Finding Trendy Jfashion Inspiration

It recently came up in the himekaji server of how to find style inspiration! Certain jfashion styles like lolita, jirai, even himekaji have been named and discovered by the west, which makes it much easier to find and discuss the fashion. On the other hand, there's also really large umbrella categories popular in Tokyo like "girly fashion" or what's currently trendy in malls. All of these fashions tend to be my absolute favorites - they're usually much more toned down and wearable. Because of this though, they don't get nearly as much attention in western jfashion communities, and because there's not always a distinct name associated with the trends it's much much harder to look for inspo. Here are my tips for overcoming these challenges!

TKL Image Carousel Hack!

Have you ever noticed how few images there are on the TKL desktop website!? On mobile or the jp site, there's tons of stock images to browse on each listing page so you can see detail shots of the item in every colorway. But on the EN desktop site, all you get are 4 tiny model photos and that's it. There was speculation on the himekaji server that the image carousel is broken, and that's actually exactly the case! If you want to fix this issue yourself without having to wait for Liz Lisa to patch a fix, then read on!

1. Install Stylus

The first thing you'll need is the Stylus browser extension. It is also available for firefox. Sadly, there's no plugin for Safari yet, but safari actually has this functionality built in, if you're interested!

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/stylus/clngdbkpkpeebahjckkjfobafhncgmne?hl=en

GRL Capsule Wardrobe

Rae recently introduced me to a brand called GRL (I think it's pronounced like Grail!) and suddenly I'm seeing their items all over mercari! Their brand carries lots of trendy wardrobe staples, and everything is very cheap! I have yet to order from them, so I can't say for the quality or sizing yet. If the items hold up to quality, though, it may be a very good way to break into jfashion for those who are just starting out or are on a budget.

My wardrobe is in desperate need for some solid staple pieces, and with my new job starting next week I'm realizing that the current state of my wardrobe is.... not super wearable for an office setting  This led to me spending some of my between-jobs funemployment time endlessly scrolling through the GRL site, and I figured, why not just daydream up a starter wardrobe? I think this collection is very casual ryousangata-ish, which is exactly what I'm trying to move towards for my work wardrobe! I feel like this style pairs really nicely with sweeter himekaji or liz lisa girl looks, but you can also easily dress it down for a more casual work coord. I'm definitely not going to go out and buy every single one of these items, but I think once I take better stock of my current wardrobe I'll probably pick up a few of these staples to fill in the gaps!

 Tops (14)

Summer

Short sleeve

Routines Brainstorming 【Free printable PDF!】

 Hello cuties!

It's been a while since my last update. In regular fashion, my blog activity waxes and wanes depending on how much clutter I've had in my life, and lately there's been a LOT of clutter! The end of the year is supposed to be a time for relaxing and resting, but somehow I always end up cramming all the stuff I was leaving off until later into the last few weeks of the year. I've got a lot to update on, but I'm going to keep today's blog entry brief!

With the new year coming up, I'm dusting off my (very VERY dusty) bullet journal and doing some journaling exercises to get me set up for next year on the right foot. Today's entry is all about routines! Morning and bedtime routines can really make or break my executive functioning. I've done a horrible job of keeping up with them over 2021, and it really shows. Having a consistent sleep schedule and having time to take care of myself in the mornings is a huge goal of mine for 2022, but it's been so long since I kept up with those things that I've totally forgotten what a healthy routine even looks like anymore. So, I decided to start at the very very beginning, and I thought I'd share my methods with you!

Free PDF Kit

First things first, you can download the PDF kit here. It includes all the materials that this blog post covers! You can annotate it digitally, or print it out and fill it out on pen and paper. I printed mine on A5 paper to put into my binder, but A4 is also fine.

 

PJ-Hime's PJ-Hibernation

Hello friends! Some of you on the server have probably noticed that I was mostly missing up until recently. It's a little rude to silently abandon a community that you started, so I'm sorry for disappearing 

First of all I've been doing okay, all things considered. But mentally it's been more of a struggle than usual, and it's been really hard to feel cute or have the energy to keep in touch. I'm not in crisis or anything, I just feel tired most of the day and haven't done the best keeping on top of my regular chores or taking the best care of myself. Ideally it's good to have a healthy balance of self care and dressing up cute. Instead I've spent every day in pajamas playing games. Even if I dress up, my room is too cluttered to take outfit pics. Then before long I become overly sensitive to the fit or texture of the clothes and I'm right back in my pjs again. Lately I just can't tap into my inner cuteness, instead I'm full gremlin 24/7. I'm actually fine with myself not feeling cute sometimes. I love feeling cute and good about my appearance, but there's plenty other things to focus on or feel proud of myself for. It's just hard to keep in touch with a fashion and beauty based community when I'm wearing the same sweatpants again for the 4th day in a row

As someone with Brain Problems there's a constant push and pull with me and my fashion. It always seems like dressing up makes me happier, but it also takes more energy than being wrapped up in blankets all day long. It feels a little like parallel MP and HP bars. In himekaji clothes I feel powerful so my MP bar fills up, but my comfort clothes let me restore my HP while my MP stays low. (Ok I've been playing a ton of FFXIV lately) I've noticed that a lot of us in alternative fashion communities have a similar up and down. Maybe the struggle of taking care of yourself makes you more invested in the outcome. Like, okay, if I'm getting out of bed and washing my face it's gonna be on my terms 

Overall, it can be hard to tell if I'm sad because I'm not wearing himekaji or if I'm not wearing himekaji because I'm sad. I think it's best not to attach judgement to it though. Going back to MMOs, you've gotta balance your resources properly! I do want to be more active in the community though, even if I'm not feeling well to dress up at times. If nothing else it's a good reminder that there are still things to dress up for ♡

Offbrand Vs Himekaji: Cardigans

I was chatting with a friend of mine the other day about offbrand cardigans and why they were the bane of my early himekaji coords.

As a habitual sweater wearer, I tend to feel a little naked if I don't have some kind of outer layer. Because of that I already had tons of cardigans when I was first starting to build my himekaji wardrobe. They're soft and comfy, but a little dressier compared to sweatshirts, and more convenient than pullovers. Surely these qualities make cardigans perfect for himekaji! Or so I thought, as I shoehorned all my vaguely himekaji colored cardigans into my wardrobe. Cardigans can look really cute in a himekaji coord and there are tons of good examples out there. However, just because it's a cardigan, doesn't mean it will fit with your wardrobe automatically. At their worst, offbrand cardigans can make a perfectly cute coord look ill fitting and cheap. Please learn from my mistakes as I teach you about the key features of brand cardigans and what to look for in your offbrand endeavors!

Katsu & Window Shopping ♡

Today's momentous occasion: we went on a date! Like.... outside!!!

Okay, so all we did was window shop and get lunch but it was our first time really going anywhere in public just for fun in a loooooooooong time!  As I will be blogging about more later, my boyfriend and I have moved in together, and we need some items for our new balcony. We thought it would be best to browse in person before making any purchases, so since we've been fully vaccinated for about a month now and the cases in our city continue to go down, we thought it would be nice to check home depot to compare some of our options in person! Even though it was just home depot, I decided to get dressed up and make it a little date! It was really nice just walking around and browsing a shop since it's seriously been since before the pandemic that we've done anything like this. We looked at patio furniture and then took selfies in the lighting department 

After that we picked up some boba and put in a takeout order from a katsu sandwich shop that I had never been to before. Originally we thought to eat it in the car, but the shopping center was pretty empty and there were some nice tables outside, so we decided to give it a try eating outside the restaurant! Ordering ahead of time and paying online, picking up our food and then eating on our own outside was exactly my speed! It felt a lot more normal than I've had in a while, while still having almost no contact with the waiters or other patrons. I definitely want to do this more often as we head into Summer!

The other momentous event..... I used a public toilet for the first time in over a year as well! What a big day LOL

It's been a pretty stressful month with moving and completely totaling my car  Getting out of the house and going on a nice date was exactly what I needed to get my mind off things for a while!

See you next time!