KERA snap and picnic

Hello dear readers! How are you?

It's a nice day in England, and I have been doing some writing in the garden. Also, I've taken the opprtunity to handwash some of my clothes! Handwashing is a never ending task for lolitas, isn't it? At least it should all dry quickly today.

This post is from a while back, it was the day I went to the KERA snap at Marui and then had a picnic in nearby Shinjuku Gyoen. This was my outfit:

Hat: Handmade

Blouse: Atelier Pierrot

Skirt: Jane Marple

Gloves: Vintage

I really love this Atelier Pierrot blouse with big puff sleeves. It is very historical looking and I feel like a girl in a story book! For the purposes of the snap I said my theme was 'Country Lolita'. I really like the idea of country lolita and I want to make more outfits in that style. Alice a la mode/Alice Deco used to have a lot of nice country coordinates that weren't typical. What happened to that magazine? It was so creative!

Here's a better look at my hat. As you can see, this was taken at the park. It was such lovely weather- sunny and warm but not too hot, windy or humid! There were lots of young families out and very cute children tumbling about.  

It was a good situation for wearing country lolita. One strange thing though- there appeared to be cat litter sprinkled on the grass all around!

Is it fertilizer or something? Weird!

I'm delighted to say that my picture got into the snap, along with Shinobu and Aviva/go_slow_ly!

I can't tell you how happy I am to see my picture in there. I wish I could go to the snap every month but I've only made three so far. I hope I can go to many more when I return in the autumn!

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed the pictures. Have a lovely weekend wherever you are!

Sapphira

Fishbourne

 Hello dear readers! How are you?

Sorry for such a long gap between entries. I have returned home to England for the summer and I have been busy enjoying myself!

I still have lots of Tokyo posts to catch up on, but in today's entry I'll show you photos from a day in Fishbourne, near Chichester.

As I have mentioned before, I am friends with a certain Jack who has marvellous Adventures in Museum Land! Last wekend he wanted to visit Fishbourne Roman Palace. I had been there before on a school trip, but I thought it would be nice to refresh my memory and so I tagged along.

Here is my outfit:

Blouse: Vintage

Skirt: Handmade

Plimsolls, socks: Offbrand

Since we were going into the country I thought it would be wise to wear plimsolls, and I put together a 50s inspired coordinate to match them. I looped up my hair to make a poofy ponytail and tied it with a pale green ribbon.

It's simple to do and cute and practical for summer! I will make a tutorial soon.

I won't tell you too much about the museum as you'll be much better off reading my friend's excellent article! However I'll share a couple of photos of the most famous and well preserved mosaic there:

Cupid riding a dolphin

A hippocampus

The mosaic also included an exciting sea-panther but my photo didn't come out well :(

 Although it's not my favourite period in history I always feel a sort of jolly familiarity when I visit Roman sites. Latin was probably my best subject at school and I kept on with it right until I left sixth form. Unfortunately I don't remember all that much of it now!

Outside, a reenactment with 'Roman' soldiers was being staged. It went on a bit but there was a thrilling part where they all rushed at the audience and several children ran away screaming! A the end there was a demonstration of the onager and that was pretty good too.

After we had exhausted the museum we had a picnic and then went for a stroll. We met two very friendly horses!

Lovely horsey! I wanted to take them home with me. 

Since I'm in England for a while, I am going to try to write more about my own country. There are a lot of wonderful things here and I want to share them with you! I hope you enjoyed todays post.

Thank you for reading and see you next time,

Sapphira

xxxx

Showa Kinen Park

Hello dear readers! How are you?

It's a drizzly day today, I suppose rainy season is getting started. However, I'm going to show you pictures from  nice sunny day! I went for a picnic at Showa Kinen Park in Tachikawa.

I was suprised at the size of the park, it's huge! It's the one place I've been in Tokyo where you can look around and not see a single tall ugly building. It almost felt like I was back in Sussex.

The park includes a lake, bicycle track and a herb garden. I took this picture in the herb garden, it's really pretty! And I saw a fat little lizard sunbathing among the herbs :)

Blouse: Franche Lippée

JSK: Innocent World

Bag: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright

I wanted to make a light-coloured, dreamy classic coordinate like Fanny Rosie! Do you know her? I expect you do, since she is very popular, but if not she's a Canadian lolita with the most perfect classical outfits.

There's a cafe at the park serving all sorts of drinks and herbal teas. I had lavender tea. It was a delicate taste, and very relaxing.

I drank it surrounded by lavender bushes! 

It was a windy day but I still really enjoyed the picnic.There were wild flowers and strawberries growing in the grass, and I had a nice view of the lake.

There's also a Japanese garden. It's beautiful! Unfortunately the trees were full of hairy caterpillars.... I am fond of caterpillars so I was quite pleased to see them at first, until one tumbled out of the tree an inch from my nose. I kept my parasol up after that.

I met a wise old cat in the Japanese garden! I saw three cats in the park, this one, a roly poly ginger one, and a scrubby black one. Why are there so many stray cats in Japan? Everyone seems to love cats and feeds the stray ones, but where did they come from?

There was also a bonsai garden. Some of the trees were 300 years old.

I hope that you enjoyed the photos. If you fancy going to a park for a relaxing day, I think this one is the best in Tokyo!

See you next time,

Sapphira

Lovely Day with Shinobu

 Hello dear readers! How are you today?

Today I'll tell you about my day out with fellow lolita blogger Shinobu.

We knew each other online while I was still in England and she in Mexico, and by a very happy coincidence we moved to Japan around the same time.

Earlier this month we met in Harajuku for a very typical lolita day out, of course including purikura!

Our schedule was as follows:

1. Meet at Harajuku station, Takeshita Dori exit

2. Go to Christie and have tea

3. Closet Child

4. Laforet

5. Purikura

This is a truly typical lolita day in Harajuku! 

I got a few things that day- flowers from H&M, a hat from Daiso I'm going to decorate, super-frilly Metamorphose socks (we had to discuss about the raschel lace, but I  finally decided to get them) and a brown parasol from Alice and the Pirates (too big to go in the picture).  

I got something else too, something very precious!

It was a present from Shinobu, her original illustration of me! I was very touched and happy. She is so kind and so talented (check her blog for more of her work!) All the little details of my coordinate are just right and the watercolours are dreamy and pretty. I am hunting for a nice frame to keep it in. Thank you, Shinobu!

I enjoyed everything that day, but the especially sitting and chatting in the cafe. It was very peaceful! I'm looking forward to next time with Shinobu :)

Here is my outfit. It was raining so it was hard to find a good location!

Head bow: Ange

Onepiece: Innocent World

Bag: Metamorphose

Can you guess the theme? It's 'Schoolgirl Lolita'. 

It felt like autumn term on that rainy day!

Thank you very much for reading, and see you again soon.

Sapphira

Outfit Video

Hello dear readers! How are you today?

Maybe you have already seen it, but I have made an outfit video.

I put together six different summer coordinates, as the warm weather has arrived here in Tokyo.

It's the first time I've made a video like this, and I'm really pleased that it has got a good reception so far! Between my poor editing skills and the geriatric condition of my laptop, I'm afraid the process caused me some tears, but it was worth it in the end. 

Here is the finished product!

And here is what I wore:

Outfit 1

Blouse- Anna House  

Jumperskirt- Innocent World  

Socks- Metamorphose

Outfit 2

Jumperskirt- Innocent World

Outfit 3

Onepiece- Innocent World  

Ribbon- Jane Marple

Outfit 4

Onepiece and socks- Metamorphose

Hat- corgi-corgi

Outfit 5

Onepiece and katyusha- Juliette et Justine

Outfit 6

Blouse- Metamorphose

Skirt- Jane Marple

Wrist cuffs- Angelic Pretty

All the other bits are offbrand, second-hand, handmade and vintage.

Hope you enjoyed it! Thank you very much for reading and watching.

Sapphira

Cherry Blossoms and Creepy Dolls

 Hello dear readers! How are you?

I'm afraid this is a very belated post but there are some nice pictures you might enjoy. Back when the cherry blossoms were out, the Tokyo Lolitas went to a Mari Shimizu (doll artist) exhibiton and to Shinjuku Gyoen to admire the blooms.

My photo of a photo at the exhibition.

I like her blue ribbon and hair like a lamb.

This was my outfit! Jumperskirt is Jane Marple, coat and necklace Innocent World. Others all offbrand. Thank you Aviva for the photo!

Doll with tattoos.

This was very nice, it was a bust of a girl and inside the chest cavity there was a Madonna and little cherubs fluttering around her. Some things were a bit too gruesome for my taste but some I liked a lot.

Sakura! Now just a distant memory. It lasted such a short time!

Her expression is very sweet.

Another photo of me, hopefully not as creepy as the dolls. Sorry I was not more sakura-like, it was chilly! But the pattern on the coat is a little like falling blossoms, I think.

This is the one whose insides I admired.

Another photo of a photo, wish the postcard of this had not been sold out!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures, and maybe now you are a fan of Mari Shimizu, if you were not before.

See you next time,

Sapphira

A new side of Shimokitazawa

Hello dear readers! How are you? The weather is warming up nicely in Tokyo, I hope it's pleasant where you are too!

Today I'll tell you about a recent visit I made to Shimokitazawa. I first heard about the area because there is a second-hand Lolita shop there, Grand Bazaar. They usually have a nice selection of Jane Marple pieces so I like to go there, however I haven't found so many other nice spots when I visit. 

Here's what I wore:

Knit: Vintage

JSK: Metamorphose temps de fille

Tights, shoes: Offbrand

I wanted to try something new this visit so I searched the internet for a nice place to have tea in Shimokitazawa, and came up with a place called La Palette. It turned out really lovely, and there's a nice pasta place next to it! I had a big bowl of seafood pasta for lunch, and then crossed over to La Palette for tea and cake. Luckily for me I don't put on weight easily, but I don't recommend this kind of lifestyle for everyone!

Apart from discovering delights for the appetite, I also discovered some other nice things. La Palette is on the north side of the station, the opposite site from Grand Bazaar Lolita. Well, all this time I had been going to the south side, but the north side is ever so much better!

It's a bit like Brighton Lanes and a bit like Camden Market, a bit like Ura-Harajuku and a bit like Daikanyama. So all in all very nice! A relaxed atmosphere, not overly crowded, cute vintage and used clothing shops, and sweet little boutiques and things. 

After exploring the north side I went across to the south and to Grand Bazaar. I tried on a few things but couldn't decide on anything particularly so I left empty handed. By this time I was getting hungry again. These 50s/60s film posters caught my eye.

It turned out that on the second floor there was an old-fashioned izakaya. There was a long wait before I could go in but I really wanted to so I was patient.

The inside was decorated with all sorts of old advertisments and magazine cuttings. The fare was not particularly good, but very cheap and besides the setting more than made up for it.

I had to resist the temptation to pull out those little tacks holding up the posters!

I really enjoyed this day in Shimokita though it was very full and tiring. I hope you enjoyed my account of it! Thanks for reading.

See you next time,

Sapphira

Disney Ambassador Hotel and Ikspiari

 Hello dear readers! How are you?

Here's the second part of my Disney trip, which is really the first, because I took these on the day I arrived at Maihama.

We checked into the Ambassador Hotel, which is decorated in Art Deco style with Disney motifs, and went shopping in Ikspiari, a mall that is connected to Tokyo Disney resort.

Here's my outfit for that day:

Hair accessory: Handmade

Blouse: Vintage

Jumperskirt: Emily Temple Cute

Others: Offbrand

Here's a close-up of my hair accessory.

The ribbon is from Laduree! It's so pretty, I had to use it for something.

This is the view from our room. It's lovely isn't it? And you can see the volcano at Disney Sea in the distance! It was much to cold to enjoy the swimming pool though.

We had tea in the hotel cafe. These were some of the desserts on offer.

I had the smoked salmon and cheese pancake set. It was really good! Plus the Mickey-shaped cheese was too cute <3

I ordered the Alice dessert to follow. Inside the cup is Earl Gray flavoured mousse. Delicious! 

We had dinner in the Rainforest Cafe in Ikspiari, and I took a picture with my lookalike. Ikspiari is like a little bit of Disneyland, there's all sorts of fun things there. There were animatronic elephants, butterflies and monkeys inside the restaurant!

This was also in Ikspiari. It's pretty as you can see!

There were all sorts of funny things going on in that big mural behind me, like this lady with a note for 'Big Daddy Iizuka'. I don't know who Big Daddy Iizuka is but he sounds scary!

Have a look at it if you visit, it really is strange!

Oh, and there was a concert being given by school children outside the Disney store. It was so adorable! The four couples at the front were doing a little dance where the boys gave the girls flowers. So cute! I think English boys would be much too bashful to do something like that, which is silly of them but there you go.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures! Thank you for looking and see you again soon.

Sapphira

xxxx