In honor of fall coming, here's a haul I should've posted one year ago but didn't get to, oops. It includes clothes from Fi.n.t and ManusMachina (Ching's closet and Literary Novels).
Because I'll be making some remarks about it, I want to mention right away that I had a colour analysis session a few months before this haul. This was something I had wanted for a while because I was tired of wearing mostly muted colours and wanted to venture into more colourful choices that would still suit me. I've bought lots of clothing in the past and realized – after never wearing some pieces – that I actually didn't like how they looked on me, which sadly ended up being a waste of money.
I was told I am a True Winter, so jewel colours fit me best. (BTW this is my only palette; I don't have a secondary one.) This notably means that yellow looks bad on me, which wasn't shoking, but I was surprised to learn that ivory is also to avoid (actually, anything with the slightest yellow hue) and that clear white is the way to go! I had to let that sink in for a moment because ivory was/is one of my favourite colours. I'll still make exceptions because I think ivory looks so cute and is such an easy colour to pair with other pieces.
Let's start with the clothes from Fi.n.t.
Retro checked one-piece
Heleneミニチェックワンピース/F i.n.t
I loved the preppy look of this piece the moment I saw it.
It was also available in a brownish colour, but after learning that I'm a True Winter, it was clear that the black and white version was the better choice.
There's a lot of potential for it to look even cuter if you accessorize it nicely instead of leaving it plain like I did. But I find the waist a little too loose. Since there's no shirring, it would've been nice for Fi.n.t to include a belt – or at the very least some belt loops – so we could cinch it as much as we want.
The underarms fit is also not the best (feels tight), but I guess that's bound to happen when you buy one size.
Purple rib-knit cardigan
アートローズプリント釦リブニットカーディガン/an another angelus
I like how cardigans make my outfits look more put-together, and I'm always happy to find short waist cardigans to wear with a skirt.
This one was an interesting addition to my wardrobe since I don't own any cardigans in this colour, and (I believe) it fits within the True Winter palette.
The waist isn't as tight as I would like it to be, but I still really like it.
Side lace-up skirt
サイドレースアップミニスカート/F i.n.t
This sukapan had been in the new arrivals for a good while – maybe all summer? I can’t quite remember. I really liked the length and the bows on each side, but I found the price too high for what it was.
After some time, I saw it was on sale, so I bought it in lavender and blue-gray.
It's super cute with the bows, and on top of that, it has shorts underneath.
Now onto the clothes I bought on the platform ManusMachina, specifically from the brands Ching's closet and Literary Novels.
Vintage-inspired red plaid skirt
明治モダンなヴィンテージ格子縞スカート
I absolutely love the clothes from Ching's closet. I would buy like 99 % of their stock. However, it's quite expensive, which has always stopped me from giving in to the temptation of buying from their store. (I did, however, buy a grey pleated skirt a while ago – the one pictured with the purple cardigan in this post! –, but I got it secondhand.)
This was a skirt I had seen at least a year before I bought it (back in September 2024), but I couldn’t justify the price at the time. I finally decided to get it since I had liked it for long enough.
At the time of writing this post, the skirt is still available and can be found here.
I'm so used to having shirring at the back of my skirts, and this one doesn't have any (like a true vintage-inspired skirt, I guess). 😞 I'm finding it impractical since I have tops of different thicknesses.
And because the waist is a bit loose, combined with the weight and thickness of the skirt, it gives a "heavy" look and drags me down. Even when I wear heels, it's clear that the skirt is a bit too long.
I plan on going to the seamstress to fix this. Ideally, I’d like the skirt shortened to a length similar to my skirts from Mia Mix, and I'd prefer shirring to be added as well. To be honest, I didn't wear the skirt at all last fall because these details annoyed me so much.
Vintage-inspired light pink embroidered dress
桜色の刺繍ヘップバーンワンピース
This dress is also from Ching's closet. I first saw it while I was purchasing the skirt, and I had been searching forever for a (vintage or vintage inspired) light pink dress, so I couldn't pass this one up.
It's more of a summer item, but since I bought it at the same time as the other stuff, I'll talk about it here.
The dress can be found here, but it's currently sold out, at least for now. :/
The embroidery is very beautiful. I was a bit worried that the pictures were filtered and that the dress might actually be Pepto-Bismol pink, but it truly is light pink. ♡ Also, it really looks like an authentic vintage piece, maybe except for the bow at the collar.
Well, it doesn't look that great on me, though the fact that the dress is so creased doesn't help lol.
Ching's closet usually offers different sizes, and for the two skirts I own, I went with S since the XS waist feels too tight. But I don't know, maybe I should have chosen a size XS for the dress.
The dress in itself is very well-made. I will try to make it work!
Vintage-inspired blue plaid skirt set with matching sweater
藍茶色の格子縞レトロスカートとハイネックセーター
This skirt and sweater set is from Literary Novels. (The sweater is shown below.)
It was my first time buying from this brand. While waiting for it to arrive, I was a bit skeptical about the quality, especially since it was sold as a set, which felt a little too good to be true.
The skirt is a little less thick than the one from Ching's closet, but I have the same issues with the waist and the length, so I plan on going to the seamstress for this one too.
I love the colours, it's different than what I usually wear. Without having done a colour analysis, I probably wouldn't have bought this set – especially online since I couldn't try it on first.
This brings me to the end of this post by saying that I am so happy I finally know my colours. It makes shopping much more efficient and helps prevent me from making bad decisions and wasting money.
I chose most of the pieces in this haul based on my colour palette. For the Fi.nt checked OP, since both colours looked great on the models, I know that if I hadn't done my colour analysis, I would have hesitated for a long time and might have ended up going for the brown version.
I'm aware I don't have to follow my palette strictly (fortunately, cuz that would become quite exhausting), but just being conscious of it now makes shopping more pleasant and less indecisive. I also appreciate knowing what looks best on me in terms of jewellery, makeup and hair colour.
