LVF Monthly Update: February!

Oh child, I've been out of commission and I apologize! January has been filled with tons of birthday activities that have been keeping me incredibly busy and thus have made any sort of updates on LVF very  slow. But now let's get on with some updates and soon to be posts!

First up, this month's coordinate is featuring the ever awesome Ellejay of Sherry and Cookies. I consider her to be one of my best out of town friends and I miss her incredibly! This Teddy Bear's Cafe coordinate is stunning, casual and fun! I love the edition of the hat and the donut bag is always a plus with the print. In terms of this movies Lolita Video, I actually chose a vintage trailer instead! If I haven't said it enough here, I love The Swan Princess. It's probably one of the most underrated animated movies of all time, with very few flaws and fantastic music/animation for an independent studio flick. If you need your Swan Princess fix, a while ago I made a Dress Up Time with the princess herself, Odette.

In other news, my birthday happened only a few short weeks ago! I turned the ever non-impressive 22 (or at this point I'm just adding numbers, so I turned 4 actually!). To celebrate my birthday, I began with a small group of pals got together to celebrate not only mine but my beautiful friend Crystal's birthday, with karaoke and seeing our favorite Disney movie, Beauty and the Beast on the big screen. Sadly I didn't get to take a lot of pictures since I was busy being a hostess and singing 80's rock ballads like View to a Kill with extreme passion. There was one photo snapped of me and the other birthday girl, sadly with my hair looking not so great due to the weather, but here it is none the less!

On Monday the 23rd was then my actual birthday, and I celebrated with my amazing boyfriend Brian! We spent the day mostly at my house cuddling, with him being a good sport and letting us watch together not one but 7 episodes of Jem and The Holograms Season 1! I'm a lucky lady to have such a glitter accepting boyfriend. Then we ended the day by going into New York, having dinner at Aspen Social Club (aka Gaston's Tavern) and seeing (for my 9th time and his first) Phantom of the Opera starring my favorite Broadway Phantom, Hugh Panaro. It was truly a magical night that I'll soon not forget! 

I was also treated the next day by my mother to seeing War Horse at Lincoln Center! I can't recommend this show enough and how it's a must see if you go to New York or London. The movie was incredible, the book was one of my favorites as a child, but the play is the best of all the three versions. It's a sight to be seen in person and can't really express the impressive nature through video, though seeing this is adorable regardless.

But what is up next for LVF? I'm very excited to be celebrating Valentine's Day with friends, along with going to various shows and concerts in the coming months. Like...

- L'arc~en~ciel at Madison Square Garden

- Newsies on Broadway with my lovely friend Bianca 

- Jesus Christ Superstar with my boyfriend

Yes. Lots of things are happening! 

Did I also mention I'll be going to Anime Boston in April too? So pumped! 

BUT what about the frills? There are some new additions to my wardrobe on their way, and I'm incredibly excited for them to arrive! I'll definitely be wearing them all the time at the events I'm going to.

Enough about me! What are you all up to? I hope something fun and magical none the less! Keep looking at LVF for more new content to come. I'm getting pumped myself for it!

Fun LVF Shout Out!

Whose gonna be watching Drag Race tonight? I'm so excited! 

If you want immediate frilly friendly updates, 

check out the LVF Twitter page by following @sparkle_buttons!

LVF's Thoughts on Manila Luzon's "Hot Couture"

It's no secret that I love Drag Queens, and if I had my choice of specific queens that would rule the world, Manila Luzon would be at the top. This native New Yorker, is to me, a true talent above others. As Ru would say, she has uniqueness, nerve and talent (along with beauty to match!) Back in 2011, I was introduced to the new crop of queens on season 3 of Drag Race. I wasn't sure my feelings on most of them, but the minute Manila walked into the room I knew it was drag love at first drag sight!

Now exactly a year later, we come to a magical moment for Ms.Luzon - the release of her first music video Hot Couture. I can't exactly explain how excited I've been for the unveiling of this high definition epic, but trust me it was well worth it! The behind the scenes clips and teasers gave me hopes that this would be a glamour filled classic, but I had no idea what magical visuals I was in store for.

But let me just say that when a video starts off with a little kid version of my favorite Drag Superstar, I knew I was in for a good time. There are many incredible outfits and shots, all shot on one of the nicest cameras I've seen. The editing is fun and in sync just right. But the best moments come towards the end (Can we say Manila Antoinette anyone?) The pink orgasmic outfit towards the end was to die for. Thus I definitely say if you are at all of fan of beautiful things, frills and magic - by god, Manila knows how to serve it to you on a platter honey!

With a song that is catchy as hell and a video that is beyond even more fun to boot, Hot Couture is a masterpiece that I think even the legendary Miss Paul could take some lessons from (I'm just saying, her videos need an HD upgrade which then otherwise would be perfect!) Overall Manila has produced what I think to be the best music video from the Drag Race alumni, and should definitely keep up the good work. I can't wait to see what comes up next! My suggestion? Have Raja write some rhymes and do a collab honey! Diamond Crown Couture anyone?

So what are you waiting for, get a move on and watch Manila's video right now! 

Dress Up Time #16: Belle from Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Well hello there readers! It's been a while, but after an amazing vacation and a wisdom tooth removed, I found some time to make a new post. The best part about this post is that it's in celebration of the re-release of my favorite fairy tale and one of my favorite Disney movies, Beauty and the Beast!

So how do you celebrate such an event? Why not dress as every girls favorite book worm, Belle! Belle is more then just her name appears to tell us (Beauty, incase you didn't know!) but she is perfection with perfect flaws within her. She has become a symbol for all of us who are considered the odd girls of our town. Also why Belle is so loved is that her "want" or "goal" in life is much more provocative then say Ariel who wants legs or Cinderella who wants to dance with the prince. No, what Belle wants is something beyond those more literal items or events. Belle wants adventure and a life grander then she lives. This is what makes her beyond the usual Disney heroine and adored by all.

With that acknowledgement, it is then a great question - how does a lolita go about bringing Belle into their look? Well since this is a special Dress Up Time, why try not one but three of Belle's looks!

You can do as many variations on any of Belle's outfits. Personally, I'm a sucker for her "Something There" dress. Though I chose something much more princess looking then the casual appeal it has in the movie, it looks more realistic. I also decided to go with a more refined tone on her yellow ball gown dress. I thought a nice simple bolero is a good touch. But whatever way you decide to go about it, make sure your version of Belle has tons of roses in the details. Roses are the important symbol within the movie, along with (but not shown) mirror necklaces or pendents would be a lovely touch as well!

No matter which way you go about it, you can have a ton of fun making your own version of Belle. Her outfits in the movie are devoid of details and thus it's even more fun to fill in the lines yourself! So, feel brave enough to go into the Beast's castle in your frilliest garb? Try it! I'm sure I'll do something similar to this when I go to see the movie in the next few days.

LVF and Company - Expect more posts soon!

I apologies everyone for my lack of updating! The holidays created a bunch of chaos for me in terms of work and me getting ill. But on the bright side, in a few hours I'll be getting one of the best Christmas treats of all - getting to see my frilly friend from CA who will be staying with me for a week! As a result, expect some more videos and posts in a more personal sense with her visit coming soon.

Curious, what did everyone get for their respective holidays this year? I didn't get too much in the world of frills this year, but I did get some adorable Doc Martin Polka Dot boots in Black and my other favorite present being My So Called Life The Complete Series! Did you guys get what you wanted for the holidays? Leave it down on the comment section below!

I hope everyone's holiday was lovely and that you have some epic New Years Eve plans! I'll be celebrating a day early at this year's Dances of Vice celebration called Moonlight Circus! With the theme being circuses, I decided to dress as the Show Pony girl. Have big feathers in my hair, pink tutu vibe and possibly harlequin tights or something of a fun pattern to my liking. What are your plans for New Years? So curious to know!

The Return of "Not Another Lolita Blog" and a Thank You.

Many have been asking when "Not Another Lolita Blog" would be returning and well... here it is! In this episode you can see me and some of my frilly girls head out to celebrate International Lolita Day:Winter 2011. And don't worry, this isn't the last you'll be seeing of the video series! More posts will be coming in the future and boy, I am beyond excited for them! Here's the video below:

In other news, you might have noticed on the side of the blog that there is an Amazon link! Well I'm pleased to say that La Vida Frills is now an Amazon affiliate. If you need to do any Christmas shopping this year, please feel free to click on my side bar to shop all the amazing deals on Amazon. I put a list of some of my recommendations for the holidays when it comes to frilly movies, toys and books. You can't go wrong with Amazon (they are a serious life saver!) Feel free to check it out!

Also, did you know La Vida Frills turned 2 years old? I know this year I didn't make as big a hoot about it like last year, but I do want to just simply say: Thank you. When I started LVF I had no idea what kind of a response I would get. Yes, there is a very small amount of you that come to read the posts and comment on them. But seeing the few of you that do have such passion and love in your hearts makes me really never want to give this blog up. I hope to be getting more on the bandwagon with making LVF more fabulous for the next year and the years to come. I hope to write/tape a bigger thank you soon, since this is a little too casual for my taste. But in general: 

LVF's Ideas For Gifts!

Yes, it's December 1st. Can you guess what that means? Officially it's only a few short weeks till the biggest Holiday of the year. Though you might have already finished your christmas shopping way in advance like myself, there might be the rest of you (seriously, its ok if you haven't. I just work at a mall) and are looking for the perfect gift for that frilly person in your life or need to suggest a gift for yourself - here's some ideas.

1. New Scents!

All right, I'm going to do sort of a shameless plug. As some of you may know I work at Bath and Body Works at my local mall, and as a sales associate I'm asked to talk up our new scents. Though sometimes I disagree with these ideas, our new scent really is amazing and I'm seriously a big fan! It's called Be Enchanted and is a mixture of Pomegranates and Sugar Leaves. It comes in the usual styles (Lotion, Shower Gel and Splash) along with others. Other scents to check out are Strawberry Sparkler, Secret Wonderland, Winter Candy Apple and Paris Amour! Trust me, you can never go wrong with smelling good for the holidays.

2. I Am Chubby Bunny

It's pretty true that when it comes to Lolita Fashion, you can never go wrong with a bow. Bows are essential, beautiful and make an outfit truly complete. So why not combine that with your frilly ladies favorite things? If so, check out Iamchubbybunny.com! This brand is all about bows, accessories and is even going forward into apparel for the Spank! fan in everyone. You may know Chubby Bunny from their famous Hello Kitty bows and their various events that they make special bows for. If you are really looking for the perfect gift for the bow lover in your life, Chubby Bunny can do no wrong.

3. Locketship

So you know that you wanna get her a special piece of jewelry, but nothing at the normal places in the mall are doing it. She has all the Tarina Tarantino and Betsey Johnson collections from every season, but you don't want to just slim down to a gift card at Macy's. Look no further then Locketship, an amazing brand that features some of the most beautiful and colorful of designs out there. Though a bit pricy, some of these pieces truly are worth it. I'm especially obsessed with the Sparkling Sea collection and the Unicorn one as well. Basically these pieces are amazing and I'm obsessed - so I'm sure your girl will be too.

4. Etsy Shops

As mentioned, the two options above are pretty pricy. So what do you do to get a truly unique gift for someone that has it all without blowing all your savings and that down payment on the new Angelic Pretty reserve? Check out the various amazing handmade stuff on Etsy! Here are a few of my current favorite stores to check out. First, for the mermaid fan in us all check out Siren's Grotto by internet darling Traci Hines. She makes tons of amazing accessories to fit your favorite mermaids color and tase along with things for the fellow cosplayers out there, and if there is any mermaid you can trust it's Traci for sure! Also check out Alice Doll (adorable and beautifully made ice cream rings, brooches and more!), Icing Sugar (Beautiful brooches and clothes) and The Pink Life (Mega 80's accessories)! Hopefully something can catch your eye there!

5. Classic Christmas Movies

It wouldn't be a La Vida Frill's Christmas without bringing up the world of film, of course! So if interested soon a post about my top 5 Best Rankin and Bass Christmas Specials will be up and I recommend going for one of those. Also there are a slew of old reviews/recommendations from past Christmas's I've made on here, including my all time favorite The Polar Bear King. Be sure to look for more Christmas themed movie ideas in the next week or so.


So, Boyfriends and Lolita Friends, has this helped you? Or fellow frillies, got something new on the list? Hope so! But there is one more thing I forgot to mention: The Winner of Our Mini-Contest! Drum roll please....

The winner is - Kieli_Heart who writes:
"I think my Lolita Fashion Icon are the people I meet here on their blogs. No one is a master at it but everyone has their own ideas and opinions and are all wonderful people that can create so many beautiful things. Each post is something to look forward to and I feel this is how inspiration is shared. And it only takes one person's idea to start something big. And I love to create things so being a part of the process drives me to create more and hopefully become one of these icons =)"


These words were lovely and treasured! So Kieli_Heart - you won something awesome. To reclaim your prize please comment below and we shall exchange emails. If you didn't win this time, don't sweat it! There's another contest coming soon... cause shocking as it is.... LVF is going to be 2 years old very very soon!


Also in other news, the new episode of Drawn to Fail is up for viewing! Enjoy!