4/23/2021 0 Comments Grand OpeningThe day has finally come! Today is the grand opening of our Etsy shop! Enjoy 10% off minimum purchase of just $1.00!
We will be listing several more items over the next week. There are some surprise launches in the near future as well, so please check back often. See link to our shop below. Thank you for your continued support. https://www.etsy.com/shop/lacebunnies
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7/27/2020 0 Comments Embroidery: Artistry SpotlightRecent events have forced us into our homes. This has limited mobility, but creativity never stops at Lace Bunnies. With all the extra time on our hands, trying new things and thinking of new products is our top priority Recently, I've taken up the art of embroidery. After falling in love with a heavily embroidered blouse from a recent shop, I wondered if embroidery would be a skill that I could master. Let's take a look at the above designs: Far left: This was created with a kit bough on Amazon. Click here if you would like to purchase and practice on your own Top Middle: This is not my own design. It comes from a popular YouTube embroidery artist, Silver Snow. The link the video can be found here. I made several modifications to the design to suit my tastes. I'm quite happy with way it turned out Bottom right: I created my own pattern ans selected my own colors. This was more of a practice piece as I was testing my abilities. There are a few things I would have done differently, but overall I am pleased with the outcome. Becoming inspired by nature and looking for a cute interpretation, I found this pattern from a YouTuber named Silver Snow. The link to that video can be found here at 23 minutes in. This looked the most like Queen Anne's lace, a wildflower that I picked several of during the summer. (They grow everywhere like crazy.) I liked the simplicity and no fuss approach. Sometimes, less is more. This piece is from a kit purchased from Amazon as well. Click here for more details. This is likely my favorite project so far. The embroidery necklace kits are beginner friendly, affordable, and a great way to pass the time with a quick pay off. In the future, we will definitely offer necklaces similar to this with our own designs and kawaii flair. The FutureThe future of Lace Bunnies is bright and promising. We are continuing product development and getting closer to opening our online shop. The pandemic only slowed the momentum. We will never halt. But we will be safe, and we want the safest shopping experience for our customers.
Please be sure check back often. We have so many exciting projects in the works. 2020 will still be a fabulous year despite the challenges. Many thanks to Cassy for all she does for Uptown Matsuri!
We really enjoyed participating in this virtual interview! 1. How were you introduced to Lolita or how did you discover it? Madeleine: Like many others, my first real experience with lolita fashion was in the convention scene. Way back in the early-mid 2000s, my older sister had tried describing it to me but I first started really getting into the style about 2016. Kristin: My introduction to lolita was purely coincidental. I was in 12th grade, browsing for pretty swan emblems or heart shaped swan emblems for a writing project. I happened upon the Metamorphose Temps de Fille site in my search. This was about 2003. This was before the bubble gum pink dresses and loads of bows were main staples of the fashion. Shiro and Kuro styles were hot at the time. I’ll never forget it. The model was wearing all black, simple makeup, dark reddish hair, standing in front of a dimly lit hot pink background. It was the coolest thing I’d ever seen. The silhouette was probably the most remarkable thing. I took a moment sitting in my English class just staring at every single detail. It would be much later that I started wearing lolita, but that was my first encounter. And it stuck. 2. Did you love it right away or did your interest grow over time? M. For me, it grew over time. When I was really exposed to the fashion, I was really into cosplay (I still do cosplay from time to time). I had an ever growing list of characters I wanted to cosplay. I was all in- styling and modifying my own wigs, drafting patterns for the costume itself, always researching new techniques. I guess I saw lolita and thought, “hey, that looks fun too!” and honestly, there are some common elements: elaborate dress, wigs, sometimes dramatic makeup. So I started doing my research. Like many people interested, I was told to do a lot of research before trying to wear the style. Lolita has its quirks, like many communities. One of these is that the majority of current lolitas make it unnecessarily difficult for new people to enter the fashion. I don’t believe in gatekeeping, so I try to help out new people whenever I can. I sew and design clothes and costumes, so when I saw lolitas even back when I first saw the fashion, I could tell how the clothes were constructed. Even though I have a technical background in clothing, I was new, so I kept getting told to do more research. So I thought I was missing something, which led to more research, and more research until I just about read everything I could. I think I really started having fun and enjoying it when I found my own style and decided I didn’t need a lolita diploma to dress the way I wanted. K. For me, the interest was instant. However, I was college bound the following year. Every dime was being reserved for education. There was no opportunity for immersing myself in the culture. But I did go back to the Metamorphose site every so often when I wasn’t busy. I also saw shoots from Style Arena a few years later. I was able to keep up with popular prints and trends that way. I think that moment of pure obsession didn’t arrive until the sweet era of the early 2010s. Also the same time where I had the career to afford these pretty things. This was a time for iconic prints. Prints that every lolita knows even if they’re just entering the fashion now. I dug deeper and researched Angelic Pretty and Baby the Stars Shine Bright. From there, it was a wrap. Some people did drugs. I was buying dresses. I couldn’t get enough of all the cute things trimmed in lace and adorned with ribbons. It felt right. I felt like I had found something that reminded me of all the things in my childhood I adored. The poofy dresses, the drinking of tea and tea parties, parasols, sweets, and feeling like a princess. 3. In Japan, this style (and many of its variations) have a large enough presence that there are dedicated retail outlets to buy apparel. I assume there are less opportunities to shop in person in the midwest (even before covid) so I'm curious where you shop for a lot of the pieces you use to put together various looks. M. On the con circuit, there are a few options. Larger Japanese brands are often invited as guests to anime conventions. There are small businesses such as ourselves that have accessories, a few that have main pieces. Lolita communities often have swap meets where you can buy or sell clothing. I’m quite a cheap person when it comes to some things, so I bought my first dress online for $13 dollars on sale, much less than I would have paid at a brand’s booth or even at a swap meet. The fashion is really big in China now, and a lot of Chinese indie brands are more size-friendly and wallet-friendly than the Japanese big name brands, so now I do a lot of my shopping there. Two of my favorites are Lolita Wardrobe and Chinese Lolita Updates (Facebook page). The girls who run those businesses are very helpful and understanding. If I am looking for Japanese brand items, I go to Japanese secondhand sites such as Mercari or Fril. You can get really good deals on secondhand lolita items on these sites. It can be a little more complicated than an American based secondhand site, but I personally find the prices and condition of the pieces are better than the Western secondhand market. K: I am plus sized, so summing this up in a paragraph is going to be difficult. I do have several bespoke pieces from Chinese brands. I also have full shirring pieces from Japanese brands. Most items that lolitas wear now are Japanese or Chinese derived even in 2020. It’s a learning curve. It’s not terribly difficult, and things have gotten so much easier. No joke. You can shop top Chinese brands on AliExpress. That was unheard of when I entered the fashion. Nearly blasphemous! It’s a normal thing now, but tons of research is required. You don’t want to get scammed or buy a low quality item that you may regret. Some people still buy directly from Japanese brands with a shopping service. Some will use a shopping service to buy from Yahoo Japan. There are shops like Closet Child that sell directly to Western buyers. These items are almost always used. The good thing is that they check every item that comes in and goes out, so the quality is not lacking. If you want the experience of being able to buy several items from several Chinese vendors, there is My Lolita Wardrobe. There are search tabs for bespoke, budget, and a world of accessories. For those just starting out, I would recommend it. The owner, Angela, is a sweetheart with a lot of patience. 4. You have a business selling kawaii accessories and handmade cosmetics, body care products, and candles. Did that grow because you found yourself making a lot of your own pieces and products due to a lack of available retail options? M. I think that is part of it. Our community has regular craft meets, where we all bring crafting supplies and snacks, and we just sit for a few hours making things to go with our clothes. It’s really cool, especially since our community members all have very distinct styles of lolita. My personal aesthetic is pastels; lavender, saxon blue, and pink, and holographic or iridescent elements. I’m also a sci-fi nerd so that bit of a futuristic look is what I really love. I also wear the really sweet side of sweet lolita, which seems to be coming back a bit in China, but was out of vogue for a few seasons while classic lolita was the “it” style (The two styles are very different in terms of motifs and color palette: sweet tends to be pastel, with cute themes like sweets and cute animals, classic uses more muted and jewel tones). This has led to me making my own accessories, customizing shoes, making dresses, etc. I love being able to come up with something unique and 100% my aesthetic. Sometimes it’s also quicker to make something myself rather than place a pre-order to an indie brand overseas. K. As silly as it sounds,that hadn’t crossed my mind. I’ve done a few items for myself, but I am primarily a retail kind of gal. My time is short, and I usually wait until the last second to take care of my personal needs (MOM Tingz). As far as the business portion goes, I do have a love for making things. Pretty things. And I like to share them. The delight that people have in small treasures is so pure. The availability of these items in the states with our aesthetic is difficult as well. So perhaps there is a whiff of frustration tacked on from my own experiences in trying to shop cute and not spend a small fortune on shipping. Now that I make things on a regular basis, I would say that I have considered making more handmade pieces for myself. I’m still trying to find that balance because my priority is not my own. It’s about taking care of others. 5. Tell us a little bit about your business and your products! M. We are two people and two aesthetics: Bunnies is more my side of things, like really cute, pastel and holo stuff, and the Lace side is more Kristin’s aesthetic: quality cosmetics, candles, useful but cute or elegant everyday items. We both share an enthusiasm for all of these things. We have a lot of stuff, and its always changing. I make super-sweet hairclips, bracelets, rings, headbands etc as well as the lip balm. Kristin crafts amazing candles, body butter, body sprays, earrings, bracelets and other accessories. We also have some items that we would not be able to craft ourselves that we sell retail. We both have scientific backgrounds in chemistry and biology, and I think that shows in our cosmetics. We do a lot of research and a lot of testing to make sure our products are up to our personal standards and safe. K. Lace Bunnies is the embodiment of our personalities. It’s also our interpretation of what we find visually appealing. It’s equal parts serving our customers based on the research we have done and our personal tastes. Our initial bath and body product launch was based on unique fragrance experiences. I had never encountered a key lime pie body butter. Neither had our customers. It was a full on experience. And that's what we wanted to offer. Practical and cool, but definitely not something that you would see elsewhere. The lip balms are amazing. It's our best selling product. The flavors were classic, some adventurous. The formula is super buttery. I love it. We offer items based on the season with a sprinkle of trend. For instance, we had planned another full sakura line prior to the COVID-19 outbreak. We were thinking about the colors, textures, and smells of a short but beautiful season. In the future, we will be expanding product offerings. We're always taking suggestions and ideas as well so that we can keep our customer and fan base happy. 6. In addition to a distinctive style, there's a community and social side of Lolita as well. When you came to Cherry Blossom last year, you had these adorable little sandwiches for lunch, for example. What are your favorite parts of Lolita (culture?) aside from the style? M. I think we were eating cucumber sandwiches. I love that I have a group of friends that are up for dressing fancy and going to tea or to eat cake. Food is a big part of our community. We are always going to a tea house or a bakery or for boba. Some of us are really into the “lifestyle” - learning etiquette, taking up elegant hobbies, perfecting the art of serving tea as a meal. K. Tea would have to be my favorite. This is something I enjoyed before I became part of the fashion. However, I feel like I made a bigger effort to get it “right” after I started dressing elegantly and going to formal teas. My personal interests that may be tied back to the fashion would include horticulture, reading, delicate craft projects, picnics….Many activities that may be associated with Victoriana which is likely not a shock considering the history of the fashion. I would have to say that food and friendship are things that never go out of style. Hence, they are at the core of our communities 7. Are there any particular types of accessories that you really love? (i.e. hair bows, stockings, shoes, jewelry?) M. I love small hairclips. They’re so easy to clip in and send an outfit over the top, and so easy to customize and make unique. In general, I like to think outside of the box in terms of accessories to keep the style fresh. K. This is where things get strange. When I initially began wearing lolita, I would pile the accessories on until it was borderline tacky. But I loved it. Recently, I’ve had the urge to wear more demure pieces. I like dainty things. I do enjoy hair clips as well as they accentuate the face and pick up any dress you may wear. I do like these hair accessories called canotiers. I’m pretty sure they are more in the millinery category, but the way they sit, defying gravity and being so grand appeals to me. They’re usually floral too which is right up my alley. One other love I have is the acrylic jewelry. It looks so neat and shiny. I love it. 8. How much of this fashion carries over in your everyday wardrobe or style? Is it more for special occasions, or do you incorporate Lolita and Kawaii elements into your look most of the time? M. Fashion is fashion so whether it's lolita fashion or not, I’m interested. I wear a variety of styles depending on my mood. Some are cuter and softer than others. I think I’d broadly categorize all of them as street style. I tend to reserve lolita specifically for lolita events. I think lolita refined my eye for detail and balance in my everyday outfits. In a way it taught me to coordinate my outfits better. K. Things like pearl accents, florals, and soft colors can be found in both closets. For me, my handbags may speak more to my lolita wardrobe than anything. The shapes and high quality mainly. The addition of a bow. Gold accents of course. I almost forgot: cardigans. 9. To my outsider's western gaze, there's a lot of overlap between Kawaii and Lolita, but there are also some clear differences. What are some characteristics of Kawaii that are unique from Lolita and vice versa? What are some commonalities? M. I agree there is an overlap. The kawaii culture started in the 70s in japan, while lolita started appearing on the streets in the 90s. Some styles of lolita, such as the sweet style, are definitely kawaii, while the other styles (classic and gothic) are more elegant or striking. Lolita is supposed to be the middle ground between kawaii and elegant, so there are guidelines that don’t apply to other kawaii j-fashions like fairy kei or yume kawaii. In general, you want your shoulders covered, your legs mostly covered, and a poofy skirt. K. Silhouette is likely the biggest difference that one would notice right away. Lolita coordinates tend to be intentional and well detailed. What I mean by this is the extra care taken for things to match or be totally neat. It’s an overall look that doesn’t look effortless because it is not. Now fashions like Decora which is bright and cheerful like sweet lolita may be easily confused. But Decora beyond excessive which is ok for that kawaii substyle. Excess is the point. But in lolita, it would be considered garish. It would spoil the elegance and careful efforts taken to make the outfits polished. I hope that doesn’t sound rude. 10. Have you been to Japan? If yes, what was it like? If not, would you like to go? M. I have not been to Japan yet but would like to go for a variety of reasons. I’m also interested in wafuku, or Japanese traditional garments, history, traditional pursuits like the tea ceremony and calligraphy, and more pop culture phenomena like vaporwave and street fashions, I studied Japanese for 2 years in college, and was planning to teach English in Japan after I graduated, but senior year of college I adopted a senior dog and couldn’t leave him for that long! K. I have not been. I’m not sure I would want to go, yet. As a westerner, I may do something offensive and not know it. That is my greatest fear in traveling abroad in general though. I would need to be totally keyed in on the culture and the language if I were to visit. I can’t go places and not be at ease totally. It would make my stay difficult. 11. Is there anything you have always wanted to be asked during a panel or Q&A? M. I’d like to take this as an opportunity to talk about lolitas in public, if I may. I’ve been wearing the fashion for about 4 years, and while it is wonderful, I’ve also had some awkward encounters in public. I think a good rule of thumb to follow is to be respectful: some of our dresses and accessories cost a lot of money, so please ask if you can touch our things. Sometimes its late in the day and I know my eyelashes are falling off, so don’t take it personally when I decline a photo. We love sharing our enthusiasm for the fashion to interested bystanders, but also realize that there’s a person under frills. K. I would have to agree with Madeleine. I am somewhat over being treated like an object. Members of my community and myself are normal people wearing not so normal clothes. But we are , again, normal people. I would like for people to ask before immediately inviting themselves to my person or my personal space. I would like for them to ask for photos before assuming that I’m ok with taking one. We have minors in the group, and we don’t want their images flashed all over the internet. It’s not safe. So we would like people to respectfully ask us questions but not be as invasive. 12. I don't know details of how isolated each of you are right now, (roommates? family? essential job?) but are style, Lolita, Kawaii, and the communities associated with each helping you cope or find some normalcy? M. In the larger lolita community, it is helping some people. Some people are putting together lolita spirit weeks and outfit challenges to break up the boredom. In our local community we have been having tea parties via Zoom and outfit challenges, and we have been having these virtual meetups more often than we would have in person meetups. For me, I’ve participated in some outfit challenges, reorganized my lolita wardrobe, started projects. Its a nice distraction from the realities of life today. K. I think that continued contact through social media has been super helpful. People don’t feel alone. Our community is like a family. I couldn’t imagine going long periods of time without talking to them. It just seems bizarre. We have had some Zoom chats and group posts that I feel keep up the morale. I’m personally exhausted from my own personal quarantine situation, but I can talk to any of my group members about it for relief. 13. Last year, I noticed that you did an outstanding job of curating cute products to sell at your booths at various festivals in addition to the products that you made yourself. From a consumer's point of view, both were excellent: you found some really cute things to retail and you made some really high quality products as well. Do you have a preference for making vs. finding things to include in your business and/or your personal looks? M. Since we are starting out and we like keeping our selections fresh, some things are easier to retail. Otherwise we would have to either design the product ourselves or pay an artist, then find a manufacturer and deal with high minimum order quotas. If we can make it ourselves, we will. We enjoy making things. I enjoy making things because there isn’t a limit on my creativity. For Japan Fest 2019, I went out on a limb and made a few unique items and people responded very well to them. The more I work with our preferred audience, the more confidence I gain in my own creations. When we started, I think we were trying to fill a niche we saw with our combination of aesthetics and products. I think we have developed a good brand from that niche. K. A combination of both is essential. Hand crafting is fun, but you can become highly critical of your work. I have pulled several items that I made because I did not like them or thought they didn’t meet a particular standard. This is bad for business, but it’s something quite common among creators. So you focus on things that you do well, make time for trying new things, and then have confidence in what you produce. It seems simple, but it’s complicated at times. The retail items we carry are things that we may not have all the materials or skills to create, but it reflects Lace Bunnies aesthetic. We make selections based on what we know our customers would like to see and what feels right. 4/22/2020 0 Comments Headbow TutorialWhile you're stuck at home, why not make some cute accessories? Follow the slideshow below to make a new headbow! Use the hashtags #uptownmatsuri and #lacebunnies on social media to showcase your creations! 12/29/2019 0 Comments Etsy, Here We COME!!!We would like to extend the highest amount of gratitude to our loyal customers and supporters. 2019 was fantastic, and we plan to keep that same energy in 2020.
We want you all to know that we listened. You wanted an online shop, and you wll be getting one! We will launch on Etsy in February. Please be sure to keep your eyes on our social media for shop launch updates. This year, we will also be launching exciting, new products. Our ideas came directly from you, and we want you to get exactly what you want. We plan to out some additional posts on our progress and share some business insiders with you. Thank you again for a wonderful year. We hope to see everybody soon. We're going to enjoy the rest of the holiday and come back stronger than ever! 10/16/2019 0 Comments October 16th, 2019First of all, many thanks to all who stopped by and shopped with us! We met lots of new friends and saw some old ones as well. We had a wonderful time vending and want to thank the festival for the great space we got! We were able to expand our original setup to deliver a new, better, shopping experience. In addition to that, we added a few new deals and I think its safe to say those were a hit! Thanks again for making Japan Fest 2019 a great experience. We had a lot of fun and will definitely be back next year!
7/27/2019 0 Comments Midwest Slime FestWe are so pleased to announce that we have been personally invited to Midwest Slime Fest as a vendor. We are looking forward to being part of something so fun and exciting,
Midwest Slime Fest is a family friendly convention for all things slime. There will be slime panels, vendors, and familiar faces in the community. There will also be the opportunity to buy, sell, and trade your slime with other slime lovers. This is the slime event of the year, so make sure that you don't miss it. Details are in the flyer below. And to make your journey a little easier, use the discount code below. We will also include links to where to purchase your tickets and get all the latest updates on this cool event. 7/6/2019 0 Comments Dog Days of SummerThis event is going to be super fun. There will be cute animals involved!. Come see us at Melissa's Menagerie Craft and Vendor Fair.
Sunday, July 14 2:00 pm-5:00pm 7436 Nieman Rd Shawnee, KS 66203 A craft and vendor fair to raise money for Melissa's Menagerie's Second Chances. A local new animal rescue in Johnson County, KS. Come have fun, shop local craft and vendor booths, join in on the silent auction. They will even have adoptable animals on site! We look forward to being part of something so special and close to our hearts. 6/7/2019 0 Comments First Fridays Vendor Market KCHello Everybody. Sorry for such a late post. We are please to announce that we will be participating at First Fridays this evening! We will be loaded up with inventory, including our strawberry collection. We would be ever so delighted for you all to come out. Happy Friday!
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