adventures in loli-land #1: museum murder mystery

Dear fairies,

Let's backtrack, shall we? I am still catching up on what I did over the past few months! During the summer I went to another lolita meetup which was a murder mystery at the art museum. I asked my best friend, Catherine, to tag along with me. Before the meetup, we met with my friend Vivian at her university theatre changing rooms to get dolled up in lolita. At first I wasn't sure which outfit to wear, but since Vivian was going for her Frankenweenie ouji style suit with a feathered hat, I decided to go with my Alice and the Pirates Jellyfish Princess x Kuranosuke Stripe jumperskirt (which I wore later for Halloween) with a feathered hat ^_^ Since Catherine isn't a lolita (yet) I let her borrow my Innocent World x Mucha one piece dress (perfect for an art museum meet)

and put together the best accessories I had to go with it for a sort of bohemian look.

Once we were all ready to go, we went to meet up with the rest of the group who was eating at Cafe Express. I had a yummy chicken pesto salad and headed out to the museum once we got our fill. This was an art museum I have never been to before and its free admission permanent collection was just so wonderful that I recently visited it again.

The murder mystery began with a crime scene outline of a victim who was murdered by one of several characters from art pieces around the museum. In every section of the museum there were live actors who were sitting in front of paintings or statues of people, and they assumed the character of the artwork they were in front of. The museum visitors had to go around asking the characters questions about the crime and what had happened in order to obtain clues as to who might have killed the victim. This was very awesome to see all of these people dressed in their costumes and stay in character the entire night. Although we didn't correctly guess who it was, we all unknowingly took a picture with the murderer before we knew who she was!

I loved talking with the others at the meetup, hanging out with my best friend, and seeing beautiful art such as one of Claude Monet's water lily paintings. This was technically my second lolita meetup where I wore lolita. The first one was a few years ago for a Valentine's Day meetup at a vegan restaurant where I wore a sax blue Bodyline one piece. I think I did pretty well for my first legitimate coord at the museum, but I'm still growing in that department.

So, expect to see more adventures in loli-land posts soon! I hope this doesn't put any of my lovely fairies off  >.<  I still love fairy kei and wear it most of the time in my everyday life!

 What I Wore

Feathered Hat With Veil: Icing by Claire's

Kuranosuke Stripe Jumper Skirt: Alice and the Pirates

Lace Bell Sleeve Blouse: Dear Celine

Black Knee High Socks: Offbrand

Platform Tea Party Shoes: Offbrand

Black Gloves: Offbrand

White Hello Kitty Purse (not shown): Loungefly

~Sparkling Ga Eul

Faith, Trust and Fairy Kei Dust!

and now for a way overdue halloween post

Dear fairies,

It has been so very long since I've posted! I have decided to that I need to find a more efficient way to continue posts on here. I'll admit I'm not perfect in anyway. Not to mention, I am still trying to find the best photo editor for my phone >.< I admit I'm just too lazy for a real camera.

So, this Halloween, I didn't have any plans, but I did wear a nice outfit/costume for the day complete with a lolita dress, a witch hat, and goth makeup with star and moon shapes below each of my eyes. I got an invite on Facebook for a free maid cafe on Halloween happening at a college about an hour away from my house, so I decided it would be a lovely time to go with two of my friends. Regrettably, I did not take any pictures of this cafe, but we had a nice time with cute maids and butlers serving everyone cake, coffee, and tea. Also, some of the maids performed J-pop dances throughout our time there. I mingled amongst the other people there, saying hello to familiar faces, and asking the maids where they bought their petticoats (Classical Puppets of course). It was a great time and I had a slice of chocolate cake and some hot green tea.

Afterward, my friends and I decided to head to a very nice mall a few minutes away. We walked around and shopped a bit. All of the stores even had bowls of candy for trick-or-treating. I didn't buy anything, but I enjoyed myself as we talked to a lot of people, especially about what I was wearing. I decided to stop at the Starbucks in the mall and order the "butterbeer" drink on the secret menu. It was delicious and I definitely recommend it to Harry Potter fans. All you have to do is find the recipe for it online and then show it to the barista.

Back home, my friends and I decided to watch a horror flick. Unfortunately, my family selection for horror films was a bit slim, so I suggested we watch "the scariest horror movie of all time," The Exorcist. My friends had never seen it before, and thought it was time they see this film. To get into the Halloween spirit, we also watched it outside on an outdoor patio at night.

All in all, it was a great day for being a slightly improvised Halloween. At least I looked fabulous ;-)

What I Wore

Crush Velvet Witch Hat: Offbrand (taken from a costume and then I added silk roses)

White Blouse: Offbrand

Kuranosuke Stripe Jumperskirt: Alice and the Pirates

Dark Red Tights: Offbrand

Black and White Shoes: Forever 21

Bead Flower Bracelet: Offbrand

Hello Kitty Purse: Loungefly

~Sparkling Ga Eul

Faith, Trust and Fairy Kei Dust!

confession #9: i am a "part-time" lolita

Dear fairies,

Yes, I am a sort of "part time" lolita of sorts I suppose, but I guess I don't like to say "I am a lolita," since fairy kei is what I wear most often. I have always been an admirer of the fashion on and off, but after seriously delving into historical fashions and costume design, I have come to love the classic lolita style specifically since lolita is based on historical styles.

Interestingly enough, I think as a fairy, that I am probably the minority when it comes to the style of lolita I dress in. Most girls who are sweet lolitas come to fairy kei and most fairies who come to lolita go towards sweet lolita. Of course, the reason behind this is obvious as the two styles share a dominant pastel palette and a young girly flair. 

Personally, I love classic lolita with a bit of a twist, and the current dominant color scheme in my wardrobe is composed  of browns, ivorys, reds, and golds.

I have been building up a small wardrobe for a few years now, and I usually wear lolita for specific occasions. I have loved going out for afternoon tea even before I began my wardrobe, so naturally I now wear lolita when I am having tea with my boyfriend or mother. I also have many opportunities to go to nice dinners and events where I would don a lolita coord. Of course, if a local lolita group is having a meetup that strikes my fancy, I will dress up. 

 

While fairy kei is my main fashion that I aim to wear regularly, lolita is there for those occasions that call for nicer dress. Therefore, as someone who doesn't wear lolita often, I try to keep my lolita wardrobe to a minimum without all the extra "frills," if you will. I do love all the pretty things that lolita has to offer, especially those things which I find a personal affinity with, such as the Swan Lake print here which shows my extreme love for the composer Tchaikovsky. No, I will not hide my Twilight Sparkle-inspired hair under a wig with my lolita coords!

So, with that, I will be posting a few lolita or other JFashion things not related directly to fairy kei in the future ^_^

~Sparkling Ga Eul

Faith, Trust and Fairy Kei Dust!

fairy goes to lady gaga concert

Dear fairies,

I'm still catching up on things that have happened! I had college courses over the summer so that really took it out of me.

The second week of July I went to go see Lady Gaga! She is definitely a bit of an idol for me as far as her want to carve out her own unique niche in the fashion world. This was my first Gaga concert. Interestingly enough, the person who took me to go see the show was my stepfather XD He is actually a huge Gaga fan and he was the one who wanted to go see her in the first place.

This particular concert was ArtRave: The ArtPop Ball for her newest album. The overall theme of it was generally a rave as there were "raver" types of things on sale for the show like light up dreads, bows, seashell bras, and glowsticks. At the end of the concert, Gaga even donned an adorable raver costume.

When I knew I was going to this concert I just knew I needed to wear something awesome. Unfortunately, as school got nearer and nearer to finals weeks, I didn't have time to even begin thinking about what to wear. By the time finals were over, however, I went to Australia for a month. I then rested for a couple of weeks as I was seriously exhausted, and before I knew it, the concert was only a day away!

So, in the end, I woke up super late the next day and only had about 5 hours to bleach and touch up the color on my hair, eat lunch, take a shower, get dressed, and put on makeup >.< Crazy enough, I find the outfits I put the least amount of real thought into turn out to be some of the nicest ones. While I was rushing to get going, I quickly chose all of the things to wear, put on only the basics, and bagged all of my accessories so I could put them on when I was on the train. I even didn't have time to think of my makeup. In one hour on the train ride to the concert, I just improvised something and tried to make it look fabulous. After my makeup was done I put on all my remaining accessories. Also, because this was a "ball" I decided to wear long white opera gloves haha

Once we arrived at the center where the concert was being held, there was an amazing bit of diversity amongst ages and walks of life. There were people there like my stepfather who were relatively "normal" folk in their 50s, to those who were dressed in hardly anything but short shorts and some platform heels, to very young girls who were about 7 years old.

The outfits and costumes of those who went all out were also varying from extremely fabulous to extremely questionable. Either way, it was nice to see all of these wonderful people together in one place, completely comfortable towards the fashions that everyone was wearing. Almost all of the people who were dressed to kill had photos taken of them by others in pedestrian fashions. I even had quite a few pictures taken of myself even though my outfit was far from some of the crazy Venus goddess inspired costumes a lot of other people were wearing.

 The atmosphere was great and friendly as it seemed everyone was comfortable with talking with one another. I talked to quite a few people and took some pics with them ^_^ A really awesome addition to this concert was this free photo booth that Lady Gaga's foundation provided at the concert. There, we received a free button and elastic band while we waited in line to have six pictures taken of ourselves that were printed out for us to take home. It was wonderful to have three free small souvenirs to take with me instead of a $40 concert T-shirt.







This particular concert opened up with a K-pop band, Crayon Pop. I had never heard of them since I'm not big on K-pop myself, but they are a cute and cool little girl band. They were wearing pink Polo shirts with white pleated skirts, white leggings, and these white helmets with pink stripes on them. I'm not quite sure what the deal was with the helmets, but who am I to judge what the performers are wearing at a Lady Gaga concert?? I suggest checking these girls out, especially if you're a big K-pop or even J-pop fan.

After Crayon Pop was Lady Starlight. I have never ever heard of her as long as I've been a Gaga fan, but apparently for those who are really into her know who Lady Starlight is. If my conjecture is correct, Lady Starlight is a sort of improv DJ who creates music onstage with a sort of sound/music board thing. I was told by some of the people I was talking to at the concert that she was weirder than Gaga and that one time she just drank a bottle of whiskey while onstage! She has been great friends with Lady Gaga for a long time and the two are both from New York. Her beats were cool and interesting and though I will admit to a bit of boredom after a while and just wanted to get on with Lady Gaga.

Finally Gaga arrived onstage in all of her Gaga glory. All I can say about Lady Gaga is that she has a great stage presence. She is able to create an atmosphere and command an audience very well. Gaga is great at bringing the audience together as she said that everyone in the room were people who were non-judgemental and that we were all advocates of love. The concert, as intended, definitely felt like a huge party. I had no shame in dancing and singing and cheering. I loved the general production design and effects such as confetti cannons. I also thought it was great that the other performers onstage besides Gaga were somehow able to be noticed as well. Everyone on the stage was superbly talented and great to watch and listen to.



One of the things Gaga is most famous for is her personable approach to her fans and audiences and her generosity towards the people she works with onstage. She made a recognition to some of the members in the band playing the music and her dancers were often showcased in front of her in costumes just as wild. At a few points, she talked about her personal life and her views and gave a bit of her own knowledge of what she's learned. One thing I remember her saying is pointing out a man in the audience who had on a hat that said "I love haters" and she said that haters are weak people who try to bring down those who are strong.That rang very true to me and it made me feel better to think about it that way. People who bring you down are trying to bring you down because you are stronger than they are.



Then, near the end, a whole bunch of fans started throwing stuffed animals at her onstage and she then proceeded to pretend to fall to the floor and said something like "death by stuffed animals!" She then found a Hello Kitty plush with a wedding veil on it and she took the veil and put it on her head. Next, she took a note which was attached to the plush and read it out loud to the audience. It was two girls who lived in a small town and said that they have always been different and fans of the "avant-garde" and that they found courage to express themselves in such a place because of Lady Gaga. It was a pretty nice and touching moment and Gaga invited the girls to come meet her backstage after the show. Furthermore, she picked two people out of the crowd to come dance onstage with her that she thought dressed awesome. The particular song they danced with her was a bit odd ("Swine"), but it was cool nonetheless. One of the fans had on a light up silver leotard style suit that lit up and the other was wearing something similar to a Harajuku style with a large bow on her head, overalls, bright colors, lots of accessories, and huge deco platform sneakers. Ironically enough, Gaga asked the girl with the platforms if she could walk in them ok and the girl said yes, but when she took her first steps she actually fell! It was weird though because Gaga either didn't know the girl fell or was ignoring her, which wasn't a good thing, but at least one of the onstage performers helped her up.



All of her costumes on this tour were wonderful and had great variety. My favorites were the one in all white and the raver outfit. She was so elegant looking in the white one with a train and flowing white wig, but very cute in the rave get-up with fuzzy legwarmers and twin ponytail dreads. One very interesting thing she did when she put on the raver costume was that she actually changed onstage! She was stripped by a wardrobe team in nothing but a thong and two tape X's on her nipples and then was put into a clear plastic top, a plastic green and white skirt with a fuzzy blue trim, colorful fuzzy arm and legwarmers, and a multi-colored dreadlock wig. I thought this little stunt was not only revealing, but also provided more intimacy with the audience and sort of showed us that Gaga isn't this magical being who can just turn into whatever crazy costume she wants.










Overall, this concert was great and a wonderful experience. I would definitely tell everyone that they should go to one of her concerts at least once if they like her music. She seems like a really cool person and knows how to entertain and is definitely worth all the money you pay. I will say that it was almost two hours before she even came onstage, but it was great to go talk to people before the show and go to the photo booth. Another nitpick is probably her skimming over her past hits when she performed them. I understand promoting Art Pop, but I would have liked that she picked fewer of her hits to perform fully rather than taking all of her past hits and then performing them as one long medley. Otherwise, I had a great time ^_^




 What I Wore

Fluffy Star Barrette: handmade by me

Pink Tulle Clip: handmade by me

Blue Bead Necklace: Thrift

Retro My Little Pony Dress: Iron Fist

Cream Pengoir: 80s Vintage Thrift

Tutu: Hot Topic

Ruffle Cuff Socks: American Apparel

Custom Shoes: Reebok

Long White Gloves: Offbrand

Purse: 6% DokiDoki

If you've read all of this, congratulations! I hope you enjoyed~

~Sparkling Ga Eul

Faith, Trust and Fairy Kei Dust!

japanese street fashion show take 2!

Dear Fairies,

In February I was part of another Japanese street fashion show at the local Asian Art Museum. They were having an after dark event, so some members of the Japanese fashion community got together to put on a fashion show of different styles.

There, I met two new fairies, Carol and Amanda, who were very lovely ladies. I hope to meet with the again soon ^_^ A very interesting coincidence was that we all ended up wearing Disney shirts as you can see!

The event was very impromptu so we didn't have a rehearsal period. So, when it came time for me to walk down the runway, I didn't realize that we were supposed to keep walking through the audience >.< Instead, I went off the other side of the stage area haha

It was a nice little night of fun to catch up on some of my great J-fashion friends and to make new ones! In the pic above, next to me is lolita, Angel Light, who was great to record most of this fashion show as she did in the last fashion show I was in. You can see my slightly embarrassing walk XD

 What I Wore

Pom Pom Bow Barrette: handmade (bought at convention)

Plastic Hair Clip: Target (full price)

Pink Rhinestone Glasses: Claire’s (on sale)

Belle Beauty and the Beast Shirt: 90s Vintage

White Suspenders: Hot Topic (full price)

Shorts: 90s Vintage (from my mom)

Socks: Target (full price)

Custom Shoes: Reebok (full price)

Disney Mickey Mouse Winter Button: thrift

~Sparkling Ga Eul

Faith, Trust and Fairy Kei Dust!

such nostalgia: the little mermaid musical

Dear Fairies,

I went to see The Little Mermaid musical sometime in March. I went with my stepfather and his granddaughter. When I realized it would be coming into town, I knew that this was a great time to wear my retro 80s Little Mermaid shirt ^_^

The production was great, but definitely not as extravagant as many other shows seen on Broadway. I found the large clear bubble "flats" that they used for the above water scenes an interesting choice. Also, I was glad that they didn't use Heelys like they did in the original Broadway production. I always found Heelys kind of weird... I got that they wanted a feeling of them being underwater, but I imagine it would've been more distracting to me. Flounder had a little skateboard in this production but I felt as if that was a character choice that worked quite well.

Instead of Heelys though, this production had the Mermaid tails cover the feet in front with the "fin" which was made of this flowy fringe material, and the actors walked normally. Actually, this was the first production to use the fly system to have the fish and mermaids actually look as if they were swimming mid-water. This was a wonderful choice as it was done superbly.

Photo Taken by Christian Waits (Theatre Jones)

Not only were fish and mermaids flown, but was used on Eric in the scene where he falls into the water after the shipwreck. When this happened, a scrim was brought down in front of the stage upon which a light made to look like water was projected. Behind the scrim we saw Eric in an almost heavenly light that you can usually see underwater when there's light coming down upon the water. Then, slowly, he was flown down as if he was falling through the water. It was absolutely beautiful. Ariel's silhouette could be seen coming in to save him and that was the end of the first act.

Photo Taken by Christian Waits (Eric Kunze Fansite)

All of the actors were wonderful and there was a delightful originality. The supporting characters all had lovely twists to them visually and in their character that I enjoyed. First, Sebastian was still Jamaican but he was definitely portrayed as more "proper" in this production as he was dressed in a completely red 19th Century style costume complete with knickers, tights, and a red powdered wig. The actor was possibly the greatest singer in the entire cast. Scuttle was a bit more... interesting... he became even a bit off-putting to me haha but he had an interesting costume with pumpkin pants, striped socks, and a vest. The twist they put on Flounder made him seem more realistic in a sense. He had spiky hair, wearing a slight skater boy style costume. A new layer for this character was his crush on Ariel that was actually very cute and gives way to his song in the show. The actor was adorable and had a wonderful voice. As for Ursula, she was definitely fabulous without a doubt. The tentacle dress was nothing short of dazzling, and the tentacles would be moved by the actors playing Flotsam and Jetsam to create the illusion she was moving them around the eels during Poor Unfortunate Souls. A little side note is the performance of Les Poissons. This is possibly the most overlooked song in the show, but the performance was hilarious as the actor put a different emphasis on the already clever lyrics by Howard Ashman.

Photo Taken by Christian Waits (Theatre Jones)

My real nitpick with the musical in general is that I'm not a huge Glen Slater fan. He wrote the lyrics for the new songs in the musical besides the first song called Mysterious Fathoms Below.  Mysterious Fathoms Below was a song that was cut from the film, with lyrics written by Howard Ashman, the original lyricist. Unfortunately, Ashman is no longer with us, so Disney hired Glen Slater. I don't find Glen Slater nearly as good of a lyricist as Ashman though :b

Photo Taken by Christian Waits (Kory's Review)

Overall, I was pleased with the production regardless of some of the stranger changes that were made for the musical. I would recommend going to see it for the nostalgia and spectacle for sure ^_^

 What I Wore

Fabric Rose Fascinator: Forever 21 (full price)

Purple Rhinestone Studded Glasses: Claire’s (on sale)

Ariel The Little Mermaid Shirt: 80s Vintage

Cardigan: Old Navy (on sale)

Skirt: Gap (gift)

Leggings: Forever 21 (on sale)

Socks: Target (full price)

Purple Suede Pumps (not pictured): Franco Sarto

Pink Sparkly Ribbon Bow Pin: made by me

Bangle: Forever 21 (on sale)

Scrunchie: Claire's (on sale)

~Sparkling Ga Eul

Faith, Trust and Fairy Kei Dust!