First off I wanted to tell you all about a guest post I did for the blog “All Women Stalk“. They do lists of various things and my list is the 15 Must Have Items for Hime Girls, go check it out 😀
But today’s post is mostly an outfit post so let’s get to that now!
Outfit-
Dress- Target Stockings- Myer Cardigan- a gift, maybe from Myer? Shoes- Bodyline… yes I’m wearing them yet again because they are so good for lots of walking. The black shoes in the other pics are oxfords from Payless. Scarf- Op shop
The story behind these photos is that whenever Jameswants to try out a new photography technique I get roped in to posing for him so he can practice. This time he was making a tutorial on how to do “dramatic cross lighting with only one strobe”. This is the end result of that:
I always feel like such a wanker posing so seriously though!
Look I am all dramatic because photography is SERIOUS BUZINESS.
This is definitely more my style! We’re back to Popteen rather than Vogue 😉
Go team gigantic scarf bow 😀
That’s enough pic-spam for now ^_^ Last thing before I run off to the shops to get some more false nails to decorate… I want to get your opinions on a couple of things about the blog and the direction it’s going in so please take my quick poll! It’s only 3 questions long <3
Quite a while ago I placed an order with Bodyline Japan for quite a few items as a belated Christmas present from James ^_^
A lot of you asked for a review of the items so here it is!
Website:
The site is very easy to use with a standard shopping cart and the ability to pay via Paypal or credit card. Shipping is offered via DHL at a flat rate of US$20 or EMS with a rate depending on your country. The site has a huge amount of items to choose from so it was a little hard for me to stay in my budget! 😉
Shipping:
I chose DHL shipping to save money. DHL has a rather bad reputation from other people I’ve spoken to, depending on what country you live in *cough*America*cough* they have been known to expedite your package through customs and then several weeks after delivery present you with a bill for doing so. As far as I’m aware this doesn’t happen in Australia and it definitely didn’t happen to me this time. That said if I was ordering again and I was in a hurry I would spend the extra money for EMS because even though the “estimated arrival time” from Bodyline was arriving on a Friday the package didn’t arrive until 4:30pm on the Monday. The package made it all the way from Japan (via a bunch of other countries) to Australia in around a day and a half and cleared the airport customs very quickly and then it spent the better part of 3 days “on route” to my house. Considering my house is around 30min from the airport that was kind of irritating! Anyway not a big deal! XD
Here is the package that arrived:
Inside I ordered the following (not the real names but I can’t find half of the things on the site anymore):
James’s mini review of the beannie and hat is “very soft and nice” XD
Ok let’s do the individual reviews!
Spotty Bow
Price- US$3
Made from average quality ribbon, finished quite nicely.
On the siteI thought it was a side bow but it’s actually right in the middle, now looking at it I think she’s just wearing it to the side. The plastic band it’s on is a little flimsy.
Over all: happy with the quality for the price. I’ve worn it several times now.
Short ruffle socks
Price: US$5
The lace is nylon but it’s still very very soft. The actual socks are incredibly soft. I’m really happy with these especially for the price, they are adorable!
Music Note Dress
Price: I think it was around US$35-ish I can’t find it on the site now but it was very cheap.
This is the packaging. Something about Bodyline’s international packaging has always made me happy.
The dress:
I fell in love with this print. It’s not top notch quality, up close the print gets slightly pixeled and one thing that irritates me is that some of the treble clefs are backwards… but unless you’re staring at it from 2 inches away and are a music nut like me I don’t see it as a reason not to buy.
The quality of this dress is fantastic for the price plain and simple. No it’s not the same quality as AP or BtSSB but it’s still better than the average dress you would pick up at Supre or even Target. All of the seams are finished well and though there is no lining every stitch is in it’s place. *edit* I also forgot to mention that this jsk comes with bow ties for the back and shirring with ribbon so the size is quite adjustable. The bow ties are not detachable unlike other brands.
The quality of the lace was as good as any brand piece I’ve seen, no nylon at all.
It came with 2 detachable bows on the collar which I totally love. They are the perfect size to use on my beret or just in my hair. The only problem I had (and this is really nit-picky) was the clips were put on backwards compared with everything else I own so I put them o upside down a few times out of habit ^_^
Eyelashes:
Price: US$1-3
I was really happy with the lashes, here in Aus lashes are usually $8-10 which I think is quite unreasonable. These are a great price and decent quality. They also offer many many different styles.
This was my favorite pair:
Diamantes!
Shoes with bows
Price: US$37
I can’t express how happy I am with these shoes, they are exactly what I was hoping for! I bought them so I would have good walking shoes for Melbourne, the reason I chose these ones is because the front platform is almost as high as the heel so there isn’t as sever slope as appears. Apart from rolling my ankle once they did their job fantastically and I didn’t have any major dramas.
I picked the non-shiny version. They are very sturdily made and surprisingly light. I went through two airports with them and didn’t set off security so I imagine they are made of hollow plastic.
The heels are thick and the bows on the back are so cute!
One feature I really liked was the fact that the top buckle is on a snap closure. This means when you have ridiculously long nails you won’t have problems with putting your shoes on 😀
The tread on the bottom was a nice touch too that a lot of these style shoes seem to miss out on.
The only problem is that being white they do scuff quite easily. That’s not a design flaw, it’s just how white shoes are so if you’re going to get some you should get some shoe polish too.
Stripe Candy Tote bag
Price: US$6
I was a little disappointed with the colour of this one, on the site it looks like a very pastel blue but in reality it’s about half way between my photos and theirs.
The pattern is so cute!
For some reason the straps are made from a shiny slightly stretchy almost cheap vinyl fabric. It’s a very strange choice because it feels so much more flimsy than the rest of the bag. That said I used it to carry my heavy laptop to and from Melbourne and all around the place and it still hasn’t broken. It hasn’t broken yet but I still think I want to replace the straps just to be safe.
It’s lined with pink cotton. For $6 you can’t really go wrong though.
So what does it all look like on? Well it looks like this…
The skirt of the dress has lots of room for a good sized petti. Without the petti it is the perfect shape for hime style.
And co-ordinated slightly differently. Also don’t worry I haven’t forgotten that you all want a tutorial on this hair style, I’m just a bit behind at the moment *_*
Overall I’m happy with my purchases. I think it was great value for money and I was able to buy a lot more items than I was expecting.
Bodyline had such a stigma in the Lolita community because of quality issues many years ago, since then they’ve worked hard to change their image. Yes you will still find maid style items and no not everything there is good BUT if you are prepared to do your research and study the pictures carefully it can be a great place to pick up well priced lovely items.
One of the absolute highlights of James and my trip to Melbourne happened on the last day, in fact it happened on the way to the airport: we got to visit Circa Vintage!
Having met the lovely Nicole at our tea party we were super excited when she invited us to the shop on our last day in town! There was a New Zealand TV show filming in the store that day for a competition of some sort so the shop was bustling with excitement ^_^
The shop itself was full of so many beautiful things! I seriously could have spent my entire bank account with very little trouble, to be honest if we hadn’t been on the way to fly home I probably would have left with bags and bags of beautiful vintage dresses and accessories!
Nicole was lovely enough to let me try on some of the dresses and I had such a wonderful time prancing around like a princess!
The first piece I tried on was this beautiful pink number:
The fabric had the most beautiful floral designs woven into it and on the front there was a big bow!
The next piece was a purple lace dress which was much more form fitting. Here I am as the lovely Fiona helped me clip it at the back, I was too small for all of the dresses so we clipped them for the photos ^_^
Mwahaha we even convinced James to get in the spirit of things as he tried on this delicious vintage wool suit. I had to tell him like 50923842 times that a wool suit wouldn’t do well in Brisbane’s climate and he still didn’t want to part with it! How dashing does he look seriously?
This next dress was my favorite of the day and they practically had to bribe me to get out of it!
It’s a beautiful blue chiffon piece with lace details sewn around the bodice and skirt.
Being surrounded by the camera crew! I can’t wait to see how they edit the footage together!
One of the many reasons I loved this dress was the twirling action! I felt like a Disney Princess XD
The dressing up bug was contagious and Candicefound the most lovely fitted purple dress!
Ok we took way to many pictures…. but how awesome is it?!
By this point the day went something like this with James falling asleep in the chair while I camwhored 😉
Being clipped into the next dress by the wonderful Nicole and Fiona:
This is the only picture of both of us from the whole damn trip!
The whole atmosphere in the shop was beautiful!
PEARLS! It’s like some kind of lovely dream 😀
Group shot of all the girls! Left to right: Nicole, Fiona, Me, Candice. They all look so pretty!
Bonus pic! Jamestitled this photo “Parasols at Dawn” heehee!
If you want to visit Circa Vintage check the website for more details or drop into the store at: 102 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy, Victoria. I can’t wait to go back when we move down!!
For even more photos from Circa Vintage go check James blog here.
Today’s outfit was very stereotypical French inspired.
The kind of France that’s in my dreams… where everyone always carries a baguette all the time and has a poodle permanently attached to their arm. Yes that may be the kind of France that doesn’t exist but so what, I love my outfit anyway!
Dress- Target Stockings- Myer Cardigan- Angel Sissi Heart Ring- I made it 😀 Hat- SkyLine VintageShoes- Modified by me Other jewelery- random places
This outfit was for James’ birthday which was last Thursday! None of the pieces were very expensive at all but it comes together for a very sweet look and my hair is super curled/teased.
Make up for the day! I wish the camera captured how sparkly the pink was ^_^ I’m wearing the green lenses from my previous review.
Later that night we had a small family party for James but it was really hot that night. Instead of brushing out my hair I just pinned it up on the back of my head and added a bow.
That’s right you heard it, 4 outfit posts for the price of 1!
These are some of the outfits I wore while we were in Melbourne! Because were weren’t sure of the weather (which is famously unpredictable) I focused a lot on layering. With each outfit I’ll give you some tips for dressing well while traveling ^_^
Before we get into the outfits though… I totally want to show you my nails!
These nails are very much my favorites of all of the sets I’ve ever done!
Oh no creepy witch hands!
Unfortunately this is the best photo I got of them the whole time and it was taken by Aurora Hime!
Basically they are alternating light blue and pink with silver glitter, then white stripes over the top. They have then been decorated with a mix of diamantes, stars, tiny gold/silver balls, and gigantic 3D pearls (look on the blue thumb, gigantic right?). You can’t see a lot of the details here but these babies were spectacular in the light! Doing them reminded me that bigger is definitely better and inspired me to do more insanely big nail art 😀 Funnily enough because everything was rounded they were one of the least annoying sets I’ve worn because they didn’t catch on anything!
Outfit Number 1:
Skirt: Angelic Pretty Singlet: Some cheap store Cardigan: Ally Shoes: Bodyline Stockings: Myer Necklace: Little Waltz Hair Bow: Uncaring Kitty Other Jewelery: Random places
This outfit was for a day that started with a chill in the air and ended being very very hot! This was the day that we flew back to Brisbane so I picked an outfit that was cute but still comfortable enough for the plane. While the skirt is big, it’s not so big that you can’t move easily through the plane’s aisles and the cardigan sits flat so if needed I can add a thin jacket over the top for extra warmth
With outfits like this, its really all about the accessories! If you took the bows and jewelery away you would have something quite plain but adding the bling makes everything stand out more 😀 When I travel I will always scrimp on the actual clothes and take a lot more accessories. Something always gets lost or ruined on holiday so I would rather have enough accessories that if I have to re-wear an outfit I can make it look completely different with the accessories!
Picking pieces that can coordinate with pretty much any outfit is good too, for example, this bow on my hair is a white/cream so I can wear it with any colour dress because it doesn’t have a strong colour.
Outfit Number 2:
Dress: Target Cardigan: Present from my Mum Blue bow: Angelic Pretty Scarf: Some shop in Bugis in Singapore Beret: Portmans with a bow taken off a Bodyline dress Stockings: Myer Shoes: Bodyline
This outfit is a good example of one that can handle several different temperatures each day. The cardigan has an open weave patten so it breathes in the heat BUT it still provides warmth against a breeze. The scarf is so thin that when worn loose like this you can barely feel it but if it gets chilly you can wrap it several times and stay warm. The beret gives you a chance to rest your hair from all the spray/teasing and keeps you nice and warm, if you get too warm… take it off!
Outfit Number 3:
Skirt: Vintage from Blue Velvet Vintage Shirt: I think it was from Temp or some store, its just a v-neck t-shirt with a small puff sleeve Cardigan: Myer (I think… it was a gift) Hair accessories: Bows are from a Bodyline dress and the roses were made by me! Blue Bow: Angelic Pretty Stockings: Myer Shoes: Bodyline
This outfit was another example when we didn’t know what the weather would be like, the shirt is pretty enough that if it got too warm I could just lose the cardigan. This was my Chinese New Years/Valentines Day outfit 😀
Outfit Number 4:
Dress: Bodyline Cardigan: Op shop Stockings: Swimmer Jewelery: Little Waltz and some randoms Bow: Uncaring Kitty
Ok let’s talk about shoes… I took 3 pairs down for the week and the whole time I only ended up wearing these ones. The other two I took were both high heels, what’s the difference? This pair has a platform base on the front so if you actually measure the *real* height difference from your toes to your heals it’s only a few centimeters… this means that I can walk ALL day in them without getting horrible blisters but they still look awesome! I picked them in white because as well as lengthening the look of my legs (with the white stockings) they go with pretty much anything at all 😀
Taking several pairs of different stockings is another way to change your co-ordinates easily without taking up valuable suitcase space. Pattern stocks are awesome for any occasion as long as you pick the pattern carefully. I’m wearing cupcakes for out tea party 😀
So what’s there to take away from this? Small objects can make a big difference to an outfit!
P.S This is on a completely different note but I am looking for a new hairdresser! If you can recommend anyone in Brisbane (or even Melbourne so I can add to the list of reasons to move) then please let me know. They need to be awesome with colour and possibly extensions because I’m interested in that too. If you’re a hair dresser in Brisbane/Melbourne either leave a comment or contact me at [email protected] <3 <3 <3
Illustrator. Strong tea, knitting, watercolours, and making a video game called Moonlight in Garland. Living with her adorable husband Jimmy, fluffy puppy Miss Lottie and Bergamot Bunny in Melbourne, Australia.
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