New Smart Doll - Transcendence

For the first time in a few years, I bought a new Smart Doll! Her model name (and the name I will likely use to refer to her unless I choose a new one) is Transcendence. If you aren't familiar with dolls, this type of doll is similar to a ball-jointed doll, but made of vinyl, and instead of using string it has a frame underneath the outer shell. It's a technology very similar to that used in the Dollfie Dream. I have two others, but I felt that I really needed this one because... she is a vampire!

If you aren't aware, I have a huge interest in vampires from an aesthetic and lore point of view, when I saw this character design being made for the dolls I was so excited, and I just happened to check the website one day while this doll was in stock and it was the most exciting day ever.

Right now she is just wearing some clothes borrowed from a different doll, but I've purchased an outfit for her that (provided it fits) will be much more appropriate attire for a vampire. I need to wait for it to be made and sent, but I'm nevertheless very excited for her to give off major vampire energy.

New outfit for Radish ball-jointed doll

I put together a new outfit for my favourite resin ball-jointed doll! She's a sculpt called Radish, made by an artist on Instagram called gloomy.dolls. This artist recently opened a preorder for a resculpt of one of her earlier 1/3 scale dolls, so I'm planning to take part in this as soon as I can get money together for it. Since I know it will be really cute!

I put together this outfit for Radish based on some of my favourite ways to dress. She has a corset top which I added additional skirts to, to make a corset dress similar to the mini corset dress from Atelier Pierrot (but more tulle), she has a blouse with princess sleeves, and she has boots. I added red fishnets to try to balance the red from the corset dress. I made her headdress myself, based on some of the the headdresses by Marble Gothic Lolita, which are quite simple in construction due to being more of an old-school gothic lolita style. Overall the outfit comes across very punk which I love.

My first Sweet Coordinate Pictures

This week I received a parcel from a beloved sweet lolita friend in Austria. It contained my first majorly sweet items - the Happy Tartans series in pink from Violet Fane.

I found this blouse and skirt to be incredibly comfortable, they surprisingly had a very soft cotton feel, like wearing a high quality set of pyjamas but with 10x more petticoat. Initially I had planned to add on a pair of pastel pink legwarmers, but I decided that I didn't like how that looked very much. What I did like, however, was the cape from the Heli-X collaboration - the broderie anglaise fabric went nicely with the lace on the blouse collar, and made for a really cosy effect for an extra layer.

For jewellery, I was surprised to discover that despite spending a lot of time collecting bright and colourful jewellery in the past, most of it didn't really work for this coordinate. I loved these earrings with it though, and I put this cute happy/sad necklace with it also. The real winner was this axolotl plush bag which matched perfectly! I love him so much, and it's really cute that his zip to open him is his mouth (which I demonstrated in the above picture).

I was really surprised at the amount of attention this coordinate got on Instagram. It far surpassed any of the other coordinates I'd worn. While I was pleased that I put together a coordinate that so many people liked, I did find it a little surprising, since I didn't feel like I'd done anything truly out of the ordinary here. I wonder if this is normal for sweet coordinates to get a lot of attention, or whether this is more to do with some of the sadness people feel about Violet Fane ceasing further production. Or maybe it was just because people thought my axolotl bag was cool.

Punk/Casual coordinate

For this coordinate, I put my fishtail parka from Hangry and Angry/Majoh Antigones over an Atelier Pierrot cutsew and a lace/ruffle miniskirt from a gothic creator in Canada that just about fits some small petti-bloomers under (that old-school energy - it did get a lot of lift without the parka over though). I added a hat from Uf, some lace socks, new rock boots, and my Neant Glass coffin rosary with the purple flowers (which annoyingly got turned around before the picture was taken). I finished it off with bringing my purple laluice bunny bag.

I wore this outfit recently for a trip to go to crazy golf and bowling, as well as do some shopping. I was really pleased with this coordinate, not just because I was happy with my creativity for combining these items in a cohesive way, but because when I showed my boyfriend, he said that this was his favourite outfit that I'd ever put together. So not only did it make me feel really pleased with the combination, but I also got a good understanding of what sort of elements my boyfriend looks for in fashion.

This outfit is really on the outskirts of lolita fashion though. Based on my observation of the posts made by various lolitas across the web, I think it is an outfit which would be out of place in the majority of the Western lolita community, but that would likely have no problems with being described as gothic/punk lolita in Japan, where the lines are less clearly defined. However, in person I am only active in the Western community, so I will not be wearing this to any lolita events anytime soon.

Some more classic coordinates

Worn to go to the post office to send a parcel. It rained heavily on this day, and so the dress quickly became very heavy.

• Hat: Uf
• JSK: Physical Drop
• Blouse: Physical Drop
• Boots: Clarks
• Necklace: Neant Glass
• Ring: Regal Rose

Worn for working from home. I am trying to loosen the elastic on this skirt a little, because I find it to be too tight which can be a little unflattering on me. I think this looked a lot better later in the day when I removed the halter ties. For the neck tie, I borrowed the neck tie from the matching bolero.

• Hairband: MorunxMuuna Stoik
• Blouse: Moi Meme Moitie
• Skirt: Sheglit
• Socks: Sock Shop
• Boots: Clarks
• Necklace: Neant Glass
• Ring: Regal Rose
• Bracelet: Heather Scott

Other updates

I have been keeping an eye on tickets for a certain event in Manchester in the upcoming year! I'm really excited to go, provided I emerge victorious from any ticket bloodbaths, but I definitely need to start saving more money for any purchases I might want to make while I am there. It looks super cool though, and I'm debating whether I'd want to get VIP tickets or not... Well, I might not get the choice. But I'm staying hopeful!

Over the festive season, I have taken a lot of time off work! I am hoping to spend plenty of time resting and relaxing, but I would also like to spend a lot of time updating my website and working on my other hobbies. So I'm hoping to be able to share a variety of updates and additions to my site over the coming weeks. I really love this time of year for getting things done, so I've been really looking forward to it.