BUILD A BLYTHE

HOWDY HEY AND HIYA!

I hope you've all been well during my uneventful absence. Have you been doing anything exciting? I've mainly been having a VERY prolonged head cold, doing housework, posting eBay sales and eating Oreos after finding out that OREOS ARE VEGAN! Best news ever. I also finally got my ear sorted out on Tuesday and can hear again after 3 WEEKS of being partially deaf. It was not fun let me tell you. BUT NOW I'M BACK!

After getting my ear sorted I went to visit with my wonderful seamstress friend Naomi as we had a sewing date. We'd decided to go through some of Naomi's scrap pieces of fabric & make a dress for one of my Blythe dolls whilst we had a cup of tea and a natter. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN! I chose to take one of my favourite Blythes, Pika Pika- a Nicky Lad that Andy bought me from Junie Moon in Tokyo. We decided to make her something ridiculously pink as I usually dress her in a more classic lolita style and we thought it was about time she branched out.

You can see where this is going.

OK so just for the record I CANNOT SEW. I have no idea how to make clothes at all. I can cross stitch and follow simple patterns but when it comes to using a sewing machine or making clothes from scratch I have absolutely no idea. So I left it to Naomi to draw up a design using the fabric we picked and she came up with THIS.

Yup- she can draw, sew AND she's pretty. Not fair.

Naomi got on with making the underskirt and undershirt and I got to busy myself with simple tasks like cutting fabric & ironing on rhinestones (both of which I managed to

mess up ^_^)  so I could feel like I was helping out a little bit.

Cutie underskirts. The lace had little bows on.

Check out how wonky and uneven my rhinestones are!

Luckily Naomi was skilled enough to make

something out of it.

I did redeem myself on her headpiece, though!

I hand stitched the edge and sewed on the flowers

and random Care Bear charm. WITHOUT INCIDENT.

And while I was doing that Naomi SOMEHOW made

this dress appear. ISN'T IT AMAZING!?

I absolutely adore Blythe. I used to have 14 in my collection but sadly I fell on some hard times and had to sell half of my girls. I know they all went to lovely homes though & I made a few good Blythey chums from buying and selling which is lovely. I am now down to 7 but reassure myself that once I have the funds again I'll be able to buy the other girls back. 

 

My family (L-R)

Pika Pika, Suzie T. Tyranosaur, Gaston, Marjorie Mink,

Princess Piranha, Puddleglum & Bo Buttons.

I'm also lucky to own some Junie Moon exclusive books.

The larger one is full of photographs of Blythes customised to look like anime characters, plus customs by famousdesigners. The smaller book is full of pictures & really cute interviews with Blythe collecters about their love of Blythe. AND it's in English.

Lower left- Blythe custom by Baby The Stars Shine Bright

Lower right- Blythe custom by Alice and the Pirates

Cute Blythe owners and their dolls.

I'm always happy to meet new Blythe friends so feel free to drop me a message if you're a collector or just someone who thinks Blythe's are cute!

I had so much fun making clothes with Naomi & really think I'll do it again sometime soon. I am so jealous of her dress making skills. I'm seriously thinking about taking a sewing class so I can make beautiful things- for my dolls and myself. Like, how cool would it be to just whip up the EXACT dress you wanted? Plus I have a load of patterns kicking around in old issues of the Gothic Lolita Bible and some of them are just divine.

Right I'm out for the evening as I have a fourteen hour working day tomorrow. SERIOUSLY. It's savage, isn't it? It's not even overtime or anything- I'm just clawing back the hours I took off sick with my ear problems a few weeks ago.  UGH.

SEE YOU SOON, GUYS!
Annabell xxx



OUTFIT
Cat dress- H&M
Bow- Miss Selfridge
Tights- eBay
Wig- www.lockshopwigs.com

Blythe Dolls can be purchased in the UK from eBay. Make sure you read the feedback and only buy from reliable sellers as there are a lot of fake dolls out there. Do your research on prices too as a lot of people overcharge, but also be aware that new dolls very rarely sell for under £90. If there is a particular doll that seems a bit TOO cheap, chances are she's probably a fake or factory doll.

THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVOURITE THINGS 2- WIGS.

So today I woke up with a stress induced migraine due to my busy working schedule. I suffer from aura migraines which cause me to partially lose vision, become sensitive to sound & get numbness in my fingers. I had to call in sick to the salon & cancel on clients which stressed me out EVEN MORE & I ended up getting really down about illness & work & life & lack of money. As I suffer from depression it usually takes a bit of a kick to snap me out of a funk & my friend Maria told me that although I was staying at home I had to put on my cutest lounging wear, do my make up & put on a pretty wig instead of moping around unwashed in my jammies. Indulging my depression tends to lead to me taking more time off & feeling worse about myself, but it can be so hard to shake. Today, however, I DID AS MARIA COMMANDED. And I felt better!

And because I did my makeup & had nowhere to go I decided it would be the perfect time to blog about my wigs! This is MUCH more fun than lying around thinking about all the ways I have failed in life. YIPEE!

I buy all my wigs online & I have never paid more than £30 for one. It is pretty easy to make a cheap wig look nice. All I do when I first get a new wig is spray it with dry shampoo, and then take it to the hairdressers to get it styled. 

          

The following wigs are all from gothic lolita wigs To be honest, I feel the wigs on this site are a little overpriced for the quality. The long wigs tangle really easily & are difficult to comb out again. The straight hair wigs I've bought from there in the past have been pretty much ruined after a couple of months. These guys, however, have been FINE.

The blonde kitty ear wig comes with foam inside it to support the 'ears'. However, the hair is held over the foam with two really obvious black hair grips WHICH YOU MUST NEVER REMOVE because all the hair comes away & you're left with two foamy lumps on your head. I got my hairdresser to restyle them for me, but I found it quite difficult to do on my own. But I AM pretty rubbish with hair.

I get so many compliments on this wig from strangers when I wear it out to the shops. I didn't have to style it when it arrived which was fab. Its really poofy & easy to look after. I do think it looks a bit silly unless its all swept over to one side, but that's just my humble opinion (which happens to be entirely correct.) 

This is another one that didn't need styling ^_^ I love shorter wigs as they are so easy to wear & look after. This is a platinum white baby-doll style which looks completely impossible to pull off on the website, but actually looks super cute in real life. I usually wear it with a hat to squish the curls down a little, and I always get people ask how I style my hair in that way. IDIOTS.

The site I prefer to buy my wigs from is lock shop. I find the wigs are a better quality than gothic lolita & don't tangle quite so easily. I have another two from here that aren't pictured as I loaned them out to friends for fancy dress ^_^.

This long straight wig is dip-dyed red at the ends. It is by miles THE BEST long wig I have ever owned. It brushes out easily when it tangles, it doesn't get knotted in the wind & it's really comfortable to wear. I have taken a mirror shot so you can see how long it is, and a close up so you can see how natural it looks. I bought the My Melody cooling eye mask from eBay.

I also have this fluffy crimped wig in brown, but I got the fringe cut straight & didn't like it anymore >:( This style looks soooo much better with a diagonal fringe.  I also needed to get a little volume cut out of the back as it was a bit too thick. This is another really easy style to maintain but I tend to wear it more in the winter when I can tame the puff with a beanie hat or hood x

The rest of the wigs are from eBay sellers. eBay is a great place to buy wigs cheap, but it can be risky as the quality is so different from seller to seller. 

I genuinely can't remember which seller I bought this wig from (SORRY SELLER!!) but it is my absolute FAVOURITE. The style suits me, the fit is REALLY comfortable & the wig isn't too thick so I can still wear hats & hair bands comfortably over the top. This is the style I tend to wear to work the most & also when I'm travelling as it doesn't tangle & is really lightweight. I have had it for a few months & wear it a lot so it's been washed a few times but still looks in good condition. I LOVE YOU, TWO TONE WIG.

These are two boy-style wigs I bought from coscraft on eBay. They are fantastic! I loved the styles as they were so I haven't had them cut at all, but again they are so lightweight & natural looking that I can wear them anywhere without worrying about tangling. Some shorter styles I've owned have been way too thick & have needed so much styling so I will definitely buy more wigs from this seller. My diamanté bear ears are from Topshop, my ear-hat is from eBay and my grey circle lenses are Geo Xtra Bella Grey  from candylens.

So there's a run down for you of the wigs I love the most. With some hair accessories thrown in too. If you have any wig questions, or wig recommendations for me, feel free to ask away! 

Wig blogging has definitely taken my mind off how shitty I felt earlier. Hooray!

Lots of love,

Annabell xxx

OUTFIT-

Leopard print mouse ears from Tokyo Disney

Tshirt dress from Primark

Tights from fashion09jj on eBay

Necklace from www.topshop.co.uk