Shopping in Tokyo, love plus hate

Shopping in Tokyo for me is a balance of love and hate. Love because there's so many gorgeous things around and hate because said gorgeous things usually won't fit me. I was at Liz Lisa, a gyaru clothing store, at Harajuku, looking at dresses on sale and a lot of their clothes were labelled a Size 0 even with some back or waist shirring available.... unless I eat a cereal bar every day only for the next 6 months, I doubt I'll ever see a Size 0 looming on the horizon anytime soon. And neither do I really want to be a Size 0 either. I merely want to be large, healthy and happy!

Happily though, some lolita brands like Innocent World have started making larger sizes and I find I usually can fit in Metamorphose back-shirring dresses and I'm more or less a UK size 12-14. Although when you're in Tokyo and surrounded by tons of lovely lolita dresses, one does kinda wish one was a smaller size so as to fit in them, lol.

I managed to cram in visiting Marui One, LaForet, Closet Child Shinjuku and Harajuku for some loli shopping this time. But really, if you can visit these few places, you would have already covered most of the essential lolita shopping in Tokyo.

As mentioned, I was with my mother this time round so I didn't get to stay very long at each store and really pore through all the things each had to offer. I did manage to spy at least a few things I wanted on first sight.

Metamorphose's Revival Bouquet Bustle OP & AP's Moon Night Theatre OP

Moon Night Theatre isn't something on my wishlist but I was pleased to find the cream version at Closet Child as I did like the print, especially in the red colourway. But the cream version is quite lovely too so I get! Especially when the dress fits well. It can easily stretch up to 100cm at least for the chest area. And I was surprised to see that the bodice is actually has plastic boning so that was an added bonus!

Victorian Maiden Frill Collar dress & Excentrique's Thorn Princess dress

VM's Frill Collar dress is on my wishlist so very, very chuffed to find it at Closet Child on my second visit! But I love the Excentrique dress even more. I bought it new at the Excentrique store at Marui One. Over-priced? Definitely. But I loved it instantly. Maybe it's the simple lines and that it has the look of a vintage 1920s summer dress that attracted me so much. I don't regret buying it even though it did cost a pretty penny. I've always been intimidated by Excentrique because their clothes look so structured and veering on the heavily gothic side but I realise they have a lot of vintage inspired looks that isn't solely just Victorian. Browsing through their shop and subsequent online catalogue, I find Excentrique has a lot of Edwardian and 1920s inspired designs too. I suspect I'm more than halfway to being an Excentrique convert after this trip!

For other non-lolita purchases, I got a Liz Lisa lucky pack for the fun of having a lucky pack and opening it, lol. I do like Liz Lisa though, just that, as said, their clothes are really geared for Size 0 - 2 girls mostly. But their fun and flirty, feminine dresses plus hyper shopgirls always make visiting Liz Lisa enjoyable.

Back from Tokyo! With loot!

Well, not as much loot as I might have gotten if I didn't go with my mum! It's very hard to buy lolita when your mum's standing next to you with a critical eye and words, hur ^^ I managed though and got some dresses from Closet Child and one from Excentrique.

Here's a few pictures of the displays at OIOI, Shinjuku and LaForet, Harajuku, that I snuck with my cam. OIOI, LaForet and practically all the major departmental stores in Tokyo doesn't allow photos inside their premises. I've been stopped (nicely) by a sales staff at OIOI when I attempted to take the Moi Meme Moitie shop. I know folks have taken photos of the brands' shopfronts and gotten away with it but I decided to be law-abiding and not do it anymore, lol. But the mannequin displays outside the shops and on the different escalator levels of OIOI are more or less safe to take.

 LaForet 

Metamorphose on top, Angelic Pretty below

Emily Temple Cute window display at OIOI. Rather liking the electric blue dress! 

Not a lolita brand per se, La Parfait. More gyaru style. 

 Also, not lolita or even a lolita kimono! But they're still gorgeous.

Metamorphose's new print, Card Playing Kitty, on display. It's a lot nicer in person! The blue colorway is the best, imho.

Angelic Pretty's Sugar Fairy Cake print. A bit too waitressy for my liking.

Lastly, Putumayo. Randomly, Putumayo shopgirls are always quite nice. Even if it's a pretense, they really look genuinely happy to see you! For hyper cuteness, that would be Liz Lisa shopgirls.

A Tokyo Trip and A Dream Dressu

So looks like I'll be heading off to Tokyo once more, come end March! Delta Airlines was having a pretty good deal on the airfare to Tokyo so I thought why not. I love my short getaways to Tokyo. And it's been more than a year since I've been to Tokyo! I know over a year isn't really that long a period to not go Tokyo and I've been to UK instead during this interim but there was a time (mad times, mad times) when I would jaunt off to Japan twice in a year due to low airfares. But I'm trying to ween myself off short Tokyo shopping trips because while airfares might be low, lolita dresses aren't!

But I'll be going with my mother on this trip and she calls my loli 'those poofy poofy dresses' and she doesn't really know how much lolita dresses cost and might have a heart attack if she does know, so having her around would be a deterrent to over-buying. Which, yes, is a good thing.

In other news, I found one of my dream dresses and got it!

Emily Temple Cute's Fairytale jsk! 

And I do apologize to the girl, Baudelaire I assume?, in the photo for using her photo! I just couldn't find a standalone pic of the jsk in question. 

I've been looking for this jsk for AGES. Ever since I saw it in Closet Child Ikebukuro (yes, during one of those short Tokyo trips I was talking about earlier, ahem) a few years back. I saw it, tried it on but I PUT IT BACK ON THE RACK. I regretted not buying it the very same day and went back to get it the next day to get it and it was already SOLD. Ah, how I kicked myself  then and there! As Katy Perry sang, the one that got away, haunted me since then. During this period, I only saw this jsk in the yellow/blue colorway being sold on the egl comm sales once but someone else beat me to it that time too. Finally, idly surfing around a secondhand online site, I saw the jsk being featured and immediately clicked buy. The one that got away is no more, owohohohohoho, owhohohoho =D

Latest update: I didn't get the ETC fairytale jsk!! *CRIES* It was already sold instore and the website just didn't update their online inventory. This is really very disappointing, I was so looking forward to the dress! T___T

Secondhand lolita clothing shops: Boon or Bane?

I confess, I love Closet Child. Whenever I'm in Tokyo, I always hit the three Closet Child biggies which is Harajuku, Shinjuku and Ikebukuro. I haven't gone to the one in Yokohama because, well, I've never been to Yokohama. But now that mintedroses has posted about her daytrip to Yokohama for lolita shopping before and it looks relatively easy to get to from Tokyo, I shall try it on my next visit!

But I digress. Closet Child, much love and not only because they are a secondhand lolita clothing shop with excellent pricing for still relatively good to fair condition items but also because they stock things you don't normally find on the online brand websites.

If you're not physically in Tokyo to experience Closet Child, there's always the online secondhand clothing shops that's been springing up here and there. The most known and popular ones are Closet Child's own online store, Alice Fururun, Fairy Angel, Clothing-Drop, to name a few.

So I went on a secondhand buying spree lately...maybe due to post-holiday blues (shopping therapy is always horribly enjoyable and horribly heart-attack inducing when the bills come). And my loot arrived yesterday:

I asked for the package to be delivered to my office to avoid a trip down to the post office to collect.

 And everything's nicely wrapped up! I love seeing lolita clothes nicely wrapped up XD

Left to Right: Emily Temple Cute, Angelic Pretty, Innocent World, Millefleurs

The ETC and IW dresses fit nicely! Unfortunately, the Millefleurs OP doesn't fit well so I will be selling it off soon. As for the AP dress...it was definitely an impulse buy, especially after my decision to do a more age-appropriate lolita style! I don't regret getting it as it's gorgeous in person, the lavendar colour is just perfect but it's a tad too short for me and plus, while trying it on, it made me realised I really can't do sweet AP style anymore. It just looks....weird on me, lol. So, it'll probably go too.

Ah well, shopping for secondhand dresses online is hugely enjoyable but there's always the danger that the fit isn't good or it's not quite right on one. Still, I'll continue to buy from reputable secondhand shops as you really can find some gems there at fantastic prices. So for me, they're more of a boon than a bane!

New Gramm Dress on International Loli Day

I didn't do anything for International Loli Day last Saturday. Actually...I completely forgot about it *blush* Of course one doesn't need International Loli Day to celebrate lolidom but it's nice to have a special day set aside for just wearing loli, being with like-minded friends and having an outing together to some pretty, pretty place.

While I didn't do anything special for ILD, however, I did receive a package last Saturday and it was my new Gramm dress! There's a backstory to this Gramm dress, I might mention, lol. It all began with the h.Naoto online sale that happened at the beginning of the year which was another epic saga unto itself. I shan't go into too much details but the Gramm dress was something I fell instantly in love with when I saw it at the sale. It was sold out almost immediately during the sale period and I had much gnashing of teeth when it was.

To my surprise, the same dress was re-listed (but at full price now) two weeks ago on S-inc! My heart was much pained to pay full price for the dress when I had seen it on sale but I like the dress too much to let it go a second time. So I contacted chibi_tenshi's shopping service (a fantastic shopping service btw) and the dress was purchased on the same day I sent a request. And shipped out the very next week.

And it arrived on International Lolita Day 2011, most fortuitously.

Definitely, the dress needs a good ironing! And the collar is sitting a bit oddly as it's detachable and I didn't place it properly when taking the photo, lol.

And when pressed and ironed, it shall look more like this:

And the dress fits nicely and also, so comfortable to wear. Just one of things that endears me to Gramm!

Buying without trying

Sometimes Innocent World's stated measurements on its website doesn't exactly run true to life when the actual dress arrives. It usually turns out to be smaller by a few centimeters. This happened to me before when I bought an IW jsk that was stated to be 100cm stretch max BUT when it came, it fell short of the particular stated measurements by at least 5cm.

I was very disappointed, of course! I did managed to sell off that jsk but because of the incident, I became rather leery of buying off Innocent World's website without the option of being able to try on dresses first.

Well, all those doubts and uncertainties certainly flew out the window the moment Innocent World began its annual winter sale. Out, out, damn spot!

Did I happen to mention I'm a sucker for sale periods? It's probably the next best thing to actually being in Tokyo, at a Closet Child or Marui One, and trying on gothic lolita dresses until kingdom come.

Once the sale started, I sent in my order via email for Innocent World's Aglaia jsk which I have been eyeing for the longest time and had the danger sign of 'Few Left' attached to the navy colourway that I wanted. Thankfully it was still available when they got back to me for payment.

What threw all my reservations about buying without trying out the window



The second item I decided to get is the Tulle Lace 3 Ribbon which was a simple cutsew jsk and would do nicely for a casual outing.

I was pretty sure this would fit, being cutsew material (and comfy too!)

International ordering through Innocent World was pretty easy, being my first time ordering from them as well. Just fill out the international form on the English site, and make sure you list the item number plus colourway correctly, then click send! As Innocent World's English service is only in service a few days of the work week so replies to whether the items you want is in stock might take a while.

I made my order in early January and it arrived about one month later. Not too bad, considering Innocent World had put up a notice saying that shipments would be delayed due to the high volume of orders for its sale.

And the actual items in sight!

Somewhat wrinkled (my fault, not Innocent World's!) but everything FITS

I'm so happy (and not to mention, relieved) to say that this time, Innocent World's stated measurements is accurate *gasp* and that the Aglaia jsk which has a maximum stretch of 107cm listed on the site, but I just need 100cm, and so glory glory hallelujah, 100cm it does stretch till and still has another 7cm as a bonus (convoluted sentence structure here)! Oh I'm happy, yes indeed!

Innocent World can be hit and miss at times with its measurements but luckily this time, for me, it was a hit.

Lelong, lelong~!

lelong /lay-long, ˈleɪlɒŋ/ n. A Malay term. Sale by auction; to auction < Port. leilão auction, public sale; outcry; a sale at a discount, a cheap sale

It might very well be the first of its kind here in Singapore but yes, the local loli comm held a swap/sale meet last Saturday. I went along with some items of my own to swap and I ended up swapping one item and buying more things instead!

The swap/sale meet was held at an attic of a house (volunteered by one of the attendees) which gave it a rather fun and impromptu flea market feel to the whole affair. The quantity and quality of items brought for swapping really exceeded my expectations. Furthermore, prices, when it's a sale if a swap is not happening, were very reasonable.

Photos by Jasmine of Frivolous Indulgences

And the photos only showcase one portion of the entire attic space, which eventually, had lolita items of all shapes, sizes, inclinations, spilling over everywhere.

Personally I like swap/sale meets as it's a chance to exchange or even buy items without going through the hassle of extra shipping costs and also not having to endure the waiting period while item is on the way. Plus what you see is what you get. And you also can try on the dresses to see if it fits before you decide to swap or buy. All gooooood~

As for me, here's my haul from the meet, hey-ho!

I absolutely adore that green stripy parasol! I swapped it for a Beth bag.

A hooded capelet for S$40

An ETC skirt for S$85

Space and logistics wise, holding a swap meet can be a little tricky. But as long as there are willing and non-fussy participants and an empty space to be found, why not! It can be a fun and enjoyable time for those who attend and as mentioned, all the advantages of a secondhand flea market of sorts or a mini Closet Child in action :)

My Loli Achilles Heel

Around the end of the year, a phenomena happens in the lolita community which is simply called...lucky packs and end-of-year/new year sale season. And I always go slightly *coughs* crazy during this period, hanging on to news of which brands will be having their online sales and when.

The brands I look out for during this period are usually Metamorphose, h.Naoto Gramm and Innocent World. For a new lolita who's on a budget but wants to get some good brand pieces, this period can be especially fortuitous.

Earlier in January this year after a rather disastrous try at the h.Naoto sale (the website crashed on me the minute the sale went online. When I did get in, items were being sold out even as I browsed =X), I turned to Metamorphose. I did see a few items that I really like but I wasn't sure yet and didn't click to buy immediately.

See, here's a little tip for Metamorphose sales: if you're willing to take a chance, Metamorphose usually further reduces the prices of their still unsold sale items after 2 or 3 weeks. It's a risk but it can pay off as prices can go down to as much as 50%.

For me, I took that chance and waited for the second reduction and got this:

The solid bustle pinafore jsk in black which went down to 11400yen after the second reduction.

Which will look like this when I take it out of the plastic pack, lol

I also participated in the Innocent World sale (still-ongoing!) and bought a jsk and some socks. For Innocent World, they rarely do further reductions for their sales so if you see something you like, get it immediately. Especially if it says 'few remaining' on the quantity. As this means they probably only got one or two pieces left!



All things Alice

I hesitate to call it an obsession as I CAN be discerning on what items or things to buy...but on the other hand, I know I am an Alice-phile in many ways (ah, denial in all its myriad forms).

I don't remember when I started liking Alice in Wonderland but I do know this liking was exacerbated when I played the game, American McGee's Alice, and got into gothic lolita fashion at around the same time. To an extent, Alice in Wonderland and lolita fashion is firmly intertwined for me. Lolita fashion may not have started out being influenced by Alice but it can't be argued that it isn't heavily associated with now, what with the Gothic Lolita Bibles doing semi-regular Alice fashion editorials and even Disney starting a range of gothic lolita Alice items to be sold in-store in February! Macaron Hearts did a recent post on the last event if you would like to know more about it.

As for me, I do enjoy it when brands come up with Alice prints but I absolutely love accessories with Alice motifs more often than not. Lately though, this seems to be extended to....scotch-tape of all things =X

Behold what I discovered in Daiso the other day and couldn't resist buying:

I don't know exactly what I plan to do with these tapes, in 3 colours no less, but I'll think of something...