My first order from CutesyKink - Japanese Fashion Store

Hey Sweethearts!

You all good?

I'm a massive fan of Japanese Fashion (as if you couldn't already tell! >.<)  and have been looking at buying pieces from UK based stores for a while now, though for some reason I've never actually gotten round to purchasing anything.
 (I suppose I'm pretty wary when I order things online from somewhere for the first time.)
This week I really want to share my recent purchases & experience shopping with www.cutesykink.co.uk 

I've always loved the range of clothing from CutesyKink (their website is also really cute!), and finally got round to placing an order.
 It took me a good few hours to pick out an outfit that I wanted the most, though- they have so many things to choose from, I was like a crazy kid in a candy store!
"OMG I want this and this and this and...uwaaaaaaaaaa that's adorable! I have to have that too!"    However, I think had I given in and bought everything that I wanted, my bank card would have been left whimpering in the corner!

Ordering:

Ordering from the CutesyKink website was really easy as everything was well laid out, and I could pay via Paypal - that's a massive decision-maker for me when I purchase online, I find Paypal the easiest option, and it's also secure. I tend not to buy from places if I can't use Paypal.

Shipping:
 I ordered pretty late at night, but my items were shipped the next day. Usually I expect a couple of days before items are shipped out as I run my own online store, I understand that order volumes can mean that it's not always possible to send out items the next day, so I was really pleased!  Shipping was done via Hermes, and my order had a handy tracking code from them so I could see where my item was at all times.
 The email from Hermes said to allow for 2-3 working days for my items to reach me, and my items arrived on the 3rd working day - delivered to me in the morning by a really nice delivery man that chuckled at my dishevelled yet totally excited face!

Shipping cost just over £4, which I think is reasonable given the great service and 24h tracking abilities.

Unwrapping:

This is what my parcel looked like on arrival - all pretty in pink with the CutesyKink label! 

Once I opened the package, neatly packed inside were my new clothes! It came with a kawaii business card, and a little gift of cute nail art slices with it! 

Clothes:

I got this sweet floral print top from the "Cute Girl" section, and it was labelled as Vintage Gyaru style.

I love how girly and romantic it is with the off the shoulder fit and ruffles, but at the same time it's made from a fleece-type material so it's pretty warm too! I really expected this kind of item to be a lot thinner material-wise, so I was really pleased that it's actually quite thick! This means that I don't need to wait until summer to wear it around.
The bow on the top is held onto the top by broochpins instead of being sewn on, so this means I can adjust it a little and there are no stitches that could come loose in the wash.

Size-wise, it was marked as Freesize, which is quite common in Asian clothing, as opposed to here in the UK. I'm a UK8 on top, and tend to wear heavily padded bras so I wondered how well it would fit on the bust(I won't lie, I wasn't blessed with breasts, so I cheat!) but it fit me really well. It's quite a loose style, so it covers my wobbly tummy bits, but it's also really quite stretchy with elastic at the top, bottom and wrists which make for a super sweet shape. I reckon this could stretch to a UK10.

             Price: £8 (on sale)

To complement the top, I picked a pair of cute shorts! These are a lovely beige colour, and again are made from stretchy yet pretty thick material, with a lovely shimmer & lace leg detail - and also a cute belt!

I was really hesitant about buying these if I'm really honest. I loved the way they looked online, but as a pear shaped girl with a pretty large bum & thighs, I wondered if it would actually fit due to the differences in Asian sizing and body type.
 I picked a size M going by the measurements/waistsize given, but I know that my bum can pose a problem despite that! (I usually have to try on jeans/shorts/trousers before I buy them, I can fit anywhere between a uk8-12 depending on brand/cut/fit - big butts are a nightmare....'and I cannot lie' :P) 
I tried them off with an air of panic, but breathed a sigh of relief as they actually fit over my keester, and didn't dig into my thighs at all!

They are short-shorts though *who wears short shorts?I wear short shorts!*  so I couldn't wear these without tights, as I don't have the legs for it. They'd definitely look cute without tights as well, for ladies with more body confidence than me!  

Price: £8 (on sale)

Here are some photos of the outfit when worn! Photography by Louise Cantwell Photography, something a little fun before I morphed into an ethereal being later in the day.

Wig: Ebay (I really wish my hair were naturally like this though! I'm growing it in hopes that one day it'll be long and kawaii XD)

Verdict: 

Overall, I'm super happy with my order from CutesyKink (as you can see from my silly faces)! Everything arrived great and super quickly, so I'd most definitely order again...once I can make a definite decision on what I want to buy next XD

Check them out: cutesykink.co.uk

Love,

          Kasumi x

Love is in the Air - Valentines Day chatter

Hey Sweethearts!

I hope you're all doing well! ^_^

Love was most definitely in the air for Valentines' Day - did you all have a good day too?

VDay Gifts:

My lovely Bf surprised me this year with a card and a beautiful bouquet of flowers when he picked me up for our date on Saturday. I absolutely adore flowers, so this was super sweet!

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Makeup & Hair

I really wanted to have a romantic, girly look for our date this year, so drew my inspo from HimeKaji looks to create my Vday co-ord.

I used the same high ponytail that you all saw in last weeks blog, as I feel it suits me really well, though this time I kept my fringe full and curled the sides of my hair to add some more fun to the look. My makeup is my current favourite style of Gyaru makeup, using Princess Mimi Sesame Grey circle lenses, and a super cute pink lipstick and gloss that I picked up from Miss Sporty.
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Outfit/Co-ord

Moving on to my outfit choice!

This was a bit of a random match up in the morning as I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted to wear
 >.< (girl problems) but I just knew it had to include my super cute shorts/fake skirt from River Island!
I'm pretty funny about wearing shorts a lot of the time, due to having super chubby legs, but when I saw these I fell in love - and they were on sale for £5! I think the shorts/skirt combo is great for me, as it  covers the tops of my thighs at the front which I'm most insecure about, but they're still shorts at the back.

Starting from the top: 
Hello Kitty Print Kanzashi flower hairclip from Yume Kanzashi (you can see it better in the middle of the image) 
Cream furry jacket: Jane Norman
Pink v-neck jumper: Jane Norman
White lace high neck tshirt: Primark
Watch: Sekonda
Bracelet: Won at Arcade
Crystal Belt: Primark
Tartan Shorts/Skirt: River Island 
Tights: Primark
Boots: Ebay + Self D.I.Y
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Nails
When I picked up my last bargains from Primark, I spotted these false nails for £1 and impulse bought them in case of a girly outfit day, which turned out to be Valentines!
 I did add some cute pink crystals to the nails for that extra bit of sparkle too ^_^

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Our Date:

This year my Bf & I decided to head to Glasgow to do something fun, instead of just going for dinner. We decided to go and be overgrown children and play the arcade games at Xscape which was soo much fun!

 I've totally decided that I'm the best at the shooting games, but I fail miserably at driving/racing games... T_T It's probably just as well that I don't drive, as I'm pretty reckless and crash constantly - the idea was to race, but I decide to have dirty tactics and take everyone out on the way XD

We also won a good amount of tickets too - Bf got super lucky on one of the games and won the 1000 ticket bonus!

Using the tickets, we came out with a sparkly bracelet (you can see that in the pic of my nails), a super cute Hedgehog toy that we named Choccie, and a bubble sword!
After that, it was time to go for dinner!

We decided to go to Frankie & Bennys' for dinner to save us driving in and out of the city centre, and had a lovely meal! We had garlic and cheese mushrooms, and calamari for starters, followed by this plate of awesomeness! I totally recommend the New Jersey Chicken from there - chicken, pulled pork, bacon, bbq sauce and jalapeño cheese - what's not to love?!!?!?!

We were pretty full after the meal, so didn't opt to have any desserts from there, only a couple of cocktails for me. True to form, I couldn't stay away from a dessert - I love sweets and cakes so much!
 There is a little place inside Xscape that makes crepes and waffles, and we had a crepe to begin our evening, so this time I absolutely HAD  to try out the waffles too!

Underneath the layers of cream, marshmallow and nutella was such a delicious waffle - I'd definitely go and eat it again!

We then finished off our Valentines' day night watching movies in bed with a bottle of Champagne - it was perfect!


That concludes my Valentines' Day post - what did you all do? Stay in or go out?
As usual, leave me some comments below and don't forget to follow me!

Kasumi x

DIY time! Sweetie pie Princess Boots!

Hey Sweethearts,

This weeks' post isn't the most informative, but I really wanted to share my little DIY project with you all.

For Xmas, my Bf usually gives me a clothing allowance, so that I can update my wardrobe (I know, I have 4 wardrobes & 2 chests of drawers....but trust me, I NEVER have anything to wear!). Unfortunately there were a couple of items that I couldn't get from my list, so I ended up getting a super cute pair of boots!

I totally fell in love with them when I saw them, and I've been needing some nice warm boots, so figured these would be perfect to go with some cute warm co-ordinates ^_^

The only drawback for me, was that I found them to be a little plain for what I was looking for, so decided to do a little bit of DIY/embellishing to give them some impact.


                                                 

For the front, I decided to add a little swag of pearl beads, with a cute sparkly alloy heart just under the bow. I also added a little leafy embellishment to the front of the bow that I found amongst my haberdashery pots. (The lucky part about being a designer, is that I always have interesting things floating around for many a craft use)

Around the entire platform of the shoe, I added a row of pink flatback gems, and attached pearl beads to the bottom layer of lace, for a subtle addition.


                         

For the sides, I remembered that I had some pink ruffle & rhinestone trim that was looking for a project to be a part of, and figured that they'd fit perfectly to add some shimmer and sparkle, so I stitched them to the fur around the boots. Although you can't see it in these photos, it really catches the light well!

I also found some AB plastic bead trim in amongst my pots of treasures, and thought they'd be a fantastic addition to jazz up the otherwise pretty dull heel! After much humming and hawing about whether or not I had enough trim to create a swag on both sides of the heel, I tried my luck and it was a success! I got out my trusty gluegun, and placed a line of glue from the connecting seams, and started off the trim from there, and when I made the swags, I just needed to bring the trim up and glue at the back of the heel!

For the outer side of the boots, I added a couple of acrylic roses (also using the glue gun) so that it would have a little more than the inside - I thought the different pink tones worked really well for this!

As I mentioned when I talked about the front of the boots, I lined the platform/heel with a row of pink flatback gems, and I also added pearl beads all the way along the bottom of the lace to add that extra something. The glue that I'm using for the gems wasn't dry when I took the pictures, so they look white - but rest assured, the glue I used dried clear and sparkly - I was just too excited and had to take pictures!


                                          

This is the back!

I found an old pair of earrings (once again in my pots of treasures) that were pretty simple and heart shaped, so I thought that they would look alright hooked in just under the ruffle trim (which is flapping down a little in this pic..oops!)

You can see here how I've created the swags, and I love the way it looks from the back! I added another couple of pink toned acrylic roses to complement the ones on the sides, and added a little flatback gem under each of the roses at the bottom to tie in with the gem trim!

I'm super pleased with how these came out, and can't wait to find an outfit and occasion to wear them! I'm thinking they would suit a Himekaji look pretty well! What do you all think?

Did I do ok for my first attempt at DIY-ing my shoes?
Let me know in the comments section ^_^

Love,

Kasumi x