Introducing A New Dress & Other Such Things

Status Update: I am still alive. No, seriously, guys. I'm so sorry! (Am I the worst blogger in the history of bloggers? Probably. -_-) I've cast a heal spell, and am back at 100% HP, for the foreseeable future of, well, until I catch the next bubonic flu plague. (I'm honestly surprised I lasted as long as I did given the amount of sickness going around, and the fact that every single co-worker I have either has flu or strep at the moment.)

I knowwww what you're thinking. "Look, Annika, seriously. You cannot have been sick for this entire month, and you haven't made a single blog update aside from the illustrator call. Where are the new dresses? Where is the new merch?! Are you just fooling us into thinking you're ill when you are really just napping with your cat and playing video games?!"

[To subdue your anger, I will surreptitiously insert photos of Cookie Cat.....]

Look at that disapproving glare! Oh Cook.

Hahahaha. :sweat drop: I really was sick with a terrible flu for a whole week! And then to make matters worse, we had a staff meeting that ran till midnight, I had to get up in three hours, and go back to work, and therefore I relapsed for a bit with the same flu this week. (You try working an entire shift on three hours of sleep, after you've been up the whole rest of the day previous too. ; o ;)

I'm not going to lie, and tell you that I've been super productive and have a bunch of new designs just waiting to be photographed for sale..... Because I definitely haven't been. Honestly, I think I have been going through a bit of depression the last couple months which has caused me to be super critical about my work, and when I don't feel like I'm meeting my standards, doing enough, being 110% at my best, then I get frustrated and mad at myself. And not just my work, or lack there of, is depressing me. It's just been a rough year, and I guess I feel discouraged for a variety of reasons. And I suppose I am having difficulty adjusting and transitioning with it all. So I know I'm not feeling inspired, or doing as much as I know I'm capable of.

See, even Cookie looks a little sad!

With that said, I really am actively trying to snap myself out of this rainy dark cloud that has been following me around lately. Some days are better than others. Even if I haven't been producing garments, at least I have been sketching some out for the fashion show in the summer, while finishing up the Dexter series and getting in to Doctor Who.

Also, I have been working a couple paid commissions which is a nice change of pace. I have been trying (feebly? haha) to teach myself how to use my new Canon Rebel T3 DSLR camera, which was kindly given to me as Christmas present as a way for me to improve the image quality of my designs to show to you, dear readers. And I'm ever so grateful to have a new toy to play with! So I've been giving it a go! (And you thought these photos of Cookie were just random! ; ) )

Still need to work on that focus! >.<

I've been trying to do things for just me, to cheer me and sort of jump start my creative muses again with a good amount of knitting, reading, and playing video games! Plus, with the Illustrator Call for Pop Princess coming to its close, I have been getting pretty excited about that! (The entries I have been getting are amazing! So many talented ladies and gents!)

So enough of me yammering on then, you want to see the new dress! (I heard that sigh of relief, readers!) It took me a long time to make since I've been going through a blue period, but here it is at last!

Black Velvet Alice in Wonderland OP: 

 I went with a similar silhouette and style as Red Bunny Tea Party, featuring the cropped waist and the tempered princess seams running down the front, this time without the lace detailing. The rich, lush black velvet gives ample ruching around the 3/4 leg o' mutton style sleeve which features a key hole design, a sturdy cuff, and antique gold rose buttons.

 Even with the large velvet waist bow pinned at center front, I still didn't feel like the dress was quite complete but I had a hard time figuring out why, particularly since the skirt fabric is incredibly detailed. A few of my darling friends suggested that a detachable peter pan collar would be a cute addition, so after a few variations of style, size, and details I decided on this one. I brought the pattern from the skirt back into the collar, and accented the edge with gold top stitching, and finished it off by neatly and carefully hand stitching on a gold diamond rhinestone trim for a hint of glitter. I like the idea that the collar can be taken off for a more elegant, sophisticated style!

The print, once again, features a black silhouette from Alice in Wonderland. Each featured character, be it Alice or the White Rabbit, is edged in a glittering gold accent. The etchings of gold accenting the dark silhouettes give it a hint of shimmer in the sunlight, which just adds to the elegance in my opinion.

It's not a lot, I know but I promise, I'm going to get back to work!! <3
Buy Black Alice OP Here!

What do you think about the new dress and quality of the images from the new camera? : )
Again, sorry about the long absence, lovelies!
xo

Call for Illustrators: Fabric Design Collaboration with Pop Princess

My darling readers,

I will keep this brief only because I have been working back to back days, and I am quite sleepy and tired, and not really great feeling. (Back you, evil flu germs, back!!! I can't get sick!) I have just announced a call for illustrators on the EGL community forums, and I wanted to let all of you know about it of course! ^-^ <3

Pop Princess is looking to hook up with another talented artist and make some custom illustrated fabric yardage to be featured at this year's FRILL 2013, all lolita convention, where it will be featured on the runway as well as the boutique! <3

Read full details below! I look forward to working with one of you!

Be My Illustrator!

Lolita Blog Carnival: Favorite Indie Brands!

This week's Lolita Blog Carnival topic I have really been looking forward to, especially considering it revolves around the discovering and sharing our favorite lolita indie brands with you, dear readers! As a lolita indie designer, I am always on the look out for other indie brands that I can support, admire, and otherwise promote in the community. While indie brands may not be as popular or well renowned as their big brand counterparts, I find that they are just as deserving (if not more so) of praise and admiration from the niche following they do have, as well as from the lolita community itself.

Being an indie brand, of any kind really, takes a lot of gumption and an entrepreneurial spirit. Anyone can sew/design/create, but not everyone can do it well or with such beauty that the designer's talent, sweat, tears, and heart show through the finest stitching details that make a piece not just an item of clothing but a work of art. It requires an eye and a skill set that (usually, unless we're talking about natural god given talent like Christian Dior, or Coco Chanel, who had no training) is built upon a solid foundation of training in the field one wants to pursue---i.e. essential knowledge of garment construction, professional training of how a garment is put together/finished, pattern making, draping, tailoring, sewing techniques/finishes. All of these things, while being different parts of a whole, are essential in understanding why a garment isn't working, why something isn't laying correctly or fitting properly, or even seems proportionally off or unbalanced. These skills make a garment beautiful, through each little detail, something amazing is created. It is not just about being able to illustrate pretty pictures, but being able to turn those images into a living piece, breathing life into it from something two dimensional to a garment someone can actually wear. You cannot cut corners, every single stitch, every decision you make needs to be a professional, skilled finish that is done with precision and caution.

What I don't think you realize during your training, however, is that in order to be successful, or really even to get started as an indie brand is that you can't just rely on the creative side of your brain for a company to truly blossom or become established. A lot of indie designers are a one person show, meaning they are the creative spirit: the illustrator/designer/seamstress/pattern maker, the entrepreneur: coming up with the idea, research, putting idea into reality, the accountant: finances/keeping the books/Excel Sheets, the PR and Marketing person: running social medias/blogs/promoting the brand, and the businessman: running the shop/keeping track of investments/etc. In a big company, you have entire divisions or floors set aside for each of these tasks, but when you're an indie brand you literally have to invest your time into all it. There are entire days I have to dedicate to just one of these aspects, like logging in every single piece of fabric/trim/material into Excel sheets with dates/money invested/is it in inventory or not, and then check those against the financial spread sheets that calculate the price of each product---the list goes on and on and on.

Indie designers especially I think have to be strong spirited. Even if you are good at all of those things I mentioned above, it can be difficult to carve out a legitimate space for yourself even in a niche market like lolita. You have to gain a following, clients, repeat customers, and establish yourself as someone that is not only able to create, but someone that does it well, that produces quality work. But above all, I think you have to learn to accept the fact that there will be times when nothing is working, you get frustrated and feel like you won't make it, and everything seems to be going wrong. There are days you will break down, and want to give up. However, you have to learn to endure, and just keeping pursuing your dream if it's what you really want. Again, it takes a strong heart/spirit. In all reality, you have to accept that sometimes you will fail, you will make mistakes that cost you money or customers, etc, or that dream may continue to be a dream and really never take off. You have to be a realistic and accept that failure happens, and learn from it, make different decisions, and have enough strength to keep going. Being a brand/a designer can't just be a hobby if you are truly serious about it. It has to be your life, your first love, your every waking moment, where ideas are buzzing about in your head or even trickling into your dreams.

On that note, here are the indie designers that I truly admire for their skill, their eye, and there strong spirits. As indie designers, I admire them as a fellow designer and also as someone humbled by their great talents and often find myself striving to reach their greatness as mentors.

* Haenuli (Click Here) 

Though I have not yet had the honor of meeting the designer of this indie brand, I was able to see her garments in person at the last fashion show I participated in over the summer in Baltimore at Otakon's Ultimate Lolita Fashion show! And let me tell you, they are even more stunning in person than they are in the photos. If Haenuli's extremely decadent, elaborate, and exceptionally detailed hand illustrated prints do not blow you away at first glance then I can't say that much will. The intricacies of each print is part of what makes her garments so spectacular. I honestly can't imagine the mass amounts of times it takes her to conceptualize these and turn them into custom printed yardage. But my heavens, is her work beautiful! If the prints aren't your style, then take a closer look at the gorgeous tailoring, cuts, and fits of each her pieces---I believe they could rival some of the nicest big brand names, if not best them. I also adore her extereme attention to the little details---these are what make a garment amazing.

Source: Chokelate Tumblr

Source: Chokelate Tumblr

Credits: Haenuli

*I Do Declare (I.D.D.) (Click Here)

There are truly many things that I adore about Kelsey's work, but first and foremost is the designer herself. If you have ever had the pleasure of meeting her in person, you will know that Kelsey is one of the sweetest girls with such a light hearted spirit, and contagious laugh and smile. Her spirit radiates throughout her, filling the room with a kind of glowing warmth. Her designs are kindred spirits of who she is, ones with sweeping lines of elegance, tailored and classy cuts, and finished with the finest, most elaborate details. If you have had the chance to see IDD in person or on the runway, you too will be filled with a sense of nostalgia, of being swept back in time in a sort of Victorian whirlwind romance, and struck by the fine illustration skills that Kelsey prints on her garments.  I, myself, am not a terribly skilled illustrator but am always star struck by the amount of fine detail that is put into Kelsey's illustrations for her garments.

Credits: I Do Declare

Credits: I Do Declare

Credits: I Do Declare

Discover other neat Lolita indie brands/designers by reading articles from the rest of the LBC! :

 

Jessie Dresses Up

Geisha Baby 

Darkly Darling 

Sparkling Girl 

Suns in Our Hands 

Sweet Lolita Doll 

Tangled Lace 

Disney World Photo Shoot with Mary!

My lovely readers, I hope that you have had a wonderful Christmas holiday with both your friends and families, and that Santa was kind enough to bring you many cute presents! May you all have a wonderful new year, and may much happiness come with it!

A few posts back, I let you know that we were sending off Red Bunny Tea Party and the Alice in Wonderland dress to have it's own special photo shoot in Disney World! Well, the photos are in and
I am very proud to introduce you to our first ever, Pop Princess Spokes Model, Mary B!

And I would very much like to thank the photographer that generously offered to do this photo shoot, Matt. I would also like to thank Mary's boyfriend and prince, for making sure she had everything she needed to be the perfect princess!

♥ Meet Mary!

Why hello, Mary! Isn't she beautiful?

Q. Mary, would you tell us a little bit about yourself?
A. Questions like this are so hard for me because I never know where to begin, haha. Currently I am doing small side work as a freelance artist while I work as a cp in Walt Disney World and it's my eventual goal to be a concept artist, hopefully for Disney. I have done some modeling work before and I have been published in two anthologies for my poetry. My free time is spent drawing, playing video games, hiking, and admiring cute things on the internet.

Q. Were you super excited to be the first spokes model for the Pop Princess brand?
A. Of course, I was! I'm still excited! Even after my first shoot with the two dresses it still feels unreal and magical. I love Pop Princess very much and lolita is very close to my heart so this is a dream come true! I'm very blessed for this wonderful opportunity.

Q. Out of the two dresses, which was your favorite to model and why?  
A. Oh gosh, that is such a hard choice! They both are so beautiful and comfy in their own way. Red Velvet Bunny is so darling it makes my heart stop when it's in front of me. The print is so sweet and the material is so soft, warm, and breathable. It's perfect for spring, fall, and winter wear. It gives me that glowing cheeks, giggly feeling of being beautiful. Alice in Wonderland is breathtaking too! I am so in love with the cut, detailing, and the print! Alice is different from Red Velvet Bunny in that it gives me a more mature, beautiful warmth in my heart when I have it on. I could gush forever on these dresses! To be honest, I don't have a favorite because they are both so beautiful in their own way! I've worn tons of dresses in my life, but they are the first ones that make my instantly feel like a princess when I put them on. 

Q. So Disney World?! How awesome is that! Could you tell us a little bit about how the photo shoot went? Was it a good experience?
A. Disney World is fantastic! I went to Magic Kingdom and Epcot for the shoot. It was so much fun, even though it was crowded with the seasonal rush we were able to get some great shots. I wouldn't trade that experience for anything. My photographer and I had a great time.

Q. What were some of your favorite moments of the photo shoot?
A. There were so many wonderful moments, but I'll try and narrow it down! One was when I went to see Alice in each dress and she went on and on about how much she loved my tea party dresses. Another was all the kind people stopping me to ask about the dresses and tell me they loved them.

It almost looks like Alice and Mary are dueling to see who has the better outfit!

I think they decided Mary's was the most awesome! Look at them hugging it out!

"Mom, Mom, I think this is a REAL princess!!"

A. My favorite moment hands down though was when a mother came up to me with her husband and two kids to ask if I would take a picture with her daughter who was to shy to ask me for a photo. The little girl was so nervous and she told her mom that she got a picture with a real princess! It was the sweetest thing ever! 

Q. It sounds like you had a lot of fun! :3 Thank you for working so hard, Mary!
A. No, dear, thank you! I'm so honored and happy to be the first spokes model for Pop Princess! I hope everybody enjoys the photos from the shoot. <333



Everyone clap a little at your computers as a standing (or sitting!) ovation for Miss Mary and her photographer, thanking them for their hard work and cute efforts! Isn't she adorable? :3

Let's see the rest of the photos!

As soon as the dresses arrive back from their adventure in Florida (ETA: one week?), they will be up for sale in the Pop Princess shop! : 3 Keep an eye out!

[EDIT Dec 31: UP FOR SALE!!!! Alice JSK and Red Bunny OP]

I hope everyone enjoyed this lovely interview, and photo shoot featuring Mary! <3

*Credits: Photographer Matt
*All designs belong to and are copyrighted by Pop Princess / Annika Simmons
Please do not repost without proper credits/permission

FRILL 2013: All Lolita Convention & Pop Princess Feature!

Dear Girls,

Just a quick update! ^-^ Which I'm very excited to announce, since I just found out this morning...
Pop Princess will be attending FRILL 2013 as both a guest, and a featured indie designer in the Frill boutique and fashion show this upcoming June 1-2! <3 :jumps up and down: How awesome and exciting is that?! This will be Pop Princess' 6th fashion show, 2nd designer panel, and first EVER ALL LOLITA CONVENTION!

Image belongs to: Affriliation.com

Frill is the first convention specifically for lolitas (and dandies!) that is held down in Georgia for a weekend of frilly goodness! This will be the second time that Frill and all its cutie company have hosted the convention, there first time being last year in 2012! (When I first heard about it I was like, "Nooo, how did I miss something so awesome?!" So I was determined to find out about it this year!)

I think Victoria Suzanne Alice took some of the cutest photos, and did an interview back when Frill had their very first convention last year. Read Here it's super cute! And makes me even more excited to attend in person!

Hope you are as excited as I am! ^-^ I gotta get to sketching and designing asap! <3

I hope to see some of you there, and finally meet in person!
xoxoxo
Annika

Lolita Blog Carnival: Your Dreamiest Dream Dress!

Angelic Pretty: Twinkle Carnival JSK

 Now, I may be a little biased on this article of picking my "favorite dress" for the Lolita Blog Carnival since the gorgeous Twinkle Carnival arrived at my door just a couple weeks ago from Sweden! But my love for it is simply too much not to share, and is therefore the choice for my favorite dream dress! Especially considering I have pined after it for so many years, and finally, finally found.

So why is it my favorite dress otherwise? Besides, that it is stunning and even more beautiful in person. *o* I didn't realize until it got here in person that, TC is actually made from a lovely shantung material which gives the fabric a bit of texture and a low luster shine. While the shantung is a polyester blend, it is of a high quality, which gives it a lovely hand, drape, and appearance of silk dupioni shantung.

 I also appreciate the amount of tiny details that were put into this dress, it makes the garment what it is: extraordinary. I love the careful choice of chemical laces, and that Angelic Pretty went with a golden, soft netting instead of a cheaper one that would have been scratchy. I love the great care that went in to the top stitching, for example at the bias bound neckline.

Of course, being a seamstress, my favorite part of seeing any kind of clothing, brand or not is how a garment is constructed, from the inside out. I am fascinated with putting the pieces together, of figuring out the time of techniques, stitches, or variables necessary that make up a garment. : 3 But I won't bore you with that, suffice to say this dress is truly skillfully put together. I especially adore the built in petticoat!

Finally, the cherry on top of course, the print itself. The darling glitter ponies on TC are what bring the subtle sparkling of the tulle, and the shimmer of the lace edging together, and make this garment fit for royalty. I, for one, have always wanted to know how one makes a glitter print!

 

Finally, since I was unable to participate in the recent International Lolita Day, some candid shots (with sneaky cameos of Miss Cookie) of me in Twinkle Carnival! <3 Oh, I can't believe it is mine!

***

Want to see more dream dresses? <3 Check out the other LBC blogs beloooow! : 

Secret Window

Red Tonic

Suns in Our Hands

A Lace Jail
Commercially Alternative
Angelic Nostalgia
Lemon Tree
Darkly Darling
Rainbow Star Candy Shine
A Life In Disguise
Under The Parasol
Hello Batty
Pastel Unicorn
Le Boudoir