/cgl/ - Cosplay & EGL

Is Innocent World classic lolita or sweet lolita?

>>9593593
Classic, although some of their dresses can be used in a sweet coord as well. Some IW stuff is even right for gothic, but it's still a classic brand.

What are the major Japanese auction sites and what Shopping Services do people usually use?

>tfw been in Lolita for five years but still don't know how to buy from Japanese auctions

So, to order from Taobao, you hire a shopping service to buy a certain item for you? Is that right? It always seemed so daunting that I never tried.

>>9593687
Yep, that's right. Unless you go through a taobao reseller which I don't recommend because they upcharge items.
It seems daunting at first but it's actually pretty easy to do. Taobaonow is pretty easy imo, they go over how to use their cart on the site and it's hard to mess up. Plus their service fees are reasonable.

>>9593684
y!ja, mercari, mbok. Many shopping services don't do mercari, the only one I can think of off the top of my head is Japonica Market. People also use FromJapan, Zen Market for y!ja.

Personally I've found Japonica to be super easy to use.

>>9593687
You can also buy through a forwarding service for many items.

http://www.howtotao.com/buy-from-taobao/

But a shopping service is a better option if you don't read/write in Chinese, because if there's an issue with the seller or the warehouse, you'll be in trouble.

>>9593702
does japonica market have any hidden/surprise fees or is it really just 5%?

>>9593684
>>9593702
Fril is also a popular auction site. Smaller shopping services like chibitenshi or muuh can buy from mercari.

>>9593593
Classic, with a sweet flair. (Not to be confused with AP's sweet with a classic flair)

>>9593684
Same, I've been into Lolita since 2013 and I'm still a big baby about ~hard~ shopping. I'm usually too afraid I'll fuck something up royally and it will be a disaster. Still, I use y!j, because I can shop thru buyee and it's pretty straight forward.

Would this dress work for lolita?

>>9594482
I'd imagine so, assuming it can fit a decently sized (though not huge) petticoat and coordinated well. It's cute! Is it ETC?

What are the lolita substyles?

In my comm it's called a substyle whenever you wear a different style of lolita, but here I've noticed some people put it in the "theme" box. At first I thought it was just a different word for substyle and you can say you're wearing lolita with a gothic theme..

Anyway, this is what I've got so far:
Sweet lolita
Gothic lolita
Classic lolita
Punk lolita
Steam lolita
Pirate lolita
Sailor lolita

And the rest are themes?

>>9595394
I'd say that sailor can also be a theme because it can be sweet or classic in nature, you know? I've yet to see gothic sailor but I imagine that can also potentially exist.

>>9595394
Personally I would say there are only 3 sub styles, and the others are just branches of them.

>>9595398
Then what is punk, steam, sailor and pirate a branch of?

>>9595398
But gothic, classic and sweet are branches of lolita? Then what are punk, steam, sailor and pirate a branch of?

>>9595394
I think Sweet, Gothic, Classic and Punk are substyles (punk being a dead substyle now but used to be bigger than classic, you could argue it's a crossover style but so was gothic originally), the others are themes (e.g. country, sailor, pirate, hime - I'd argue that country and sailor are still themes even though I can't envision gothic country or sailor), crossover styles (e.g. deco-loli, steam lolita, original hime that's gyaru-inspired), or eras (e.g. oldschool) and descriptors (OTT, casual, ero) that can be applied to any style.

There's no definitive answer though so there's not that much point getting bogged down in the semantics of it.

>>9595394
Sweet, gothic, classic.
Everything else is a variation upon a theme. Most lolitas fall into one, two or all three main styles. However, I've never seen or met anyone who is strictly a sailor lolita. But they may have a few coords.

>>9595428
Thanks for all the answers but still don't get how punk, steam, sailor and pirate are a variation of a substyle

>>9595430
I wouldn't say punk is... Punk arguably is a crossover style like >>9595415
said (lolita combined with a different fashion), but back in the day it was big and a style in its own right. "Pirate" or "Steam" or Sailor" are just themes. You can have a gothic pirate coord, a sweet pirate coord, a classic pirate coord, even a punk pirate coord but there's no way to have just a "pirate coord." What would that even look like?

...how do you tie waist ties? Apparently I've been doing it wrong

>>9595445
So the pirate stuff aatp would release is gothic pirate?

>>9595447
There's this tutorial by Meta: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Pz2A70Dfrc Coincidentally it works great with Meta's irrationally long waist ties. You can find many other tutorials on youtube as well.
Also, what I like to do if I'm in a rush is attach the ties so that they face the front of the dress while I'm wearing it, tie a bow, detach and reattach to the back of my dress, if that makes sense.

>>9594396
Domestic shipping and a paypal fee.

>>9595448
Or classic. If you take a pirate hat off the coord, what style is it? There's your answer

>>9595457
thanks ur a life saver

>>9595415
I really want to see gothic country.
Wonder if it could be done with Moitie's floral dresses?

>>9595406
Punk was a substyle but is now dead. Sailor can fall into anything depending on styling. Pirate and steam probably more gothic and classic. There aren't any hard separations for each coord much anymore since the rise of sweetclassic and gothicsweet. Sometimes people can't even tell Gothic from classic as you can see from the non black Gothic thread. You will see people bitch about a coord being sweet when it's Gothic, etc. A of things fall into a grey area these days.

>>9595573
I wouldn't say punk lolita is dead lol since I wear it. It was also one of the few styles that got its own pages in Misako's book and h.naoto among others makes clothing especially for it.

>>9595394
shiro and kuro tho

>>9595585
Those aren't really substyles though, just monochrome outfits. Shiro/kuro can be sweet, classic, gothic, depending on the pieces and motifs you used they can be sailor too.

>>9595585
>>9595591
But they're usually used to refer specifically to sweet or relatively style-neutral oldschool in all-black or all-white, since the term originally came to prominence to distinguish all-black outfits that weren't gothic. Nowadays it's used for any monochrome outfit but oldschool is the first thing that will come mind for both people when you use the term.

See here:
https://archive.rebeccablacktech.com/cgl/thread/8950449/#8971889

There's another bit from the same site that I CBA looking up that says something like "gothlolis and kuro amalolis are very insistent they're different from each other when asked, but for everybody else it can be hard to tell"

>>9595640
People only think of oldschool because our resources are old and young people are afraid to use the terms because they think using a Japanese word is cringe or cultural appropriation. Japanese lolitas still say it.

>>9595583
I guess yeah it's not completely dead but somewhat niche and rare kind of like guro or ero? Old school, decora, cult party, is also kind of "dead" in a sense even though a handful of people still wear it.

>>9595749
Oldschool is much less "dead" than punk, ero or guro, there are quite a few people who have mostly or entirely oldschool wardrobes and wear the style regularly, whereas even the few people who wear punk, ero or guro tend to only wear it very occasionally.

From my experiences in the UK I'd estimate around 10% of the lolitas here own and wear at least some oldschool, even if it's not their main style. Whereas something like ero or punk would be maybe 2% having worn it ever.

is it really wrong to wear black stockings when the rest of the coord is fairy kei/menhera? i'm not comfortable enough to wear any other color than black with stockings/socks. or should I just not wear jfashion until my self-esteem is better?

>>9595790
Yea, it looks really off. Try colors like dark blue, grey, purple or wine to ease yourself into it (and wear clothing that has accents with those colors of course)

>>9595790
also if that's you, you have small legs so go for it

>>9595790
>Cursed picture
Most of the time it looks awkward. Maybe try to match it with something else? Not like that girl in the CoF thread. Don't do that.

>>9593684
Mbok and y!j. I use buyee, japonica market, and Zenmarket. Buyee is probably my favorite for small orders, I like the instant bidding

>>9595790
It's fine

>>9595793
Misako wears black tights with sweet/pink dresses all the time

>>9595799
Yeah but it's usually balanced? And even if it's not, it's hard to make that work. In OPs case it just looks like a cute coord on top and whatever tights weren't in the laundry on the bottom

I have a character that dresses in lolita, but I'm scared that she comes off as an ita or something. Could I post a picture of her for critique on her main outfit?

>>9595804
Sorry for ant pic

>>9595804
Are you one of those people it's better not to dress cute at all if it can't be 100% perfect?

>>9595805
Please! I love OCs and would be glad to help

>>9595810
No??? I wear solid black tights and the like all the time with non black items. But that shit looks off balance and weird if it's extremely light everywhere but the black tights . If the only dark you have is one item in the entire outfit it's harder to make it look anything other that awkward. Not impossible, but hard. There's a difference between not perfect and basic color balance issues. Just wear lighter tights unless you want to work 6x as hard to look okay. It's not rocket science

>>9595797
>>9595817
thanks anons for the honest opinions, most of the feedback I get from fb (I know, not the best place to ask in the first place) are answers like ''wear whatever you want it's just fashion.'' And they are right in a way, but I want to try my best to get good coords.

>>9595793
I'll try wearing darker colors first! and then slowly go a tad lighter. Until then I'll just put a hold on fairy kei for a while and wear more black-based menhera.

>>9595862
You're welcome! It's not a nightmare issue, but it's worth slowly trying tights that fit with the coord better. Luckily tights are cheap and easy to come by. Glad to have new people in jfashion!! keep working at it, you'll be great

>>9595790
It looks weird with fairy kei but often looks fine with menhera, since menhera has a lot of black accents.

>>9595812
My art isn't the best so I apologize in advance! The last properly colored picture I did was years ago, haha, but a good chunk of what she's wearing is powder blue.

>>9595397
>gothic sailor
Rouge Aerie's Nightmare Rising fits that description
sage for no contribute but I thought I might mention it

I've been admiring mori for a long time but am thinking of actually getting into the fashion and buying some for myself. How brand-focused is it? I know that for lolita, you really can't buy off-brand/normie clothes and try and make them fit the lolita fashion, so brand is really important. And I know there are mori brands, but is buying brand essential to pulling off the look? Or can you piece it together with normie and off-brand clothes if you find the right pieces? Sorry, this might have been better in the mori thread but I feel like it's a dumb question.

...can people in the US still order off of body line? I know their international site is down, but off of the main site I can still look at the products
If not, how do you even use rakuten?

>>9596115
I thought someone would bring that up since it's the most comonly-cited example but I don't really feel like it or most of the coords I've seen with it are gothic at all without the print. I don't feel like it's any more gothic than, say,Holy Lantern.

>>9596116
Would be strange for a style that's so focused on looking natural to be brand-centered. I'll readily admit I'm not into mori so maybe I'm talking out of my ass but as long as your look fits the aesthetic, you should be fine. It's not like lolita where most non-brand places don't produce designs and quality that fall under the expected standards of the fashion, you know?

>>9595397
> Gothic sailor
You mean Pirate?

Are there men's style that don't look stupid?

Are the stars in her hair/wig just stickers?

>>9596246
What looks stupid to you?

>>9596254
Anachronisms and extravagance

>>9596251
Could also be confetti. It can be held there long enough for a photoshoot with hairspray or gel.

>>9596116

Your bigger issue that morigirl is pretty dead, a lot of the Japanese brands that catered to it slowly shifted over to normie fashion or closed completely. The only one left I know of is Favorite One on rakuten.

So.... do whatever you want, I guess? Not like there's a lot of girls left to judge you, and not a lot of brands left to buy anyway.

>>9596118

Either use an SS, or use Tenso. Rakuten jp accepts foreign CC, using Tenso is fine.

Probably not worth the extra charges to get one measly $20 Bodyline dress, but if you must have that one pair of shoes, there you go. Or if you're already buying Japanese snacks off rakuten or a dress off Wunderwelt, you might as well throw in a $20 dress.

>>9596045
I like it but I would make her bangs more straight

>>9596182
No

Can a petticoat be too poofy?
I'm pretty new to lolita and the first petti I got was too flat, so I bought another one, and it looks really huge?
Like, I feel like I look kinda ridiculous in it

>>9596461
Yes, when the fabric of the dress/skirt is around it too tight the petticoat is too big

>>9596464
I don't think it was too tight, it just looked strangely balanced
I'm fairly short too

>>9596295
>>9596116
I would say Axes Femme produces a lot of mori friendly clothes as well, even if it's not a mori "brand." I'm not into mori myself, but I have friends who are. They thrift a lot of their wardrobe and it looks great--I know my one friend loves finding old Free People items the most. Mori is probably the easiest style to build with western stuff.

>>9596267
Why are you here?

>>9596045
You should make her legs slimmer or the rest of the body bigger, unless your character is thicc (jk) because it looks unbalanced.
As for the coord, since you put crosses on the tights, maybe put some on the capelet? Or anywhere else really.
>>9596116
You CAN buy offbrand. Get out of cgl and you will find lots of efamous lolitas using offbrand and looking pretty darn good. Tumblr for example. You just have to think with lolita when you buy.
>>9596484
Kek

>>9596045
Is that supposed to be a drop-waisted JSK or a skirt and blouse? The waistband is sitting a bit low, usually lolita skirts sit dead-on the natural waist at its narrowest point, and would maybe be slightly longer.

Not exactly a dumb question imo but I don't know where else to ask.

Are there any Japanese dollar stores that have a webshop?

>>9596755
Daiso! Though their online store only sells things in bulk (think 10 or 12-packs).

>>9596461
It may deflate over time to just the perfect poof. My older petticoats tend to deflate after a few hours now and the skirt looks sad. I've started stacking and I used to feel ridiculous leaving the house cause I felt too poofy but by the time you start taking coord snaps, the poof looked just right.

It could also be that you're not used to "proper" poof yet if you've had only small petti before.

>>9596769
I see, thank you anon!
>I used to feel ridiculous leaving the house cause I felt too poofy
Yeah that's basically my problem too haha
Is it looked down upon to have a little less poof? Not flat, but not super big

>>9596331
>>9596554
>>9596560
Thank you so much everyone! I really appreciate it. I will definitely adjust her design. I didn't even realize that skirts were supposed to sit on the narrowest point, woops.

>>9596780
It isn't. Everyone knows that pettis deflate over time, so as long as you have a little poof you're fine.

>>9596461
What brand, I need this?

>>9594470
Don't you mean Baby is sweet with a classic fair? AP is the sweetest brand, only a handful of classic pieces.

>>9595394
Punk, steam, and pirate are goth/classic substyles or themes, sailor is a sweet/classic substyle or theme

How do you say MAXICIMAM ???
Like, what language is it? What does it mean?

>>9597184
the japanese writing is makishimamu
so based of that I say maxi (like the dress) and mam (like woman)
Idk where the name came from though

>>9597167
I don't think it's fair to say punk is a substyle of gothic any more than you'd say punk is a substyle of goth...it sounds wrong since OG punk was around before goth and goth evolved from post-punk. I think you can either consider it a substyle in its own right or consider it a theme or crossover style, but it's silly to just lump it under the gothic umbrella when it's not how it was originally conceived. Nowadays the few punk looks you still see definitely are punky gothic, especially since h.NAOTO are the only brand still consistently releasing it, but 2000-2007 "punk" lolita was often closer to sweet than anything and the brands that released it tended to either also sell jpunk (Putumayo, MAM/MAXICIMAM, Sex Pot Revenge) or also sell sweet lolita (Metamorphose, MAXICIMAM, Baby, AP). A lot of gothic brands of the time like Moitie, Atelier Pierrot, Arachnophobia, Sheglit never touched punk at all. I guess a lot of Alice Auaa's stuff is punk-influenced but it's more punk goth than punk lolita, since they're mainly a goth brand that do/did some lolita stuff, not a gothic lolita brand.

I honestly don't get this weird obsession people have with making things fit under the umbrella of the main substyles instead of letting them exist in their own right. I only started seeing it recently so it seems like a newb thing to me.

>>9596780
Also, have the right poof for the right occasion. Going to a big fancy meet? Might want to stack a few prettis together. Going out to run errands or just looking cute on a normal day? Maybe a small petti even none.

>>9596470
was your hair flat? big pettis look good with big curly hair and head accessories

>>9595790
Is that you in the picture?
If so, the floral/more classy dress (jumper?) looks extremely out of place with everything else. Funny thing is, the tights are what's bothering me the least

Dress + tights with styled natural hair, a black hairband (which it looks like you have on) and fancy-looking shoes would look good. Remove the purse.
Tights + wig + purse with a menhera tee and cute shorts/skirt would look good.
It would be better if they were lacy yeah, but the tights aren't your issue here

Mostly, the dress is one style, the wig and purse are another completely different one. And you have a cute body, hope your self esteem improves soon!

>>9597184
It is pronounced the same as "maximum" in English.

As for the spelling, this is just my own theory but here it goes.
In Japanese it's makishimamu, like the other anon said.
Makishimamu is the Engrish pronunciation of maximum.
Now to get from makishimamu to maxicimam you just need to get a bit creative with spelling (Japanese people love doing that).
Ma ki shi mamu
Ma xi ci mam
The letter C (when you want to say a b c for example) is pronounced shee (kind of like she with a long e sound) in Japanese, so the shi syllable got replaced with ci. K and X look sort of similar if you squint maybe? So the ki syllable got turned into xi.

>>9597295
>K and X look sort of similar if you squint maybe?
in english the letter x in the end of a syllable has a /ks/ sound, hence ki-shi. japanese can't into double consonant sounds (or any consonants not followed by a vowel) so ki-shi is the best they can do for ks

sage for phoneticsperging

>>9597194
Cross over styles are substyles in lolita

>>9597303
Yes, but you seem to assume that they had the name first and then decided on the pronunciation, whereas I'm thinking they decided on what they wanted to call it first and then wanted to spell it in an "exotic"/quirky way so in a way we're considering the matter from different ends. Of course, either could be right and we probably will never know.

>>9597194
>I only started seeing it recently so it seems like a newb thing to me.
Same, when I stated lolita, crossover styles were considered substyles. Outside cgl I haven't noticed this change though.

>>9597312
Right, I was just explaining why ki-shi was an X. It doesn't really matter if they decided pronunciation or spelling first, it's an appropriate spelling for the sound/appropriate sound for the spelling.

I wasn't correcting you, just adding to your explanation

What does it mean when a dress that has been released twice before (2014, 2015) has only been sold on lacemarket like, 3-4 times? Does it mean it was unpopular with the western crowd and isn't really in circulation here?

>>9595790
I don't think it looks bad but it would look better if you'd have some black accents in the rest of your outfit as well.
If you like black you could try menhara or creepy cute/bittersweet/pastel goth (whatever it's called, I don't see much difference)

Other than that, there are also very opaque pastel stockings/leggings and your legs look good so you should really try to step out of your comfort zone. It would be a step in the direction of better self-esteem, anon.

Dumb newbie question: If you're a tall Lolita and your OTKs only just hit mid-knee, are they ok to wear, or should OTKs only be worn if they are truly over the knee?
I just got some amazing socks, but I'm nearly 6ft, so not sure if I can get away with them or not...

>>9597394
it can mean anything. Just because it was released twice doesn't mean hundreds were available for us to buy.

>>9597418
I think it would look awkward, I would pull them down a little bit and make them UTK.

How much do people hate bittersweet?

>>9597431
Cgl hates bittersweet 10.
I don't think the average lolita hates bittersweet, as long as you don't act like it's a substyle.

>>9597418

The real question is how much bare leg you're showing. With lolita, the more bare thigh you show, the more it looks like either the clothes don't fit, or you're playing dressup as a kinky sex prostitute.

At least the fix is fairly easy, either lengthen the dress with an underskirt, or wear a pair of tights the same colour as your "otks" under your "otks". The actual socks being utks, otks or mid knees doesn't matter as much as how much thigh you're showing.

>>9597480
That's objective, just becaus shorter socks aren't popular on CoF doesn't mean they make you look like a sex doll more than OTKs do. If anything, OTKs are more popular with prostitutes and porn.

>>9597484

They mentioned they're tall, stands to reason a lot of dresses might be short on them as well.

Maybe I should have typed the word BARE THIGHS in caps so people understand I'm not against crew socks or UTKs, it's just BARE THIGHS looks really wrong in lolita.

So how do you know when your blouse should be tucked/untucked? I have a really long one and it looks awful both ways. Halp.

>>9597063
>>9597213
Thanks for the tips! I feel like sometimes less poof looks a bit better (depends on the dress ofc) but I was a bit afraid of what other lolitas would think
Were would you guys recommend getting petties from?

>>9597644
If the hem sits around your natural waist or a bit above it and is decorated with a frill or two, it's meant to be worn untucked, and you should tuck in blouses with long hems. In what way does yours look bad?

>>9596182
I've seen very few Gothic Sailor outfits, but the overall feeling is different from Pirate. But I see where you're coming from.

There was one circle lens site called 1969 or nineteen69 or something but I can't find it? Does anyone remember what is was called?

>>9597862
I think I've seen sheglit and bpn pieces with a sailor color. But substyle is basically just the way a coord is styled or the concept, so there's no point of coming up with another box (theme)

>>9597983
*collar

>>9597763
There's a lot of debate now about who makes the best petti, but lately Bunny House has the best rep. I've also heard that the ones from closetchild and wunderwelt aren't too bad, and I have the cupcake from fanplusfriend that is huge.

>>9597763
MeLikesTea is where I've been buying mine lately, I prefer theirs to my older Classical Puppets ones.

>>9597763
My favourite is The Black Ribbon, her pettis are really soft and comfortable and still very poofy

My last one before that was a classical puppets one and it kind of started to disintegrate at the seams and is prettt scratchy in comparison

im looking for good seifuku sellers, any reccomendations?

>>9597763
The petticoat that I use most often is from victorian maiden

What kind of petticoat would one use for tiered dresses?

>>9598754
This dress is weird af, anon. This particular dress has never looked right on me. It gets a weird bell shape even when using a light a-line petti.

I own other tiered dresses and normally I will layer an a-line over a cupcake and that will give it a nice shape.

This one is just weird af and never looks like the picture on me.

>>9598754
I would wear a cupcake petti with this one

>>9598754
I'm not sure about the dress in your picture because anon's right, the shape looks weird, but general 3-tiered dresses are very versatile with petti shape and I generally try on a couple and see which I prefer. Because they often have an almost circle skirt cut and are designed to fall in folds anyway, it doesn't matter if you wear a bell or A-line petti with a lot of them. I tend to go A-line as often as possible if it's a high-waisted dress because with a bell petti that kind of cut can make you look pregnant.

>>9597644
blouses are really difficult to work with if not worn under a jsk.

if you feel like it's really bulky or you feel like something is unbalanced, wear an elaborate corset (brands make some, don't go for any regular goth corsets) or a bustier on top of it to flatten everything a bit more

>>9599295
>blouses are really difficult to work with if not worn under a jsk
You're either really new - Not just to lolita but to fashion in general - Or not a lolita at all.

>>9599316
I've worn lolita for 8 years, and I've always found blouse with skirt combos awkward looking because none ever fit my small frame properly

Ordered something off through FJ and the original listing changed to raise the price + the seller's other listings now forbid customers who don't speak Japanese. Should I contact FJ after the holiday to address the extra cost? More importantly, do I still try to buy it? It's not a huge price hike, the item is really rare, and I'm feeling spiteful.

>>9599316
This is a common opinion, it doesn't mean people are new. I find that high-waisted skirts and corset skirts are easier but a lot of ordinary lolita skirts just look awkward. The blouse can look too plain or weird tucked in but a lot are too long to untuck. Some blouses designed to be worn under JSKs only really have details on the top part and look extremely plain with a skirt, but ones that have a low of detail going all the way down the skirt can look like the detail's been cut off at an awkward point when you tuck them in.

If you check the archives for past threads we've had on skirt coords, most of the non-oldschool coords posted as successful examples either use cutsews instead of blouses or have a cardigan, vest or belt to disguise the awkward join and stop things looking so blocky.

>>9599324
If the skirt and blouse fit, it shouldn't be a problem. Tuck it in, reach up as high as you can so it lightly untucks itself a bit and enjoy.

>>9598252
>>9598268
>>9598632
>>9598680
Thanks for your replies!
Hadn't heard about any of those, only Classical Puppets and I've heard their quality isn't that good anymore

what does it mean when a dress has "switching" in the name? I saw a post of someone saying they finally found out what it was a while ago but was too embarrassed to ask. I looked it up but couldn't find a definition

Can anyone recommend a fast, reliable online Japan-based shopping service? I've attempted to use two this year, but both took more than 3 days to get around to ordering what I was after and by then the items had sold out.

>>9599617
I've seen it used when two different fabrics are in the dress.

>>9599617
I typically see it with bib dresses. But anywhere the fabric is switching from one type to another if that makes sense.

How do everyone find out what other lolitas have been up to, besides /cgl/?

I keep seeing people talk about chinese lolitas like such and such dress, or japanese lolitas don't care about this and that, and to be honest I don't really know where else to look besides /cgl/. I left lolita before LJ died and now I don't know where else to go, besides CoF.

>>9599804
>>9599838
thanks gulls, it was that simple? I feel dumb now
Well, I felt dumb before anyways, so...

What app has the heart lolita sticker?

>>9599840
instagram

>>9599748
I've used Muuh (on Facebook) recently and she's been pretty quick. Chibitenshi and Mintkismet also have pretty fast turnarounds, but I think they are on holidays currently.

>>9599864
It would be nice if you included a picture, but I'm assuming you're talking about the Kira Imai stickers on LINE.

obvious stupid question here, but I'm looking for a good petticoat for a cosplay and I was wondering if you guys had any suggestions. i want more of an A-line shape and not a bell/cupcake shape, if that helps at all.

>>9600078
malco modes: has a lot of lengths and they are all a-line, very quality and can be bought on Amazon

>>9599840
Instagram, lookbook.nu, wear.jp, tumblr (yes, I know), magazines like melt (japanese) or girlism (chinese) are usually where I get my coordinate inspo. There isn't much in the way of written content or conversations anywhere outside of here or facebook, which sucks. Rainedragon still runs a proper blog and it's fairly interesting.

I'm hoping Insta culture dies soon and we can get real social media platforms that support conversation again

>>9599840
They just make shit up when they make statements about other lolitas

What's the best way for me to start with a casual lolita style as a student with no income?

>>9600087
thanks! I'll give them a try since I have Amazon prime

>>9600090
Also Kera, Tokyo Fashion and other street snap sites.

Kinda unrelated but have any of you girls ever done a cosplay of Ciel Phantomhive?

>>9600112
>asking about cosplay in a jfash thread
For what purpose

>>9600102
The same way anyone starts on a budget? Saving up and watching out for good deals on the secondhand market.

>>9600102
You need to be more specific about what you mean by "no income". Literally no income? No money? Or you have loans and grants and shit but no job? What sort of situation are we talking about here?

>>9599843
Don't be so hard on yourself, it's okay to ask questions :)

>>9600142
Where are good places to go? I'm a little afraid about the shipping cost cause I live in a trash country that nobody really cares about. I wish I could shop local for anything even remotely similar, but jfashion isn't a thing here as far as I can tell.

>>9600146
I'm still being supported by my family (which is the norm here) and I mostly just take commissions every now and again to help out when I can. Other than that, I have no job and no student loans.

>>9599617
http://egl.livejournal.com/19732333.html?thread=444426093#t444426093

>>9600157
So exactly how much money do you have? $90 a month? $50 a month? $30 a month? $5 a month?

Does your country have chains like H&M and F21? They often sell jfash-influenced normie clothes and your parents might buy them for you when you need new clothes if they're supporting you. Do they have second-hand shops where you can look for accessories and other interesting vintage things? Or is there nothing?

>>9600160
After all my expenses, I have about $20 a month... I had some savings at some point but I've used them up hard recently cause of a cosplay and to help out some of my poorer classmates.

I actually don't get bought clothes very often, most of my stuff is handed down. We have both H&M and F21 here though so I'll check it out!

For vintage accessories, I'm not really sure where to go. When I think vintage, I think European vintage and we don't have much of that here either.

>>9600170
Does it have to be actual vintage? Simple pearl accessories, cameos and rose hair clips are timeless and are fairly easy to find, just make sure they look good. They don't have to be expensive as long as they don't look cheap, if you know what I mean.
Where do you live, if you don't mind me asking?

>>9600157
I'm also from a trash country, if you say which one we'll be able to help out better.
I also started out with zero income, but I had an allowance that I used to buy stuff. Do you have something like that?

why are ap miniskirt waist sizes so big.
Normal skirts start around 63, but a lot of the mini skirt start at 72.
no matter what i do pic related just hangs weird on me.

>>9600179
I'm pretty sure they're meant to sit on your lower waist, a little towards your hips, rather than your natural waist.

>>9600170
On this sort of income, it sounds like you should be able to get into more generic jfash styles like larme, but would struggle to get even one lolita outfit without saving for a year (after all, you have to buy petticoat, shoes, etc).

Does your country have customs or a high chance of post being stolen? How easy is it to order online?

>>9599748
I've never had Japonica Market take very long to go about ordering my items, have you tried their service? They usually get to it pretty quickly

>>9600184
I thought that as well, but even in a lot of stock photos for skirts like this they have the item sitting on the natural waist.
pic related has an even bigger waist than the last skirt i posted

>>9600243
True but did you try wearing them lower anyway? Maybe they'll fit and look better worn like that.

>>9600179
>>9600243
What do these look like without petticoat?

>>9598754
I have a 3 tiered petti that makes this exact shape, this would be the perfect dress for it, lmao. Malco Modes 582 - Jennifer.

>>9600245
I have tried, I guess I just wanted a shorter look than it is supposed to have. I may have it taken in. thanks for the answer!
>>9600246
Idk about chocolate rosette, but promenade looks fine without a petti except the pleats at the back go all crazy, at the back, if you have to do the corset up tight.

Is it Classic or classical lolita? I'm using Alice Holic app now and I usually fin the tag "Classical" being used.

>>9597901
19ninety-six?
I think that was it but the website seems down.

>>9600307
Classical is used for both old school and classic lolita. Tbh people don't bother with correct labels as much anymore so it's kind of whatever.

>>9600307
I think "Classical" is usually used in Japanese sources and like >>9600329 said it usually refers to oldschool. People do sometime use it to refer to Classic too but it's not as common in western comms, unless you're new and unfamiliar with terms.

>>9600307
It's classic in the west because calling it classical lolita is kind of weird grammar in English. Sometimes Japanese sources use classic, often they use classical, but some also used "classical" or "traditional" to mean oldschool so it's a bit ambiguous. Tag it as both if you want, but in a conversation with Western lolitas calling it classical is kind of odd, like insisting on calling sweet ama-loli.

>>9600307
>>9600329
>>9600371
>>9600393
It's probably because they're both pronounced exactly the same in Japanese, since Japanese people can't into words that don't end in a vowel.

I might be wrong here so anons who know more can correct me, but according to Google Translate both "classic" and "classical" are written as "クラシック", "kurashikku" in Japanese.

What would the search term be for dresses/skirts with a bottom like this? I keep trying asymmetrical but that doesn't bring too much up..

I absolutely adore this style and want to find more, but the only brand I know that does it is Atelier Boz.

>>9600404
Technically I would consider that a handkerchief hem, but I don't know if Japanese bramds use those terms. If you look for old BPN they do those hems, and Sheglit has carried on making them. Sometimes Moitie does it, but not nearly so exaggerated. Alice Auaa also does, but their stuff veers away from lolita a lot of the time, though it is beautiful stuff!

>>9600404
IDK what the search term is but Black Peace Now, Moi-meme-Moitie and I think Surface Spell and Souffle Song have all done similar stuff. Batwing hem/ragged hem maybe but I don't think it's generally tagged on Japanese sites.

>>9600404
If you're okay with indie brands, soufflé song has a few dress designs with this kind of hem. Hope that helps!

What makes a pair of shoes okay for lolita?
Like, for example, would these work for gothic?

>>9600494
Yes

>>9600494
I can see those working for punk lolita and maybe oldschool gothic lolita but they're not very elegant or feminine looking so you have to know what you're doing to pull them off.
It's kind of difficult to explain what makes one pair of shoes better and more "lolita-friendly" than another but if we're talking about lace up boots for gothic then I'd go with something like pic related for example.

>>9600329
>>9600371
>>9600393
>>9600400
Thanks, everyone! I'll stick to Classic from now on.

>>9600503
Yeah I can see that now that you explain it
But do you think boots like that could work for more sweet (not so classical looking) gothic?
Like pic related I feel wouldn't look that good with the pair you posted (not sure if this dress even counts as gothic though, sorry if I'm wrong)

I probably wouldn't pair it with a pair of boots, but just for the example, could the pair I posted work better with a dress like this?

ps, it's not that I'm desperate for these shoes to work, I'm just asking to better understand what works and what doesn't

>>9600511
This dress is definitely more sweet than gothic, and with this in mind I think the boots you posted may actually work. I do wonder what the rest of your coord is though, it might depend on that.

>>9600511
those shoes would definitely not work with that dress. old school punk/goth yes, but sweet, no. maybe if it was a costume halloween coord though, but it'd be hard to pull them off. Love those shoes, though! i'd get 'em anyways even if you don't use them for lolita

>>9600511
Is that Stitch?

>>9600494
I disagree with >>9600503, >>9600515. Those boots would look great with more mature gothic (oldschool or no--I was just going through melt and it's very obvious platforms are making a comeback, especially in gothic), but they would look very out of place in >>9600511 since it's basically a sweet dress with halloween themes. >>9600503 would look even more odd, though. I would look for sweet shoes, and if you want something generic go for Mary Janes

>>9600171
I'd actually love to go for accessories like that! I'll do some research and try to look for shops that sell those or anything similar for an okay price, and hopefully I won't end up just finding a bunch of trashy plastic ones that break after a week. I'm from the Philippines!

>>9600172
As I said above, I'm from the Philippines! Where did you live and how did you start out?

>>9600189
Yes, my country has customs and it actually makes it harder for me to buy stuff online since I have to pay another fee just to pick the item up. I've heard a few stories about post going missing, but I'm not sure how often that happens.

When it comes to ordering online, it can be really tough for me. With the post office situation, I'd much rather have things delivered straight to my door, and the stores that do that are either local or cater to Southeast Asian customers regularly. Examples would be Zalora, Lazada, Sephora, etc.

While the first two sell clothes, they're much too modern and trendy for my taste, and I have a good chance of being sent a low quality Chinese rip off a lot of the time.

>>9600515
>>9600522
>>9600535
Thanks for the feedback! I guess it's also kind of opinion based, but at least I feel like I wasn't totally off
I personally really like the look of chunky boots, so I might just get a pair and try them on with different coords and see how it looks!
Thanks again!

>>9600566
I own a similar pair of chunky Demonia boots and IMO they only look good with certain oldschool gothic coords or punkier coords, like other anons have said. It's OK for me since I wear oldschool, but even within oldschool they only work with a tiny minority of coords IMO, and if you look through old G&LBs you'll see those sort of boots are more used by punks and goth than lolitas, and the few lolita coords they were used with often would have looked better with other shoes IMO (pic related). I use them all the time in non-lolita outfits though and I love them.

>>9600563
It's >>9600172 here, I'm from South America.
Philippines is pretty close to Japan and China, so I thought importing was a much better option.
I found this link about flea shops which look useful:
>http://www.cosplay.com/showthread.php?t=172743
Buying blouses, tights, shoes offbrand is a great option. And then you only have to import the main piece.

Looking at the Philippine Lolita Page (they seem helpful with noobs) they have a "Local shops" album and also a local sales comm. It's a good starting place.

>>9600262
You know these skirts are adjustable, right..?
On the inside is a little elastic pull tab with multiple button holes to make the waist smaller.

>>9600246
I own a handful of these skirts and I usually wear them without a petti and they look nice. I'll usually wear puffier bloomers though to give it a tiny bit of volume underneath.

>>9600694
Unfortunately, all of those shops are in Manila, our capital. I live in another island...

We have similar flea markets here, but they aren't as big and anything you buy there falls apart after a few uses.

>>9600404
Check Wunderwelt for BPN and Atelier pierrot. They have a lot of skirts like this lately at decent prices

My closet is too crowded. I don't want to sell anything
What should I do?

>>9601085
Get a bigger closet or a second closet in the hallway or wherever and separate winter and summer. Most lolitas just sell what they don't wear often.

Does anyone else have issues getting their bow tails even? I follow the videos online but the tails are always uneven.

I bought a offwhite x pink skirt and I'm having a hard time coording it properly. Suggestions? I guess I should wear it with a pink/lavender/offwhite top?

>>9600090
>>9600111
Thanks!
I hope insta+facebook die asap too, can't stand social media nowadays. So focused on images and videos

Has anyone bought socks from sockdreams and in that case were they decent?

>>9601303
I have, and am pretty satisfied with my purchases. Just be aware that although Sock Dreams has their own line, they also sell socks from other companies, like Leg Avenue.

What type of fabric are good quality lolita dresses made of ?
I want to get started in in the fashion but im scared of geting something of poor quality and wasting money, also what is a good place to buy parasols? Thank you in advance!

>>9601268
Depends on what it looks like but generally speaking yes, you can introduce another color like lavender or sax, just make sure to keep your coord balanced color-wise.

>>9601323
You can't really narrow it down to fabric type because fabric types vary by quality greatly. Just buy from reputable sources and you should be fine.
And, Lumiebre's parasols are amazing, very recommended.

>>9601323
Good lolita dresses can be any number of fabrics, and unfortunately bad quality ones are often made of the same types of fabrics but at a lower quality.

I personally like thick, old school cotton or a more modern chiffon. I have some lovely silk blend pieces but the wrinkle like a mother fucker...

If you want to be safe, tru sticking with second hand brand for a while until you learn the ropes. It's often just as cheap and easy as taobao (or cheaper and easier), plus brand can come in more sizes than you expect. Lace Market, or even Closet Child or Wunderwelt (both Japanese) are good places to start.

>>9601332
I'm actually >>9601335 and I've been eyeing Lumiebre! Have you tried their umbrellas? Are they worth it? Their designs are lovely.

>>9601338
Yes! I own two and I love them, they're very sturdy and comfortable to use on top of being beautiful. Just make sure to check the rib lengths before you buy because some designs are smaller than others. "Long type" parasols/umbrellas are super wide and provide the most shade, while most of their fancier designs are "short type". Oh, and apparently the colors are darker than in the pics so take note of that too; the sax parasol I bought turned out to be some sort of antique shade of light blue, it's lovely and works well with my wardrobe but all the same, keep that in mind and read buyers' reviews if there are any.

>>9601332
>>9601335
>>9601338
Thanks everyone for calming my paranoia of wasting money. Also i will surely check out Lumiebres parasols, thanks again.

Saw an anon mention it in the dream dress thread and I'm curious; what is 2taobao? Is it just an extension of taobao for secondhand stuff?

>>9601365
From what I understand, yeah. many taobao shopping services won't buy from it though because aparently like 50% of the sellers flake

Does anyone have inspo pictures of tan/colored girls in cute coords? I don't have the porcelain white skin I wish I had and that discourages me a bit.

>>9602108

>>9602116

>>9602117

>>9602118

>>9602108
xylia-x is the efamous lolita that springs to mind that's tan brown rather than white or black.

There are a ton of tumblrs dedicated to PoC in lolita or jfash if you look it up, although I'm not sure if all of them are active.

>>9593684
mbok, yahoo, fril, mercari
I use japanshoppingserice or fromjapan (fj can't use mercari though)

>>9601338
I bought one for a Halloween coord last year and they're great quality. Worth every penny.

>>9601268
Try this: When you cross the two tails one over the other (before you tie them), make sure that one of them is longer than the other, and keep the longer tail on top of the short one when you go in to tie the bow. Kind of difficult to explain in words but I hope it makes some sense. IW's waist ties are often uneven lengths for this exact reason.

>>9602145
Oops, somehow quoted the wrong anon. meant to respond to >>9601219

what substyle are most AatP dresses anyway? not to be neurotic, because I can intuitively coord them just fine. but what are they going for??

>>9602166
Depends on what it is, their designs are varied like many other brands'. What you posted is gothic, but they've released classic and sweet pieces as well, and of course pirate is a common theme with them too.

>>9601303
I love sock dreams for their thigh highs that actually sit thigh high on me. I'm not super tall and average weight, but taobao otks are usually utk or barely covering the knee on me (thanks, calves). No such problem with sock dreams. Their customer service people are pretty sweet too.

Now I just wish they would release decent floral tights that fit.

What's the difference between tmall and taobao?

>>9602302
Which ones did you buy, if you don't mind me asking?

could someone please help me ID this dress? Someone on fril says its bubblestokyo but 1. it doesn't look it and 2. I can't find any evidence of that.

>>9601323
I'm being completely honest, figure out which style you like, stick with it, and just buy brand.

does anyone have the source on this? it was posted in the ita thread and the outfit is a mess but I thought this sweater was really cute.

Not sure where to ask this, but I wonder why I am having so much problem selling things on keimarket. It's supposed to be the best place to sell J-fashion clothes, but I've never sold anything there. Instead, I've sold maybe five or six items off of ebay without a problem. Well, I would rather sell off keimarket because the fees are lower, but I'm not sure why I'm having so much problems.

>>9602693
reverse image searched it. seems like a taobao dress.

>>9602813
How many views are your listings there getting compared to your eBay listings? I honestly just don't think that many people check keimarket.

>>9602808
Kei market is pretty new so that might be the reason.

>>9602808
That sweater can be found on Etsy. Unfortunately, the seller has stopped making this particular design. I wanted it myself when I was getting into pastel goth.

>>9602813
I buy most secondhand jfashion from Facebook groups

>>9602693
Reverse image search shows a few taobao results

So i was just wondering, what can you do with a jsk w/ ballerina tulle skirt? I was thinking about getting a skirt to wear over fthe tulle and using it as a second petti layer

>>9603053
Why not just wear it the way you're supposed to?

>>9603107
Mmmm okay

>>9603024
>>9602815
did you guys actually find it on taobao? I got linked to taobao but i couldn't find an actual link to a dress

>>9603053

If you are asking, you probably don't have the knowledge or skills to pull it off.

>>9603585
where are you looking? there are like a million of them
>https://world.taobao.com/item/555565000454.htm?fromSite=main&spm=a21m2.8232368.0.0.14e47277m7zbR5

Is this trustworthy?
https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/v513627407
https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/k267319734

Does anyone happen to know where this wig is originally from (or where to find something similar)?
I found it on taobao and fell in love with it, but knowing taobao it probably isn't the same wig as in the stock photos, and I really want it to look as much as the pictures as possible
I tried google image search but didn't really find anything

>>9603629
Are you asking if those are replicas? Doesn't seem like it to me, I think it's fine. Note that the auctions are set to end in five days and already have many bids, the starting price is low to intentionally set them up for bid wars.

Do you count aprons or tabliers as JSKs? How about if they are sheer? And same for overdresses, do you count them as OPs or do you have a separate category for them?

>>9603654
Aprons are accessories, not JSKs. Some JSKs are apron-styled, like this one: https://lolibrary.org/items/iw-shoulder-frill-apron-styled-jsk And can be worn on top of an OP like an actual apron, but aprons themselves don't count as dresses.
As for overdresses, depends on their design. If they're closed off and can be worn on their own they count as OPs, but if their skirt portion has an open back, side or front, meaning they have to be worn with an underskirt, then they're not quite one pieces.

Is wunderwelt reliable?

>>9603667
Thanks! That's a good rule of thumb. For aprons vs. JSKs then, is it also a matter of how much the skirt portion covers? Like this one: https://lolibrary.org/items/excentrique-cafe-apron-jsk
It's still a JSK since it has a full skirt, even with an apron-style back?

>>9603676
Yes

If I only want to buy a single item from SWIMMER Japan what would be the best shopping service to use?

What do you call this hairstyle? I'm also looking for a wig like this, so any suggestions would be cool.

>>9603723
Ringlets curls. Maple sells a wig just like this.

>>9603686
http://www.japonicamarket.com/

>>9602498
I've purchased the Extraordinary Thigh Highs in black, navy and pink, Solid Opaque Thigh Highs in white, Long Cuffable Scrunchable socks in black and white, Dream Bamboo OTKs, Crochet Lover OTKs in beige and red, and some others (more on that later)

Crochet lover in beige are a favourite of mine for lolita, they sit right above the knee. The red ones though are completely different in terms of fit, they don't stretch nearly as long and barely go up to middle of my knee. They're still cute however. The bamboo ones aren't quite as long or stretchy, but they're very soft and the pattern is pretty.

The Scrunchable socks can legit cover my entire leg up to my crotch lol (I'm 5'5" for reference). They look very nice both cuffed or scrunched up, but if you're looking for loose scrunchy socks for nanchatte the material is too stiff for that as it's 100% cotton and ribbed.

The Extraordinaries are probably my favourite sock from them, they're soft, stay on very well (I sometime used sock glue nevertheless), and they hit me right mid-thigh. They come in longer versions as well.

The solid opaques are nice too, and in fact they're probably what I'd recommend for cosplay if you want to avoid nylon stockings. They are indeed opaque as promised.

I've also bought N40s before, but wearing the thick nylon socks really wasn't pleasant on my skin and one pair got a snag very easily. I recommend you stick with cotton or blends (or natural stuff like bamboo). I think I've also purchased vertical striped stockings and nylon thigh high stockings from there too, and there's not much to say about those, the fit is nice but they roll down very badly so you need either sock glue or garters to wear them.

I hope that helps!

I found a centipede crawling on my dress a few months ago. Is it saft to think it left?

Is it ok to mix brand items?

I have an AP dress but the accessories I'm finding that match are from btssb/aatp that have their logo blasted over it.

>>9603766
No one give a fuck

Hi quick question. What kind of fabric is good for black eye holes? I'm doing a cosplay of hollow knight and it's a bug skull with black eye sockets

>>9602813
I check keimarket, but I think I'm one of few. Plus, I can get way better prices on y!j so I've all but given up there. I can't justify spending $50-90 on a Liz Lisa dress when I can get it for $12.

Which shops offer suitable legwear for my heigth? I'm close to 170cm tall and looking for thigh highs or tights for gothic. I'd be interested in lace ended OTKs too.I got a few random ones from Taobao, but they were all too short on me.

>>9603802
Wrong thread, friend. Check out the help thread, this question was answered there very recently.

>>9603765
It probably died and is now stuck in the lining somewhere.

>>9603683
Nayrt but if it's something you can't wear on its own without flashing your underwear/petti when you move around, I wouldn't call it a main piece/JSK. Maybe if the back was wrapped and doubled over, but not if it's hanging open like that.

>>9603683
>>9604051
Those are usually called apron skirts, it's a skirt. The panel on the chest is often detachable in those styles too, although not in this case. Seems like Excentrique might have it's own naming conventions different to other brands. The back isn't open and you just need a blouse to wear it so I can see why they called it a JSK

>>9603994
I am over 1.73 and Moitie always had the best overknees

>>9603994
Try Western stores, it's easy to buy plain thigh-highs. Meta's OTKs are also very tall and stretchy as are (surprisingly) some AP ones. I'd avoid Baby/AatP and IW.

What is up with the measurements on Closet Child? Looking to purchase a JSK off of there, but it says the bust measurement is max about 20 inches, that can't be right?

>>9604219
They're flat measurements. Multiply by 2.

>>9604219
The bust is a flat lay measurement, while the waist is for whatever reason a normal measurement - not sure why they're mixing the two.

>>9604051
And over-dresses are.....?

>>9604231
Just that, overdresses. Like underskirts, they're their own type of garment.

>>9604236
That seems ridiculously anal. If it costs the same as a main piece, is worn in place of a main piece, and has the same impact as a main piece, I'm going to just call it a main piece.

>>9604246
No one said it isn't a main piece but as was mentioned before, if it has to be worn with an underskirt, it's not really a one piece.

>>9604251
>Nayrt but if it's something you can't wear on its own without flashing your underwear/petti when you move around, I wouldn't call it a main piece/JSK

>>9604252
That comment was about aprons, I do disagree with it when applied to overdresses though because they are main pieces, just like skirts are main pieces but obviously can't be worn on their own.

>>9604254
I was just replying to that post, which had weird logic. It's all cool.

What kind of sale is this??

Is there a site or some sort of catalog that logs every major brand release for lolita? I want to get into the style one day so I wanted to stalk past brand releases for my dream dresses

>>9604312
That would be Lolibrary: https://lolibrary.org/ It used to be a lot more organized though, it's a bit of a chore to browse now especially if you don't know what you're looking for.

>>9604312
Do you mean past releases or future releases? In general, lolibrary but they have been a shitshow lately and the site is far less searchable andnot updated (because it can't be?? I think?? Actually stupid questions wtf is happening with lolibrary)

Otherwise watch brands you like, follow lolita bloggers or youtubers, check the general here, or read magazines like kera, girlism, melt etc that will advertise.

>>9604315
Thank you! Just found it in the locked cgl thread oops.

>>9604316
Past releases! I'm not really sure of any of the names of the dresses I have found and liked are so I wanted to find what I'm looking for + dresses I haven't seen before. I'll check out lolilibrary! I'll make sure to stalk the official brand sites for new releases.

>>9604302
None.
This banner is already up since september 2016. If you're interested in Bodyline sales, pay attention to the prices of their actual items.

I need help finding one really poofy bell-shaped petticoat for an upcoming convention. All I have is one cheap, scratchy petti and two deflated Leg Avenue ones. I dress super OTT, so I want to find one decent petti (I don't mind layering my other pettis with it).

Victoriangirldress and Bunny House is dead from what I can see, and Classical Puppet's quality has dramatically decreased. Melikestea is out of my price range in terms of shipping, so my only options are either Wunderwelt's or Closetchild's. Is there any other place to look?

Hopefully this will be appropriate, but I'm looking to get into lolita, and I want to get my first coord off Taobao since I'll be making an order soon and I might as well add to the same cart.

How do you guys personally sift through Taobao listings? Do you search for "lolita" and look through listings until you find something you want or are there certain brands and shops that you check on a regular basis for new prints?

Also, do blouses work for JSKs and skirts? What should I look for when coording these articles or clothings besides colors? Or maybe I'll only get OPs because I'm terrible with aesthetics and then I can take the easy way out...

Want to buy the Tokyo Bopper Ballerinas, sick of wasting my money trying to figure out their fucking sizes.
I wear an EU 37/JP 23.5/US 6-6.5. Can anyone give me first hand experience as to whether I should buy the 22 or the 22.5?
My first try was the 23.5, which were comically large (I'd guess 1-1.5 sizes too big).

>>9604706
It's easier to start with a printless OP

>>9604700
Get Wunderwelt's, it seems to be really good. CC is A-line.

How does everyone wash their lolita items? Dry cleaning usually? Can you handwash dresses usually?

>>9604727
I handwash and machine wash

>>9604706
I would lurk a bit more before shopping for lolita. read fyeahlolita and the lolita guidebook for a good primer before you dive in. once you get a good base, check out the taobao thread for store recommendations (although I personally recommend 2nd hand brand before tao abo when you are new)

>>9604727
Most solids can be hand washed and some are safe to machine wash too, there are translation charts online for the Japanese laundry tags. Take off waist ties or any pins or accessories that can catch on the dress or leave rust marks.

Be careful with washing prints because the colours can bleed out (especially reds). You can use colour catcher sheets to protect against bleeding but always test on a small inconspicuous area before washing the whole garment.

>>9604706
I have a list of trusted shops that I used to regularly check (before I got into oldschool and started focusing my funds on second-hand brand), and I check Lolita Updates and Chinese Lolita Updates on Facebook for information on new releases.

>>9604727
It completely depends on the dress. My washing machine has a handwash setting (basically soaks and rinses, tumbles gently a few times to agitate) that I use for some dresses, I actually handwash some legwear, and I ordinary machine wash a lot of other stuff as long as it's not too hot. I always separate by colour and I drip dry/line dry instead of using a dryer.

>>9604706

>sift through taobao stores

I generally watch for updates through lolitaupdates on facebook, but that's more for getting in early on preorders so I can chose exactly which cut I want and which accessories. The wait time can be several months, so if you do go looking at preorders keep in mind it's going to take a few months to complete and you won't have much control over when.

If you want to see what's readily available in one place, what you can do is go to a taobao reseller shop like my-lolita-dress, lolitawardrobe or clobba and look through their store. Then find out the brand name and google [name] + taobao and see if you can locate the shop. Do note that all of these resellers sometimes have their own seperate stock, so sometimes you can find the store but the dress you were eyeing is not on there, meaning the reseller has their own stock but the taobao store itself might be out of stock.

>blouses

For a blouse to work over a skirt, you want something that is fairly opaque, short and has a finished hem that you can show over the skirt. You can pop a camisole under a sheer chiffon blouse if it comes to that, but I find these sometimes shift around or don't look quite right, depending on the blouse.

You want something that is long enough to hit your waist, but short enough not to go over your hips, because then it'd end up squishing your skirt. If it's not finished with a nice ruffle at the bottom you can tuck the blouse into the skirt, but if you end up with one of Meta's lucky pack skirts that are fully shirred, the only way to wear that decently is to have a nice blouse that you leave untucked so the frilly blouse bottom can cover the skirt waistband.

>Op vs jsk

An OP is pretty limiting in terms being a single-look outfit. I'd advise them as the lazy way out if you have the space and money for more than one. If you're limited in terms of money and space I'd say get a nice solid-colour jsk instead so you can change it up a few times.

>>9604727

Before all else, read the care symbols and try to follow them. They'll rarely lead you wrong.

Dryclean these, do NOT wash in water:
- velvet
- flocking
The hairs are held on by glue, and water washing apparently damages the glue. You can check the wash label to be sure.

These things should NOT be drycleaned:
- screenprints
The chemicals in drycleaning aparently dissolves the solvent used in screenprinting and damages them.

Other general tips:
- seperate your lights and darks and use a colour catcher
- Never use hot water (unless you're washing a batch of white cotton blouses/bloomers/inners -- only exception)
- use a laundry net
- do up all the zippers and hooks to prevent them from catching on delicate lace
- Headbows with metal headbands in them need to be unstitched, the fabric can be washed in the usual way, and then the metal headband is re-inserted once everything is dry. Don't go throwing headbands into your washing machine, sometimes the really old pieces are rusted inside and water washing allows all the rust to come out and stain other things.

I actually prefer putting my lolita into nets and using the delicate cycle on the machine, the spin cycle results in a dress that's less wet, dye bleeding is usually a bigger issue with handwash since the wetness allows the dyes to creep out and move around more easily while machine washing with a colour catcher usually means all the moveable dye is soaked by the dye catcher and whatever is left is too dry to migrate very far. Also less chance of water weighing down the dress and distorting it while it's wet.


Also,
- if you have old school with cotton lace on it (not eyelet, venise or tulle -- the kind that looks like it was crocheted or tatted except it wasn't) -- while they're wet, straighten out the lace by giving them a gentle tug. Otherwise it shrivels up into little tissue paper clumps and you'll have to steam like crazy to get them straightened out again.

>>9604700
bunny house isnt dead you just have to facebook them.

>>9605073
Thank you so much for the advice! I think I may go the blouse + JSK route for future coords then!

Also, what would make you nitpick a blouse + JSK outside color mismatches? I know that it's generally frowned upon to mix white + off white, but are there any styles of blouses + styles of JSKs that just don't work together?

>>9605118

Well, the obvious glaring one is office blouses and loliables, always a ton of glaring things off about them.

The other is peter pan collars. The larger the peter pan collar, the more ott sweet it is, don't use them in other substyles unless you're intentionally going for a mixed style.

Similarly, fold down collars with pointy ends only for aristo and gothic. They're too masculine even for a good deal of classic.

That's about all I can think of. If you're really worried you might post your intended first coord to the coord help thread and see what they say.

So if I want to buy a preorder dress/set from taobao, do I just send the first payment link to my SS? Will they tell me when the tail payment is due, or do I have to watch the shop myself and send in another order, if that makes sense?

>>9604730
>>9604735
>>9605019
>>9605092
thanks for all the great answers! especially >>9605092 screenshotting that for future reference lol

Tips for taking nice outfit pictures?
I live in a super small apartment so I have stuff everywhere (drawers, bookshelves, wardrobes etc) and don't really have any empty spaces where I can take nice uncluttered pictures

I'd rather not go outside, since I feel kinda silly posing, and doing it outside would be too embarrassing for me...

>>9605381
I lived like that last year and I used to take mine standing in front of the (closed) wardrobe, since it was a relatively uncluttered backdrop. Doesn't work if you have a mirrored wardrobe or loads of stuff stuck to it though.

A lot of people take photos in front of doors but none of the ones in my apartment were positioned where there was decent lighting or anywhere to set up a camera, and I usually had coats and stuff hanging on the door that I would have had to remove for pics.

Places to order lolita shoes for size 9 W feet? I don't like sizing up the length to get more width because I need to get up to about 10 or 11 and then I look like I'm wearing clown shoes. I've been 90% classic ever since I started so I've been getting away with heeled oxfords and historical reenactment shoes from Western off-brand that make W sizes, but I'm branching out into sweet. I've heard from several people a while ago that Antaina does custom sizing. If that's still true, how's their quality? I remember hearing that it's acceptable but again it's been a while, dunno if anything's changed.

>>9605361

Depends on the SS.... and the quality of the SS.

I used Spreenow and they request the full amount up front. Then I ignore them for a few months and they take care of 2nd payment and receiving the items. But I've heard other girls have been able to find SS's willing to take 2 seperate payments, and also having to nag their SS about the 2nd payment being due. I've also heard people bitching about Spreenow.

You may have better luck asking in the taobao thread, actually.

>>9605381
I used to take photos against the door of my bathroom. The tile was pretty inconspicuous and I have a cute rug I'd put down for the photo.

>>9605418
along those lines, depending on how your bathroom is laid out a cute shower curtain might suffice

my package form bodyline (Which I ordered on the third) arrived in NYC 8 days ago and there hasn't been any update since... This is my first time ordering from bodyline, should I be worried?

>>9605793
real talk... what could you have possibly ordered that was in stock and not trash?

I'm honestly curious

>>9605803
two of the old school style rectangle head dresses, the ones with the rose lace. they had just restocked them, actually

>>9605118
I would nitpick a mismatch in style.
>>9605118 mostly summed it up well, but also pay attention to materials.

A blouse with a peter pan collar, cotton, with teddy bear patterned mesh lace would work for sweet obviously, while a chiffon blouse with princess sleeves layered with lace would look great as part of an OTT classic outfit, but maybe not with a simple jsk and accessories. The "feel" of the blouse should match that of the outfit.

>>9600320
That's it! Thanks. I guess I just mentally transposed the numbers

What do I do if my shoes are a little too big? They're bodyline's s507 and they keep sliding forward and stuff. Will insoles fix this?

>>9605895
get half insoles that only cover the arch and heel area

>>9605118
The problem with blouses + JSKs is that it can be hard to tell how they look together without trying them on. With my own wardrobe, I've sometimes bought blouses that looked like an aesthetic match for a dress but actually had the collar or neckline sit too high/low in relation to the dress bodice and look weird. Floordinates can be manipulated to hide this but on the body you can't really adjust much.

>>9605909
Looked those up, they sound great. Thanks anon

>>9600563
Do you have Claire's? Or even better, Icing? I might get crucified for this but I think they have cute accessories there.

>>9605943
>I might get crucified for this but I think they have cute accessories there.
I-I love their jewelry
my favorite pair of earrings I got from Claires, they are sterling silver and ere only $5 on sale to boot
they have a lot of basics too, and cross stuff that works for gothic

>>9605381
>>9605418
Thanks for the tips
I don't really have a wardrobe that looks good as a background, but I need to get a new one anyways, so that might be an idea
As for doors, all of the doors in my apartment are like a chestnut brown, so it wouldn't really look good haha

>>9606755
Maybe get a tapestry to hang up for pictures? Something with a non-distracting color and print.