Sewing for My Lazy Self: Marisa's Ghostbuster Skirt, Part 1--The Planning Stages

I have a couple of Lolita sewing projects on the back burner. A cherry-print bustle skirt with a red rufflebutt skirt underneath and matching petticoat sits not-exactly-forgotten on my ironing board, and there's a pair of cut-sews on hold, until I have the materials to touch them up. As I've said, I'm a horrible procrastinator. I'll start a sewing project and never finish.

But, now, I don't have an excuse. I'm a Live-Action Roleplayer and my newest character, Marisa, is a Lolita addict. I wouldn't say she's lifestyle, but she's at least going to wear Loli at once every couple of games. I just saw her as the sort of girl who would deliberately dress in ruffles and pretty prints to fool the people around her into thinking she's either very, very sweet or very, very simple. On the other hand, she's a bit of a punk and wouldn't hesitate to be a little tongue-in-cheek about it and use her splat symbolism (gray, crazy colors, skulls, dice, cards, etc.) to accessorize.

I have a little more than a week to make something, so I'm going to go easy on myself and make a very casual skirt out of some Halloween calico I have, with a built in petticoat. The material is two different colorways of a camo print (gray and orange) with little ghosts hidden in the print. It's hilariously appropriate because she deals with ghosts, and I can use it later for Halloween and punk-goth coords. The built-in petticoat is probably going to be a simple, light layer of gray or black cloth with black or orange tulle, not a lot, just enough to give it a bit of poof for the appropriate sillhouette.

With it, I'm planning to wear an orange baby tee, gray knee socks with skulls, mary janes and pearls. I'm hoping to slap together a quick hair bow or corsage, with a skull attached, and maybe find a bag to carry my notebooks and other props (one with a Ghostbusters logo would rock, but I'll take what I can get).

Now, a lot of people say that orange is an unsuitable color for Lolita. I say, bullshit. If it's a truly painful neon, okay, then yes, there are colors that probably lack the elegance and grace that Lolita style strives for. But, I think orange can be a very stylish and refined color in the right situation. I mean, it's the national color of the Netherlands, home of the tulip craze and Rembrandt (van Rijn). I'm into holistic medicine, so I've researched chakras and found that orange is the color of the sacral chakra, which governs creativity, joy and enthusiasm. So, some day, I might be tempted to make a jsk or skirt in a light creamsicle orange or a warm amber. For now, I'm using it as the ruffles and waistband on this skirt and damn the naysayers.

Hopefully, I'll have an update soon. Until then, this is Brenna, wishing you all lots of luck, love, and living space! Remember, I'm no expert, I'm learning as I go!