This world, like any kingdom, is made up of many different sorts of people. There a kind, good natured people and noble dutiful people and sweet, loving people and then there are Ogres.

Ogres may look just like any other human being, however they lack an essential trait; often called manners, politeness or common human decency. Unfortunately, Ogres seem to be drawn to Princesses, especially if they dress in beautiful clothes or alternative fashion. I have discovered though, that even going about in disguise does not always protect one from Ogres. Thus I think it is important to have a way of dealing with them.

Let us examine the Ogre’s behaviour. They see nothing wrong with shouting, cursing and intimidating strangers. An Ogre who sees you quietly minding your own business in a public place may choose to call out to you, make fun of you or even physically threaten you. Young Ogres travel in packs, and find it amusing to throw words or objects at individuals who catch their attention. Sometimes Ogres don’t even need to address you but their very presence makes you feel afraid and uncomfortable. It can be hard to understand why they behave this way, I sometimes feel sorry for them for never having been taught better, sadly they are not very keen on changing their ways and its best not to try and educate them as they take this as a threat.

How to deal with Ogres

Much like dogs, Ogres can smell fear. The single best thing to do is to radiate confidence. Your mannerisms, your posture and the way you walk can either make you look vulnerable or in control. Put your shoulders back, lift your chin and walk purposefully, fix your face in an expression of nonchalance and imagine a shield around you that nothing can touch. Then, even if an Ogre should shout at you, you can continue on as if they were no more significant than a fly.

Ogres like to get a reaction from you, they like to feel power over you and see you upset. Don’t let them. Do not respond to their taunts or flinch at their remarks. Anyone who can not address you politely is not worth the time of day. If you don’t give them a response, usually they will tire of you.

If you are in an area with a high population of Ogres, do not travel alone. Go with a friend or escort and you will feel safer. Ogre’s are cowards and usually like to pick on individuals. Try also to avoid popular Ogre hang outs, if you are familiar with the area you will notice they tend to take over certain parks and shops and other public places.

Some ogres will not address you directly, but snicker and laugh at you between themselves, quite loud enough for you to hear. At times like these it is important to remember the old saying ’sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me.’ whatever they say is a reflection of themselves and not of you. So be proud of who you are, dress in a way that makes you feel beautiful and don’t be afraid of the opinions of others, especially those of Ogres.

I really enjoyed the convention this year. Perth only really has one anime convention at the moment, and Mirai is on the board so I get to see a lot of the work that goes in to organizing it, I think they did a fantastic job. I will try and summarise each day but I am bound to leave something out because it was such an intense weekend and I had so much fun!

Day 1 Saturday

I wore my MA one piece and spent about two hours getting my hair in to a curly hime style. Steph kindly gave me a lift the convention center where we went and signed in for our pre-registration. I hurried in to help Clara set up and put together my Petit Miel stall then rushed back out to help Steph hand out fliers to everyone in the line waiting for the con to start. I think we handed out nearly 100 fliers for our panel which was great.

Before the panel I did a little shopping. My greatest treasure was a Rose of Versailles Lady Oscar bust which is just so precious to me, I love this series but own no merchandise from it because it’s so old. I also bought a Sister Princess photo album, a Hello Kitty x Lolita keychain and a Happy Berry bracelet.

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Angelic Pretty Head Eating Bow Kachusha
BABY Shirred blouse
Handmade wrist cuffs
BABY sweets check skirt
Angelic Pretty Sweets socks
BABY heart buckle shoes
BABY Usakuma Bag (Parfait!)

I dressed a little more casually for the second day. I did pile on a few accessories though, an adorable necklace from the lovely Miss Emmie, a handmade pearl bracelet and a Happy Berry bracelet, later on I also adopted Mirai’s camera, a My Melody keychain, a Grunty keychain etc.. I think I could have added a few more hair clips and claimed Decora Lolita status by the end of the day. Parfait was fun to bring along and I think she really enjoyed all the attention

Today was the debut of my new label “Petit Miel” at the convention. I was a bit nervous setting everything up and worrying if it would sell. I brought a piece of red velvet to display things on and printed out some little tags, heart shaped for the larger items and rectangular for the small ones. Later Clara moved the Cake Hat on to a litle cake platter she had brought along and it looked adorable!

So far the items have sold quite well, there are still a couple of headresses and bracelets left but I am pleased at how the stall did. Big thanks to Clara and Elizna for letting me share their stall and looking after it all day, I would not have been able to do this without their help.

Before I left today I saw a girl wearing a pair of my Bon Bon Barettes and it made me smile

BABY gold bow clip
BABY Marie Antionette One Piece
Off brand pearl choker
Off brand stocking
Angelic Pretty Crown shoes
Handmade pearl bracelet

Today’s outfit was Hime Lolita, with my beloved MA dress. I tried a new hair style and I think it worked out quite well, allthough this is not the best photo of it. The outfit works much better with these shoes it really needs the heels. I love the sleeves on this dress and the bow clip was a present from Mirai, it’s so versatile.

I’ve have been a very busy Princess for the last few days, locked up in the Petit Miel Atelier, sewing tiny pearl beads to everything with nothing to eat but vanilla icecream Here you can see some more results of my labour, two pairs of fabric and ribbon hair bows with pearl tips. I think there will only ever be two pairs of these because they are a pain to make! Consider them a limited edition

Only one sleep until the convention! I have to get up early and dress and do my hair and then hurry off to set up the stall, hand out fliers to the que, run the Japanese Fashion panel with Skwerlie and then help Eugene out at the cosplay registration desk. Its going to be a full weekend! You probably won’t hear from me until it is over, but expect lots of photos!

It’s snuck up on me but today it has been exactly one year since I made the first post on Princess Portal, 365 days, 174 posts and 757 comments later and here we are!

I want to say a big warm thank you to everyone that reads the site, whether you comment everyday or just stop by once in a while. I really appreciate you taking the time to read my little musings and contribute your own fascinating thoughts. I have recieved so many wonderful emails and ‘Ask the Princess’ questions, it has been a pleasure getting to know you and making some new friends!

The Princess Portal was started at a time in my life when things weren’t going so well, I wanted a chance to focus on the positive things that happen day to day and to record all my joys and treasured moments. I have had a fantastic year and I hope to keep writing and sharing in 2008, hopefully it will be even more fun

Much love,

Princess Skye

I am really excited to announce the debut of my new label, Petit Miel This coming weekend at Wai-con I will be selling the first series of accessories, inspired by deserts and candy - this is my most special creation, a Strawberry Delicious Cake Headdress. I spent most of today completing it. It is made from white felt with pink felt ‘icing’ all shiny with pearl beads, pink and white cotton lace, satin ribbon and three strawberries in cream on top There are some more photos here, as well as images of the other items I have made so far.

Only a few days to the convention, I can’t wait! Whatever does not sell there I will be putting up for sale on Etsy later so keep an eye out for them. After Christmas I hope to continue making new pieces and get the online store up and running! Please look forward to more sweet treats from Petit Miel

I have two new things to share today. The first is a new idea. Princess Days are days I take every now and then, days devoted to enjoying yourself and having a little bit of luxury and pampering, just for a day, to treat your inner Princess with some royal attention.

So I was thinking, really we all deserve to have a day like this once in a while, but sometimes we forget or we are too busy worrying about other events to set aside time for such indulgence. Maybe what we need is an official Princess Day! One day a year where Princesses all over the world can celebrate their royal nature.

If you like this idea, please help me pick a day! I think it would be good to have it not too close to christmas or any other big holiday so we really have time to enjoy it.

The second thing is a poem from Princess Desi, inspired by the Princess Code. I really enjoyed reading this, its so sweet and true, please click the link below to read Desi’s poem.

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Last night I watched Picnic at Hanging Rock. I had been trying to find a copy of this film for a while and was lucky enough to get the director’s cut! Picnic at Hanging Rock is an old Australian film based on a book about the mysterious dissapearance of three students from a boarding school and their teacher on St. Valentines Day 1900. It is not based on a true story, but is presented so it feels like it is.

What attracted me to the film was the setting, an elite girl’s college in the edwardian era. The girls all wear frilly white dresses with coloured sashes on their picnic, wash their faces in basins full of flowers, there is quite a lot of beautiful imagery in the film for fans of the victorian/edwardian periods. I love the pretty valentines Miranda gets, I want to make some this coming St. Valentines.

When the girls leave the picnic grounds to explore the rock the film begins to get rather eerie. Its strange really, because nothing happens that seems very scary, but the combination of the weird panpipe music and strange behaviour of the girls makes it rather creepy. It really is a very good mystery, I’m not going to say anymore so as not to spoil the storyline.

One thing that struck me as interesting was the character Sara, being an orphan in the school, when her guardian stops paying the fees the headmistress threatens to throw her out. Sara is an unusual child with a good imagination - this seems to be a paralell to A Little Princess.

If you like interesting old films and mysteries, I would reccomend Picnic at Hanging Rock. If you watch it at night I think it adds to the creepiness of it. Its not horror though, I don’t watch graphic or violent films, its just eerie, haunting and slightly hypnotic.