A Trip to MFashion

Last week I visited MFashion for the very first and also very last time. MFashion is the Netherlands’s first Lolita shop and it’s been around for a very long time. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to visit it. Now that Leyla and her mom have announced they are leaving their physical store (although they will continue to sell at conventions) I realised this was my last chance to see it! So I decided to meet up with my friend Michelle and visit MFashion during its last week. ^^
While Michelle planned on wearing Lolita, I didn’t feel comfortable enough so I opted for a more casual outfit with some Lolita elements. You can see my full outfit a bit further down this blogpost.
My mom was kind enough to drive me to the train station, from where I had to take two trains to get to my destination.

Some pictures I took during my journey. I really like
(subtle) Lolita elements in ‘normal’ outfits.
I had forgotten to bring my book, so it could have been a bit boring sitting by myself just staring out the window. But I had brought my camera because I wanted to make a video, so it was okay after all. ^^ And when I arrived at my transfer station, a kind old man complimented me on my bow! That was nice. ♥

Some of our trains have strange prints on the glass doors.
Sometimes it’s bugs, this time it was… bird feet?
Finally I arrived at the station and I immediately spotted Michelle. She looked super cute in her sailor-like outfit! You can check out her outfit a bit further down below as well. ^^

Meeting up with Michelle! ☆
We went on our way to find the shop, but we didn’t know where it was located exactly. We walked into the first shop we saw and went to ask for directions. The kind shop lady asked us whether we were looking for ‘that clothing store’. Apparently we looked like the kind of customers that goes there? XD
After a bit more walking, we found the MFashion shop!

Arrived at the shop! It felt strange to finally visit it, but also exciting!
Michelle and I entered the shop a little early, where we were welcomed by Leyla’s mom. The shop was small, but cute and cosy.

Inside MFashion.
While Michelle and I were browsing for a bit, one of our fellow Lolitas came in! It was Eline, which was nice because I hadn’t seen her in a while. It gave us a chance to chat for a bit. ^^
There was a big sale and it continued some lovely dresses, but I had told myself not to buy anything big and I stuck to that! I really needed to save my money. Instead, I browsed for some small things and there was plenty to see! The shop was small, but contained

Some detail shots to give you an impression of the shop.
I found some really nice Metamorphose socks that I was hoping would match my Fancy Egg jsk, since no pair of socks I own really has the same colour of blue. I was a bit tempted by an Angelic Pretty head bow to be honest, but since nothing in my closet would match it it would have been a waste.

Dresses, skirts, petticoats and much, much more!
Metamorphose’s new ‘Vintage Cameo’ line had just come in and the details on those dresses were absolutely gorgeous. It’s so classy and beautiful! ♥ The dresses weren’t part of the sale as they were very new, but even then I wouldn’t have bought one (although they were very tempting…)

Vintage Cameo dresses and some more details.
After a while, Eline left and Michelle and I were alone again. Michelle decided to buy herself two Angelic Pretty head bows and was doubting about some jewelry, while I eventually settled with an adorable gold hair pin from Baby, the Stars Shine Bright that was on sale for 5 euros! ☆

Michelle being adorable with her moustache bow. ♥
Despite the fact I had decided not to buy anything big, I didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to check out the dresses available. There were three (actually, four) dresses that I adored and I must show them to you so you can all drool with me over their awesomeness.

Aren’t these pieces to die for?
Especially the Lief piece (which was an apron skirt by the way) captured my heart. The colours of the print are so striking and the lace has glitter! God, it was so pretty…
Finally, I also found a pair of Metamorphose lace gloves and since I had been looking for a pair of lace gloves for ages I couldn’t leave them behind. I am so weak. ^^’
Michelle and I paid and then it was time to leave MFashion again. I am very happy I could have visited it before it closed. ^^
Of course, we couldn’t leave without taking some outfit pictures, so here you go:

Michelle’s adorable sailor outfit.

My pink and black casual outfit.
Michelle and I left for the train, took the same train for one station and then we went our separate ways. I had a lot of fun, it was just what I needed. It had been a wonderful day~!

Also, I made a video about our adventures!


I know it’s not perfect, but I am quite happy with the result nonetheless. I am really planning to make more videos, so please keep an eye on my YouTube channel! ^^

Purchases of the day

Interview with the Lolita: Tiya

It’s time for another interview! This week I talk to a French Lolita. I had the honour to meet her at the first Baby, the Stars Shine Bright Tea Party in Paris I ever attended and I immediately discovered how unique and quirky she was! She was the very first person to ever suggest to take a 'stupid picture' together (you can find it in this post). Here is: Tiya!

Lolita Wonderland: First, can you tell me a little bit about yourself?

Tiya: O’right! I’m Tiya, a Harajuku fashion enthusiast and member of French Café team, an association which organizes many Harajuku related events!
I’ll turn 27 pretty soon, I work as a community manager on one side, and as a replacement teacher on the other side. I live a very happy life in the south of France with le bf and one cat for now. We plan to have a LOT more pets in the future ^^ I love bodmods, medieval fantasy and Harry Potter. Ah, and I am a huge weaboo trash.

Lolita Wonderland: When and how did you discover Lolita?

Tiya: It was in 2010, I was staying at friends’ for the night, and they put a movie “Kamikaze girls”. I have felt so much in sync with the heroine’s thinking! It was the first time that someone was putting words on why I was feeling weird compared to others, and Lolita was the good way to start expressing it.

Lolita Wonderland: What is the very first dress you bought and why did you choose it?

Tiya: The same night I had watched Kamikaze girls, I have made researches on internet and found for cheap Baby the Stars Shine Bright Strawberry Letter princess JSK in sax. That was the first one, and chose without thinking much. And I discovered I was employed 10 minutes away from Baby Paris store at the time XD I have quickly bought Cherry Cherry fallin’ Cherry JSK in pink, and then mint.

Lolita Wonderland: What is your favourite brand and why?

Tiya: You will NOT make me choose between Angelic Pretty and Alice and the Pirates XD
I don’t know how to explain it… For both, I really like their prints. AatP’s prints are often made of interlacing brambles and that’s a detail I love (also I’m a sucker for their Halloween prints). Angelic Pretty prints and laces very often find a way to my heart.

Lolita Wonderland: What is your absolute Dream Dress?

Tiya: To illustrate the previous answer, I’d say Elizabeth bride of death JSK in black, or Chocolate Rosette in navy, red or green ;)

Lolita Wonderland: You wear very varying outfits style-wise. How would you describe your own Lolita style?

Tiya: Thank you! That’s something I am very glad to hear every time, I have already been called a chameleon... I really like to try and master anything I like.
I think my Lolita style is not unique, because I get inspired by a lot of things that already exist, but I try to make them mine and be proud of it.

Lolita Wonderland: How do you usually start to coordinate?

Tiya: I do think I am some kind of a copycat. I watch a lot of pictures of everything and anything to inspire me. I try to analyse them, find the good detail, and make it mine in one way or another. Very often, I start from one accessory. Like “I want to wear that. What would be good with it?”. For example, my La Vie en Rose outfit is completely based on the headpiece ;)

Lolita Wonderland: Do you get inspired by other fashion styles when you coordinate a Lolita outfit?

Tiya: As I have said previously, I get inspired by anything really. As for fashions, I know I have tried fairy kei x Lolita, and cult party kei x Lolita. I really like playing with fashion codes, sometimes mixing them ^^ Experimenting is the best!

Lolita Wonderland: What would you like to see more in Lolita, like certain prints or accessories?

Tiya: I’d like to see people going a bit more out of their comfort zone. And I love to see lolitas not taking themselves too seriously!
And more fandom Lolita too. I am a huge sucker for fandom Lolita. When it does not become too costumey of course!

Lolita Wonderland: Who are your Lolita idols or inspirations?

Tiya: Mmmmh… There are so many people for so many different styles!
All of my close friends in lolita inspire me for something. Be it their spirit, the way they don’t care about conventions, the image they give of themselves, their sense of style, their will to always evolve… That’s always pushing me forwards!

Lolita Wonderland: What is the best Lolita event you ever attended?

Tiya: Baby Tea Parties, this is where I have met a lot of important friends of mine today ♥

Lolita Wonderland: Finally, what does Lolita mean to you?

Tiya: I think no other style translates my « oddness » as well as Lolita does.

Links:
Tiya’s Blog
French Café’s Facebook Page

Thank you for reading!
I hope you liked this interview!

Lolita Wonderland is on YouTube!

Hi everyone!
I hope you are enjoying my ‘Interview with the Lolita’-series. ^^ I am having a great time doing them and there are many more to come, so please look forward to them! In the meantime, did you happen to spot the new button on the upper bar that says ‘YouTube’? If you click it, it will transport you to my brand new YouTube page! For a very long time, I have been wanting to make videos. I shot a lot of footage during my trips to Japan in 2012 and 2014, but I never had a useful video editing program. But now I do! Just go to my YouTube page and take a look if you like. :3 (There is a possibility you cannot watch one of my videos if you’re in Germany or on your smartphone/tablet, because YouTube is weird. Sorry).
Anyway, I am hoping/planning to start making more videos, so please look forward to that too! ^^
Well, that’s it for this post. See you! ♥

Interview with the Lolita: Charlotte & Sophie

Happy Newyear everyone! I hope you all had a blast. ^^ Usually I make a special post looking back at the year and some resolutions for the next, but this year I decided not to. Instead, here is the very first ‘Interview with the Lolita’ of 2015! For my first interview of the year, I wanted to something a bit special: I decided to do a double interview! It is my great honour to introduce you to two girls from my own Dutch community. These are not just any Lolitas, they are sisters who share a love for the same clothing style! And even more amazing, they are twins! So without further ado, here are: Charlotte and Sophie!

Lolita Wonderland: First, can you tell me a little bit about yourself?

Charlotte & Sophie: Charlotte is 20 years old and studies Law. She likes computer games, comics, singing and canoeing. Sophie is, naturally, also 20 years old and studies Psychology. She likes video games and comics as well and likes to draw.

Lolita Wonderland: When and how did you discover Lolita?

Charlotte & Sophie: We’ve long since forgotten. We do remember there was once a very extensive article about the style in Aniway magazine. Furthermore, we saw people at conventions wearing Lolita and sometimes we saw it in an anime or a manga.

Lolita Wonderland: What is the very first dress you bought and why did you choose it?

Charlotte & Sophie: We both had bought a ‘sort of’ Lolita dress before we seriously got into Lolita. In the end we never wore these dresses because when we discovered more of the style we soon realized that they were absolutely hideous. Our ‘real’ first Lolita dresses we bought at the Baby, the Stars Shine Bright store in Paris. Charlotte bought Classical Rose Bouquet and Sophie bought Shirley Poppy Fairy. We still own these dresses. At that moment, those were the dressiest we liked the most.

Lolita Wonderland: What is your absolute Dream Dress?

Charlotte & Sophie: That would be Dim Light Holy by Metamorphose, Grazia Crown and Lauretta Rose by Innocent World. Some of our dream dresses we already own, like Rose Stained Glass and Antique Rose by Innocent world.

Lolita Wonderland: You are twins, wearing the same Lolita style. Do you share your closet?

Charlotte & Sophie: Yes, we share our closet. There is no point in not sharing our clothes, because we would end up borrowing from each other anyway. We do divide things unofficially, for example with the prints we own double. There is only one skirt that really belongs to one of us: the beige Theresia Rose skirt by Innocent World is Sophie’s, because it was her birthday present (but despite that, Charlotte has worn it just often as Sophie has).

Lolita Wonderland: Do you shop for dresses together or separately?

Charlotte & Sophie: Sites like Lacemarket we check individually. Usually Charlotte takes care of Facebook sales, CGL sales and purchases on Taobao, while Sophie checks de EGL comm sales, Japanese auctions and Rakuten sites. If one of us wants a dress more than the other person does, we divide the costs differently (for example: only one of us pays for the shipping costs). Normally we both pay half for everything.

Lolita Wonderland: Do you decide beforehand who wears what to which event?

Charlotte & Sophie: Yes, we even make schedules for it. We don’t own that many bags and wigs so we have to decide who wears what with which coord. We also keep a schedule so our coords don’t look too much alike. In the end it’s not like one of us gets priority for something, but the thing that matches the outfit the best does. And finally, we also keep a schedule for who gets to wear a certain item first.

Lolita Wonderland: Do you always wear matching outfits or just whatever you feel like?

Charlotte & Sophie: Sometimes we match, sometimes we don’t. In the past we had to, because we only had a few pairs of black and brown shoes. We had no choice but to match according to that. Our wardrobe has grown a lot in the meantime. People often comment about the fact our outfits are matching, while we think we don’t match at all. Sometimes we wear an outfit according to a theme, a certain colour scheme or even the same print. Most of the time we wear the coords we want to wear at that moment and we don’t care what the other is wearing. Even though we own multiple prints double, we rarely twin. We just don’t get the same fun out of it as other people do when they twin with each other. It feels too much as if we’re expected to do so and it feels forced.

Lolita Wonderland: Do you have any favourite colour combinations?

Charlotte & Sophie: We really like beige-pink-brown and beige-red-brown.

Lolita Wonderland: Do you have any items of clothing one of you really likes and the other doesn’t like at all?

Charlotte & Sophie: No, if one of us doesn’t like something we don’t buy it. Some items we’re not equally enthusiastic about, but neither of us thinks something is ugly while the other loves it. We have almost the same taste.

Lolita Wonderland: What is the most coveted item you possess?

Charlotte & Sophie: Our first dresses are pretty special to us. Also, we really love our violin bag and book bag by Innocent World. We are quite enthusiastic about most of the items in our wardrobe.

Lolita Wonderland: What is your best Lolita memory?

Charlotte & Sophie: Nothing really comes to mind. Maybe that time we found the Rose Stained Glass JSK and skirt by Innocent World during the same week.

Lolita Wonderland: And finally, what does Lolita mean to you?

Charlotte & Sophie:
We like how creative we can be with it. Lolita is the kind of clothing style we think is more beautiful and more for us. We like classical clothing styles. It’s just ‘our thing’.

Thank you for reading!
I hope you liked this interview!