Lolita Fashion & sneakers

Long time no see! After almost 5 years without a new entry, I decided to write on this blog again! Not sure I will be very consistent, but I hope there will still be someone out there who'll enjoy reading my entries!

So today, I wanted to write about some "controversial" topic: sneakers in Lolita fashion. Some might think they are a fashion faux-pas or a big no-no, but I personally don't think so. 

You might think that wearing sneakers with Lolita is a recent trend, but I have been in the fashion for 15 years now and even back then they were already around. First, because let's be real: it was not always easy to buy Lolita shoes. It can be because of the small Japanese sizes, of the expensive shipping costs or because some of us have to wear orthopedic shoes.There were plenty of reasons.

Funnily enough, one of my very first Lolita item was a pair of white Secret Shop tea parties. I loved them and wore them A LOT, until they basically fell apart, but honestly they were really painful to wear. I hate flat shoes, they make my lower back hurt, but I also dislike high heels as I have weak ankles. But my 2010 self was less chill than now: I had to wear Lolita shoes. Now that I'm older (my 20s are long gone), I'm all about comfort and being able to walk so I adopted several pairs of cute sneakers to wear with my outfits.

So why are sneakers still looked down upon?
We get that Lolita fashion has rules and has a certain aesthetic than must be achieved. But these are not incompatible with wearing sneakers. Lolita brands such as Alice and the Pirates, Angelic Pretty and Emily Temple Cute have released sneakers designs as early as 2009. If brands themselves release them, it should be OK then, right?

BTSSB Pony in Sweet Dream Sneakers, released in 2009

AatP Emblem Applique Sneakers, released in 2009

Angelic Pretty Double Ribbon Sneakers, relased in 2011

I clearly remembered wearing a coordination with Converse shoes for my birthday in 2010 and dug up some pictures! I had these shoes way before I got into the fashion, I was a student with no income so I was a bit more creative and tried to make things work with my casual everyday wardrobe and my Lolita closet. I was actually super proud of how the pink x black Converse were matching perfectly with my Angelic Pretty Fantasic Dolly JSK! Haha.

You might think I wore sneakers out of necessity, because I couldn't afford anything else back then and that as soon as I was able to buy real actual Lolita shoes I would drop them. But honestly, I liked them so why stop wearing them? 

Fashion is all about experimenting, so of course it will evolve with time. Lolita fashion now is different than it was in 2010 because many people integrated their own style into the fashion, tried new things. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't, but this is what keeps the fashion alive.
Am I nostalgic of the good old 2010 era? Yes. But I am also excited to see how the fashion has changed, how some rules have become more of guidelines and the freedom it gives! 

Now, don't get me wrong: I don't think any random sneakers will work with the fashion. The key word here is: aesthetics. If you're following a colour scheme, a theme, if the shoes have some ribbons or lace, it will definitely work! If you plan to wear your random running shoes, well that might not work though.

So now, some concrete examples! The first pair of sneakers that I bought in the intent to wear with Lolita fashion was the Puma Suede Bow shoes. They're basic sneakers, but with a super cute bow at the back which is the key element here. I don't think I would have bought them if not for those bows.
I even wore them for a full day in Harajuku last year and I was so happy I did because I already went for a full day of shopping there with actual Lolita shoes and it was a nightmare for my feet! Haha

Puma Suede Bow shoes in black

Cute black bows at the back!

And here are some example of them worn! I wore the first outfit in 2021 for a day in Bern with a friend. Second outfit is from 2023 during my last trip to Tokyo. 

More recently, I also got a pair of sneakers from Japanese brand Axes Femme and these are probably the most comfortable shoes I have ever worn as they have a padded sole. Axes Femme is known to release clothes and accessories that work well with Lolita, so when I saw those cute shoes with pearls I was sold! I got them in the beige colourway and they work really well with Sweet and Classic outfits! 

Axes Femme sneakers with pearls

Casual summer outfit with Axes Femme sneakers

Axes Femme also very recently released some Converse-like shoes with bear appliques that I could not resist buying (I am obsessed with bears at the moment, but that's another story... haha).
As soon as I received them, I made an outfit with my Angelic Pretty Dreaming Present JSK which also features bears and I think that was a perfect match!

Axes Femme Bear Embroidery Sneakers

Bear themed outfit!

I hope that you are more familiar with sneakers in Lolita fashion with those examples.
To sum it it, if you're considering getting sneakers to wear with the fashion, ask yourself these questions: 

1° What style would they go with? Sweet, Classic, Gothic? If you're going for Sweet, you might want to get sneakers with bows or ribbons while if more on the Classic side, you can choose more elegant ones with pearls or lace adornments for example. 

2° Are they matching in colours? If you're planning a lavender outfit, you might want to buy lavender sneakers ( Buffalo has some really cute ones!). Do not wear random black sneakers if you're wearing a full pink outfit.

3° Do they follow a theme? Like I did with my bear outfit. You can totally buy sneakers with a cherry print or a flower pattern! 

Do you wear sneakers with Lolita fashion?

If not, would you like to try it out? 

Or are they a big no for you? 

What brands or designs do you recommend? 

Let me know in the comments! 

Personally, I bought these sneakers this year to wear everyday, but they actually have a cute beige heart applique so I might want to include them in a coordination:

New shoes to experiment with!

Thank you for reading ♥

When life gives me lemons...

... I make a lemon themed Lolita outfit!
Today, I wanted to share a lemon appreciation entry! I really like lemon, as a fruit but also as a pattern and luckily for me, lemon is quite popular this year in Lolita fashion but also mainstream fashion.
Some months ago, I finally found the perfect lemon-themed skirt: Lemon Juice skirt by Owloli! The skirt was made to measure, which was great so I could order it a bit longer. I love tea length skirts, so that was the perfect occasion to get one! Sweet Lolita (or at least Angelic Pretty) seems to take a new way with longer skirts too recently. Unfortunately I am a total noob and ordered the skirt was too big, but my mom was so nice to remove some of the elastic at the waist so it could fit!
I already had an outfit in mind, I first decided to wear it with yellow and white in a somehow casual/country inspired coordination. Yellow is my favourite colour, so I really enjoyed wearing it! 

Today, I wanted to bake lemon squares and it made me want to wear that skirt again! Even if the print actually doesn't feature these colours, I really wanted to try to wear it with red or black. I am very inspired by Otome fashion recently, with its surprising colour scheme and toned-down girly looks. I have been into the fashion for more than 10 years now and I want to experiment more so I won't get bored. Maybe wearing a light blue skirt with a bright red cutsew was a bold move but I think it works quite well!

And to end this entry on a sweet note, have some pictures of my lemon squares! And also, let me know what is your favourite fruit! Did you like the lemon trend this year? I wish there would be more lemon-themed prints in Lolita fashion!

Sweet Jam Triplets!

Hello! Is anybody still there? I can't believe my last entry was from July 2018! I have been so lazy, I completely neglected this poor blog... I was quite active though, I went to several events (Spellbound in the Netherlands, the Angelic Pretty Christmas tea party in Paris, etc.) but I guess I wasn't motivated enough to write about it!

Anyway, Spring is back and with the sunny days and warm temperatures, my motivation is back too! Maybe I will write about the past events I mentionned, but right now I would like to share a photoshoot I did with two of my best friends. We realized we all had Angelic Pretty Sweet Jam print, my friend Marie-Lou in red, my friend Arisa in pink and me in yellow! We took advantage of the Easter holidays to go for a "triplets" photoshoot in a nearby park.

We had a lot of fun and I really like how the pictures turned out! We didn't especially plan anything more than "wearing the same dress", but I suggested we all wore a beret :)
But enough talk and more pictures! Here are some of my favourite:

I really like the atmosphere of the whole shoot: the bright colours, the setting, the cute little daisies! We used my tripod to take all the group pictures, I was a bit afraid the pictures would look static/unatural, but in the end they're exactly how I imagined them! 

This one is my absolute favourite I think ♥

Which picture is your favourite? Have you done a twins or triplets photoshoot with friends?
Let me know and thank you for reading ♥

Angelic Pretty Paris 2nd anniversary Tea Party

Hi! I hope everyone is enjoying summer!
We are in July, so you guessed what it means: it's time for the annual Angelic Pretty tea party in Paris!!! I am always happy to attend, but I don't exactly know why, I was especially excited this year. It is funny, because I thought it would be less and less spectacular with the years, but nope! Every year the staff is working hard to blow our minds and amaze us with gorgeous venues!

It was my 9th Angelic Pretty tea party and my second one at the famous Ritz hotel! Can you believe that? I feel a bit old... I think next year, I'll have to attend in a wheelchair with lots of wrinkles and white hair! Hahaha

I had a bit of trouble to organize everything this year. First, most of my colleagues decided to take vacations at the same time without consulting me first (I am the one doing the schedule) and I was left with nobody to work on the first weeks of July. Yay. So no day off for me. I had to go to Paris on Saturday afternoon after work and come back right away on Sunday to be back at work on Monday morning. That was SO stressfull... but WORST: the SNCF (the national French train company) decided it was a brilliant idea to extand their strike to the 7th and 8th of July! What a great idea, because that meant I had no train to go to Paris anymore... After some anxious tears, a stop at the counter to change my train ticket and some negocitations with a coworker to take some of my hours, I finally was in the train for Paris! YES!

In the end, the strike brought me some good as I had to take an earlier train and arrived sooner in Paris, which meant I had time to have a lovely dinner with dear Rosalynn and her sweet mom! We went to Aki Boulangerie where I ate a delicious katsu curry and a straberry shortcake! Yum! After that, we had a bubble tea (of course). It was a simple, but nice evening! It helped me relieve the stress from the days before! Rosalynn even gifted me a super cute Swimmer (rip ;__;) comb! It was the most perfect way to spend that Saturday evening!

So happy I could spend some extra time with Rosalynn!

Soooooo, on Sunday morning I woke up very (too) earlier at 6:00. I just couldn't sleep anymore... I had a small breakfast, talked a bit with Rosalynn who also has trouble sleeping late and tried to go back to sleep to not look like a zombie for the party.

It was then time to get ready! I left the hotel all dressed up around 11:15 and went on my way to Place Vendôme where I had to meet with Rosalynn. She arrived just past noon and we took some pictures together outside before heading to the Ritz!

This is my favourite picture of us ♥

I actually love how our pictures turned out! I always like how she takes pictures of me, she is the best event buddy I can hope for! Things are easy between us, she knows what to do for me and I know what to do for her! 
But let's talk a bit more about our outfits! Rosalynn went for a very elegant coordination with her beautiful Cameo Window JSK in wine. I am so used to see her in pastel colours, but she definitely looks amazing in darker colours too! She was a real princess! 

Pretty Rosalynn in her very elegant outfit ♥

I went for a very simple and cute maid outfit myself, with my beloved French Café JSK. Many attendees wanted to make outfits matching the name of the tea party "Le banquet des anges", so I felt a bit out of place! Haha! (no, actually, I really enjoyed wearing this outfit!)

♥ Angelic Pretty French Café ♥ 

Barrette: Angelic Pretty 
Daisies: Claire's 
Cutsew: Angelic Pretty

JSK: Angelic Pretty 
Apron: Bought on Etsy and customized with an AP ribbon
Socks: Angelic Pretty
Shoes: Bodyline
Wristcuffs: Angelic Pretty
Bracelet: Angelic Pretty & Claire's
Rings: Claire's & Zygomatics

I soon started to spot more and more Lolitas around Place Vendôme, so we decided to head to the hotel! Many girls were already waiting outside. We were still a bit early, but we entered the Ritz anyway so I could leave my suitcase to the wardrobe. The staff was really nice and curious and I chatted a bit with them! An employee then told us to go to the salon, where we could wait for the party to start.

The Ritz isn't *that* impressive from the outside, but let's peak inside...

I am dying! So luxurious!!!

That was a bit awkward as only Rosalynn and I were given these directions and we ended up all by ourselves waiting near the salon. We then were asked to go back to the entrance, before being told to go back to the salon again... That was sketchy! Haha!
Eventually, all the guests started to arrive and we weren't by ourselves anymore. The party was late and we waited quite a lot of time before being able to enter the actual room. It wasn't a problem for me though, as I enjoyed talking to friends, taking pictures and all.

After a while, we were finally invited to enter the main room! Rosalynn and I went ahead and I was officially the first one to enter, oh yeah! This is when I was blown away by the room! It was so amazing! I am always really grateful to Angelic Pretty staff to invite us in such gorgeous places, because let's face it: I would never ever go there by myself! Thanks to all their hard work, I can feel like a true princess for a day! ♥

Pink gifts bags were waiting for us on the chairs! We have been spoiled: there was a badge, a tote bag, a cute British Crown plate and a RinRin Doll postcard inside! I especially like the plate, as I love British Crown print... even if, honestly, I will never use it! Haha

People were slowly coming in and we had a lot of free time before the party actually officially started! I went around to take pictures of friends and talk with them. We were then asked to go back to our seats, were welcomed by Angelic Pretty Paris manager and told about the program: there would be a fashion show, a special cake made by the Ritz chef, a raffle and the election of the Best Dressers!

I don't remember now if we had the cake before or after the fashion show (my memory is so bad, dear... another fact that shows I'm an old grandma! Hahahaha), but let me tell you that cake was amazing! Raspberries & cream = it was delicious!

I don't have any pictures as they were not allowed, but let's talk a bit about the fashion show. First, we had Risa Nakamura and RinRin Doll modelling, which was nice (I was especially super happy to see RinRin again, because she is a total sweetheart)! About the upcoming series: nothing really caught my eyes, but OMG the last two dresses modelled by Risa and RinRin were totally CRAZY!!! They weren't the usual Lolita dresses: they were princess dresses! They were floor lentgh, with lots of sparkles, lace and bows and were totally over-the-top!!! I think everybody gasped in amazement when they appeared! That was really something! I can't wait for the official pictures!

After the fashion show, we had quite a lot of free time again! I appreciated it, as last years that was really what was missing the most. I had plenty of time to say hello to friends, to take pictures and to eat! Only down side: Maki and Asüka weren't around at all... I wish we could have seen them a bit more!
I was glad to see my friend Lea, who also came all the way from Switzerland! Our outfits were perfectly matching and we didn't even talk about it before! That was a nice coincidence! Her outfit was inspired by 1920s fashion and was super gorgeous!

The tea party was actually way longer than what was planned! It was supposed to end around 15:45 but at that time, we still haven't had the raffle or the Best Dresser prizes! I was of course delighted to have more time, but I also started to get a bit worried about my train!
Fortunately, the raffle started soon after. There were many many many prizes, but I didn't win anything. Rosalynn, who is always super lucky, got a lovely cutsew though! I was so happy for her! Lea also got one, lucky girls! As a consolation prize, we got a cute pink tote bag with a ribbon and poodle print on it!

So many lucky winners!

This is where I started to get quite anxious about my train as it was almost 16:30 and my train was just after 18:00. Lea already had to leave in the middle of the raffle for the same reason, but I would have been so disappointed if I had to leave early!
The Best Dressers still had to be announced and we also still had to take a group picture!
There were 2 prizes for the 2nd place best coordinations! Beautiful Noke, from Finland, won a prize with a super lovely ice cream outfit! I think her idea was quite clever as she chose a very wintery print but managed to make a super summery outfit with it by turning it into an ice cream princess outfit! She made some amazing props herself too! The other 2nd place prize went to a cute Chinese (I think?) Lolita who was wearing Astro Regimen. I didn't really understand what she said about her outfit, but I think she at least said she chose this dress because she loved that shade of blue!

2nd place best dressers!

The first place for the Best Dresser went to a gorgeous girl with a pink and soft Cupid coordination. She made lots of accessories and props herself too, including her wings I think. You could tell she put lots of effort in her outfit, so it was well deserved! She was very moved!

Too much emotion!

I think everyone deserved the best dresser prize, because you can really tell all the guests made their best to wear their most beautiful or favourite outfit! I am always so happy to see everyone's different styles, it is so inspiring! But I actually felt a bit lazy as I didn't craft anything myself and went for something comfortable! Maybe next year I'll try to be a bit more creative!
Here, I just want to give some extra credits to my friend Roxane's outfit. It is quite rare I fall so much in love with a coordination, but hers was truely amazing! She was the real angel of the day ♥

The infamous time to take the group picture arrived. You know, that lovely time where you have to stand squatting during very long minutes while the photographer tries to fit everyone in the frame.... well, that time Rosalynn and I were smart and went to sit on the stage. But I send all my best wishes to the girls standing behind us who probably ruined their knees. Haha! RinRin and Risa joined us for the picture and I went all emotional when RinRin hugged me after recognizing me ;____; I just love her so much!

It was now time to leave... I wish I had more time to properly say goodbye to all my friends, but I was quite in a hurry! Rosalynn still wanted to give her gifts to Maki and Asüka and bravely went knocking on the backstage room's door. Maki and Asüka came outside and were kind enough to take a picture with us! So happy!!! An Angelic Pretty tea party isn't a real Angelic Pretty tea party without a picture with them!

Kudos to Rosalynn for making a perfect heart! Haha

After that I had to quickly go back to the entrance to grab my suitcase at the wardrobe, then come back to the tea party room to find the toilets and get changed into casual clothes (I didn't want to made a +3h30 train ride in full Lolita). I changed and packed all my stuff in less than 5 minutes. Go me! When we came back to the entrance we spotted RinRin again... oh I wish I've had time to take a picture with her, but I was running late. She hugged me again though, so that's OK ♥ Two hugs from RinRin are worth any picture! I hope I will be able to see her again in the future!

Outside, we met with Rosalynn's mom and after some more hugs and goodbyes I went on my way to the train station.

Thank you so much to all the Angelic Pretty Paris and Japan's staff for all their hard work to make this tea party real! I had a blast! It was amazing! Thank you to my friends and especially Rosalynn for making this moment even more magical and thanks to you for reading ♥