Closet Child Haul and Coords

I've been wanting to expand my cutsew and outerwear collection, and when a minor dream item of mine popped up on Closet Child, I decided to add some of these things to my order.  The dream item was Metamorphose's Bubble Bath frill skirt in lavender.  I still want a version of this series, in lavender, with the print on it, but I love how toned down the frill skirt is.  I now have 3 Meta skirts in the same cut, which are not the print version, in lavender.  They are all slightly different shades, but still, I think I have an obsession!

Here is the haul:

Metamorphose Bubble Bath Skirt:

This is in such nice condition...it doesn't even really have a feeling of wear, except for the wrinkles!  I love that I can pair this with pink...but I'm also thinking it would be nice to match the blue of the bubbles!  Even though I have several blue tops, none of them are this shade.  That's something I will have to keep an eye out for.

Emily Temple Cute black cutsew:

This was ridiculously cheap for how good of condition it's in...maybe ETC cutsews aren't very valuable.  At any rate, I had really been wanting a plain, but loliable, black short-sleeved cutsew all summer, and now I finally have one!

Metamorphose Jacket:

I wanted this specifically to go with my American Dream skirt!  This isn't the original American Dream jacket (I kind of doubt I will ever see that up for sale), but it's close enough to the design that I can get the look I'm going for.  I can also see myself wearing this outside of lolita, if I ever have occasion to.  Perhaps to a con, or other nerdy event in the fall or spring.

Baby the Stars Shine Bright mint cardigan:

This item accomplishes my goal of getting more mint stuff, and getting more cardigans.  It's also my first Baby cardigan, and I am so enamored with the quality and style.  It's super-thin, and also rather small, though I think the short length will work well with lolita.  I have few main pieces that can actually go with mint, however...that's something I want to keep in mind as I choose colorways for new main pieces that I may want.

Innocent World sailor collar cutsew

This item was deeply discounted, I presume because it is missing the detachable navy bow that goes at the neckline.  I should be able to replace it with something similar if I ever feel it's necessary.  I mostly ordered this for the price, because I don't have any cutsews in this color, and because I really like wearing last's years sailor-collar cutsews from IW that I bought on sale.  The sax used is kind of hard to match, but I do have a handful of pieces that it will work with.

After admiring my items, I wanted to get right to work putting together quick coords for each of them!

First, the Meta jacket and ETC cutsew:

Jacket, skirt: Metamorphose

Cutsew: Emily Temple Cute

Headband: offbrand (possibly Japanese indie brand)

Shoes: Secret Shop

Socks: taobao/ebay

Naturally, I wanted to use the jacket and cutsew exactly as I envisioned: with American Dream!  The socks are also something I bought specifically for this skirt.  To tie into the music theme, I used a headband that I got a while ago that has a music not attached to it (not easy to see in this pic).  The seller claims she got it in a lot of accessories from Japan, but it contains no tags whatsoever.  I think this outfit has a 50's vibe to it, and I wonder if I could get away with wearing it for some kind of non-otaku and non-lolita event.  Time will tell...

Skirt, blouse, socks: Metamorphose

Cardigan: Bodyline

Headbow: Infanta

Shoes: Secret Shop

For my main piece coord, I wanted to tie in the dark pink in the skirt with a Bodyline cardigan I have which doesn't match many pieces (the pink is just too harsh).  When the cardigan does match, though, it really pops!  The night carnival socks match both the pink and the blue of the skirt, even though they are such unique colors.  I love when brands have some consistency, even across release years!

Cardigan: Baby the Stars Shine Bright

JSK: Bodyline

Headbow: Infanta

Shoes, Socks: Secret Shop

Okay, so I have such an obsession with pink and mint paired together, that I might need intervention!  Unfortunately, items of that nature make up probably less than 2% of my wardrobe!  I wish I had a higher-quality JSK to go with this look, but this will have to do for now.  I would love to have a solid pink JSK from Baby, though!  I think I would probably wear a white blouse with this outfit too, but I didn't feel like arranging one into this photo.

Skirt, bag, headdress, socks: Metamorphose

Cutsew: Innocent World

Shoes, wristcuffs: Bodyline

One of the pieces I have that matches my new IW cutsew is this 2003 skirt from Metamorphose.  It's a shame that it is so terribly faded, and is probably the worst condition item I own, but I am thankful just to have it, since it's so old.  The bag is the most faded of all, and the headdress still has most of its original color, so it's kind of a mismatched set, but the fading on the skirt as actually what makes it match the cutsew!  I chose other items that may have been seen in 2003, like wristcuffs, lacy knee socks, and white shoes matched with white socks.  I really did not think it was okay to match white shoes with white socks until I realized just how common this was in old-school street snaps!  I think I might like to use one of the detachable white bows from the Meta blouse in my coord above with this cutsew, since it is supposed to have a bow at the neckline (though it was a navy one).

I am incredibly satisfied with my Closet Child order.  The items are in such amazing condition that they don't even feel used, and I didn't find any stains on them!  The price and condition were much better than I usually get from other sources (especially Wunderwelt, where I often get items with stains that won't come out).  One disappoint from this order is that I also ordered a lavender cardigan from Fi.n.t that I was told was out of stock...they had sold it through one of their other outlets.  It would have been a nice addition to my collection at only 1500 yen, but I'm very happy with the items I got!

My 1-year Lolita Anniversary

This weekend, on May 20, I celebrated my 1 year anniversary of being into Lolita!  I took the time to reflect on how and why I got into Lolita, wear my first lolita dress on Saturday, and wear a new coord that I really love on Sunday.

I got into lolita on impulse last year at Anime Central, but the seeds were planted well before then.  In my teens, when X-Japan, Malice Mizer, and visual kei in general were popular, I was familiar with the gothic lolita fashion and Mana's brand, Moi Meme Moitie.  At the time, I don't think I knew about sweet, classic, or other lolita styles; I knew only the gothic style that was popular with followers of vk bands.

I learned about the brand Baby, The Stars Shine Bright from the movie Kamikaze girls, which I watched right around its US release time.  Alot of what I knew about lolita outside the gothic/vk style was from that movie for quite some time.  I went to my first lolita fashion show/panel at Tekkoshocon in 2011.  This was where a huge chunk of my real lolita knowledge came from.  At the fashion show that year, there were printed programs detailing the brands worn by each model.  I learned that there were more brands besides Baby and Moitie, and that Bodyline made lolita items as well that weren't just for cosplay (I had familiarity with Bodyline and their products from buying cosplay, and assumed the entire site was for cosplay).  After the fashion show, the girl running the show gave a detailed explanation of lolita, and also took questions from the audience.  Since I was interested in anything and everything Japanese, I absorbed all that knowledge like a sponge, though I still didn't use it for quite some time!

I didn't attend my next fashion show until 2016, even though I had been to many other cons with lolita programming and even guests since my first fashion show.  However, during that entire meantime, anytime I would see lolita vendors in dealers' rooms at cons, I would be tempted to look.  I always loved the look of the fashion, but didn't think I would ever actually take the plunge.  In 2016, Tekko had Lolita Collective in the dealer's room, and I also attended the con alone, so I had plenty of time to peruse this interesting booth at my leisure.  I kept going back to it throughout the day...but never bought anything.  That night, I realized I had passed the whole day only in the game room (my #1 hobby is rhythm gaming) and the dealer's room.  I decided I needed to go to at least one main event, just to say I did.  The lolita fashion show was that night, in main events, so I decided to go.

I was mesmerized by the looks in the fashion show.  Unlike in 2011, there were fashion guests and brands who had recruited models to show off the latest styles.  A coordinate contest showed off themed coords of attendees.  The whole thing was on a different level compared to 2011 and now seemed very professional.   I left thinking that if I would have seen the fashion show earlier in the day, maybe I would have bought something from Lolita Collective after all....

Only about a month later, I attended Anime Central in Chicago, where Lolita Collective was also vending.  This time, I saw a dress that stole my heart.  I wasn't planning on getting majorly into lolita, but I had to have that one dress.  I thought I could make just one coord, and maybe wear it to Otakon that summer.  I bought the dress, and a petticoat to go with it.

It was within a matter of weeks after buying that first dress that I jumped headfirst into lolita hardcore.  I couldn't stop thinking about the dress I had bought.  My first step was getting some basics, like a white blouse, knee socks, and wristcuffs so that I could wear it in a full coord.  Within a month, I had 2 new dresses from Baby Ponytail and Metamorphose, and had bought my first Meta lucky pack.  I was obsessed.

Now here I am, with a whole room of our house dedicated to my lolita wardrobe.  I've been to a few meets with a comm about 2 hours away, and also got to enjoy the lolita events at Tekko this year while actually wearing the fashion.  I don't see myself stopping anytime soon!  Below you will see my first dress:  a simple "anniversary JSK" from the Chinese brand Pink Up:

Pink Up Anniversary Japanese Fabric JSK:

Dress: Pink Up

Blouse: Anna House

Shoes, socks: Bodyline

Headbow: Cutie Creator

Shoeclips, jewelry: handmade

What can I say, I am still as in love with the dress as the day I saw it, even though it is so simple.  I think I love it because of its simplicity and especially its bright and varied colors.  I started out coording this with basic white items.  I ended up not wearing it to Otakon...the fabric is actually very heavy and really not good for summer at all, but right now it's still cool enough for it.  I always dreamed of being able to pull out different colors from the pattern, so I wore it with pink, blue, and white items.  The me of 1 year ago would have been so excited!

Innocent World Strawberry Rose Garden JSK coord:

 All Innocent World except off-brand shoes and handmade jewelry

This is a coord using one of the most recent dresses I've gotten, and I really tried to wear something as lovely as possible, and also something that would show how far I've come in lolita since last year.  I feel like these Innocent World items are made for each other, even though they are from different release years.  I also feel like this coord is just so "me", just like the one above, and all my coords really.  But this one is extra special to me!

Overall, I didn't actually DO much for my 1st anniversary, besides just wear some of these clothes I love and enjoy them.  I got 2 new Innocent World dresses as well, but the fact that they came this weekend was more coincidental than planned, haha.

Strawberry Coord #1

In my previous post about the Mary Rose coord, I showed at the end all of the strawberry coords I put together to wear this spring.  Today I wore the first of these, and I plan to show all of them!

Skirt, headdress: Diamond Honey

Blouse: Yilia

Socks: MuFish

Corsage: Innocent World

The skirt I am wearing is actually originally a JSK.  It is Diamond Honey's Strawberry Garden JSK, which I fell in love with at first sight, and was actually one of my early dream dresses.  When I got the dress, I was devastated with how short and tight the bodice was, with no possibility for adjustment (without major alterations).  I still loved the strawberry embroidery so much that I couldn't give up on it or sell the dress, and since it wasn't an expensive or rare dress to begin with, I decided to ditch the bodice and turn it into a skirt!  As you can see, this worked out well for me...it makes for a skirt with a nice length!  As-is, the waistband sits below my natural waist, and would require more skilled alterations to make it sit correctly, but that would also mean a shorter fit.

I also bought the matching headdress from Diamond Honey, which features the same strawberry embroidery as the skirt!  The blouse is from Yilia, but I bought it from Lolita Collective at Tekko (the Collective doesn't seem to offer this blouse online, so they may have it for convention sale only).  Normally I wear shoes for my coord pictures, but I wasn't planning to go outside in this and I love so much how the bottom of these socks looks.  Shoes kind of ruin the look!

Super Simple Coord: IW Mary Rose OP

Yesterday when I got home from work, I knew I wanted to put on a lolita coord, but I didn't have anything planned out, and I wanted something super quick and simple.  At times like that, I usually want to reach for a one-piece dress instead of a jumperskrt, but I really don't have many OPs at all (and 2 of the ones I do have are too short...and I'm still waiting on an underskirt to arrive!).  So, I reached for my trusty Mary Rose long-length OP from Innocent World.  I own this dress in both the purple and green colorways, and they are always what I go for when I'm feeling kind of lazy.  They are also super comfortable!

OP, headband, socks: Innocent World

Cardigan: Bodyline

Shoes: offbrand

Even though this dress is officially purple according to the brand, it never looked purple to me.  The hair accessory I am wearing is shown with the dress I am wearing in its stock photo from Innocent World, but the ribbon on the hairbow is actually a true purple!  At any rate, it's a great choice for when I don't really want to think about what to match.  The socks I chose have "purple" flowers that match the odd purple of the dress.  I wanted to go outside to read, but it was chilly so I threw on the Bodyline cardigan for warmth.

The reason I didn't want to spend long on my coord last night was because I wanted to do something I've been looking forward to for months....getting out all my strawberry coords!

These consist overwhelmingly of items from taobao, with 2 Innocent World dresses also in the mix, and some Bodyline items as well (1 blouse, and several of the headdresses and socks).  There is also a bolero from Dreamv and some socks from Anna House!  I may post and break down these coords more when I actually wear them!

Easter Coord: IW Cross and Feather

Today for Easter, I wanted to wear a coord that conveyed a "holy" feel with crosses.  I chose my Innocent World Cross and Feather Church Choir JSK for the occasion.  The JSK comes with a lovely white collar for the "church choir" look, but it is removable, and I actually usually wear it with the collar off, as it is difficult to coord a blouse with the collar.

JSK, clip, headbow:  Innocent World
Blouse: Yilia (taobao)
Tights: MuFish (taobao)
Shoes: offbrand
Earrings: Claire's
Bracelets: handmade

I think my favorite thing about this coord is the cross clip that I attached to the top of the blouse.  This clip is considered a hair accessory, but I love using clips in this way, and Innocent World makes alot that are good for blouses (sometimes their stock photos even show them used like this).  The shoes are navy kid's shoes from Payless with shoe clips added.  They are super comfy and I was able to wear them all day at a con recently!  The earrings are little crosses that I also wore to church this morning.

I hope everyone had a happy Easter, I sure did, especially once I was able to put on this dress and just be at home enjoying all the beautiful Spring flowers that are blooming now.

Innocent World Sailor Collar Cutsew Styling

Earlier this week, I got a haul from Innocent World.  They were having a sale on blouses, with some flat-price ones for only 3000 yen, so I ordered every one they had!  Unfortunately, I didn't get most of the blouses I ordered, and only got the sailor-collar cutsews from the sale.  I got all 3 of the colors I ordered, and I've been excited to see how they can enhance my wardrobe.

The stock photo showed this top worn as a bolero, and I wasn't really sold on that, but I decided to try it with an Innocent World dress I already had on my dress form.  When I unbuttoned the red cutsew, I saw it also had a snap next to the top button, which I thought is a neat feature.

Here is the top, with a Strawberry Tart OP.  I actually kind of like it worn like that and I could see throwing it on top of a dress to change it up.

Next, I wanted to try one of these under a JSK, so I chose the black Rose Flare JSK that was also part of my Innocent World haul, since one of the pinks in the roses matched the pink of one of the cutsews.  I threw in some offbrand accessories and shoes to complete the look.  I couldn't get the colors to photograph well, but the bracelet has pink roses, and the stud earrings are also dusty pink roses.  I really like how this coord is coming along, and it looks so casual and comfy!

Next, I wanted to try something that thematically makes sense...a dress that one would expect to be worn in a sailor style!  For this, I chose one of my favorite pieces, Angelic Pretty's Astro Regimen JSK in sax.  I always wanted to wear this dress with a navy sailor top!  I like to use my offbrand gold shoes when I wear this dress, so I incorporated a new beret I got from Cutie Creator (taobao) that has gold accents, as well as offbrand gold anchor studs and a handmade bracelet with gold stars and navy beads.  Plain navy OTK socks from MuFish (taobao) finish off the coord.  I would like to wear this one out sometime...I just need an occasion!

I'm really happy with my purchases from Innocent World!  I haven't tried them on yet, but they look like they will fit perfectly and feel nice and soft too.

My Good Friday Kuro Coord

Today for Good Friday, I wanted to wear something all black to show a sense of mourning for Jesus' death on the cross.  I tried my hand at kuro Lolita, and here's what I came up with:

JSK, headdress (modified): Bodyline
Necklace: vintage
Blouse: Anna House
Shoes and tights: offbrand from local shoe stores
Earrings: Claire's
Bracelet: handmade

Sadly, I don't think it would be appropriate to wear lolita to my church, so I won't be wearing this out.  If I were, I would want to include a classy, possibly vintage black purse without too much detail.  The tights are lace and the bracelet has one gray rose charm that ties into the rose motif on the headdress, which is a bodyline piece that originally came with ties to tie around the head (I attached it to a headband instead).  The dress also came with a detachable waist bow that I chose not to include because it looked too playful for this coord.

I decided to include a worn photo, though I covered my face.  I think this outfit does a good job of expressing what I wanted to today.

1 Dress, 8 Coords: Bodyline l365 JSK

I have been wanting to do coord posts for awhile, where I show 1 dress, and several different ways it can be worn.  My goal was to show 5 outfits per dress...but for this first one, it turned into 8!  I chose a very basic and versatile dress, Bodyline's l365 jsk in sax.  As of this writing, this dress is still available from Bodyline for $13.33.  For each outfit, I will do a rundown of what it consists of, and explain one or two "style points" for that outfit.  Also, you can see part of another coord I'm working on in all of the pics on the right side...so just ignore that!  Let's begin....

1.  The Most Basic of Basics

Headbow and shoes:  Bodyline

Blouse and tights:  taobao (sold on multiple resellers, not sure of the brand)

Bag: Loris (taobao)

Earrings: H&M

Bracelet: handmade

Style Point:  I wanted to start with the most basic coord possible.  This is what a beginner might want to put together for this dress, or someone who just doesn't have alot of time to get dressed that day!  The tights shown are made of white lace, and the earrings are small bow studs.  All of my bracelets are handmade since my wrists are pretty small, and they are easy and fun to make too.

2.  Casual Lolita

Headband: Claire's

Socks: Bodyline

Cutsew: DreamV

Bag: ThinkGeek

Shoes: Boscov's, shoe clips from defunct Amazon seller

Earrings: H&M

Bracelet: handmade

Style Point:  Since this dress is so inexpensive, I thought it would be great to wear it casually.  I paired it with other things that would be more approachable to normies, like comfortable shoes that can be worn all day and a purse from ThinkGeek.  Most of these items could be daily wear for a variety of styles.

3.  Pink and Blue

Blouse:  Anne House

Socks: MuFish (taobao)

Shoes: Bodyline

Earrings and Parasol: Lolita Collective

Headbow and bracelets: handmade

Style Point:  This is actually my favorite way to coord this dress!  I love it with pink, and would have liked to show it with a pink purse, but I don't have one so I showed it with a parasol instead!

4.  Colors and Patterns

Cutsew, socks, shoes: Bodyline

Headbow: Angelic Pretty

Earrings: Haenuli (also sold by other resellers)

Bag: Loris (taobao)

Bracelets: handmade

Style Point:  I wanted to introduce a touch of purple and some kind of pattern to this outfit, so I added an Angelic Pretty headbow with white, pink, and purple bows and socks with a pattern to accomplish that.  I also went with a cutsew that has more detail.  I would like to try actually wearing this outfit sometime to see how it looks on!

5.  Summer Heat

Bolero: DreamV

Bows: Lolita Collective

Earrings: H&M

Socks: ebay children's socks (lol)

Shoes: Bodyline

Bag: Loris (taobao)

Bracelets: handmade

Style Point:  I wanted to create an outfit that could be worn and still count as Lolita on a hot summer's day.  The frilly ankle socks contribute to that idea, and the bolero gives the feeling that it could always be taken off if it just gets too hot.  I was envisioning hair in pigtails with the bows to keep it off my neck.  The earrings are white heart studs.

6.  Oldschool FTW

Headdress, socks, shoes: Bodyline

Blouse: Anna House

Bag: Loris (taobao)

Earrings: H&M

Style Point:  I love oldschool Lolita.  I have a rectangle headdress that matches this dress and I just had to use it, so I paired with a couple other things that might be seen in an oldschool coord, like frilly knee socks and the closest blouse I have to oldschool (it's not quite there, but close enough).

7.  All Blue

Bow, socks, shoes, blouse: Bodyline

Bag: Loris (taobao)

Earrings: H&M

Bracelets; handmade

Style Point:  So, we have shiro and kuro Lolita, so why not ao (blue) Lolita?  This coord needs a blue bag to complete the look, but since I don't have one, I showed it with the same white purse I usually use (same with the earrings).  I'm not sure I would actually recommend wearing this outfit since the blue is awfully overbearing, but I wanted to do it just for fun!  For the bow, I used an extra detachable bow from the dress and put it on a headband, to make sure the blues matched.

8.  Tea Party

Blouse: Lady Sloth

Headdress: Cutie Creator (taobao)

Socks, bag: Innocent World

Earrings: H&M

Bracelets: handmade

Shoes: Bodyline

Style Point:  You have a big tea party to go to, and you've decided on this dress.  You go for some brand from Innocent World to impress the brand whores, and a blouse from Lady Sloth that costs several times what the dress did.  White rose stud earrings and a beautiful matching headdress from Cutie Creator add that extra flare.  With your trusty Bodyline shoes (complete with Dr. Sholl's inserts lol), you know you be comfortable and stylish.

Alright, and that's it, folks!  I want to do more of these, so I'm currently brainstorming how I can make the photos better, and deciding on what dress to do next!  Creating this post definitely helped me realize what is lacking in my wardrobe.  For these particular outfits, that was definitely pink and blue purses, and more blue earrings.  It's hard for me to justify buying a whole lot of purses when I actually go out in Lolita so rarely, but maybe I could add a couple to my next taobao haul.  Any other suggestions?  Leave a comment!