Out of Character

This is just a fun little topic or experiment that I thought would be fun to try. It was inspired by the current Fashion Design project we are doing in school where our teacher assigned each of us a character/personality, and we had to design two outfits fitting the character's lifestyle.

My character is a lazy bum who lies around on soft pillows all day and doesn't take care of herself at all, but when she leaves the house she is very put-together and basically looks completely different from her in-house self. It was really quite interesting to try and put together a look for her, and I really hope it turns out well! We will eventually have to actually model these outfits, so even though they are out of character, we will need to pretend to be these characters! (Sort of like cosplay??) The point is that we cannot always design something we personally like/want to wear. To be a designer, you need to know your client and have a flexible view.

So my little project/game I'd like to try here is to have everybody make a list of things you don't do/would never wear/totally not your style, and then try to come up with an outfit (and maybe actually wear it if you're daring!)

My list of "things I would never consider adding to my own wardrobe" is:
*anything too revealing (cleavage, stomach, thighs, backless)
*mainstream "logo" American brands (A&F, American Eagle, Holister/Halister/Hollestir/you know what I mean)
*tight one-piece dresses/anything form-fitting
*bustiers with visible under-wire (it just looks like lingerie to me!)
*engineer boots (sorry to anybody who likes them!)
*sporty wear
*jeans (I'm a fashion train wreck, I know)
*halter tops without a cover-up (I have linebacker shoulders!)
*short shorts
*tailored suit/set
*skinny heels - I cannot walk in them!
*clutches - straps, please!

Wow I didn't realize my list would be so long :( I feel like I'm overly picky now!

Here are two outfits I put together of clothes/shoes I'd never wear:

What I'd Never Wear by talarayne featuring black hair accessories

The stuff in the middle is supposed to be able to coordinate with both outfits ;)
I'd rock all the jewelry, but cannot see myself actually wearing the clothes without something over/under everything!!

What I'd Never Wear by talarayne featuring skinny jeans

The (tight! white! printed!) jeans here are definitely something I would NOT be comfortable wearing! I tried to make this more punk even with the girly floral bits here and there. Again, I'd rock the jewelry. Anything else? Uh....

What are some things you could never see yourself wearing? Would you ever want to try it out just to see if you're pleasantly surprised? Or are you more comfortable just staying where you are right now? Please let me know! I like to know how other people see their own "no-no" styles

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Preparing for Summer!

Every year before summer:
I'm going to protect my skin from the sun!
I'm going to wear cute clothes every day!
I'm going to be social and hang out!
This summer will be great!

Every summer:
Too lazy for sunblock
Oops forgot a hat
And sunglasses
Too lazy to coordinate and outfit
Or change out of my pajamas
Or get out of bed
Too lazy to leave the house
It's internet time
Where did the summer go and why is it time for school already?

So, why should this year be any different? I will tell you why. I AM MAKING A LIST OF THINGS TO DO! And I will cross things off this list when I do them. I am also going to actually prepare myself for summer and hopefully make it awesome like I always plan for it to be! Unfortunately, a lot of them require money, so I will also be saving up hopefully!

Summer 2013 Goals:
1) Protect skin every day
I am currently using these:

I like the Neutrogena dry-touch sunblock because it feels light and absorbs quickly and has no smell.
The Shu Umera mousse UV cream is just really fun to put on! It has a bit of color so is sort of like a BB cream. I actually just got the actual Shu Umera BB mouse yesteray in the limited edition bottle for actual makeup days. I can't wait to try it out because mousse texture feels really light and good!


2) Wardrobe overhaul
I'm planning on saving up around NT$6000 to go on a mad shopping spree for basics such as leggings and tank tops as well as cute floral and summery tops. Currently my non-Lolita wardrobe is a mish-mash of things that don't coordinate so I end up wearing a T-shirt and skirt most days and feel like a hobo. I really believe that if you LOOK good you will FEEL good. And goodness knows I could do with some more positive feelings!
My current style keywords are:
sheer, floral, lace, asymmetrical, girly, soft
And also
rock, distressed, tough
I have sort of diverse tastes :x

Floral Rock by talarayne featuring graphic design shirts

The floral top with a cross seems to have a great balance of floral rock!

3) DIY wardrobe updates
While I will definitely be donating some clothes, I would really like to try and Frankenstein together some old clothes and fabric scraps into "new" and interesting articles of clothing. Hopefully I'll be able to post some photos here! They may not be Lolita-related, but if you save money on "earthling" clothes, you have more for Lolita, right??? (Logic!)


4) Take more time for hobbies
I'd specifically like to work on my pop-up skills. I can make a pretty good variety of pop-ups, but am not very creative when it comes to decorating them. Hopefully I'll get good enough that I can either sell my cards/books or just do a little giveaway here!

5) Go to Thailand
Some classmates and I may be taking a short vacay to Thailand. I've never been anywhere other than the USA and Taiwan, so I think that'd be really lovely! It will cost around NT$30,000 to NT$40,000 so that's quite a bit of money...

Those are my only real plans so far. Of course there are other things that will pop up hopefully! I'm excited for summer and hope I don't get academic probation at school.

What are your plans for the summer? Or do you just wing it and do whatever you feel like as the whim strikes?
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Then and Now

I consider myself to have two "beginning" points in Lolita fashion. The first was as an "outsider" simply getting a general gist of the fashion, and the second was when I really decided to research and learn about Lolita so I could wear it!

My views have definitely changed over the years, though maybe not as much as some other people :) So I break up this week's Lolita Blog Carnival into three points!

First Hear About EGL
I was 14 when I first heard about EGL from a friend. I researched a lot into Mana-sama and Elegant Gothic Lolita. I had no idea about any other styles and while I was a big fan of Goth fashion, I wasn't sure I wanted to look like Mana-sama on a daily basis. Still, I loved the dolly look with a twist of darkness!
My keywords back then: Goth, dark colors, heavy makeup, tight curls, platform Mary Jane shoes

This is pretty much what I thought every Lolita in the world looked like. Maybe with some white lace sometimes.
(Click to enlarge)

Real Research
I once again stumbled back into the world of Lolita Fashion when I was about 15 or 16 and getting started on T-shirt surgery. There was a tutorial for a cutsew posted on the livejournal community t_shirt_surgery. It linked BABY, THE STARS SHINE BRIGHT and Angelic Pretty as reference websites. When I browsed the sites, I fell in love!! By searching for the keywords "lolita fashion" and the brand names, I found the other styles of Lolita fashion. I began to research every single day to find more information. I joined EGL when Miss Megan Maude was still the admin, there was no separate sales community, and lolita_wank was still functional. Very quickly, I got sucked into the world of Sew_Loli and learned about internet drama through a sewing contest that ended poorly on there. That aside, I became very interested in learning to sew my own clothing (hey, that's not much harder than T-shirt reconstruction, right???? Hint: wrong). My first skirt was quite a disaster. No photos because I'll cry ;_;
I also learned about Lolita brands OTHER than BABY and Angelic Pretty. I decided that Sweet Lolita was more my cup of tea. I also found other Lolitas in Minnesota through the Lolita penpal community (pretty sure it's defunct now) and made a few livejournal friends.
I was one of those tremendously overexcited newbies who thought everything could be Lolita-fied. Luckily, I didn't post about it all over communities like some people did ;) So I at least wasn't an ANNOYING overexcited newbie.
My keywords back then: Sweet Lolita!!!! Ruffles on everything!!!! Lolify all the things!!!! Don't be ita!!!! Google tutorials for everything!!!! Candy!!!! Pink!!!! Strawberries!!!! Nana Kitade!!!!
(I told you I was super excited)
My favorite brand: BABY, THE STARS SHINE BRIGHT



Now
Things have changed quite a lot since then! Deco Lolita is now called "Over the top Sweet Lolita" and Sweet Lolita is normally referred to as "old school Sweet Lolita" (so sad!)
We have a separate community for sales.
We have new mods and admin.
I learned how to gather properly.
There is not nearly as much gossip and drama as there used to be (just a lot more trolling)
There is a lot more scamming
Taobao.com appeared!
All the indie brands ever!
Everything must be a print! (Not everything, of course, but prints are so much more common now than they used to be!)
I now also love Classic and Sweet Lolita and a slightly sweet take on Classic Lolita (think Innocent World rather than Mary Magdalene)
I can actually sew entire garments :P With proper lining and construction and other such fancies!
Wigs and unnatural hair
False nails/lashes
Heavier makeup
Printed tights
Ric-rac and pom-poms are acceptable trims
Brands re-release prints
My keywords now: Elegance, proper construction, attention to detail, fluffy petticoat, matching accessories/hair/makeup, natural style (no wigs or exaggerated makeup)
My favorite brands: BABY, THE STARS SHINE BRIGHT, Innocent World, Putumayo

Growing up!

I haven't really been in Lolita fashion for that long I suppose, so maybe my views haven't changed that much. The style is always changing and evolving though. I'm happy for some of the changes (more indie brands, more Brand availability overseas, cheaper alternatives) and not as happy with some (gyaru influences with false everything, Deco Lolita), but I believe everybody should take the parts that they like and run with it! Besides, maybe trying something that I think I don't like will actually make me like it. Maybe next time you will see me in a Deco Lolita coordinate!!

How do you feel you have changed from when you began in Lolita fashion to now? Please share in the comments! I'm really curious about this :D Growing is such an interesting process.


Other blogs participating in this week's Carousel:
Lace A La Mode
Hello Batty
Hello Kitty Loves Disney

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Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day! I went home this weekend to celebrate Mother's Day with my grandma, my mom, and to pay respects to my deceased grandmother whom I have never met. Her ashes are kept by where my great aunt (who raised my mother) is also kept, so we visited them both at once.

Their final resting place is called 金山靈骨塔/Jingshan Ling Gu Ta. This was my third trip there, and I took a video this time! I didn't take photos of the interior because I didn't want to disturb anybody, but I did go online to find some photos and put them in. The room the photo shows is not the room my grandmother, great aunt, and great uncle are in, but it was the closest one I could find.

Despite its remote location, there were quite a few people there today to pay their respects!


I attended my great aunt's funeral when she passed, which was the first cremation funeral I have ever been to. The tower where they are now is really clean and bright and feels really good inside. The road up the mountain there is quite steep and feels a little unsafe due to narrow road and lack of safety railings in the mountains, but at least there were safety railings by the seaside road???

At lunch I took my mom out to eat at a vegan organic buffet :) It was super crowded despite being a very small restaurant in a hidden alley! I wish I had taken photos :P



The music from the video is really pretty (I think) and from a website called Free Music Archive where you can find some really interesting and lovely music!
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From Pocky with Love

Random snapshot of heart-shaped Pocky!

I bought this at the grocery store just out of curiosity.
Normally these "shaped" foods don't really end up looking like anything the box/packaging shows, but it wasn't too pricey for a try, so I figured, why not?

And the result?

It actually took a lot of tries to get a bite that had a recognizable heart shape (not that I'm complaining~ this flavor is yummy!) but after repeated testing, I'd say you have a 50% chance of getting a recognizable heart bite :D

OK that's really all I had to say XD
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What I've Been Up To

I've been quite busy with school. I am in the process of making another dress in hopes of getting into a fashion show.
We only just turned in our portfolios last week, and I need to modify my dress before I get to know whether I am in or out.
The project this time was called Macro to Micro where we took photos of our surroundings and picked a color palette from it, and then used shapes from the photos to create our patterns

We cut shapes and themes from the photos and looked for related images to make two moodboards and one keyword:

My teacher liked this one because it was more cohesive


I like this one because it's brighter

My keyword ended up being "Wanderlust" with the background story of searching for one's secret garden (peace, happiness, etc.)
I wanted to do something brighter since most of my art and fashion projects for school have been dark or depressing and it actually sort of makes me unhappy when I work on them even if I love them. Dwelling continuously on negative things affects my real emotions... maybe I just get too into it!

We then had to make a linup of six colored designs:

My teacher had me make a muslin mockup of the second and four outfits, which are actually the same dress just with or without the top. I ended up changing the design of the top because I couldn't pattern it the way I wanted.

The outfit was not finished when I did the photoshoot!! But it was finished enough that a little post-editing and strategic angling could hide that fact:


Model: HanWen
Everything Else: Me

Still not good at photo-editing :( But at least I am beginning to actually use layers so I can adjust different portions separately!!
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CNN's Top 40 Taiwanese Foods! Which would you try?

Taiwan is abundant with food. Ridiculous amounts of food everywhere. It's cheap, it's good (even the bad food is good), it's convenient, and there's always a few places open, no matter what time of day or night!

Here, CNN has made a list of the top 40 foods we cannot live without! I have tried almost all of them, but since I no longer eat meat (still eat seafood), there are some I cannot try now :( There are more and more vegetarian versions of these foods popping up though, so I hope that one day I'll be able to easily get vegetarian XiaoLongBao or Ba Wan without the need to special order it!

Here are some of my favorites from the list (in no particular order):
Braised Pork Rice

I get the vegetarian version. The topping itself is quite salty, but with plain rice it balances out and is very fragrant and filling.

Oyster Omelet

Oyster Omelet is good no matter where you get it. The amount of ingredients vs. the omelet base is key to getting a good one. Too much omelet base and it won't have enough flavor! The sauce you add on top is important, too. Some places have diluted sauces that aren't very flavorful.

Gua Bao

You can actually buy the white bread separately and prepare this at home very cheaply! It's really good and easy to make a wide variety depending on your favorite flavors.

Tian Bu La

This is just really good. I love the QQ texture and the sauce and just everything! Note that some places will cook it in a broth containing meat products, so if that is a concern, make sure to ask!

Oyster Noodles

I LOVE this! It normally comes with intestines so I ask for it without the intestines. Some places may cook it all together and if you ask for no intestine they will just pick it out, so I try to go to places that cook the noodles separately from everything else. This is very good with some soy paste and hot sauce!


Stinky Tofu

I used to think I hated stinky tofu. I tried it time and again at a stall at the night market by my grandparents' house. That stall had been on TV and in the news and was supposed to be really good. I never liked the stinky tofu. Then one day, at XiMenDing I tried stinky tofu at a random stall, AND IT WAS SO GOOD! So make sure you try food from different vendors! In addition to fried stinky tofu, there is also grilled (my favorite) and boiled stinky tofu. I don't like the "pao cai"/pickled(?) vegetables that goes on it, but the sauce and hot sauce is really good. Some foreigners are put off by the smell at first, but the flavor is actually very good and unique. I would definitely suggest trying it! Some vendors have different flavors you can put on your tofu, too.

Xiao Long Bao

Literally "Little Dragon Buns/Bao," this is one of the things I miss most about meat! Ding Tai Feng has the most famous XiaoLongBao, but in the USA we could get them from oriental food stores in the frozen foods section. Be careful when preparing them not to tear the skin, or the delicious juices will leak out!

Breakfast

Hands down, my favorite food is BREAKFAST. OK, so that's a meal, not a food, but Taiwan has the best breakfasts! Breakfast shops are everywhere. I love traditional breakfast with soymilk (no sugar), rice balls, sesame flat bread (pictured) with egg, dan bing (egg pancake), and sometimes the fried Chinese doughnut (pictured). YungHo Soymilk is probably the most famous chain, and some are open in the middle of the night so you can have breakfast food as a midnight snack (heaven!). Unfortunately, there are none near where I live. I would probably gain 10kg if there was!

Spicy Hot Pot

I LOVE hotpot. I LOVE spicy. Therefore, I LOVE LOVE spicy hotpot!!! I'm sad that most mala (numbing spicy) hotpot is made with either duck or pig blood, so I cannot eat it. However, if you get the chance, I would definitely suggest trying this!!

What food is your country famous for? And which of the top 40 foods would you like to try or think are horrifying and would never dare to try? I love to talk about food and try new food and see food from other countries!!
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Dancing in the Rain

When we think of "seasons" we normally imagine spring showers, summer sun, autumn leaves, and winter snow.
In Minnesota, we had the lovely four seasons of Almost Winter, Winter, Still Winter, and Road Construction.
Here in Taiwan, we have Spring, Summer, Still Summer, and Typhoon Season.
For the past few years, I have been putting up with wet socks and soaked shoes. Glass socks are a nice alternative to regular socks and they dry out very quickly like nylons, but wet shoes are still rather uncomfortable. This week it has been very rainy (which is too bad because it's the Tomb-Sweeping Festival so it must be a real bother with the rain!) I finally got a pair of rain shoes last week, and they're stylish as well as functional!

I am PRETTY sure the pair I got is a knock-off (though I didn't realize it at the time), but a good brand of rain-friendly shoes is Melissa. I'd seen these designs around at department stores, but never actually tried them on. They are really great for the rainy seasons though, because they don't absorb water at all so they dry very quickly and you don't need to wear socks.

I first saw a cute pair of floral plastic shoes at a Lolita meetup when one of the Lolitas wore them with her coordinate and they looked really good!

I ended up getting the peep-toe wedge version of these in pink!

The shoes come in a wide variety of styles, from flats to heels, boots, wedges, etc. so you can find anything for your style!


Melissa also does collaborations with other designers, and one of my favorites was the Hermes-inspired (the god, not the brand) sandals in a collab with Vivienne Westwood:

It came in a multitude of colors, but gold is really the best :D

This is a really short post just to share this :P Nice idea to stay stylish and functional. There are Lolita snow boots, but not Lolita rain shoes, so I think plastic shoes are a really great option!

If you had to categorize your local weather into four seasons, what would you name them?
And which season do you think is the most difficult to make nice coordinates in?
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Google Reader's Upcoming Demise

Google is doing away with Google Reader for some reason, so I have switched to Bloglovin'!
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Classy and Wild

Animals play a big part in fashion, no doubt about it. The most commonly seen prints in mainstream fashion is probably leopard and zebra print with the occasional giraffe thrown in.
In Lolita fashion, teddy bears and bunny rabbits definitely feature prominently in prints and as "ears" on cardigans. Innocent world has a few "forest" animal prints that include other small, cute rodents and nearly every brand has a version of Swan Lake and carousels. Birds have made a few appearances as well.

The Lolita Blog Carnival theme for this week is to choose an animal and create a coordinate around it. I decided to do the "national animals" of Taiwan: The Formosan black bear and Formosan blue magpie.
Formosan Black Bear
Hunted for medicine (notably the paws) and due to habitat loss, the Formosan Black Bear is an endangered species. The most notable thing about this animal is the light color moon crest on its chest. In my coordinate, I kept it black with a white focus on the chest area on the cutsew and then some white detailing on the jacket and socks to help balance it out a little.

Formosan Black Bear by talarayne featuring knuckle rings

The claw jewelry is just for fun :P I thought they were interesting!
The bear motif jewelry is my "real" coordinate idea ;)


Formosan Blue Magpie
A lot of the animals seem to just be called Formosan -insert animal here- like the Formosan clouded leopard and Formosan sika deer. Whoever came up with the English names wasn't very creative!
Anyway, here is another Taiwanese animal, which I believe was also voted to be a "national animal" but isn't as recognized officially.

Formosan Blue Magpie by talarayne featuring prom hair accessories

This was more difficult to come up with a coordinate because of its coloring. I'm not sure how well the blue and orange worked together or if it seems too blocked out or anything... I put two bag/clutch options because I couldn't choose!

What is your favorite animal?
My favorite is actually really difficult to choose... maybe grizzly bear or timber wolf!


Other Blogs
Hello Batty
Hologram World
Super Kawaii Dragon
Darkly Darling
Angel Shinigami
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