Building a Wardrobe: Redo

Hello everyone! Who am I and why do I suddenly have things to write about again?! Quarantine and lots of downtime'll do that to ya. So today I wanted to do a bit of a rewind and look back at my Building a Wardrobe series (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4) that I made back in 2015, five years ago at the time of writing this. While I'm not going to take them down and completely rewrite them....there are a lot of points where I sigh deeply and utter the phrase "Oh you sweet, Summer child," while rereading them and I wanted to do somewhat of an updated recap to build on what I wrote then. Needless to say, I have a lot more experience in J-fashion and life in general than I did then and times be a-changing, so here's a bit of an update on those posts, all in the convenience of one (albeit long) post. Needless to say, if you haven't already, I'd recommend reading the original posts before this one.

So at the time of writing this, I am once again rebuilding my wardrobe, because my style has changed once again. However, this time I've done more research both into the process as well as myself and what I want. One of the more notable repetitions in my original post was budgeting, saving money, and overall not spending money. While this is an important factor to consider, it shouldn't be the main focus when planning out a wardrobe. If you can afford to buy 12 new pieces a month, great! If you can only afford a new piece every three months, also great! As long as you're aware of your budget, you can go through building your wardrobe as quickly or as slowly as you need to. That being said, this is the last time I'll be mentioning budgeting in this post.

Step 1: Maybe Don't Throw Everything Out
So at the time of writing the original articles, I was very much on a Marie Kondo fueled Decluttering high. And I made a lot of decisions I'd come to regret. While the KonMarie method in and of itself isn't necessarily bad, the mentality I had going in was. Rather than focusing on getting rid of pieces you don't deem necessary anymore, start by visualizing the style you want. Whether by writing down key details you like, making pinterest boards, or following people who's style you admire, figure out what you want and what you like. If you're going from tees and jeans to full on Kuro Gyaru, you may not even feel like you have anything to start with. That's fine, we all have to start somewhere. If you already have an established wardrobe and you want to add in a new style, great! This next part should be easier.

Step 2: Start to Define What You Want
Once you have the broad brush strokes of where you want to go, it's time to start defining. Take a look at what you currently have. Does any of it fit with your intended style? If not, this is where my thrift store try-on advice comes in handy. If you already have a color pallet that works for you and you know what sort of cuts and sizes you wear, you can start envisioning your wardrobe by creating wishlists or pulling pieces from your current wardrobe that you can use. If you're starting from Kmart and aiming for Kamikaze Girl levels of lolita burando, you can still look at the items you own and ask yourself what you like about each piece or if it's just there because running around naked is generally frowned upon. You may also want to take into consideration the difference in comfort levels. Lounging in tees and jeans or a simple dress is a lot more comfortable than lounging in three layers of petticoat, a frilly dress that you may or may not actually fit in, and twelve layers of bracelets, bobby pins, and bows. If comfort is a high priority for you, keep the clothes you're comfortable in and look at options that may be better suited to regular wear.

Step 3: Make a Plan for Yourself
One of the biggest differences between my previous wardrobe building and my current wardrobe building experiences has been how I've planned. This video from The Stitchess on Youtube has been a huge help for me. Rather than estimating how many of each item type I should buy, I've made myself a constantly updating table of item types and colors I want for the baseline of my wardrobe. Rather than just window shopping and impulse buying, I go into shopping with a plan. I know what I have in my wardrobe and what I'm lacking and I can build from there. Also, trying on the items you have, whether to wear out or just for practice, you can start to get an idea of where you might have gaps to fill in your wardrobe that you might want to prioritize. As an example, I have a black shirt with mesh detailing in my Larme wardrobe that I've worn a total of once in that style. I determined that it would look best paired with pink strapped dress on top as that's a common duo in many of the Larme snaps I've seen. Since I don't currently have such a dress, I've been keeping an eye out for one to purchase. All of the other pieces I currently have can be paired several different ways, so I'm less concerned with adding other basics in.

Step 4: Build With Confidence
Once you get the hang of things, you should be able to confidently go out and purchase items you want and need for your wardrobe. If you're delving into a whole new style, make sure to do your research on what pieces would best fit you and your style. Don't be affraid to experiment and try new things. I bought my first Liz Lisa OP the other day knowing I could very well be turning right around and selling it. I learned a lot from it about that brand's sizing and I never would have known that I can wear LL pieces if I hadn't taken that first step into the unknown. Likewise, I had a lot of trial and error with other pieces in the past that gave me a better idea of what measurements I should be looking for on different styles of clothing. One of the best ways to learn is through experience and you only get experience if you're willing to take slight risks. (That being said, don't buy from Millanoo, kids. ;) )

I hope you guys enjoyed this updated perspective. Let me know in the comments how you built your wardrobes!

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Lolita 52 Challenge: How I get out of a Wardrobe Slump

Hello everyone! Today I'll be talking about another Lolita 52 Challenge topic: How I get out of a wardrobe slump.


 So we've all been there: We go to put together an outfit and either everything's dirty or we just don't want to wear anything we have because we wear it so often we're tired of it. I can't tell you how many times I've stared at my wardrobe until I give up and just throw on a T-shirt and some jeans or a tried and tested outfit I've worn some variation of for the past week. My wardrobe's still fairly limited, so I have a lot of wardrobe slumps. So what do I do to get out of these slumps? Well outside of checking to make sure the slumps not just due to weight gain, here's some of the things I do.


#1: Why aren't you wearing what you have?
 One of the first things I do when I'm in a wardrobe slump is figure out what I haven't been wearing and why. Does it still suit my style? Does it still fit and is it flattering? What would it go with? If I can't find a way to wear a piece, I'll usually figure out what I need to wear it or get rid of it if it's something that doesn't work with my wardrobe. If it doesn't fit properly or look good, I'll get rid of it as well.
#2: Try new combinations
 After going through lesser worn pieces, I'll usually start trying to make new coordinates. I'll take a piece, put it on my dress form or lay it on my bed, and start holding up other pieces next to it to see what would go with it. Sometimes I'll start building an outfit, then change out the piece I started with to make a more congruent look. Don't be afraid to try different things. Once you have an outfit you like the look of, try it on and make sure it still looks good on you and change a few pieces as needed.


#3: Determine what you need
 One of the advantages of getting rid of pieces is that you can add new pieces instead. If you find yourself saying things like "If only I had [ ]" or "This would look so much better with [ ]" keep track of what those items are so you can decide if you want to add them to your wardrobe later on. Also, if you're finding a piece is just getting too old and worn looking, make a note of it and start looking for its replacement. Feel free to try something in a different style or color when replacing an item if it's not a staple item (such as a white blouse in a Lolita wardrobe).


#4: Catalog
 Once you've put together some outfits that work, take pictures! Having a reference to go back to really helps when you don't know what to wear. This also gives you an opportunity to decide if it really was something you'd wear or just a mess that looked good in the moment. You can also look back on those outfits for inspiration when putting together a new outfit, similar to a street snap on Pinterest, except with your own wardrobe!


What do you do when you're in a wardrobe slump? Let me know in the comments below!




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Developing your Wardrobe

Hello everyone! Going off of last week's post, I decided to do an article on developing a basic wardrobe to a more complete wardrobe. This article is intended to help someone who already has a defined style, but may not have all of the pieces they want for an everyday wardrobe. If you want advice on starting to build an alternative style wardrobe, check out my Building a Wardrobe series (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4). Otherwise, you're in the right place!




 So before we get into the steps, let's start with a definition of what a basic wardrobe is, mainly in reference to J-Fashion, but this can also be applied to other styles too. I consider a basic wardrobe to be one that you are able to make enough unique outfits for a week or mix and match the pieces you have to make a two week's worth of similarish outfits (like using the same tee and shoes with a different bottom and outer piece).


#1: Assess what you need
 Once you have a basic wardrobe, you'll likely have a fairly good idea of what your style is, so you should be able to assess what your wardrobe is lacking or what it doesn't need. Take some time to go through your wardrobe and pick out pieces that you don't wear and decide if you don't wear them because you need new pieces to go with them or because you don't like them as much as you thought you did. Take some time to determine what you would need to wear the pieces you haven't been wearing and write them down. Once you've done this assessment, go through the pieces you do wear regularly and determine if the pieces you would need for your unworn or less worn pieces would work with what you already have. In addition to those, write down any other items you would like to add to your wardrobe such as weather specific items as well as anything you need to replace due to wear or fit issues.


#2: Prioritize
 Once you've made a list of what you'd like to add to your wardrobe you can prioritize which pieces to buy first based on what works with the most pieces or what needs to be replaced. You can either rewrite your list in order of most needed/wanted or just write ranking numbers next to the items or something similar. A good way to decide on priority is to think what items you need sooner rather than later, like if it's getting cold out and you need a good coat and boots, you'd want to put those higher on your list than a light Summer blouse. Also, you can prioritize based on rarity of an item or how many items in your wardrobe it'll work with.


#3: Research and buy
 Once you know what you want and what order you want it in, you can start to research which items specifically you want as well as start looking for auctions and sales with what you need. I highly recommend researching prices for specific items you want by looking through sold listings. For example, when I decided I wanted to buy Jewelry Jelly, I looked it up on Lolibrary to decide which style I'd prefer (JSK or OP) and make sure the measurements would fit me. After that, I pulled up sold listings for it on Lacemarket and compared the prices based on colorway, style, and what was included (matching headbow, socks, etc). From that I was able to get an average price to expect and was later able to buy the OP with matching headbow second-hand from Storenvy! Great places to look for used J-fashion are Lacemarket and its spinoffs (Kei market, etc, linked at the top of the page), Facebook groups (usually searching the style and sales works well for finding them), and eBay or Storenvy (just be careful and check their feedback). You can also check in local Lolita and J-fashion groups to see if there will be a swapmeet or if anyone is selling anything and willing to do a local trade/sale.


Do you guys have any plans for your wardrobes? Let me know in the comments below!


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Lolita 52 Challenge: How Satisfied I am with my Current Wardrobe

Hello everyone! Today I'm back with another topic from the Lolita 52 Challenge: How satisfied I am with my current wardrobe. Let's get started!




 So I kinda waited to write this until a few weeks prior to it posting to make sure I wouldn't have to entirely rewrite it a few months down the road. So you can reasonably assume that this post is up to date for the time being as I have zero money to spend on wardrobe additions right now... Currently, I feel like I have a pretty good base wardrobe in Lolita and J-fashion. I have enough pieces I could probably put together a different Lolita outfit for every day of the week and still have each one be somewhat unique (a challenge I've considered to be a good goal for a basic Lolita wardrobe). As for J-fashion, I've been able to put together two weeks worth of outfits in the past and I know that I could easily do the same now as well. So for workability, I feel my wardrobe's in pretty good shape.




 In terms of items I don't know how to coordinate and pieces that don't suit my style anymore, I did a bit of a closet cleanout several months ago with my Gothic clothing and realized I didn't want to wear the majority of it anymore. I still have some pieces I'm dithering over and some I've yet to reassess for both J-fashion and other styles. I also have a lot of fabric and half-made pieces lying around my crafting area waiting for me to get back to sewing that I need to assess if they're still something I want to make and own.


 I still have a plan of items I wish to add to my wardrobe, but I feel like I have a fairly decent basic wardrobe that's lacking a little bit in cold weather items such as gloves and tights. I would like to add more to my Lolita and Fairy Kei wardrobes so I can have more variety to work with and have less similar looking outfits or having to change clothing plans because both of my cutsews are in the hamper all the time. So I'm generally happy with my current wardrobe, but still want to add a lot more pieces to it.


Do you feel satisfied with where your wardrobe, J-fashion or otherwise, is at? Or is it a huge mess that you can't wear any of? Let me know in the comments!




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Lolita 52 Challenge: 10 Facts About my Lolita Wardrobe

Hello everyone! Today I'm back with another Lolita 52 Challenge: 10 facts about my Lolita wardrobe. It was pretty hard coming up with 10 things, TBH, but here they are nonetheless.


#1: It smol
 As I mention over and over again, I have a fairly small Lolita wardrobe with only a few main pieces and a few more basic pieces. I am still working on building my Lolita wardrobe and I have a finite amount of time to shop and plan as well as money to use on items, so it's not progressing as fast as I would like.


#2: Most of my pieces are L or 2L
 Due to size differences between Japanese people and American people, I generally find myself ordering a large or extra large size when buying from brands. I'm by no means obese or even especially fat (though I am a bit chubby), but due to my frame and build, I will never be able to wear a smaller size like what a Japanese girl might wear.


#3: Pastel e'rething
 I love bright, cheerful, pastel colors and as a result the majority of my Lolita wardrobe is pastel. Pastel jewelry, pastel shoes, pastel dresses, etc. I have a couple Gothic Lolita pieces, but I don't wear them as often.


#4: Serious lack of wristcuffs
 I love the look of wristcuffs and they are also very popular nowadays as an accessory and yet I have all of one set I made that's more suited to Fairy Kei or Decora coordinates than Lolita due to their simplicity.


#5: Do plushies count as clothes?
 I have a lot of plushies, especially plushies on keychains, that I use to accessorize my room and my bags. Unfortunately I haven't had the opportunity to really use them in a coordinate, but I think it could be fun!


#6: I wear 2 out of 20 pairs of shoes I own
 I might be exaggerating just a bit, but I generally wear the same two pairs of teaparties with my coordinates as I only have one pair of pink and white ones and one black pair. I occasionally will wear my non-Lolita shoes with a coordinate, like my combat boots on a rainy day or my sandals on a warmer day, but for the most part I don't wear a lot of the shoes I have.


#7: There's a lot of cool tones
 On top of everything being pastel, most of my wardrobe's blue toned. Be it mint, light blue, or purple, I don't have a lot of pink or any yellow pieces in my wardrobe. As I mentioned in my Rosa Hermetica review, I did try to get a pink dress, but due to a miscommunication I ended up with the purple colorway instead.


#8: Not well suited for the cold
 When Winter first started blowing in this year, it hit me full force how unprepared for cold weather my wardrobe is. Especially since I got rid of some long sleeved tees I had gotten, which in hindsight wasn't the smartest idea. I have some cardigans and a coat, but with as frigid as the wind gets where I live, that's definitely not gonna be enough.


#9: All my blouses look the same
 I have three short sleeved, white/off-white blouses and despite them having different details, they all kinda look the same under a JSK. I'm thinking I might try dying the one I stained if I can get the stains out with bleach or a color remover so I can have a pink blouse or something.


#10: Contrary to popular belief, I didn't make it all.
 A lot of my friends and folks who know me know that I am capable of sewing, so a lot of people just assume I make everything I wear. In reality, only three clothing pieces in my Lolita wardrobe were handmade by me. And two of them are my petticoats. ^^;;


Well, that was a lot harder than I anticipated. What are some facts about your wardrobe, Lolita or otherwise? Let me know in the comments!


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Lolita 52 Challenge: My Wardrobe Turnover

Hello everyone! Today I'm back with another Lolita 52 Challenge post: My wardrobe turnover. I was a little confused about this topic at first and thought it might be referring to how one's wardrobe changed after Lolita, but after finding another post on this challenge topic I saw it meant how fast you get new items and get old, basically at what rate your wardrobe changes. So, now that I understand what this topic means, let's get started.


 So, rather than just focusing on the turnover of my Lolita wardrobe, I want to go over how my wardrobe turnover has changed over the years, starting with my pre-Lolita days when I still dressed in "normal" clothing. When I was a young teen, about 12, my parents were buying my clothing for me still, so I didn't really have a very high wardrobe turnover. I pretty much only got new clothing when the old ones wore out or I grew out of it. I didn't get much hand-me-down clothing from my sister because she was a stingy little booger. (I love you, Sis. XD) My outfits mostly consisted of a T-shirt and jeans. When I was 14 or so I started adding some more variety to my wardrobe and started layering tees and camisoles or camisoles and jackets with my tees and jeans. I pretty much never wore skirts or dresses except to church on Sundays. My wardrobe turnover stayed about the same, though I did add pieces a little more frequently. (Wardrobe additions at the rate of every 6-8 months and losses at about every 1-2 years.) When I was 16, I got my first job and had a bit more disposable income and thus discovered the wonders of thrift stores. My wardrobe turnover went up a bit more around the time I was 16-18 as I had started to develop my style more and was somewhat regularly bringing new pieces in and getting rid of pieces I didn't like (about once every 5-10 months). Then, everything changed when I moved out.


 At about 19, I moved out on my own thanks to my full-time job and education and had even more disposable income than I'd ever had before since I didn't have to worry about bills or rent yet. My wardrobe turnover was about the same as before at first, then changed to me getting new pieces every few weekends. My addition rate went down after a few months and I learned the joys of online selling, so I started getting rid of pieces somewhat frequently by donating or selling them. For about two years, I had a fairly high turnover rate (new pieces coming in/old pieces going out every 2-5 months) while I experimented with different fashions and looked like a hot mess in the process (a kinda cute hot mess sometimes). In the last 6 or so months, I've settled down on a set of styles I liked and have a slower turnover rate. I got rid of pretty much everything that doesn't suit my style except for a few pieces I'm unsure about or trying to sell, so I was able to focus more on building my wardrobe as opposed to just adding random things to it. My current turnover rate is somewhat low again with items coming in to my wardrobe maybe two to five times a year in smaller purchases and maybe one large order from Bodyline a year. I don't have a lot of items leaving my wardrobe right now since I did a massive closet cleanout several months ago.


What's your guys's closet turnover like? Are you constantly adding pieces, getting rid of everything, buying things as you wear them out? Let me know!


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I Have Nothing To Wear!

Hello everyone! Today I'm going to be talking to something that happens to many of us all too frequently: Looking at all the clothing strewn about one's room after trying on a bunch of different items and going: "I HAVE NOTHING TO WEAR!" This is a bit of a follow-up to my wardrobe building series of posts (Part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4) since I've had plenty of time to build a new wardrobe. I recommend you read them first if you haven't already, since they're the foundation for this post. Otherwise, let's go!

 So I said I had plenty of time to build a wardrobe, right? So why am I saying I have nothing to wear now? Well ya see, there's this thing called changing seasons and not planning ahead because who wants to buy a sweater when it's so hot and humid you don't want to even think about leaving your nice, air conditioned room? So, thanks to my planning, I was able to build a very nice Spring and Summer wardrobe, but now the weather is turning and I have no idea what to wear anymore. So what's a fashionista to do?

#1: Re-evaluate your style preferences.
 Alright, so maybe you had the perfect, pastel Fairy Kei wardrobe for warmer weather. Do you want to keep wearing pastels in Fall and Winter though? Or do you want to indulge your inner Goth or rockstar and switch things up completely? It's time to go visit the mall or thrift store and try on everything you can again. I would suggest avoiding buying anything the first few times or keep purchases small and limited to things you already wanted for your wardrobe. If you want to try wearing a different style from what you already own, try to limit your purchases to main pieces that aren't too expensive so you aren't impacting your budget too heavily. *cough*totally did that*cough* Try wearing the new style you're trying for a few days in a row using what you have and any additions you got to see if it's really something you want to wear that'll make you happy.

Here's what happened for me: I have a very cute, pastel versatile wardrobe based around Fairy Kei for the Spring and Summer. When the weather started getting colder, I decided to start wearing Goth fashion more to go with the changing colors of fashion. However, I found myself still wanting to wear my Fairy Kei outfits more than Goth or jewel toned items. I've decided I want to start wearing Lolita more often due to its built in layers as well as ease of layering underneath as well as some warmer Fairy Kei based outfits with some off-white pieces mixed in.

#2: Decide what additions your wardrobe needs.
 Now's the time to go through your wardrobe and pull out all the out-of-season clothing you've been hiding away. Can you make your new style plans work with what you already have, or are you going to have to sell off all your sweaters or shorts and buy new ones? This is a good time to evaluate condition as well as if it fits your wardrobe, so if you have an item that's got a ton of holes and snags that aren't supposed to be there, now is the time to throw it away or fix it. (If you have a sweater that's just shrunk in the dryer, you can stretch it back out with some work. I found this tutorial extremely helpful when recovering a cashmere sweater.) Make a list of any items you feel you need to make your wardrobe more complete and wearable during the changing seasons.

 Since I'm keeping my wardrobe mainly pastel, but still need to stay warm, I decided to talk to some of my fashion friends in the area and see what they do to stay warm as well as re-watch Lovely Lor's Lolita Fashion in Extreme Weather video for ideas. I decided I needed some layering pieces as well as some patterned statement pieces (my wardrobe's mostly solid color), a long sleeved blouse, and some comfy, yet cute shoes that will survive snow.

#3: Go forth and buy.
 Now's the time to start buying the additions your wardrobe needs. Try and get more basic or generic pieces from places like Target, Walmart, or thrift stores (or your country's equivalent) in order to have more money to spend on the main pieces. Probably most of us don't have the money to go buying 1000 bucks worth of Angelic Pretty dresses new, so look into less expensive alternatives. There's a lot of US and international sales groups on Facebook, you just have to search for the type of fashion you're interested in along with sales. (In addition, if you're already in a few sales groups, Facebook will suggest some similar groups in the side bar while you're browsing that group.) Lace Market, eBay, and Storenvy are some good places to look for used or less expensive pieces and there's always Bodyline for inexpensive pieces.

 I want a couple statement pieces with prints, but I very much do NOT have $400 to drop on used Angelic Pretty or Baby the Stars Shine Bright dresses, so I'm considering a couple Bodyline JSKs as well as searching through Lace Market for some less expensive pieces. I also want a long sleeved blouse and colorful socks which can also be found on those sites. I've already got one short sleeved blouse on the way which, even though it's not great for Winter, is something I've been wanting to add to my wardrobe since my current short sleeved blouse is a bit big on me.

 I hope you all have fun with dressing for the changing seasons and that I've given you some ideas to help avoid over-spending!

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Building a Wardrobe: Part Four

Hello everyone! Today I'll be covering the last step in my wardrobe building series: Buying your wardrobe. Enjoy!


Step Five: Buying your wardrobe
 Last and certainly not least! Let's get to buying the pieces to build your wardrobe up. Use the list you made in step 4 to help you decide on what to buy and start hunting for clothes. I highly recommend checking out second hand sales groups on Facebook as well as Etsy, Storenvy, Amazon, and eBay. Just be sure to read reviews and price compare for online stores. Thrift stores are great too as you can find clothing at much cheaper than regular prices most of the time and have the advantage of being able to try the clothes on too. Make sure you have your measurements handy for online buying so you can make sure you're getting something that will fit you properly.


 Budgeting is one of the most important things when building your wardrobe. Make sure you're spending your money wisely by comparing your desired wardrobe list to your current wardrobe list and only buying items you need. You can always buy more expensive pieces to start with, but I'd suggest focusing on less expensive basics until you have a functional wardrobe. For example, I really want a Kawaii Goods dress, but due to the price I have to think harder about if I want one than if I want ten more pettis from Bodyline (I must own every pastel one). Realistically, I'd actually be buying a petti and shoes or a cutsew and jacket or something similar to that with the same money I'd spend on that one dress. In addition to that, I don't really have a lot of basic pieces I could pair said dress with to make it look good, so my money's better spent getting those right now. In addition to smart spending, budgeting also involves smart saving. If you want to buy a brand new Baby the Stars Shine Bright JSK from their store when you visit with your comm, you probably will want to avoid eating out and buying anything unessential for a while so you don't spend your rent or food money for that month on a dress that you'll probably only wear every once in a while. If you've decided to start saving up for your dream dress, you'll want to put more of your spending money aside so you can buy it if it pops up in your sales group. This can mean less time spent going out with friends or eating out for you, but if you're really serious about buying a piece or saving up to make a large purchase, it's worth it.


 One final word of advice on buying: try to avoid impulse buying if at all possible. This is not to say that you should pass up a good bargain on a piece you want or to not buy anything when you're at the mall though. Rather than grab something and buy it immediately, whether online or in store, take some time to think about a purchase. Whether you text your friend to ask their advice, walk around the store to look at everything else they have for sale, or just make sure you actually can use a particular piece with your current wardrobe, take some time to consider purchases before you make them. I have quite a few items that I'm either selling or tend not to use as much that I wish I'd thought about a little more before jumping and buying them. Sure, that sheer black cardigan is nice, but I have nothing in my closet that it works with and most certainly can't wear it on its own. That cardigan's really cute, but I already had a blue-ish green one in my drawer and most of my tops are blue or green. Just think things through a bit before you buy them. There's nothing wrong with messaging a seller and saying you're interested in an item they have for sale as a way to get your foot in the door, but you can always back out and tell them you've changed your mind after thinking about it for a bit.


Have fun building your wardrobe and don't be afraid to experiment, just don't spend too much on anything you're unsure about!


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Building a Wardrobe: Part Three

Hello everyone! Welcome to part three of my wardrobe makeover series! So far we've covered clearing out your closet, research, and more research. Today we're going to start going over the next step: planning your wardrobe.


Step Four: Plan your wardrobe
 Time to take advantage of that research you've been doing and start deciding what you want in your wardrobe! Grab a notebook and start writing down what you think would be a good starter wardrobe based on your style. Don't go trying to make a full blown wardrobe like your favorite blogger or YouTuber. These things take time and they likely built theirs up over the course of years. Figure out which pieces are the most versatile for your style and what would work well for off days or events where you might want to dress up more. As an example, I'm going to list some of what I've put on my list for my wardrobe. I mostly wear Fairy Kei anymore with some Gothic as well as Lolita pieces, so I decided to build a "Fairy Kei/Kawaii fashion" wardrobe. I also still enjoy cosplay (even though I haven't been to a con in ages), so I took those into account as well as my local environment and figure.

• 8+ cutsews, tees, or casual blouses
• 2-3 Lolita coords for meetups (dressier)
• 4+ bloomers/spandex for under skirts
• 3+ pairs heels
• 1 pink, 1 light blue, 1 lavender, 1 mixed wig
• 3+ complete cosplays
• 1-2 seifukus OR 1 each summer and winter seifuku
• 4-5 various skirts
• 2-3 pairs tennis

While this is just a few things on my list, you can see that I list out each type of item I want in my wardrobe and how many of each I want to have. Also, you'll note with some things I was more specific than others. Instead of just writing "4ish pairs of shoes" I wrote a range of how many of different types of shoes I wanted. For some items I have a more specified range (2-4) and others a wider range (4+). I decide this based on how essential a particular piece is to my wardrobe and how much variety I want with that particular item type. I was also somewhat vague with a few items. For me, having a Lolita coord isn't as important as having a functional wardrobe, so I just list it as an item rather than listing all the pieces I need for a coord.


Once you've got a plan for what you want your wardrobe to have, it's time to go through your clothes and mark down how many of each item on your list you have. I just wrote out each of the article types (cutsew, skirt, cosplay, etc.) on a new page in the same order I had written them out originally for easier comparison, then I went through my wardrobe and did a tally mark for each item I had that fit under one of the categories. This gives you a better idea of what all you havein your wardrobe compared to what all you want in it. So say you have twelve wigs, but they're all cheap Halloween wigs or you have a dozen skirts, but over half of them are different shades of blue. This lets you know you should probably look to replace some of the items in your wardrobe to add more variety and to have better quality. And if you already have three pairs of pastel tennies that you regularly wear and you listed 2-3 pairs on your wardrobe list, you should probably stick to buying other pieces you're more in need of.


Next week I'll be going over the last part of this series, buying your wardrobe!
Check out my store: animelolitacouture.storenvy.com
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Building a Wardrobe: Part Two

Hello everyone! Welcome to the second installment of my wardrobe revamp series! Today I'll be talking about how to plan your wardrobe to get the most bang for your buck. Let's go!


 Step Two: What works for you?
 Step two is where you'll start laying some of the ground work for your new wardrobe. You've gotten rid of the old and now you're looking to start adding ne. However, before you start adding things higglety-pigglety to your closet, get a more defined idea of what will work for you. Start off by looking for inspiration. Find bloggers, models, and YouTubers that have a defined wardrobe in the style you want. Look at what they have and how they put it together to get a better idea of what you want in your wardrobe. Look up pictures for inspiration, be it through google, pinterest, or your favorite search engine, do it. Get as much inspiration as you can so you know what to work with to achieve the look you want. Pay attention to details and find transformation or instructional videos for your style. While I was looking into the Gothic style, I looked for outfit videos as well as beginner suggestions to better define what I wanted. In one such video the author talked about how when you dress up in all black you have to make use of different textures and materials to get a good look. This helped me a lot when looking for clothes. Rather than just get all black clothing, I looked for knits, mesh, sheer detailing, and similar things to add variety. The same is true with any other style. Find out the basics of the style that really make an outfit pop and stand out. Maybe it's a distinct print in Lolita or a milti-colored tutu for Fairy Kei. Whatever your style is, figure out what it is that helps make that style what it is.


 Once you have an idea of what your looking for, it's time to figure out what works for you. Go to a local mall of thrift store and try on EVERYTHING. Alright, that may be a little much, but try on different pieces. See how different cuts and colors look on you so you know what to look for and what to avoid while shopping. This is especially helpful if you mostly buy items online due to their rarity in your local area. We can't all be Lolitas living near a Baby the Stars Shine Bright store. If you have a friend with a more defined wardrobe than you, see if you can try on some of their clothing and see how it works for you. This step has been helpful for me so I can see what sort of cuts are flattering on me and which just make me look like a Fatty-chan or a hobo.


Step Three: More research
 Once you know what looks good on you, look for that sort of clothing. Find brands that sell flattering pieces for you in sizes that work for you and start shopping around. Look for colors, cuts, and prices. There's a lot of Storenvy stores that sell similar items, so sometimes you have to dig around through other sites to find where articles originally came from and what sort of prices they have. Find out how much those sorts of items go for second hand and document some of your favorite "must-haves" in a notebook so you know what sort of price range they have for future buying excursions. This is the time to set up wishlists, not buy everything in sight. Take advantage of promotions and desperate sales later, you're just window shopping right now.


More to come next week!
Check out my store: animelolitacouture.storenvy.com
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Building a Wardrobe: Part one

Hello everyone! So despite my rather extensive research into many different alternative styles, I've recently come to terms with the fact that I'm not really happy with my wardrobe. I have a lot of pieces, but not a lot of things that I wear or that work well together to build outfits in a particular style. So because of that, I'm going to go over some things I'm doing to rebuild my wardrobe to be more how I want it to be. This will be a multiple part series due to the amount of (hopefully) helpful rambling I tend to do as well as the number of points I wish to cover on each topic. Enjoy and feel free to let me know how you get your wardrobe to be more what you wear!


Step 1: Clear out the old
 As with any good wardrobe revamp, it's best to start by getting rid of what you don't like, don't wear, and don't need. Take it in pieces so you don't get overwhelmed. I started by going through my dresses a drawer at a time, then through my armoire (I don't have a built in closet) and the drawers on my armoire. If you have a bunch of accessories or jewelry, go through these too. It's a good idea to try on clothing you aren't sure about and decide if you like how it looks on you. Sometimes we all buy things that we like the look of, but that don't look good on us. If you just aren't liking it, get rid of it. It might be a good time to mention that it's best not to do this if you're having a really bad day as you might just get rid of everything you own because it all makes you look fat. This can be a good thing if done properly though (re-evaluate things on a better day). This part of your closet revamp is not the time to get all sentimental and clingy. if you really do have a sentimental attachment to something, such as an old high school tee that all your buddies signed, put it aside somewhere or turn that ish into a quilt. I'm serious. Make your memory tees into a quilt that you can hang on your wall, use in winter when your heater isn't cutting it, or shove unceremoniously into a box. If you have heirloom pieces of jewelry that don't go with your style, put them in a box somewhere where it won't be taking up space that you could be using for things you DO use. This is what attics are good for as well as hidden corners in your room.


 While going through clothing, you should take into account four main things: Fit, style, compatibility, and quality. Fit is essentially just does it fit and does it look good on your particular figure. If it's too small or makes your hips look ten times bigger than they really are, get rid of it. Style is whether it works with the style or styles you wear. Does that super pastel shirt really work with the Gothic wardrobe you want? Are you really going to be wearing a chartreuse tube top with a mostly faded pastel wardrobe? Things like that. Compatability is similar to style, but more "does this work with what I have" than "Does this work with my style." Are you really going to wear a floral mini skirt even if you have a Classic Lolita themed wardrobe? Do you really want those studded belts, or are they just going to hang around unused all the time? Last of all: quality. If you have an item in disrepair or that's just really poorly made (for Lolita this could be a Lace Monster or "ita" dress), get rid of it. Unless you have a grunge sort of style where all of your clothes are intentionally shredded or faded, you shouldn't be hanging on to shirts with holes in them. I have a hard time remembering that a lot of clothing isn't made to last and eventually has to be replaced, sometimes sooner rather than later. If you can't fix it or make it work, scrap it. Turn it into something new, donate it if it's still useable, or just chuck it. While there are places where one can donate old clothing to be repurposed, not everyone has them locally available. If you can, find a new use for something before throwing it away though.


 Once you've decided what to keep, neatly fold, hang, and organize the pieces so you can easily see what you have. Anything you aren't keeping should be sorted into one of the following categories: Store, repurpose, donate, sell, trash. First up, store. If you have items of sentimental value that you don't use for your style, find a way to store them that will prevent them from taking up space that could be used for items you'll actually be wearing. Put that necklace from Great Grandma's aunt into a box with other such items, use vacuum bags to minimize space taken by sentimental clothes. Next up, repurpose. If you can find a new use for old clothes, do it. Turn your old jeans into a bag, make potholders out of that worn out sweater, turn useable pieces into scraps of useable cloth for that one friend who got into quilting, etc. This is more for clothing that is damaged to the point of not being useful anymore. You could also give fixable items to a crafty friend to fix for their own use if you know someone like that. Donate and sell are both somewhat close for me. If you want to try selling your clothes online or in a commission store, do it. But set a limit for yourself. If they aren't gone soon, donate them. The last thing you need is ghosts of clothing past crowding up your room and being useless. Alternatively, you can shove everything in paper bags and take them straight to the thrift store or a clothing donation box. Lastly, trash. If something's worn to the point of being unfixable or unwearable, just throw it away. If you want to be conscientious and have them recycled, go for it. Just don't throw them at the thrift store because then they have to throw it away after sorting through all the donations they receive.


 Stay tuned next week for the next step in remaking your wardrobe!


Check out my shop: animelolitacouture.storenvy.com
I'm on Facebook: facebook.com/CelesteChoCho