It seems like International Lolita Day kind of crept up out of nowhere. I dearly miss ILD tea parties and the company in general.
I decided to wear my Angelic Pretty Romantic Rose Letter special release OP set after seeing a thread about the Ultimate Dream Dress Tournament post on the Rufflechat Facebook group! I just had to submit this dress to that thread! I didn’t really plan on dressing up for ILD at first but I had just been working on the ringlet wig for 4 hours the previous day and wanted to try it out and needed a coordinate. I recently purchased some old school Juliette et Justine pieces but they haven’t arrived yet. The idea of combining a newer sweet release with the ringlet style really intrigued me! I figured I'd just go for it and see how it turns out!
Outfit Rundown
Tights: Angelic Pretty - Romantic Cat Tights
Floral Corsage & Wig: Aini (me!)
Dove Necklace & Clips: Vintage
Shoes: Iris Corolla - Marie Antoinette Shoes
The Romantic Rose Letter special tea party release from 2013 by Angelic Pretty was my first dream dress that really got me into Lolita and I still hold it very dear! There is something so magical and dreamy about this particular print and the lavender colorway that instantly drew me to it.
Kira Imai Print Illustration
I had previously purchased the regular set and once I received it I was sorely disappointed in it. The bust design just did compare to the special set. I instantly put it back up for sale and moved on. (Stupidly I didn’t realize I should have kept the choker because it isn’t part of the special set ugh!)
Luckily I was able to get the rare 2013 tea party release set from a wonderful German Lolita a few years ago after reaching out to her privately through Instagram. I asked her to keep me in mind if she ever decided to sell it and thank god it worked out! Truly a dream come true! 💖
Last year I managed to ask a seller that was selling the regular OP release set to split the choker and finally got my hands on that again as well!
Sadly the images don’t show the embellishments I put on the dress. I carefully attached hundreds of different colored swarovski glass crystals and pearls throughout the whole dress and bonnet.
It is a true glittery spectacle in person! I hope to do a full photoshoot in sunlight with it one day to show it off and do it justice!
Another alteration made to the set is that I put in some bendable wire into the bonnet to give it the ability to stand up and be shaped. the bonnet itself comes without any wiring and just limply hangs around due to it’s size and weight! Such a shame! After using it last night I realized that I need to replace the wire with a stronger version, back then I didn’t expect the wire I used to be too weak for all that mass! I have no idea how they got it to sit up the way it does in the AP stock image haha...
For the accessories I picked this treasured set of vintage porcelain dove jewelry. I received it for my 24th birthday to match this dress but it’s so delicate I never wore it out In fear of uttery destroying it. Luckily since I wouldn’t leave the house anyway I decided to take the risk. The clips came off twice and landed on the carpet without breaking ~ whew!
As mentioned in my previously I wanted to try pairing such a newer sweet release with an oldschool ringlet wig!
I spent altogether too much time curling that wig (about 4 hours putting in the curlers an another 1~2 taking them out) but I’m quite happy considering that I have zero hair styling experience - it was a daunting task to restyle a simple straight wig after I couldn’t find a ringlet wig at a length or color I liked! This is the actual wig I used:
Considering the end result I’m actually proud of how it turned out!
I’m definitely coming out of my comfort zone in regards to experimenting with fashion and styling and it’s been a blast!