lj-
Themed coordinates
This year I finally completed coordinates for the four Houses of Hogwarts. Harry Potter is one of my long time fandoms, and fortunately there are several Potterheads in my comm to represent each House for themed meets. I actually wore the Slytherin coord to visit the WWOHP at USJ- blog post here.
[Wa lolita]
In my opinion haori are still the easiest way to work Wa into a regular lolita wardrobe, since it functions like a jacket. I wore several coordinates to visit Tokyo and Osaka this year and they were very cozy for spring and fall weather. I wrote extensively about coordinating Wa using different items; second in the series is about Haori & Michiyuki.
Michiyuki (on the left) need a bit more work to style with lolita, because of their shape. On the right are coords with kimono, which are a major step up in difficulty because of their length, weight, and obi! Since putting on kimono takes some time, I only wore these on days when we weren't rushing to catch a tour or train.
More kimono coordinates- I wrote about them in Wa Lolita III: Kimono. I joined the local kitsuke club and my collection grew accordingly! With the vast array of accessories and tools necessary to wear kimono properly, I can tell it will soon outgrow the tiny storage space it's in right now ><
Yukata coordinates. The one on the right is a children's furisode from Seiko Matsuda. It's a bit of a combo breaker for me, and difficult to coordinate with my usual things. My pink-loving friend arranged to buy this from me, after our next big Sweet meet.
This group of coordinates leans toward Military and Classic, with only a touch of Wa in the accessories. This is one of the easier styles to wear, in my opinion. It is also extremely simple to remove the accessories to go supercasual.
[Red]
Bodyline l529 - this is one of my impossible children. It’s amazing how personal taste can change so much in just a few years. When this first came out, I thought it was garish, confused, and blurry. It still is all of those things, but now I love it. This was the easiest coordinate I’ve ever put together; it’s as if this blouse was waiting for its OTP.
MOGAO jacket - it’s strange, I’ve never found a jacket as flattering as this. The cut is just perfect on me.
Krad Lanrete Mozarabic Chant - 4 years in, the dress that got me into the fashion is still queen of my heart. Every detail is special, but, I don’t get to wear it very often; I worry about damages.
[Green]
Souffle Song- Clock Fairy high waist skirt. Finally, a green print with some variation to it. I love painting prints because they have such a range of color in them. This wasn’t the color way I originally wanted; but I feel that this blue-green suits me more, because I was dead certain I was in Ravenclaw before the Sorting Hat landed me in Slytherin. Twice.
unknown offbrand OP - lovely construction, but the neckline was a little plain. I added a sailor collar in organza to go with the translucent fabric. I was going to modify this to make it longer, but then I changed my mind because it's the perfect summer dress.
I wore this to watch Loving Vincent.
unknown offbrand skirt - I just love that print. I’ve worn it to meets, casual days out, and weddings; it’s really versatile! This coord was for our comm's Manila Day meet at the National Museum. We combined elements of the traditional baro't saya with lolita and it was so much fun we decided to do this again the next year! Blog post is here: Saya.
[Pink]
Angelic Pretty - I'm one of the hardcore Classic people in our comm, so why do I have Angelic Pretty in my wardrobe? It doesn't make sense, but this JSK was just too cute to pass up.
I wore this with a straw bonnet and pink RHS. I love the look of longer dresses, I'd love to collect more this year...
Bought this from local secondhand sales. It's very light and breezy, great for the tropical weather! It fits me like a glove and the longer length is just perfect.
I bought this during our visit to Osaka. I was with a group tour and they only gave us one hour to roam Shinsaibashisuji - not nearly enough time! I got to Closet Child as fast as I could following Google Maps, but there was no time to try things on and I took a chance that I would fit. Who knew unshirred IW was tiny?! It fits, but I cannot wear blouses that are too thick or frilly with it.
This appeared in the flea market sales organized by Kawaii PH (Kawaii Market). I was eyeing this from the booth across for the entire day, watching as it was removed from the mannequin and returned several times over. When it reappeared a fourth time, I worked up the courage to go try it on. The fit is great, but the length is not... hence, the underskirts.
This has been one of my favorite WIPs for a long time, but there was never a good chance to wear it until recently, when my friend had her wedding at the Raffles. Blog post here.
This is very similar to the above coordinate, with a bit more coverage. This lace minidress had a tag at some point, but I removed it to wear back-to-front (the front is a scoop neck, I prefer the back) and then forgot what brand it was...
After having had this dress for some time, I noticed a tiny snidel tag on it! Still one of my favorite coordinates ever, but it's hard to find another chance to wear this.
C&M France jacket. For some reason, I can't quite get the hairstyle/color right for this, so it's still a work in progress. Maybe it needs really big hime hair?
This Bodyline JSK has been one of my problem children for the longest time, until I acquired this blouse and Mayi from the comm gave me a cluster of flower clips that were just the perfect color. The clips hold the waist ties together in front.
Liz Lisa short lace dress, with a pink Little Dipper underskirt. Sometimes I wonder if I should sell this, but then I practically live in LL during summer when it's too hot for full lolita.
This was my first brand item. I am still fond of it, but I have to admit that it feels a little weird to be wearing such a cutesy print sometimes.
Four years and five wardrobe posts later, I still wear mostly Classic, but I've branched out a bit from my original dedication to solids. Most of my new acquisitions this year were prints. As it turns out, I just have a particular fondness for painting and gallery prints.
While last year I focused on coordinating instead of cataloging my stuff, this led to me using the same bags and shoes out of habit. This year I made the effort to photograph them properly so I could have an quick way to look through my collection.
I switched sorting order halfway through so please ignore the odd numbering on some pieces!
Previous posts:
2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014
Themed coordinates
This year I finally completed coordinates for the four Houses of Hogwarts. Harry Potter is one of my long time fandoms, and fortunately there are several Potterheads in my comm to represent each House for themed meets. I actually wore the Slytherin coord to visit the WWOHP at USJ- blog post here.
[Wa lolita]
In my opinion haori are still the easiest way to work Wa into a regular lolita wardrobe, since it functions like a jacket. I wore several coordinates to visit Tokyo and Osaka this year and they were very cozy for spring and fall weather. I wrote extensively about coordinating Wa using different items; second in the series is about Haori & Michiyuki.
Michiyuki (on the left) need a bit more work to style with lolita, because of their shape. On the right are coords with kimono, which are a major step up in difficulty because of their length, weight, and obi! Since putting on kimono takes some time, I only wore these on days when we weren't rushing to catch a tour or train.
More kimono coordinates- I wrote about them in Wa Lolita III: Kimono. I joined the local kitsuke club and my collection grew accordingly! With the vast array of accessories and tools necessary to wear kimono properly, I can tell it will soon outgrow the tiny storage space it's in right now ><
Yukata coordinates. The one on the right is a children's furisode from Seiko Matsuda. It's a bit of a combo breaker for me, and difficult to coordinate with my usual things. My pink-loving friend arranged to buy this from me, after our next big Sweet meet.
This group of coordinates leans toward Military and Classic, with only a touch of Wa in the accessories. This is one of the easier styles to wear, in my opinion. It is also extremely simple to remove the accessories to go supercasual.
[Red]
Bodyline l529 - this is one of my impossible children. It’s amazing how personal taste can change so much in just a few years. When this first came out, I thought it was garish, confused, and blurry. It still is all of those things, but now I love it. This was the easiest coordinate I’ve ever put together; it’s as if this blouse was waiting for its OTP.
MOGAO jacket - it’s strange, I’ve never found a jacket as flattering as this. The cut is just perfect on me.
Krad Lanrete Mozarabic Chant - 4 years in, the dress that got me into the fashion is still queen of my heart. Every detail is special, but, I don’t get to wear it very often; I worry about damages.
[Green]
Souffle Song- Clock Fairy high waist skirt. Finally, a green print with some variation to it. I love painting prints because they have such a range of color in them. This wasn’t the color way I originally wanted; but I feel that this blue-green suits me more, because I was dead certain I was in Ravenclaw before the Sorting Hat landed me in Slytherin. Twice.
unknown offbrand OP - lovely construction, but the neckline was a little plain. I added a sailor collar in organza to go with the translucent fabric. I was going to modify this to make it longer, but then I changed my mind because it's the perfect summer dress.
I wore this to watch Loving Vincent.
unknown offbrand skirt - I just love that print. I’ve worn it to meets, casual days out, and weddings; it’s really versatile! This coord was for our comm's Manila Day meet at the National Museum. We combined elements of the traditional baro't saya with lolita and it was so much fun we decided to do this again the next year! Blog post is here: Saya.
[Pink]
Angelic Pretty - I'm one of the hardcore Classic people in our comm, so why do I have Angelic Pretty in my wardrobe? It doesn't make sense, but this JSK was just too cute to pass up.
I wore this with a straw bonnet and pink RHS. I love the look of longer dresses, I'd love to collect more this year...
Bought this from local secondhand sales. It's very light and breezy, great for the tropical weather! It fits me like a glove and the longer length is just perfect.
I bought this during our visit to Osaka. I was with a group tour and they only gave us one hour to roam Shinsaibashisuji - not nearly enough time! I got to Closet Child as fast as I could following Google Maps, but there was no time to try things on and I took a chance that I would fit. Who knew unshirred IW was tiny?! It fits, but I cannot wear blouses that are too thick or frilly with it.
This appeared in the flea market sales organized by Kawaii PH (Kawaii Market). I was eyeing this from the booth across for the entire day, watching as it was removed from the mannequin and returned several times over. When it reappeared a fourth time, I worked up the courage to go try it on. The fit is great, but the length is not... hence, the underskirts.
This has been one of my favorite WIPs for a long time, but there was never a good chance to wear it until recently, when my friend had her wedding at the Raffles. Blog post here.
This is very similar to the above coordinate, with a bit more coverage. This lace minidress had a tag at some point, but I removed it to wear back-to-front (the front is a scoop neck, I prefer the back) and then forgot what brand it was...
After having had this dress for some time, I noticed a tiny snidel tag on it! Still one of my favorite coordinates ever, but it's hard to find another chance to wear this.
C&M France jacket. For some reason, I can't quite get the hairstyle/color right for this, so it's still a work in progress. Maybe it needs really big hime hair?
This Bodyline JSK has been one of my problem children for the longest time, until I acquired this blouse and Mayi from the comm gave me a cluster of flower clips that were just the perfect color. The clips hold the waist ties together in front.
Liz Lisa short lace dress, with a pink Little Dipper underskirt. Sometimes I wonder if I should sell this, but then I practically live in LL during summer when it's too hot for full lolita.
This was my first brand item. I am still fond of it, but I have to admit that it feels a little weird to be wearing such a cutesy print sometimes.
[Ivory]
Emily Temple Cute - Biscuit and Cutlery JSK. Current record holder for the briefest stint in my wardrobe; I bought it on a whim when the piece I actually wanted was snapped up by someone else, and found it so very hard to coordinate that I only wore it once and sold it immediately after. It would have been impossible to wear, actually, if I didn't have those socks to coordinate it. Blog post - Emirii (ILD Winter meet).
Another summer supercasual dress, coordinated with a peignoir from Leona. The fabric is so silky and comfortable!
This is not exactly lolita, but I am amazed at the construction of this dress and I find the pleat arrangement inspiring. This is another piece that fits me like a glove and flatters the body; I imagine this would be an ideal cut for girls with a larger bust.
The tag on this dress has been cut off, but the construction feels like it could be from an indie brand. This is another piece that's great for summer and casual wear, but I like to fancy it up with ribbons that match the blue flowers in the print.
This dress is pure tulle lace; extremely delicate, but it looks and feels so nice to wear. It's sheer, so I have a JSK underneath or a slip for non-lolita looks.
This is another coordinate that hasn't been worn yet. We don't really have palaces around here, and this is too white to wear to a wedding.
This is what I wear when it's boiling outside, because the fabric is so light. There's not a lot of room for customization with an OP, but the payoff is in how easy to wear it is.
Liz Lisa JSK - with the straps crossed in front, instead of the back. We're planning a Swan Lake-themed shoot soon, and I'm really looking forward to seeing this coord again!
This is one of the most-worn dresses in my wardrobe - I wear it with Wa, Classic, and Country. It's just so versatile!
I have two of these, in ivory and navy blue. Good for casual days.
One of my older pieces. I thought about selling it, but the heavier fabric is so nice for traveling to colder climates. The yellow-green pairs really nicely with autumn colors like red and brown.
My class once had a meetup at a local mall. We were told to wear white so we could spot each other - what happened was, I wore head-to-toe white except for the pink accents and ended up an unintentional beacon for my classmates to home in on.
Another older piece, I still love how swishy the tulle hem is.
[Blue]
I really have a soft spot for Souffle Song's sense of color. This is my favorite shade of blue (Prussian Blue, not navy) and it's so hard to find. The print is surprisingly crisp, too!
I visited Harajuku with Krishna and we found this at ClosetChild, new with tags! The color is so vibrant in person and the fit is excellent, thanks to the shirring. I wore this with a mantle of leaves and flowers to my comm's big event: Caelia - PGLC 8th anniversary meet.
In my opinion, Bodyline's bustle JSKs are among their best designs. The fabric on this model has a sheen to it unlike ordinary cotton, and the skirt has lots and lots of room for poof!
MTP gets a lukewarm rep, but unlined cotton is great for hot weather. I fell in love with the delicate colors of this JSK.
I dyed this in tea shortly after receiving it, to tone down the color a little bit. The sax lace turned grey, but I still like the result overall. The skirt is huge. I can fit two or three petticoats under it.
This is one of my first Taobao purchases. I'm glad that I didn't have much money to throw around then, because screen prints are not really my thing now. Still, this JSK is great for military and pirate coords whenever it isn't too hot (it's velvet)
This is one of my favorite dresses. Dabuwawa doesn't make lolita clothes, but the cut of this dress is perfect with underdresses. I removed the original frill on the front and used new lace to change the look from the original here.
My original painting dress. This gets so much wear because it's easy to coordinate with pinks, blues, purples, greys, and black.
This is a high street brand, but the skirt part has so much room for poof. It's easy to wear casually, or with a blouse for a more military look.
This dress is my favorite for country looks. Denim and lolita sounds impossible, but the fabric is really cute in person.
The cut is immaculate, but it's really short. So I always need either a black or white underskirt.
The dress is cotton with a tulle overlay. Impossible to keep unwrinkled, but light and comfy.
My first piece from Souffle Song. Despite its quirks I still love it, which is why I got several more pieces from the brand.
Sheer lace dress. For an offbrand item, this has a lot of yardage in the skirt!
Another Bodyline bustle JSK. For some reason the blue is much easier to coordinate than the pink.
[Black]
I love the print on this, but why is it so short?! I usually wear OTKs with lolita and this is just so short that I need to wear an underskirt so my garters don't show.
This was a surprise find, and the cut and fit are immaculate. I've been trying to track down this brand, but the name is so generic I haven't had any luck!
I almost sold this recently, but I love the print so much that I hung on to it in the hopes that I can lose some weight after the holidays. It actually fits, but it is rather tight after a meal because of the lack of real shirring.
Toile skirt, from our ILD gift exchange. Kristina gave it to me because I am the tallest in the comm; but it was still very very long! I plan to shorten it, or add a tulle frill so as to skip the underskirt.
Tiered velveteen and chiffon. The little pom-poms on the trim are so much fun.
This is a butterfly-wing blouse, but I had to display this pair of pants with something. I use these for most of my ouji coordinates because the fit and style are exactly what I'm looking for; as a pear shape, pants are very problematic.
Not a lot of room for poof, but the design on the skirt is embroidered, not printed.
I was so sad when Spider announced they were closing. Despite putting out some items of questionable taste, their tackiness is kind of endearing. Their gothic items are well loved in my comm.
This is the monster blouse that became the OTP of the red Bodyline painting JSK. It's like I have a petticoat on my elbows, it's great.
The white tulle frill drives me crazy, I should cut it off and replace it with something decent; but the embroidery on the front is my favorite element of this dress.
Justine sold this dress as part of her closet sales. Some time later I found the perfect jacket to go with it.
Anbang (Chinese offbrand) that name turns up absolutely nothing on Google, which is sad because the quality is really nice even if it's a bit short.
MOGAO during their black era was one of my favorite places to shop. Their new k-fash angle sells well, but I miss their old stuff.
MOGAO. The satin they use is really silky.
unknown Chinese offbrand. My favorite black blouse.
Unknown brand. Nice for casual days.
This dress is too small to fit on my dress form. I coordinate it with brown, red, or black depending on my mood. The print has lots of colors in it.
Unknown offbrand, really warm
After reaching 104 the past year I tried to downsize my collection. I sold several and even included some as freebies with other sales.
But… I kept finding interesting blouses everywhere, especially during group trips with my comm.
What I’m trying to say is that I ended up with even more blouses than last time >w>
[New members of the family are in red frames]
All offbrand. #4 is new, the ribbed cotton goes really well with more Gothic and mature Classic looks.
4
All offbrand except for #9 which is from Suitables. #8 is a Chinese offbrand blouse made from silk chiffon, and it is so fluttery.
#13 is from Carolina Lace Creations, I think it must have been a one-off piece (worn here). These are all offbrand.
More Ivory- it really is an easy color to find and coord. #24 is Bodyline, and remains the only Lolita-specific blouse I have. All the rest are offbrand.
No change from last year, all offbrand, warm white and beige.
More beige.
Bunch of pinks. #39 gets the most wear out of this bunch because it's a nice pomelo color.
Green, a couple of browns, tan and maroon.
Blues. I said last year I needed more blue. Well that did come true, further down...
Greys.
#61 is new and it has more pleats than anything else in my wardrobe. Pleats monster.
#70 is not really new, but I'd never photographed it before because it's rather sheer. The pattern reminds me of Wa.
Black. #76 got some use during my autumn trip, velveteen comes in handy.
More grey. At this point I stopped saying I needed grey blouses. Now I need grey skirts.
Whites.
Randos. #102 is Dream of Lolita.
#104 is where I stopped last year. I didn't plan on buying blouses, but things happened and suddenly I'm finding lots of use for blue stuff.
Pink. #109 is the Michelin man blouse from Bodyline, it's actually not bad.
Oh God there's another blank space at the end. I'm doomed.
[Grew just a little bit...]
Little Dipper x3, offbrand, Bodyline, offbrand
Ray-Mo, offbrand, Bodyline, offbrand x3
Bodyline, offbrand x5
Bodyline (new! Plz make more corset skirts), Soufflé Song, offbrand x2, Spider, offbrand
Fudge I screwed up one thumbnail and I'm not at my PC right now. Dangit
All offbrand. #30 is Vaudeville & Burlesque.
Soufflé Song, offbrand x2
[Hasn't changed much]
All offbrand. #6 is my go to ouji jacket.
All offbrand except for #8 which is Deep or Shallow, and #11 which is a mon avis.
All offbrand. #16 is Forever 21. #18 is BCBG, I think
All offbrand. I traded #24 Spider this year, it was too big in the shoulder for me.
Offbrand.
Offbrand except for #36 which is Liz Lisa.
I really, really like flowers. This year I reached critical capacity and now the collection threatens avalanche every time I open the closet door.
[FLOWERS! ALL THE FLOWERS!!!]
The teeny koala is guardian of the hoard. Here are the pinks and purples.
Here are the reds, blues, and whites.
Hat carpet. The cartwheel hats in the bottom right are handmade.
A couple years ago I was complaining that I had no white accessories. Now I have ten. Sales are incredible.
Large hats.
More hats, including the red bonnet I borrowed from my teddy bear.
Jewelry. There was no way to photograph this nicely, so I just took snaps of small collections.
Lace collars and sleeve flounces.
Scarves. I got lazy here, because I didn't want to trash my room photographing everything.
Bags
[Actually a bag lady]
#1 is Belladonna Bags (local) all else offbrand except for #7 ahcahcum muchacha.
#11 is Cole Haan, #12 is Tomato, #15 ahcahcum muchacha, #17 is obnoxiously heavy (the brand is St. John but I don't use it a lot, it's just bloody heavy because of that chain)
#19 is Kimchi, #23 is Ralph Lauren, #26 is Juicy Couture (RIP that peeling, I abuse this bag too much), #27 is Tomato.
#28 Belladonna, #34 Dooney Burke, #36 is vintage Gucci.
#39 is Dior, #42 ahcahcum muchacha, and the rest is offbrand.
Shoes
[I still don't have a particular shade of pink]
Bodyline, schu (patterned booties), Mario D'boro (blue ribbon flats), Mel jelly wedges, sorores embroidered pink flats, Zanea gold glitter wedges, Forever21 lace stilettos, rest offbrand
Greys, greens, browns, and blues
Black - bonus picture of how ridiculously tall some of them are. The Jeffrey Campbell Litas are still taller, by a hair, than the others.
Boots. The faux Victorian pair on the left started peeling shortly after they arrived and I painstakingly scraped them down and covered them in black lace - sadly the bottom part of the pleather platform is showing signs of wear as well.
H&M, figliarina (red wedges with dangling bits), Mel ribbon wedges, offbrand green shoes
Gucci brown stilettos (painful, but the resin heel is such a nice detail... furry shoes I can't remember the name of, Kimchi Blue brown wedges and Juan black slip - inspection.
[My only pending purchases are minor]
Thanks for reading to the end. It's 4:37 right now and I've got to go in less than an hour, so there are probably some typos and things that I can't fix right now, sorry. Spell check can only do so much on a phone.