LVF Loves: DIY Jewelry - Taking The Old and Making It New Disney Style!

Sure sure, so many people know what DIY is and "Do It Themselves" anyway, so why does this post even matter? Well with my recent discovering mynostalgic objects and the upcoming D23 Expo approaching more quicker then ever, I thought this post would be tiny yet fun and a bit of a change from the usual.

Since My mom has been on a kick of finding things that'll keep her innocent image of me alive, she seemed to find a collection of treasures of my Disney loving back in the 90's and seems to have been reawakened just in time for D23! But what treasures are these exactly?

Do you remember being so into the Disney Princesses as a kid that you'd want to dress up as them? Maybe this was the beginning stages of me wanting to become sort of a "frilly girl" stylin' lady as I am now but I was definitely into the Princess Dress Up sort of play and these toy sets were my life. Luckily, the thing that my mom happened to find was a variety of these items all in a small box. Somewhere yucky, some were a bit too damaged, but many were just right and have now become newly made pieces that'll be coming with me in some form to D23!

This piece came from a Cinderella playset probably around 93 or 94. It's a lovely baby blue plastic locket with a bow decoration at the top and a picture of Cinderella inside. I'm pretty sure there might have been a picture of Prince Charming as well, but seeing as he wasn't a favorite of mine I probably ripped him out hoping for a Prince with more personality (Look, even then I was specific with men!) I've already put a cute gold ball dot chain to it, bringing out the lovely yellows of Cindy's hair! It just happens to go lovely with my Twinkle Princess JSK!

This piece is probably my favorite I found! This little castle comes from an Ariel Playset from 1998 - around the time of the Little Mermaid re-release to theaters. It came as a series of items in which you could change the trinkets on the necklaces and bracelets within the set. Maybe it's just my fascination with pink and blue together, but this piece was always my favorite - probably also cause if has a working door! It also happens to go perfectly with Jelly Jewelry!

So what about you? Have you found anything nostalgic lately and made it into something part of your everyday where or just found something cool? Tell me about it, I'd love to hear!

Dress Up Time #14: Marie from the Aristocats

In celebration of my big Disney trip in only a week, I thought it would be fun to make a series of post based upon the characters that I'll be dressing as at the D23 Expo! First we'll take a look at my character Disney animal, Marie from The Aristocats! Marie is a little white fluff ball with tons of spunk and style. Though young, she has a lot of attitude and knows who clearly is the lady of her other family members. She dreams of being like her mother Dutchess and loves to show off more then her brothers. Marie is just adorable all around!

Probably the neatest thing about Marie is Disney's insane line of merchandise featuring - especially that coming from Japan. If you are at all into Marie, you can find pretty much

anything featuring her coming from any of the Disney parks or stores, especially Tokyo Disneyland. I'm lucky to be a owner of a few of these items but my favorite is most definitely my Marie Popcorn box. Now I know this sounds odd but trust me, it's the cutest thing in the world.

As you can see though there's even more things Marie that you can't even imagine to have her on. I'm lucky to be an owner of a few of these rare items and will be sporting some of them at D23 if you're curious to see more!

But now how does one capture the cuteness of this kitten heiress? The great thing about Marie is she's super basic so there are lots of ways to go about doing an outfit inspired by her, below is my current version of an outfit for her but trust me it can be dressed down a lot more or dressed up to the nines! Check out below!

This is one of the many many ways you can do Marie in a lolita format so don't take this as any sort of official have to's. First chose a Pink jumperskirt - I went to Angelic Pretty's Assorted Cookie JSK (an alternative version of Wonder Cookie!) then I went with an off-brand blouse that I originally bought from Mashimaro Girl. Though technically it's supposed to be bear eats rather then cat ones, I love the giant detachable bow which goes so well with Marie's personality and love of girly bows all around!

Next I chose to go with something a bit more fairy kei (and comfortable) with wearing some pink converse and legwarmers. Granted you can go with the more traditional Lolita roots of Tea Party Shoes in Pink, but I think this works for Marie especially with her being a kid - wanting to go on adventures and all! The best part with wearing Chucks is they come in a variety of styles and you can dress them up or down whenever with putting on some bow clips into the shoes, which I also did when I went to Pony Con this last July!

Now we come to accessories! I decided to play into the more french themes of things like Presents and Parfaits but including my Present Box bracelet from Angelic Pretty and an off-brand Parfait brooch (actual not shown). Finally (if you can find them) look for Marie themed jewelry such as the special face ring they made as toys in Japan. You can easily find them on ebay along with Dumbo and Mickey styles!

Finish the look with the perfect hair! Instead of going with the traditional cat ears or a wig, I chose to go with this adorable double bun style (great tutorial by VenusAngelic here) You can add tons of little pink bows or charms all around or go with a big pink head-eating bow at the very top!

As mentioned, there's tons of different ways to go bring about this adorable kitty in your outfit! Whether it be Fairy Kei inspired or a very elegant try - you can't ever go wrong with Marie! Now go show them why "Everybody Wants To Be a Cat!"

LVF is going to D23 Expo

So if you haven't noticed I've been a bit MIA for the past couple of days. I just returned from Otakon '11 (report post on that eventually) and been working in preparation for the greatest vacation I'll have had thus far in my whole life. It's coming up in only 10 days and by jolly am I excited more then a little kid at Christmas. Because what I'll be attending is my Christmas, My College Graduation, and a million trillion Otakon's worth of excitement rolled into 7 days of pure epic fantastic times, especially with 3 of them being the bestest of any day in my life thus far. I speak of my dream convention, my number one fandom celebration that I can't even express: The Official Disney Convention, The D23 Expo!

For those of you that don't know one thing about the D23 Expo, it's a weekend of celebrating everything and I mean EVERYTHING Disney. The movies, the parks, the TV channel, the characters, the merchandise and even the coolest fans. With new additions like Marvel and more, there really is something for everyone (even my boyfriend, who without him I wouldn't be going to the convention!) I'll be there to celebrate all of these aspects and to finally be in the center of my most favorite fandom in the world. I probably will scream, cry and smile harder then I ever had AND I'll be in lolita the whole time while doing that!

I also will be getting to Disneyland, Universal Studios and Hollywood while I'm at it! While going on my various adventures I'll be hopefully meeting up with the CA Lolita Girls, including Julie of Bonjour, I'm Julie Doll !! We Disney girls gotta stick together and I'm beyond excited to be with such an expert as this lovely lady!

So are any of you going to D23? If so let me know, I'd love to meet any fellow Disney fans or readers! If you aren't going to the Expo and or are wondering what things will be like, put down a request and I will do my best to get something back for you. I also will be heading to Little Tokyo if I can and if you're wanting pictures I can bring those back too. Either way this will be epic and I'm beyond freaking out from the excitement - Mickey won't be able to handle my little kid spunk!

Iconic Love Letter: Prince

It's hard to sometimes find a musical idol in America that fulfills all our needs for multitudes of beauty in both physical style and music talent. The majority of the time I'm pulling my hair out from the fact that most artists cater to only the publics pleasures and not that of actual artists or people with slightly different interests, and then there are few artists that cater to both. Some of these include other LVF favorites like David Bowie and Michael Jackson, but today we're going to pay tribute to the frilliest of these male artists: Prince.

Prince is by far the closest America will ever get to an Lolita appropriate male artist. Yes as the prior mentioned can fit into this category too, I think Prince fits the bill more then others, especially with his ever infamous and fabulous album/movie Purple Rain, Prince sort of set himself apart from everyone else after its release. It's all about the glamour and the destruction that the rock music world can have on a star, but we don't care cause Prince looks just oh so pretty in it the whole time.

The best part of Prince though is the music and his appearance in promotional music videos. Dear lord does this man have charm in every which way. The most obvious of his charms are shown in the video for "When Doves Cry", where Prince climbs slowly out of a bath tube and into the leaping hearts of many a fangirl (like me... possibly!) With the combination of fedora hats with veils, lace gloves and ridiculous pastel shades - this video truly has it all (Did we mention legit doves?) If you can't find some sort of inspiration for fashion in this then that is just depressing.

Also "Purple Rain" just happens to be one of those love ballads that sticks with me forever, probably because of the ridiculously good guitar coming from it - haunting and yet so beautiful. Though not to single all the other songs out, each Prince tune has its own special place in my heart and should have a place in your heart as well.Did we mention with all this coolness that the man is a shy bit over the big 5-0 and still looks like he's in his 20s (Maybe he took a magic potion and possibly a vampire - I've always been curious).

Overall there truly just isn't anything that could keep you in some way from loving this purple prince of power and grace. He's got it all and has the coolest guitar on the planet. Whether Prince or just a symbol, the man is simply an icon and should be remembered for all this fabulousness (even with his not as fabulous ideas of recent year!) So wanna give a try at looking like his majesty? Look at the outfit down below!

This outfit is as Purple Rain as it gets. I chose one of the traditional JSKs from Alice and the Pirates, along with an Angelic Pretty jacket for a nice feminine look of bows and more frills. The hair should be curly and feature some of the dove shaped hair clips shown along with a nice sparkly bow for a flashy touch! Finally finish it off with some purple lace tights (maybe over the top of some bold colored tights for a more modest appeal) and some epic Doc Martins for a rock'n roll edge!

Basically, you can never go wrong with Prince. So come on and Go Crazy with a bit of his own personal flare in your own lolita style!

My Little Pony Fair 2011 in Rhode Island!

This past Saturday was the official My Little Pony Fair and Convention in Pawtucket, Rhode Island! I went with my dear friend Victoria of Parfait Doll and met up with Lindsay of Pretty Pop Designs! We all got in our pastel best and headed to the Hasbro Factory for some fun with all the Equestria girls and more

There were many fun sights and sounds at this so called Pony Con, but the point was really to bring on the nostalgia and magic of these incredibly simple but yet beautiful toys. Basically this was all held in a large room where multiple booths or "stables" as they were called would be set up where you could buy anything related to MLP you wanted. There were older ponies, newer ponies, tiny ponies - pony watches, pony bags and even as you can see pony chocolate candies!

There were lots of contests to be had like custom made ponies (one of them showed here), a costume contest, even one for stables! There were even some small panels and discussions. The best of the panels was one held by Hasbro where they unveiled some new details for the coming toy season and more. My only complaint as I've been to multiple conventions is the lack of activities outside of the "Fair". Personally if they want this convention to be even more successful I think it'd be best to involve more workshops and panels that are in seperate rooms. Something I know I would have enjoyed is a panel strictly about Friendship is Magic (the new TV series) and possibly talking to voice actors and the creator. But this is something I think Hasbro can work slowly to getting right and eventually it'll become a much more successful event on that regard.

So the verdict? I would definitely go to the My Little Pony Fair again but only if it was nearby. I don't think this is the sort of convention to invest a lot of your time into unless it grows more in size or is given more of a convention feel. Our drive to Rhode Island was about 2 and a half hours but was definitely worth it and I would go to it again if it was in a location just as close. But unless you really truly are a big MLP fanatic then this isn't exactly something to get tide in a knot over. I would highly recommend it for the Nostalgia but otherwise it just depends on your taste!

So curious, are any of you big MLP fans? Do you collect ponies? Write a comment below!

Iconic Love Letter: Broadway Musicals

One of my favorite things to do during the summer is go with a loved one to see a Broadway Musical in Times Square. When I was little it was the closest I could get to feeling like going to Disney World every few months. My mom would always have us plan a day in the city around the show and is probably one of the reasons why I feel so confident holding meet ups - I learned my planning and use of the few hours before the show in style through going to shows with my mom. The best time to go see a show though? In the Summer! It's air conditioned, lots of amazing entertainment to be seen and when you come outside the night makes everything even cooler and very atmospheric! Those that is why todays Iconic Love Letter goes out to Broadway Musicals!

Broadway Musicals are something special that no other real art form has truly captured the exact same magic for me. But since there are so many amazing shows its hard to talk about them all as one general thing and best to speak of the ways that can connect to you personally. So we are gonna try and go with a different spin on Iconic Love Letter and I'll break down my few favorite musicals that you frilly ladies and gents might find the most interesting to yourself! Check out the list and see which one sparks your fancy.

Though this isn't my most favorite musical of the bunch, this one holds a special place in my heart for being the thing that made me realize my fascination with the 18th century and my somewhat obsessive attraction to long haired men in frill outfits. Percy is one of those great characters that definitely makes you feel pride and want to go on adventures with him and The Scarlet Pimpernel does just that - make you feel confident listening to it. My favorite song is "Into The Fire" a great boosting chant where Percy leads his rebel group into danger. This musical isn't perfect but it's definitely one to add to your look out for list.

Definitely one of the favorites, Les Miserables is a timeless piece of art that is so incredible its hard to really put to words the justify it's amazing appeal. I wrote about the 25th Anniversary Concert here but seeing the show live is truly the best experience of any of the ways to see this show. The best songs in my opinion are "Stars" "On My Own" and "Master of House" though nothing can really top the most epic piece of music ever "One Day More" which really is the perfect example of conflict building within a very short time frame. There is finally a live action film in the works and I am extremely excited for it!

I think I've said it hear enough that I love the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast more then a lot of other people in the world. It's timeless, romantic as hell and very layered. Every recreation of it is great for its own reasons but I think the Disney musical is my favorite because it adds even more layers to the Beast's inner conflicts. The song "If I Can't Love Her" is beyond epic and makes me cry or at least get emotional every time I hear it. I'm convinced its one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever! I was lucky enough to see the show 6 times in my life and each time was something special. I've also seen a lot of really great people in the show including Donny Osmond as Gaston (yes, it was that hilarious!) Overall this one needs to come back to Broadway in an even more epic revival.

In my top 3 musicals of all time for sure. I would say this is my favorite but it switches around a lot for other shows - but why you wonder? First off for those who have never seen the show here's the plot. The story is that of a transgender window dresser is in jail for corrupting a minor but lives out his days fantasizing about his idol Aurora, an actress from the golden age of cinema. But one of her films stands as a note of fear for Molina: The Spider Woman, who kills with her kiss. Suddenly he is met with another prisoner named Valentin who now is his cellmate. The story begins to twist and turn as the two learn about each other in the hardest of times. For me this show has some of the weirdest music ever but stands as a work of art with its tribute to the 40's and yet it's political statement on Latin America. It's based on a novel and there is a non-musical film as well. Maybe it's because my cousin played Aurora in a production of it or that I just have weird taste but I really love this show.

Overall there are so many great musicals and I haven't even spoken about a mere fraction of what there is available to hear and see. So what's your favorite musical? Do like all the newer shows like Wicked and Hair Spray? Do you like Phantom or Cats? Or do you love the old school shows like Oklahoma and The King and I? Write down below what you like or what you'd like to see in terms of theater!

Anime Next 2011: A Little Frilly Adventure

A few weeks ago I went on a surprise adventure with a few of my new and old friends to New Jersey. The occasion? Anime Next, an annual convention and one of the biggest in the tri-state next to New York Anime Fest. The convention was full of improvements from the first year I went back in 2006, including a new location that I had never been to and a much more easy to find set up! The best part about Anime Next though? Lots of Lolita friendly events! Though I didn't get to go to all of them I did go to some and the ones that I made my way to were very special memories I'll keep with me forever.

First off it's best to note the guests that were in attendance at the convention. Kanon (from An Cafe) and Mr.Sakurai (a fellow journalist and lover of japanese pop culture) were making the trip to Jersey bringing with them a love of Lolita and Jrock to the event. Also the h.Naoto spin off brand Sixh was there, selling tons of clothes and even having their own fashion show. But the one I was the most excited for? Yu Kimura. You might know this adorable idol from Kera Magazine and I'll be honest that she's my favorite model and one of my lolita inspirations. With that in mind I just had to go to Anime Next!

My first stop at the con was going to Kanon and Sakurai's panel. Though I had been to one of their panels before at Otakon of last year, this was a treat to get to hear them speak again. I asked them if they were wearing Alice and the Pirates that day to which I got a very enthusiastic yes! The rest of the questions were about Kanon's An Cafe work and some cosplay related questions. Though these were really things of my interest it was neat to hear them speak about anything.

Then came time for the Tea Party. At first I wasn't sure if I was going to go since usually I'm a bit more into going to fandom events at conventions then more fashion events, but I changed my mind when I started to follow the crowd of frilly girls into a supposed "secret area". We continued to walk down the Double Tree Hotel's hallway and noticed further and further that we weren't going to any normal location. Turns out we were going to the Presidential Suite of the hotel which has always been a dream of mine to go into!

Inside a whole party was set up for us with tons of sweets and varieties of tea. The best part was seeing them being put out for us by Kanon and Mr.Sakurai himself. We entered into the tiny kitchen of the suite and there you could see Kanon preparing the treats onto plates for us and sort of just hanging out when finished. For me this was the best treat of all, getting to see a fashion celebrity that I admired just relaxing with us and being a normal person when he would be thought of to be otherwise.

Then we were told to enter the social area of the suite. Unfortunately it seemed the hosts weren't expecting that many people to come to the party so not everyone had a chair, but Kanon tried his best to make up for it by carrying chairs to the rest of us who didn't have one. I can't exactly put into words who cool it was to have Kanon personally bring you a chair, it's one of those moments that'll stick with me for a long time. Next Mr.Sakurai asked us what we do in terms of our Lolita lifestyles which was really neat to speak of with him. I sort of wished there had been a few less people or enough space for us to even more intimately speak with him on such things but the amount of interaction we got was amazing and more then I ever would have thought possible.We then proceeded to take lots of pictures and even had a special appearance by Yu Kimura herself, who was completely decked out in Angelic Pretty's French Cafe. I even got a special picture with Mr.Sakurai and Kanon by myself!

Later on in the day I got to meet Yu Kimura again. I did get two pictures with her but they are on my friends camera and hopefully I can post them here soon since they are pictures I'll treasure forever. Ms.Kimura is beyond the sweetest girl I've met. I told her how much she means to me as a Lolita and how I only came to the convention to see her, which then she replied with the biggest smile and a big hug! I even got her CD which is adorable and I definitely recommend getting. I also was lucky enough to see her mini concert during The Masquerade and she did a great job.

Overall Anime Next was a great experience and if they get more cool guests like this next year I'll totally go again for sure. One more thing to note, I decided right after the convention to send a thank you tweet to Ms.Kimura. I just so happened luckily enough to get a response:

Dreams really do come true sometimes~!