Here's what I wore for a double-date picnic on Monday with Kayla and our boys! My boyfriend bought me the hairbow when we went to a festival on Mother's Day so I wanted to design an outfit that would match it ♥ I adore my overdress from IDD, and I've been trying to think of some other ways to coordinate it, so when I realized that it matched the bow perfectly, I threw it on over the blouse and jumperskirt I was already wearing. I think I'm going to wear this for my birthday party, too. I love the Wonderland feel to these pictures - the shed from my backyard reminds me of the Rabbit's house if Alice had grown big outside of it instead of inside!
Unfortunately my curls ended up falling by the time I got to my boyfriend's house, so I just ended up doing a flip instead.
Rundown:

• JSK: Bodyline
• Blouse: H&M
• Overdress: I Do Declare custom commission
• Socks: Secret Shop
• Shoes: Offbrand

We went to a lovely field surrounded by woodlands for the picnic and ate lunch in the shade of a long-deceased rich woman's summer cottage. She had donated the house and acres and acres of the surrounding property to the town, and now they do tours of it and have butterfly gardens and woodland trails through the rest of it.

Also, guess what? Today is my birthday! :)

Not gonna lie, Martha is, like, my ultimate girlcrush. I had been familiar with her from the New York City lolita scene, but didn't really talk to her until Otakon of last year. Even then we didn't hang out until later that summer, when Victoria Suzanne and I met up with her and Kelsey in San Francisco. It was upon gallivanting through an unknown city with the pair that Victoria &I really got to know them, as well as getting an amazing first-hand look at both of their very inspirational personal styles. Since I've been (no-so-)secretly girlcrushing on her like mad, I figured she would make a perfect addition to my Get That Style series!

Name: Martha
Zodiac sign: Sagittarius
Location: New Jersey, USA
Style: Classic lolita influenced by historical fashion, mori-girl, and sweet lolita
Definitive trends: Like many lolitas, Martha's most recognizable fashion statement is definitely her hair. Her short bangs and full, huge ringlets make her look much more like an illustration than someone you'd expect to see walking down the streets of New York City. Another recurring look is the creative use of off- or indies-brand items. Like me she adores the work of our mutual friend Kelsey of I Do Declare, as well as Japanese indies brands like MILK and Pink House. This girl also works wonders at chain stores, coming away with gorgeous blouses and cardigans on a frequent basis. Martha's style is all about accentuating the natural and taking classic stand-bys and updating them.Stand-by pieces: Tights or bare legs are favored instead of knee-high socks, and shoes are understated with a vintage flair, especially calf-high boots. Martha is well-known for creative bags, especially favoring pochettes in natural neutrals like brown leather and black fur. She also prefers longer styles, with dresses and skirts falling somewhere between the top of the knee to the calf. Never without a fabulous hair accessory, she mostly favors floral corsages, especially with bows, and feathered hats. Tops are usually cutsews, blouses, or sweaters from chain stores - as I said above, Martha is iconic in my mind for crazy-awesome finds at Forever 21 or even K-mart.

To achieve: RATS! Make or buy a rat for your hair to give it extra volume, then curl it into sumptuous ringlets with either an iron or curlers. Hair accessories should be perched jauntily on one side of the head. Either invest in an amazing hat, or make yourself a few rose combs to fix just above your ear. Include accessories with a glamorously natural vibe, such as a leather purse, feathers in your hair, and pearl jewelry. Interesting necklaces, especially hand-made, are utterly necessary to get her look. For make-up, go with a natural look, coral lips and cream shadow with very little blush (the focus is on her even, porcelain skintone), and manicured brows are a must. Favor prints in bold neutrals, such as stark black-and-white or intricate patterns in cream and brown.

In summary: Natural, natural, natural. If I could describe Martha's style in one phrase, it would be "understated, old-world elegance with a modern flair." For more, check out her new blog, moss garden!

Pink? Polka dots? Hearts? You know what that means - I've roped Victoria into another one of my hair-brained schemes for the benefit of my lovely readers. "Hair-brained" is certainly applicable this time, because here's a hair-spiration post featuring this season's hottest style: Braids! From mainstream to mori-girls, everyone has decided that the braid is back. I've always adored braids as a cute, simple way to jazz up any style, especially in summer when you don't want all that humidity melting your hairspray away. Since my hair is so dark, details don't photograph on it well, so I recruited Victoria to help me out (she sat complacently on her cellphone, figuring out how to link it to her e-mail). Here are some of my favorite braided looks for lolita:

The Crown Braid: An old favorite of mine, it's a touch tricky and takes some getting used to, but if you can master it, the affect is understated but very glamorous. Just take a small section of hair from just above the ear, and start braiding as close to the root as possible. If you can, hold the hair over your head while you're braiding, as this will cut out any lumps that may form when you lay it over the crown. Then... lay it over your crown. Here I secured Victoria's braid with a bobby pin that matched her hair under about three fingers worth of hair behind her ear. If you want, you can adorn the end of the braid with a bow or flower corsage, but here I didn't think it would be necessary, especially with how cute it is to have the pink braid over the blonde hair. A pearl headband behind the braid would be very classy as well.

Crown Corsage Braid: Ahh, so you've mastered the crown braid, eh? Well, here's the level-up. Instead of a regular braid that you pull over the top of the head, take a small section and french braid it across, behind your bangs if you have them. Once you get to the end, curl the tips of your hair around a finger, then keep rolling until you have a rose-like corsage. Secure with a few bobby pins. I can't claim credit for this look - I found it off Youtube tutorial. I can't find it now, but if anyone is interested I'm sure I could dig around for it!


Pigtails With Pizazz: And here is my favorite braided style- sick of normal braided pigtails? take a medium-sized section from the crown at the front of your part and braid it - when I do it on myself I can just do a regular braid, but for some reason Victoria's hair wasn't taking it, so I did a french braid itself. I think this looks much more streamlined than my usual style, but I definitely wouldn't have the patience to do that on my own hair! Maybe if I'm styling someone else's, though. Adorn the ends with anything you would use on normal pigtails, or for added cuteness channel mori-girl and stick some small wildflowers or feathers straight into the braid itself.

Ramble Rori's post on Internet addiction made me realize just what a huge problem it can be to our demographic, and even I'm a victim. I've been so holed up in my room these past few weeks, busy with not only blog-work but school-work that I almost didn't realize it was nearly summer! I stepped outside yesterday and saw people with perfect tans all over campus and I thought, already?! I had no idea the weather had been so nice, but it had, and I had been missing it because I was "too busy." Me, the queen of stopping to smell the roses, too busy to spend an afternoon in the sun?! So here are a few tips I came up with to get out and away from your computer:

If it's warm:

• Go to a park! Take a walk around your local park or wildlife reserve. Bonus points if you pick flowers or leaves as mementos.
• Have a picnic - a perennial favorite of mine!
• If you absolutely can't get away from the computer ("ahhh finals ahhh essays fml!!" has kind of been a summary of my last two weeks), buy yourself a nice big bouquet of flowers to bring the outside inside. Or, better yet, convince a gorgeous suitor to buy them for you!
• Go out to lunch with friends. My favorite is cupcakes and sandwiches at a local bakery.
• Find a good book and a parasol and just veg on your favorite spot of grass. Mine is at my parents' house, in the shore of the lake - I bring an mp3 player, book, blanket and smoothie and soak up that vitamin D when I need a break.

If it's cold (I didn't forget about you, Southern hemisphere!):

• Take in some local history. In my area, most of our towns have a Historical Society where they have pictures or fun facts about the area from when it was first founded to the present. If not, I'm sure you have some kind of museum or historic landmark nearby. Lessie of Intravenous Sugar did this here when she explored Europe without leaving her home city of Buenos Aires!
• Taste-test every hot chocolate in your city. Make a day and go to every cafe you can find. Normally I'd suggest tea, but let's mix it up a bit, shall we?
• Go ice skating! I'm lucky enough (?) to live in an area that gets ice-covered ponds and lakes in the winter, but if you're in a warmer climate, search out a rink instead.
• Head into the closest city for a day of shopping with your girls. When I get this hankering it's Tokyo Rebel, here I come!
• Even if it's too cold or blustery to go outside, you can still take time to yourself! Draw a picture, paint your bedroom, curl up on a nice carpet with a good book - bonus points if there's a fireplace involved!

Happy Mother's Day, mommies!! I got my mother a bottle of chardonnay, a box of gourmet truffles from a world-renowned chocolatier, and a huge cupcake from Crumbs in her favorite flavor, peanut butter. My sister-in-law hosted a beautiful Mother's Day brunch with some absolutely amazing food as always (my contribution was white chocolate coconut ganache truffles). Here's what I wore!Rundown:

• Dress: Children's store
• Blouse: Innocent World
• Hat: Vintage
• Socks: BABY
  
• Pearls &shoes: offbrand

This is another one of the amazing vintage hats my aunt sends home for me sometimes. I have family in Pennsylvania, where there are a lot of amazing vintage shops. My aunt loves to trawl them but can't really wear much of it herself, so she has my parents bring it home to me whenever they visit. Admittedly, it can be kind of hit-or-miss, but the hats are always amazing!

Also props to my wonderful boyfriend who puts up with so much from me. He took these pictures, came to brunch with my fam (an ordeal even I don't usually endure!), and even wandered around a festival with me all day. Also he took me to see Iron Man 2 last night. Love ya!