Baby the stars shine bright, Maison de Julietta, Ooishi Ran and GLP!

I met a famous Lolita fashion designer and I did not know at first! Shame on me! I could have taken a picture with her! Now what did actually happen?!

Let's rewind!

A special event called "The 4th KMD forum" was held at Keio University and they invited the Lolitas from the GLP (Gothic and Lolita and Punk no kai) to join in. The result was a fantastic events full of Japanese Lolitas, virtual Alice in Wonderland magic and sparkly star guests!
Before I go on, here is the precious video:




I have met the GLP Lolitas before, at their event at Waseda University and the video of that is here:



Now at the event at Keio Campus, the Lolitas also had a large fashion walk, a star guest talk and a sweets accessories workshop done by Pastel Parade! Perfect for Lolita fashion!

5 Facts about the event at Keio University:
1) One side was for the Alice cinema, the other for the Lolita fashion lovers
2) The talk was with star guests like Baby the Stars shine bright designer Uehara Kumiko, Yamada Keita from Maison de Julietta  and Illustrator Ooishi Ran.
3) All sweets and tea was free
4) The sweets workshop was free but limited to a certain number of participants
5) Other spaces of the university were for demonstrations of Keio student's media studies

5 Facts about GLP
1) Founded by Ai, after she returned from her studies in America
2) Biggest club for Lolita fashion and appreciation in Japan
3) Some Lolitas recognized me from the last event, which made me extremely happy
4) They were all very kind, sweet and approachable
5) Their Lolita styles were absolutely top-class! Everyone's personal taste also showed through the way they wore their brand.

The star guests talk

5 Facts about the stage talk
1) Yamada Keita from Maison de Julietta was really cool and showed how he appreciated people liking the fashion and he encouraged interested girls to try it, to get their friends into Lolita fashion and to generally give it a go
2) Uehara Kumiko from Baby the Stars shine bright was really elegant and shy. She spoke quietly and was really polite and charming in her own way. After seeing her on stage I read up more about her and she also does the "mainstream" Bttsb design such as the "typical" Baby design with cotton and lace. Kumiko Uehara also designs the shoes, bags and parasols and she wears Baby the stars shine bright dresses almost every day
3) Ooishi Ran was really good talking on stage and some of her words I would like most Lolitas to listen to - Especially the part when she says to break out of the strict Lolita rules and wear it with fun and make the fashion approachable to others. She spoke from my heart!
4) Ai was a really good host and she managed to connect the guest's topics and added her own touch to it. I especially liked the part when she said that having found the thing you love doing, is a truly great experience and that people should not deny themselves. She's a true Lolita at heart.
5) Cool Japan: All guests on stage are aware of how Lolita fashion is getting exported nowadays and how people around the world are getting interested. Uehara Kumiko was really cute when she said she would like people all over the world to wear Lolita fashion and make their dreams (being a princess in a fairytale) come true.

I was glad and grateful that I had the chance to be there!
Oishi Ran even let me take a picture of her, and she posted one of us on her Twitter as well which made me incredibly happy.

Ooishi Ran is really cute!

Seriously big thanks to the guests and to the GLP Lolitas. I was glad to be there!
That's it for today folks!
Have a sparkly week

x
Cat

Lolita Snowman

Why make a Lolita Snowman?

The weekend an unusual phenomena hit Japan: Snow.
While snow is generally seen in Northern areas such as Hokkaido, the Kanto region including Tokyo, has not seen this much snow in 15-40 years.
People were urged to stay inside their houses. Why?
Most areas do not have the snow clearing system that countries of colder temperatures have, because it was simply not necessary to have one.
So the streets and the passageways remained uncleared while the snow kept falling.

The snow fell pretty heavily all of a sudden, and the weight of the snow tore down the whole sunroof of the nearest bakery. Furthermore, some electric lines took damage and some people had to sit in the rooms without electricity. That would not be as bad if you have central heating: but think twice! There is no central heating in most houses because it usually never gets that cold. Most people heat with electricity and some with gas. Which means the people that head with electricity, like one of my friends, had to live without light, heat and internet for up to 20 hours.

The next day, it was simply beautiful outside. The sun came out and it got relatively warm and I layered up my loli layers and ventured outside. After all, I don't think the chance to make a snowman in Japan will come around that quickly again.

The video of my Lolita snowman is here:

Fashion:
Fashion wise, I am wearing Baby the Stars Shine Bright Gothic lolita JSK together with a AP Kodona jacket (the trousers were so small, they won't even fit my youngest cousin, so at least the top gets some use out of it). The hat I bought at Disney Land Tokyo a while back but I was glad for the warmth it gave me. The wind got stronger during filming, so my hair was a bit of a mess.

What you might have seen in the video:
I am taking this video in a park
I forgot to bring eyes
It's practically not a snowman but a snowlady

What did not make the final cut:
As you would guess, even in Japan, a Lolita will draw attention to herself, making a snowman all by herself. So pretty quickly I had the attention of a group of boys in the park who were making their own igloo. They were actually the ones who shouted encouragement.

 There was a rather large part where I had to explain them why I am filming and the name of my channel. Reminded me how long my channel name is, I guess it's hard to remember.

But why make a snowman? Because life, that's why. It's short, it's cold but you can make something fun and pretty out of it. Some people call it Yolo, I say Carpe Diem.
Make the most of the moment, you never know when it will come back round. If you want to make a snowman now, it's either melted or ice. Sometimes you have to take a chance as it offers itself to you.
I am glad I made a snowman! Hope you all never forget your inner child!

See you next year Lolita Snowman! If there is enough snow that is...

Love what you do - Do what you love!!!

x
Cat

Baby The Stars Shine Bright + Putomayo Luckybag review

Last week I opened the announced Lucky bag from Angelic Pretty with you guys.
Inside we found the complete Candy Sprinkle JSK in Black plus bag and socks.
This week we are opening the lucky bag from Baby the Stars Shine Bright together.
However this time it's different:
I have no clue what's inside!

BTTSSB (short for Baby the Stars Shine Bright) released two different kinds of lucky bags this year: A decided dress, similar to the Candy Sprinkle, which had a rose print on. Therefore customers knew what they would get and have a whole set. I didn't like the print that much though, and I guess I was not the only one because there were lots of bags still left in stores in Tokyo when I browsed.

However, they also still do the mystery lucky bags, in which they pack items from earlier years that need to leave the store. They still make sure that you get at least one dress or skirt with it, but apart from that the rest is a MYSTERY!

It might not fit together, it might not fit, it might not be your colour - but it will definitely be a surprise!

So let's reveal the mystery in my newest video before I explain more:


You might have realized the following things:
1) There is an Alpaca in my video again. This time I give it a name.
2) I get changed.
3) There is a Putomayo bag on the bed!

To reveal the secret, I actually took a video of the footage of opening the Putomayo bag that day, but when I was editing today, the video got quite long. So I decided to put the pictures of the Putomayo bag on my blog instead. After all, the accessory is really small so they didn't show so well on the camera anyways.

Let's check out the content of the lucky bag:

Price: about 10.000Yen

1) brown blouse with cherry lace collar

2) see-through neckholder blouse with sparkles and star buttons

3) BTTSSB bag in white

4) red bonnet with piano pattern

5) blue striped summery dress

6) matching headbow

(Comes in a pink BTTSSB logo sportsbag)

Derpy but happy me!

Alpaca claimed the bag as house

Lots of good quality lace to give a detailed front. I love the heart buttons as well.

Nice large bow! Still has some strings poking out though.

 One of my weird things with Lolita fashion is, that I keep buying dresses in BLUE but then hesistate to wear them. I still somehow believe that blue is not my colour because I am not naturally blonde. So I rarely wear my blue dresses. In fact, I sold my last blue dress on, as well as my last blue skirt, which I bought and never wore! Such a waste! But with this dress I will try and wear it. It's a really nice different style to the Angelic Pretty and it shows the classical charm that BTTSSB has.

Baby the Stars Shine Bright Lucky bag review:

☆☆Summary☆☆
☆PLUS ☆
+ lots of value for a cheaper price than the set-dress
+ beautiful bag with long straps to go around your shoulder
+ two kinds of blouse
+ head bow and dress are matching 
+ Surprise fun! 
 
 ☆MINUS☆
- the bow was not quite sewn in properly so I had to fix that
- see through blouses are usually not well perceived at Lolita fashion meets
- not the colour I was looking for but I am up for the challenge!

☆VERDICT☆
Surprise, suspense, super sweeet!
I know I binged out a lot on dresses this January, but then again, it's my first brand new Angelic and BTTSSB and who knows if I will get them next year. Great value and brand new brand.

Now to the Putomayo bag:

This was the last accessory lucky bag of the shop! It sold at 1.500 Yen but had like 3 times the value inside.

Contents:

Price:1.500 Yen

1) Star earrings

2) pink cross choker

3) Alice in wonderland Egg necklace

4) matching rabbit earrings

5) box necklace (worth 2.100 yen)

The box item was sold at 2.100 yen alone, and the pack was only 1.500 yen! Bargain! Loving the Alice egg and necklace <3

To be honest, I loved the element of surprise! I even dreamed what wonders might be inside the bag! I was kind of hoping there might be a skirt and a dress but I am still happy with what I got. I might wear the blouses for normal wear and make combinations out of the things I have now. The bonnet will be the hardest to combine though. I will have a think about that.

All in all, a lucky lucky bag in my opinion! I am really grateful!

Can't wait to take my new dresses on new adventures and make fun videos for you!
Okay guys! It's late in Japan I need to grab some sleep!

Night night lovelies!