First Time Buying Liz Lisa in a While

Hi,

After a long time of not buying any Liz Lisa clothes, I rekindled an interest in the brand and bought some pieces on Mercari (with Japonica Market). I still love fashion from the 50s and 60s, but I felt like I missed LL's cute preppy looks. Not that I really dressed preppy in the past, though that was a mistake since I came to realize that fall colours fit me best.

I remember in my previous post wanting to downsize my wardrobe and live on like five pieces of clothing, but then I would get bursts of wanting to dress in a specific style and didn't have the clothes to satisfy my urge. :'D By the way, I was looking at my blog posts back from that period and saw how shitty were some (vintage) pieces I bought. Not only did I buy them, but I went on to take the most hideous pictures and had the audacity to post them on my blog for everyone to see lmao.

OK, back to the haul. Here are the three OPs I bought.

Liz Lisa Fairy Pattern OP
フェアリー柄 ワンピース

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I've liked this OP since I began to buy Liz Lisa, but never got the chance to get it, either because no one was selling it when I was ready to pull the trigger or because I would prioritize other pieces in my purchases.

This print has such pleasing colors and I absolutely love the lacing at the front. I know there's a version with navy blue flowers and I was also – if not more – interested in it, but they were all sold out on online flea markets.

I love the overall fit and the length of the sleeves is perfect. <3 Nothing bad to say about it.

Liz Lisa Heart Check OP
ハートチェックワンピース

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Another dress I liked but never got the occasion to purchase. My main hesitation was the shoulder frills which I tend to stay away from. One, because I often find them too over-the-top, but mostly because I have broad shoulders and these make it worse.

For this dress, the shoulder frills were the right volume, not OTT. So, my only fear was how they would make my shoulders look. This one worry would've normally deterred me from buying the dress, but the tartan and the colours were too enticing.

The heart cutouts are so cute.

The material is some wool and definitely not my favourite, but thanks to the fabric being on the lighter side, the dress isn't terribly heavy to wear.

The fit is OK. I should've thought about it, but maybe because it's an older Liz Lisa dress, there's no zipper, so it's a bit of a hassle to put on. The absence of a zipper also makes the dress less fitted at the bust and waist. As for the shoulder frills, they accentuate my shoulders so much. x_x (It's not that noticeable in the picture.)

If I had had the chance to try the dress first, I would've probably not bought it, but that's the risk when ordering secondhand from Japan. There are, however, ways to fix both problems by adding a zipper and removing the frills. I could also wear the dress with a cardigan at all times, but it's a bit of a constraint.

The pumps in the picture are Liz Lisa's. I bought them secondhand NWT just before I started to dwell away from the brand. Despite selling lots of LL pieces back then, I couldn't part from these pumps. I loved their look and hoped to wear them one way or another. I'm glad I kept them.

Liz Lisa Lace Yoke Frill OP
レースヨークフリルワンピース

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This is a more recent design from Liz Lisa. I was surprised to like it since I'm not a fan of jirai kei and I hate bib dresses, but it was love at first sight with this piece. The amount of details is just enough and everything is arranged so harmoniously.

The dress is missing two little black bows on the bib (it was mentioned by the seller in the description), but I actually prefer it without them.

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The lace trim at the bottom is a light blush colour. I initially thought it was a defect, but found it blends better with the skin which gives a nice effect. And a close-up on the sleeves because I love the two dainty bows.

I'm not pleased with how loose the bust area is, as you can see under my left armpit. On a positive note, I don't raise my arms often. Apart from that, the fit is top-notch.

Pumps in the picture are from Ank Rouge, bought them secondhand on Depop. I love the patent material and the cross straps, but the sizing is a wee bit too big. I can insert soles, but it would've been nice for them to fit as well as my Liz Lisa' (both pairs are a size M).

With the haul now finished, and just to keep my blog up to date (it's been more than a year since my last blog post), I thought I'd share some important stuff that happened:

• February 2022: I changed jobs (different employer). It has helped me to grow significantly while making me busier than before.
• August 2022: I cut a big chunk of my hair, as you may have noticed from the pictures. My hair was a little below my knees by that time. It had been a major part of my life for the past 10 years, but I no longer enjoyed taking care of it and considered it a burden.
• September 2022: I adopted a red toy poodle.

Let me talk a bit about my poodle. Her name is Rose and I adopted her on September 1st 2022. Long story short, I had planned to get gerbils, but I ultimately went with a dog after talking about it with my parents (that change of mind doesn't make any sense I know). I got lucky since the breeder had told me she would not have any potential adoptees at least until 2023, but one month later, she contacted me to see if I was interested in Rose after a cancellation... which of course I was. Three weeks later, I was bringing her home.

First day at home

On the day of her adoption, she was 11 weeks old and weighed a little less than 2 pounds. Whenever I'd sit on the floor, she'd come hop on my legs. It was so cute and I didn't expect her to be this affectionate, especially on day one.

Two days being at home. Sleeping soundly.

Looks innocent but goes demon spawn from time to time.

Picture taken one week ago.

She's now 1 year and 2 months old. She enjoys napping on our legs, our neck, our back, basically as long as she can feel one of our limbs. She loves playing but is also fine with just lying next to me.

I definitely have moments when I'm fed up, but I receive endless support from my parents and get to evacuate my frustrations to them. They help me not to obsess over stuff and remind me that I don't need a perfect dog. This was such an important reminder during the early months of training.

Bringing a pet into your life truly makes you experience unconditional love. When I get back from work or feel moody or tired, she's still happy to be with me... even when I scold her, she comes to cuddle with me minutes later. *teary-eyed*

Finally, my blog underwent a much-needed look makeover. This was among the first things I had planned to do once I got back here.

Before (October 13th 2019 – September 2nd 2023)

Now (September 2nd 2023 – )

I'm using the Watermark theme and lightly customized it. I wanted something journal-like and minimalist that draws attention to the content of my posts. I'm satisfied with how it turned out.

Okay, I'm done for now. Bye!

Budding Pop Mini Haul From Taobao

I just submitted another homework for school earlier today and despite being supposed to commence another one, I'm taking this Saturday night off to catch up with some of my fun purchases on my blog.

I do remember mentioning the following statement in an old blog bio (that is now deleted), but I love Budding Pop so much... (♥ω♥ ) ~✿ I discovered this lil bud through someone on WeChat and it's been my favourite character ever since. His expressions are so cute in the WeChat stickers!

I do own a white tee with two Budding Pops on it that I bought in May 2016. I only wear it as a pyjama because I realized – too late – that the two rounded heads looked like boobs, which put emphasis on the bust area. And I don't want to give the impression that I'm wearing this ~suggestive~ design on purpose.

Edit June 13th 2021: After years of feeling embarrassed with the design on this shirt, I am no longer ashamed of wearing it in public. :') First time was on June 10th (see OOTDs).

Anyway, I've been wanting to find Budding Pop stuff similar to Sanrio's for a long time. I found these items back in December 2019 on Taobao. Finally, I had managed to find Budding Pop products that weren't plush toys or other items not particularly cute to me.

I bought the items using the ShipForMe service from Yoybuy. Everything went pretty smoothly. I received my parcel towards the end of January 2021.

Budding Pop 2021 calendar

长草颜团子 2021年-团子的时光童话台历 限量款日历

The box of the calendar. If Budding Pop existed in real life, he'd be smaller

than a pencil (I refer to him as a guy.) Ugh, wouldn't he be cute?!?!

Even the back of the box looks nice.

I'm a bit confused because I ordered the calendar and the small package on top from two different shops. I think it's Yoybuy that combined the two items when they got them at the warehouse? Not sure, though nothing was wrong with my order, so it's alright.

You can open the next three pictures in a new tab to see the details better.

I really can't pick a favourite month! The art and colours are simply perfect.

This calendar is so well-made. ;_; Entirely worth my money. The only thing I'm sad about is that I bought this calendar specifically for my desk at work, but I still work from home right now. The calendar is thus still in its box. Though even beyond the year 2021, I'll use it as decoration. I can't throw out something so unique and adorable.

There were even stickers – nicely wrapped – that came with it. The people who designed this Budding Pop calendar put a lot of effort into every detail. ;_;

The rings are for holding the calendar pages together.

I've always seen 长草颜文字 on WeChat, but here it's 长草颜团子.

This isn't the first time I see the latter, so I'm not sure what's the official name in Chinese.

Budding Pop washi tapes

卡通和纸胶带长草颜文字可爱超萌学生手帐diy素材工具套装贴纸画

I had seen these Budding Pop characters as stickers on AliExpress (that were sold out), but I hadn't seen them on washi tapes. That's why I bought them upon seeing them on Taobao.

The washi tapes came in bundles of two or four boxes. I ordered a bundle of two boxes.

Looks good (▨∀▨)b

Got this ruler as a freebie

The material of the ruler is like semi-rigid thin plastic. Quite bendable but not tearable.

And I don't know whether the girl is a character in a manga or anime, but I like her clothes.

I shall share more of my purchases, at the end of May or in June, but in the meantime, this blog post is all I have time for. ;_; (I'm aware I may have overused this smiley in this post.)

Byeee.

End-Of-Summer Haul

To avoid any misunderstanding from the title, I didn't buy these things at the end of the summer, rather, I'm posting this haul at the end of the summer. It was a bit a race against time the moment I realized that the last day of summer was today, therefore I had about three days to lay this blog post instead of a few more weeks.

31 Sons de mode striped top マルチボーダーロールカラープルオーバー

I learned about this brand when I saw a wear.jp user wearing the top with a skirt from Fi.n.t, and I thought it was such a nice outfit. I've been wanting to get the exact same outfit ever since—unoriginal I know, but both pieces look so lovely together. I spotted the Fi.n.t skirt a few times on Fril, but never bought it. As for the striped top, despite my regular searches for it, I never saw it pop in the results. My unlucky search went on for several months. I seemed to favour finding the top first and then take care of the skirt later, I'm not sure why.

When I recognized the top in a Mercari listing for a fair price, I bought it directly (with Japonica Market). I mostly wanted it because I liked how it looked with the Fi.n.t skirt, but the top itself is certainly nice too. I like its V-shape collar. It looks a bit sailor-looking but without the traditional square collar at the back which I prefer.

This top is so comfortable and softer than I thought. I was also impressed at the seemingly perfect condition given its low price. Only thing is that it tends to roll up a bit at the waist, but I'm being really picky.

Twik white/ivory cable cardigan

I went to Simons a few weeks ago with my mom, notably looking for a cardigan for the colder days. I tried a couple, but there were none I liked. At this time of the year, there were mostly oversized knit cardigans which weren't the style I was going for. I wanted something more delicate with a cable pattern. (I guess that I would've had more chances of finding such a piece in spring.)

I noticed a cardigan on the wall and decided to try it. I was wearing my purple flowers dress and the whole outfit instantly looked more put-together with the cardigan on. It's a shorter cardigan which means that it fits perfectly with my dresses and my high-waisted skirts.

Obviously, the price of the cardigan was much higher than what I usually spend on a cardigan—as it's almost always the case for every piece of clothing that I come to like. But my mom insisted on buying it for me as a present. It's so rare that I find something that is the perfect look, the perfect colour and the perfect fit, so I'm very thankful. 💖

This colour looks good with basically anything too.

1950s Betty Barclay white crochet dress

While I was browsing vintage dresses on eBay, I spotted a white dress that had crochet all around the skirt. The fabric looked quite thick and waffle-y, and with the crochet, I knew that I wouldn't be able to make this kind of dress myself. Furthermore, it was my size.

The seller only stated "Very nice vintage condition" and the display pictures weren't clear enough to properly examine the state of the dress. I could see some faint yellow at the top of the zipper on the inside, but I wasn't sure of anything because of the lighting and the quality of the pictures. Also, the brand tag looked pretty good so I was maybe imagining flaws.

I know the best would've been to ask the seller to provide more details on the condition, but I always get uncomfortable asking this question because I worry that the seller will get on the defensive? Anyway, I bought the dress expecting it to have minor yellowing here and there that could be washed off.

The dress arrived and I was shook at the major yellowing.

The camera doesn't make it look that bad, but there was strong yellowing everywhere

on the inside of the bodice, especially where the underarms and shoulder blades are.

The yellow was even visible on the outside at the shoulder blades. The dress felt a bit disgusting to hold. As someone who sells secondhand clothes (on Depop), yellowing is definitely something you should precise on the item listing. And adding one or two pictures won't hurt. But just the mention itself takes 15 seconds to write and prevents the buyer from a bad surprise upon receiving their stuff.

My mom soaked and washed the dress two times in the washing machine with detergent and bleach at a delicate cycle. She didn't put the dress in a mesh laundry bag because clothes tend to "roll" in a ball and she wanted to make sure that the dress would soak thoroughly in the bleach. The dress was air-dried.

Fortunately, two good washes were sufficient to remove all of the yellowing. (Maybe there's some left, but I really can't see it.) It was such a relief. I find myself lucky because we definitely weren't sure if all the yellowing would go away.

The dress in all its splendour

White piping at the waist

Close up of the beautiful crochet.

I don't know why, but it reminds me of a doily which gives me English/Victorian vibes.

There's a hook-and-eye closure at the top of the zipper and also at the waist.

Yes, the zipper is at the back and it's frickin hard to zip it up. (I also can't fasten both hook-and-eye closures by myself.) I know I mentioned in a past blog post my strong dislike towards back zippers, but it's not like I had the choice here. Moreover, I think that I hadn't discovered yet my hatred for them when I bought the dress.

I'd need a petticoat underneath to show off the crochet better. It's way too pretty.

Each side of the bust darts has those kinds of weird loose folds.

I don't really like it, but it's not the end of the world.

Despite the yellowing that the seller could've mentioned, the dress is indeed in "very nice vintage condition". There aren't any holes or stains. The crochet is impeccable (except in some microscopic places but that is just unavoidable). It's a very beautiful dress. 💖 Now that I've made the first move, I've been so tempted to buy other vintage dresses.

Slips (3)

Ever since I made my mom cut the lace trim of a skirt slip to beautify the hem of a dress, I regretted "wasting" that slip. I had therefore been looking for a replacement for what it seemed like forever, and I finally found three at Value Village.

(Note: My mom tightened slips #2 and #3 because their waist were a bit loose.)

Slip #1

It looks ordinary but...

... there are cute flirty slits on both sides...

... and all edges are scalloped ✨ Plus, the condition is like new.

Slip #2

This one is a bit more see-through.

I got it because I liked the lace trim and could alternate wearing it with the previous one.

Cute detailing on the elasticized waist

Close up of the lace trim

Slip #3

With two slips I had plenty of slips by then—even one was already enough.

But I couldn't let this white one hanging on the rack.

I really like these dainty elasticized waists.

Three layers of lace trim ♥

White block heel pumps

I found these white shoes at Verona while looking for nude ones. I wasn't specifically looking for white pumps at that moment, but I knew that I wanted to own a pair someday. I had seen them in vintage snaps and thought they looked dashing paired with a white or pastel dress.

I very rarely buy shoes on a whim, but I immediately liked their look on my feet and knew that I wouldn't find better online or elsewhere in-store.

I wore them one time and they walk great. I also wore them in my try-on pictures with my dress Simplicity 4270 and I'm so glad I got them. They'll need the usual breakage but I'm not worried. They're even a little loose, so I wear gel half soles in them.

Nude block heel pumps

I had been looking for low-heel pumps that would look classier, but that I could still wear on a daily basis to run errands and go to work—basically a new main pair of shoes to replace my Anne Klein black flats that look a bit bulky at the heel. I absolutely love my black velvet Mary Janes and initially chose them as substitute, but I wore them one afternoon to go shopping and my feet/toes hurt so bad. The pain lasted for a couple of days even if I had walked for a few hours only. They're definitely still too tight and I'm unsure if I'll ever be able to wear them for longer periods...

Because I had black pumps in mind, I started to look for black pumps with a bow on top, regardless of whether their tip would be round or pointy. This was around the beginning of summer. But gradually— and I guess that vintage magazines influenced me—I started to drift towards plain nude pointed-toe pumps. I always found they were too mature for my style and too extra for work, but I put these feelings aside and thought I should at least try a pair to see how it looked.

My mom and I went into different stores and I was pretty confident I'd find what I was looking for since it wasn't too out-of-the-box. I eventually found my perfect pair at Naturalizer. I had never bought there because the shoes were never my style, but we decided to go take a look just in case.

The colour goes perfectly with my skin tone, the heels are just the right height and the shoes are very comfortable. They make the perfect shoes for everyday wear while still giving an elegant feel to my outfits.

Love the almond shape, not too pointy.

I didn't even know there was an in-between between round and pointed-toe shoes.

We've come to the end of my haul, coinciding with the end of this year's summer. I'm not sure if I'll be posting other blog posts for now. I do have another haul planned and do enjoy making dresses (I started another one that is a WIP right now), but I really need to focus more on "serious" stuff. I enrolled myself in an online program (after graduating two years ago) and I'm already late with my assignments in all three classes. Lol.