Greenmount Cemetery Photoshoot

Greenmount Cemetery is one of Baltimore's oldest cemeteries, and it's built like a fortress, with a castle-like main entrance and surrounded by enormous stone walls and trenches. It also has one of the most unique octagonal chapels in the world. There are tons of interesting graves in a variety of styles and often featuring complex Victorian symbolism. 
So, a few weeks ago, I woke up at the crack of dawn to shoot in my favorite cemetery with one of my favorite photographers. I'd glad I did, I think the photos turned out well, and it was a beautiful day to walk around and enjoy this unseasonably warm winter.

Click photos to enlarge.

Outfit Rundown:

JSK: Bodyline

Gloves: Spirit Halloween

Bolero: Thrifted

Boots: T.U.K.

Jewelry: Spencer's

January Adventures :D

My winter break just flew by! I can believe my spring semester is already beginning. I wish my break were longer ( I promised myself I'd get so many things done). But, it's been a pretty good year so far, and I hope the rest of 2012 follows suite. My boyfriend came and stayed in Baltimore for about two weeks, which helped my new year off to an extra special start c:

Brandon, Byron and I

We're both train nerds, so we took a trip to the B&O Railroad Museum. It's one of the oldest tracks in the US, and they have so many neat trains from the past hundred years or so.

Outfit Rundown:

JSK: Dream of Lolita

Cardigan: Forever 21

Boots: Bodyline

Hat: Wicked Orleans

Purse: Putumayo

At the end of his visit, we got together with my "trollolitas" Melissa, Kelly, and Kimmah and went on  a roadtrip to New York! After an interesting adventure of changing from pajamas to lolita in the car, we set out to find the Alice In Wonderland statue in Central Park.

People kept asking what we were dressed for, and someone asked if we were in a band, so we decided we were. I'm the vocalist, Kelly is bass, Kimm's drums, and Melissa is guitar! Brandon is...our camera guy.

Outfit Rundown:

JSK: Bodyline

Cardigan: Hot Topic

Boots: Bodyline

Bag: Putumayo

After finally finding the statue, we ate pizza slices as big as our heads and hopped over to Tokyo Rebel. Brandon bought me an Alice & The Pirates parasol and Kimmah bought an Innocent world one.

Then, it was onto Times Square-- Hello Kitty store! Toys R Us!

All in all, it was a good day.

Also, this past weekend, we got our first snow of the winter! Melissa and I tried to do a photoshoot with Kimm, but the freezing proved to be very difficult to work with. Also, Rocking Horse Shoes are like tiny sleds in snow.

Gothic Lolita into Bittersweet

If you having Gothic leanings, and your wardrobe favors outfits of black-on-black-on-black, adding some color to your closet might seem a bit intimidating. Buying a colorful dress might not seem worth it if you have nothing to coordinate it with. But nearly all of us feel the urge to stick a toe out of the dark side now and then, so here's a few basic tips for branching out.

I myself have been experimenting with Bittersweet and Retro Lolita recently, to break up the monotonous rut I felt like I was slipping into. My basic everyday outfit is a black JSK with a black cardigan, black tights, and black shoes. Obviously, this gets boring after a while. So, I started looking for brighter things to add to my daily wardrobe. Bittersweet is an obvious choice, as it still has black elements, and doesn't stray too far from my dark comfort zone. I'm also a sucker for bright colors against black. Honestly, I find it easier to coordinate than say, more classic, natural colors.

A lot of people have a bit of a prejudice against some of these combinations, like black and red, because it has the same tendency to be used in lace monsters and gothic misinterpretations of lolita. If you're feeling wary of this, follow the same advice that is given for the infamous black/white color scheme, go for solid pieces instead (ex: A red cardigan with a black JSK rather than a black JSK with red lace on it). Of course, this is a loose guideline and there are lovely examples of it done right, like Moitie's signature blue screenprints on black.

There are two super easy approaches to coordinating a colorful outfit out of your gothy wardrobe. Since black makes such a high contrast, remember to disperse it evenly!

Sticking with on color is simpler so I chose my favorite, purple, to illustrate.

First, you can start with acquiring some colorful accessories and smaller items.

Black things you probably already have:

JSK, skirt or OP

shoes

Color things to acquire:
sweater (or blouse)
headbow
tights

 If you feel like committing to buying a color main piece (skirt, JSK, OP), you don't need to buy all new accessories to go with it. Black elements in a print, or a black colorway of a print, will go very well with black accessories.

Black things you probably already have: 

Cardigan (or blouse)
Tights
Headbow

Color things to acquire:
JSK, skirt, or OP
another matching item- headbow, shoes etc.