Tights!

I just ordered some tights (because knees are ugly).  They're definitely more flattering on me than any kind of socks, and they're great for shorter skirts.

 Here's my order from We Love Colors, excluding the diamond tights.  The patterned ones are one-size-fits-all.  I'm 5'8" and they're just barely long enough on me.  In the past I've cause runs and snags by yanking my tights when trying to stretch them vertically, so I'll just have to be careful with these.  They seem pretty sturdy though.  The mint and lavender tights are "tall size" so hopefully they'll fit better.  I haven't worn those yet.

I got tired of asking my boyfriend to take pictures, so here are some mirror shots.  I like that the patterns on the tights are subtle, but now I'm thinking they just look too subtle at a distance. 

I also got these from Happy Socks (only because they were 70% off though):

There need to be more tights with diagonal stripes.  It seems like they're in a lot of Emily Temple Cute ads, but they're actually really hard to find. 

And now for some more stuff I want but can't justify buying at retail price:

Jane Marple jewelry

 MILK Fantasy Mermaid OP and accessories

 Five strap sandals

 Vintage Stamp skirt

Shoes, skirts, and a Sugary Pansy coord

I ordered from Bodyline for the first time a few weeks ago.  I'm not a huge fan of the store, but they seem to have a few good things if you know what to look for.  They're a decent source for cheap lolita shoes.  The quality is not quite as good as Secret Shop shoes, but they seem perfectly adequate if you don't scuff them up.  Anyway, this is what I ended up getting:

I wanted mint too, but they only had this yellow-green color :<  Oh well.  The shoes arrived with a few scuffs since they were just shipped in a bag without padding.  I guess that's what I get for going with the cheaper shipping option.

I also ordered two Emily Temple Cute skirts from Labyrinth Garden, a thrift shop based in the Philippines that carries (mostly offbrand) pieces for lolita, otome, and mori fashion.  I got an amazing bargain - they were $13 each *_* 

The facebook page for the store is here: http://www.facebook.com/labyrinthgarden
It lists everything from the web store that is available for international shipping.

Last Saturday was Angelic Pretty SF's Royal Chocolate party.  The in-store parties are fun, but I think I should just save my money for the bigger parties at nice venues, like the anniversary party :p  Sadly, they did not have the Royal Chocolate series.  I didn't really expect them to, since it hasn't gone up for sale in Japan either, but I still wanted to try to reserve it.  No luck there either, although they were taking reservations for Chocolate Rosette. 

This is what I wore to the party:

I'll admit it's not my best coord.  Ankle socks look unexpectedly awkward on me, so I'm thinking I should stick with tights or otk socks instead.  The vest wasn't a great idea either.  The green doesn't quite match and the sleeveless look emphasizes my shoulders way too much.  I was just trying to create some kind of shape because the dress fits like a tent.  I think what I'll probably do is turn the (rather ineffective) waist ties into a high-waist belt and add some belt loops.  I'll be sure to post pictures of the modifications on here if I do.

A trip to the brand stores

I went to Angelic Pretty today to pick up my online purchase and ticket for their Royal Chocolate Party!

They're having a 20-30% off sale right now.  Fortunately nothing really struck my fancy, so my wallet was safe for the time being.   I'm hoping they'll the new Royal Chocolate series in before the party.  I have a purse from the original series and the chocolate bar texture is totally amazing. The dress or skirt (most likely skirt though) is a big item on my wishlist.

Anyway, this is what I bought to get the ticket:

....and the scarf and scrunchies are what I bought at Daiso later.

Of course I had to stop by Baby the Stars Shine Bright to see what new stock they got in.  I'm pretty much a window shopping addict ;_;  I saw a cutsew dress that I really liked.  Here's a picture from one of the Japanese BtSSB store's blogs:

I already have a star-themed dress in my wardrobe (BtSSB's Milky Way jsk), so buying this would be redundant.  I am thinking about selling it and buying this, but I don't know.  I feel bad cycling through my wardrobe so much, just selling to make room for something else.  I'm hoping to get to a point someday where I'll have a perfect wardrobe and won't want to sell anything because everything will suit me perfectly :)

One last thing - this is what I wore on my outing today:

The coat is Metamorphose and the skirt is Emily Temple Cute.  I'm glad my hair has finally gotten long enough to where I can braid it because braids seem to be a great look for otome kei.

Umbrella skirt outfit and two recent sewing projects

As promised, here is a simple coord with the lovely Emily Temple Cute umbrella print skirt.  The blouse is from Baby the Stars Shine Bright, but it works surprisingly well with ETC.  The shoes are American Eagle from Payless and the headband is Claires.

I wore my handmade sailor cutsew for the first time on Sunday.  My mom helped me modify a pattern from one of the old Gothic Lolita Bible issues (like, one from last summer, I think).  I believe it's the same as the Rose Lace Sailor cutsew on the Innocent World website: http://innocent-w.jp/shopping/112806/index_e.html  Mine is longer and made for a smaller waist.  It just so happens to match perfectly with this Innocent World jsk :)

Now that I'm not really into lolita anymore, I don't feel obligated to wear socks when it's really hot out.  I could probably do with more tights though.

My other handmade project was a simple empire-waist dress.  I mostly just wanted to showcase this amazing fabric.  I still have some left over.  It's enough to make a skirt, or a handbag.  I'm not sure what I want to do with it yet.

I haven't worn it out yet except for a mini-photoshoot that I haven't gotten pictures back from yet.  I'll have to post again when I do.

Japonica Market review + recent purchases

Last month, I used an auction service for the first time to buy a little birthday present for myself.  I'm pleased to say that it went very well.  I really have no experience writing reviews, but I'll try my best to explain the process.

I looked up some otome brands including Emily Temple Cute on Yahoo Japan using this handy guide: http://frozen-yjapan.livejournal.com/567.html#cutid1 and came across something that had been on my wishlist, ETC's umbrella print skirt in mint <3

The auction started at only 3,000 yen.  I emailed Japonica about this item, using the form provided on their site (auction url, maximum bid, paypal, address, etc).  I listed my max bid at 6,000 yen and they sent me an invoice for that amount + paypal fee.  However, someone else bid 5,000 with a few days still left, so I figured I should up my max bid to keep up.  They raised my bid without asking for another deposit - I just paid the extra along with shipping and commission at the end.  I ended up winning the auction at a little under 9,000 yen, which is not exactly cheap, but also not bad for a rare print like this.

The commission fee was very low since Japonica is doing a special offer of 50% off their regular rate.  The offer runs through the end of August, just fyi :)  My total with shipping, commission, paypal fees was 11,103 yen or $139.  All in all, it was well worth it.

My package arrived only a few days after I made the final payment.  I'm sure it helps that I'm on the west coast, but it was still pretty fast.

I also recently ordered from ModCloth.  They seem to have a lot of cute blouses, so I thought I'd order one and see what the quality was like.  They offer free shipping on orders over $50, so I bought a necklace too to bring up my total.  They threw in two hair pins as an extra.

The blouse was a lot wider than I expected it, based on the stock photos.  It really doesn't look that great with skirts, so I figured I'd wear it under dresses instead.  That's exactly what I did today <3

The Emily Temple Cute dress is a recent purchase from egl_comm_sales, the purse is Angelic Pretty, the pearl headband is from Claire's and the shoes are from Payless.  I guess I do go a bit cheap on the accessories sometimes.

I'll try to post a coord with the umbrella print skirt very soon!