'll notice diamond shaped notes (but I'll get to that later) and an interesting squiggle in the middle corner of the heart. It's strange isnt it? Why didn't they just link the bottom like they did at the top? Well, it's because Alice and the Pirates are amazing! They are very authentic in their designs, which is one of the reasons I love them so much. Most girls would not notice things like that because the dress will just be something for them to wear (which is fair enough, as most prints don't really have 'deeper meanings') but I shall explain why the little squiggle is so important to me!

Take into instance the below picture:

Can you see the resemblance? ;)

It was created by Baude Cordier, a french composer born c. 1380. This is Cordier's rondeau about love, 'Belle, Bonne, Sage' (Beautiful, Good, Wise). It is in a heart shape, with red notes indicating rhythmic alterations. Furthermore, hanging like a locket in the upper left are notes all in red also in the shape of a heart.

The above form of notation is called 'ars subtilior' (more subtle art) as well as 'eye music'. This piece is found in the Chantilly Codex (a manuscript of medieval music containing pieces in the style of 'ars subtilior').

Now it seems that the designers at AatP like to do research before putting out a print, which is so refreshing! They have simplified the design of course, but generally speaking, it's pretty obvious where (at least part of) their inspiration was from, and I am so pleased about this ♥

The diamond notes might be more commonly recognised, at least by those who study music. It is officially called 'Mensural Notation' and is most closely associated with the successive periods of the late medieval Ars nova and the Franco-Flemish school of Renaissance music.

And now; the last little link that ties everything together! Medieval music was both sacred and secular, however in earlier medieval times, the liturgical genre and gregorian chant was predominant.

So in conclusion, the chain looks a little like this:
Heart shaped manuscript > ars subtilior > Mensural Notation > Medieval Music > religious chants/hymns

Quite impressive, don't you think? Aatp are my favourite brand for prints because of their close attention to detail, which makes you learn more and more once you find one link to the 'puzzle'. They reward those with knowledge by adding these little subtle hints within the print, to make it much, much more than just a pretty dress ♥

I hope you enjoyed this analysis, and come away with a newfound (or a deeper) love and appreciation for this print :)

Without further ado, here is the piece by Baude Cordier!

I think it's very interesting rhythmically and melodically, and indeed very romantic.. filled with longing.

Thanks for reading!!
♥ Ju

Disclaimer: All information from wikipedia, as they describe it much better than I could have!

The last few days + Wig & Petticoat!

2011-01-19T22:57:00.000+11:00

On Monday I didn't do much except at night, when my father dragged me out to rainy/windy coogee beach cliffs to do some shooting of the ocean. We were there from 7:30pm - 9:30ish and of course I didn't get any nice shots, because landscapes aren't really my thing, and he had the wide angle lens, so it was kind of pointless for me to go.. the ocean was very misty with rain towards the horizon though ♥ :)

This was the shot he was waiting to get (of course it turned out better on his camera~) : the glowing city(?) lights and the ocean.

On Tuesday I met up with my dear Holly, who very very very very kindly offered to draft a bodice pattern for me! ♥ I am so grateful for her help and hard work!! We went to eat lunch first at a Japanese restaurant!

And then I had to run a few errands, and we got lots of snacks and headed to karaoke...

..to pattern draft XD It was the only place we could think of that had lots of table space! The above picture shows how fun pattern drafting can be! ;o Now I am addicted to Lucifer by SHINee XD She was so kind to make it to my measurements and everything! ; -; I haven't got around to cutting out the pieces yet, but I will definitely do that tomorrow!! Lots of sad fabric in my room waiting around to be made into something!

I also got a haircut that day :)

Finally got layers, and they kept the length but it feels so light :)

Today when I was returning from Mr Boyfriend's house in the morning I got a parcel notification - it could only be one thing!!!!!!! :DDDDD

I was so excited because prior to this I only had meh-quality ebay wigs, but this felt very superior! Perfect curls ♥

I really love it :D

Back view, mid back length! :3 (..now for a proper photo!)

I'm still not sure if it suits me or not.. in any case I think I have to trim the fringe a bit..

Artsy pic for fun ;D (lens blur, not photoshop!)

Lastly, I had a little project to revive my dead AH petti and make a more A-Line friendly shape.

Starting look..

I bought 5m of stiff tulle the other day and cut it into strips and ruffled it, which ended up being a tedious task, but it wasn't too bad. This was halfway through sewing a ruffle onto the petti, I kept asking myself if I had gone insane! This is probably a normal view for regular seamstresses, but I was just horrified XD luckily it went okay!

I love this photo because it looks like something delicate wasborn inside :3

Finished product! I originally wanted to add another ruffle but it turned out to be WAY move voluminous than I pictured!

I'm not sure if it's just this skirt not being very full, or if I stuffed up somehow, but it ended up being a super fluffy cupcake shape! I don't mind I guess, since I am learning :)

Sorry for this super long post! It's nearly 2am here, so I'd better sleep, goodnight!
♥ Ju

Day out + Eyelashes

2011-01-16T17:37:00.000+11:00

On Saturday I went out with my dear friend Ko, to have a sort of 'going away party meeting' because she is going on an overseas holidays tomorrow! We spent the whole time at Darling Harbour.

We both didn't feel like eating dinner (we met at around 5pm) and went to a bar instead! It was a REALLY hot day so we wanted refreshing drinks!

They were nice and fruity! ;3 Ko's on the left had a glace cherry at the bottom, and mine had a teaspoon of vanilla sugar!! Both were delicious! Priced at $15 each we were feeling poor already.. but we still wanted more, haha! So we went to another bar across the bay!

They had amazing chairs which were very spacious and with cushions. (click to enlarge photos!) We got more fruity cocktails (Watermelon Daquiri for Ko and Mixed Berries for me, $15 each again, but so worth it this time!) They. Were. HUGE. It took us an hour to drink them!! And at the start they were melting so quickly..

Really refreshing though, and hardly any taste of alcohol, yay! The leaves are mint, and added a nice cool fresh taste to them :)

By the time we finished them it was getting dark finally, and we wanted to eat, so we got mcdonalds, and sat down to watch... Random fireworks event, that was counting down from half an hour prior to, then 10 mins, then they suddenly went off in a huge explosion and everyone jumped/screamed! It was so fun :D [ It looks like the city suddenly exploded out of nowhere ;) ]

They were right above our heads, it felt like we were flying towards them :)

They were amazingly choreographed/synchronised too, going to the left and right, and interesting patterns! We were sitting so close to them, 50m - 100m!

This style were very pretty and sparkly, but so crackly and loud, it sounded scary!

Anyway, today I was meant to get a haircut but the place did not have any available times today, so I made an appointment for Tuesday! I went back home, and played around with the fake lashes I bought ages ago but never tried...

I just want to say how much I LOVE THEM! I was always very wary about fake eyelashes, but they are so pretty, simple to use and make a big difference! I was scared they would look too fake, but I was pleasantly surprised! I only put 1 on for comparison above. (please excuse messy hair/room ; _; and nomming on strawberries, couldn't resist!)

Detailed photo, very natural looking! (yes it's my real eye colour, but I still wish I had brown eyes ♥)Product photo; it was a random pack I picked up for $5 at Paddy's Markets.. the style of lashes reminded me of Dolly Wink ones, so I got them to experiment with! It came with 2 tubes of glue inside too. As its name suggests, it really does make a difference and adds much more 'darkness' lol.

Life updates;

Sadly the shoot I was going to do has been postponed because of hot weather (totally understandable) hopefully it can be rescheduled to some time later this week.

I have to still pay the IW invoice and I really want to do that tomorrow..

Also, I have finished the design/artwork for a book cover that was commissioned a few days ago! Unfortuately I can't share it just yet because it's being released March 1st, but as soon as it's public I'll post it here. More info, CLICK HERE.

That's about it for now, I hope you had a lovely weekend everyone!
♥ Juliette

New blog layout + 1 more parcel

2011-01-14T17:00:00.000+11:00

Hi everyone,

I changed my blog layout to be more simpler because while the previous one was cute, I wanted to have comments/followers and more control over it. I am still tweaking a few things, but so far I have designed the header, which I am very pleased with! There's still the background to do.

Here's a photo of me trying out a little co-ord with my new fawn jacket from the last post, and my lotta skirt, I love how the dots on the skirt subtly match those on the jacket! :3

(Sorry for the dark photo + weird expression!) I'm planning to do a shoot with a model in this co-ord on monday, stay tuned for photos ;) I need to make a lacy mori style head piece before then, so I'll make a post soon about that.

I don't have much to update on for now, so here's a picture I drew a little while ago, of the newest Lief print.

EDIT:
As soon as I write that nothing is happening, something happens! XD I got another parcel today!

A tote bag that I wanted since forever, a collaboration between Chantilly x Kokusyoku Sumire x Tsubaki Torii ♥ My favourite aspect is the bow made from a music stave!

This was a bonus little gift inside the package, cute stickers :3 thank you!! I'm only waiting for 1 thing in the mail now... since dec 17th! Hurry up and come !!

Lastly, perhaps the only thing I love about summer, fresh, ripe, sweet fruits! ♥

I'm addicted to raspberries lately! ~~ ♥

Have a lovely weekend everyone!
♥ Juliette

Two packages arrived ♥

2011-01-13T17:08:00.000+11:00

Hello!

I haven't been doing much this week besides online shopping, it's quite terrible! I am so broke, and Innocent World decided to have a massive sale! ♥ I would have got 3 more things than I did, but I stopped myself in time.. maybe they will show up on auctions later..

Without further ado, here are 2 packages that arrived for me today!

This is the [edited to hide address] 2nd package that arrived all ripped up to me >_<

Anyway.. let's look at its contents! :3

It's 3.5 metres of authentic Innocent World fabric :) I was so surprised when I saw it on the sales comm!

Detail (Angel Cage print).

I am really really pleased with the print. It's absolutely crystal clear! No smudges / blurred lines. The fabric is really high quality too! I can't wait to make a jsk with it.. (or die trying ; _ ;)

Package #2 !

So epicly covered in sparkles, everyone was asking if it's my birthday!

Yes... inside too @_@

Time to see what it was...

Deer fur jacket!! ♥♥ It was a random one which I found on mbok. There was another one which was smiliar, and much much cheaper, but it had several days left, and I had a feeling the price would soar, so I bid on this, which only had a few hours left. It wasn't that cheap, but I was desperate for something with deer fur, since I lost my cute swimmer scarf ; _ ; It's a bit small, but I don't mind wearing it unbuttoned. It gives a really great mori girl vibe to the lotta skirt, I really want to get some interesting accessories to really mori it up, and take a photoshoot in a forest :D

I didnt even realise it would still have tags attached! :)

I'll leave you with some engrish.. "Please wear well it splendidly by your sense."

Oh, don't worry I will! ;p
♥ Juliette

All the instruments of joy! ♫

2011-01-07T16:49:00.000+11:00

When I saw this Innocent World/Metamorphose ad from the Gothic & Lolita Bible Vol 37 earlier today,

It made me immediately think of Purcell's "Sound the Trumpet"; it just started playing in my head. I know she's not even blowing into it, and it's cut off the side, but that's what I thought of.
Here's the lovely piece, normally sung by countertenors, but I prefer it in choir repertoire ♥

I also want to share something which I have been working on today:

Just a little bit of cross stitching before my christmas dinner gathering at my grandmother's house . Yes, I know it's the 7th Jan, not 25th Dec. I am orthodox so we celebrate it today and eat a 12 course(!) feast (which we have tried telling my grandmother not to make because we did not celebrate the religious aspect of it, such as fasting for 2 months). Hopefully I can eat just a little of everything.

Also, I have recieved these in the mail in the past week:

They are organ stops. They are positioned near the manuals (keyboards) and they are pulled out to make a sound corresponding to the length of the pipe being played. These are 8ft pipes, for example, so they are sort of a medium-deep sound. I played organ for about 4 months but shamfully gave up because my teacher was too strict and I was scared to practice alone in a church, especially after the time I practiced alone during an evening thunderstorm! But also the priest at this church told me off once for playing it, even though I had permission from their organist :( So I decided that harpsichord is more for me, and stuck with that. ♥

Anyway, I got them off ebay, apparently they are from the late 1800's and belonged to an organ which was 3 generations old (at least). I was scared that I wouldn't get them if they see that it is ivory in customs, but I'm not really sure if it is or not. I have a big project planned for these, so keep checking and I will update as it progresses ;)

Thanks for reading! ♥
Juliette

P.S. Here is my wardrobe post to EGL!

Lolita Meme - A new year!

2011-01-03T19:27:00.000+11:00

What colours can be found in your Lolita closet?
Black, Cream/Beige, Brown, Pink, Blue.

What is your favourite colour with Lolita?
Bordeaux.

What is your least favourite colour in Lolita?
Deep purple and strange shades of green.

Which uncommon colour do you want to try out?
Bordeaux! I plan to get a dress in this colour very soon ♥

DESIGN
Are you more a Onepiece, Jumperskirt or a Skirt person?
I own more and wear JSK's more often, but I think I prefer OP's.

Which cut do you like the best?
Fitted at my natural waist - longer torso cuts.

Print or no Print?
99% of my wardrobe is prints. I love them, but they are very hard to wear casually. I really want to get more solid-colour dresses this year for easier casual wear.

How does a dress/skirt have to look like that it will be a "must have" item for you?
Usually if it's a dress cut or colour which I have wanted for a while, or print wise - if it falls within my interests, more gothic/classical prints such as most things by AatP.

STYLES
What is your favourite style in Lolita?
Classic

Which style do you wear regularly?
A mix of Classic and Sweet. Most of my dresses are Innocent World, and in particular, cuts which are a toned-down sweet.

Which style you want to try out?
I want to try full-blown gothic, with matching accessories/headpieces/bags. Also, more classic lolita, Mary Magdalene style (no print, just elegant cut and colours).

Which style you never want to try out/wear again?
I'd never want to try Wa Lolita, I just know it wouldn't suit me and it seems more "costumey".

BRANDS

Brands yes or no and why?
Brands: Yes. Their quality is truly superior to other places. There is also a satisfaction in holding something so precious! Their designs are beautiful (most of the time!) and they have had more experience in the industry. Some items on taobao and etc are lovely too, but they can easily send a dress with wrong measurements or with loose threads /poor sewing. Though I like offbrand items from trusted brands, because they are not as delicate and can be worn for more 'fun' and messy places.

Which brand is your favourite?
Innocent World! I really fell in deep love with them mid-last year, and have hardly bought from anyone else since then. I also really love Alice and the Pirates, they are my favourite prints-wise! If I could fit into Mary Magdalene I would love them too, but for now I am just their 'secret admirer'.

Which is your least favourite brand?
Hmm... a hard thing to answer. Lots of lolita brands have weird things they put out, like Metamorphose's sometimes awkward clashing prints, and Innocent World have the most unflattering and plain designs at times, but both also have amazing things too. So to answer the question properly, I shall say punk brands like h.Naoto(I still respect them though :) )

Ever had a good/bad experience with brand?
Sadly, one IW dress being smaller measurements than what they listed on their site ; - ;

Will this experience encourage/stop you from buying brand?
For sure there is more brand to come to my closet in next months:)

OTHER
Did you ever got surprised by a piece of Lolita?
Yes, usually they look so much better IRL than in stock photos :3

Did you ever got disappointed by a piece of Lolita?
By the aforementioned IW dress ; - ;

Things that you like about Lolita?
I love how liberating it feels to let out my inner emotions by wearing poofy frilly dresses!

Things that you dislike about Lolita?
I dislike the general public's views towards lolita. It's just a piece of clothing, why must they feel so threatened by a piece of fabric? It's covering a whole lot more than 'modern' popular fashion these days.. are people expecting to see short shorts and singlets on everybody?

Do you have a Lolita fashion idol, if 'yes' who is it?
Not really, but I do like to look at Kera magazines and Musicians such as kokusyoku sumire for ideas. I really admire some girls from livejournal's styles. How their co-ords are a mix of brand and offbrand, and pull off the look into a wearable, almost casual outfit :)

Does Lolita affect your every day life?
I wouldn't go so far as to say it "changed my life" because I have always had an interest in such aesthetics, but surely it has affected my every day life in terms of shopping XD It has made me look out for cute accessories, or perhaps a piece of clothing that would work well with a dress I have. It has re-affirmed my personal beliefs about the world, and if I ever feel like I have to succumb to the direction that society is heading, I can just think back to my wardrobe and be reminded that I like being who I am! :)

Do you buy Lolita related things, like cute looking furniture?
Ooh yes of course! I couldn't help it! I have 2 pieces of white French antique remake furniture, drawers and a bedside table! They look a little out of place in my bedroom, but still so cute! I have Baroque photo frames on top of them, filled with postcards of Mark Ryden's paintings ♥

Do you read/buy the Gothic Lolita Bible?
I bought the first Japanese volume when I was just getting into Lolita, but nowadays I find Kera to be an easier and cheaper way to be up to date with not only lolita, but other Japanese styles that I adore, such as Mori Girl, Fairy Kei and Dolly Kei. Plus street snaps are so inspiring ♥

How do you describe your fashion style to others that don´t know about Lolita?
I just give a brief description on what the fashion is based on and that it's originally a Japanese subculture (which has spread all over the world now).

Thanks for reading!!
♥ Juliette

Introduction! ♥

2011-01-03T15:28:00.000+11:00

Hello, I am Juliette!
I am 20 years old, and mainly a classical lolita, with some sweet and gothic styles too.
My interests include antiques, Baroque music and dance, and Rococo fashion and aesthetics.
I play harpsichord and I also attend baroque and early dance [renaissance period] classes.
I sing yearly at the Sydney Opera House in a massed choir for the complete Handel's Messiah.

Ruckers Flemish Double Manual Harpsichord (sadly not mine!)

My hobbies include photography, embroidery, digital art, and music. I also collect Pullip dolls.

Pictured: Desirée (Pullip) & Claudia (DAL)

My favourite artists are Mark Ryden, Imai Kira and Tsubaki Torii, and my favourite composers are Telemann, Rameau and Handel. My main favourite bands are Tristania, Opeth and Katatonia (and many many more!)

I will write here about purchases, music, art, food, days out with friends, and lolita fashion. I hope you will enjoy reading my blog!

♥ Juliette