Take a Theme- Royalty

With all the excitement about the Tea Party Club event Revelry, I have recently been thinking about fancier outfits for these bigger events. You generally tend to see people putting a lot of effort in to their TPC event outfits and going a bit OTT. So I figured that a Take a Theme post based around a fancy theme was in order. So today I am taking a look at some of my favourite Royal themed items.

Potential sub themes- crowns, emblems, jewels, pearls, golden details, sceptres, hime or princess themes, castles

Brand prints of note- Felicia Crown, Grazia Crown (Innocent World), Wonder Queen (Angelic Pretty), pretty much every OTT princess dress Baby the Stars Shine Bright have ever released, Brilliant Princess (Metamorphose).

1. Teja Jamilla Crown Tights 2. Chocomint Double Pearl Choker 3. Paris Kids Crown Necklace 4. Pizzicato Kei Echarpe 5. Tatty Devine Crown Necklace 6. Chocomint Cameo Bracelet 7. pizzaicato kei rosette 8. MykawaiiBox pearl nails 

Chocomint and Paris Kids are frequently releasing crown themed stuff. Baby the Stars Shine Bright are also known for making quite a bit of jewellery that would work perfectly with a princess theme. Pearls and bold colours seem to feature quite a bit. Although the Pizzicato Kei echarpe pictured is out of stock, it is well worth remembering them if you ever want a very regal looking sash. Their echarpes are very popular and frequently sell out quickly. So do keep an eye out for new products! If you wanted to go a bit more OTT, Baby Piggy on Taobao has lots of mini crowns and Rococo Soul are known to put out sceptres from time to time. There are also more expensive options out there with more ornate and fancier designs. It is well worth taking the time to google mini crowns and seeing what turns up.

Take a Theme- Carnival

Today's post is another Take a Theme, where I search for items that match the selected theme. Today I am doing one on carnival related items. Seeing these items really made me want to visit the circus!

Potential sub-themes- Circus, tents, bunting, carnival food, ring master

Brand prints of note- Starry Night Theatre, Fantasy Theatre, Puppet Circus, Candy Funfair (Angelic Pretty), Twilight Circus (Alice and the Pirates), Golden playground (Infanta)

1. Ring Master Mini hat 2. Popcorn bag 3. Tatty Devine Bunting Necklace 4. Diamond Harlequin tights 5. Toffee Apple Earrings 6. Old Gold Boutique tent ring 7. Admit One Bracelet 8. Popcorn hair clip 9. Ringmaster Jacket

When it comes to carnival themed items, I think bold colours work best. It looks like I ended up using a lot of red! I adore the mini hat, but sadly it has in fact sold. However, I have included the link to the page anyway because maybe the Etsy store owner would take on commissions if you asked them. She also had quite a few interesting looking hats in her store as well. It proved very hard to find an adult sized ringmaster jacket which wasn't part of some cheap costume. I'm not sure the one I picked is the best out there, but for ages it was the only one I could find. I think my favourite item from this post is the tent ring though. It is such a shame it is unavailable any more. But there are lots of similar rings out there done by other stores, so do take the time to google tent rings and have a look.

Take a Theme- Nature

It's time for another Take a Theme post. Today's theme is nature. I specifically tried to make sure the post wasn't too mori-centric, but obviously mori girl fashion is a really good place to start. Here are some of my current favourite nature themed items.

Series of note- Theatre de L'erreur (Alice and the Pirates), Love Nadia (Bodyline), Lotta (Innocent World), Dear Friends (R Series)

Potential Sub-themes- Forest animals, insects, trees and branches, toadstools, berries, leaves, certain plants and florals

1. Chocomint Squirrel Necklace 2. Etsy Butterfly Crown 3. Old Gold Boutique Big Buck Necklace 4. Squirrel's Harvest Old Gold Boutique Necklace 5. Succulent Plants Brooch 6. Forest Symphony Tattoo Tights 7. Toadstool Brooch 8. Woodland Princess Floral Crown

Sadly, Old Gold Boutique seems to have disappeared offline, which is a shame because I really love their stuff! I would suggest trying to look online to see if anybody is selling their items second hand, but otherwise I hope it at least gives some sort of inspiration for what sort of items are out there. I really love the woody, more neutral take of the two hair crowns I have seen. Flower crowns are very popular in mainstream fashion at the moment but these ones have a much more natural feel. However, a crown like the one in number two could potentially be found on the high street. I think my personal favourite item is the toadstool brooch. I think it is cute and perfect for mori!

So in the future, I will try to cut down how much Old Gold Boutique I post, seeing as it may no longer be available. I do apologise for that. It is a shame, because I adore the Squirrel's Harvest necklace. Here is hoping it is just a bit of website trouble. But that is not to say lovely nature themed items are not available elsewhere. When you know where to look, you can find lots of pretty items. Here is hoping the next Take a Theme post has more available items!

Take a Theme- Toys

I had a request sent to me to do a Take a Theme post on toys and I shared some links with them privately. I had quite a few other links left over though, so today I will be sharing a few of my favourite toy themed items with you all! I tried to pick items that maybe people didn't think about straight away. When I think of toy themed outfits I think of Angelic Pretty's toy themed tights or those bear hats that Minty Mix used to make. I did a bit of digging around some of my favourite shops to see what I could find.

Potential sub themes for toys- teddy bears, childhood, nostalgia, fluffy or soft textures

Brand prints of note- Melody Toys, Toy Parade, Toy March (Angelic Pretty), British Bear, Museum Bear (Innocent World), Candy Star Rabbit, Toy Box (Metamorphose) or anything featuring BABY's mascot Usakumya

1. Old Gold Boutique Carousel Necklace 2. Paris Kids Rocking Horse Necklace 3. Old Gold Boutique Bath Buddy Necklace 4. 6%DokiDoki Nightmare Tights 5. Chess Board Bag 6. Paris kids teddy heads earrings 7. Chocomint 2 way bear clip 

Unfortunately a few of the items in this post have since gone out of stock but I think they still reflect my personal choices.

I was aiming for something a little bit different from the common pastel offerings you get from brands such as AP. So there are a few brown tones in there and even some golden items to offer a bit of variety. It was also a goal of mine to make sure the entire post wasn't dominated by teddy bears so there are a few other popular toys in here. I especially love the rubber duck ring! The chess board bag offers something a bit more classical and I can imagine the Chocomint bear clip matching many Innocent World dresses.

Take a Theme- Nautical

Today I am doing another Take a Theme post. This time I thought I would have a look at nautical themed items. I suppose most of these items would probably work best for Sailor Lolita, although I feel there are other possible nautical themed ideas out there. I especially like the tights from this post and would love to make a Pirate Lolita outfit with them!

Pieces of note- Any Metamorphose sailor series (they release one every year), Marine Rose (Alice and the Pirates), Fairy Marine (Angelic pretty), Treasure Hunt in the Mystic Island (AatP)

Potential sub themes- sailor, pirate, boats and boating equipment, marine animals, Cthulhu

1. Teja Jamilla Pirate Tattoo Tights 2. Chocomint navy/white bow clip 3. Anchor necklace 4. MyKawaiiBox Sailor Nails 5. FanPlusFriend mini sailor hat 6. Now Voyager Boat Clip 7. Rope Bracelet 8. Cherie Cerise Sailor Cutsew

Interestingly, I appear to have mainly stuck to sailor lolita items! I am interested in giving both sailor lolita and pirate lolita a go in the future. There are loads of cute items out there to choose from!

Take a Theme- Bunnies

It feels like ages since I last did a Take a Theme post... I thought that seeing as it is nearly Easter (I am preparing this post early and hoping I remember to publish it in time. If you are reading this after Easter, I hope you still enjoy the cute bunnies!) I would today have a look at my favourite bunny themed items. Bunnies and rabbits are a very popular theme in lolita, so there are many different lolita-able items out there. When I was searching, I found LOADS of stuff and it was very difficult to narrow them all down!

Prints of note- Cherry Berry Bunny (Angelic Pretty), Happy Garden (Angelic Pretty), Bunny Milk and Snow Strawberry (BTSSB), Candy Star Rabbit (Meta), Fancy Bunny (Meta), Le Carde Du Lapin (Juliette et Justine)

Possible sub-themes- pom poms, fake fur, ears, Alice in Wonderland

1. Chocomint 2 Way Rabbit Brooch 2. 6%dokidoki Bunny Frill Tiara 3. Now Voyager Sitting Pretty White Bunny Clip 4. R Series Dear Rabbit Tights 5. OldGoldBoutique Bunny Safekeeper 6. DreamV Pastel Cardigan 7. Cateaclysmic Bunny Scarf 8. ImYourPresent Bouncing Bunny Acrylic Necklace

I hope you all like my rabbit picks! I deliberately tried to choose items that were not from lolita-specific brands because I wanted to show what else was out there. Rabbits is a very popular theme and I have barely scratched the surface today.

Provided I have managed to publish this post at the right time, I hope everybody has a lovely Easter!

Take a Theme- Mermaids

Today's Take a Theme is mermaids! If you didn't see my first Take a Theme post on birds it is available here- http://luna-rain.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/take-theme-birds.html

Potential sub themes for mermaids- pearls, shells, billowing hair, sea creatures, treasure chests

Brand prints of note- Twinkle Mermaid, Aqua Princess and Mermaid Symphony (Angelic Pretty), Melty Mermaid Princess and Mermaid Jewellery Box (Alice and the Pirates), Emily Temple Cute Mermaid Print

1. Shell earrings 2. Mermaid and Octopus necklace 3. Mermaid Shell Tiara 4. Antique Style Mermaid Ring 5. Treasure Chest Necklace 6. Gold Shell necklace 7. MUA Constellation Nail Beads in Pisces 8. Gold Shell Box By Topshop (past season) 9. Lockshop Mermaid Faerie Wig 10. Little Mermaid Necklace 11. Mermaid and Pearl Necklace

I decided to mainly focus on jewellery this time with items from Etsy and Taobao. I think that despite the MUA nail kit being inspired by constellations, the colours of the beads for Pisces and the general look of the finished nails could fit in with a mermaid theme too. Sadly, the Topshop bag is no longer available but with a bit of searching you could probably find something similar or hope that it comes up for auction!

Take a Theme- Birds

Today's post will be the first in a new series of posts I am going to be writing under the label Take a Theme. Sometimes whenever I see a print I like I will try and find items that match the main theme of the print. I don't always get the chance to share my finds on this blog and so the Take a Theme posts will be me posting my findings based on whichever theme I have chosen. Do feel free to leave suggestions for future Take a Theme posts and I will try my best!

For my first Take a Theme post I have chosen birds. So here are some bird themed items that I have found on the net.

Potential sub themes for birds- nests, eggs, feathers, cages.

1. Mixed Bird Nail Transfers 2. Roxie Sweetheart Pastel Birdie Rings 3. Blackbird Pendant 4. Now Voyager Cute Lil Birdie Hair Clip in yellow 5. Ballerina Swan Feather Hairband 6. Biba Feather Cape 7. Mizzi Curly Feather Hair Comb (original location unknown) 8. Blue Rose Bird Cage Necklace 9. Bird Nest Necklace 10. Whimsical Birdcage Necklace

I chose birds for my first theme and picked a mixture of different styles for my final picks. The mixed bird nail transfers would make an interesting addition to a natural, nature themed outfit. Items 5-7 would add a more dressy feel to an outfit. Items such as the Roxie Sweetheart have a touch of cute to them and would be perfect for sweet lovers.

Hopefully as I write more Take a Theme posts they will improve over time. I hope to uncover some interesting finds that could help finish future outfits. Plus it gives me a brilliant excuse to go window shopping! So if you have any ideas for future theme to look at then feel free to tell me them.