One of my first blog posts, way back in the day, was lolified versions of mainstream trends. At the time, I was getting much more interested in mainstream fashion due to my customer-facing job, and since I enjoyed writing it so much and have found myself in a similar place sartorially, I've decided to bring it back for Spring 2014! As I don't exist in a lolita-specific bubble, nor do the rest of us, it's become one of my pastimes to keep up with this season's trends for my work and general non-lolita wardrobe. I've never been a trend-chaser, but looking at mainstream fashion recently has actually proved to be quite inspirational for my lolita coordinates as well. While we obviously do have our own trends that crop up, I feel like they aren't as diverse or rapidly-changing as the mainstream world is, so even they can get boring at times.

For example, some huge trends right now is layered chiffon, longer hemlines, and more mature color schemes, but many of the American lolitas I know have been doing that for years already. I remember planning my spring/summer wardrobe for 2010 and waxing poetic about those exact same looks, and I have friends of five years whom I've never seen in a regular cotton blouse or with exposed knees. Trends in lolita take years to build up, whereas in main stream fashion they're gone and forgotten within months. While that's slightly intimidating, and certainly would be costly to keep up with religiously, I think that turning to mainstream fashion for lolita inspiration can not only keep the subculture interesting, but since we can expect our malls and department stores to carry these items, it can be a great way to expand a lolita wardrobe as well. 

Three Mainstream Fashion Trends for Lolitas, Spring 2014

Spring 2014 Trends, Lolita Versions - orchid, bold lips, fancy shades, flower crowns

The top 3 mainstream trends for lolita, in my mind, are bold lips (particularly in orchid), embellished sunglasses, and flower crowns. A bold lip can be a great way to tie a secondary color more profoundly into your coordinate, as with the shades of purple in the outfit above. Particularly fab for the spring and summer sun, embellished sunglasses are an unexpected accessory for lolitas - bonus points if they're star- or heart-shaped; here, the little 3-D roses mimic the flowers in the Lady Sloth skirt's print, while bringing some pastel life to the otherwise muted piece. And finally, flower crowns/headbands feel to me like something that mainstream fashion actually borrowed from lolita, instead of the other way around; they've been growing in popularity for the past few springs, but this is certain the heyday for lolita flower accessories.

Those are my top three mainstream trends for lolitas this spring/summer, but there are so many good ones, I couldn't only pick one coordinate's worth!

Bonus Extra Set!

Lolita coordinate with sheer accents

For this outfit, the only spring trend I went with was the previously-mentioned chiffon. While in lolita it's common for us to wear full pieces of chiffon, such as a blouse or ruffled underskirt, I've noticed that mainstream fashion is being drawn more to pieces with bits of chiffon mixed in with other fabrics, such as cottons, synthetics, and satin. When I saw this Angelic Pretty dress, I knew it was perfect for this trend, and I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to design a coordinate around it!

So, readers, I'm curious: do you follow mainstream fashion trends?

And if so, which are your current favorites to mix with lolita?

 It's officially spring! This is a coordinate for an impromptu afternoon tea I held for my friend Carol and I. My boyfriend, who is the sweetest in the land, made us some lovely tea sandwiches, as well as water flavored with raspberries, lemon, and cucumber slices, and Carol baked cookies. I thought I'd have more time to make something than I actually did, so I just bought some macarons and lemon bars.

In honor of spring, I wanted to go for a pastoral, almost flower-child like vibe. This skirt, which was handmade by one of the NYC lolitas, is really perfect for that theme, as it depicts Victorian men and women playing croquet and promenading outside. I left my hair in its natural curls, though I contained them slightly in twin tails (which I haven't worn in forever! Since I stopped wearing sweet lolita, I believe?)

Rundown:

Cutsew: Angelic Pretty

Skirt: Dix Macabre

Flower crown: Wet Seal

Tights: Target

Boots: Funtasma

How do you like my boots? They were my anniversary present from boyfriend, and I'm fairly obsessed, to tell the truth! I've been meaning to buy a pair of Victorian-style boots for years and years, but when I found these I unfortunately didn't have much spending money. I was going to just wait until payday, but then Ryan offered to buy them for me as an anniversary present! It's a good thing, too, because I always do that end then either lose the link to whatever it is I wanted to buy, or talk myself out of it by the time I actually get the money. It's a terrible habit of mine!

Detail shots:

Are you as excited as I am for the change of seasons? I feel like spring is the perfect time of year for lolita fashion, but autumn can be so beautiful as well. I'm always drawn to lighter palettes when it starts getting warm, like this outfit, but I don't think I'll be able to leave my dark colors behind completely...

I have this terrible habit of losing everything I own, and makeup is no exception. While I've been seeing tutorials for fixing broken pressed powder makeup around the internet for ages, I didn't have much reason to use it, as it's rare that I drop or break my own makeup. Then this week I was browsing Target's clearance makeup section, and had a revelation: much of the makeup in these sections are still perfectly good and fashionable, but have been dropped and broken by other patrons and therefore no longer deserve their initial price tags, despite otherwise being perfectly good and unused. I found a Pixi palette that I love, but which had two shattered shadows in it. I rolled up my sleeves, and decided to expand my arsenal of budget makeup skills by fixing the palette and scoring a $12 product on clearance for $3 and a little elbow grease!

The premise of this craft is that a powder eyeshadow mixed with liquid will turn into a malleable goop that can be molded back into its original shape. Water would take too long to dry or compromise the integrity of the powder, but rubbing alcohol evaporates after a short period, leaving the newly-formed solid makeup in whatever shape you mold it into. The makeup is now solid and good as new!

Fixing a broken makeup palette

You will need:

• Small, blunt tool: I cut one head off a cotton bud/Q-tip, but you could use a toothpick or the end of a makeup brush, depending on the size of your palette. The smaller it is, the smaller your tool should be
• 70% isopropyl alcohol: This is the type that all of the tutorials I saw online used, so I'm not sure if other concentrations will work as well as this one, or better
• Broken pressed powder makeup, obviously!
• Thin plastic wrap
• Optional, but recommended: angled makeup brush
• Completely optional: small spatula/butter knife for smoothing the top (I just used the flat side of my headless Q-tip)
• Completely optional: small eye dropper

First step: break up the broken powder even more to remove or lessen the size of the lumps that are present. This will ensure that the alcohol penetrates all of the powder evenly when you're stirring.

Next, mix in the isopropyl alcohol a few drops at a time. I just poured a small amount into the cap and used that to drip the alcohol into the powder, but if yo
u have an eyedropper handy it's probably much easier and more efficient to use that.

Stir the powder and alcohol together so that the powder is completely saturated. Make sure you get into the corners, and be careful - for me, making sure that the powder stayed in its little container within the palette was one of the hardest parts of the entire process!

Once the two substances are completely mixed comes the other hardest part: smoothing the goop over. I used the side of the Q-tip, like I said above, and gently ran it over the top, making sure to apply slight but even pressure over the whole thing. When I was done, I used my angled eyeshadow brush to squish any particles back into place which may have been moved by the Q-tip.

Now that it's mostly smooth, I used the plastic wrap (I used super thin stuff that I cut from a produce plastic bag - it seemed like it was probably twice as thin as regular plastic wrap you'd use for wrapping up leftovers, and that was really helpful, so I'd say the thinnest plastic you can find would probably be good, as long as it's food-safe!) to smooth it out even further. I gently covered the goop so the plastic was just barely touching all of it, and then slowly and gently dragged it all the way across toward the edge of the plastic. Once it was at the edge, I continued dragging it all the way off - if you just pull it off regularly, it could mark up the beautiful smooth goop with craters, which are definitely not what you're going for! This was the most frustrating part for me, because I don't have very steady hands (SO MUCH CAFFEINE), so I had trouble applying even amounts of pressure and moving slowly and gently enough over the surface.

Using the still-in-tact head of your cotton swab and/or your angled brush, clean the loose powder off of the rest of your palette so it looks shiny and new!

For me, the final step was using my angled brush again to slightly angle the edges so it looked a bit more like the other shadows in the palette, but at this point it took me so long to smooth it out that I didn't want to mess it up and have to start over again because I was angling them too much. It's a tad more obvious in the topmost white powder in the palette, which was also broken when I bought it and which was my test run of this whole process.

Tada! Your once-broken palette is almost as good as new. As you can see, a great budget makeup shopping tip that applies to makeup fanatics of all denominations (lolitas included!) is to buy broken palettes from the clearance section and fix them yourself! You could also try mixing multiple shades of broken powders together to make your own custom colors: imagine an iridescent blush made of your favorite pink with a white or peach highlighting color, or one with your favorite subtle bronzer mixed with a blush - there are so many possibilities!

Anyway, I hope this helps you get more mileage out of your beauty budget, so you can put all that money you're saving into new brand (or offbrand!) Let me know if you try this out, okay? ♥

 Seeing as it's Women's History Month, I figured it would be appropriate to discuss one of my historical lolita fashion inspirations: Empress Elisabeth of Austria.I've come across paintings of Empress Elisabeth a few times during my studies and have always found her elegant garments striking, but it was only after coming across an image of the gown from her Hungarian coronation (seen at left, and further below) that I really realized her potential as inspiration for classic lolita style. Characters such as Alice and Anne of Green Gables are sometimes cited as inspirational for toned down sweet-classic styles, but in my opinion, for the increasingly-popular OTT classic style, Empress Sisi is the figure to emulate. While she may have had her own problems and plenty of habits which you wouldn't want to mimic, her fashions are definitely worthy of praise.

Empress Elisabeth of Austria, Queen of Hungary, also called "Sisi," was a Bavarian-born monarch of the mid-late 19th Century. Though she ruled Austria for 44 years, she found the atmosphere of the court stifling and often traveled around the continent alone, developing a deep kinship with the rulers of the more relaxed Hungary. She helped to bring about the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary, and she was also a huge fashion icon, both during her life and afterwards. Unfortunately, she suffered with severe anxiety, anorexia, and depression for most of her life, particularly after the death of her children.

If you find Empress Elisabeth's style inspiring like I do, you should know that we're in good company! Not only has she personally been portrayed in many films and plays over the past century, but her sense of style has cropped up in other productions as well. If you've seen the 2005 movie rendition of Phantom of the Opera, the dress at the left probably looks very familiar to you; Sisi's get-up in the portrait "Empress Elisabeth of Austria with Diamond Stars on Her Hair" by Franz Xaver Winterhalter served as inspiration for one of Emmy Rosum's stage costumes in the film.

Empress Sisi's Hungarian coronation gown, as mentioned above

Empress Sisi's Style

If you want to emulate the empress yourself in a classic lolita coordinate, here are a items you should consider including:

• Thick, complex braids
• Luxurious materials befitting a queen and empress, such as velvet, rhinestones, and pearls
• Natural elements like ivy wreaths, flowers, sea shells, or jewels which mimic the stars
• Purple, her favorite color, or other jewel tones, which suited her pale complexion and dark hair, though she also wore quite a bit of ivory
• Necklines that show a generous amount of decollete or corsets with waspish waistlines, as these were fashionable during her reign
• Accessories: gloves, fans, and double-stranded pearl necklaces were all favored by the empress
• Hair pieces: tiaras, flower wreaths, and veils, because how could you not?!

For this Sisi-style coordinate, I took inspiration from the luxurious styles of the European royal courts of the nineteenth century. Lavish fabrics like velvet and chiffon combine with naturally-opulent materials like gold and pearls, and an elegant corset emphasizes the waist and decollete. Elisabeth often spent hours at a time getting her hair done, so this outfit is paired with artistically-wrought braids and a golden flower-motif crown. I included as many items as I could which created a juxtaposition between the natural and the luxurious, as these motifs played out in the empress's fashion statements quite often.

Who is your fashion inspiration? 

If there are any other historical fashionistas you'd like to see featured,

let me know in the comment section below!

You may also like:

Inspiration: Aliena, As You Like It

Literary Lolita: Drawing Inspiration

More inspirational posts

What I wore:

Gothic Lolita for the Misako Aoki tea party in New York City!

Accessory closeup for my gothic lolita coordinate!

It's been ages since I went to a large lolita fashion meetup! This meet was sponsored by RuffleCon, for which I'm on the Board of Directors, who hosted a raffle for attendees (which I donated to!). Conveniently, it was located at Dove Parlour, a bar I love in the West Village.

I was honestly a bit overwhelmed during the meet itself! Like I said, I don't attend large meets very often, so being in close quarters with over a hundred fluffy ladies was a bit much for me. I expected to do more socializing and meeting new people, but when my friends and I snagged seats at a table in the back, I was worried to leave and lose my spot! But luckily there were some friends of friends I had never met who joined us, so I did get to meet SOME new people.

It was also difficult to get good photos while we were there- the lighting wasn't very good (obviously, as it's an underground bar!) and it was a bit too cold to get photos outside, but I managed to get a few decent enough to post here.

Gothic lolita outfit shot:

Full outfit shot

Rundown:

JSK: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright's Pocket Embroidery

Blouse and fur: vintage

Leggings: Victoria's Secret PINK, with UniQlo tights underneath

Shoes: Payless

Headpiece: handmade

Accessories: handmade or offbrand

Ankle bows, not really shown: Tutu Anna

Close-up showing my gothic makeup, thrifted necklace, and
handmade headpiece

The BABY, the Stars Shine Bright jumperskit was a last minute wardrobe addition as well. I wanted a new party dress for this, and specifically one by BABY (Misako's favorite brand), so I scoured the secondhand communities and managed to find this beauty exactly in my price range, and in my size! It's one of the many rereleases of the iconic Pocket Embroidery jumperskirt, and I love all of the little details - the buttons, the pintucks, and of course the embroidery. It's also SO comfortable! I'll definitely be wearing it in more casual applications come summertime.

I had so much fun making that headpiece! My friend Remi and I got snowed into my apartment for a weekend to make them. Unfortunately I haven't been able to get a good shot of it yet, but it consists of a headband covered in black velvet, with black roses (small ones with gold rhinestones, one big one with glitter-tipped petals), black birdcage netting (!), a small black crow (!!) and a bunch of purple grapes (!!!). I haven't gotten over it yet! It's isn't the first large headpiece I've made myself, but it's certainly my favorite, and a style I've never done before. Definitely the first of many, though!

Verdict: I'm definitely getting more and more into gothic lolita. Classic lolita style will always be my favorite, but gothic is coming in a close second, especially while the weather is so drab! Maybe once spring comes I'll be drawn back to my creams and browns, but even in my daily wear I'm so drawn to the darker spectrum these days...

How about you all? Has the weather where you are (whether you're currently trudging through snow like me, or sunny beaches if you're in the southern hemisphere) affected your color palette and preferred styles like it has for me, or are you one of those folks who always keeps to the same staples year-round?