My Perfect Lolita Themed Halloween Party

I'm finally getting around to participating in a Lolita Blog Carnival again! This week's theme is just too perfect not to: My Perfect Lolita Themed Halloween Party. You heard that right, not just any Halloween party, but a Lolita one!

 Some classic Halloween costume themes with a Lolita masquerade take.

I think that my ideal Lolita themed Halloween party would be a masquerade, for starters. I love the idea of a Halloween party where everyone goes all out with their outfits and wears fancy masks! Honestly, I think the idea of elaborate masks is more appealing to me than dressing up in an actual costume. I can imagine getting all decked out in an over the top themed outfit with a mask to match! I find that option much more decadent than costumes alone, which is totally befitting of a Lolita themed Halloween party.

Visit my Etsy treasury of masks here!

Etsy has tons of shops selling a variety of different types of masks! From shaped leather, to lace, to metal, to more traditional masks. If you're even a little bit crafty, mask making isn't terribly hard to do yourself, especially if you're just picking up a blank mask at a craft store and decorating it yourself.

As for decorations, personally, I like my Halloweens to be very traditional: spooky decorations, black and purple and orange, cobwebs, tattered table clothes, dim lights, and dry ice. That sort of thing. Whenever I see these super posh black and white Halloween parties that, besides the liberal use of black, the only thing Halloween about them is a centerpiece of chalkboard painted pumpkins with the word "Boo" expertly written on them nestled amongst some gold twigs I can't help but feel a bit sad. Halloween is too great of a holiday to try to "posh it up", and the trend of posh Halloween parties always feels a bit sterile and bland to me. Halloween is an excuse to go all out and pretend to be a Gothic heroine trapped in a spooky castle and be a little bit nostalgic and kitch in the process, we can save our chalkboard paint and pennant garlands for any other day of the year.

Some of my favorite inspirational Halloween party pictures! I keep a whole Pinterst album of them.
1 Love Manor. 2 Martha Stewart. 3 Small Words. 4 Lil Luna. 5 Creative Outlet. 6 Martha Stewart. 7 House of Dewberry. 8 Celebrating Style. 9 Family Chic.

So what sort of traditional Halloween party decorations would I include in my perfect Lolita themed Halloween party? I would definitely aim for something very Victorian inspired and elegant, since this is just a dream we're having here, I would do up the space like a Gothic Victorian parlor, as if a group of vampires got together sometime in the 1880's and had a party that never stopped, and no one had the time to update the decor or dust the cobwebs out of the corners. Think the Addams Family house, but with touches of deep blood red velvet and brocade. Food wise, there would be lots of sweets, from the traditional caramel apples, to an array of spookily designed cakes and finger food.

I love the idea of traditional Halloween games, but let's face it, no one in fancy dress and a mask is going to want to bob for apples, so to harken to a lot of these old games, many of which involve fortune telling or lucky/unlucky aspects, I would have a fortune teller at the party. Just a gloomy little candle lit corner where guests could have their palms or cards read.

To further this fortune-telling theme, I would love to have the event of the evening be an old fashioned Victorian seance, complete with an ectoplasm spewing medium, a spirit cabinet, and a levitating table. Very theatrical, and very spooky (for those who aren't aware of just how the parlor tricks that made seances so popular work!). Something like this would be like a much more exciting, and thematically appropriate, version of a haunted house. Plus wandering around in the dark in a fancy dress and mask isn't any fun, it's much better to be scared while perched on an elegant chair.

Want to see some more dream Halloween parties? Check out these other blogs that participated in this week's Lolita Blog Carnival topic!

Lace a la Mode
Elegant Poupee
Her Lumpiness
The Cute Lifestyle
Northern Star

Suns in Our Hands

Lolita Brand Inspired Decorating

I've spent the last few days working on a new Tumblr, Lolita Decor, which is dedicated to, you guessed it, decorating with Lolita sensibilities. So now I'm sort of all in a dizzy about looking at cute rooms and thinking about decorating, but Tumblr isn't really the kind of place for more in-depth blog posts so I would like to make a few posts more posts about decor here. One of the things I love about Lolita inspired decorating is that there are so many possibilities! From light and airy Victorian rooms for the Classic Lolita, to the adorable stuff-animal-filled rooms of the Sweet Lolita, to a Gothic Lolita's dark and spooky abode. There are as many ways to decorate with the Lolita in mind as there are to put together a Lolita coordinate!

I'd like to try something a little different this time and instead of focusing on one particular style's aesthetic, I'd like to put together something like an inspiration board based on individual brands. These are all relatively simple and affordable ideas, sure I could post some photos of drop dead gorgeous Victorian mansions, but that's completely out of the picture for so many people! So instead, I'm focusing on a few simple things that can easily change the look of a room, curtains, throws, wall art, and various other knick-knacks and trinkets, smaller things that can help change the look of a room and can be accumulated over time if need-be.

For a MmM inspired room, I focused on some of the iconic elements of Moitie, simplicity, black with blue accents, and wrought iron.

1. A candelabra is both a classic Gothic piece and a frequent MmM design. Luckily, candelabras are still a trendy piece of decor so they are relatively easy to pick up for a good price, and pretty cheap as well. A black candelabra is ideal, but silver is just as good.
2. What goes perfectly with a candelabra in a Moitie inspired room? Blue candles, of course You can often find blue taper candles just about anywhere that sells taper candles.
3. Hunt down some fancy filigree picture frames and fill them with your favorite Moitie-esque image. If finding black frames in a fancy design is a difficult task, pick them up in just about any color and spray paint them black.
4. Moitie is well known for using crosses and other religious imagery in their prints, pay homage to this with a gothic wrought iron styled cross or two on your wall. These are usually pretty easy to pick up in home decorating places for a very reasonable price. If you're bold enough to go all out and paint your walls black, consider painting the crosses (and any other delicate wrought iron pieces you hang up on your wall!) Moitie blue.
5. I'm a sucker for throws! They are a very easy way to make it look like you have an awesome bed covering without buying an all new comforter, or for disguising a not-so-fancy couch. In keeping with the simplicity of Moitie, I've picked a plain black throw, but to keep it interesting, it's a black faux fur throw. I have one of these of my own and I seriously love it. It adds instant luxury to just about anything you can throw it on without making it look busy. It's also incredibly warm and cozy. Faux fur throws range in price from about $20 to $70 and beyond.
6. In keeping with the theme of adding a bit of blue to a black feature, I would consider scattering around some blue throw pillows. Finding just the right blue might be a bit tricky, but you can usually hunt down someone on Etsy who makes pillow covers to make something in the perfect shade of Moitie blue, or with very minimal sewing skills and a bag of fiberfill, you can make your own.
7. If you're looking to add a little bit of blue to a bed, especially with a black throw thrown over it, pick up some blue sheets. Sheets can be found in just about any color on Amazon or Ebay, and they are something to add a relatively cheap bit of blue to a bed. With a black throw tossed over a bed, and some blue sheets turned down, you can hide pretty much any un-gothic bedspread you might have on your bed.
8. Wrought iron styled wall hangings can often be a more expensive piece of decor, but you can pick up smaller ones for a smaller price if you still want the look, but don't have a huge budget. If you choose to have a larger one, you can use it as a focal point on a wall, or you can hang it (securely, please!) above the head of a bead as a mock headboard, without having to pay the price of a wrought iron bed frame.
9. Another pricier, but not prohibitively pricey,  piece to add might be a black vanity table. Recover a not particularly interesting stool, using this tutorial, in a scrap of luxurious blue fabric. You can even pick up vanity tables in a wrought iron style, but if you're on a budget, cheaper wrought iron furniture might get a bit wobble after a while. If you are looking for something to display some pieces, but have no interest in sitting down at it and staring at yourself, look into a baker's rack. You might need to get some pieces of wood (don't forget to paint them black, or blue even!) to go over the metal shelves in order to display small items, but they're a cute way to add shelving for light weight decor.
10. Moitie inspired blue bottles can be picked up easily online, or even in home goods stores. Fancy them up further by using them to display your favorite pieces of jewelry, drape earrings out of the openings, or wrap a necklace around the necks. If you prefer to keep your jewelery in a jewelery box, you can always wrap a pretty piece of black lace or tulle around the bottles.

Innocent World is a brand known for several different styles, from dramatic Classic pieces, to cute Sweet-Classic fusions. For this inspiration board, I'd like to try to settle somewhere in between these two things. Lots of dusty pastels, combined with elegant Victorian details.

1. A fancy Victorian inspired rug with a cute pastel floral pattern is the perfect addition to a Innocent World inspired room, either laid down on a hard wood floor, or on a neutral colored wall-to-wall carpet. Similar rugs to this can usually be purchased at most any home shop. If your budget is small, a smaller rug is just as good to add a cute splash of color and design.
2. A garland of roses, or other faux flowers, can be picked up at most any craft store for a reasonable price. These are perfect for the Classically inclined to drape around just about anything. Attach it to a door frame to create a Secret Garden inspired entrance to any room, drape it across a bookshelf, or wrap it around a standing mirror.
3. Chenille pillows look cute and cosy scattered on a bed, or on a sofa. Chenille is a fabric featuring soft little tufts of fiber, set in pretty patterns, that dates back for a couple hundred years, but was very popular in the early 20th century. There are several sellers on Etsy who specialize in remaking vintage chenille bedspreads into more affordable pillows. If you still find the price a bit high, check around the supply section of Etsy for portions of chenille bedspreads that you can buy for a relatively cheap price (usually between $10 and $20) to make your own pillows.
4. Same as the Moitie inspired room, consider tossing a throw blanket over a bed or not-so-cute couch. Instead of a black furry one, opt for a cute Victorian inspired tapestry one. You can find throws like this in a multitude of different colors and designs for between $30 and $60.
5. Lace table clothes are a cheap, and easy to find bit of decor that has a ton of different uses. You can use it like a throw to cover up a bed or sofa, drape it over a bookshelf and tie it back to create drapes for your bookshelfs, or you can cover just about any flat surface from desks, to dressers, to plain old tables.
6. You can find decorative curtain rods just about anywhere for a good price, and they can instantly transform even boring curtains into something a little bit fancier.
7. But why stop at boring curtains when you can find some fancy ones? If you're crafty, curtains are super easy to make out of a couple yards of pretty cotton, if you're not so crafty, they can often be picked up at discount home stores for a reasonable price.
8. Innocent World is a brand that hearkens back to a more innocent and romantic time, and what is a better way to channel this time than with a collection of books from times gone by. A pretty row of vintage books can add easy decoration to just about anywhere. Stack a couple up on a bedside table, or keep a row of them on top of a small shelf with pretty book ends on either end.
9. I can't get enough hatboxes, they should be a Lolita's best friend. You can hide clutter in them, store your accessories in them, and even stack them up to create an instant end table. They're also incredibly affordable! You can find hatboxes for between $5 and $15 at just about any home goods store.
10. A perfect addition to any Lolita's space is a full length mirror, a standing mirror is a homey addition to an Innocent World inspired room that is a bit pricier than a wall-mounted mirror, but it can really make the decor of a room.

I hope to get a few more brand inspired inspiration boards done in the near future, since they were really fun to make and, well, inspiring! If you're looking for some more Lolita inspired decorating, check out my little side-project Tumblr, Lolita Decor.

Looking at all these rooms has really got me in the decorating mood! Those of you out there who do add a bit of Lolita to their decor, where do you get inspiration from? Specific brands, your favorite style, your favorite Lolita print theme? Personally, I can never pick just one so my own brand of decorating is a bit eccentric. Sheer black draperies, gilt frames, and cute stuffed animals are all things on display in my own Lolita space.

Gothic Lolita Lifestyle: Or, Being a Goth While Wearing Lolita

Somewhat recently I've noticed that people have used the term "Gothic Lolita Lifestyler" used to describe, of all people, me! This sort of came as a shock, considering that I'm a bitter old hag who mostly scoffs at the idea of living in a ruffle filled Miss Princess Lolita wonderland. I've always actually just considered myself a Goth who happens to wear Lolita, and thus, I tend to have a lot of Gothic hobbies/interests/pop-culture favorites/decor choices and my own Lolita style just so happens to mesh nicely with them.

This is actually a photo of a hotel! The Witchery by the Castle in the UK.

But the more I got to thinking about it, why not? Why not just say "Alright, you got me, I'm a Gothic Lolita Lifestyler!" Classic Lolitas have their own lifestyle, full of Victorian furniture, classical music and quiet evenings spent reading books; and Sweet Lolitas have their own pink plush world filled with cupcakes for breakfast, stuffed animal filled beds covered with sparkly pink canopies and Hello Kitty kitchen appliances (of course, I'm making broad generalizations here!) So why cant I just sweep my Gothic life up into my Lolita life? Why should Classic and Sweet Lolita Lifestylers get to have all the fun while the Gothic Lolita Lifestyle just gets lumped in with Classic with a few Malice Mizer posters and Moi Meme Moitie dinner plates thrown in for good measure? So with this post I'll be going over a few things that I consider part of the Gothic Lolita Lifestyle.

There are, of course, lots of different Gothic styles and I'm not saying you must do it this way, I'm just using a few of my favorites, favorites that I think blend nicely with the Lolita aesthetic, as examples.

Decor

Just dressing in gothic frills is never enough! We want them to extend all around us, so even if we're just relaxing on a lazy PJs day, we can still enjoy the romance of them all around us. There are so many ways to incorporate the Gothic Lolita style into your decor, and I can't possibly go over every single one of them, so instead I hope to give you some basic ideas that you can run with.

From Chintz of Darkness, an amazing blog featuring Gothic decor.

• Incorporate famous Gothic Lolita prints into your decor. Iron gates, candelabras, chandeliers, religious icons, stained glass windows. Even if you can't actually have all of these things in and around your house, you can still decorate with the motifs! Wrought iron style wall hangings are a very popular decor choice, you can usually pick them up anywhere, from home decor chains to country chic websites. Chandeliers have been very trendy for a while now and you can find a lot of chandelier silhouette fabrics, bedspreads, wall decals, and even trendy little chandeliers for a very cheap price that are just meant to hang around and look cute. There are also all sorts of window clings, and even faux stained glass paint that you can use on regular windows to give them a stained glass look.
• Use picture frames, and lots of them. Fancy picture frames in pop colors have been really trendy for a while, and you can usually pick them up for cheap and paint them to be a much more appropriate color (like black, gold, bronze, or even a dark red!), or go on the hunt at thrift shops for the fancy gilt frames a couple decades ago. Pop out whatever painting of puppies of shy farmgirls might still be in them and replace them with something a bit more gothic! Look around online for strange antique illustrations or centuries old religious art, print them out, and put them in the picture frame. You can go even further by draping necklaces or, if the picture is large enough, long strips of tulle, velvet, brocade, or any other fabric that matches your decor.
• Create a shrine to your clothes! Hunt down a dressmaker's or display dummy, or even clear off a dress-sized spot on your wall to hang a fancy coat rack and drape the area around it in black canopy or vintage lacy table clothes. Find some fancy little wall hooks and place them strategically around your room, maybe cluttered around your vanity, or just in a neat line and start hanging your necklace and other dangly jewelry on them.
• Buy some fancy hat boxes or other knickknack boxes and stack them up. They're the perfect place to hide away little accessories, crafts, or just to use as an all around junk holder. You can typically pick them up at home decor shops for between $4 and $10. I like to buy them in a variety of different designs so that I can remember exactly what's in them, which comes in handy because I also like to stack them up about bed-high and use them as night stands!
  
• Stock up on doilies, lace table clothes, throw rugs, fancy scarfs, tapestries, table runners, etc. Just about anything that can be thrown on the ground, draped over a table, placed under an object d'art, gathered and draped over a curtain rod, or tossed over a couch is a great addition to a gothic room. Try to use them in creative ways too! If you have an old lace table cloth, consider tossing it over your bookshelf and pinning it back to create a curtained look, large vintage tapestries can be tossed on beds to cover uninteresting bedspreads, pretty sheer scarfs can be draped over a low-watt lamp's shade to give the room a dim and colored tint, the possibilities are really limit-less.
• Create a curio space. Clear off a nightstand, the top of a bookshelf, a pretty shelf, the top of a dresser, or really anywhere you have the space, and use it to display a curious collection or a collection of curious things. Maybe a stack of old books with some ceramic figurines on top, a little shelf with a row of antique tintypes all lined up, or a spot on your vanity dedicated to pretty teacups filled with glittering jewelry.
  
• More is more! You can never have too much when it comes to decor. Too many throw pillows, too many pictures on the wall, too many books stacked up in a corner, too many clashing prints? It's just not possible! If something tends to look "off" I'll most likely just throw some more stuff there until it looks better.

Music, Movies & Books

Music, movies, and books are just as important as decor! Now that you have this impeccably decorated Gothic area, you're going to need a reason to hide away there for days on end, and what better way to enjoy your new Gothic space than with fitting forms of entertainment. For music to fit the Gothic mood, look to moody and atmospheric bands. I'm a fan of Dead Can Dance, Mors Syphilitica, Sopor Aeternus, iLiKETRAiNS, Sieben, and Soundarcade, and I've even been listening to a lot of traditional music from the middle ages when I want to listen to something that's good for putting on repeat for a very long time and just wallowing in music.

For movies, you might be interested in something with rich visuals and a dreamy plot. Something that you can oogle over the clothes and the decor and wish that you lived in their world. I must admit I've always had a soft spot for the first Addams Family movie, even when I was little I used to watch it and wish I could go and live in their big dusty house. Some other movies I love to drool over are Perfume, Interview with the Vampire, A Series of Unfortunate Events, and Dracula.

Books preferred by the Gothic Lolita might be similar to the movies that they prefer, in fact, all of the Movies above, except for The Addams Family, were all originally fantastic books! Anything that feature lush fantastical worlds that you can loose yourself in is the perfect book to read while lounging in your Gothic boudoir and listening to fitting music.

Hobbies

Hobbies are often an important part of the Lolita Lifestyle, as Lolitas we tend to gravitate towards creative activities that result in something that we can incorporate into our wardrobe or jewelry box. The Gothic Lolita is no exception! While the Sweet Lolita might enjoy deco-ing her, well, everything, the Gothic Lolita might be one to make black beaded rosaries or embroider a crown onto a black hankie. Pretty much any Lolita craft project can be geared towards the Gothic Lolita, sometimes simply by making it in black. Even deco can be made to be a bit more Gothic.

If filling your time with collecting strange things to decorate your house with, watching dark movies, reading books, and making lots of black dresses and accessories still leaves you with some time on your hands, and you need yet more hobbies, many a Goth has wiled away their time learning about the past. Either by simply reading books on the subject, or going out and visiting places with a strange, or simply long, history. Spend some time at a museum, a local historical site, or browsing antique stores for hidden treasures.

Your Non-Lolita Wardrobe

We can't wear Lolita all the time! Sometimes the occasion calls for us to put our frills away, and sometimes we just have to sleep and it's pretty uncomfortable sleeping in a petticoat. The Sweet or Classic Lolita might have a difficult time finding something to replace the frills when it comes time for us to wear something else, and most just settle for general cute clothes or something with some elegant ruffles. But, as Gothic Lolitas who also happen to be Goths, we've got it pretty lucky. When the time comes to take off the Lolita, surprise! we were just regular old Goths underneath all along. The dress up never has to end! Just adding a few romantic frills to a regular Gothic wardrobe (if yours doesn't have them already) is enough to extend the Gothic Lolita look into every corner of your wardrobe. For formal/work occasions, thank your lucky stars Corporate Goth was invented, consider lazy PJ days to be flowy black nightgown and sheer black housecoat days, and even more casual, Lolita-y, outfits can be made with a few simple skirts and non-Lolita dresses. Here's a couple of them!

It's way too hot to wear Lolita, but I still want to wear something girly and cute.

A simple black sundress paired up with some accessories that every Lolita is bound to have is a nice way to wear something that's still cute and girly but without all the bells and whistles of Lolita. In the summer, when I'm feeling too hot and too lazy, I'll usually wear something like this. It's easy, cool, but still cute. I've actually gotten a fair share of compliments from completely normal looking people while wearing simple BtSSB sidebows with black sundresses, which always makes me smile and think "Haha, suckers!"

I have to go somewhere nice where people expect me to look "normal"

Even if we wear Lolita 24/7, there are usually a few occasions where we're forced to wear something "normal"; weddings, funerals, work related events, going out with cranky family members who would rather die than be seen with the likes of you, etc. All it really takes to tone down the look is a simple business-wear skirt and some sheer tights (or opaque ones in the winter). A relatively simple Lolita blouse, paired with a cardigan, the skirt, a cute pair of heels, topped off with some simple and elegant jewelry and a BPN purse make for a relatively normal, yet still Gothic, outfit.

Again, this post isn't meant to be the be-all and end-all of Gothic Lolita Lifestyle, or just plain old Gothic Lifestyle, but it is just meant to represent a different aspect of the Lolita Life, the Gothic one. The many blogs and websites that talk about Lifestyle Lolitas tend to focus on the Sweet Lolita side of things, leaving Gothic Lolitas who, at the very least, are looking to extend their style into their decor, a bit lost sometimes.

So what do you all think of the idea of a Lolita Lifestyle? Love the idea or loathe it? Do you feel that the Lolita Lifestyle is one particular kind of lifestyle, perhaps the more traditional tea drinking, classic music listening, embroidery loving lifestyle that anyone, regardless of personal style, can and should follow? Or do you feel that the Lolita Lifestyle is something that should be suited to the individual and their own tastes. Or, perhaps, do you feel that Lolita Lifestyles are full of beans and clothes should stay clothes.

As I've noted at the top of this overly long post, I tend to shy away from the "Lifestyle" label, because I mostly just consider all of these things part of the Gothic subculture, which I enjoy along with Lolita. But recently I've just decided "why not?" why feel like I need to separate the two when there really is so much overlap for me.

Bunka Dolls

Bunka dolls are sort of my current obsession. I just can't get over their vintage style, cute side-glancing eyes, and great big bonnets! While they may look like the perfect Lolita, this style of doll was actually very popular in the early to mid 20th century in Japan. Although I am sure many of the modern Bunka dolls draw inspiration directly from the Lolita image, as modern Bunkas tend to look a bit different than than vintage ones. There are a number of emerging Bunka doll artists, and the Bunka doll image is making a come back as a symbol of cuteness and finding it's way into fabric prints, jewelry, and anywhere else a touch of cute is needed. Baby, the Stars Shine Bright has even released a Bunka doll complete with one of their most famous prints.

I can imagine Bunka dolls scattered throughout a Lolita's room. Dressed to match whatever your favorite style is. A couple resting on the bed and one sitting on the vanity, among a collection of pretty perfume bottles. Or maybe three lined up on a shelf, one in Classic, one in Sweet, and a final one in Gothic Lolita!

Where can I find more of these?

Bunka dolls are a bit hard to find here overseas, but there are a lot of places to look online if you just want to browse galleries full of Bunkas and dream about them. There are a few places scattered around who will make you custom, one-of-a-kind, Bunkas though, Pink Gun Dollhouse being one such place. Besides occasionally finding a real vintage one on Ebay, you're probably going to have to hunt around or learn to make your own if you are interested in a Bunka doll of your very own. The internet is, sadly, pretty much devoid of good bunka tutorials and patterns, besides this one Japanese tutorial. Or you can pick up a Japanese book that includes a pull out pattern as well as some fantastic Bunka photography. If you just need some good eye candy, there is a Bunk doll pool on Flickr filled with all sorts of different kinds of Bunka cuteness, from vintage, to hand made, to Bunka inspired art.

Big Bunka and tiny Bunkas by Chizuru.

An adorable Bunka by Natsukashii Araka.

PinkGunDollHouse makes adorable Bunkas on commission.

Tanpopo0118 on DA makes beautiful Bunkas!

From Dolce Bunka by Gyanax.

As I have said, I'm pretty much completely smitten by these adorable little dolls! I even got a hold of the Japanese book I mentioned in this post and have been staring at the patterns in the back! I think when I get a few more sewing projects and experiments out of the way this is definitely what I want to try out next!

And just so you know, Intravenous Sugar recently did an interview with me! So check that out if you want to hear me babble about things like how I keep loosing bloomers and stuff like that XD. Since it's been a whole week since my last post, in this time I've also been interviewed over at Lolita Weekly!

Ask Miss Caro-chan: Making The Most Out Of Storage Space

Today's Ask Miss Caro-chan comes from College Frill, she asks:

I've recently received news of getting a roomate after a semester of only me. Now, I'm having to move my things around in my new found, smaller space. What would you suggest as a good space saver in a dormitory? Would a steamer trunk work for my sewing and Lolita things?

It really all depends on how much sewing stuff and Lolita you've got. If you only have a few dresses and a few yards of fabric, I would say to go for it, but beware that steamer trunks take up a lot of room and might not hold a whole lot. If you want a new steamer trunk, it's probably going to cost you a pretty penny, typically around $100. An antique one is going to be a bit cheaper if you hunt around at yard sales, but unless you put some work into it and refinish the inside and scrub the living daylights out of it, I wouldn't keep my clothes in there. This is coming from experience as my mom is an avid collector of antiques and has several antique steamer trunks. We mostly keep books and old VHS tapes in them as they tend to be rather musty and the lining tends to crumble. Not exactly the ideal place to keep hundreds of dollars worth of clothes. But, if you don't mind the cost, and don't have a whole lot of clothes to fit in it, a new steamer trunk would be a very lovely place to store your Lolita wardrobe.

If you have a bit more clothes, and are looking for something a little cheaper, you might want to consider a clothing rack. They are, sadly, not as pretty as a steamer trunk, but they do hold a lot of clothes, are rather compact, and they are cheap (about $30-$40). Make sure to get a sturdy one though, as Lolita clothes tend to be very heavy. There are several things you can do to clothing racks to lolify them a bit, you can start by spray painting it a color to match your wardrobe, maybe baby blue or deep burgundy. Wrap the sides of the rack with ribbons or fake flowers. If you can, suspend a bed canopy to the ceiling above it to keep dust off your clothes. If you can't, or just don't want to, attach a bed canopy to your ceiling, you can drape one over your clothes rack, or even use a pretty lace table cloth. In my bedroom, I have a wooden clothes rack that I cover with a lace table cloth with a Virgin Mary design on it.

If you have even less space to keep your clothes, go in search of some under-bed storage boxes. You can easily find the clear tupperware kind, but if you want something a little prettier, look for the sturdy cardboard ones. Find it in a pretty print, or even plain and decorate it yourself with paint, decoupage, or with fabric scraps.

If you have lots of accessories, invest in a few hatboxes. Hat boxes can be easily stacked on top of one another somewhere out of the way. Decorate these to your hearts content so they look pretty, and not just like a stack of boxes.

There are lots of ways to store your clothes if you don't have a huge walk in closet! You just have to get a bit creative sometimes, and be willing to let either the clothes, or the storage containers they are in, to be displayed out in the open. With Lolita this isn't usually too much of a problem, as the clothes are pretty enough to put on display!

Inspiration For Lolitifying Your Life

Many Lolita's love to Lolitafy their life, in addition to their selves. There's something wonderful about surrounding yourself with beautiful and interesting things! Whether or not you consider yourself a "Lifestyle Lolita" it's still a lot of fun to add a bit off ruffly fantasy to your life.

When you want to Lolitify your life and start decorating your house or just your bedroom to match your own personal Lolita style, there are a few ways you can go. You can go for a very rich and Victorian look, with lots of gilt and velvet, perfect for a Classic Lolita. You could also go the Sweet route, with fluffy pink throws and delicate pastels. There's also the more Gothic style, with lots of dark colors and curious objets d'art. Of course, these aren't the only styles of decor you could go for, and they could be mixed up in infinite ways. Who says you have to keep your black velvets and ceramic unicorn lamps separate? My own personal decor style is a bit of Gothic Victorian Eccentric. I love romantic pieces of Victorian furniture, black bed canopies, brocade comforters, and unusual collections. I also must admit I'm a hoarder of "strange" things, my current love is antique books, I have them stacked up all over the place! So you will have to excuse me if my tips and ideas tend to lean more in the Gothic direction.

Ideas for Lolitifying a room

• Start a collection of something curious. Pick a theme and a place in your room to display it. If you have limited room on top of dressers and such, look for a fancy little shelf on which to display your finds. Your collection could be something simple like cute ceramic figurines, or something very specific. Among the many things I collect (or rather, accumulate) is religious medals and interesting Victorian photos.
• Use pieces of your wardrobe as decoration. Remember Momoko's room from Kamakaze Girls? It was a dark crowded attic with Baby dresses hanging from her walls and ceiling. While you may not want to live in a burando maze, it's still great inspiration. If you're willing to put whole dresses on display, go for it! I think the most perfect addition to a Lolita room is a vintage dressform. I have one that I found in an antique store a few summers ago that I love to dress up. If you're not quite willing to use dresses as decoration, because of pets or dust, put some smaller pieces of jewelry on display. I also have a blue glass display hand that I have practically encrusted in Lolita rings and necklaces. A fancy wall mounted coat rack makes a great display for necklaces too.
• Make an inspiration board. An inspiration board is really just a fancy word for a pimped out cork board. Cover yours with Brand post cards, tags, photos of Lolita outings, or anything cute and inspirational to you as a Lolita. Here's a tutorial for a really awesome one. I would love to do one like this with a big gilt frame. My current inspiration board is an old coark board I covered with pink leopard faux fur with glitter covered thumbtacks. Xan-chan accused me of being deco for it, but I just wanted something pimpin.
• Add some greenery. Or maybe some faux greenery if you don't think you can manage a real plant. A lovely vase of fake flowers is just as good as a little potted plant for bringing a little bit of the garden indoors. If you're feeling particularly crafty and green thumbed, try making this beautiful Victorian Terrarium.
• Decorate your walls. So many people live bare walled lives! Which is just sad because there are so many ways of decorating your walls. You can hang up adorable prints in pretty frames, fancy mirrors, framed butterflies, shelves, drapery, almost anything! Try to avoid things like tacked on posters, and photos, if you really must tack stuff on your wall, make an inspriation board. Start accumulating small and pretty picture frames and fill them up with cute prints, either taken from magazines, or bought from artists. Instead of scattering them througout a room, cluster them all up in one spot, so you have a mini gallery all on one wall!
• Decorate your floors too! Don't settle with just a plain rug, even if you've had the same awful beige rug in your room your whole life, you can still add a touch of elegance with a small throw rug. Lovely oriental style rugs can be found cheap at many places. To get an opulent over-the-top look, buy a few oriental style rugs and use them all in the same room, layering them or placing them at angels if you have to! If you wan't something a little different, check around on eBay for tapestries. You can usually find vintage tapestries the size of a small rug for about 25 dollars, including shipping. Tapestries come in all sorts of different styles, from cute animals, majestic forest scenes, or even religious figures. I actually collect vintage tapestries with religious scenes on them, I use them on the tops of my dressers.
  
• Lighting. Candy Lights sells adorable silicone dipped light bulbs and light strands. They are just about the cutest lights I've ever seen! They look like wonderfully sweet candies and they give off the best soft pastel glow. If you need more to light your room than just a strand of fairy lights, be on the look out for any fancy lamps, they can be found just about anywhere for rather cheap. I'm so in love with pretty lamps, I have a great big red chandelier type lamp, covered in crystals with clear silicon dipped bulbs that look just like real flames. In contrast, I also have a ceramic leaping unicorn lamp! There's no need to settle for a plain desk lamp when there are so many interesting ways to light your room!
  
• Don't forget the kitchen! I love fancy plates. There are so many places you can get fancy Victorian style dishes, one at a time, for a good price. Home Goods usually has a ton of them for sale. Ebay is another good choice for import kawaii style bowls and plates, I'm such a sucker for cute bowls that have kitties painted on them. Asian grocery stores are another awesome place to find plates. They usually have a rather large selection of traditional fancy pates, with floral and gilt designs, and also Asian designs as well. I have all three of these kinds of plates and bowls mingling in the cupboard
  

Places to start looking for treasures

• Thrift shops, antique stores, and yard sales. Your best bet in finding something unique and cheap is to dig around thrift store and other such places. Most of the things I decorate are thrifted. Make a day out of it, invite a few Lolita friends and go on a treasure hunt! Just be sure to wear something appropriate, you really don't want to be wearing anything light colored or any huge petticoats. Things can get a bit dusty and crowded in such stores, you don't want to knock something over with a petticoat and get an expensive skirt dirty at the same time.
• Home decor shops. If you don't have any antique stores in your area that are reasonably priced, home decor shops, like Home Goods, are a good place to find faux antiques pretty cheaply.
• Design Toscano. I love this place, while they do have many things of questionable taste, they're awesome for adding the final touch to a room. I'm madly in love with their Eiffel Tower telephone.
• Madam Talbot's Victorian Lowbrow. I love this site! It's like a wonderful Victorian yard sale/art show. If the prices are a bit high, check out their awesome poster section. They're very affordable at about $13 and just incredibly cool.

Looking for some inspiration?

• Gothic & Lolita Bibles. There are a few features on rooms scattered throughout the Bibles, but there is also a ton of inspiration in the backgrounds of the outfit shots. The Gothic & Lolita Bible Extras are a good source of craft projects too.
• Jars of Cute. An adorable blog filled with adorable things to buy. They range from accessories to room decor, look around! You might find something that would be just perfect in your room!
• Shabby Chic blogs. Using ideas from Shabby Chic blogs can be a great way of adding a bit of ruffles to your room. Think of it as a mash up of Classic, Sweet, and h.NAOTO. It's pale and fluffy and tattered at the same time! Some great Shabby Chic blogs are Chez Fifi, Vintage Flair, Oh So Pretty (which sadly hasn't been updated in a very long time), and Gathering Dust.