Wa-lolita: what is enough?

As a follow-up to yesterday's post concerning what makes or does not necessarily make a wa-lolita outfit I decided to put together one with my wa set, couple it up with a real obi and do some comparisons!

Wa-lolita outfit is so quick and easy to put together right?

 

False, lol, everyone knows shortcuts only lead to itamus maximus! :D First pic: me with a minimal amount of effort, the second one with as much trouble seen as possible. Obvious differences:

- The hair. If these two pics don't prove my point about how you should do your hair up for this style then I don't know what will. Even the hime cut won't make it much better (it does make me look like a rabid weeb tho).

- The shoes. I wore two different kinds of shoes for the latest wa-shoot but I chose the western pumps here. Their heavy-looking heels help balance out the outfit. I know that thin heels are often worn with kimono but that's mostly because of the differences in style, a kimono is very slender in shape, unlike a lolita dress.

- The obi, although I must say I love the yellow one with passion. Its colour compliments the dress perfectly, it's easy to wear and looks really nice when worn correctly. Alas, a lot of wearing has softened it somewhat and nowadays it often bunches up at the sides in an unflattering manner. Get a good, thick obi that stays neat, do not think you can simply use a scarf or some piece of fabric wrapped around the middle! Also remember that you should be trying to make your waist and bust disappear so pad with towels + use a sports bra/binder if you're curvaceous. An obi ita will help keep the obi nice and un-wrinkly if you have one (they're cheap if you want to buy one, don't worry).

The same outfit without the haori and with zori instead of pumps. This pair of zori is the ideal shape for wa-lolita, with poofy straps and thick soles, and still they look a bit flat somehow. I would steer clear of thin soled zori, as well as geta no matter how thick the soles of those would be - thin zori would make the outfit unbalanced and geta are hard to wear with socks on (they're slippery and should be worn barefoot anyway).

By the way, I've had to change my opinion on socks a little! I used to think wa lolita outfit with zori would definitely need tabi socks, but in fact thin lace stockings/tights work as well. They're thin enough to not look weird and wearing them is quite comfortable. I've also seen this pulled off marvelously by various kimono-wearing ladies.