Belated post for my latest wa-lolita coord (by a Chinese brand lol) for an art market last month!
Check out the full report on my website at the link below!
https://starsbegantofall.com/2025/05/26/fashion-wa-lolita-for-kira-kira-market/
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.
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.
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.
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!
