Returning to my 52 Week Lolita Challenge ~ Weeks 8 and 9

Hello Everyone!

So, now that my convention season is over for this year, not much is going on in my world. I have began planning for Katsucon, Anime Matsuri and Anime Next next year and the very beginnings of plans for my trip to Japan in December 2015. I will probably devote another post to that in the coming weeks.

And so, I’ve decided continue my 52 week lolita challenge. I kind of fell out of interest with it back in spring last year but I’m going to try to keep with it until the end this time!

I’ll post every Monday and for the next 4 entries I’ll do 2 of the weeks. So I will start again with weeks 8 and 9.

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Why I don’t wear lolita more often?

Honestly, I would happily wear lolita more often but at the end of the day the reason that I don’t comes down to a matter of everyday practicality. With a job that requires a strict uniform and Maryland weather being bi-polar as hell 90% of the time, it’s hard to dress up as much as I’d like. Which is why recently I’ve begun to get into other Jfashions like otome kei and romagyaru.

I also don’t wear lolita more often because I don’t usually get a chance to go to many meetups or events. However as years have passed I have tried to make more of an effort to dress in lolita more, I’ve tried to add more casual things to my wardrobe too.

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 5 4 keywords that describe my personal lolita style

Improvision (Creativity)

Is improvision even a word? I suppose not, lol. Well then I guess creativity. Because I am always working on a strict budget and don’t always have the resources to create the amazing coords I can think up in my head, a lot of my style is basically me improvising for what I can’t afford or have access to when I need it. I make about half of my accessories and frequently check out thrift stores for loli-able items. Even when I’m in other stores if I find something I think would go well with an outfit I get it. I also like to make add-ons for some of my dresses so they can be worn different ways many times. In that sense, I feel like a big part of my progress in the fashion has been from my ability to improvise and create things with little.

Dreamy

I really like airy fabrics like lace and chiffon and my two favorite motifs in lolita are roses and fairies. I really like fairy tales and dressing in lolita always gives me a sence of whimsy like I can transform in to my ideal, dream self.

Elegant

Elegance has to be one of the most, if not the most, important things about my lolita style and lolita fashion in general. Lolita really has helped me become more elegant and refined and I am constantly trying to think of ways to have more elegance. I wish to one day be the perfect proper lady, the epitome of grace.

Pure

By pure, I mean traditional. I don’t really like to follow lolita trends unless I really really like them. I admit a lot of my coords can come off as basic or boring because of it. But that is just me, I like more old school looks and also more elegant and mature looks. I only do OTT for classic and gothic and even then only for very special events.

I’m sorry! I could only think of 4 words! I tried to think of one last one but I could not without becoming repetitive! >o< I have to go up to New York next Monday so most likely I will post again on Sunday!

Yours Jasmine

Anime USA 2014 Part 2 ~ Rise to Heaven

Hello Everyone!

I feel it coming. I know it's coming. Before this post-con illness completely takes over me, onto part two of my Anime USA report!

First Saturday outfit, something cute and casual.

The first part of Saturday was rather uneventful besides the Mika Takeguchi fashion show. I got a lot of good pictures which I will upload within the week. But soon after the fashion show I went back to my room because I was feeling kind of sad again for the usual reasons, but it did not last as long as it usually does. Kitty gave me some good, sound advice while I was feeling depressed which made me feel much better afterward. Now whenever I go to fashion shows, I may feel sad/inadequate for a hot minute, but I bounce back almost immediately. It’s getting to the point where it almost does not bother me at all. Well almost. ;^_^

All dolled up for Schwarz Stein!

In any case, Schwarz Stein’s concert was strangely early Saturday evening, well early compared to what I was expecting. Doors opened at 6, and I was delighted to have a spot very close to the stage with my colleagues and with Kitty behind me. Before the show started a lot of Schwarz Stein’s songs were playing without vocals and I was singing along and teaching Kitty each and every one. Like I’ve said before, I first discovered Kaya through the music of Schwarz Stein and have been a fan of them for 9 years. But Schwarz Stein in many ways is very different from Kaya’s solo project; while Kaya does have some dark elements in his solo work, there is still a lot of cuteness and sweetness. Schwarz Stein is completely dark, erotic, and decadent. No cuteness at all. 

In many ways I actually like Schwarz Stein Kaya best.

After a while the music stopped and the concert began. The melodies of “Testament” filled the air and Hora came upon the stage and Kaya soon after. I could feel my heart begin to race as both Kaya and Hora moved from one side of the stage to another, greeting the fans before taking position for the first song. The upbeat tunes of "Perfect Garden" soon replaced "Testament" and Kaya screamed out "DC! Move your body!!" And from that moment, it was as though the world and time itself had stopped as he beckoned us all to dance and scream even more and commanded the stage with such elegant grace and flamboyance; twirling and dancing around the stage and moving his free hand in a choreographed pattern. His voice, flawless; his smile, stunning, and I could not help but become completely overwhelmed with an ungodly amount of feels. Good feels though!

Hora was amazing too; he stayed still for the first part of the concert but gradually began to move around more, playing his keytar and getting really close to the stage and the fans. I was very taken by Hora’s stage presence which is just as commanding as Kaya’s.

During the second song though, Kaya’s shoe broke and he stumbled a bit but he recovered from it with lightning-like quickness and amazing poise, laughing it off as though it didn’t even happen, and continued the song. For the next song though he stayed still. Afterward, Schwarz Stein had a brief MC and everyone was like "Daijobu desu ka? Daijobu?" to Kaya. But he continued to smile and left the stage to fix his shoe so Hora entertained us for a bit by talking to us about how he liked America, basketball and some other things I can’t quite remember. He was really funny and at one point some girls were like "We love you Hora!" and he said "I love you too!" What a hoot! XD

 Soon enough Kaya returned to the stage and the show continued. For a while I was really worried for Kaya; he stayed still for the next few songs but gradually began freely moving around the stage. By the time they performed "Queen of Decadence" (ULTIMATE Kaya song!!!) he was beginning to dance again and by "Rise to Heaven" (my absolute favorite Schwarz Stein song) he was completely twirling around and sort of vogue-ing in his elegant, graceful, queenly style. And he is such a skilled dancer! It almost made me cry how amazingly he recovered and after regaining his footing, did not hold back one bit from giving a wonderful show. So captivating! Can you guys see why I admire him so deeply??

The remainder of the concert was nothing less than incredible and I sang along with every song. My one small gripe about the show, well not really a gripe per se, was that they did not perform the song “Beautiful the Virgin”. That is another one of my favorite Schwarz Stein songs but I guess the theme of it may be a bit too, how can I put it, “intense” for a concert at a con. At the panel the day before Kaya had said that the themes of some of Schwarz Stein’s songs are a lot darker than his solo work and it may surprise us.

But they did perform “Kuro Ageha”, when they introduced that song Kaya warned us that it was “Very, very dark!” but of course, we were okay with that! They also performed “Creeper” and “Succubus”, during those songs Kaya performed in a very trilling, somewhat provocative way accompanied by Hora growling intensely and pumping up the crowd all the more. 

After “Succubus” they left the stage for a moment and we chanted for an encore, the band returned and talked about a new single that would be released next month! For the encore, they performed “Last Hallucination”. A dreamy, melancholic song, I could feel a few tears fall down my cheeks because I had forgotten how beautiful this song actually is. You see, for a while, I had been purposely ignoring this song because the lyrics are very deep and bittersweet. The final track on Schwarz Stein's last album before they broke up in 2004, Last Hallucination serves as something of a farewell song that I first heard in 2006 when the group was no more and I hadn't found Kaya's solo work yet. So listening to it always made me feel extremely sad.

But something rather poetic, the final lyric translates to "until the next dream, until we meet again". For years such was more or less wistful thinking for fans but then in 2011, Schwarz Stein resumed activities again and now, they were here, in my country. Something I never imagined could happen in 2006. I don't think I'm going to ignore this song anymore now.

The final song was my all-time favorite “New Vouge Children”. It’s such an empowering, beautiful song that I feel that anyone who is different or has been oppressed can relate to. During the final chorus, he pointed the mic at us and the look of joy in his face when nearly everyone in the audience sang back to him is something I will not soon forget. I’m ashamed to admit I was actually crying a bit as I sang along with Kaya as loud as I could. It was such a perfect, beautiful moment. I felt as though I was being transported to a different world, like a dream from which I never wished to wake.

So so SO glad I decided to switch my eye makeup out to waterproof before the concert!! By the time it was over I could not stop my tears. I quickly fixed my face and stopped crying long enough to go to the next autograph session after the show. For some reason, my nervousness had vanished and I went through it with a great sense of calm. I felt as though my great admiration for Kaya grew even more from this concert and I developed a new admiration for Hora too. I could really see the friendship between them and both of them are such incredibly beautiful, talented, quirky human beings. It makes my heart feel so warm.

Hora signed his name in English! ^o^

Sunday was without a doubt the best day of the entire con and also the day of Kaya’s tea party! I started the day very early, taking extreme care in dressing and doing my hair and makeup this time; seeing to it that every detail was flawless. I decided to go for a Venetian masquerade look with my new AATP dress and I must say, I don’t think I have ever looked more beautiful than I did that day. I also received many compliments from other people at the tea party, the staff and Kaya himself! My skill and confidence in my coords just keeps rising, to think I almost wanted to give up lolita this year!

Sadly, no full front body shot of this coord, not yet anyway. >o<

JSK and bag ~ Alice and the Pirates

Blouse ~ Handmade

Headpiece ~ Sweet Mildred

Shoes and mask ~ Offbrand

There were many other beautifully dressed attendees too, sitting with us was this very sweet girl dressed in head-to-toe BABY who I thought looked adorable! When we were all finally seated, Kaya appeared before us all, greeting us with gracious bows and waves and a winning smile. He thanked us all for coming to his tea party and that he would go to each table and greet us all personally.

We were the second table to meet Kaya. He looked even more magnificent up close and I became awestruck again! >o< I managed to say that I thought he looked beautiful, he smiled and said "Thank you!" and touched the gold mask decorating my hair; I think he really liked it! My confidence soared again. He also liked the rose decorating Kitty's badge and Kitty pointed out to Kaya how it matched the roses decorating his dress and bonnet. Amanda was sadly sitting away from us at another table but I noticed when Kaya went to her table he sat right next to her and seemed to adore the Usakumya-chan she was carrying! I was so happy for her!

Obligatory tea party selfie, so much fanciness on my head!

Forever frilly besties! <3

Noms noms! XD

After Kaya had visited each table and met with the guests, he returned to the front of the room and began the promised chanson-style mini show, asking us all to enjoy it. He sang sitting down, the first song being “Chocolat ~ Sweet Version”, a softer, cuter version of the song “Chocolat” that no doubt shot everyone in the room with another ungodly amount of warm feels. So much cuteness! TOO much fucking cuteness!!!

When that song was over Kaya had a brief MC where the took the time to thank us again for coming to the tea party and explained that the last song was very sweet and cute to fit the theme of the tea party. Kaya also talked about his outfit for the day, rising from his chair and turning around cutely and saying how it’s from BABY/AATP but because he was at AUSA as a part of Schwarz Stein it was a darker dress to fit Schwarz Stein’s theme. We mused about how lovely Kaya looked and he responded in the usual, adorable way. He asked us “Kawaii? Daisuki? Kirei?” and quickly, slyly replied “I know!” UUUUUGGGGHH KAYA!! >////////////////////<

Finally, he announced the next song, but warned that it was a sad love song, “Silvery Dark”. Kitty and I listened intently, squeezing each other’s hands trying to keep ourselves from crying. We were so close and I noticed that many others did look a bit misty-eyed by the time the song was over. Kaya’s voice was so magnificently beautiful but the third and final song was much more upbeat and cheerful, “Transmigration”.

We clapped along to the music and sang along with him. Sweet and whimsical, Kaya removed the chair from the stage and decided to sing this song standing, dancing a little too. But by the final chorus Kaya had left the little stage and was moving around the room freely dancing and moving around in his graceful queenly way; even the limited space could not hold Kaya back. It was quite impressive that he could make even the most limited bit of space a stage for himself. By this point, it was all I could do to NOT fly apart. I know I sound like a terrible fangirl but if you could just be there you would understand!

And just when I thought that the level of feels could not be higher, just when I thought that my heart could not contain anymore joy, Kaya finished the performance beautifully and thanked us once more for attending that day. He also said that while it may be hard to like things like lolita, anime, etc. that each and everyone of us should be ourselves and love ourselves just the way we are. The most important thing is to love ourselves and even 20 years from now he would still be singing and dressing in lolita! He said this with such sincerity too, that did it!

 I turned my head to the ceiling to keep the oncoming tears from running down my cheeks and ruining my face. Up until that moment I was trying so hard to keep my feelings inside but what Kaya said was really too much for my heartstrings because with so much going on with me recently regarding my broken self esteem, it was exactly what I needed to hear. It is obvious that Kaya has a great deal of confidence and self-assurance in himself and that is one of the many things I think makes him such a gifted performer and why so many people all around the world adore and admire him. I've always wanted to ask him at a panel or a meet and greet what is his secret to self-confidence and being as beautiful as he is inside and out but I’ve never had the courage to and probably never will. 

To hear Kaya say this touched me very deeply and I really hope that one day I can be like him, beautiful inside and out. I want to live my life being happy with who I am not being ashamed about my weight and Kaya really is my inspiration for that goal. I admire him so much.

So, so SO glad to have Kitty with me to keep me from crying too much! The tea party was over but before we left everyone who attended the event got to take a picture with Kaya and received a special thank you card from him.

When it was my turn my hands were shaking badly, resulting in a very awkward hand pose. >o< But despite this, I absolutely adore this picture!! I was so happy and felt so beautiful in that moment. Not as beautiful as Kaya, but beautiful all the same, it was so unreal. I was really on the verge of tears again but managed to keep my crying until AFTER I met Kaya! XD This had to be my happiest lolita day in the five years I’ve been wearing the fashion; there was no insecurity nor any feelings of inferiority compared to anyone else. And I was even happier having Kitty by my side to experience it all with me. I really could not ask for a better lolita friend! <3 If for any other reason, all the hell that I went through to make it to AUSA was worth it for this day alone, this moment. I really wish I can have more days like this day and hope that in the future I can experience true confidence in myself more often. 

I don't want these happy feelings to ever go away. 

And so we left, we met up with Amanda, who was also on cloud 9 like the rest of us! The last thing we all did before leaving the con was pose together for a group photo.

We are all so cute! ^o^

Goodies from Anime USA, Schwarz Stein merch (not including the towel I also bought) and birthday gifts from Kitty!

That was Anime USA 2014 for me. I’ve been con hopping since 2008 and AUSA is the con I’ve been to the most besides Otakon. This year had to be the best AUSA ever and the best con I’ve been to in years. Even with all the hell I had to go through to prepare for this con and even with my brief moments of sadness and self-doubt, it still ended up being a wonderful weekend. I would not trade a moment of it; I got to finally see Schwarz Stein, something I once thought would never happen, celebrate my birthday with great friends, and meet Kaya again! I think it is great that I ended up having such a great time, especially since I’ll be taking a break from serious con hopping next year. Katsucon and Anime Matsuri are my only confirmed cons for next year. But I plan on doing so much while I’m in Japan that I feel like it will be worth it in the end. So look forward to hearing more about my plans for that in the future! Thank you for reading my Anime USA 2014 report, hope you enjoyed it! ^.^

Yours Jasmine

Five Years of Frill ~ My Lolita Timeline

Hello Everyone!

So International Lolita Day is only a few days away. This will be my first year actually celebrating and doing something besides staying in my house watching period dramas in my brand, lol. Also, this year marks five years since I’ve been seriously dressing in lolita fashion. Wow, time does fly, it does not seem that long since my first bodyline purchase and now my wardrobe is nearly all brand! In these past years I’ve dabbled in many different types of Japanese fashion; from himegyaru to visual kei, and most recently otome kei. But lolita has always been my first fashion love!

I made my first purchase in 2009 and have been dressing in it ever since, even though I had been observing and researching the fashion from 2005-2008. I still have all of my English GLB’s too! My first three years were mainly experimenting with different substyles, as well as trying to figure out if lolita was truly for me or maybe another fashion. By mid to late 2012 into early 2013 I finally figured out my niche. So here are pictures of my progress in lolita fashion from 2009 to now.

Otakon 2009, aka my first “lolita” dress

Yeah… I suppose all lolitas go through an ita stage in the beginning, and 2009 was more or less mine.  This dress is from, what I understand now to be, one of Milanoo’s many storefronts. It was “supposed” to look like BTSSB’s Karami babydoll jsk (based on what I know now to be a stolen BABY stock pic), however, as an impressionable 17-year-old old I figured that this was just as good. 

I swear to god, this pic is practically a greatest hits of everything one should NOT do in lolita fashion; the cat ears, the unkept hair, the cheap lace and corset lacing with satin ribbon, everything is awful! It's almost too embarrassing to share but I think it's important to show that all fashion noobs go through a stage like this. And it wasn’t until I found Bodyline’s site and got rather harsh feedback online about this coord (and Milanoo in general) that I threw this into the fire and started buying from Bodyline. A good thing too because I had decided to buy 3 more dresses 2 more blouses and 4 skirts from Milanoo and if I did not know better, I would have done so and probably would not have left my ita stage as quickly as I did.I'm not as ashamed of this pic as I used to be because I understand that this was simply the phase I had to go through before becoming a better lolita.

Anime USA 2009, aka DID I REALLY THINK IT WAS OKAY TO MEET KAYA IN THIS?!

Slightly better, not really, lol. This dress, bag and socks were my first purchase from bodyline ever, the mini hat from Hot Topic and unseen shoes from a Halloween store. I sort of fancied this as kind of “ero lolita” but honestly in some ways, this might be worse than the outfit above, at least that had the proper lolita silhouette. The only thing I can see good with this is that it was when I started using wigs, long before wigs were a lolita staple.

2010 ~ Part 1, aka slowly leaving the ita phase

I received my first Bodyline haul for Xmas 2009 and in early 2010 my outfits slowly began to improve. I went to my first lolita meetup in April that year.

2010 ~ Part 2, more slow improvement

Beginning to get the basics out of the way I began experimenting so see what style suited me best.

2011 ~ First pieces of brand and still trying to figure out my fav style

This year, I suffered from a lot of insecurities regarding myself as a lolita because for a while I felt that I would never get any better. I was wrong. I started dressing in my first pieces of brand and also finally began to realize that I was indeed improving and my favorite style was gothic/classic. However, I would not start dressing more in gothic/classic for a while. I also started this blog in 2011.

2012 Part 1 ~ Trying pastels

Acknowledging that sweet lolita was the most popular style in lolita and was also more accessible as a plus size girl, most of my outfits for the first half of this year were sweet. I did like the style but not as much as gothic/classic and I was not (and still am not) much for the super OTT styles that many girls seemed to enjoy.

2012 Part 2 ~ More gothic lolita

This really is the style I feel most comfortable in. I also “attempted” punk lolita in this year as well.

2013 ~ More color

More gothic lolita, and one classic. A part of me really wanted to find a way to go back to sweet lolita, only because I really did not want to have so much black in my wardrobe. I started by not wearing much black this year at all and trying more colors in general. I also started buying from Taobao.

2014 ~ Finding a happy medium, and looking forward

I find that I look best in shades of blue, jewel tones in general and that sweet classic looks best on me along with gothic. In the future I may want to try kurohime again, as well as try more old-school inspired coords. I also want to try OTT gothic!

All things considered, I believe that I have improved tremendously from my first disastrous milanoo purchase; and I believe that I will only become better. I honestly never thought that I would ever be as good a lolita as I am now and if I can improve than surely anyone can too. I hope you all enjoyed strolling down lolita memory lane with me, I did. I’m really looking forward to this weekend! ^.^

Yours Jasmine

May 19, 2014

Hello Everyone!

 This time last year, I wrote about Anne Boleyn and introduced readers here to my strong admiration of her, on the anniversary of her murder. I received quite a bit of praise from people on Tumblr in my ask box which made me extremely happy. Many people in my daily life really don't understand why I love her so much and why my respect for her is second only to my mother. But I think that is because, in many ways, Anne’s story is still very misunderstood. The fact that there are still idiots out there who believe she had six fingers (even my own history professor!) is proof of this.

But I think the most misunderstood thing about her is that she, somehow, deserved her fate and that she was, at least, somewhat guilty; if not for anything else, destroying the marriage between King Henry VIII and Catherine of Argon. I think for this year’s post about her, I will write more about who she was as a person, and more importantly what I personally think about her downfall. This is just going to be a quick summary more or less and honestly does not do justice to the story of Anne’s life. The pictures included are various screencaps from my favorite Anne Boleyn film “Anne of the A Thousand Days” with Genevieve Bujold playing the title role. 

Anne was a young woman when she joined the court of King Henry VIII and Catherine of Argon as a lady in waiting. Before she served in the French court and from there learned many things about fashion, philosophy, and love. She was elegant, intelligent and stylish. Many accounts say that she was not considered beautiful; but then again the standard of beauty at the time was pale skin, blonde hair and blue eyes, Anne was olive-skinned with dark hair and eyes. I think she was probably very beautiful, in her own way, she certainly did NOT have six fingers on one hand!

In any case, Henry had stopped visiting Catherine’s bed long before Anne came around, the poor queen had suffered many miscarriages and her only living child was a girl, Mary (the future Mary I). It was foolishly thought at the time that a woman had neither the wit nor strength to rule on her own and Henry wanted a son to inherit the crown when he died. Henry had asked Anne to be his mistress, just like Anne’s sister had done before her. But Anne refused, many times she would leave court to avoid the king’s advances and would send him letters with mixed messages. To straight out refuse the king was unthinkable at the time, which is why some people, myself included, think that Henry’s advances were a form of royal sexual harassment. The fact that Anne's courtship with another young nobleman was broken up by one of the king's advisors soon before the king began pursuing her gives further evidence to this theory. 

Finally, Henry proposed marriage to Anne and she accepted but still refused to sleep with him and would continue to do so until very shortly before their marriage. 

But he would need the pope to grant him the okay for an annulment of his first marriage first, something that the pope refused to do. Henry was furious and refused to let the pope dictate what he would and would not do. He broke from Rome and the Catholic Church and had the marriage annulled anyway and married Anne in secret when she was carrying his child, presumably a boy.

Alas though, it was a girl! A sweet little redhead that we know now as Elizabeth I! Anne adored her daughter but at the time the gender of the child was a great blow to her father and that, in my opinion, was the start of her ruin, among other things. 

As I mentioned in last year's post, what ultimately brought about Anne’s downfall was the fact that she did not give birth to a son. I honestly do believe that if she did then she would have lived. Henry probably would have found love with another woman because, well he was just a whore like that, lol, but he would not have discarded Anne like he did to Catherine. But there was a lot more going into her downfall than just her misfortune of not having a son.

The fact is that Henry had been contemplating with his advisor, Thomas Cromwell, about getting rid of Anne as early as October 1534. Anne was very outspoken, argumentative at times, and highly opinionated, something that was considered unthinkable for the wife of a man who expected total submission from all those around him. But Anne was not submissive, one of the things I really admire about her. It is ironic because it was Anne’s outspoken nature that was one of the many things that attracted Henry to Anne in the beginning. 

By 1536, Henry had turned his eye to Jane Seymour, the complete polar opposite of Anne. Meek, sweet and obedient. Jane, like Anne, refused to be Henry’s mistress and by this point, Catherine was dead so Henry began to think of the possibility of getting rid of Anne and getting a son off of Jane as Anne had suffered two miscarriages after the birth of Elizabeth and with the most recent one, the fetus was said to have all appearances of being a boy.

To add to it, Anne and Thomas Cromwell, although originally allies, were beginning to butt heads as well. In Henry’s desire to marry Anne, he brought down the power of the Catholic Church in England and began getting rid of the monasteries and taking away the vast wealth and riches of the clergy. Anne wanted these riches distributed to educational and charitable causes but Cromwell wanted to fill up the king’s treasury with these riches and take a cut for himself. Recent evidence strongly suggests that Cromwell orchestrated Anne’s downfall and I do believe it to be true.

Either way on May 15^th, 1536, Anne was put on trial for adultery, incest, and plotting to kill the king; and was found guilty. In the beginning of this post I said that her execution was also a murder, that’s because it’s true. Anne was 100% innocent of the charges against her and basically was killed for no reason at all save for the fact that Henry had tired of her and wanted someone new to put his dick in.

This video here describes much better my thoughts. Her thesis is so dead-on and very impressive.

Take note between 13:39 to 14:14. Preparations for Anne’s downfall had begun BEFORE she was condemned! But what really angers me the most is how some people still view Anne as a harlot. She was not! Was she scheming? Yes. Was she intemperate? Yes. Was she ambitious? Yes. But that is what made her such an amazing woman in my eyes and I believe that the fact that her daughter Elizabeth lived on to become one of England’s greatest monarchs is karma. Henry did eventually marry Jane Seymour a few weeks after Anne’s death and they did have a son, but she died soon after and their son (named Edward) died after only about 5-6 years of being king at the age of 15. 

Little Elizabeth looks on as she hears the cannons signifying the death of her mother, probably not understanding that the direction of her life is now about to change completely.

I feel as though I am rambling now. Before I end this, let me share this beautiful Tudor styled gown from the taobao lolita brand Surface Spell based on gowns from the 2008 film “The Other Boleyn Girl”. 

I honestly don’t think much of that particular film more than the fact that it is sensationalist tripe based on one of Gregory’s books. But it is an extremely rare thing to find a good quality accurate historical costume under $200. I plan to order it very soon for an Anne Boleyn cosplay that I hope to debut this year at Anime USA. In the meantime if you are interested in learning more about Anne, I suggest this site above all others:

http://www.theanneboleynfiles.com/

This website is run by a woman who is as devoted to Anne as I am if not more. There are a lot of different articles on this website, not just about Anne but about Tudor history in general and the people in her life.

Yours Jasmine