[coord] menhera in pink

Another brief interruption from lolita/ouji to talk about menhera, a Japanese street fashion that has followers around the world. Menhera ("mental health/er") has its origins in bringing recognition to mental health issues in Japan through use of art and fashion, and describes a style that can be pastels or gothic ("yami kawaii"). I've always been interested in medical themes since before I got into J-fashion but never felt the urge to wear it as an everyday fashion. But now that we're in a really bad state in most places due to coronavirus, why not give it a shot?!  (Pun was not planned.)

[Dress: Ota-Q; socks, bag: Enchanted Dreamwear; shoes: Liz Lisa; beret: Lolita Collective; pin, badge: Puvithel; lanyard, charm: Moshi Melon; necklace: Showtime Sweetie; charm: Kokokim; earrings: indie artist (forgot the name); bracelets: offbrand, homemade]

I took such faraway coord shots that you can't see all the details including the doctor bag with its syringe charm and my pill earrings or any of my sickly girl makeup that beautycam filters blow out anyway. Also, I surprisingly am not wearing gear from Listen Flavor which is the main source of menhera related fashion in Japan despite owning some Listen Flavor stuff. But I did my best in supporting black-owned businesses and independent/POC/LGBTQ+ artists to put together this outfit, which is a huge plus in my book. I am a little sad that the pinks don't match at all, so I think maybe finding 2 more big lavender accessories, like bracelets or a neckbow, might offset that.

Overall, this is a cute and comfortable attempt that I would wear outside if I had any reason to go outside. But we don't!

Footnote: menhera is more about mental health advocacy and artistic expression than simply cute/creepy medical-themed fashion, so I'm not menhera just by wearing this outfit. I do work with mental health issues in my dayjob and writing and art, but that's not necessarily related to my personal expression of fashion, just clarifying!

LARME magazine and "larme kei" - Youtube video!

Made a short 3 min video on YouTube about LARME magazine and "larme kei" (or "girlish") fashion!

https://youtu.be/XBzOs5qRR44

I decided I don't like hearing my voice so I doubt I'll return to things that require me to listen to myself, but it was still fun and I hope you got something useful out of this video lol.

Featured dress is Miho Matsuda with the cutest cherry lace, a sheer H&M blouse, a Liz Lisa shoulder bag, some handmade offbrand headband and hair bows, and pair of black bow booties. It looks simple compared to a whole lolita coord, but still reflects that cute and sophisticated girlish fashion that I feel embodies the Larme magazine image.

[discussion] gatekeeping in lolita

[crossposted from Tumblr] 

Too long for twitter post, but I do want to say something about lolita fashion while I’m still active here lol.  This post is all my honest opinion, it’s not the “facts”, but it’s a thorough explanation about something I care about, and made in entirely good faith with no intent to upset anyone.

[coord] Bronze Surgical Knife - International Lolita Day

Dragged myself out of bed to put on this coord while it was still daylight yesterday. I had been meaning to wear this coord for Halloween but was feeling sick (not covid sick (I hope)) the last half of October so I didn't even try. I'm still feeling crappy but I made the effort to have something to show for this year since I skipped the summer ILD.

JSK and tights: Mou Clothing (Taobao); blouse: Taobao; hat: Fanplus Friend; shoes: Innocent World; earrings: Metamorphose; gloves: Restyle; purse, ring, necklace: off-brand

I bought this dress not realizing it was made of lined faux suede and therefore not suitable for hot Texas weather. Luckily, today was chilly, so I did not completely waste my money lol. The hat I bought from another lolita on lacemarket, took off the cheap bow and replaced it with a Bodyline barrette with this cameo of a sickly Victorian person. I added a handmade veil to complete the mourning widow look. I probably could have worn a long-sleeved shirt to cover more skin, but I don't really have one, should get on that.

Here is the plague doctor look with a mask from Target and axe from Daiso. I moved the veil to use as a skirt to see how it looks but probably should just sew a real actual overskirt soon. Anyway, I'm glad to have finally worn the hat and skirt and tights and gloves which were all sitting untouched in my wardrobe. Now on to my bizarre and tacky prints!

[diy - image heavy] makeover white purse to Betsey Johnson leopard print gyaru purse!

In an effort to add new content to this blog without having to dress up and wear a cursed wig, here is a tutorial of how I remade an old white purse to something gyaru-inspired! Note, this is a somewhat  image heavy post.

Here is the purse, purchased for like $5 at Ross in the girl's section, made of textured fake leather. I brightened the photo too much, but you can see faint blue/grey stains all over the front and yellowing handles. I barely used this purse but it somehow got dirtied, as white purses will. I was going to donate it, but I never got around to it due the pandemic, so I decided to see if I can remake it into something I might even carry around.

[coord] Metamorphose's Diavalo, again!

 Back at it with the coolest coord I can make from my closet, Diavolo from Metamorphose. I got the white coat years ago from the site and within the last year I bought the hat secondhand on Lacemarket because I knew I wasn't going to find it anywhere else soon. Finally revised my dorky cosplay coord with an actual ouji/boystyle coord.

[hat, coat: Metamorphose; blouse, shoes, socks: Innocent World; pants: Putumayo; necktie: Black Peace Now; gloves: Sexpot Revenge; earring: Daiso; eyepatch: handmade]

Besides the fact that the hat and blouse are too small for me, I would absolutely wear this outfit out and about, I really improved upon my first coord.  Previously I thought it made me look fat, but I think the new legwear and tall hat help balance it out. I also love that I got to use all of my ouji boystyle accessories here, including the Tales of crossover baggy pants and the necktie I got for some reason, as well as the snakeskin gloves my friend got me from Japan. The eyepatch was not comfortable though.

Posing with a water gun from Daiso, and I decided that boyish makeup makes me look wretched, so I put on red lipstick heheh.  Anyway, check out my insta for my attempt at videos and whatever the heck this reel thing is. I don't even know, I try to avoid social media for anything other than updates on series I'm following and cat memes and dog videos.

https://www.instagram.com/atelierinsomniel/

handmade lolita dresses showcase #2

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 part two of my handmade dresses wardrobe, with recent additions of accessories and items from Otome no Sewing! Read part one here! 

This skirt I actually got from another lolita on the egl Livejournal community (like 10 years ago back when it was active lol) and we did a skirt exchange. I sewed a similar looking classic lolita skirt in navy blue jacquard.  My partner sent me this Victorian Maiden-esque skirt with deep red trim and a small fat quarter size of the pink floral fabric. I used the remainder to make a miniature hat trimmed with flowers and ribbons and also made a waist bow, the hat pattern was from Otome no Sewing volume 5 (?) and the dimensions based off a handmade hat I purchased from a lolita. I wore this skirt for class sometimes and look forward to composing a more classic coord with the new hat.

I purchased about one meter of this woodland animal fabric from a Japanese seller online years ago.  I tried to make a bodice with attached half/bustle skirt from a generic Western pattern, but did not have enough fabric for a proper skirt, even half of one, so it languished in my projects bin.  I ended up making this top with a half shirred back recently, but have gained so much weight I can't put this on anymore lol. To be honest, I might just scrap this entire thing and sew a tote or zipper bag or something. The fabric is too thick for a summery top or hair accessory, and not enough to sew a jacket. We'll see!

I purchased several yards of toile fabric from a fellow lolita online and made a tutorial on how to sew this old-school skirt on livejournal here! The photo quality is so bad, sorry.  Then I also sewed the top with a half-shirred back (can you see I hate zippers) probably to test out the Western pattern for a Princess Peach costume. The most recent addition to this outfit is an old-school flat rectangle headdress from Otome No Sewing volume 3 or 5.  If I can find a good wig, I will try to wear this coord again.

This toile fabric was also bought from the same lolita, and I sewed this a-line dress from Otome No Sewing volume 3 with some light blue scraps leftover from cosplay. Most recently I sewed a knot headband for a more retro look, I already sewed a hairbow previously, but of course I still have several more yards with which I can sew a whole other dress if I wanted to. I just haven't decided if I want to attempt another rococo dress like the pink dress or something more casual. See older worn photos here!

Anyway, I really like the variety in these dresses and coming up with new hair accessories from my Otome no Sewing books for them. For the record, sewing a hat is very hard and I don't like how floppy this miniature hat is, but it will do for now. Right now I'm taking a break from sewing to work on Halloween costumes and actually taking worn photos, however, I kinda like these flatlays and mannequin shots, too. I have 2 old pieces to redo (my first ever gothic dress and a gothic skirt), plus my AP replica attempt, and maybe another project or two!