52 Week: Bloomers or no bloomers?

I think it's very much a matter of personal opinion what you wear under your skirts, but I definitely think that you need to wear some kind of shorts, whether they be bloomers, running shorts, pajama bottoms, or boxer shorts, and, weather permitting, with or without tights. Obviously, if it's very hot out, you want to take any kind of short cuts you can, so if you're wearing tights, you probably don't want to wear anything else underneath, but if you can stand it, I think it's a good idea.

I live on an island for around seven months out of the year, and my love for bloomers comes from the simple fact that, in my world, ocean breezes are a thing, and they are a powerful thing. There are many days that I step out of my door and my skirt instantly decides I need to be in a cliche shoujo anime. Or it thinks that I'm Marilyn Monroe (ha, fooled it, didn't I?) and that we're standing over a vent. Some kind of shorts are very necessary in case of wind, but I also don't have to worry about what my skirt is doing when I sit down, or somebody deciding to creep on me. I've been very fortunate in that I haven't had a noticeable problem with other people deciding to be rude and look under, or lift up, my skirt, but I've heard a good number of horror stories. Some kind of shorts are, in my opinion, very necessary.

I personally prefer bloomers over everything else because I like the look. It just kind of completes the way I feel about my coordinate. I make my own bloomers, so they're really very cheap: just the cost of a yard of fabric and some elastic (or a drawstring, but I haven't tried making drawstring bloomers yet.) Plus, then I can make them out of all kinds of cute fabrics: I have a pair that's the typical lolitaish rose print, but I also have a pair (which need to be repaired since I hand sewed them) that are made from Winnie the Pooh fabric, and I have another that are made from horse print fabric. I also have a pair made from thick fleece for when the weather gets really bad, and they're warmer than any of my pajama pants! So to me, wearing bloomers completes my coordinate in a way that wearing my old marching band shorts doesn't, and that's why I recommend them over regular shorts.

52 Week: What's in my Makeup Bag

Oh boy... well, I have TWO makeup bags, so I guess we're doing both of these things.

The first makeup bag is what I actually wear on... well, I'm not going to even pretend it's a daily basis, but this is the bag that I take with me to conventions or when I'm traveling. So the stuff I wear most often.

1. Maybelline "Dream Fresh" BB cream (light/medium)
2. Lipsmacker Strawberry Banana lipgloss
3. Ulta "medium powder" brush (I use it for blush)
4. Ulta "amped lashes" mascara
5. NYX white eyeliner
6. Maybelline black eyeliner
7. Covergirl blush (I don't know what color it is, I think it's a rose something)
8. Hershey s'mores flavored lipgloss
9. Maybelline "define-a-lash" waterproof mascara
10. Clearasil cream
11. Ulta brushes: contour brush, sponge tip, and eyeshadow (these are small)
12. Bonnie Bell "Honey Kiss" lipgloss
13. Bonnie Bell "Sugar Bronze" lipgloss
14. Ulta "Plush Drama" mascara
15. Carmex
16. Burt's Bees "Mango Butter" lipbalm
17. Rosebud Strawberry lipbalm
18. Estee Lauder "Frosted Apricot" lip stick
19. Covergirl "Bronzed Peach" lip stick
20. Covergirl concealer
21. Bobbi Brown "Oyster" lip gloss
22. Bobbi Brown "Melon 2" lip gloss
23. Ulta charcoal eyeliner
24. Unknown black eyeliner pencil (it's a tiny thing I got from a Halloween makeup kit)
25. Eyeliner pencil sharpener
26. Majikah Perfumery "Renaissance Romance" perfume
27. 3 bobby pins

Phew! Yeah, that's one bag...

The second bag is a rectangular-ish tote thing that has more of the extra stuff or the things that I don't wear very much and don't need to take with me very often.

1. Foundation sponge
2. Neutrogena skin clearing mineral powder (classic ivory 10)
3. Neutrogena skin clearing liquid foundation (classic ivory 10)
4. Extra BB cream (same as the first bag)
5. Neutrogena shine control primer
6. Bonnie Bell "vanilla swirl" lip gloss
7. Covergirl 24 hour lipstick
8. Portland Black Lipstick Company "snow queen" lipstick
9-11. Three different Alamay eyeshadow pallets
12. Two different Covergirl powders
13. Ulta "Electric Lights" eyeshadow
14. Unmarked lipstick (kind of a bronze color)
15. Covergirl Concealer
16. Hot Topic eye shadow pallet
17. Jordana "Holiday Red" lipstick (I think this is from when I was in elementary school and I was a vampire for Halloween...)
18. Clinique "Peach Goddess" lip gloss
19. Bonnie Bell "cream puff" lip gloss
20. Ulta "perfect nude" lip stick
21. Ulta face wash
22. Bonnie Bell brown swirl lip gloss
23. Mary Kay "Celebrate" lip gloss
24. BonBons pink and purple lip gloss
25. BonBons vanilla lip gloss
26. Ulta "Flirtini" lip gloss
27. Ulta "flush cheek" blush (I think. It doesn't really say.)
28. A terrycloth hairband
29. Covergirl eyeliner? (I think that's what this is)
30. Unmarked brown liquid eyeliner
31. Prestige "khol" eyeliner pencil

Okay, I've realized that at least half of this is is stuff that was either part of a free sample package, something that I've had since I was five, or something that my mom threw at me that she either had when she was in college or that her cousin sent her. Actually, two thirds of this falls under that category.

So... yeah. I have a lot of makeup. A remarkable amount for someone who barely knows how to use it...

52 Week: What Influences My Lolita Style

I tend to be more influenced by old-fashioned dolls and clothing from history, I think. It's hard for me to really pin-point what influences my lolita style. I've always just liked clothes like this, and before I got into lolita, I was still the type of person who wore long skirts and corsets. Lolita was always that style that I wanted to find and didn't know that I wanted to find it until I did. 

So for the most part, I tend to just find dresses that my younger self would have done nearly anything for the chance to wear. So, that comes out as more of a classic-sweet blend. For the most part. I say I'm influenced by old-fashioned dolls and clothing from various time periods (typically Victorian to Edwardian era) because that's what I was influenced by when I was little. That was what I wanted to wear. So now I'm really just finding dresses that are the sort of thing I've always wanted to wear, and that I know will suit me. That's a big reason why I don't delve into OTT sweet, even though I like it a lot: I just don't think it suits me. Not that it wouldn't look good on my body type or anything like that, just that I think I personally would feel very self-conscious in OTT sweet, in a way that I don't feel in my usual style. 

How I Travel with Lolita

Notice the title of this is "with" not "in" lolita. I, personally, am not a big fan of long distance travel while wearing lolita. I don't really even like driving in lolita, but that's mainly because my truck's seat belts are not petticoat friendly. Riding in the car in lolita is okay... as long as it's on the way to a meetup, and not actual travel. 

For airplane travel, what I typically do is pick one coordinate, or if I do need two, then one where all, or at least most, of the accessories go with both dresses. If I'm able to only have carry-on bags, it's usually pretty easy to violently cram my petticoat (and YES I do mean literally cramming it) into the corner or bottom of the bag (depends on which bag I'm traveling with) and pile all my other clothes or stuffed animals around and on top of it. Having only one pair of shoes is really essential: there's too much wasted space, especially in a carry-on bag, if you pack more than one. However, if you do need more than one pair, wear one in the airport, rather than trying to pack both and wear regular shoes (I like my Bodyline shoes for this, since they have snaps so that I don't have to mess with buckles.) I usually fold and then gently roll dresses up into a sort of sausage link shape, if I'm not able to use a suit or dress bag. I really, really, don't like wearing my dresses in the airport or on the airplane: there's too many possible stains that could happen, plus, with those new full-body scanners, you will have to be pulled aside and patted down, there's too many folds in the dress, and I've had to have a pat down with just a regular skirt. 

For car travel, it's a lot easier, and unless you're traveling with multiple people, you really don't have to worry about space as much. I still don't like wearing lolita dresses on long (I consider 4+ hours to be long) trips, since wrinkles in your skirt are a guarantee, plus they just get uncomfortable after a while, but in this case packing them is much easier. Dress or suit bags are your friend here, you can either lay it flat on top of everything else, or hang it up on the hangars that come in every car. If you're traveling with multiple people, I'd suggest laying it flat since riding in a car with someone's dress bag blocking your view is really annoying. For petticoats, I still shove mine in the bottom of a backpack, and then my other clothes on top of it. 

If you're traveling and you need to, for various reasons whether it be space or time, wear lolita, I still would advise against wearing your petticoat. In the car, traveling long distance will deflate your petticoat faster than almost anything, since you're sitting on it the whole time, not to mention if you're traveling with a bunch of people, it just takes up unnecessary space and can be rude. On an airplane, the same thing applies, and even if you're on a short flight where petti-deflation isn't as much of a problem, how would you like to be the person next to you? There's not much point in wearing your petticoat in the airport since you'd just be going through the hassle of wearing it through security, and then taking it off and shoving it into your bag anyway. 

Just remember to keep your destination in mind when you're packing lolita to take with you. I'd rather wear the same coordinate twice in as many days than over-pack and waste a ton of space that could be used to pack other things, or for bringing back souvenirs. 

52 Week: How I accessorize

I think I've mentioned this before, but I tend to take a very low key approach to accessories. For one thing, I'm very hard on jewelry, and so I tend to not wear much of it very often.

Head pieces: This is helped by the fact that I don't actually own very many lolita head pieces. I have a non-lolita headbow (on a hairband) that I wear with lolita fairly often, a Bodyline bow that I'm pretty sure is supposed to be a detachable bow, but I shoved a bobby pin onto it, a crocheted beret, and two bows my best friend gave me that have the weird spring clip backings. None of these are very tall, or particularly large, and while I'd like to add a bit more variety, for the most part I like it this way.

Earrings: I'm pretty "meh" about earrings. I have a lot of them, but a limited number that actually go with my dresses. None of these are very big, although some dangle. When I do my EGL wardrobe post in January I'll post it here too. Sometimes I wear earrings with lolita, sometimes I don't. And sometimes I meant to, but forgot to put in earrings and don't realize it until I'm getting out of the car at the meetup.

Bracelets: Eh, I'm not that big on bracelets. I have a few, but unless I'm really going with a theme with my jewelry (for example, I have a key necklace, and I have a bracelet full of locks) I don't typically wear them.

Rings: I wear them occasionally, but not often. More often than I wear bracelets, though.

Necklaces: I usually try to wear a necklace. Necklaces are what I wear the most both in and out of lolita. I just like to have a little something around my neck!

52 Week: How Satisfied I am with my current wardrobe

I thought I posted something on Sunday, but I guess not! I was at home all weekend, so blogging took a back seat to being with mom and dad and puppers. I'll (hopefully) post something tomorrow, this is Sunday's replacement.

Hmm... I like the dresses in my current wardrobe. Most of them look relatively the same style, and most of them can use the same accessories easily. I do wish I had a bit of a larger wardrobe, though. Ideally I'd like a wardrobe large enough to wear lolita for a week solid without overlapping too much on coordinates. I'm getting there! I'd like to add some more dresses from my wants list to my wardrobe, and definitely more head pieces and accessories. And bags. I don't actually have a lolita bag yet. I usually just use my nicest purse if I'm going to a meetup, or my Bishou (Hamtaro) backpack purse if I'm just going out to do errands or hang out with my best friend.

52 Week: 10 facts about my Lolita wardrobe

1. Three of my five main pieces (I consider main pieces to be dresses/skirts) are able to be used in a sweet, classic, or country coord!

2. For all my talk of sensible lolita shoes, I only actually have one pair of those.

3. I have three blouses (one of which will be sold soon) and they are all long sleeved (well, one has detachable sleeves.)

4. Most of my head pieces are bows that aren't attached to headbands.

5. I have two petticoats, one bell shaped and one a-line (both are Classical Puppets "daily" ones)

6. My Sleipnir JSK is my first print. (Well, I have Bodyline's L411 but I don't really see that as a print)

7. I made the only skirt I have.

8. I do not own any printed socks/tights

9. I have yet to buy a necklace solely for Lolita (however I have been gifted some)

10. All my blouses/cardigans are thrifted!