Avoiding wardrobe malfunction, cosplay -style.

And then for something completely different.

First of all, a disclaimer: I rarely if ever cosplay anything revealing but I'm totally fine with skimpy cosplay and it takes a lot to make me jump about nudity.

All the cosplayers in this entry are doing things very, very right.

Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn, photo by Nathan Rupert.

I remember my first actual convention well. It happened in a tall building with many flights of stairs and as I was filling my cup by a water tank at the bottom of one I happened to look up...
...and still regret having done it.
There, some way above me, stood two girls in cosplay outfits that were essentially swimsuits if going by amount of fabric. Sadly they weren't made of lycra or any other figure-hugging material, and as the girls moved around the fabric folded in the front in a way that let you see absolutely everything there was underneath. Of which there were, clothing-wise, none. I would have had no problem with the outfits otherwise but like most people I seriously don't want to see some strangers' genitals as a convention surprise.

Wait, who are you to police my preferences? I can cosplay whoever I want, so what if the outfit is skimpy?

Skimpy cosplay is awesome! That said, it can be done well, extremely badly and everything in between. Just going by what the character wears is in most times not enough (think of all the Death Note's L, Naruto's Akatsuki and any Hetalia or One Piece cosplays you've ever seen, now think how many of them were actually good ones), and the same can be said about what  they do NOT wear.

It's not always a deliberate act when a cosplayer shows too much, but what to do to minimize the chances of a wardrobe malfunction?

Poison Ivy, photo by Steven Leung.

How to look good (almost) naked

Construction, construction and construction. Make sure well in advance that the outfit stays on. Be certain that if you have to walk through a sharknado your private bits will stay hidden.

I'll share a secret that I learned from Hui Lai Lee many years ago: two pairs of underwear and thick, skin colour tights (skin colour = as close to your own skin colour as possible). Wear the first pair, put tights over those, slip second pair over tights. Ta-dah, even if upskirt happens you won't show any more than planned!

Poison Ivy, photo by Steven Leung and Fanime-039, photo by by Jason.

Costume in danger of slipping away from important body parts? 

* Deep and sharp necklines can benefit from actually attaching them together in the front with something see-through. There are f.ex. bra straps that would work. These can also be used to make invisible shoulder straps for otherwise strapless tops. See both Ivy cosplayers above for construction tips!
* Sock glue has saved many a cosplayer. That said, don't let that be your only helper. Construction of the actual costume is far more important than any glue.
* Wearing something underneath because fabric on fabric is less likely to slip than fabric on skin.
* Remember to have a good posture. Slouching is one of the main reasons wardrobe malfunctions happen.
* No way you could wear a bra underneath? Gonna go the full Nudist Beach Nonon? Bandaids/stickers/pasties/etc. can help hide the nips.
* Occasionally it may even look better if you make the costume a bit more covering than the original was, or use skin colour fabrics to fake some parts. Or you may even do an AU version of your character where the costume is less revealing, see Princess Poison Ivy at the bottom of this post.

Poison Ivy 3, photo by RyC - Behind The Lens.

Prepare for the unknown.

The most important thing is that you try the costume on before the con. Shush I know you're still working on it the night before, it'll be enough to try wearing whatever's ready. Wear it the way you're planning to wear it and move around. You'll see what'll make you feel uncomfortable pretty soon.

You can also ask a friend to help - another person can tell you if something's showing where you can't see. Practice poses, see that nothing falls out when in action. Go to toilet just so you know you actually can. Take photos of the costume on yourself, and remember that some fabrics are totally see-through in photos taken with flash. All this makes enjoying the actual convention so much easier!

Princess Poison Ivy, photo by greyloch.

Lastly and most importantly

TPO - Time, Place, Occasion. There's a time, place and occasion for skimpy outfits, but make doubly sure first. A good rule of thumb would therefore be:

In a private area? Skimpy cosplay totally ok!

At a convention? Check the rules, if told to wear more at the con be prepared to do so without complaining. Some conventions allow a great deal, others don't. If it's not an actual convention at all but some other kind of a festival I'd suggest avoiding tiny costumes altogether.

At a competition? Check the rules of the competition, most times it's totally fine. However, remember that lots of photos are taken at competitions and especially the unflattering ones have a tendency for appearing on 4Chan etc.

At a public place with lots of people? Most likely no - not even in countries where public nudity is just fine, because even in those countries acceptable nudity is usually restricted to certain areas (saunas, bathing areas and so forth). If, however, you've made your outfit actually more covering than the original by f.ex. using skin colour fabrics you may be safer. Be prepared to wear more if requested, and also know you'll be stared at a lot and people may take photos of you and - again - post them wherever they want to.

At a public place that rarely has people, such as a sea shore that's not a beach? Use your own judgement here. If no one sees it no one's going to mind.

(And then I added more photos because these cosplayers were too good to be left out.)

Poison Ivy by GabboT.

Poison Ivy by Stefan Schubert.

Also by GabboT N.M.Jean as Poison Ivy.

Create a Flower Themed Coordinate

Lolita Blog Carnival -time guys! The theme is as title says and I decided to get a little ambitious about it, although to be honest these coords are more flower-influenced than -themed. Now bear with me for a bit, I'm going to ramble a bit a lot in this post, and this may be only part 1 of the flower series, because a week is only so long and I didn't manage to finish my even-ambitiouser sewing projects. To keep things more interesting I went for a different lolita style for each entry (and if there'll be that part 2 I'll continue this theme as well).

Baldursbrá

Photo by Jutta234.

This is my SO's favourite flower, the sea mayweed. It grows in huge groups like the one above and survives in amazingly bad conditions, namely the harsh sea-side weather. Icelanders have traditionally used this flower as a herb tea ingredient: it has a faintly sweet taste that reminds of chamomile, but is not as overpowering.

This also links to my grandparents via another flower that resembles Baldursbrá, the oxeye daisy. Icelanders call it Freyjubrá, over here both flowers are connected to the Norse Gods. Here's a ghost story about the oxeye daisy that happened in my own family.

Daisies were my grandmother's favourite flowers. They grew in small clumps at her and grandpa's summer cottage but alas, on the lawn, and grandpa didn't see a point of going around them when he mowed the lawn. Therefore grandma got some heavy rocks out of the lake and made a small circle around one group of daisies, and since grandpa also didn't see a point of going to the trouble of removing the rocks (which would have been a rather spiteful act anyway) he let them be. This is why the well-mowed lawn had a tiny bush of daisies growing on it.

Grandma died at fairly young age. After her death mowing down any daisies was strictly banned by grandpa at the cottage and this habit took on so well that I still can't quite bring myself to go over the daisies, now that grandpa's gone as well, though they grow wider every year and have by now taken over a tenth of the lawn. Whenever you start the lawn mower you get this feeling of being watched - a feeling very common from my childhood days when grandpa stood by the lake to keep an eye on the grandchildren swimming there, especially my somewhat unruly cousin - and here's another thing about the summer cottage, it's haunted.

Furniture moves on its own. Once when we were staying at the cottage I told the SO stories of things falling out of the shelves, the food cupboard emptying itself out entirely in one big crash, car keys going missing and being found in a jar of jam in the fridge without anyone knowing how they got there (there were people in the room the whole time and no one went to the fridge), things like that, that always coincided when someone spoke of doing something that grandpa had disapproved of while he had been alive. I then made a silly comment on how grandpa would probably do something similar if he didn't approve of the SO.

A moment later we noticed one of the chairs had turned 180° around. I take it that this was grandpa's joke, because when he REALLY disapproves things go flying. Nevertheless I've made a decision to never ask him for any kind of signs of his presence ever again.

Viola/violet

Photo by Danielle Scott.

My mother's favourite flower that's always found in several colours in her garden, the above colour combination seems to be the one that's most to her liking (although when my mother's concerned all violas/violets are awesome). When I get my own garden I'm going to reserve a bed for these little pretties!

My mother's every bit a gardener's daughter, so most of my childhood memories have her invariably either standing in the kitchen or rummaging in the garden. To this day I can't properly think of any place as my home if it doesn't have potted plants because our homes have always been full of them, and by full I mean they cover most horizontal spaces and hang from the ceiling as well. Not to mention I can at any time picture what my mum's hands look like with dirt all over them, and pair her gardening positions with a matching plant. 

Crouching down - violets, water lilies. Kneeling, any plant smaller than a violet. A yoga-posture like knees-straight + butt-up = strawberries, potatoes. Mildly bent in a way that makes your back hate you afterwards - planting a tree, cleaning the decorative pool, picking red currants. Black currants are always picked in a crouched down position. Dragging around branches of evergreens - rhododendrons, and winter is coming.

Cornflower

Photo by Donarreiskoffer.

Or ruiskukka (= rye flower) as it's known in Finland, since for obvious weather reasons we cannot grow corn. This was my other grandmother's favourite flower, the one who passed away earlier this year. Quite a woman she was, very typically Häme Finn. She loved depressingly sad music and could belt it out with an unsuitably happy mood. She was always very interested in what the neighbours were doing and who were visiting them. She had that strange quality where small annoyances were worth a long complaint and real problems had their place in jokes, or sideways comments that ended up with a "let's not make a fuss about it though" (= ei tehrä tästä ny numeroo / let's leave it entirely and don't tell anyone I said any of this).

Here's some of my grandma's favourite music! ):D

Peltoniemen Hintriikan surumarssi/The Funeral March of Hintriikka of Peltoniemi.

Hintriikka is dead, and the song lists the tragedies of her life. She was born poor, got to visit the church three times in her life one of which was her funeral, married but her husband died young. This song is often titled the most depressing song ever made in Finland.

Ontuva Eriksson/Limping Eriksson.

Eriksson is a poor old guy who dies and goes to Heaven - or does he? No, he watches people enter through the pearly gates but deems himself not worthy of joining "the fine people" who he's accustomed into thinking as his betters. Instead he sits outside of the gates and puts his begging hat down and is happy in his own way, because "it doesn't look like rain tonight and not a policeman in sight". The song ends with the line "it's best for you to stay outside of the gates - or is it, Eriksson?"

Geranium

Photo by Dena Michele Rosko.

...yes, two versions. I can't decide which I like better, the salmon pink or the white geranium, so I went for both. This was one of my grandpa's (again, not the ghost, the other) favourites. He was a gardener and managed to grow one geranium, or pelargonia/pelakuu, into a huge bush over a metre tall. It now belongs to my mother.

Hey, since the other grandpa got a story this one should get one too, right? Not a ghost story but perhaps still somewhat supernatural.

He injured his arm while working in forest and it became badly infected. The situation was so dire that the doctor decided amputation was the only option (this was the time before penicillin, mind) and so he was taken in the hospital for the night.

While he slept he dreamed he was walking in a garden he didn't know, but knew he owned. It spread out in front of a large house he had never seen before but, as dreams put it, was also his. He was much older in the dream and, most importantly, had both arms.

When he woke up he made it clear that he would not go through the amputation and no amount of convincing turned his head. The arm ended up healing, and although the infection did harm at the nerves so that he could never straighten two of his fingers again he didn't die and could keep both his arms - and many years after he indeed built the house, and the garden as well.

***

Well, that was a long entry! Thank you for reading, I hope I didn't entirely waste your time. :)

Photo by Anita.

Other blogs partaking in this theme:

* Gothic Strawberry * Elegant Poupée * Sleeping Sweets * Whimsical Adventures of Me *

The little bird called Enza.

"I had a little bird

Its name was Enza.

I opened up the window and

In flew Enza."

(Children's skipping rhyme, 1918)

Holy damn it's been a 100% miserable week since Wednesday but I'm finally seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. I had influenza, and by influenza I mean the real thing and not a common cold. If the world is fair I'll never have to have another one ever again!

Almost everyone in this house has had it or is suffering of it at the moment. We're all coughing here as if on cue - one begins and others follow suit one by one. According to the news Iceland has three different types of influenza going on at the moment, but as they all have more or less the same symptoms I can't really wager a guess as to which one I had. The most cases of influenza are in south-west Iceland which coincidentally is where we also live, but this could be just because most of Iceland's population can be found in this area. So, er, lie - massive lie - statistics.

The most unusual thing about this illness is how suddenly it began. I was planning my daily schedule and minding my own business, feeling totally ok when all of a sudden I just felt randomly afraid. I could not place the feeling at all and it intensified quickly until I realized that it actually was not an emotion but all of my muscles hurting at the same time (this was a pretty weird realization), and then I literally collapsed on the floor and couldn't move. I was totally conscious but couldn't move, that's how much it hurt. 

Eventually I pulled my socks up enough to crawl to the shower and sat there under hot water until the muscle pain went away, just as suddenly as it had arrived. The next thing I knew I had fever and was coughing like mad. From the start to this was maybe about 15min.

From Wed-Fri I've had non-stop fever that came and went in waves. For an hour I might be feeling ok and the temperature was down to 37°C but in the next moment it jumped a whole degree - rapidly. Everything happened extremely fast in this illness except the lowering of the temperature, after that quick jump up it steadily crept down and stayed down for a moment before the next leap. Thankfully I never had worse than 39°C (on Thursday). Compared to a normal cold this was something evil, like a distilled misery of everything cold-ish. It was entirely different, just like getting hit with a ping pong bat compares with getting hit by a speeding truck. Both of them hurt but you're not coming up anytime soon if you get the truck.

Today's feels with maximum dramatic enhancement: The Convalescent by Helene Schjerfbeck.

Not much got done all week except for sleeping or attempting to sleep. On the lower temperature moments I tried to catch up with the internets but that was futile, not to mention useless, I cannot brain while having this bug and the light of the screen quickly began to hurt my eyes. I missed the Lolita Blog Carnival's theme post which is a bit annoying because I liked the theme a lot, but I still can't muster the energy to actually put together a coord. Maybe I could do some clip art... oooooooor I could just go back the bed and read Master and Margarita. There'll be more LBC theme posts in the future.

I feel much better today although I'm still coughing somewhat badly, have chills and a feeling like my breath pipes are full of goo (they are, I can hear it when I breathe)(I have also coughed up evidence, sry 'bout the tmi). I'll destroy something cute and fluffy if I'm getting a bronchitis after I'm done with the virus, but I have this stupid tendency for it due to asthma so maybe I won't be able to avoid it... oh well, since I can finally taste something I'll just hit the oranges and hope for the best...

ALL BLUE

Another yukata coord.

If you were to ask me what kind of items you should start with when buying kimono and obi, I'd say that unless you have a special reason to go formal right away, try to find things that have the maximum amount of coordinating possibilities instead. It may be a good idea to start with a yukata set because they're the easiest to wear, but if you're planning on beginning to gather together a wardrobe, lined komon and iromuji are the two types of kimono that I've found the most usable, especially because I live in a cold country.

For obi, a nagoya is the most versatile as an obi type for women. There are other factors that define just how formal a nagoya obi looks like, but regardless of that it can technically speaking go with any yukata and kimono except for five crested ones and furisode. Even there can be small exceptions - if the obi is very fancy and the furisode has a simple design you may be able to coordinate them! 

However, these occasions have to be looked at case by case: not just any nagoya obi can be worn with whatever kimono. It's safer to say that almost any nagoya obi does go with yukata that are meant to be worn with juban, komon and one crested iromuji, in short, all informal kimono. This site has a very handy chart and some good tips on what can potentially go with what (for both men and women), just remember that the chart is meant to show what could technically go with what if the combination is otherwise acceptable.

Well, what kind of a yukata is meant to be worn with a juban? Isn't yukata actually meant to be worn without one?

At its origin yukata was a bathing robe and as such was worn without a juban. With time the garment evolved somewhat, even if the most basic yukata still is the bathing robe/sleep wear you'll see in onsens and hotels. These onsen/hotel yukata are always worn without a juban and usually without a proper obi too, tied by a simple sash that makes dressing and undressing fast and easy.

(Btw be careful when wearing a yukata instead of a pajama. I tried this once in a hotel in Kyoto and let's just say it sort of disappear during the night.)

A good rule of thumb is that if the yukata is see-through it's definitely meant to be worn over a juban. :D Another one is the material it's made of. Cotton? Can likely go both ways unless the cotton is the thick "onsen-type". Silk? Always a juban. No fashion police is going to run at you for faulty juban-wearing though, so don't worry about that too much, just wear one if you need it but remember that if you add one your yukata's formality goes up a step. Some people would even say that a fancy yukata is on par with a komon kimono, or even above if the komon is very basic and the yukata is glamorous.

Well, this yukata definitely is a bit unusual by the pattern but the material is good quality cotton and it's not see-through, which means that it can be worn both with- and without a juban. Like earlier mentioned, multi-coordinating possibilities are always a huge plus! I decided to pair it with this sort of old-fashioned looking obi to both make the obi look more "fresh" and the yukata more "toned down".

By the way, something that I've been wondering about this obi (a nagoya obi, folded in half and the tesaki is stitched together) is that the tare part is really long, which always makes tying the otaiko a little bit challenging. The flower pattern is gorgeous though, so today I decided to just tie a tall otaiko just so I could show all of the best part of it.

Wa-lolita tips.

What works: almost everything!

What doesn't work: no obvious mistakes.

What could be improved: the obi could look tidier but aside of that this is lovely as is.

I've collected here some tips on how to make a wa-lolita outfit look good. I'm going to briefly mention the things that I spoke of before in this entry and add some details that will help you create a more accurate look - but that's only if you're striving for extra kimono influence in the outfit. Basing a lolita outfit on the standards of wearing kimono is a whole different thing than just wearing a sode-sleeved outfit, and after having tried it for a while I thought to collect all the little tips and tricks here that I've found to work. Don't take them as rules though, they're a) written from the point of view of kimono-wearing and b) by a total amateur.

Wa-lolita is first and foremost a lolita style, therefore keep the rules of lolita as your main ones. Have the right shape - shorts with a wa-top are not wa-lolita. Use a petticoat, use good quality materials, don't show too much skin. The wa-part of the style does not excuse you to look cheap, quite the contrary: the kimono influence should make you up the modesty! You can look sexy in wa-lolita outfit but bear in mind that the sexiness should come the same way as in a kimono: it has to be elegant and not over-the-top, and you can't do it by showing lots of skin - it very unlikely to work. Ero-lolita is difficult enough a style on its own, combining it with wa-lolita is almost certainly going to fail miserably.

Qi-lolita takes influence from Chinese styles, not Japanese.

Don't confuse wa-lolita with qi-lolita. This is quite rude to both cultural backgrounds and you can bet your frilly butt on that someone's going to correct you. Don't try shortcuts, wearing this style takes just as long (if not longer) than every other lolita style. I feel like I'm on a repeat here but do your hair, do your make-up, see that the colours look good together, yadda yadda.

However, the above rules are just the lolita part of the equation. Here's how you make the wa-side of it look accurate:

What works: the colour combination is not overtly garish.

What doesn't work: cheap materials, cheap combo, shiny fabric, accentuated waist, the long sleeves make everything look a little bit worse still.

What could be improved: there's too much wrong for that.

Sleeves

While a very important part of the look, kimono sleeves are not a necessity. You can skip them if the outfit has enough kimono influence otherwise. Metamorphose has made some really wonderful JSKs - check them out!

A good rule of thumb is that the larger your sleeves, the tidier your look has to be. The longer the sleeves of a kimono are the formal a garment it is. Just look how massively accessorized furisode coords are, flaunting some of the most glamorous obis there are, wildest obiage styles, jewellery, fur collars, fancy hairstyles etc. etc. If your sleeves are longer than your skirt you should pay double the attention to all the following points.

This means that the longer the sleeves are the easier your other mistakes are to see and likewise if the sleeves are shorter you'll get away with less effort. Hair hanging open? Better with short sleeves. Narrow obi/using a corset as an obi? Better with short sleeves. With long sleeves you're facing two hurdles: one of them is that the sleeves are going to be the most prominent part of your outfit so you'll have to balance them out somehow: the point of wearing kimono is that the coord should direct the viewer's eyes to your face, not sleeves. The other hurdle is the aforementioned really long sleeves making all your mistakes a little bit more obvious.

What works: there's a good level of busyness vs. plain colour + details, the combo works for the long sleeves.

What doesn't work: the belt is a big no, the shape doesn't work for wa-lolita and it seems to be too tight - all that material bunched up underneath it looks bad.

What could be improved: new obi plus I would remove the shoulder ties - they don't do anything for this outfit. I would wear a larger petti, long sleeves demand more poof!

If your sleeves go all the way to your knees I suggest wearing a wide, well-stiffened obi or an obi ita underneath it (obi itas are way cheap so don't worry about getting one, those couple of dollars are going to put all the difference into your outfit). Tie the obi - or whatever you've chosen to wear - high on your chest. The longer the sleeves the higher the obi has to be. Again, short sleeves give you more leeway with this part, but furisode length dictates a somewhat youthful, borderline childish style so you should also be wearing your obi on the same "age-level".

And finally, after all the above tips... get some extra poof for your skirt. Nothing dampens a long sleeve wa-lolita look as well as a flat skirt. The larger your skirts the better they help balance out your long sleeves!

What works: the obi looks great, the colours and patterns are well combined, the body shape is correct.

What doesn't work: the skirt is way too short, the shape of the sleeves does not work.

What could be improved: I would wear another skirt underneath to give it both length and more volume.

Body shape

The following will go against every beauty standard you're used to if you're from the West, but for a style based on wearing a kimono they're crucial. They won't make you look "less pretty", trust me. Getting the right shape for your coord only serves to make it look like you know what you're doing, besides wa-lolita style is one that brings out your legs and neck the best so don't try to take the spotlight away from them.

To begin with a kimono outfit avoids curves like the plague. It's a good idea to flatten your boobs if they, like mine, magically turn five cupsizes larger in a kimono. Pad the waist too, accentuating it makes the coord look cheaper. You can get away with a prominent waist too but as the first tip states, the longer your sleeves the unlikelier it is to look good.

What works: I like it as it is! It's a bit old school.

What doesn't work: no actual mistakes.

What could be improved: an obi could be added to it, and maybe another kind of shoes.

Shoes

Go for something big is a good rule of the thumb. No ballerina flats (unless of course they look really good - rule number one in lolita outfits: look good and you can happily dump the rest of the rules), careful with slender heels, but likewise wearing platforms may not always be the right choice. Choose your shoes according to the lolita style you're going for. Is the outfit gothic in style? You may get away with platform boots. Classic? Slender heels might work well here. Rocking Horse shoes are nearly always a safe choice, but if you don't like them as a look there's absolutely no reason you should get them. Still, the longer the sleeves the clunkier the shoes is another good rule of the thumb.

What works: I like that it isn't too complicated in design. The colours go well together.

What doesn't work: the obi looks a bit strange - that strip of fabric in the middle that's the same as in the main outfit looks unnecessary and makes the coord look like a costume.

What could be improved: a new obi.

Colours, patterns

Wa-lolita coords are often inexcusably garish. Different pattern for the top and the bottom is no big problem but if both are busy and bright you're easily making yourself an eyesore. Look at it from lolita POV: would you still wear the combo if it was an ordinary lolita look? Wa-lolita gives more leeway with the combinations of course, but if your first reaction is "omg ew no" then there's a good reason to begin to doubt the coord.

What works: ...er... I don't know...

What doesn't work: this doesn't even look like wa-lolita anymore, rather a bathing robe. A cheap one.

What could be improved: don't bother trying.

Here's some ideas:

- Go for simple patterns. Simple is always easy to make look good, besides you can add a lot of stuff to it without it becoming tacky.

- If you go for a busy pattern instead, tone it down with the rest of the stuff. Use large blocks of single colour to balance out the busy. Black is a bad choice though: it accentuates the colourful part, making the busy look double-busy. It's even better to have the whole outfit of the same colourful fabric instead of pairing it up with black and then wearing a simple, plain, one colour obi.

- A busy pattern likewise should have few details. If you use lace use good quality - never the cheap plastic-y rachel lace mess seen so often in wa-lolita outfits. Skipping the lace altogether might be a good idea too, consider a ruffle instead - or even better, no extra details at all.

What works: hahaha this is everyone's favourite piece to hate, but actually it looks pretty nice in a yukata-ish way! I like the placement of the pattern on the sleeves.

What doesn't work: the obi however is honestly awful. Skirt looks too short.

What could be improved: another skirt underneath for more length, this one also needs a good petticoat. Better obi, definitely.

Yukata/kimono top

There's at least one DIY pattern on how to make a wa-lolita top out of a yukata and while it's not a bad one, those sharp pointy ends really don't do much for the look. Cutting it short doesn't work either, especially when people cut it way too short. That little fold called ohashori that you see peeking out from under the obi is not only a visual treat, it's crucial for wearing a kimono or a yukata. Without it your collars won't stay put and you'll end up with way more cleavage than you wanted to. There are many helpful guides online for wearing a yukata/kimono that will teach you how this part is made.

Once you've mastered it (I say mastered but it's actually kind of easy) you can try to just gather the yukata/kimono up instead of chopping it. Traditional Japanese clothing is all about folding, gathering, tucking up and tying down, and I've so far found at least three different ways of wearing a full length yukata/kimono with a lolita skirt.

What works: the colour combos are good, interesting shape for a sleeve and I love the huge bow in the back.

What doesn't work: the obi has the same problem as another one that I already showed: those strips of fabric in it make the whole look costumish and cheap. 

What could be improved: someone wash model-san's face please, that's way too much make-up! Seriously speaking I would remove that cheap looking lace from the skirt. The obi needs more oomph to it, maybe accessories to give it more volume - an obiage alone might make all the difference.

Obi/belt

This is mostly a personal opinion but I find a wide belt always better looking than a narrow one. Especially so if the sleeves are long, I've never seen a coord that would have successfully combined a narrow belt with furisode length sleeves. I may be entirely wrong here though so feel free to point me outfits that succeed in this!

The quality of the obi is not a big issue though, as wa-lolita is a street style. If anything it should look flat and suit the chosen style but other than that it's all free game. You don't necessarily even have to wear an actual obi - I've seen some good ones that use wide belts or corsets - but an obi is the safest choice and therefore recommendable. They aren't expensive either: go for a pre-tied yukata obi and possibly an obi ita and you're all safe. Just remember to check that your boobs aren't hanging over it because that's a bit tacky.

Btw nothing stops you from wearing a fancy obi either. It should always be better quality than the rest of your outfit anyway, so if you have one that would suit the style you have in mind, go for it! I'm merely pointing out that there are many affordable options that are very easy to make look good, so don't turn away from the idea of using a real obi just because you've always been told that they're hard to use/uncomfortable to wear/expensive. :)

What works: this is a really cute combo and the model wears it really well! I like it as it is.

What doesn't work: no complaints.

What could be improved: it's good as is.

With all this said, never take fashion dead seriously. You're allowed to play around with it and have fun, there are no laws to what you can and can't do, at least not in the Western world (aside of that whenever taking influence from other cultures it's a good idea to do so respectfully). Especially don't mistake me for an authority on the issue: these tips are all either gained through personal experience, are my own opinions or found and agreed with elsewhere. Main thing about lolita is - have fun and look your best!

Is wa-lolita cultural appropriation?

Oh my god this combo has my heart.

I've been meaning to write about this for a long time but the subject is difficult! Well, let's see.

Yes and no. Let's first bear in mind that wa-lolita is a street style created by the Japanese themselves. It was not made by Westerners who wanted to appropriate the kimono and it's not a piece of traditional clothing, no matter how much influence it draws from traditional styles. However, the style we're talking about is still a Japanese street style, just like the style it came out of, lolita. In a way all non-Japanese lolitas of all kinds are already borrowing from another culture's clothing style but of course, the lolita style itself has been appropriated from another culture to begin with (and in fact so is the kimono).

An important point whenever looking at such cultural interaction is to remember the level of formality. Is the outfit something everyone can wear in the country of origin, or does it have limits? Icelandic sweaters are for anyone but the national costume is not, regardless of the fact that both items of clothing carry heavy cultural value. The difference lies in that the national costume is one of the most formal outfits this country has while the sweater is an everyday piece of clothing, nowadays even worn by young people who have added it to various street styles.

Street styles are just fashion and fashion comes and goes as opposed to traditional clothes that have a cemented part in the culture they rise from. Wa-lolita is an extremely marginal style even in Japan and it clearly isn't accepted as formal wear there, so I don't think a foreigner wearing it is any more offensive than a Japanese person wearing the same thing, which means that yes, both Japanese and foreign lolitas are equally capable of wearing it offensively if they disregard their surroundings.

Very basic but quite alright! In fact basic designs are your friend when it comes to wa, less is more etc.

Think of it as f.ex. a guest wearing a long white dress to somebody else's wedding: the dress itself may not be offensive but the fact that it's flaunted at a wrong place and at the wrong time certainly is. Street wear, likewise, belongs in its own area - the "street" iow the most informal situations of them all. Hanging out with friends downtown? Lolita ok! Going to a convention? Lolita ok! Going to a wedding? Be sure you know the bride's opinion first. And for heaven's sake don't go wearing shiro.

Another example: going to a private gathering? A non-glamorous lolita look most likely ok! Wait, is the host Japanese? Make sure you know their opinion on lolita first.* There's going to be a tea ceremony? Don't even think of going in lolita and LEAST of all in a showy style, such as wa-lolita. It's politeness code that matters again: the tea ceremony host might even be a lolita herself but the etiquette of a tea ceremony dictates simple, toned down clothes.

I can't even begin to list everything that's wrong with this one. At least it's not a miniskirt...

You often hear the phrase "...as long as it's worn respectfully" in context with any kimono look, but I think it's safe to say that this applies to any clothes you ever choose. Even a t-shirt can be worn disrespectfully, as Britney Spears illustrated by first receiving a rare, collectible tour t-shirt and then having it cut up so that it was deemed "sexy" enough for the stage. Let's note though that the band itself did not seem half as insulted by this as their fanbase was. :D But yeah, respectfully, what does that mean? In my opinion the best way to explain the idea is "by wearing it the way it's supposed to be worn". Don't make changes in it that the people who it belongs to would not do, and when you do see them change it, make sure you know why that is.

Keeping the Japanese clothes as my example point, a visual kei band might wear kimono related items pulled off the shoulder or way too short and at one point it seemed to be quite popular. This does not mean that anyone could do the same though, it's the style of that particular group and they carry it with both the good and the bad that comes with it, and possibly would not wear it as their daily style. You can also be sure that it's not acceptable as a look to anyone save for the people who are into it already, meaning a tiny percentage of Japanese people as a whole.

The parasol does not help.

When it comes to wa-lolita, wearing it respectfully means very much the same as "doing lolita right". Don't oversexualize it, lolita is a modest style and wa-lolita is no exception. Don't just chop a yukata in half and call it a day, any lolita look needs to be well coordinated and thought-of. Do the make-up, do the hair. Don't just pepper the outfit with random Japanese items, thinking that that makes it more wa - you don't turn a sweet style to gothic by adding a cross and a black coffin purse, or think that adding a whopload of pastel hairpins to a classic look makes it insta-OTT sweet either.

The fact that you buy something online that's titled "wa-lolita" does not mean you actually purchased a wa-lolita outfit, any more than buying a dress titled "lolita" gets you a beautiful lolita dress. Just think of Blllanoooo (the company that shall not be named). No lolita style should look cheap, and again wa-lolita is no exception.

Not too shabby at all! Now if only that obi looked less frumpy...

The only time you should carefully consider how to wear the wa-aspect of your outfit respectfully is when you look at the kimono influence in it. A magic trick for getting it to look correct is in the obi: wear a good one that looks like, or is, an actual obi. Don't just drape a scarf around your midsection, and don't accentuate your waist. Rather try tying your breasts down a bit and padding your waist, and consider buying an obi-ita if you can so that the obi sits flat. The obi doesn't have to be an expensive one,** as long as it actually looks like an obi you're safe. For example, a tsuke/tsukuri obi is a perfect choice. They're very informal, often worn with yukatas, easy to put on, easy to make look tidy and completely in line with the formality level of a wa-lolita outfit (= very informal by kimono standards).

In short wa-lolita is cultural "appropriation" in a way, but a way that goes to both directions: it's a style taking influence of another culture and then mixing the influence of its own culture with it to create a substyle. I would actually rather call it cultural interaction, because claiming that someone's culture was taken away or mocked by the fashion becoming popular outside of the country of its origin sounds absolutely redundant. Wearing wa-lolita is ok no matter where you're from. The only problems lie in how you wear it, when and where: always take in the situation first, and if you deem it suitable for such a showy and informal style, go for it!


*This does not mean that the people of all other ethnicities are totally cool with lolita, just saying that as a Westerner, classic lolita style fits within our culture so well that it's considered appropriate look for, yes, even weddings as long as it doesn't outshine the bride.

**I just realized that I probably don't need to feel too concerned when talking to a (mostly) lolita audience about the cost of clothes lol.