[coord] cat day leopard print coord nya

 This isn't actually a new coord or even a new photoset, I just decided to publish because February 22 (yesterday) was Cat Day in Japan (due to the number two pronounced ni, as in n-ya, the sound a cat makes), and February 22 of 2022 is Super Cat Day. Now if Japan survives until the year 2222, that will be the ultimate cat day, but I'm not going to live that long, so 02/22/2022 it is, lol.

You may recognize the pink leopard print and bolero from a previous post, in which I tried to upcycle/thrift flip a shirt in my donation bin. Later in 2021, I decided to wear a coord based on that post to a local meetup with my lolita pals to get boba and taiyaki. It was a warm and humid night, so I just put my hair in braids and went blouse-less with a bolero and short socks. I didn't take a photo. I also didn't wear the patch although that would have been a good idea.  

This photo below was taken earlier this month while taking other coord photos. I decided to wear a wig because my hair was greasy or something and I added a bracelet, but otherwise the coord is the same.

[jsk: Diamond Honey; bolero: handmade; socks, shoes, ring, bracelet, earrings: Liz Lisa; headband: Angelic Pretty; necklace: Puvithel]

The bolero covers it, but the top of the bodice actually has cat ears peeking above the chest bow which I thought was adorable. The bolero wasn't as scratchy as I thought it would be when worn for a short time, or at least it wasn't any scratchier than the lace socks. This dress makes for a great sweet or punk look, depending on your blouse and shoes and accessories.  For example, wear a black moto jacket and combat boots for a punk look, or wear tea parties and a fur collar and kitty ears for a sweet look. I like this coord as is, and honestly don't have much else in my wardrobe that I'd wear that matches at this time, as this is a warm bubblegum pink and everything I own is either baby blush pink or dusty greyish rose pink.  Thinking about getting another moto jacket though...

[coord] revamp lucky pack dress and lovecore outfit

Today I'm bringing you a Valentine's/Galentine's lovecore coord salvaged from a 2021 lucky pack dress from Long Ears Sharp Ears, a Taobao brand from China. I already showed off the qi-lolita dress from that same lucky pack last year and finally got around to fixing up this jumperskirt so I can wear it this year. 

Here is the before photo, the left photo includes all the accessories that came with the jsk in the lucky pack: 2 hair clips, a choker, 2 wristcuffs. The chest bow, waist ribbons and overskirt are not detachable.

This is an adorable print of castles and keys and bunnies and kittens, labeled "the Lock of Heart," but what makes this a true lucky pack item in the tradition of Japanese lolita brand lucky packs is the mish mash of various fabrics and trims likely gathered from leftover stuff in the warehouse and/or a design they clearly nixed for production. Nothing wrong with that, I love the qi lolita dress I got even though it was missing a skirt/belt that was part of the set for sale. But this red jsk I just couldn't love, too much going on, and I didn't feel like I could resell it as is either. So I pulled out the scissors this year and did some cutting, to at least get some cute photos out of it if I can't ever sell it. This is my first major alteration of a brand (albeit a lucky pack item from a Taobao brand), as I never did get around to fixing the zipper of my Meta dress.

What do you think of this after photo?  Much better now, in my opinion. I took out the shiny holographic ribbon from the choker and hair clips, left the wrist cuffs alone, and cut out the shiny lace overskirt and Frankensteined chest bow.  I tried to remake the chest bow with just the red fabric and key charm and a strip of white lace, but the bow part was made of 2 sewn rectangles instead of a properly sewn tube, so it could not be rescued into any bow-like creation and then I broke the pin I sewed onto it.  I gave up by that point, it was not destined, lol.  Now I like the idea of lace overskirts, but sometimes they obscure a perfectly good print underneath, which was the case in this dress. Also the lace used for the overskirt was a weird green-tinted gold lace that did not go with the reds and pinks and blues on the print. There is still a hint of the holographic ribbon in the shoulder straps and the back corset lacing, but I was not going to unpick the straps to remove it.

[jumperskirt, choker, wristcuffs, hairclips: Long Ears Sharp Ears; blouse: Innocent World; hairband: Liz Lisa; necklace: Angelic Pretty; socks: Baby the Stars Shine Bright; shoes: Sosic Shop; ring: Metamorphose; earrings, ring, jacket, purse: offbrand, Shojomonsta]

And here is a lovecore Valentine's themed coord I put together just for kicks. I think I'm going to sell this wig as it doesn't look good with my skin tone and the wig cap part is too small for my giant head, so you can see my hairline underneath. I guess I could wear this if I did go to a Valentine's meet, red and pink are always on point, and while there isn't much lovey going on in the print, the keys do represent the key to your heart according to the print name lol.  Anyway, even with all the wonkiness of the wig and wild hairclips contrasting with my tired face, I do like this set of photos and felt the half hour spent cutting away the extra fabric was worth it! 

[discussion] wishlist update!

 I'm not in the mood to dress up even though winter is prime season to wear lolita and layers. So instead, here is an update on my wish list post I made last year in preparation for the holiday shopping season!

https://starsbegantofall.blogspot.com/2021/11/discussion-dream-dresses-wishlist.html

I was able to add the last leopard print dress on my wish list to my wardrobe, the Angelic Pretty Rebecca Leopard release from fall 2021. For a while, only the one-piece dresses were for resale on lacemarket, which have no shirring and would be too tight for me, but I finally found someone selling the jumperskirt which did have shirring and was only tried on by the seller! It is in a gray color instead of tan or pink, and I don't have a lot of gray accessories, but I figured I could make it work. The dress cost well over $200 but not as expensive as list price, and also the American website only has the OP which was my only other option at the time.

I also got the Alice and the Pirates Vargossa jacket (not coat) in black x black well under list price. I didn't realize it was the jacket version until I got it, but that's fine, as I live in Texas and it is coat weather for at most a couple of weeks a year. The jacket is not made of thick wool material like what I assume the coat to be made of, and has the weight and heft of a suit jacket or blazer. It would definitely not keep you warm in freezing temperatures. If I ever felt like it, I would get the jacket or coat in black x gold as that is Alucard's style of coat, but that's not a pressing need.

Finally, some surprise wishlist additions I wasn't even thinking about when I made the list, and that is adding to my collection of Sakizou-designed lolita items. I bought another pair of tights from a different series, and I am hoping to win the bidding on a secondhand jumperskirt at lacemarket. (I guess I could pay the buy it now price though lol.) I do love Sakizou's artwork so much, so I think it's worth making space in my closet for these additions.

Anyway, I feel supremely lucky to be able to find these items secondhand in America (instead of having to pay out the nose for shipping from Japanese secondhand shops). Obviously I still have to order from Japan if I want new releases from any brand other than Angelic Pretty and Baby, but otherwise I'm very happy with how shopping is going so far. Now if I can just force myself to wear these dresses while the weather is still cold lol.

[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!