Closet Child

It's the beginning of the year and my closet is a DISASTER ZONE. The last few months of 2023 involved constant travel and events, leaving me such precious little time for laundry and tidying up. So this month I've really focused on going through all my laundry and while I did, I've also spent some time updating my wardrobe spreadsheet and taking stock of what I have.

My original goal when I started this blog was to make a himekaji capsule wardrobe. And, as long as very large capsules are allowed, I feel at this point that I have basically succeeded! My last wardrobe recap post was in 2020, and my wardrobe at the time was about 50 items. At the time I was just starting to have more confidence and financial freedom to buy brand items instead of scraping the goodwill racks for "himekajiables". Actually, looking back at that post is really nostalgic. I can remember the excitement I felt as I looked at my wardrobe and for the first time really felt like I could be proud of it.

Since then, my wardrobe grew exponentially!! I've done a lot of "bulking and cutting" of my wardrobe () trying new pieces, passing along the ones that didn't fit or feel right and holding on to the ones that brought me the most joy. Overall, my current wardrobe now stands at 123 pieces - more than double my 2020 wardrobe! In 2020 I really liked the direction my wardrobe was going, but it still wasn't quite big enough for daily wear. 123 looks like a big (and really aesthetically pleasing) number, but for me this is a very comfortable size and (if I did more laundry ) it (would probably) be very easy for me to get dressed every day throughout the year! This large number encompasses clothing for all kinds of weather and occasions - Tokyo winters, California summers, fancy restaurants, concerts, boba dates, or (most important) just lounging around the house. I hope you enjoy browsing my clothes!

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)

Short sleeve

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!

Good morning! It's already been a bit of time since I was active, other than finally getting around to finishing up some of those konmari posts that had been sitting in my drafts forever! Last month I got really busy and I wanted to post my little recap since I never got around to posting about the tea party or what I was up to!

The theme for last month's tea party was Mahou May, with the concept being that putting on Himekaji can really feel like a magical girl transformation! May was also Fanime month, so I was extremely busy getting all the last minute preparations going. It was really great getting to see everyone virtually but I'm already hoping that we'll get to return in person for real next year 

For the tea party, even though I was so busy I definitely had to put together a coord for such a cute theme! I picked an ank rouge skirt with star lace trim with red accents. The color scheme kind of reminded me of madoka and for some reason the stars just felt very magical to me! I picked Mr. Bilbert (name courtesy of my boyfriend LOL) as my obligatory mascot character! It was really fun seeing everyone's coords and their pets and plushies they would pick as their mascot character as well.

The theme this time was "A Very Bear-y Tea Party" with the concept being bears and plaid! It was so fun seeing the outfits that everyone came up with!

My outfit for the tea party was actually head to toe Liz Lisa other than my socks 

It feels like I only ever blog in the summer for some reason But here we are, back in my least favorite time of the year. We're in the middle of a huge heatwave with no end in sight right now, so it's kind of hard to find the motivation to dress up cute. When it's this hot out I definitely want to prioritize comfort over everything else so I think my ideal summer style can be a little bit toned down compared to other seasons. I'm also probably not going to be buying a whole lot for my wardrobe this season; I've learned my lesson from past years trying to build up a new wardrobe without planning well in advance! But that won't stop me from daydreaming anyway.

Daiso

I also picked up a super cute cat fan (since even in the winter, it still gets hot in this area)  along with some peachy sparkly nail polish and a new set of false lashes I hadn't seen at Daiso before! They reminded me of Dolly Wink's Sweet Cat eyelashes, but they're only $1.50! I was excited to see a more natural looking lash, since normally I wouldn't want to wear Daiso lashes outside of cosplay only. I did try them on briefly and was disappointed at how uncomfortable they were, but I'm going to give it another try when I have plenty of time to do my makeup and see if I hadn't just applied them wrong that day.

eBay

I've started winning auctions... please don't let me get addicted! This auction was ending the evening after my final. It was a very close auction with two others bidding for it, but I let all of my pent up stress from the last couple of weeks guide me. I didn't want to pay more than $20 initially, so I chose my bid to be under $20 with shipping included. After pushing the button though, and with only 1 second to spare, it turns out another bidder had set their max bid to something higher, and I was outbid. Without thinking, I clicked to bid 50 cents higher... and miraculously not only did that bid go though before the end of the auction, but it happened to be higher than the other bidder's maximum bid. It was so suspenseful, and I felt so proud to have come out victorious.

I love the vintage style cut of the dress, and the kind of sad kittens. Even the "Please take me along!" in the print is a sentiment I can relate to a lot. I just vibe with this dress on just about every level. I'm especially happy with it as a graduation present like this, since I'm also fairly certain that it will have a place in my wardrobe even if I eventually decide to move away from himekaji and Liz Lisa in general. It's definitely a piece that I love as a piece on it's own, even before factoring in how nice it looks with the rest of my wardrobe. Thanks again, mom!

Thrift Store

On Sunday my boyfriend and I decided to go on a thrift store date. I was really happy with my purchases so far, but wanted to treat myself just a little bit more, without diving for any more brand items in the auctions. (There is one more bag which I am probably going to try for, but since I'm already going up against 2 other bidders I think I'll avoid giving myself any more competition and only bring it up after the auction ends) It turns out that we were very lucky, because we arrived within the last hour of an unexpected sale where all clothing in the whole store was only $2.99. I should mention that this is a Goodwill in a pretty rich area, so a lot of the clothing you'll find is in very good shape and there's even a lot of clothes from designer labels. It was really fortunate that we decided to go when we did!

This is the only item I bought that isn't really for my wardrobe. I was helping my boyfriend look for jackets and happened to see the back of this. "Is that a Portal jacket?" I was really surprised to see it! My boyfriend was so salty that it didn't fit him, but it fits me me perfectly! I probably won't wear it on a daily basis, but we've been talking about going to some gaming conventions in the future, so now I'll have something to wear! I'm not a huge gamer myself, but Portal is one of the games that I've played and really enjoyed, even though the textures in the second one made me feel kind of sick if I played for many hours.