#l546

[sanakanin]

Reflections - Gondola print for a special day ♥

JSK - Bodyline l546, one of my favorites

cardigan - offbrand

belt, lace tights, necklace - offbrand

shoes - Jazz

flowers, enamel owl pendant - Landmark

satchel - offbrand

This is a pretty personal post, so I’ll be putting the rest under the cut.

I celebrated my birthday yesterday.

It’s been almost four years since I joined the fashion, and back then everything felt too expensive. Lolita is a luxury hobby, and looking at it from the perspective of a third world economy was... shocking, to put it mildly.

Since taking up fashion design, I learned more about the value of materials and construction, and bought a few brand dresses to study them more closely. While there are minor issues (like AATP’s boning), I now think the great care and attention to detail justifies the price.

So you might ask, why do I love this Bodyline JSK so much, when it’s boxy in the bodice and needs alteration? The first reason is that I just really like the colors! The print incorporates such a range of colors that it’s very easy to coordinate, and pink and blue is one of my favorite combinations.

The second reason is more practical, and probably one of the reasons it’s so hard for me to give up on BL in general: it’s sturdy and inexpensive enough that I don’t have to worry about it. My beloved Krad Lanrete JSK is my treasure, but doesn’t get worn half as often as this BL dress because I worry about it so much! I found a tiny snag in the back one day and freaked out. Zofiya from my comm loves Misty Sky, and everyone obsessively checks for damage whenever we’ve been sitting on rough surfaces.

I hope to be able to wear the fashion more. Over time, my wardrobe has grown up just as I have, and my love for the fashion remains as strong as ever.

[sanakanin]

Venetian gondolas. This JSK has appeared in several posts already, but it’s because this is one of my dream dresses, and while it has its flaws, I dearly adore it. Don’t mind the derpy bow in back, please... I got lazy.

Also I’m not shooting pictures with my phone anymore, so you get to see actual colors now!

Coord 1 - old worn pictures here, old WIP post here 

JSK - Bodyline l546

underskirt - detached from Bodyline l510

cropped jacket - a mon avis

hat - vintage, with offbrand flowers (these are just so fluffy, they’ve been appearing in nearly all my recent coords, sorry)

choker - ToxicKitty

Coord 2

JSK - Bodyline l546

underskirt - detached from Bodyline l510

blazer(?) - offbrand. That lace. It’s a little too large for me, but I don’t have the skills to alter it yet.

flowers - ToxicKitty

[sanakanin]

Sneak peek from this year's EGL wardrobe post. I decided to go with the (rather crazy) route of coordinating all main pieces alongside pictures of details and things in their 'base form'. To ramp up the difficulty level I tried to come up with fresh coordinates instead of WIPs. That's the MMORPG mentality speaking. I quit the level up grind years ago, but apparently you can't take the game out of the gamer!

[sanakanin]

Nerys - a Happy New Year to everyone! I wore one of my favorite dresses, Bodyline’s Venice print, out to lunch with my family. I spent some time trying to come up with a coord that suited how I felt- it hasn’t been an easy year for me, but I didn’t want to wear all black, it would be like giving up on good cheer altogether. This was an acceptable compromise between color and black, and I ended up having a very good time.

JSK - Bodyline l546 

vest, peignoir (yes, not a blouse), bag - misc. offbrand

tights - Mu-Fish replica of the abilletage corset tights; I wouldn’t recommend them if you’re looking for true black or have yellow toned skin. I found them locally and cracked at the temptation, but I probably would say go for the original ones.

hat - H&M, scarf and accessories - offbrand

flower brooch/clip - ToxicKitty

shoes - Clarks’ Cassie

chiffon neck scarf - chiffon scrap

Peignoirs were a trendy item earlier in the year (or last; I forget) but I never found a way to wear them at full length without looking rather dopey. They just cling in all the wrong places, and when the wind catches them they look like a ship under full sail- uh huh, that ain’t cute. But being something of a magpie I still collect peignoirs anyway, to experiment on.

Here is how it was done. I simply gathered the back up, like a bustle, and pinned it in place. This is the quick and dirty way to do it, of course. Someone with more patience could probably sew it in place, or add channels to turn it into a functional bustle; as for me I like to be able to take things apart after wearing, so I generally don’t make permanent modifications.

Personal story time.

I’m wearing my grandmother’s wig in this coord. As my Dad was a senior, he got free movie perks on Mondays and Tuesdays, but he hated going alone so we kept him company. For fun, I wore salt-and-pepper hair to match his. We overheard a lady sitting near us at dinner say that I’d gone grey early, and we had a good laugh.

It’s our first New Year without him. I’ve decided that I won’t spend this year just rolling along, or hanging in limbo- I might take up another course, this time focusing on fashion. It’s in a much different direction from my original degree- maybe this could be termed a quarter-life crisis- but I feel positive about making a fresh start. We’ll see.

[sanakanin]

new WIP for Bodyline l546. Something casual and comfortable and roomy; it’s going to be a buffet thing and I eat less (than I already do) when there’s a belt squeezing my stomach.

I wonder… what would be a good name for this coord?

All offbrand.

Edit: I switched to a different outfit in the end, because I wanted to wear this to meet up with an aunt who'd just come back from America. Conclusion: without high waisted corsetting, I can put back a quite impressive amount of steak.

[sanakanin]

Romance on Reflective Waters coordinate, worn for a movie out with friends/birthday dinner.

We watched an action movie (Rurouni Kenshin) but everything becomes a comedy when it’s with this crazy bunch. It’s a good thing that the film was nearing the end of its run and there weren’t a lot of other people, because our group kept up a constant Rifftrax in the background. Even the very movie stopped taking itself seriously anyway, and by the time the final battle devolved into a free-for-all alley brawl, nearly everyone was cackling.

JSK - Bodyline l546, aka Venice print. One more dream dress down!

wig - Bodyline w049

underskirt - Little Dipper, blood and bone of the wardrobe of a slightly-too-tall lolita

cropped jacket - thrifted

socks, shoes and hat - vintage, socks were a gift from an aunt, and the hat belonged to my late grandmother’s sister. The shoes were my grandmother’s.

flowers - ToxicKitty. I removed the Foxcherry brooch on the jacket from this coord, because long hair means tangles and I didn’t want to complicate my life

In our little crazy group, there is someone who has the same birthday I do! Curious. We were given matching cupcakes and told to peel potatoes (in-joke with my real name) I can’t watch Dracula Untold with this bunch. We’d get booted out of the theater - but it was so much fun. <3

Also by accident I found that this JSK could work for Hime Gyaru, or even (with some effort) Hime Loli; it’s large on me, but the fabric is just so elegant, it is worth getting it altered to fit.

Because I love this coordinate so much I uploaded lots of photos on my Facebook, which you can find here! I was so excited I even did my nails to match- and took a picture. Such geekery…

[sleeplessmarmarmalade]

how the hell am i supposed to co-ordinate l546??? like??? i cant even tell what colour it is??¿¿ a hat maybe???

[lolita-tips]

The new dress looks shiny...? or am I blind?

I think it has a little shine but not enough to look bad. It could also be that Bodyline is awful at taking stock photos.