I have a habit of dressing for an event in a way that is thematically related but never dressing actually appropriately for an event. My favorite drag queen, doctor Martha Graham Cracker, was putting on a Balkan extravaganza with the West Philadelphia Orchestra, who play traditional Serbian and Bulgarian songs with dance-y ska and punk stylings. The set-list was marvelously eclectic as it usually is: “Acid Queen” from “Tommy” back to back with “Tell Me Something Good” and a mash-up of “Psycho Killer”/”Bad Romance”.
I wanted to apply the same eclecticism to my outfit: Eastern European dolly romantic, a little bit of punkiness, and random chevron tights. AND A BIG SMIIIILE.
The dress is from Japanese lolita brand Alice and the Pirates, bought secondhand on the egl_sales_comm on livejournal probably four years ago. The shirt is one of the earliest Forever 21+ pieces, back from when it was called Faith21. The belt is from Buffalo Exchange and I have to use a binder clip to keep it on. The tights are from Target and the boots are from DSW.
Of course I did not and could not look as fabulous as Miss Graham Cracker in her flapper dress and false eyelashes.
- she’s only like 7′ in heels
“So, Mary,” you are probably not asking yourself, “how is it you are wearing a dress that is a Japanese size medium? Give me a closer look!”
CERTAINLY.
That is a shirred bodice right there! Its elasticity allows a range of differently sized people the ability to wear it at their discretion!
Here are some Japanese dresses that can be shipped internationally and have shirring.
These are from Innocent World, a brand that does more classic and Victorian style dresses. These two are meant to be worn over a blouse or cardigan:
These are from Baby the Stars Shine Bright, a brand I used to like a lot, but who now include this message on their shirred dresses: “If your size of the bust is over 100cm, it is impossible to wear
M size regardless of the declared maximum size in the web site.” Basically it’s a polite way of saying “NO FATTIES ALLLOWEDDDD”. This could either make you want to boycott them or to buy them anyway and wear the hell out of them to spite them:
My policy is: wear the shit out of whatever you want. And then make this face:
That is a cute face. But you didn't say anything about the hat! I am all about hats (well, I am all about hat jealousy, as it's hard to find nice, proper hats that fit over locs)… where'd you get yours?
Love the article! Love the face!
i just really, really want to thank you for this post. i have a 103 centimeter bust and have been…really struggling with finding the right loli dress for me in the world of so-easy-to-fall-in-love-with 85 inch bust innocent world & baby dresses & was kind of beginning to lose hope in the worst way [hello tears!], but this really made me feel more hopeful.