[coord] clown lolita coord from Taobao

Starting off year 3 of the pandemic strong with a clown lolita look! 🤡 I had no real intention of ever doing a clown coord, not because I hate clowns, but it wasn't really my personality or a theme I would invest money in. However, at one point in time, the local comm did a circus theme for a New Year's meet and while I probably won't join an in-person themed meet for A WHILE, and I would assume there would be no repeats on the themes either, I just thought I might as well be ready since I feel like the world is clowning me these past 2 years. I bought this dress from Devilinspired a couple of years ago along with circus themed tights, but the tights were bright white while the dress was mostly cream, so I decided to not bother trying to force them on my legs. Also it's winter and I avoid shaving my legs during winter, thin tights won't do lol.

[Dress, hat: Less Than Maiden (Taobao); socks: Metamorphose; shoes: Bodyline; rings: off-brand, iconografi; hair clips: off-brand, Shoujomonsta]

This coord was simple to put together since the dress has long sleeves and came with a jester hat and various bows you can pin wherever you like, and also an extra red velvet hairbow headband for when the hat is too much. I say if you're going to be a clown lolita, you should always go for too much. I didn't want to wear my red shoes since they are falling apart, but maybe it would have looked better with red shoes, like typical Ronald McDonald shoes. I should shop for replacements.

The hardest point is putting on the clown face makeup on myself, I haven't drawn designs on my face after one aborted attempt at shironuri. I can't draw a straight line on paper in the best situation, much less on a curved surface looking at a mirror wearing circle lenses not as strong as my prescription with my hand at an awkward angle. Presumably with practice, I would get better, but clown makeup is hard to remove lol. Anyway, other than practicing the makeup and buying new red shoes or maybe red/cream socks, this coord is fine as is, I'd make no changes. Love that for me!

[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.