Sharla in Japan meets Kawaii Pateen and Cathy Cat

Kawaii Pateen had the pleasure to welcome Sharla, from Sharla in Japan to the Kawaii Pateen studios in Tokyo. I transformed Sharla into a Decora girl and later into a Lolita.
As a result we did a variety of videos on our channels which all can be seen as some sort of story, so here is a suggested order to watch and enjoy that story:

1) The Summary of the Day



2) The Kawaii Pateen Makeup Tutorial



3) Asking Sharla 10 Questions about Lolita Fashion



4) Doing a general Tutorial about Lolita fashion for Sharla's channel



It was a real pleasure to spend time with Sharla. I love dressing up people and Sharla suits Harajuku Fashion SO WELL! I hope some day soon we can roam the streets of Harajuku together in the most adorable fashion styles! 

Most importantly, I hope this will inspire more people to dress in cute and extravagant fashion. Let's make the world a more colourful place!

That's it for now peeps! Hope you like the show!
x
Cat

Kawaii, Quirky and Crazy Kimono Rental experience

You would not guess how rare it is to actually wear a Kimono in Japan!

Most Japanese barely have the chance to wear one.

Last time people let me wear one, at an international party, it lasted 20 minutes and ended with me almost in tears because I had to take it off so quickly to pass it on to another person.

Not so this time!

Downstairs in La Foret, Tokyo Kawaii Musee is letting people rent fun and unusual Kimonos.

I could finally enjoy wearing a kimono without having someone to judge me.



Also, the shop and the clothes are so lovely and unique, I want to go again.

The staff were a real gem and we instantly became friends.

31st Harajuku Fashion Walk 原宿ファッションウォーク ☆

Hey Challengers!

Fun, Fashion, Friends! The 31st Harajuku
Fashion walk featured it all, but unfortunately also some... RAIN. It
started pouring at our half-way stop where we usually take pictures and
chill out.

Nevertheless, we had a great day and there were again
some amazing styles that I would like to show you.

After the walk we went to see the Cherry Blossoms, but it was too rainy and dark to take proper footage for that day. We played some games in the park and shared snacks. It was cold but I think we were all too happy to go home yet so we hung out until it got dark.

Ever since I started taking the Snaps for KAWAII PATEEN, the Fashion Walks have become an incredibly busy event for me. I was therefore really glad to get some extra time to sit and chat and play games with everyone. And once again: I forgot to take outfit snaps of myself! Aaah!



Thanks for reading!

Here is the final product: the Harajuku Fashion Walk Video!

(I love the music I found for this one. What do you think?)

FACTS and SECRETS of 2014

Time flies when you are having FUN and fun I - but I also did work A LOT
Nevertheless, I still had some absolutely fantastic moments in 2014 and I want to take a short breath in and think of those moments with you.

For a quick reference here is the 2014 Recap video that gives you a speed-dash-flash flashback to some of the videos of 2014:



I am also kind of person who thinks it is so amazing that you are all watching the videos I create.
Surprise:
I still can't really believe it all.
Yes I am serious!

The fact there are people around the world, small, tall, young, old, male, female, transgender, people of all colors, shapes, ideas, opinions and believes, and they chose to watch my videos. That is a truly fantastic thing.
And whenever I get a comment of you saying you like my videos, it makes me the happiest girl. I am the type of YouTuber, I really believe in the power of my viewers. And sometimes I need to pinch myself to believe it all. Most of the time, I can't quite believe it. Thank you so much.

Thank you all so much for being on this journey with me!
I am also surprised how many "long-term" viewers recently have emerged. I don't mean since I started, but people that have stayed with me for so long, they will write reminiscent posts about past videos. Everytime I am like "WOW you remember my older video? You have actually seen it?"
See, I still can't quite believe you guys are watching.
You are all so sweet.

Surprisingly, even though I was insanely busy in 2014 (to a level of getting sick a lot) I realized I actually uploaded more videos than in 2013. A Miracle.
I uploaded a total of 44 videos in 2014.
Furthermore, I still have a whole pile of videos that have not been edited yet! AAH!

So here are some facts and secrets of 2014:

1) I was blessed with being able to celebrate my birthday in three countries: Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom. Being able to see how many of my friends still care (and remember) me was the biggest gift I got this year and it's worth more than all the money in the world. Even if I am not much in touch because I am so busy, I hope they will still remember me for years to come.

2) I started working in Japan - SERIOUSLY. Some days I am working up to 11 hours in a room with no windows, and there is lots of unpaid time we have to put in. It is NOT a piece of cake (yum), and not everyone can do it. My health has crumbled a lot but I am fighting hard to make it possible to combine a busy work schedule with making videos for you-

3) KAWAII PATEEN is kind enough to let me be their fashion photographer. Which lead to some of the best moments I had and I am very grateful for the chance to meet Aoki Misako, Yui Minakata and Kimura U. They are all very beautiful talented fashion models and it was a great honor to meet them.

4)  a BIG TECHNICAL PROBLEM I had this year was my editing software.
Sony  Vegas used to be great, but now no matter how many times I re-install it,
it keeps crashing on me whenever I edit a video longer than 3 minutes.
And then it takes 3 hours to fix the error and the quality really suffers.

5) The convention I helped founding called "MOE MOE CON" went into its second year! It really made me feel like I have set a milestone for my old university and I hope the future Anime Manga society will be able to make many more great conventions for years to come.

6) I reached over 9.000 subscribers! .... Which naturally means I am checking every day how far it will be until I get ooooh 10.000!!! I actually feel like a child before Christmas. Even more. Like the ultimate Christmas coming up.

7) I danced on camera. Well, I try to avoid dancing on youtube to be honest but... we rehearsed and practiced the Youkai dance for the Harajuku Halloween Walk. I actually love dancing, however for a variety of reasons I am not a youtube dancer. I still dance though. Especially when a good song comes up in my playlist, and when my room is not cluttered with stuff so I don't step on dresses

8) I spend A LOT on fashion this year. A SERIOUS AMOUNT of my salary seems to straight go from my account into dresses. Magic. Frilly magic. If you watch my channel you probably know. But counting it all up, I must have spend a serious fortune this year on my hobby. But then a friend said:
"You are young - buy more dresses" and I think she is right.

Anyways I would like to thank you all for being part of my journey!
Please keep supporting me from now on too!
You are what makes this channel so much fun to do.

Lots of Love and many thanks,

Cathy Cat

Moshi Moshi Japan Festival

Exciting, creative, controversial and quirky. There are some words to sum up the "Moshi Moshi Japan" Festival that happened last month. Set as an event to celebrate Japanese culture, Moshi Moshi Nippon festival comes from the same creators that have brought us Harajuku Kawaii festival. This time based in a stadium the festival was uniting fashion, music, otaku and other pop- and subcultures.

The festival aimed especially at foreigners with two very controversial deals:
1) Foreigners got in for free if they booked in advanced and showed their passport.
2) There was a segregated area in front of the stage, exclusively for foreigners.

Certainly this must have been done with the best intentions, but it still felt kind of wrong to me on certain levels. I'd rather have us all pay 1000 yen entrance fee and have equal opportunities than letting the Japanese nationals pay over 2000 yen while I walked in for free.

Visitors got a MoshiMoshiNippon Bag, a Kyari clear file and tons of flyers

 There were several stages, ranging from Idol groups (Dempagumi etc) over fashion shows (KERA fashion show) and stage artists like Kyari Pamyu Pamyu. There were also stalls, ranging from hair stylists, wig shops, nail design and merchandise to fashion brands and even cosplay.

Innocent World Lolita fashion show during the KERA stage

The set up with stalls and stages was quite impressive and there were many people with press tags taking pictures and videos. Unfortunately for "normal" visitors most things were "NO PICTURES" so I could not really make a video about the event.

The final event featured a fashion show with 100 models, a (slighly cringe worthy) Karaoke Contest and a Kyari Pamyu Pamyu live show. Personally it was worth waiting for Kyari. She even sang Fashion Monster and Pon Pon Pon, so I was more than happy to see some of my favourite songs performed on stage. I was jumping and singing along until I almost lost my voice, it was that much fun.

From the distance the bow looked like a little bit like bra to some eyes

Check out the face of the guy on the right

All in all it was a very impressive event. I just hope next time it is either free for everyone or we all pay the same price. Special treatment for foreigners somewhat does not sit right with me. I would like us all to be equal, on all levels. Nevertheless I am grateful for a fun day out. Hopefully next time the organizers throw an event like this, there will be more chances for us to take pictures too, so I can make a video for you guys.
And yes, as always, my head is in YouTuber mode. I want to make fun videos for you wherever I go. It has altered the way I think about fun events. I always think "I want to show my viewer friends this", even if it means that I am experiencing only half of the event by setting up my camera and dashing around. I hope it is worth it and gives you a taste of being here with me.

All the best from Japan
x
Cathy Cat

Harajuku Fashion Walk #27

Finally another Harajuku Fashion Walk of KAWAII Street Fashion
Unfortunately I had to miss the last one due to work, but this time I was ready to go-
apart from the fact that it was boiling hot and definitely not the weather for Lolita (which I had initially planned on wearing).

To my surprise the group was a little smaller than usual but we still had lots of fun
The brand new kawaii fashion video is here:



A few snaps on the side:

AP Salopette times

Angelic Pretty Salopette

Haruka Kurebayashi was not present this time, but we got a different surprise:
Sebastian Masuda was in Harajuku!

If you don't know him, he is not only the designer of 6% DOKIDOKI but he also is a famous Harajuku Fashion icon. Kyari Pamyu Pamyu was one of his models for his tours abroad and he has influence in fashion and art alike.

Unfortunately he was not able to join us at the Fashion Walk, but we were invited to his speech at a museum nearby. After doing his version of the ice bucket challenge he was even kind enough to leave a little message for my video.

His new vision is to bring back the "Pedestrian's Paradise" in Harajuku. An area where young people dress the way they want, dance and perform freely while cars are not allowed to enter.
Hopefully, with all Harajuku fashion lovers pulling together, we can achive this for 2020 before the Olympics.

So bring back the "Hokoushya tengoku"
the "Pedestrian's Paradise" for Harajuku:
CHALLENGE START!!!

Yoyogi Flea Market Hauls!

The best chance to get many cheap and cute clothes in Tokyo is the Yoyogi flea market.
I made a video about out market adventure the other week, let me fill you in on some more details of the day. First of all, check out the video to see what I "hauled" in.
You really won't believe what bargains I fetched!

My friends Sharon, Sophie, Nostique and I met in Harajuku and first went to the Evangelion Store in Harajuku, took some pictures and shopped around a little.

Let's check out today's fashion coords

Decora x Putomayo x Gloomy

Sopie: Cute in Pastels

Nostique: The real human doll

 We walked through the Harajuku Entrance of the park and turned left, walking up the steps and once we arrived on the top we got hit by the view of hundreds of people selling their goods.

Yoyogi Flea Market 2014

 We browsed around and funnily enough we all found things that corresponded with out styles. Sopie got cute plushies and decorations for her house, Nostique got some lacy frilly skirts for her styles, I got the mix of funny things you have seen in the video.

TIP of THE DAY:
Best time to go there is definitely one hour before closing. I don't think I would have gotten the same deals if I had not been there around this time of the day. People don't want to carry all their things home.

BARGAIN HAUL GALORE!

 More info about the Yoyogi Flea Market is HERE.

Thanks for reading! Stay sparkly guys!
x
Cat

Angelic Pretty Sweet Cream House OP

I meant to do a video with my whereabouts a while ago, but today I got too busy so I just made a quick video of my newest haul: 
The Angelic Pretty Sweet Cream House OP! *squeals*

The chocolatey video is here:


I have been wondering if I should buy the dress or not, when it was on sale on the web page. I always wanted a nice chocolatey brown dress and the pattern on it is really cute. But I kept telling myself to be good and it still was a little pricey on the sale. I am so glad I didn't get it back then.

Sweet Cream House Selfie time

The brown goes really well with my wig and macaroon bear necklace.
I am so glad I took the risk of buying a lucky pack. And I am also really glad it came with the head bow! After my Closet Child haul I realized that I have pretty dresses, but barely the right head bows to go with them. I got to get a little creative in making co-ordinations, which is not necessarily a bad thing though.

 

I hope you like this weeks video!

I am looking forward to wearing this outside once its warmer!

You can see it in the video, but I was struggling a little bit with the babydoll cut. Quite a new thing to me to be honest. Also the fact that there is no sheering, might be the reason why it was on sale for such a long time this spring before it landed in the lucky pack. I hope by tying the bow properly, I can still wear the dress without looking too round.

Angelic Pretty Sweet Cream House

 Angelic Pretty Sweet Cream House INFO:

OP Original Price: 26,040 Yen
Headdress: 3,360Yen

Lucky Pack Price: 10,800 Yen!!!

Super Bargain!


Now let me tell you a secret: Whenever I get a new dress, I start talking tons of selfies, with the most derpiest faces. And I bet I am not the only one... :)

More to follow soon! Sorry for being so busy! I haven't forgotten about you guys!

Love what you do!
x
Cat

My Lolita Birthday Party

Where was Cat the last weeks? Japan? Germany? Kidnapped by her UK friends?
Actually I was in the UK to celebrate my graduation and my birthday with my dear friends (that have frequent appearances in my videos as well). I was moving around a lot, and lots of things happened in the meantime which left me literally no time to edit my videos.
Sorry to have kept you waiting!
So here is the video of my frilly, fun and simply fantastic Lolita Birthday Party:




To be honest I was really surprised so many managed to come down to see me, as I notified them really last minute. I was really moved and so so happy!

We went to the Mad Hatter's Tea Rooms for another one of their delightful Full Afternoon Teas. Rich in cream, sugar, sparkles and magic.

Macaroons were the most popular item on the menu

Some of my friends were so sweet, they said they did not want me to go away again. That's how the video the other week came to be. I was "kidnapped" by my catnappers.

We have tied Cat to a unicorn and are force-feeding her cake

After the Mad Hatters, we went to the park for pictures and I gave the girls and guys a little surprise goody bag for being so kind and coming to see me.

We had a beautiful day as well, sunshine rainbows and unicorns!

Lolitas of the day

I know some could not make it down that day, and some I couldn't even invite at that short notice. Nevertheless, I would like to thank everyone who could make it, who would have made it if I wasn't so terribly spontaneous, and those who I couldn't call but would have loved to come anyways.
I hope I will get the chance to meet you all again some time in the future. For now I have packed my bags and am off to the next adventure.

Happy Birthday to me - Thank you all!

Now there is the question:
Where in the world will my next video be from?

I will let you guess until then. Thanks for watching, thanks for reading!
Hope you are happy, no matter where in the world you are.

x
Cat

Closet Child Japan fashion HAUL

My massive haul of brand lolita fashion dresses: Lots of frill in a massive shopping spree. I never thought i would be able to own so many brand dresses in such a short time.
How come?
And what did i get?!
I will answer the second question first. Here is the sparkly new video of my frilly Japan shopping spree:




Names of the dresses in the video:
Metamorphose: Teddybear Patissier
Angelic Pretty: Fancy Lace
Baby the Stars Shine Bright: Nakayoshi Kumiyachan Trick or Treat
Baby the Stars Shine Bright: Love Ring Present Box
Putumayo: Trump Neko Skirt

How come?
I got paid, my birthday was close but really, lets be honest:
They were all massive bargains!
Each of them was way under 8.000yen, kumyachan was only 3.900yen. Bodyline is more expensive than that! Mentioning that, with the rise of Bodyline prices, it is now often cheaper to buy second hand brand than new Bodyline. Compare the market clever Lolitas!!
Here are some thoughts about the dresses:

Metamorphose Teddy Bear Patissier:

The last two years my friends Carol, Joanne and I did a Lolita pancake day challenge with games and food and they were a real blast! We laughed tears and had so much random fun. In one of them Joanne wore an apron dress and ever since i wanted an apron dress as well. Some lolitas have debated if aprons belong to Lolita dresses, but why not? Angelic Pretty, Metamorphose and others have brought out several collections with apron dresses and skirts. I always like it when my dress/skirt can be worn in different ways. This gives you so much more creativity in making your own styles with one dress/skirt. Also, it is bloody cute!!
You can convince yourself of it in last year's pancake video:



Brilliant day, right?!
Next one up: Angelic Pretty

 Angelic Pretty Fancy Lace

This dress surprised me! At first i thought it was Bttsb instead of AP. Classic style with a fresh and minty touch! The ruffles at the back and the sheering make this dress look very posh. I have however realised that the lace used makes this dress hard to coordinate with other white blouses. The "fancy" lace does not match with the thin lace that most AP blouses have. I will probably have to use my brown Bttsb blouse with it, as it has a sturdy collar. Minty green and chocolate brown combi! Summarizing i can say that the fany lace is so fancy, its possibly a bit too fancy for a normal combi.

Baby the Stars Shine Bright
Best friend Kumyachan Trick or Treat

Long name for my shortest shirt of the haul. It was the price that made me snatch it from the rail like a hungry teddy. 3.900yen and a recent print as well! I love all kinds of dressing up (as you know) so i love the halloween theme on it too. The Kumyachan release is really cute and one day i might get a teddy kumyachan bag to match. This shirt will hopefully go with my new blue luckypack blouse, as i havent found a way to combine it yet.
But the lace at the dress has stars, so does the blouse, hopefully they will get along. The dress is quite tight though, possibly the tightest skirt i own. Definetly not one to wear on an "all you can eat" cake buffet!

Baby the Stars Shine Bright Love Ring Present Box

This dress was another bargain. The top shows a classical style with lace, frill and a shiny bow, the bottom colourful and fun to watch. I love wearing red as a colour and so the dress drew me to it like a magnet. I found out later that the dress might have been reduced because the massive bow at the side is missing. I actually don't miss it really. I am quite clumsy so i might have lost the bow myself really. Also, i think this is a dress for now and the future. When some lolitas get older i have seen then drifting more towards simpler colours and classical cuts. Imagine me as aunty Cat still flauting her frills!

Putumayo: Trump Cat Skirt

I was just about to leave the shop when i saw this skirt poking out from the punk section of the shop (Putumayo is more Punk with some Lolita and is therefore not kept with the other Lolita clothes and brands in the shop). The cats on the skirt caught my eye and my heart and it was quite affordable at 2.800 yen. (I however put another item back, just because i didnt want to go more shopping crazy than i already have been). And hey - EVERYONE LOVES CATS - the internet has proven that. And especially the moustache cat was too adorable. I like wearing loli skirts on normal days out and the simple black and whites with read can easily be combined with casual clothes. Everyone loves a moustache kitty!!

Thats it for today folks! Hope you enjoy your next shopping haul as much as i did mine!
Dont forget to follow my blog via email or google friend connect (works with your gmail email).
I also really try my best to tweet back so be sure to follow me on twitter as well! "Doitcosplaygirl" is my twitter name for now. Let's tweet to each other!
Hope you will have a great start into the next week!
X
Cat

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

Harajuku Fashion Walk #22

Passion for Fashion!

The 22nd Harajuku Fashion walk got moved to the 22nd of February (2nd month in Japanese), so we (and you) had the rare pleasure of having two fashion walks in two consecutive months. Usually only every other month, Junyan decided to move the 22nd Fashion walk to the 22nd of February. The date explains why really. I was glad I had the chance to join again, without having to wait two months.

I arrived early and prepared for the day with cake and cards

This time there was so much fun and colourful footage, I decided to make a really generous directors cut, and pretty much all scenes in and some of them in full length. You can now see how much stricter I usually am, because this video is double the length of my usual videos.

Watch the funky colourful fashion video here:


What you might have spotted during the video:
1)Junyan
2)Haruka Kurebayashi
3)Great Weather

What you might not know:
1) This meet was on a Saturday, even though they are usually on Sundays
2) Haruka Kurebayashi is a model, designer and artist, often appearing in KERA magazine
3) The tv crew at the beginning was from a French TV programme

I have to mention again how incredibly kind Junnyan and Haruka Kurebayashi are. Haruka Kurebayashi kept playing with the kids that came to the fashion walk, Junyan took his time for all of us and they supported the filming a lot. Junyan himself approached me about the message for Mexico, which again shows how kind he is. I hope the Harajuku Fashion Walk in Mexico will be a full success!

I actually have caught a pretty bad flu this week (4 days of high fever) and was really glad that I was just about able to go and take part at the fashion walk. Hopefully I will be back to my 100% soon!
Until then, I gotta wrap up and keep warm. And so should you by the way! Winter is not quite over yet!

This is the less-decora version of the outfit, on arrival back home

I had many error messages with Sony Vegas again today, so I might have to start using a new programme soon if this keeps happening. It also made the quality of the video suffer a lot. Thanks to that I am editing since 5 pm and it's now 2:13 am - past a sick person's bed time! And I just realised I wrote Junnyan's name in the video with only one N ... oh no (T-T) I hope he will forgive me. I really need to catch up on lost sleep now.
So off to sleep now!

Have a great start into the new week guys!

x
Cat

Harajuku Fashion Walk Coming Soon!

It's the most wonderful time of the month....

It's Harajuku Fashion Walk 2014!

The first Fashion Walk started off with a real BANG!
It was a great time and made me feel really happy!

The video will be up tomorrow but till then, here are the pictures as little teaser for you <3

aaaand are you excited about tomorrow's video?!
Hope you are! I will fetch some sleep and am looking forward to hearing your reactions tomorrow!