Sixteen Going On Seventeen

On the 22nd it was my 17th birthday, and although we didn't do much to celebrate, I had a great day! At college things were great and everybody I spoke to wished me a happy birthday - one even wanted to get the whole class to sing, but I told him not to! - and then I went to my Grandparents for a Chinese take out with the family.
As I've been interested in vintage clothes recently, I was treated to some lovely vintage presents. There was a summer sale at Collectif, so I got two summery tops and a chiffon swing dress, plus a free bag, mirror and pouch! I also bought a 40s-50s bullet bra from the lingerie store What Katie Did, and it's made of peach coloured satin; I love it! Another bra and French knickers are on their way from that store also, as I got some cash off a few relatives.
Other presents included Wicked the novel, and Patterns of Fashion 2 by Janet Arnold - the latter of which has patterns from 1860-1940, including many lovely Edwardian and 1920s gowns! I also got some chocolates, a keep-sake box, and the new Animal Crossing Nintendo game. I've been very lucky this year! And out of my money I bought a vintage-esque burgundy blouse and some pearls that remind me of flappers from M&S.

With a couple of friends I went to Tea42 in Manchester, as they do really good gluten-free afternoon teas there. I wore my new dress and pearls with Mary Janes and a white chiffon capelet, and pinned up the side seams to the waistband for a swag/layered effect, which looked rather 30s-styled in my opinion.

I had the afternoon tea tray which included cute little sandwiches, a delicious fruit scone with Bonne Maman jam and cream, and a selection of sweets and cakes. All of us were defeated by our food, probably having consumed more than we should have done and feeling full to the point of bursting! My tea was Bramble Kiss, which I can seriously recommend; it's Chinese black tea with blackcurrant oil and blackberry leaves - delicious!
After that we went shopping in Afflecks, a place that sells vintage and alternative clothing. We all had a great time, and I purchased a flapper pin from the Bead Store.

 

(I'm not in this picture, but apologies to my friends for dragging you on to my blog. I'll take it down if you want :))

Collectif Review

Recently I've discovered the joys of shopping online. With my own card. In this country. What is going on? *laughs* Usually I'm caught slobbering all over the computer screen at the fine specimens of dresses in Japanese stores, rather than easily-accessible items from good old Blightey - but this time my Mum recommended Collectif to me, and I fell in love with their casual yet chic 40s and 50s designs!
There was a sale on and I had found rather a lot of garments that caught my eye, and not to mention I needed some cute clothes for the start of college in September, so I thought 'why not' and took the plunge, with this piece of plastic that I had long forgotten I had. The last time I used my card was in-store, when I purchased the Heart of Thomas volume over a year ago, so I was really excited to see my parcel arrive (not to mention, it was pink!).
I ordered the Annie Bunny top, the Britney Cherry Embroidery College Jacket, and the Ethel Houndstooth Pencil dress on Sunday, and received the parcel on Wednesday. They're all gorgeous, comfortable, vintage-y, and fit me like a glove! My favourite is the houndstooth dress - which is slightly big on me as I got a size up, but no matter, it can be altered - as it reminds me of many 20th Century eras put together. For eighteen pounds, it was a steal, being so high-quality and elegant! I can tell I'm going to wear it lots, when the weather gets cooler.

Here are some coordinates I put together on Polyvore:

 

Also, the package came with two free goods, which I thought was brilliant considering how well-made they were!

Yet More Shopping

Yes, I know I'm bad - but do I care? Not really, haha. Besides, these shoes were just too adorable and coveted to pass on!
For a while now I've been wanting some low-heeled court shoes, preferably in a pastel colour - and now they're mine! The pointed toes and bows are a bonus, as the style and silhouette reminds me of the 50s and Rococo eras put together.
  

As for the other things, I needed some cute sandals to go on holiday with in the summer (and the fact that they're JuJu Jellies makes things ten times better), cute socks were also in order, and the notebook is going to be my new diary for the summer. Hopefully the beautiful pages will prompt me to write in a more eloquent style in the summer months.

Debonair Strolls in Town

Or perhaps not so debonair in my case... It's nerve-wracking being alone in such busy places, but I seemed to manage and only cursed the whole of humanity to damnation only once.

First of all, I went inside River Island and bought some really cute daisy earrings for 2 pounds – they remind me of Margaret and the blissful summer times spent with friends and previous crushes. That was the first time I purchased something on my own. 

Then I crossed to Lord Street and went straight into Beales, on a mission to find those beautiful crotchet gloves I saw once with my sister. I got my gloves and they’re lovely; they’re from Dents and seem rather elegant, in my opinion.The Dents website has many gorgeous ladies' gloves, and some gentleman's gloves that wouldn't look amiss on such a person as Bertie Wooster! (Okay, I admit it, I'm obsessed - again). 

In a daze I found myself inside Waterstones, and fairly quickly I looked and found some books about Jeeves and Wooster, even though they weren’t written by P.G. Wodehouse. These made me smile, and as I checked them out I saw that one of them was homage to the author, called Jeeves and the Wedding Bells by Sebastian Faulks – so I bought it! Many of the Jeeves books were recommended by the store workers in Southport, so I’m excited to read it. 

At the dinner table I was talking about the book I bought in town, and when I said it was called Jeeves and the Wedding Bells, mum asked if Jeeves was getting married; I said that I hoped not, as then he’d be away from Bertie, who’d be all alone and wouldn’t be able to cope – and then it would be just called 'Wooster', instead of 'Jeeves and Wooster'! 

Dad suggested that maybe it’s wedding bells for Jeeves and Wooster, as they’re getting married to each other – my heart flipped and I giggled, as that was what I was hoping about the book! I doubt it though, as those kinds of things only happen in fanfictions. It was funny though for dad to say that, as it means I’m not the only one in this house that sees the chemistry between them. 

Just a photo of my findings: 

 

Innocent World's Three Archangels Tiered OP!

To treat myself after so much work and revision, I decided to save up and purchase a brand dress directly from the website. It was very exciting waiting for it in the mail, and I'm really surprised that my parents allowed me to do it! Usually they disapprove of Lolita fashion and ordering things from abroad, calling it impractical.
Naturally I pounced upon it when it arrived - ironically, after my Religious Education exam - and opened it so fast to see my beautiful new dress. It came with an Innocent World bag and a short but sweet letter with pink Innocent World stationary from the store, which I think could be hand-written. It was a very nice touch!

 

This angel is my favourite, and I'm pretty sure he's the angel Gabriel - the character I played in the Nativity when I was younger! The other angels are Raphael and Michael, or so I believe. What a beautiful print!

 

Isn't the lace just fantastic! It's so soft, too.

The dress itself is absolutely gorgeous, made from extremely high-quality materials. The lace is fantastic, with fleur de lis on, and the print is the most beautiful I've seen yet. And when I tried it on, it fit! I think it's my most favourite dress in my wardrobe, and I adore it! Even dad said it was worth the money. Innocent World is now my favourite brand and that dress, along with my Pullip Tiphona, are what my Lolita dreams are made of.

The brand concept says:  "Innocent World's designer, Yumi Fujihara, has created a new brand of clothing inspired by classical European designs that embodies the ideals of elegance and cuteness but is suitable for young women of the modern era. The brand name Innocent World brings to mind a simple world without dirt or blemish. We made this name to reflect the pure and innocent hearts of young women everywhere, at any age."

Easter Holidays

The holidays are going okay, though sometimes I feel a little stir-crazy stuck at home. But that's alright: these holidays are meant for revision, which I'm doing quite consistently, I'm happy to say.

My parents gifted me with a seriously cute ornament that looks like Indy to motivate me in revision. He sits on my desk the whole time, staring at me with massive eyes and a huge pink tongue sticking out. It's uncanny how much he looks like Indy!

I also got some new shoes, which are from Kickers archive, based on the original shoes designed in 1995. They do have a real 90s look to them, and the shade is just wonderful! I first wore them in Manchester yesterday, when the weather was horrendous; and guess what... they didn't get wet or stain! These shoes are magic, not to mention making me at least two inches taller!

In Manchester I went shopping in Thunder Egg again, possibly the quirkiest, cutest shop I've ever been in. Fans of fairy-kei, otome-kei, or generally just cute, eccentric fashion would love it. Even the bags are sweet and colourful! I purchased this dress here, which reminds me of otome-kei, the 50s, and dresses that Pauline and Juliette wear in Heavenly Creatures all put together! How could I resist?

 

Aside from that I went to town with a friend and she introduced me to the American TV series, Orange is the New Black, as she knows I love LGBT characters in media. She told me all about the characters in great detail, the plot line, and the setting, and I was captivated right away. So I bought the first season a few days ago, and already I'm completely hooked!
As for my favourite characters, they're mainly Piper, Alex, Crazy Eyes, Lorello, Trisha and Boo, although all of the people in the show are very interesting and amusing. Alex is so hot, and even though I know she's quite a mean girl beneath her sexy rockabilly exterior and street-wise personality, I'm really attracted to her! Piper's also really beautiful, on the outside and inside, as she's very kind to the other prisoners most of the time - even when her tolerance is being slowly shredded to bits - and goes out of her way to make good relationships that otherwise treat her like dirt. She's so chipper and cheery despite her situation, which I admire. I also love to hate the workers of the prison (especially Pornstache, the bastard!) and the homophobic, transphobic idiot Doggett... She really, really gets on my nerves.
In a way it's like a black comedy; I know I shouldn't laugh at the situations, but really, they're just too funny! And the theme song, "You've Got Time", is always stuck in my head it's so catchy.

My dad and I are going on a primal/cave-man diet to lose weight. I think it will do my health a lot of good, as recently I've started thinking that I could be lactose-intolerant as well as gluten-intolerant. Seeing as it was Easter I accumulated quite a lot of chocolate eggs (just the usual Cadbury confectionery, which is actually my favourite kind), and although I didn't gorge myself with them excessively, even just a little bit of chocolate made me feel ill. Sometimes it was very bad, which has persuaded me to give up my Easter chocolate to other family members. I don't drink or eat very many milk products anyway, if I can avoid it, as I'm not that big of a fan unlike some people I know. So no more cake OR chocolate for me!