My favourite (mostly Otome) Japanese brands....

Ok it would be a dream come true if any of these brands opened a shop in the UK but I highly doubt that will happen any time soon. I often think about what Japanese brands I would include if I were to open a hypothetical select shop, well here are a few;

The brands I would definitely put in my shop:

1. Emily Temple Cute

Macaron JSK
マカロンプリントノースリーブワンピース

Without a doubt possibly my favourite Japanese brand. ETC never fail to produce cute prints in a range of designs. Luckily they have started to ship overseas so people around the world can enjoy the wondrous clothes of Emily Temple Cute. I found it quite hard to pick a few items of ETC that I like, I narrowed it down to the 'Macaron' print which was one of their very popular prints. I love the chiffon fabric and the lovely macaroons. ETC also make some lovely complimentary blouses, cut-sews and cardigans. I personally love the 'Melty' long cardigan.

Melty Cardigan
メルティロングニットカーディガン

A melty chocolate cardigan wouldn't be complete without some sort of confectionery dress to match, since I've already mentioned the macaroons how about doughnuts? The lovely 'Cutlery and Doughnut' print looks good enough to eat. Unmistakably ETC, the cut of this jumperskirt is not only flattering but cute.

Cutlery and Doughnut jsk
カトラリー&ドーナツプリントノースリーブワンピース

 And finally one of the ETC I personally own and love, the 'Canned Fruit' print. A little like an Andy Warhol print but much cuter. I love the design of this one piece, the waist-bow and chiffon ruffle hem really add to this dress.

Canned Fruit OP

 2. Jane Marple 

Royal Order Mini OP
ロイヤルオーダーのミニワンピース

Jane Marple never fail to produce beautiful high quality pieces. Rich colours and ornate motifs feature highly on JM pieces. I love JM's use of the peter pan collar hence I picked out the 'Royal Order' OP as one of my favourite pieces, the print is so fantastically regal and I love the written text waist-belt. 

Alice print blouse
アリスプリントのブラウス

For the Alice print blouse JM took their wonderful print and featured it on a chiffon blouse with cute peter pan collar and removable neck-tie. I just love Alice prints and this one does not disappoint, every item in this collection is equally beautiful so I found it hard to choose one.

Flower lace collar OP
コットンジョーゼットフラワーレースカラーのワンピース

Jane Marple's non-printed dresses are equally delectable. I love how they pick out details such as the flower lace collar and buttons to make it a unique JM piece.  The only downside to Jane Marple is that their items are very expensive, a typical dress would be around ￥38,000 (around £220) making JM a higher end Otome/Lolita brand. I do find that JM items are of much higher quality than other brands.

3. Lois Crayon

Gobelin print coat

I love love LOVE this brand oh so much! Much like Jane Marple, Lois Crayon is a higher end brand in price and quality. Slightly shrouded in mystery as they do not have an online shop or sell anywhere online that I am aware of but the few items I have seen are gorgeous. I've picked out the gobelin fabric coat as a stand-out piece, simply because I love the fabric and the design which is not overly fussy. I have seen many gobelin coats which have over complicated designs, fur collars and lace which just clash with the fabric and print. LC manage to find the perfect balance with this piece.

Violet print jsk

Lois Crayon seem to have many 'Violet' print pieces, I believe it might be their most popular print. As I've featured the other Violet print jumperskirt on another post I shall put this version here. I love the cut of this dress and how the purple flowers stand out on the crisp white fabric. The cute wait-bow just brings the dress together perfectly.

A few Lois Crayon's skirts the names of which I do not know, I found them while browsing their shop blog. I love the musical note print skirt, the pleats and length look perfect.

Palace print jumperskirt
パレスプリントドレス

Finally, the 'Palace' print dress, it's the only piece I could find a modelled picture from so I had to include it. What's not to love? the lovely autumnal colours and lace v-neck collar are lovely. I really wish Lois Crayon items were more accessible and not just on second hand shops and auction sites

4. F.I.N.T/An Another Angelus

Fruit pattern OP
リーフ衿フルーツ柄半袖ワンピース

I'm not sure if F.I.N.T can be classified as a Otome brand or even a Gyaru brand but one things for sure they make beautiful feminine clothes. If I needed a cheaper brand for my hypothetical shop F.I.N.T would definitely be it, not as expensive as the other brands I have mentioned above but still on the pricier side of high street shops. I love the fruit patterned print of this dress and the cute lace collar, it's just perfect for spring. The length is not too long or short and the sleeves are very flattering. 

Rose print square collar blouse
ローズプリントスクエア衿長袖ブラウス

How cute is this blouse? I must admit I thought the square collar was unusual but worn with a skirt or trousers it really stands out well. The rose print on the collar just elaborates on F.I.N.T's feminine aesthetic. Both these items are from F.I.N.T's sub-brand An Another Angelus. The staff always look like they are having a fun time I mean I would too if I could wear those clothes everyday ^_^

A few brands that I might put in my shop:

1. Ank Rogue

Ribbon lace up pumps
リボンレースアップパンプス

Predominantly a brand for Gyaru, I think Ank Rouge still has many items that can be worn into any style. Much like these ribbon lace-up pumps which are similar to rocking horse shoes and wouldn't be out of place in a Lolita outfit.

Antique embroidered blouse
アンティーク刺繍ブラウス

I do like a good blouse, especially ones with a unique collar and pin-tuck detail. Not to mention the airy chiffon material, again perfect for spring.

2. L'est Rose

Gobelin dress

I especially love L'est Rose's gobelin fabric items, right about autumn they always release such lovely gobelin fabric dresses. They are always a hit and rightly so! Much like F.I.N.T, L'est Rose features highly on the feminine designs, a lot of floral and pastel colours here.

3. Juliette et Justine

Rosery Solennel jumperskirt
ロゼリィ　ソラネル　ローブ

It would be quite an extravagant edition to my shop but I just love everything Juliette et Justine do. The prints are always beautiful and I really like that JetJ are not afraid to experiment with different cuts and style of dress.

I am sure there are plenty more Japanese fashion brands that I could include in my (fake) shop, I think it would make a pretty fantastic shop to be honest, if only I had the money and the connections. If you had to choose any brands for your own shop what would they be? I'd love to know.

Some new things...L'est Rose and Her Curious Nature

It's been some time since I made a lolita related post or any post in general really >.< In January I took part in EGL's Wardrobe theme for the first time, it was enjoyable to see other lolitas collections. My wardrobe was mainly Otome orientated with a few classic pieces. I've started to focus more on Otome fashion as of late, as I really love the quirky prints and flattering cuts. My current favourite dress would be the 'Strawberry Gobelin' print by Emily Temple Cute. I just love the gobelin fabric, its sort of like a woven tapestry.

That takes me on to my newest acquisition, another take on Gobelin fabric by Japanese brand L'est Rose. I don't know how to describe this brand really. It's very feminine and features a lot of floral designs, so I would say it is a mix of Gyaru, Otome and Mori aesthetics.

I found this dress on Mbok auction site and contacted me Shopping Service straight away. I believe it was from the 2012 Autumn/winter collection. I love the brown bow belt and brown tulle under lining, it works so well with the dark green and burgundy floral pattern. I don't think I will get many chances to wear it just yet as it looks as spring has arrived, finally after what seemed like an endless winter (*^_^*).

Whilst in Topshop I spotted a gorgeous concession brand by the name of 'Her Curious Nature' specialising in handmade (bespoke) hair accessories. The use of velvet flowers and ornate colours gave the accessories a very Dolly Kei feel.

I decided to purchase a floral aliceband, it was quite pricey at £28 but I think it was worth it compared to those sold at Grimoire which are a relatively similar price. At first I found it hard to decide which one to go for as every piece is different but I settled on the piece with more brown accents as it would match my L'est Rose dress more accurately. The attention to detail was amazing, the photos really doesn't do it justice. I hope I can maybe do a Dolly Kei inspired co-ord with by new dress and headband in the future.

Chess Print JSK and craft exchange

I recently purchased the Emily Temple Cute 'Chess Pieces' print jumperskirt in blue, this is the first brand new dress I have bought from ETC. I totally fell in love with the print and style of the jumperskirt. The material is a lovely light cotton that shows up the detail of the print fantastically. The dress is fully lined and features a ruffled chiffon hem on the lining. I really love the dark brown velveteen straps which give me licence to co-ordinate it with autumnal dark browns.

Jumperskirt: Emily Temple Cute
Blouse: Oasis
Jacket: Monsoon
Bag: Loris (Taobao shop)
Boots: Jane Norman

 I looked everywhere for the perfect tweed jacket (thats not too old fashioned and more brown than grey) I even considered buying the same Topman jacket that I bought my brother but thankfully it didn't fit. I know that would have been a serious mistake since the silhouette of men's jackets is completely different to women's and it would not have worked with any of my lolita dresses. Luckily I managed to find a nice tweed jacket in Monsoon, although I wasn't to keen on the elbow patches but I think they are growing on me ^_^. It was quite a pricey jacket and a couple of days later I found an equally nice (possibly more so) tweed jacket in Bershka >_> so it really pays to look around before you buy!

Close up of print and blouse detail

I really love how well the blouse works with the ribbon detail of the print, it was completely by accident and I almost returned the blouse because I didn't have anything to go with it so this was quite lucky.I wanted to wear this outfit to the Alice in Wonderland exhibit meet-up but unfortunately I was working that day so couldn't go, hopefully I will get to see the exhibit soon!

Also in August I participated in a lolita craft-exchange with fellow UK loli's, I got paired up with the wonderful and imensley talented Wai-yi. I asked if she could paint me picture of a lolita wearing Alice and the Pirates 'Midsummer Nights Dream' in Navy which is possibly my favourite print. Lets just say my jaw dropped when I saw the finished painting, it was beyond words!

I was absolutely astounded by the detail of the painting,  it's absolutely gorgeous. I couldn't have been more happier with my craft-exchange ^_^ In return I made Wai-yi a headress to match her Baby, the Stars Shine Bright 'Mother Goose' jumperskirt, as well as few deco sweet accessories. I really hoped she liked them, you can see more pictures of my craft exchange items at Wai-yi's blog. All-in-all I thoroughly enjoyed my craft exchange experience and I hope to take part in another one if I have time ;-)

Otome and Fairy-kei

Now I really love wearing lolita but it's not really practical for everyday wear, I'll get more than my fair share of stares on the train wearing classic lolita (and that's without a headbow and petticoat). This is quite uncomfortable for me as I don't even like making eye contact with people on the train :D but I really love wearing loli so I decided to focus on some more casual (Otome) styles as well as fairy-kei today.

I know these styles are also quite bright and eye-catching but they seem to be styles that are also reflected in current fashion trends today. For instance the colourful trainers (sneakers) you can find in many shoe shops, it's a big trend in Japan currently (according to this weeks episode of Tokyo Fashion Express). I recently purchased some colourful trainers from Swimmer, a kind of novelty Japanese shop that sells cute things such as home ware and clothing.

 

These trainers are quite bright and colourful but you can also find similar styles in western shops such as Pastry and even customise your own colours at Nike. I've seen lolitas co-ordinate these sneakers with jumperskirts and skirts, mainly sweet lolita prints such as Milky Planet and Milky Berry. It seems to work really well especially with OTT sweet lolita and I guess they are more comfortable to wear than tea-parties ;-)


I think the sneakers also works well with Otome style because it's quite casual. I  purchased the strawberry pair to wear with my Emily Temple Cute Tea Party jumperskirt and I think the colours work really well with the print. I also co-ordinated the jsk with a kitsch cherry print blouse, I don't know if this is too much print overall :S I'd appreciate any ideas ;-)

Headbow: Angelic Pretty
Blouse: Henry Holland @ Debenhams
Jumperskirt: Emily Temple Cute
Trainers: SWIMMER

I love the peter pan collar blouse, it's quite retro and a trend also very popular in lolita. The print of the jumperskirt also features cherries but you have to look very closely to see them. I haven't worn the full co-ordinate out yet but I'm planning to soon, minus the headbow because I feel it might be a fruity overload and the white is too bright to match the jsk. I might have to sell it in that case since I don't own any other AP Sheep Garden items (I really wish I did though >_<). I also hope to team the outfit with a cute bag, I can't afford any brand right now so I ordered a teapot style bag from Loris, a Taobao shop. I think the teapot shape is quite quirky and cute.

 

Also I want to mention Fairy-kei, alot of elements have been incorporated into lolita recently, such as the new Angelic Pretty print - Dream Sky. A lot of lolitas have mixed feelings about this combination, personally I find it quite refreshing. It's very colourful and similar to OTT sweet but allows room for more variation. I had a look at a fairy-kei store called Nile Perch, they have some nice cutsew style tops that would work well with sweet lolita. Also pretty baby doll dresses that would go well with colourful sneakers.