❤ ♫ Frillytime #3 - Meetups! ♫ ❤

All lolitas love attending meetups, right? Sometimes it can be absolutely horrifying getting up the energy and the courage to go out and meet new people, but it's usually very rewarding; plus you get to see other people's beautiful clothes and wear your own to an "official excuse". ◠◡◠ We recently attended - not our first lolita meetup, but certainly the largest one that we've attended so far! We all decided to meet up to look around the festival that's happening for the "city of culture" in our area; we looked at the craft stalls, had lots of photographs taken and later on went out for a little meal and drinks in a Wetherspoons! Not exactly the most lolita of locations, but definitely very fun and cosy! ｡◕‿‿◕｡

Neither of us took full photos of our coordinates, but here's a selfie that Haz took before heading out! She wore Bodyline's polka dot jsk (L031), a vintage blouse and cute pearl accessories! 

This post is dedicated to cute ideas for meetups, anyway is what I'm trying to say! Everybody's attended the usual meetups; picnics, tearooms, walking around and shopping - and there's absolutely nothing wrong with any of those kinds of meets! Just that sometimes it might be nice to break out of your comfort zone and try something new (a local lolita recently suggested we have a little knitting meet; she would teach everyone to knit and we could hold ourselves our own lolita 'stitch n bitch', which we both thought was a really fab idea!)! (｡◕‿◕｡)

Both of us love anything with a theme! Take one of the easiest ways to theme a meetup; for example, around holidays coming up! A Christmas meetup could take place at a place to eat like usual, but could include fun Christmas themed loli games like a pass the parcel! You could even do a lolita White Elephant exchange, with everyone getting sweet gifts to take home! ( ⌒‿⌒)

A picnic meet in April or May could take advantage of the Easter season and jazz up a picnic meet with an egg hunt! Comms could split into teams and, instead of looking for eggs, have to do silly challenges or find things around your area! 

A Halloween meet could take place inside your own home, with a costume contest or spooky movie night - or you could see if any of the rest of your local lolis might be interested in doing a ghost hunt or ghost walk, which are usually around in abundance at that time of year!

You could have a makeover themed meet, or a fashion catwalk themed meet! Anything themed is good fun!

Alternatively, you could see what local attractions you have around your area. In my area, for instance, there's a big well-known aquarium that would provide beautiful pictures for a meet, and lots of sweet museums and gardens. 

Why not go outside of your local city with your comm and travel to a little outlying village? These usually have some beauty spots, lots of quirky independent shops, and maybe even some sites of historical significance. ヽ( ﾟヮ・)ノ.･ﾟ*｡･+☆

And don't underestimate the interest in an 'experience' themed meet! Whilst these are usually a little bit more expensive, they are good fun and can often be found for good value. Some experience meets I found close to where I live (that probably have equivalents to wherever you might be!) include: 

A cute little cafe/studio you can paint your own piece of pottery and take it home! (Cute Lolita aprons definitely required!)
An "Active Lolita" day out where you could go bowling or to a laser quest or maybe even ice skating! Make sure not to dress your total best, as these could get a little bit messy!
A cultured lolita day out seeing a ballet, a theatre show, or an opera!
Or, alternatively, a slightly less cultured lolita day out where you could see a movie! Often local cinemas will show ballets or operas on the big screen, or perhaps even do specials where they re-show classic films! Here in Hull we have a "Cult Cinema Sunday" that show films that have garnered cult followings; we're just waiting for a suitable lolified movie to show up!

So there you are! Lots of ideas that could make a lolita comm more active and fun! What's been your favourite meetup you've ever attended? Leave a comment and tell us all about it! ヽ( ﾟヮ・)ノ.･ﾟ*｡･+☆

✿Love,✿

♥Haz & Nat♥

(｡◕‿◕｡) ♥ Frillytime #2: Lolitapop Playlist! ♥ (｡◕‿◕｡)

Hello! Today we thought we'd share with you a pink-themed, cute playlist to get ready to or to jam out to when you're on your own and want to feel like a princess! Both of us have been through very different tastes in their musical lives - Haz used to listen to a lot of pop punk and Nat has cycled through everything from country to operatic metal to dark cabaret! So hopefully, this playlist will contain something for everyone! ∩(︶▽︶)∩

Lenka - The Show

HAZ: (giggles) I don't know - I like it 'cos it's got a really catchy [reads what I'm writing, leaves giant pause, laughs] I think it has a really catchy tune, and it's just bubbly and - I don't know, I like it, it makes me happy. That was very eloquent, you're welcome. I don't like being put on the spot like this - you better not write that down!

Kahimi Karie - Lolitapop Dollhouse

NAT:  This song was the reason I wanted to make this post! I think in general my music taste leans a little bit darker and angrier than Hazel's, and I think that this is a really good example of at once adorable and kind of angry; I've always been interested in social justice and feminism and I think this is such a good song to dance around to and express your feelings with! Also, Kahimi's voice has such a soft and dreamy quality to it even when the music is pretty harsh!

Stephanie J Block - Never Neverland (Fly Away)

HAZ: This song makes me think of fairytales and storybooks and being a fairytale character! And that's kind of how I feel about wearing lolita - like I'm a character in a fairytale. Like I've been written by an author as a character in a book. Oh, and this song makes me think about how children picture these characters and how we've all heard those stories about lolitas who've been stopped in the street and told about how they're princesses and I don't know it just makes me feel really happy! 

Call Me A Princess - Deleted Song From Aladdin

NAT:  I'm joining in with Hazel's Disney theme from up there! I could pretty much put any Disney song on this playlist, but this song just seems to fit in so well with the way I feel when I'm getting ready for lolita and when I'm head to toe in my finery! Even if the sentiment of this song isn't the most adorable or polite, this song really does make me feel like a pampered princess and it's very nice to momentarily relax in the idea of being a princess who can break down a carriage and immediately get themselves a replacement! 

PONPONPON - Kyary Pamyu Pamyu (Music Box Version)

HAZ: Although I love the original version of this song, I love this version because it just makes me think of a doll going around in a music box and how when I was little I used to love watching the ballerina in my mum's jewellery box go around and around because it was so relaxing and I was really envious of her tutu!

Fight Like A Girl - Emilie Autumn

NAT:  Okay, I love Emilie Autumn. Her music pretty much saved my life - but that's a cliche most of her fans go through with, so I won't over gush about it here. Fight Like A Girl is basically her fighting girl power anthem, and I defy you not to listen to it and feel a little bit empowered by your own femininity! I love love love this song, it always gets me up and raring to go and own myself and who I am! 

Some other tracks to listen to and enjoy on your own personal Lolitapop Playlist:

Gimme Chocolate! - BABYMETAL
Ophelia - Natalie Merchant
Mariella - Kate Nash
This Girl Is Taking Bets - Thea Gilmore 
Exploration - Coraline Soundtrack
Starlight - Taylor Swift
Sunburn - Owl City

So there you have it! A little start off to a playlist for a lolita! ✿◠‿◠) What about you? What songs would be on your ideal LolitaPop Playlist? 

✿Love,✿

♥Haz & Nat♥

♥Frillytime #1!♥ - Dream Dresses ლ(╹◡╹ლ)

Alright, so perhaps this isn't the most original idea for a blog post! (◕‿-) But everybody needs to start somewhere, and I think dream dresses are a good start to introducing a new category to Petticats! (´ω｀) After much soul-searching and thinking (mostly on Nat's part!) we decided to file our lolita posts under the heading "Frillytime"! (◕‿◕✿)

Our first "Frillytime" post is about dream dresses! Dream dresses in lolita refer to dresses you would do absolutely anything to get your hands on, whether that be through murder or any other means! ♥ (Okay, usually lolitas do not resort to murder in order to acquire their dream dresses. But I'm sure a lot of them have thought about it! (≧ω≦) ) Lots of lolitas manage to get their hands on their dream dresses! But a lot of them also don't, for many reasons: some simply cannot afford it, some dream dresses are incredibly rare, and some just haven't been seen in absolute ages! (╥_╥) 

(｡◕‿◕｡)Dress #1 - Krad Lanrete's Phantom of the Opera OP in White!(｡◕‿◕｡)

As we've mentioned a few times before, both of us are musical theatre students! In the last post, I mentioned it being the first time we'd ever been to London without a clear objective like seeing a show! Haz desperately wants to wear this OP to see Phantom! I asked Haz to summarize why she wanted this print and she said: "Musicals! Cute! . . . It reminds me of Christine's wedding dress, like a fairytale princess dress . . . Y'know?" Thank you, Haz. Very concise. (∩▂∩)

(｡◕‿◕｡)Dress #2 - Angelic Pretty's Cat's Tea Party JSK!(｡◕‿◕｡)

Ah yes, the quintessential "Dream Dress". (◕‿◕✿) Chances are, if you've been involved with lolita fashion for any period of time, you've seen this dress: Cat's Tea Party by Angelic Pretty. This is a dream dress for both of us - unfortunately, it goes for absolutely ridiculously high prices whenever up for sale and is rare to boot! Both of us love cats and cute pink things so it makes perfect sense that this would be a dress we would both murder for. (✿◠‿◠)

(｡◕‿◕｡)Dress #3 - Baby The Stars Shine Bright's "The Secret Garden - The Rose Has A Secret Scent" Elise JSK!(｡◕‿◕｡)

This is another of Haz's dream dresses - The Secret Garden is one of her favourite books and one of her favourite things to do is dress in things that remind her of her favourite literary works and heroines. I asked her summarize her interest in this dress and she made a series of unintelligible noises that ended with "It's just so PRETTY!" (︶ω︶)

(｡◕‿◕｡)Dress #4 - Baby The Stars Shine Bright's Marie Antoinette OP (In Blue)!(｡◕‿◕｡)

This is Nat's dream dress! (｡♥‿♥｡) This was one of the first ever dresses I saw worn by a lolita, and I thought that it was so elegant and beautiful! I loved the sleeves so much, and the colour and the layers of ruffles and basically everything about it! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ I am determined I'm going to own it one day! 

There are still so many dresses both of us would love to own, but I'm going to stop there before I turn into a gushing mess! (=゜ω゜=)

♥Love,♥

☆☆☆Haz & Nat☆☆☆