[coord] Happy belated International Lolita Day

I didn't wear lolita yesterday, I was in cosplay at Anime Frontier and then felt too exhausted to dress up later. I guess I could have dressed up Friday or today but was not in the mood. However, I will repost an old photo from way back when that didn't seem to be posted in this blog for some reason. Or maybe I did post it, but I couldn't find the files on my media, so here it is again.

[jsk, wrist cuffs, eyepatch, bunny ears: Alice and the Pirates; corset, hat: Fanplus Friend; blouse: offbrand; purse: Innocent World; shoes: thrifted or Bodyline; necklace, eyepatch, gloves, ring: Forever 21; necklace: BB Deco]

I never wore this coord out, these were test outfits for Ikki-con 2016 with special guest Baby, the Stars Shine Bright. I ended up wearing ouji steam-punk white rabbit instead (see the write up here). I wore an alternate version of this with a pirate hat to a Mad Hatter meetup later (see that write up here.)  I had a lot going on in this outfit so I was shy to wear it out and obviously wasn't going to wear an eyepatch to a party where hot tea was served, but I think it's actually pretty good considering I had only re-entered lolita and j-fashion in 2015 after a long hiatus due to college and then graduate school and thus had a limited budget and wardrobe a year later. What I really liked about this coord that didn't copy over well in the Mad Hatter meet is that it even though there were some off-white accents with the pearls, I didn't try to work that in and instead concentrated on the black and brown with just a hint of tan. Thus the semi-sheer diamond tights were a better choice than the white/black card suits socks.

I sold this dress for some reason (that was stupid, I liked the print since I was a musician and wear plenty of black and brown), but if I could rewear this coord, I might change the blouse and wig and either forget the bunny ears or lean into the White Rabbit theme more with like a watch purse or something. I didn't like the pirate hat much looking back at those photos, even though the idea was sound, so maybe I would rewear this mini hat or a wear a black tophat instead.

Finally, my general advice to people who want to get into lolita fashion or wear more lolita but have hit a wall. Lolita fashion has its restrictions and rules and gatekeepy nosy drama queens for a reason, because it's called "lolita," the same as the book by Nabokov. If it wasn't called lolita, if it was called neo-victoriana-baroque-maiden or something not related to a fetish, there would likely be less rules and drama (although no guarantee, the style is elaborate and does attract type A personalities). But lolita developed for a certain purpose in Japan, to rebel against what was expected of young women in Japanese society, and it was labelled maybe carelessly though still intentionally. Therefore, Westerners familiar with the novel interpreted it strictly to keep the community safe and at least sort of relevant to what the Japanese had intended.

Now here is the trick. You don't have to wear lolita perfectly. You don't have to buy a full outfit and 3 different petticoats and abide by all 500 lolita rules and regulations. You don't have to respond to snobby judgmental lolitas if you don't want to, you can ignore and mute them. It's clothes, not a uniform, and should be enjoyed as a personal hobby and artistic expression should be. But you also need to prepare for when you post your photos online and label it in such a way that an online lolita does find it and criticize your outfit, they have their perfectly valid reasons to and you should see where they are coming from. (Whether or not that's their business in the first place is a different question.)  So post your photos to your personal accounts, just don't label it lolita and you're golden. Label it as your personal fashion, otome-kei, granny-kei, kawaii fashion (not a slur by the way, jeez), cottage-core, history-bounding, vintage-dolly, whatever you like, heck, call it neo-victoriana-baroque-maiden.  As many older former lolitas in the fashion (Fanny Rosie, Cursed Kaiser, Tyler from Lily of the Valley, Sanakanin, I Do Declare, Sheri Branson, among a few) will say, they have moved on from lolita fashion, but most still wear brand or DIY lolita pieces in their new style, and either way, lolita communities don't call them traitors to the fashion, at least, not that I know of but then again, I don't facebook or reddit which is where the nasty jumps out.  It's possible, it can be done, and such a style evolution is in fact often admired and emulated.  It's called big-brain thinking, reusing your precious favorite lolita pieces you spent money buying, reworking them into a new style, uniting past with present.  Marie Kondo would approve.

My goal is to one day make a full style evolution like other older lolitas have. But I still have a lot of lolita dresses I want to wear (properly, with the perfect petticoats), and as mentioned in other posts, I also want to take my time to enjoy himekaji and gyaru and larmekei (which can also use lolita pieces by the way). For me to continue wearing lolita, I would appreciate an audience to gear my posts to and you know, sell my stuff to lol. So to all aspiring or tired lolitas out there, keep working at your coords, try making your own stuff, take this break from in person meetups to refine your style or makeup and save cash. You can be a perfect lolita with a little time and effort, but if it turns out lolita is ultimately not for you, you can still hold onto your favorite pieces ala konmari and reuse them out of appreciation by evolving a new style.  Don't give up!  Girls* be ambitious!

*Girls in an inclusive meaning

[discussion] dream dresses wishlist

Well, I now have fabric for 2 dresses (I bought more fabric on sale, what) and plenty of unworn brand/indie dresses, and 2 more preorders coming in. Though I probably won't get to posting about those until next year when they arrive. For now, I want to discuss all of my dream dresses, aka dresses (and items) I would love to own and would treasure forever, since it's the holidays and wishlist-making season.

1. Sakizo x Mary Magdalene Perfume Bottle JSK (2012) (already got)

• This is my favorite dress of all time because it is from a classic lolita brand that is hard to obtain outside Japan, one of the original classic brands alongside Victorian Maiden, and it is also designed by one of my favorite lolita-adjacent and fantasy artists, Sakizo. I could not ask for a more perfect dress, and in my desired colorway, mint whip. The pink, purple and brown colorways are also nice, but the mint color sets off the brown and pink in the perfume bottles just right. I was in shock to find this dress on lacemarket in the US and I immediately bought it for $381 (about $100 more than the actual price). Note the one piece dress is also wonderful, but I think it was tighter on the waist and also I felt the bib collar was too overwhelming. The JSK fits me still and is flattering and can even go sweet or hime instead of classic.  Anyway, once I got this dress, I didn't need any other dress, other dresses were just "nice to have" dresses, not dream dresses lol. Check my latest coord of this JSK in this post here and my first attempt to coord it here!

2.  any leopard print dress (currently looking for Angelic Pretty Rebecca Leopard as of October 2021)

• I love leopard print and I've been collecting leopard print dresses as they get released. Metamorphose is one of my favorite brands for releasing horribly tacky prints such as camo and leopard print. Angelic Pretty and Baby have also released some leopard print items over the years, especially in the form of fake fur accessories. I have collected leopard print from Taobao brands and also non-lolita Japanese brands like Swimmer. I feel like at this point, I've completed my collection (though I know I missed some fur accessories and Taobao releases) and will just attempt to buy the dresses as they come out. But should the opportunity arrive, I would love to get different cuts of some of them to fit better. For example, Jewel Leopard low waist JSK's zipper broke the first time I put it on and I haven't gotten around to fixing it because I hate zippers but I don't trust a tailor. Girly Leopard OP is too tight on the waist, I would like to get the JSK instead. Now I am waiting for the Rebecca Leopard to release in the US Angelic Pretty store, but not sure if I can get it since all cuts/styles are already sold out in Japan, yikes! Guess I'll wait for a scalper to resell it.

3. wa-lolita from Metamorphose, older styles pre 2014

• Metamorphose is the only major brand known for wa-lolita, from what I recall. A few of the gothic brands occasionally release kimono-fabric items such as skirts and purses, and Angelic Pretty does release wa or qi lolita dresses but they're more like custom made wedding dresses so I don't really count those. And of course, Taobao shops, for some reason the Chinese designers are ok with traditional Japanese clothing inspirations. (FYI, I feel anyone of any background can wear wa-lolita or qi-lolita if they wear it properly and at the right occasion, but that's my opinion as a Vietnamese-American, others can disagree and still be correct as this really depends on the environment and culture around you.)  Anyway, I already own my current favorites from Meta, Daydreaming Goldfish and Kaleidoscope of Fortune Deer, but I would like to get the older dresses that are full traditional kimono prints rather than cutesy illustrated border or accent prints. Those are harder to find second-hand in good condition, and also they most likely don't fit me now lol, so that's why they're on my lolibrary wishlist. This particular pink and red dress shown above matches a random hairbow I bought on Lacemarket, so I would like to get it first... However the waist seems to be 4cm too small (on a good day). Oh well!

4. Roland jacket or the "Alucard" Vargossa coat

• I have to admit I don't have the face for ouji anymore since I'm getting rounder, but it would be nice to have an Atelier Boz piece like the versatile Roland jacket. And I would never say no to the so-called Alucard coat by Alice and the Pirates, which I believe is the Vargossa coat. Should have bought the Roland jacket before Boz closed their shop, but I still have hope Aatp will re-release an Alucard-like coat someday since they're not easy to find secondhand... Of course, it's too hot in Texas to wear coats a lot, so they will be worn only twice a year at most, but I would cherish them dearly.

That's my current wishlist of dream items for 2021!  If you see any of these being sold secondhand for a reasonable markup and in good condition (doesn't have to be perfect), let me know! If any of you are looking for wishlist items, I hope you get them this season as well. Take care.

Edit - OH WAIT. I forgot one more dress, it's a denim dress, yes, you got it, I want a jolita dress lol. I believe Atelier Boz made one, but yes, that's the ultimate dress for me!

[coord] Happy Halloween! gothic lolita nurse

I wore this Taobao gothic lolita nurse outfit for spooky brunch yesterday as the evil twin, my friend who got the dresses was the less evil twin in white! I had to make tea sandwiches after class so I was rushed and didn't do the dramatic makeup I was going for, and couldn't find the best wig or socks or shoes to match either. I actually wore flats to drive in because I drove approximately a million miles yesterday.

This dress is pretty comfortable and well-made all things considered, fully lined, thick appropriate fabric, beautiful sparkly red button accents everywhere, dripping jewel blood drops on the hat. The gloves were kinda cheap looking in comparison, just flimsy costume satin with overly pointed tips (I guess to accommodate long finger nails or look extra creepy?), but could be worse.

[dress, hat, gloves, cuffs: Psyche Manie (Unicorn Tears); socks: HeartE; shoes: Sosic Shop; earrings: handmade]

I ordered a size large since the medium seemed like it would be a little tight around my waist and there is no shirring or elastic and I didn’t want to pop a button off bending over. Every time I ordered a Chinese size large, it either fit or was a little snug. Of course, this time a size large is too large!!! Hells bells! You can tell the shoulders are at least 2 inches too wide, and the fit around the bust and waist is about an inch too loose, not as fitted as I would have liked. So I cinched the back with a little waist strap to give it some waist definition, but as you can imagine, when I bent over, I did pop off a back button. Hells bells again! I think if I ever wear this again, I'll run a machine stitch to tighten the armscye and maybe make the shoulders less wide. But I can't do much about the torso area, so I'll just leave it as is.

Happy Halloween to all, I hope all of you fashionistas had a safe and healthy and fun night, even if you're just at home doing self-care!

[coord] follow-up worn photos of Otome no Sewing jsk

This is a follow-up post to my original sewing post about my second Asian-inspired handmade jsk from Otome no Sewing, now worn on an actual human body! I do this because the cut/drape of the actual clothing is slightly different than on a mannequin or on the floor. Again, very comfortable due to the high waist, if not super flattering, and easy to coordinate with just some floral kanzashi hair combs and hair sticks. 

Jsk, brooch: handmade; blouse: yesstyle; tights, necklaces: forever 21; shoes, fan, earrings, hair combs: taobao; rings, bracelet, hair stick: bisoulovely, handmade, off brand, etsy

Without diving too deep, the print is generic enough to classify as either wa-lolita (traditional Japanese) or qi-lolita (traditional Chinese), no hard evidence that lolita is popular enough in Korea or Vietnam or other Asian countries to warrant a substyle term. There is a very high likelihood this print was designed in America (the midWest if the selvage print is correct) so differentiation between 2 different Asian cultures was not expected or needed for the target audience. For example, all motifs present can be found in Japanese culture, but China is also well known for these same motifs and styles of illustration. Perhaps the only part that can offer any discernment is the pagoda in the mountain brush painting motif (China, the much larger nation, would have more of these rounded mountains than Japan.) Anyway, that's why I pulled out the Chinese silk fan instead of the Japanese paper fan, you could go either way, but I just felt Avatar Earth Kingdom vibes, which is more or less Chinese vibes.

I like how this coord turned out, no changes for next time, but once again, it was very hot due to the wig and polyester of the blouse. Or maybe I'm going through menopause. I would say this is a dress I can wear without a blouse, as the model in the magazine did, and therefore would be a lot cooler/refreshing, if harder to place as lolita. 

This is my last diy handmade lolita for a while. I have at least 12 unworn dresses from actual and indie brands that I need to wear, definitely one for Halloween. I only have one more project I really want to do before the end of the year, but other than that, just little accessories to use up fabric scraps and help me resist the urge to buy more fabric that will languish in my craft room for years. Wish me luck! Again lol.

[coords] some Liz Lisa coords

 I have two cute Liz Lisa coords to show today! The first is my ideal example of what larme-kei is like (although to be honest, larme-kei is not much like this anymore lol) and the second is a more hime-kaji style. If you look at Liz Lisa's latest releases, they are not so gyaru or himekaji anymore, I would describe them as unspecifically cute and trendy Shibuya-kawaii. But hey, I can work with their darker colors as long as I get cute shoes from them!

I wore this black coord with pieces that I had been collecting for a few years to the Final Fantasy Distant Worlds orchestra concert (the FF7 remake) in August. Of course, you usually wear black semi-formal to a night at symphony hall, so I was excited to wear this unworn Liz Lisa dress with overskirt. I couldn't fit the belt, it was like 3 inches too small even on the largest hole lol. You can't see it due to my hair, but I also found the Eat Me hairtie from the Larme magazine, here my hairstyle was intended to reflect Aeris from Final Fantasy 7. Anyway, I love this outfit, it was stylish and special-occasion enough to get nice comments at the concert, but also cute and comfortable (without the belt). Although I might advise wearing plain nude socks under lace socks because getting sweaty feet in close-toed shoes felt gross.

[Dress, socks, shoes: Liz Lisa; hairtie: Eat Me; ring: Chocomint; other jewelry: handmade, off brand]

Next, I got a gifted yellow Liz Lisa dress from a fellow lolita from out of town that finally made its way to me. As I've mentioned multiple times in this blog, most pastel shades do not work so great with my yellow-olive Southeast Asian skin tone, but I felt like I made a decent looking casual summer-farewell coord, at least after running beauty cam filters on it, but even in a mirror it looked okay. I remembered to mosaic my face this time, too lol. I don't have a lot of gyaru appropriate sandals, but I love these star ones from Forever 21 which I almost never wear. The best part of summer coords is straw hats and bags, I haven't bought any specific j-fashion ones, so I just decorated a hat from Daiso with a handmade wreath and some random flower clips, and it worked out fine.

[Dress, earrings, hair clips, tote, rings: Liz Lisa; other clip: a Korean store; necklace: Peppermint Fox; sandals: Forever 21; hat: Daiso, decorated]

[coord, diy] handmade Otome no Sewing dress - Asian print #2

 I sewed another dress using a different pattern from the same Otome no Sewing volume as my koi fish dress, with the second Asian print cotton I bought at Joann's. This time it's generic pink and earth-tone scenery with bamboo and plum/cherry blossoms and chrysanthemums and birds and a pagoda building. My favorite part of this print is the gold foil accents, it makes a dull brown color scheme stand out, great for autumnal vibes or Earth Kingdom from Avatar. Now I originally wanted to make a blouse and/or skirt from this fabric, but after working on the koi fish dress, I felt the cotton for both prints was too thick to make a comfortable blouse. Obviously it was meant for quilting rather than fashion, but it was still very stiff and scratchy to touch after machine washing and drying. So I decided to make another shirred back jsk, inspired by a wa/qi themed example dress in the mook.

I made some changes to the pattern as I only bought 2 yards of fabric and this needed over 2 meters for a size large. First, I lined the bodice with leftover white cotton muslin. I also lengthened the skirt a little but that meant the ruffle was not as full, so I took the fullness out from the back ruffle which you normally wouldn't be looking at anyway. Instead of sewing a fabric ruffle trim as shown in one of the versions, I used flat cotton lace from Daiso that I gathered. The technique for how to put the dress together was also different from any other shirred back dress I've made before, and I think I prefer it so far. Let me know if you want in on the secret. This time I added no pockets, but hear me out, it's not flattering to put pockets in a high-cut dress like this because it will squish the petticoat oddly, make you look like a squash gourd.  Also I was lazy.

[jsk: handmade; blouse: Yesstyle; tights: off-brand maybe Forever 21; necklace: Forever 21; flower brooches/pins: handmade, Taobao, Michael's maybe; shoes (not shown): Bodyline]

I am very pleased with how this dress turned out, even though it's not a flattering cut (as with most baby-doll dresses), that just make it super comfortable and perfect for eating a lot of snacks and drinking a lot of tea. Unfortunately, I ended up with only a handful of fabric scraps and could make just 2 tiny bows, which I might add some tassels to and pin to the dress somewhere. (Notice the photo has no bow tassels on the dress, that's because I didn't have the right color in my stash and I'm too lazy to buy some.) Because I ran out of fabric, there are no matching hair accessories for this dress lol. I looked in my closet and surprisingly couldn't find anything suitable except flowers. But that's okay, qi/wa lolita doesn't need big old bonnets or hairbows or clips, you can do just fine with flowers! Mighty convenient.

That's it for my Asian-inspired lolita dress series, though I might post a worn photo once I buy some tassels. Check out my insta for some larme/Liz Lisa fashion, I might make another post focusing on kawaii J-fashion that's not lolita if I have enough outfits. Currently, I have fabric set aside for one more lolita dress that I'm super excited to see how it turns out, but before I get back to stash-busting, it's the season for struggling with my historical costume and cosplays. Wish me luck lmao.

[walkthrough] how to sew a dress from otome no sewing - image heavy!

In case anyone is interested in how to sew from Otome no Sewing, I've made a quick walkthrough of how I made my recent koi fish jumperskirt (Otome no Sewing volume 14, page 15 #25). This tutorial is meant for intermediate sewers who have sewing machines, if you are a true beginner, I recommend picking up a sewing book or checking out newbie tutorials on Youtube.

For those of you who are little more experienced, I highly recommend Mode a la Belle's youtube channel and blog for detailed instructions on how to sew from Otome no Sewing, as well as Simplicity and drafting your own patterns. They also scan in and generate dress patterns, here's the jsk that I chose to make that you can actually purchase at their online shop and print out your size range and make on your own. A true lolita sewist's resource!

If you can't read Japanese, which I'm assuming is most people reading this English blog, here is a very helpful blog that translates common terms and whole patterns to get you started. I've used their tutorials and patterns before, would recommend~

http://www.japanesesewingbooks.com/2012/01/17/understanding-a-typical-japanese-sewing-pattern/

Many other lolitas have posted sewing videos and pattern reviews on blogs, they come up in a quick google search. But here is my walkthrough and helpful notes and learning points (not mistakes).

Preparation Steps

• Select your design and gather materials needed. 
• You will need minimum 2 yards/meters for blouses/skirts, and 3 to 4 yards/meters for dresses so be aware.
• I only bought 2 yards of cotton so I left out the waist ties and used cotton muslin as strap and bodice linings and shortened the ruffles.
• Trace the desired size pattern on scrap paper or draft the pattern as instructed, and label each piece clearly, including grain lines and notches and placement markings.
• Otome no Sewing only goes from Asian small to Asian "large "(which is like a medium petite in Western sizes) so to draft a larger size, follow a resizing tutorial such as this one.
• This pattern had the bodice front and front facing in the included pattern paper. I taped together scrap paper and traced out the large size pattern bodice. All the other pattern pieces were basically rectangles, so I marked them out on the fabric with chalk and marker.
• Add seam allowance (1/2 inch, 5/8 inch, etc) to appropriate areas or remind yourself to add seam allowances and don't forget. Common mistake!
• Optional but highly recommended: make a mock-up or muslin out of scrap fabric, or drape the paper on your dressform or your own self to make sure you won't need adjustments before cutting into your final fashion fabric.
• Here's my materials photo for reference! Note, I only have a small household Janome sewing machine, not an industrial and certainly not a serger. That affects the decisions I make when sewing lolita dresses. 

[coord, diy] handmade Otome no Sewing jsk

 As expected, I bought more fabric instead of using up the fabric I already had, but in my defense, Joann's had a coupon and also the fabric I already had on hand was not suitable for sewing lolita as it was mostly low quality polyester or didn't have the right texture or color for any clothing item except the specific cosplay I bought it for.

So after getting tired of working on my ballgown (the sleeves, curse the sleeves), I switched to figuring out an Otome no Sewing volume 14 pattern and making use of one of my recent purchases, a premium cotton print of koi fish in water. Although a bit "Asian-inspired" instead of Asian, the cotton material itself was soft and sturdy, the print quality very pretty and soothing to look at, and I really wanted to try my hand at another sewing pattern from a more recent issue.

The sewing pattern I chose had a half-shirred bodice and straps that buttoned in the back with a ruffle on the skirt. It required 3 meters of fabric, but I had only bought 2 yards lol. I decided to not make the waist ties (I rarely can tie a good bow with them anyway so no big loss) and would line the bodice and straps with white cotton muslin instead of facing it with the fashion fabric. Losing a yard of fabric also meant my ruffles were half the length they were supposed to be, so the dress was a bit short compared to what the model wore. Thankfully I am also short, the dress didn't look scandalous even with a petticoat under.

I used lace trim as recommended on the pattern but realized I didn't have enough and had to buy 2 more spools of lace (but I used almost all of it, okay???) The two lace trims were shiny polyester "bridal" Venice lace for $2.99 for 2 yards. They look kinda cheap and low-quality on their own, but when paired with this koi fish fabric, they resemble fish or dragon scales or stylized waves and complement the print perfectly. Big brain move there. I used small lace for the straps and bow (which I wore as a headbow here but could also be pinned on the dress), and a larger version of the same lace for the ruffle hem.

[JSK, headbow, bracelets: handmade; blouse: Elegy Clothing; necklace: Luxmira; earrings: BB and Deco, Taobao; rings: Liz Lisa; socks, shoes: Baby the Stars Shine Bright]

This isn't the greatest coord ever, I think I should have worn bright gold shoes instead of antique gold ones, but I was getting sweaty in this new Dreamholic wig and didn't want to change. I did try to style it in a more wa-lolita style after but due to the sweatiness, none of the later photos turned out well. I will try again another day.

Anyway, I love how this dress turned out, very comfortable due to the shirring, Asian-inspired but not tacky. The main problems I had while sewing were 1) deciding to French seam seams that should not have been French-seamed, and 2) the button-hole maker on my sewing machine isn't working so I had to hand-bind the button holes and they look super messy. The pattern is very easy to follow if you have experience with sewing lolita, I only adjusted due to the amount of fabric I had and also I didn't like their dart placements. I may one day post a run-down of how I approached sewing this dress if anyone is interested!

Anyway, back to working on my gown... sigh...

[coord] International Lolita Day summer strawberry

I didn't remember about summer International Lolita Day until I got a text Friday night before the meet. I had a few new dresses that I wanted to wear, but it was so hot and humid to wear the long-sleeved one piece dresses, and I also didn't want to look too casual or too fancy not knowing if there was a theme or whatever. It was 2 hours before the meet, I just woke up 30 minutes before, and so at the last minute I decided on the strawberry dress despite not having strawberry accessories that I was waiting for in the mail. Strawberries are perfect for early summer and the color is cheerful red and pink and not beige or black which is the majority of my wardrobe lol. 

[JSK: Bacio Bouquet; blouse: Innocent World; shoes: Bodyline; necklace: Belladonna; socks: Pretty Mouse; rings: Bisoulovely, Liz Lisa; earrings: BB Deco; hairband, bracelet, barrette: off-brand]

I happen to like how simple and comfortable yet cute this outfit is and it was not too hot due to the short wig and crew socks, but I was still very sweaty despite wearing thin layers! I guess polyester is too unbreathable for me. As already mentioned several times on this blog, I don't love babydoll empire waist cuts as they are not flattering at all, but they are unbeatable for eating a lot of food and drinking mixed drinks. I also had a matching strawberry print mask! I will repost this outfit later when I get the new strawberry accessories. As mentioned, I'm trying to be resourceful and eco-conscious, so rewearing dresses is a must! Hope everyone who follows this blog who is a lolita had a good ILD!

[coord, diy] handmade underskirt - casual gothic

I'm back with a quick coord rundown of my purple underskirt made to go with a gifted/donated black overskirt. This over skirt is handmade of a sheer burnout velvet (I think?) fabric with a band of velvet on the bottom. The pattern has skulls and an overall gothic feel and only needs a plain underskirt to show off the design (and also be decent lol). I do have a few plain color skirts but they were heavily textured and trimmed and I just needed a smooth surface, no frills or lace. So I finally got to making the underskirt years later. I chose purple just because I got these Cryptoglitter socks in purple and black that had bats and such and sort of matched the gothic scheme, and also I like purple. And I had enough of this cheapo broadcloth so that if it didn't turn out well, no loss.

[cutsew top: Angelic Pretty; skirts: handmade; stockings: Cryptoglitter; boots: off-brand; hairbow: Metamorphose; bracelet 1: Larme; bracelet 2: off-brand; purse: Hot Topic]

As you can see, even though I chose the warmest, most reddish shade of purple I had, it still was cooler than the stockings' shade of hyacinth purple and also very saturated. But it's not so mismatching that I would buy a different fabric just to remake it. Also the Meta swan cameo on the barrette was yet a different shade of purple, though you can't see it because it's on the top of my head. The skirt was French-seamed so it can be machine-washed, but the fabric was meh and cheap-feeling and the elastic waist was just a tad too loose due to me compensating from a previous pair of pants in which the elastic was too tight. (One day, I'll get that measurement right.) The skirt is also not perfectly shaped due to using a fully elastic waist on a rectangle base, but you can't tell that because the overskirt is just so amazing and distracting lol.

I guess if I ever needed a casual Halloween coord, I have something with a fully elastic waist ready to go. The only alteration I might make to this coord is to sew/obtain a black and purple bracelet or wrist cuff to add some interest to the wrists if I wear it with a short sleeve shirt like I did here, maybe like a cute frilly scrunchie made out of the purple fabric with black lace trim. Other than that, the hair was super cute, I felt like what's her face from Beetlejuice. Lydia.

[discussion?] my journey into and out of Japanese street-fashion (lolita, gyaru, himekaji/larme)

I initially had worked on a longer post about how to incorporate all of my favorite styles into my wardrobe, but  one, that was boring and two, I felt like it was more important to talk about how I got into J-fashion, what I learned about myself in doing so, and why I feel like moving on, or more accurately, evolving.

Obviously, I got into lolita as a Japanese street fashion back in ye olden days, at the height of visual kei and Malice Mizer's influence on the scene, when anime was just starting to get shown in America. With my friends, I fell in love with visual kei music as a natural consequence of liking anime and the music in anime openings/endings (L'Arc-en-ciel, X-Japan, etc). I got into gothic lolita as a wearable form of my love for visual kei, since it was officially recognized by Mana in his Moi Meme Moitie clothing line, and I also preferred that mysterious and brooding aura over the other street styles seen in Fruits magazines.

Since then, I've moved onto classical and sweet lolita and other substyles.  But to me, Japanese street fashion has always been about the culture of rebelling against Japanese (or mainstream) society; getting a 9 to 5 job, marrying and having kids, living in society looking like how everyone expects you to. Of course, the clothes are the main draw since they just look cool, but more than that, I love the punk nature of wearing street fashion made popular by youths to visually express themselves, what they like, what they don't like. What never fully appealed to me about Western punk and gothic fashion and culture, I felt that Japanese fashions somehow nailed that attitude, by making it cute and historically influenced and a little more relaxed on the "rules." With Japanese fashion, I could express what American punks and goths wanted to express, but more wearable and attuned to what I already like (anime, history, cute stuff) and way less judgement because at the time, it was new and unique and unlike any Western subcultures already out there.

(Read more here...)

handmade lolita dresses showcase #3

 Continuing from a 5+ year old post about my beginner days in lolita when I couldn't get brand and so I sewed my dresses, here is the final part (so far) of my handmade dresses wardrobe, with recent additions of accessories and items from Otome no Sewing! Read part one here and part two here!

First up, here is a very old handmade skirt I made for a Japanese fashion photoshoot (lolita/ouji Wizard of Oz) in 2007. I have no idea if I posted about it since it involved a lot of irl friends and I'm not going to post their photos online without permission, obviously. So I decided to be a gothic/ero lolita Wicked Witch of the West and my costume was sooooo adorable (for what it's worth lol). This below is the skirt I made, very unfinished but with cute ruffle and ribbon-laced lacing to complement the satin corset I wore. I also sewed little lace-trimmed sleeve puffs and made a huge black netting train with a giant bow on both the back and the (store-bought) miniature witch hat. I didn't include the corset or train or sleeves or hat here since they weren't really lolita, and this is a handmade lolita post. But here is a flatlay with the recent upcycled bolero (walkthrough post here) and a black double-layer veil I sewed for my gothic outfits as the placeholder train.

 The lace trimming on the veil is the same as on the skirt! Just realized that lol. 

Next, my old-school (genuinely) black and white handmade lolita dress which was featured in the first English Gothic Lolita Bible released by Tokyopop in 2008. This dress was made in 2006, my oldest surviving handmade piece. I already talked about it in this post about my beginner ita days. But to reiterate, I loooooove this dress despite its slight ita flavor. It has a back zipper, pleated skirt, waist ties, not the best construction but definitely an improvement over previous attempts. Here is my redo coord with store-bought items, including a hat handmade by Copetillo Arts, which has a similar swirly abstract design that is on the print of the dress. I included a Meta lucky pack blouse with wide peter pan collar and Innocent World socks, but also I added my handmade white lace wrist cuffs and black/white sock toppers for an even more old school look. 

I forgot to add the black bow necktie since there is a small white one already on the blouse, but imagine it there along with a pair of plain black mary-janes and a black/white cameo necklace. Now time to pretend I can still squeeze into this dress after 15 years lol.

Finally, my absolute favorite handmade lolita dress that already has an entire post about it, my Angelic Pretty French Doll replica. I have nothing to add to the post but here is an updated flatlay with newer navy-blue shoes from Bodyline and a handmade sailor-hat from Otome no Sewing.

As mentioned, I would preferably wear this with a red beret, and I did sew a red sailor beret from Otome no Sewing, but I can't find it and think the soft wool beret from my original coord is more French anyway. I would also add a belt from the same tri-color ribbon with maybe a little plastic buckle, that would be so cute.

Anyway, those are the last of my handmade lolita outfits that I still have. I did make the Ikea curtain dress, but other than that, I only have an unfinished cosplay that is tangentially related to lolita. I would absolutely love to sew more, but I am trying to avoid buying new fabrics until I use up the ones I already have and of course, the yardage of my stash is not enough for a full fluffy skirt or a blouse, or not of high quality or the right colors/print for lolita. Just my luck. I did look through my donation bin for anything I can reuse, but same issue applies, with the added disadvantage of having to rip out seams and piece the material together. So at this time, I am sticking to small accessories like hair bows and masks until I use a significant amount, then I can invest into more fabrics and lace for a new dress. Stay tuned! I say, as I ignore sewing for months at a time...

[diy] Thrift-flip/Upcycle to a black lace bolero

 I am feeling the eco-conscious mood this month and wanted to show another thrift-flip/upcycle using my own clothes I was supposed to donate but have been sitting in a box for over a year now because pandemic. Not sure when I bought this black lace top but it was definitely when I was at least 10 lbs lighter, because it's a size small juniors. *studio audience laughter* My arms and neck are indeed skinny which are the parts you can see, but... the rest of my body is not skinny and have not been for like 20 years. 

Here are the materials I used for this thrift-flip: the black knit lace top (Bongo brand), at least 1 yard of black ruffled raschel lace, black grosgrain ribbon, and a paper pattern for a puff sleeve bolero from Otome no Sewing (but you can probably find one in a Gothic Lolita Bible or use a western pattern in your size), sewing supplies.

I cut off the bottom (weirdly ruched) part to the length of the bolero, then snip the front of the shirt down the middle and cut a curved to the bottom edges like in the photo above. Then I cut and trimmed the arm holes wider (basically to the pattern) because the arm holes were way too tight, they may have even been too tight when I was a size "small" in juniors. Then I use the bottom part of the shirt to cut out the puff sleeve pattern, using the hem for the bottom hem of the sleeve. I gathered the top of the fabric of each sleeve and sewed the sleeves to the bolero.

I sewed lace to the front/bottom edges and the collar front (but not the back because no one's gonna look there). By flipping the unfinished edge to the inside and top stitching this helps with any unraveling (but knits don't really unravel too much). I added lace to the sleeves but because the sleeves needed to stretch, I did not connect the edges of the lace together, just left them free so there is a little give and I can fit my hand into the sleeves. Then attach ribbon ties to tie the front edges together into a bow.

Here is how I styled it with a Diamond Honey leopard print jumperskirt in pink. I added a pink Puvithel necklace and a patch from Hot Topic.

Now this bolero fits me (better than the shirt did, anyway) and fills a gap in my wardrobe. I do not have a lolita black bolero, since all I have are brown and beige boleros and a black military knit jacket which is not girly at all.

However, there are some major issues. The biggest problem, initially I wanted to donate this shirt because the lace is so scratchy and uncomfortable lol. So I made this thrift flip for no reason because I don't want to wear a scratchy top due to the fact that I have a sensory issue with fabrics. Ideally, I would wear a shirt underneath but second issue, the sleeves are longer than usual and the overall top is a little tight-fitting, so it won't fit puff-sleeve lolita blouses underneath, I would have to wear either a tight fitting sleeved shirt or a sleeveless top/dress. 

Anyway, I feel like I wasted my time a little, but I doubt anyone is going to wear this shirt as is, so at least I can wear it a few times this summer and give it a new life before it goes back to the donation bin. I hope this walkthrough helps someone else out, though!

[coord] Ikea curtain dress - handmade larme-kei walkthrough

 I finally, after several years of saying I would, sewed my very own Ikea curtain dress, which was a fad amongst dressmakers on the interwebs some time ago. I will go over the pattern I used, from Gothic Lolita Bible 62, some tips of how to put it together, and then how I styled it as a normie versus a larme-kei lolita.

I bought this Ikea curtain which goes by "Charmerande," found it in the discount bin because there was just 1 panel with its tie and it looked a little bit stained after closer inspection, but for like 10 or 15 dollars, that was a steal. It languished in my fabric bin for years, before I finally picked a pattern from my numerous Japanese sewing books to construct a dress.

Here is the pattern I finally chose after so much agonizing. This is from the brand Royal Princess Alice and is a simple partially shirred jumperskirt with a lined bodice and side zipper. Really basic, the only different part about this dress is that the lining is part outer fashion fabric and part lining so the majority of the bodice secretly retains the light slipperiness of the lining fabric, but you wouldn't know from the top because it is faced partly with fashion fabric. I guess that's the special part of this dress, hence the photo highlighting it.

Anyway, the pieces are pretty self-explanatory if you have made this type of jsk before, but I can only read a little bit of Japanese so there are a few instances I just made up the steps based on similar dress pattern directions.  The first step is to sew the facing fashion fabric to the lining fabric pieces to make 1 whole inner layer piece for the front center bodice, the side bodice pieces and back side bodice pieces. Then sew the lining layer pieces and outer front layer pieces separately as usual. Interestingly, the back shirring panel has only 3 elastic channels and 3 sets of ribbon loops which I feel looks a little sparse, and is constructed differently than the rest of the bodice. Next, make the straps and pin them to the front bodice, then sew the outer and inner layers together as usual. Attach the back pieces together, including the back shirring elastic panel and sew up one side of the back to the front, leaving the other side detached so you can insert the zipper. (Note, you can do all this any order that you want that makes the most sense to you, this is just how I did it because I hadn't sewn a zipper dress in a while lol). Sew the skirt, gather and attach to the bodice as usual, then insert the side zipper and hook closure as usual.

Add a pocket if you want, this is your dress!

Because this is a pre-hemmed curtain, I left the length long to mid-calf or midi length to maximize the cute border pattern and not have to hem because I hate hemming lol. I did finish the seams with French seams and bias binding so this dress can be machine washed as it is 100% cotton. I forgot to buy the appropriate satin ribbon for the back lacing so I used scrapbook dotted ribbon but it kinda matches. Then I also made 2 bows, one from the plain pink fabric and one from the lacy dotted pattern side for the chest bow and headband.

Now here is how I styled it!

[dress: handmade; necklace: Claire's; earrings, blouse, rings: Liz Lisa; heels, bracelet: off-brand; other ring: Bisou Lovely and Chocomint(?)]

The left side is just the normcore sundress look, I could blend in with the normies with hair in a bun and bow attached to fabric-covered band, maybe a cropped black cardigan on top. The right side is a larme-kei inspired look using a Liz Lisa blouse that actually looks terrible with my skin tone but I'm pretending it complements me. I just love the black details combined with pink though, sweet and romantic but also striking and unique.

Anyway, I hope that makes sense, I'm not great at giving instructions and I probably made this as not as conveniently as possible because I avoid zippers and side zippers are also different from center back zippers which are more common. But this dress turned out well despite that, since I finished the seams including the pocket, very convenient! I have a few scraps left, so I made a scrunchie and could possibly make a matching facemask or choker from the rest, who knows. What I would change for this dress if I ever use the pattern again is to make the shirring panel a little wider because this was quite tight with a blouse underneath and also fix my crooked French seams lol.

Now time to convince myself the pink complements my skin tone and I can wear this out when the times become precedented again...

[etcetera] making of a coord but not wearing it

 How I compose a coord...

This is a lolita dress with a cowgirl print from a Taobao brand, Artemis, purchased new with tags from a Lacemarket seller. I live in Texas and wanted to do cowboy lolita coords, since that was a long-standing running joke which eventually got co-opted into actual mascots at the local anime convention scene. 

The seller included two belts and a pair of tan cowboy boots they had gotten elsewhere. However, there was just 1 thing off about each of those otherwise great items so they did not mesh together perfectly, which is presumably why they were included.

The only things I purchased specifically for this coord that I did not already own were plain black cowboy boots that barely qualify for the term lol and 2 bandanas. Everything else was either gotten years ago or were meant for other styles and coords.

First attempt - no jacket

black coord: old off-brand blouse, steampunk bolero, the included bullet-detail belt, straw hat, coin necklace. I like this coord except for the hat is a cheap Daiso straw hat and the silver buckle of the belt kind of stands out against the antique brass.

white coord: indie blouse, etsy jewelry, steampunk corset, leopard print hat. This coord might look better with more white and some wrist accessories, and antique brass rather than bright gold jewelry.

Second attempt: with jackets and creepy plague doctor mask so the hats sit better on the dress form

brown coord: steampunk jacket, white bandana. I might just buy a new tan or brown hat lol, but then I can wear the brown boots the seller sold to me

black coord: military bolero, black bandana, 2 brooches, bullet bracelets from my Black Widow cosplay lol. I think this might be the final coord without having to buy anything new. The bullet bracelets are unfortunately bright silver, I doubt I'd be able to find them in gold-tone, so... may not include them unless I wore the black and silver belt. Decisions!

Then after I put in the time and effort to make these 4 coords, I posted polls in my instagram stories, the majority voted for the black coords, though the brown ones did have a few votes. But now after looking at these, I decided I'll wear something else. Lol.

Lolita and J-fashion artwork

Some of my lolita and Japanese fashion artwork so far!  I have drawn quite a bit more than these, including some old school illustrations for the first Gothic and Lolita Bible in English released by Tokyopop way back when lol, but don't have the files on my new computer, so these are just the ones I can find and that are my favorites. I try my best to include masculine and aristocrat and ouji styles, but sometimes they don't turn out as nice as the more feminine counterparts I've drawn.  Still, it's good to have variety. I hope you enjoy all of these as well!

Artwork for Garnet Gateau - some wa-lolita costumes inspired by FanPlus Friend and other Chinese brands for a vintage Kimetsu no Yaiba Taisho era look.

Artwork for Okashi-con 2018 when Listen Flavor was a featured Japanese brand, the shirt and skirt and phone case are actual items released that year.

More Valentine's Day artwork from several years ago, I believe this painting was inspired by Victorian Maiden and similar classic lolita brands.

This is a framed miniature painting inspired by my Taeyang "Alucard" BJD and I think a BtSSB Pullip doll or similar, trying a more dynamic pose.

A framed painting of another wa-lolita girl, clearly inspired by Dreaming Goldfish by Meta. Love Meta.

A framed painting of a classic lolita, this one is inspired by one of Fanny Rosie's coord snaps.

[coord] Singing Deer - Qi Lolita look

I stayed up late last Sunday to take some test photos of one of my newest dresses from Taobao brand, Long Ears Sharp Ears! I purchased their Chinese New Years lucky pack during the February Garnet Gateau event and it was shipped EMS to me last week. I purchased random wrist cuffs and nail decals as well, but the wrist cuffs were out of stock. I am interested to see how these nail decals work out. But to the lucky pack, I got a high waist jumperskirt, a blouse, and a matching entire JSK + headdress + wristcuffs set. A pretty good deal even with the shipping costs. I happened to have blue and black Chinese accessories lying around, so I wore the qi lolita high waist dress to try it out.

[JSK: Long Ears Sharp Ears; hair flowers: off brand, Daiso; earrings: Metamorphose; necklace: Forever 21; blouse, red tassels, fan: Taobao; flower brooch: MarrKuma; bracelet: handmade; rings: Bisou Lovely, Etsy; tights: Taobao; shoes: Taobao]

I think this picture below is the original version of Singing Deer JSK II, it has an embroidered flap on the front that the dress I got doesn't have, which is fine by me for a lucky pack item. The flap doesn't seem to match the dress as much, it's a little too light-colored, so I don't miss it. The original headdress is a ribbon and roses hairband which looked meh, I would not have paid for it, I shall make do with whatever I have.

This dress features detachable off-shoulder sleeve ruffles, a detachable sparkly tulle overskirt, as well as plain waist ties that I took off and attached to my hair flowers. The full shirring and empire waist is quite comfortable, however combined with the below knee length makes me look pregnant... But that is the price you pay for hanfu-inspired lolita dresses lol. I don't think even the skinniest girls can pull it off, so you just have to embrace it and enjoy a lot of food. But I like the ethereal print of a deer deity and floating lanterns, very Chinese and works with many colors, such as red, blue, black and gold. I didn't intend to wear the blouse and tights and shoes, I think all the black turned me into a black blob from afar, but kinda ties in with the night forest scenery of the print.  Also they were just what I had laying around that matched the dress best. I was happy to use the fan (even though it definitely did not match the theme) and the umbrella (bought for a cosplay) though.

Now one thing I do like about many qi lolita jumperskirts and one-piece dresses is that you can wear it without a blouse and it doesn't look as weird as wa lolita dresses would! See below. Obviously a lot of qi lolita dresses follow the qipao/cheongsam fitted sleeveless high-neck bodice style, which naturally lends itself to no blouses, but even the high-waist ancient hanfu style which traditionally has long floaty sleeves I often see worn by the Chinese models sleeveless, or with a sheer shawl or cape. Is it simply too hot where they're taking photos? Well, that works for me, living in Texas!

Anyway, I would like to get nicer photos of this dress outside in a garden or by water, but I doubt that will happen even outside a pandemic due to Texas being ugly and I'm not great at posing due to bad posture, so bathroom photos it is.

One last thought for your consideration... can non-Chinese and Japanese wear qi-lolita and wa-lolita? The answer is, if Baby and Meta and Taobao resellers sell it to you overseas, you can wear it. Kimono and qipao or hanfu are normal clothes that working class people wear, and the ones being sold by lolita brands do not have ceremonial or religious significance, they are not selling you the Asian equivalents of indigenous tribal feather headdresses reserved for their most honored and elite. As long as you do 10 minutes of research on how to wear kimono or hanfu properly (always right over left), you don't yellow-face or get mixed up between China and Japan and Korea and other Asian countries, you should be fine. Lolita is already so gaudy and far removed from the original clothing style with its puffy knee-length petticoats silhouette, wa-lolita would just look like a costume or cosplay to the average non-lolita Asian person, rather than anything worth throwing a fit about.

But I am Vietnamese, I cannot speak for China and Japan, and this is only my opinion based on what I've seen, including historical exchange between the East and West in which people experimented with different fabrics and dress styles from both hemispheres. You, fair reader, should always do your own research and ask people from that specific country or culture if you have doubts about your place in it. If you still have doubts, simply don't do it, there are tons of other non-specific styles that would look great on anyone, trust me. But if you do your research and wear the legally obtained item in good faith in an appropriate setting (e.g., not a wedding) without any cringe behavior, then you have learned something about another culture not familiar to you and are on the path to enlightenment and have helped an independent (mostly) business thrive.  That's basically a win/win situation.

[shopping] experiences with Taobao and Chinese brands (part 1)

I thought I'd provide an update to Chinese brands aka Taobao brands since my last post 5 years ago. First a general update since the heyday of the 2010s, lolita (and alternative street fashion in general) has somewhat declined in popularity in Japan. Several brands have gone out of business and closed permanently, or consolidated to cooperative/collective retailers such as Atelier Pierrot. You no longer see as many teenagers or students wearing outlandish styles out in the streets, which could be due to the original fashion pioneers from the 90s growing up and having full time jobs or just trends cycling out, like skinny jeans in the West. We could be due for a revival this decade, who knows, let's hope so!

So what does this mean for lolita, an higher-cost and labor intensive fashion style that is surely not easy to fund year to year? It seems like the major brands such as Baby the Stars Shine Bright and Angelic Pretty have been supported partially by overseas customers, such as the West (America and Europe) and now also China. China is a prime market because of their significant number of consumers with the money to buy imported goods. However, China is also a manufacturing center of its own that has experience producing for the Japanese brands, and thus many Chinese entrepreneurs have successfully ventured into the lolita market tailored for their own lolitas. The first attempts may have been the object of much scrutiny to us who have been following the major brands for years, but as the market grew, so did the quality. 

Now as a word of caution, there could still be Taobao shops out there that sell dresses that don't look exactly like on their site photos or are straight up crappy replicas that don't fit any human body. So you can potentially get a cheap poorly made product not worth the shipping and custom fees and taxes. But many more Chinese brands have been able to secure the means to produce items that are comparable in quality to the original Japanese brands for the rapidly growing number of Chinese lolitas, and those brands are worth the effort to obtain a custom-sized coord that not many other lolitas will be wearing.

Onto the original and reseller sites! Ones in English!

• 1. Fanplus Friend / Neo-Ludwig (https://www.fanplusfriend.com/)
• The OG Chinese brand that all lolitas know, with their own website and an Etsy shop since 2014 for easy buying. I don't consider them "Taobao" as they have always been a successful company on their own site. They stock petticoats, cage skirts, custom sized blouses for women and men, steampunk items as well as their own original dresses. They also produce costumes, kids clothing and non-lolita related historical clothing, like silk pajamas. I have a blouse and 2 hats from them, but my favorite item is this steampunk underbust corset. Read the Etsy reviews for customer comments on quality, service and sizing.
• 
• 2. Clobba Online (https://www.clobbaonline.com/)
• This is a reseller of many different Chinese brands, one of the first English sites I remember using. I used them to buy my off-brand lolita shoes (such as Antaina and Sosic Shop) and now they stock a lot of other items, too, including dress reservations. I haven't used them in years, so I don't know what the quality/service is like now, but probably on par with other resellers.
• 3. Lolita Wardrobe (https://www.lolitawardrobe.com/)
• A more recent reseller based in China, hosting a large number of brands and an easy to use site in English. They have a slight emphasis on ouji compared to other sites, but otherwise the same as other resellers, using the actual Taobao brand's photos and measurements, etc for their listings. I've never had a problem with the service or items not matching and I've used them 4 times already for wonderfully unique dresses and accessories, to be reviewed in part 2 of this series. It's a lot lol...
• 4. Devil Inspired (https://www.devilinspired.com/)
• Another new reseller based in China. They do carry similar lolita brands as Lolita Wardrobe, but they also stock kawaii and vintage non-lolita outfits and wigs and makeup. I think the main difference is the number/types of releases from each brand differs, so one brand preorder found on one site may not be found on the other, so it's a good idea to check both if you are searching for something specific. I just got my first preorder in and will review it later. Note that they only send 1 package at a time, so you have to buy separately if you can't wait for the preorder to arrive 3 months in the future and want the items already in stock and ready to ship sooner.
• 5. Souffle Song (http://www.soufflesong.com)
• This is an older Chinese brand with their own site in English, probably the second purchase I've made from China. This may be the company that left an empty cookie wrapper in the packing box lol. Souffle Song has intricate, richly colored prints, custom sizing, reasonable prices, and can be found on many reseller sites, too. I bought the Arabian Nights special discount jumperskirt  in purple, so not as fancy as the version below, very plain with no lace or ruffles, you may remember from this post here.
• 
  
  
  
  
• Random retail sites
• You can find resellers of lolita or lolita-adjacent brands on yesstyle.com and also aliexpress.com. But the quality/service/shipping is even less guaranteed than the lolita-specific resellers and you never know if the profit is really going to the actual manufacturer/designer or not. I bought a Sosic Shop pair of shoes at Aliexpress for 33.35 but I could have gotten them from clobbaonline for 29.95. Now the Aliexpress listing has disappeared (very common lol). So a lot more sketchy in my opinion, buyer beware. Personally knowing what I know now, I would advise to only buy something small if you're already buying another non-lolita item like household goods or skin care and don't care much about the quality or when it gets to you.
• Lolita Collective (https://store.lolitacollective.com/)
• Lolita Collective focuses on Western indie brands with a few Korean and Chinese and smaller Japanese brands, but they now do drop-ships for more Chinese brands and include otome/gyaru fashion. The store owners provide friendly and prompt service, but for items they do not ship directly from their warehouse which you will see on the listing details, you can be waiting for weeks/months, so be aware of the timeline. 
• Long Ears and Sharp Ears (https://lnsears.storenvy.com/)
• I recently ordered a lucky pack with them, but this is a brand featured on other reseller sites that has their own little storenvy shop for their preorders and current stock listed. All for the convenience to us English-speakers! I love their wispy and elegant and detailed designs, very imaginative and Rococco style, will review my pack when I get it.
• Superbuy and other shopping services
• There are several shopping services out there that can purchase directly from Taobao shops that have no English sites for you. This is the case for items that cannot be found on the reseller sites, such as preorders or rare stuff. I used Superbuy to buy some shoes and everything was fine, but the cost of Airmail shipping combined with my cosplay and merch purchases was easily as expensive as the worth of the order... I honestly don't know if I want to deal with shipping from Asia unless it's the sea mail method just because EMS is so delayed and DHL can get much more expensive. As a final note, you can't easily browse Taobao shops unless you have an account. I don't have an account so I'm just searching other people's links, not an efficient method... 

Wow, this is a long post already and I only included 2 photos and no detailed product reviews lol. Stay tuned for part two in which I will go over the Taobao-specific brands in more detail that were not already reviewed in previous posts.

[links/discussion] Black fashion influences and lolita wardrobe tracker

Another post for Black History Month! I want to share links to my personal fashion icons and inspirations who are black and whom you should be following if you haven't yet and care about J-fashion in any way. Be sure to check out their recommendation posts as well, support them financially if that's possible, and pass on the information to others if not applicable to you.

First off is Cursed Kaiser whom I mentioned in my previous coord post. I recently found their instagram again and watched their panels at the latest J-fashion virtual events. Their unique sense of gothic fashion and artistry is awe-inspiring and memorable, highly recommended even if you're not into lolita!

https://www.instagram.com/cursed.kaiser/

Next, a plus-sized sweet lolita, Callista Marie of MagicalGirlMe. They have a fairly active blog, plus fun youtube videos as well as an adorable etsy shop with resin jewelry. So glad to have found this artist through recommendations.  

http://www.magicalgirlme.com/lolita-fashion-blog

Kimbuucha at Youtube is a new discovery for me, recommended by MagicalGirlMe. She is also a sweet/classic lolita and started a Youtube account this year, posting lots of solid short videos with a variety of helpful, applicable content.

https://www.youtube.com/c/Kimbuucha/featured

And for local friends, check out these cosplayers and overall fashionable people I have the honor of seeing in real life (in the before times of course lol)!

https://www.instagram.com/konpeitostars/

https://www.instagram.com/afroprincex/

Also see my previous post this month with Black-owned businesses to treat yourself with good stuff! 

https://starsbegantofall.blogspot.com/2021/02/shopping-links-supporting-black-owned.html

Finally here is the current value of my wardrobe, using the wardrobe tracker (Google Sheets format) from Kimbuucha in this video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhkE0yQeMmg&t=1877s

That's... wow, I spent a lot of money on lolita clothing. Note, this does not include all the lolita items I've sold, which would add about another $2,600 USD to the total spent. So that's $13,000 that has moved out of my paypal/credit card just for "official" lolita brands. I did not add off-brands, including whatever the worth of my handmade pieces would be, or Western brands or Japanese brands that cater to otome/kawaii/gyaru fashion like Axes Femme or Liz Lisa. I don't even want to think about that number. Yikes!

I made some different charts just for fun, you can look at a more detailed breakdown of my wardrobe here without me having to photograph everything like in previous wardrobe posts. Almost a quarter of my wardrobe from Metamorphose sounds about right lol.

Because I have a large walk-in closet plus another 2 closets, I don't feel the urge for a capsule wardrobe or to purge items I've only worn once. In the past, when I was experimenting with what style and color I wanted to wear, I've sold plenty of pieces purchased on impulse that I slightly regret in that I could have found another way to rewear them now. At the same time, if another lolita could love the item more, then I don't feel that bad setting them free from my closet. At this time, there is only a handful of items I would sell, mostly pants that will never fit and 2 Taobao dresses I just can't match. Other than that, I'm pretty happy with the state of my wardrobe and want to wear the last several dresses (in my house) to take photos in. My goal is to not have to buy anything else and to instead work on sewing accessories and revamping the rest of my handmade wardrobe!