I Swear I'm Alive!

Many apologies for the radio silence, gentle readers (such as you are- shoutout to James who reads this :3). I've been desperately looking for a job and the time has rather gotten away from me. I've got a couple big posts in the works, but I wanted to do a quick inspiration dump of all the fashion things that have been on my mind recently.

Japanese Street Fashion
I don't pretend to understand anything about Japanese culture, but from religiously reading Tokyo Fashion and following the Twitters and Tumblrs of a few people involved in the scene, I've learned that there's something brilliant and amazing going on in Japanese street fashion. A lot of really creative people are all creating amazing stuff and, while trying to comprehend the cultural meaning of it all makes me feel like Cleetus the slack-jawed yokel, I do love looking at pretty pictures of creative outfits. My latest obsession in the field of Japanese street fashion is Cult Party Kei. I came for the vintage Gunne Sax gowns, but I stayed for the gorgeous ivory lace and frills.

Manyapon, a Cult Party style icon. You can find Manyapon's blog here. Source: violetmoonbeams.blogspot.com

As anyone who knows me could tell you, I adore floor-length skirts, so this look struck me immediately. It's the sort of princess silhouette I adore, with lots of layers and ruffles. Perfect.

I'm not totally clear on what distinguishes Hipsterloli from Dolly Kei or other styles that, to my untrained Western eye, look similar, but I'm madly in love with this look, which ohyeahcultparty calls Hipsterloli.

Source: ohyeahcultparty.tumblr.com

I especially love the details at the hem of the skirt.

Fairy Kei seems to be about rediscovering the joys of childhood- if by childhood we mean mid-eighties toys, pastel colours, and legwarmers. Whatever, it's adorable and gives me great miniskirt/minidress inspiration, even if I lean more to the black side of the colour spectrum.

Moco, a Japanese indie designer. You can find her  blog here. Source: tokyofashion.com

The above look is one of my favourites.

Dolly Kei also uses vintage fashion and you end up looking like a princess, so I'm sold. This picture expresses my soul:

Using teddy bears as accessories! Platform sneakers and a long skirt! Perfection. Source: dollykei.tumblr.com

Bloomers and Other Stuff That Looks Vaugely Like Victorian Underwear

I've pretty much given up on jeans. Over the last year, I gained weight (as a result of something other than growing) for the first time in my life- long story. This means that my already oddly skinny-curvy figure is even harder to fit. Instead, I've been wearing bloomers. They're much more visually interesting than jeans, they're comfier, and I can show off my collection of knee socks. Here's some bloomer inspiration.

Source: reenacat.etsy.com

Clown pants, circa 1860. Source: worthpoint.com

Source: kathleencrowley.etsy.com

So that's what's been on my mind recently: fanciful Japanese fashion and pants that make me look like a Victorian prostitute/circus performer. As always, you can see more inspirational images on my tumblr.