March 15th, 2010

Handbook updates

So I'm slowly working on updating this mess. Mostly tonight I've taken out a lot of old and/or biased info because I think this occasionally gets taken much more seriously than it was meant to ^_^;;; Anyway, not quite ready to tackle the styles section or the hair and makeup (which is in an absolutely dismal state) but I would like some help updating the "Where to Buy" and "Lolita Artists" sections. If you have a more or less well established independent label (clothes or jewelry), are a prolific lolita artist (more than a deviantart account with just a few doodles :P), or know where to find shoes or deco jewelry would you mind leaving a link here?

I won't be able to get to it right away but I'll probably begin updating those sections today and tomorrow hopefully. I'm grateful for any help in making this a better resource~!

♥ Carnet

[Edit] Perhaps I should be more specific - for artists and sales-people I'm trying to only add people with a couple pages of specifically lolita drawings (some linked may have less if they are high quality commission artists) or professional sales websites with handmade items (I count etsy but probably not livejournal). If you don't get added this time around it doesn't mean I won't expand my links section and add you in the future, I'm just trying to get a lot done so I'm not adding everything just yet.
Roriita

Guide for the Perfect Lolita

Hi :3

This is my first time posting in EGL. I wanted to show a little video that some friends and I made for fun. We took some stereotypes we have seen on the internet about Lolita, and we made fun of them. It is not a perfect video, it was 100% improvised and my English is not that good =P but we hope you like it :3

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Bare shoulders (for ero loli)

What does the community think as a whole? For an ero-loli is it too 'risque' to wear a jsk without a blouse underneath? How about an overbust corset without a blouse underneath?  Off-the-shoulder tops?  This particular style is tricky, would 'baring' your shoulders be ok as long as everything else was perfect?

Also fishnets... we see them in the GLB's but do we really think they're ok on an ero loli?
boots

TaoBao for dudes?

Does anyone know of any TaoBao shops that sell things for men*? I mean, specifically for the male Aristocrats and Dandies among us? I was pretend-shopping for lolita on there a while ago, and while I can find plenty of lists of stores that cater to females, there doesn't seem to be a lot of information about the male half of our fashion.

I'm sure a dedicated list of said shops would be really useful to have in the memories, I just have no idea what I should be searching for.

*If I just wanted like, jeans or something I'm sure I could find tons!
  • erozar

Looking for Alive in Wonderland Dress Shot

I checked the tags and I could not find anything related.
I am looking for some photos of the dress Alice wares when in the Red Queens Castle from the Tim Burton movie. I have looked through goggle and Yahoo and have found one shoot of her in when she is sitting next to the Red Queen, but it is a far away shot. It all else fails I will wait until the movie comes out and take some screen shot of the dress myself.
Thank You for your time.
cat-loaf

A Trick for Bright Whites

My dryer just got fixed today, so I thought of this while I was catching up on my mountain of laundry. I did a quick search, and no one seems to have mentioned this before, so I thought I would share it.

Are your white blouses, bloomers, socks, etc. looking a bit dingy? Do they look yellow or gray compared to the brand new white blouse that you just bought?

A cheap and easy fix is to add bluing to your wash. Bluing is a small amount of Prussian blue dye that offsets the yellow or grey tones that old fabrics take on, making them look brighter and whiter again. Your great grandmother probably added it to her laundry.

In the states, the most common brand is Mrs. Stewart's Bluing. It's available at most grocery stores and costs about $2.50. One bottle will last you nearly forever. There are also a lot of new detergents that use a bluing agent to brighten whites, but these are often a problem for people with sensitive skin that need to use a "free and clear" detergent, and they are expensive. Bluing works with whatever detergent you are currently using. Bluing is safe and non-toxic, people even use it to make their white dogs look whiter for dog shows.

It's very easy to use. Just dilute a few drops into a quart of cold water and then pour that into your wash or rinse cycle. You never want to add bluing directly to your washer as it will stain anything it touches in it's concentrated state. I'm a bit lazy about remembering to catch the rinse cycle, so I used to just add a few drops to a downy ball and then fill the rest of the ball with water and toss it in the wash. The ball would open during the rinse cycle and it would do it's thing. That is cutting it pretty close on the dilution, so try it out on some scrap fabric first to see how it works out with your washer/downy ball. You should not use bluing with bleach or fabric softener. You really should never use either of those things on your clothes anyways.

I hope some of you find this helpful. Remember, never, ever, let bleach touch your clothes. Bleach will not make your clothes bright and white, it will only weaken the fibers, making your clothes wear out and look shabby much faster.

For more information, including how to remove bluing stains, visit: http://www.mrsstewart.com/

Long JSK for summer like Momoko in Kamikaze girls

I've been wanting to sew myself a few long JSKs for the summer much like the ones that Momoko wears in Kamikaze girls when she's just lounging around her house. In the movie she doesn't wear a blouse, or socks, just sandals and a headbow. I'm just curious at what people would think if I were to wear something like that to a meet up?

I was also curious if anyone would be interested in buying them? I was thinking about possibly selling them after I'd made myself a couple. They'd go an inch or two below the knee, and would have thicker straps, empire waist, and shirring at the back.

Thanks in advance for the input!
Impulse

A question about bleach/dye

So, I ordered this skirt from Fanplusfriend a while ago, and I just recently got it. Now...the picture doesn't look great to me, and I honestly have no idea what I was thinking when I ordered it in those colors, but now that I have the skirt... Ugh, yeah, those colors just DON'T work. At all. I somehow suspect that other lolis will agree with me, so I'd rather not try to sell the skirt, so...

My question is, would it be possible to dye the skirt? For instance, if I wanted it to be a solid baby pink or blue or, hell, even black, would it be possible? Would I need to/be able to bleach it completely white before dyeing it?

If it's pertinent, it's made out of cotton with polyester lining. I'm also a decent seamstress, so if I'd need to cut out the lining or detach anything, that can also be achieved.

If anyone has any advice for me, it would be much appreciated... I have no idea what to do with this skirt otherwise!!!