指间沙

 

I'm back! ♪ After another journey to China and then Tibet, and an unexpected wedding ceremony + photoshoot 3 years after our official marriage at the county courthouse, now I'm in the process of doing some paperwork for a new job! Just for my own satisfaction, I think I'll be posting China and/or Tibet photos gradually for a while...

Dress: 指間沙

Jacket: ModCloth

Brooch: Aunt Carrie's Attic (Etsy)

Hat: TB

Tights: Missing. No legs needed. I AM FLOATING.

The mister bought the above dress for me in Taiyuan's enormous new mall (gasp! brick and mortar shopping? i know...) at a shop called 指間沙 (Zhǐ jiān shā) where they combine natural materials -- hemp, raw silk etc. --  and bohemian fashion with traditional Chinese clothing styles, which is a combination that works extremely well, and one I haven't seen elsewhere?!

The lady working there had a very lovely sculptural mullet bob as seen above, and was wearing a dress that I ended up buying later! You can browse their stuff on Taobao at http://zjsfs.taobao.com

free people lace print raincoat dupe on taobao

april showers bring may flowers  

about a year or two ago, i found myself coveting Free People's packable lace print raincoat (of course, no longer available) which then was selling for a ridiculous $88 USD (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

i kind of forgot about it for a bit, but then...!! imagine my surprise when i was trollin' taobao, as usual, and stumbled upon --

click the image above or click here to take a look

hallelujah! only 90 kuai, less than $14.50 USD! i ordered one, but no word on the quality as of yet. right now, only L size is available, but being an M/L Chinese sizing figured L was best to accommodate whatever crazy layers i'm wearing inside.

dear reader, may the sun gods smile upon thee and keepest thee dry whilst flowers bloom all around (๑´•.̫ • `๑)

some more forest-y mori girl taobao shop highlights

Does anyone know who I can credit for this cute illustration?

Hoping to recover from a cold, sipping on some mugi-cha and doing a bit of internets window shopping on break from studying for my exam (´･ω･`) Yes, that's when the magic of these posts happen. When I have something to avoid But here are some cute shops I found that might be worth a look! I've only ordered from Rare Butterfly Tribe before (some stuff from day-night is on the way but I haven't received it yet) so I can't vouch for the quality of the others, but I may try them later so I can add them to the master list!

Anne Square

Mori and natural-kei clothing. Seems to have some stock overlap with Rare Butterfly Tribe below, but has original items as well. I love that tank with the lace choker piece.

Li Tongxue 

Mori and natural-kei clothing. Seems like it might be affiliated with Dearli, with reference to the whole chestnut thing...? Great styling and photos that are fun to look at.

Day-Night

 Mori and natural-kei clothing. Unfortunately not modeled, but has a great selection of spring stuff.

Mini Cooper

Moriable and retro/vintage girly bags of all shapes, sizes, and colors.

   

Oldtime Garden

 Handmade accessory shop -- jewelry, brooches, pins, hats, purses, and the like, all with a foresty theme. Looks like it'd be great for all your cult party needs also.

Rare Butterfly Tribe

 Mori and natural-kei clothing, which I actually posted a little about here! There's some new stuff up for spring.

it's a 3 shop moriism taobao haul!

i'm still working on posting my japan photos, but in the meantime---!!!!!

this package was a gift from mr. bun, even though i picked out the items. it was a bit delayed, understandably, due to the lunar new year holiday, so this was long awaited and i was super happy to receive it (read: biting nails and camping out next to the mailbox（=´∇｀=)

from 蝶希部落日系森女森系 - Rare Butterfly Tribe
This was my first time purchasing from this shop -- they seem to carry items that have been on sale at Cawaii Onepiece Specialty Shop (shop here on Rakuten) previously, or replicas of their items at around the same price point, and also various accessories like mittens, headbands, legwear, and so on, but like Cawaii the main draw is the various onepieces and layered sets. They have a nice variety of slips and long skirts for layering as well.

brown & cream 3 piece mori coordinate
(asymmetrical dress + cardigan + shawl)
WOO this set has everything I need to acheive my dream of looking like a Harvest Moon protagonist, ahaha. i like the angled, asymmetric hems and the versatility of the pieces! i am trying to figure out a creative way to take in or at least mitigate the wideness in the waist area, though -- i really love the oversized look but since i have broad shoulders for a lady, this makes me look really, really wide. creative suggestions welcome?? (｡•ˇ‸ˇ•｡) i tried belting it in a bit but the belts i have currently don't quite work with the overall ensemble as it is, so no luck with that.

Cream OP (piece 1)

Neck detail. You can kind of make out the leafy pattern on the fabric here.

Ruffled lace hem detail

Chocolate one-button long cardigan (piece 2)

Lace shawl (piece 3)

false layer sweater
a lot more colorful than i expected in the knitted area? but nice! it's a camel-brown colored thick knit with flecks of color that are much brighter in person, and the tartan collar area is very soft too. i think i'm on a plaid kick, helpppp! it doesn't help that it's super cozy...

false layer sweater, ready for snugglin'

gray long-sleeve lace hem tee
good basic for an under layer-- just a soft long sleeve with lace at the hem and around the bottom of the sleeves. not sure i would wear it by itself, though. i wish the neck was a little less wide, but it looks nice with the lace neck forestgirlfans tank underneath.

The lace is long enough to peek out of your outer layer's sleeves!!

sailor shawl collar blouse

very cute/ethereal take on a sailor top. in this case, that also means see-through, but it's made for layering anyway. it's not overly nautical or seifuku-looking -- this is great for me, because i love the look of sailor-styled clothing, but i don't want to look like i'm cosplaying when i'm wearing them normally. i like the yellowish, tea-stained color. definitely suitable for warmer spring or summer weather since it's so light and airy. 

Front

Back -- the back is just as cute!!

floral thick-knit tights (beige)

warm warm warm! puffy! and very thick knit. i should have gotten a pair of these earlier on in the winter, though fortunately (or unfortunately) to me, we still have at least 2 months of tights-needed weather left...

Look at how the little flowers pop out, though!!!!!! So cute.

from 鲜格格美衣平价店 (Fresh Princess Attire Discount Shop lol)
This is my first time buying from this shop as well, which I stumbled upon looking for a dress that was sold out elsewhere. They cater to mori and natural styles.

green plaid onepiece
kind of huge, and also long for this short person!!! the hem hits right between mid-calf and ankle on me. and the dress buttons down all the way, so you can wear it as an open outer layer or jacket if you'd like, too!!

My cell camera doesn't pick up the color, but it's true green like the shop photo.

Collar detail

 it's soft and comfy and good for snuggling up and/or hiding in. the waist is cut a bit low and wide for me, so i've been following the styling suggestion above and cinching it with a belt. i like the feminine rounded collar a lot! the one thing that bothered me was it was musty-smelling when i received it, like it had been sitting for a long time. it took a few washes to get the smell out, but mr. bun said he couldn't smell it, so maybe i'm just extra sensitive to musty moldy odors (°ヘ°)

big gingham check onepiece
picnic time! this is cut similarly to the plaid OP (rather big on me, long too!) but there is a waist tie in the back to help mitigate that. unfortunately, though, when you tie it up, it does take in the skirt a bit and make it straighter and less "A" shaped, like in the photo there. pannier needed, perhaps. it's a bit more frumpier han i was expecting worn on its own, but i'm hoping some styling will solve this. or maybe i am just frumpy and the problem is without solution. DUN DUN DUN.

Who invited the ants?!

  森女部落甜美可爱原创 (Forest Girl Fans)

Pleated lace-hem skirt

very cute and versatile, though it is on the lighter side, so there's not much to keep it from ballooning up in the wind or something. it has a stretchy elastic waist with waistband, and the inner layer falls below the pleats with the attached lace hem. the pleats are great. i would like this even better if it were culottes/shorts, though!

The pleats stay in place very well, too.

khaki crazy warm leggings

these leggings... have a lot going on. so warm too! i guess they're more like tights, since they do have feet. really fun!? they're completely opaque, about as warm as wearing a pair of pants, and thicker than most of the leggings i do have.

One does not simply take good legwear pictures! Haven't mastered this...

A very good item-as-described experience, all in all!! tb can be tough, because you can never know what you'll really be getting, but the more i order, the more i know what to look for each time.