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.
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