San's wardrobe 2016 - the blouse edition

[sanakanami]

Hello 2016! This is my third wardrobe post, this time focusing on blouses! Since most of my stuff is not lolita in itself, I arranged most of the main pieces in coordinates, then sorted them by theme and/or color. If something is marked offbrand, that means either it has no tag, or it's in some moonspeak I can't read. I upgraded my camera halfway through and so some pictures are of different quality; but I'd taken so many pictures already that I just let them be! I didn't include my legwear or jewelry this year (boring!) but I did feature them in last year's post.

Spoiler tags for your convenience. Probably better if viewed in full.

[Prints]


JSK Krad Lanrete | Jacket and fur collar offbrand | deer necklace ToxicKitty
My dream dress, and the piece that sparked my love for lolita fashion. Ra (Prunio) has an excellent blog post discussing the details and history of the print, which is a fabulous read! This is love all over- the intricate print, rich colors, excellent construction, and corset lacing done right. Even the waist tie is marvelous.



JSK Bodyline | underskirt Little Dipper | sheer overdress Love Girls Market | pink bolero offbrand | shawl offbrand | hat offbrand, wrapped in H&M skirt | flowers ToxicKitty
Another dream dress. I keep saying I should get it altered, but never got around to it. I just love this print, it's super easy to coordinate! It works with blue, pink, white, gray, lavender- almost anything. Maybe this year, I will have it altered to an underbust cut. My only complaint is that it is cut loosely, with only the waist ties to adjust the fit, but otherwise it is very sturdy.



skirt (worn as a dress) vintage offbrand | underskirt Little Dipper | belts (x2) offbrand | shawl offbrand | blouse offbrand
Found in secondhand sales. The picture looked really dingy but it looked vaguely interesting, so I took a chance. The print is so detailed- grapes, trees, leaves and vaguely familiar artwork. Odd, but fun. I wear it as a dress more often than not, as long as there's something to cover up the elastic waistband.

[Ivory and Cream]


JSK Bodyline | haori vintage | shawl offbrand | hat offbrand, wrapped in H&M skirt | flowers ToxicKitty | wisteria strand KiraKira | brooch Daiso | sleeve flounces handmade
I think this is one of Bodyline's best! The beige colorway is super versatile, and the details on the heart tulle ruffles and the bodice are so cute! The only modification I made was to cut off the waist ties. It is very comfy on me, but I think people with a larger bust size may have some difficulty.



JSK Infanta | sheer lace scarf offbrand | epaulette (improvised echarpe accessory) cut from another blouse | pearls vintage | brooch vintage | blouse offbrand | choker Dorotee Sweetlips
This was sold as 'damaged', but I prefer the more subtle, slightly grainy printing here than on the other colorways. I removed the single bow this came with however, as it didn't match at all! The bodice is a little plain as it is, so I was thinking of making bows to match, then had the idea of improvising an echarpe.



OP MoonCat | underskirt Little Dipper | blouse offbrand | hat Daiso, the tulle details are on the hatband from another hat
I was going to sell this. Then I tried putting it together with this blouse and now I can't bring myself to let it go, hah. The ribbon is just ordinary satin though, I need to find nicer ribbons.



OP Walter Ma | underskirt Bodyline l325 | hat offbrand | shawl offbrand
This dress is a few years old. It is well made, but very heavy! This is the heaviest dress I have.



tulle OP snidel | underskirt Little Dipper | blouse offbrand | straw hat offbrand
This is really versatile. It can be coorded with ivory or brown, and the lace is so nice! I have to be extra careful so as not to catch it on anything, though.



JSK Liz Lisa | underskirt Bodyline l380 | rosettes Daiso(shoe clips) | off-the-shoulder blouse offbrand | pearls vintage
The straps were meant to cross in back, but on a whim I made them cross in front. The bodice detail reminded me of ballet. It took me awhile to find a blouse to match it, but I think this would do very nicely for Ero lolita.



off-the shoulder long blouse offbrand | underdress Bodyline | pearls vintage | hat offbrand, wrapped in H&M skirt | flowers ToxicKitty
Lace all over! This blouse isn't gathered enough to fit maxipoof, but that problem is solved by improvising a bustle in back. Worn underneath as a regular blouse, it adds a little extra poof to skirts.



cape offbrand | underskirt Little Dipper | blouse offbrand
For some reason this material reminds me of kimono obis. It's quite heavy, especially with all the metallic thread. It's an in-between length for lolita, too long to be a bolero but too short to reach the natural waist. I think I might add lace or frills to it, this year.

[Pink]



JSK Bodyline | overdress offbrand | shawl offbrand
I really wanted l329 in pink and black, but they weren't in stock. So I got this instead. When it arrived it was a much brighter pink, almost cotton candy in color. I dyed it in tea, and much prefer the more subtle color. Same as with the l329, I cut off the waist ties.



JSK Shirley Temple Cute | underskirt Bodyline | blouse offbrand | hat offbrand | flowers ToxicKitty
So this is my lone brand piece- for kids. It fits, which is the important thing. I feel much more comfortable in Classic than Sweet, but this was such a good deal I couldn't pass it up.



lace overdress offbrand | underskirt Little Dipper | sheer overdress Love Girls Market | blouse offbrand
Worn back to front, because the back is a V and the front is a scoop neck. This had a tag originally, but I cut it off and now I can't remember where it's from!




jacket C&M (offbrand) | JSK Bodyline | overdress offbrand | rose necklace offbrand
This is covered in lace and pearls *w* it needs some adjustments to fit better as it's a little loose, but still comfy.

[Florals]



JSK snidel | underskirt Little Dipper | blue sash improvised from scraps | lace belt (impro. echarpe) offbrand | fabric rosette Daiso | blue rosette handmade | huge ribbon Bodyline l329 | flowers ToxicKitty, FoxCherry | sleeve flounces handmade | necklace Juicy Couture
Probably my favorite coord from last year, and about as OTT as I get. This dress has lots of colors to have fun with, and the split at the front can be styled in different ways. For this con, I had (still don't, actually) no cream headgear so I put a skirt on my head. It somehow worked.



OP Liuz Style | underskirt offbrand | shawl offbrand | hat offbrand, with Taobao lace collar | sleeve flounces handmade
If the Walter Ma OP is the heaviest, this is probably my lightest dress. I think it's cotton but a very airy blend, perfect for summer.



OP Bodyline | underskirt Bodyline | vest offbrand | jabot Bodyline l370 | sleeve flounces handmade
While I like this print a lot, it has no shape at all. It does have waist ties, but the waist is so low it just looks like a box. Short of radical alterations, covering up with a vest is an easy fix. The vest was originally stark-white with silver buttons, but I dyed it in tea and replaced the silver with pearl buttons. As for the jabot, it was comically huge in its original state, almost curtain-like, so I cut off the bottom two layers.



OP offbrand | underskirt Little Dipper | owl necklace offbrand | blouse offbrand | hat offbrand, wrapped in H&M skirt | flowers ToxicKitty
This didn't have a tag (bought from another girl's closet sale) but I think it is probably a Liz Lisa replica. It is shirred at the waist in back and quite comfy, but I think I will replace the satin ribbon lacing in front with something nicer. As for the underskirt- it came from a Bodyline JSK which I cut apart (!) so I could use the chiffon underskirt separately. In my defense, it's actually much more useful that way (//∇//) Little Dipper makes pink underskirts in two shades of pink, and while I specifically requested the warmer/darker color, I got a cool-toned pink. The Bodyline skirt is a much warmer shade.



lace dress offbrand | underskirt Little Dipper | pink bolero offbrand | sleeve flounces handmade | detachable collar cut from another blouse
I keep cutting things apart, it's barbaric- but as things are this collar is much more useful than another blouse. This dress isn't really lolita but wow it is very, very fluffy. The first time I wore it with a petti I was mesmerised by how it would swoosh when going down stairs.



*this was lipsum before, I missed it when editing, sorry!
flannel OP offbrand | underskirt Ray-Mo | detachable collar cut from something else

Flannel. It boggles the mind why I have velvet and flannel and fur when it never drops below 26C here; actually that would be 'cold'. I guess as long as the print is nice, I'll bite.



OP Bodyline
My first Bodyline purchase. It doesn't have a coordinate, because... I got lazy. Since I bought it a couple years ago, I lost weight and now it is too baggy to adjust with just the waist ties. The dress itself is very heavy, too. The colors are lovely, so I think I might still keep it, but have it altered into a JSK.



JSK Bodyline | blouse offbrand | hat Daiso | white tulle fascinator offbrand | flowers Foxcherry
I was initially put off by how small the print is- bigger prints are much easier to coord! To my surprise this was pretty versatile- it goes well with a lot of my pink stuff. The blouse was a recent find in a department store; just the right color, and it was frilly!



JSK Bodyline | underskirt Bodyline l325 | blouse offbrand | detachable collar cut from something else | flower brooch offbrand
The pink colorway is much, much harder to coordinate. I think I need more outerwear and accessories in brown and green to make more coords out of this one; I don't much like working in single colors (pink-pink, blue-blue) Even though I separated the pieces, it is easy to wear them together again (underskirt now has an elastic waist)



JSK offbrand | underskirt Bodyline | blouse Mark Jacobs | owl necklace offbrand | straw hat offbrand
This print is very 'country' to me, somehow. It's a mainstream dress so the bodice isn't the right shape, but that can be covered up. This is a fun piece to coord, with green or peach-pink or ivory!



JSK offbrand | underskirt Little Dipper | vest Solo | necklace offbrand | shawl offbrand | flowers ToxicKitty
Same cut as the dress before it, but for some reason it doesn't fit my dressform, so it's only pinned on here. Lots of colors to coord with, and I really like the print! I call this dress 'Secret Garden' because the roses and keys remind me of the book. Frances Hodgson Burnett was one of my favorite authors, growing up.



JSK Liz Lisa | underskirt Little Dipper | blouse offbrand
Not really lolita, but lace dresses are surprisingly comfy for summer. They're airy, don't wrinkle, and are easy to wash. Win-win.



dress offbrand | underskirt Little Dipper | blouse Cecil McBee | detachable collar cut from another blouse
This dress is really, really short on me. Like barely decent short. I've been thinking of detaching the underskirt from the sax Bodyline l518, but in the meantime Little Dipper is a fairly good match, color-wise.

[Blue]




blue dress Dabuwawa, modified | underdress offbrand
This is one of my favorite finds. It was extremely wrinkled when I found it, and I nearly passed on it altogether, but when I turned it over and saw the sack-back, I was in love! I did a little research into the label and apparently Dabuwawa is a Chinese label that produces clothes with a girly vibe, taking inspiration from old world fashion. This is how the dress looked originally; The front ruffle was a bit stiff and stuck up oddly; I salvaged this lace from another blouse, but it is a pretty good match to the original! I also sewed another ruffle to the underskirt; hand-sewing is laborious and boring, but the final result was worth the effort!


dress offbrand | underdress Bodyline | sleeve flounces handmade | choker Dorotee Sweetlips
For a mainstream dress, this has a ton of gathering at the waist. It baffles me why it should have so many gathers when it would hang loose. There is actually room for more than one petticoat. This is crazy.


dress Snidel | underskirt Bodyline | blouse offbrand | flowers Foxcherry
Basically this is what happens when you use the wrong petticoat for the underskirt, but I was tired, and couldn't be bothered to fetch the right one so the layers would sit correctly... :/


dress snidel | underskirt Bodyline | blouse offbrand | shawl offbrand | hat vintage from my grand-aunt | flowers ToxicKitty
This dress screams 'country' to me, sans the picnic blanket material (gingham). I have an irrational dislike for denim in vests, but the fabric in this dress is actually very soft and light.


JSK Infanta | blouse offbrand
My first Taobao purchase. In retrospect it's a good thing I didn't buy too much early on, because the pieces I liked then aren't very versatile (navy/silver). This JSK only goes with a few blouses, and that irks me to no end; gotta find more ways to coord it. More blouses!


dress offbrand | underskirt Ray-Mo | detachable collar cut from another blouse
This is the most flattering dress I own, seriously. The cut is fantastic. I never believed a dress could make me look ten pounds lighter, until this. A pair of buttons are missing from the bottom however, and I've yet to find an opportunity to replace them.


dress Max&Co. | underskirt Little Dipper | ribbon brooch KIRAKIRA | black ribbon offbrand
This dress wrinkles if I so much as blink at it. Perhaps it is the way the pockets are pleated. Still, it is very roomy and poof-friendly. An anon suggested I replace the buttons, but so far I haven't found any good ones locally.


dress offbrand | blouse offbrand | detachable collar cut from another blouse | hat H&M
This is cotton, with a layer of blue tulle over it. Very summer-friendly, though the tulle makes it look perennially wrinkled.


skirt Souffle's Song | jacket offbrand | blouse Allison Taylor | mini tricorn ToxicKitty
The 'necktie' is the repurposed mega-bow that came with the skirt; I took that apart too, because I don't suit headbows. It would have been a waste not to use it. The ToxicKitty tricorns were a test run for Regi, and when they arrived they were ridiculously tall and sat on my head like blocks... I had to hack them apart (surprisingly sturdy) and mash them down to a third of their height. before they became wearable. All in all not a bad buy, just an adventure.

[Black]




dress handmade by Justine Chantelle | cardigan offbrand
Justine sewed this for herself, so it is rather short on me, but tolerable with an underskirt. I came across the cardi later, it matches surprisingly well!


OP MOGAO | organza and lace bolero offbrand | crow skull necklace ToxicKitty
MOGAO c.2004-06 made some really good black pieces. I saved all the pieces I bought from them, because they are amazing quality for the price. The fabric has a lovely sheen to it.


dress offbrand | underskirt Ray-Mo | miniskirt (improvised neck ruff) bread and butter | accessories offbrand
I collect all sorts of things even if they don't fit the lolita aesthetic; miniskirts being one of them. On a whim I draped the skirt over the neck of my dressform; and it became a ruff! The rose accessories were detached from a mini-top hat, but they suit the look, I think.


dress offbrand | underskirt Ray-Mo | bolero (improvised ruffle) Genevieve Gozum | feather accessory offbrand
More ruffs that aren't ruffs. In this case, from a bolero.


OP MOGAO | blouse MOGAO
I really love the silky fabric MOGAO uses, it's so smooth and airy! I only wish the skirt of the dress was lined. The blouse has huge sleeves, but I don't know what they're called.


sundress offbrand | blouse offbrand | neck ribbon offbrand
That tulle at the bottom irritates me, but I felt like the dress had to have white at the bottom to stay balanced, so I didn't cut it off. Yet. Someday.


corset Spider HK | underskirt Ray-Mo | bolero Genevieve Gozum | overskirt offbrand | choker ToxicKitty
When this corset arrived, I couldn't believe the quality. Spider tends to look ita in photos, but the detail on this corset blew me away. If I had one complaint, it would be that the sizing is very small! It fits fine in the waist, but I have to bind and zip it part of the way so as to avoid strain. There isn't any size marked, so I assume this is their standard sizing- I really wish they would offer larger sizes. Who on earth fits into a Chinese 'small'?!


blouse offbrand | underskirt Ray-Mo | overskirt offbrand
This blouse is so, so very ruffly. Most of my pieces are quite plain, so this is actually pretty difficult to coord.


tulle overdress offbrand | underskirt Ray-Mo | blouse offbrand | fringed vest H&M | necklace offbrand
Bonus Dolly Kei! I found the blouse and couldn't let it go- I have a soft spot for weird pieces. Huge tulle bell sleeves? Yes please, I'll think of a way to coord it later. I found the H&M vest in a recent sale, and found it an almost exact match for the weird blouse.

[Madness]
The beginning of madness. Or if not madness, a sort of grim determination to get the most coordinates possible out of what main pieces I have. I collect anything with details. It helps to have lots of variety in fabrics and cuts; several of my WIPS wouldn't work quite as well with a different blouse.



White - All offbrand. I gave up on trying to correct colors, but these are all the same general shade.



Warm White - mostly offbrand. 8 is Liz Lisa, 9 is Deep or Shallow. 12 is the blouse I cut the epaulettes from, in the Rose Cathedral WIP.



Ivory/Lace - these are my most detailed blouses. The top left (13) is from Carolina Lace Creations, and it is the pride and joy of my blouses <3 (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.



And more Ivory - among these are my more 'casual' blouses; I strongly support cotton blouses over chiffon for the summer, as chiffon isn't nearly as absorbent or comfortable as light cotton. Might be an unpopular opinion, but it's always hot here (PHL)



And even more Ivory- but this is the last batch of them. #34 is Cutie Lolita Punk, #35 is Marc Jacobs; rest are offbrand.



Pink - all offbrand except for #42, which is Cecil McBee.



Green, Brown, Red - I have just the one red blouse. Huh. It's a hard color to find.



Blue, Purple - all offbrand except for #51, which is Liz Lisa. Apparently purple is another under-represented color in my blouse rainbow.



Grey - All offbrand. #55 is my workhorse (cotton! yay) and #57 is practically made of raschel; I'm pretty sure it would catch fire given a chance. I love it.



Metallics - Gold is very useful in coording, but hard to come across. Silver is next to impossible; it was blind luck that I found #63. All offbrand except for #66, which is Allison Taylor.



Black - Last two are MOGAO, I think. #70 is from a Korean brand (can't read the hanggul)



More Black - #76 is Marc Jacobs, all else offbrand. #78 is actually my buttcape in its base form. All those ruffles work surprisingly well.

[Skirts]


Behold, my partners in crime - Little Dipper x3
Offbrand, Bodyline l380, Offbrand
1


Ray-Mo, Offbrand, Bodyline (meant to buy l325 and fudged it with this, go for l325)
Offbrand, Offbrand, Offbrand (they're super long and I don't have a petti for them)


Bodyline l325, Offbrand (relic! like a decade old), Offbrand
Offbrand, Offbrand, Offbrand



Chess Story, Souffle's Song, Offbrand
Offbrand, Spider, Offbrand

[Basically everything not a blouse]



All offbrand again. #5 is my elegant flasher coat, I'm waiting for a rainy day to come along so I have the excuse. #3 is not lolita, but the details are so nice, I would like to modify it to alter the shape somehow.



Offbrand, Deep or Shallow, Offbrand
Offbrand, a mon avis, Offbrand



All offbrand except for #16 which is Forever21, and #18 which is BCBG.



All offbrand except for #24, which is from Spider. #20 is the steam-lolita jacket of my dreams; I just have to find a way to coord it.



All offbrand. #28 is made of piña fabric, which is local. Great details, but difficult for me to coord as I don't own much red.



Vest-y things, all offbrand except for #36, which is Liz Lisa.

[I keep a small garden]


In a nutshell- I hoard flowers.
They take up one shelf in my accessory closet, and are arranged in no particular order. It gets hard to find stuff, but there is just something aesthetically pleasing about digging through a garden of flowers- even if they are fake ones. Mostly ToxicKitty (gradient flowers in bunches), but there are also some FoxCherry pieces in there. For me, flowers are the ultimate weapon in blending colors, which is why I prefer bunches of gradient colors instead of solids.



Detachable collars and sleeve flounces. The latter are super simple to make- basically they're giant wristcuffs. They make a world of difference when wearing short sleeves, which look kind of awkward on me.



Sun hats. They are very basic, but the important part is - they fit. When you have a head as big as mine, most hats will just. not. fit.
Much angst.



More headgear. My lone bonnet came from my big teddy bear- who was thus left naked, but apparently has the same size head. She'll forgive me.
The two at the bottom left are H&M.


Scarves and shawls. I stuffed a drawer with solids, but these are my favorites.

[now with flowery airconditioning]


It hasn't changed much from my previous post, aside from having stuff on the dresser and a bunch of crap on top of the A/C unit.



Lots of this is just fancy, but the containers on the right-hand side are functional. The deco acrylic case holds eyeliner pens and go-to lipgloss, and the tin holds my brushes. The gold compact is Canmake.



I would suffocate without A/C, so I tried to make it more kawaii. With the exception of the clock, all the other crap is lightweight material that will not cause major damage if they fall off.



Inside the accessory closet - top shelf is hats, second is 'stuff that is not a hat, bow, or flower', third is the flower garden, fourth holds a chaotic assortment of bows and ribbons, and fifth is fur and detachable collars.



Shoes. The ones I wear most often are my RHS (far right); I had a few more pairs of shoes/boots, but they don't fit nicely in the picture so they're left out for now. Sleeve flounces/wristcuffs and lace gloves are housed in the book boxes up top.

[Mail Past, Present and Future]


The Bodyline stuff has been sitting in limbo since October. When the holidays roll around, our local post really sucks. You think you have problems? This is normal. This is why I prefer to buy local as much as possible, the wait on packages is suffering.
That aside, the MTP JSK and CP petti are currently pending with Clobba, waiting for the Inori JSK (center) before shipping out.



I am super excited for the Inori release in particular. Searching for Baroque is my dream dress, but it would never be a thing even if it did appear on sale. Much as I love lolita, it isn't a priority spend for me, so I can't imagine actually buying it, without doing a Chicken Little impression. On the other hand, the Inori JSK satisfies all my needs and since it's not burando, I can pin it up, modify it, and wear it any way I please.

If 2015 taught me anything, it's that what I love about lolita is finding pieces that go together. They don't have to be expensive; even with all those blouses, my spending was within very comfortable levels. I like finding uses for junk, and when I find combinations that work, it makes me very happy. My goal for the next year would be to learn to make smaller things on my own- accessories probably. I have been researching fashion design schools around me, and I think I might have found a good place to start learning.