Betsey Johnson Serenn Platforms - Lita Lookalikes

Who doesn't like Litas? Yeah, they're kind of becoming a cliché, but admit it - they're pretty cute.

Jeffrey Campbell Lita Platform Boot in Slate Suede, currently $162 at NastyGal.

I'm not the kind of person to spend that much money on shoes, though, so I've been looking around for an alternative and came up with these:

 

Betsey Johnson Serenn Platforms in Gray Suede, currently $29.99 at Street Moda (MSRP $160)

I've never bought anything from Street Moda before, so I was a little apprehensive - the rather eclectic brand collection seemed a bit strange, but they have an A+ ranking from the BBB and a quick Google search turned up a good amount of positive reviews, so I gave it a shot.

Outfit 03/28/12 - Hello, Heidi!

What I wore today:

Blouse: Mossimo (Target)

Salopette: Ank Rouge

Safety shorts: 五分埔 (Wufenpu, wholesale garment district of Taipei)

Shoes: Journee Collection

Socks: Forever21

Necklace: gift from my brother's girlfriend

Awkward hands are awkward.

K was sick today, and when I stopped by to see him, he said, “Hello, Heidi!” Funny thing is, my parents almost named me Heidi…I’m glad they didn’t, though.

I don't own any ankle socks but wanted to try out the trend, so I folded up a pair of knee socks! It works pretty well I think (looks a little chunky up close, but not too bad). This is the first time I wore these shoes, I think, even though I bought them about half a year ago - never had the right outfit for them.

Outfit 03/26/12

What I wore today:

Tank top: Wholesale7
Cardigan: 59 Seconds
Skirt: Tralala
Boots: Colin Stuart
Bow: my mom's from when she was in college ~30 years ago

Didn't really go anywhere in this, just one class and then the health center to get a TB test done. It's starting to get hot here and the boots trap heat. I think this might have looked better with fishnets but I'm not too comfortable wearing those around school.

Wearing clip-in bangs. A little shiny, but not terrible.

Popteen April 2012 - Capsule Wardrobes x 5

April's Popteen has Tsubasa Masukawa on the cover, promoting her new singing career as "Milky Bunny." I have to say, I thought she would be one of those annoying squeaky-voiced can't-sing-ers, but her voice is actually pretty strong.

Anyway, that's not the point of this post ^^; I really like the "capsule wardrobe" articles, where 15-20 items are chosen and put into various combinations to create lots of unique outfits, and the April issue features wardrobes by 5 different Popteen models, each using 17 items to come up with 14 outfits.

Collection 1: くみっきー (Kumicky)
Collection 2: みずきてぃ (Mizukitty)
Collection 3: まりも (Marimo)
Collection 4: おかりえ (Okarie)
Collection 5: ぴかり (Pikari)

WanBoo (Rakuten Thrift Store)/Tenso (Forwarding Service) Review

I made made my first purchase from Rakuten recently, taking advantage of their ¥1000 shipping promotion with Tenso.

Overall, I'm really happy with Tenso's service, and I would definitely use them again. I was also very happy with the quality and price of the clothing I bought from Wanboo, a thrift store with a Rakuten storefront.

Ray April 2012 - 10 Clothing Items for Spring

Ray is probably my favorite fashion magazine - everything always looks so wearable. April's Ray has a special on 100 looks focused on 10 big clothing items for spring (with 10 looks based on each item):

1. Yurutero Jacket
2. Color Bottom
3. Tulle Skirt
4. Flower-print One-Piece
5. White Knit Outer
6. Bicolor Tops
7. Loose Knit
8. Happy Print
9. Gingham Check
10. Bijoux Tops

Innocent World 10th Anniversary Skirt (Pink)

Bought my first lolita brand item - Innocent World's 10th Anniversary Skirt in pink.

How to Order from Tokyo Fashion

Notice 12/2015: I have not purchased from Tokyo Fashion since this was originally written and do not intend to do so in the future. Their website has since changed and I am unfamiliar with current procedures. As such, I am unable to answer email inquiries regarding the ordering process. This post will be left up only as a reference in case it is helpful.

Click here for updated tutorial

Tokyo Fashion (東京著衣) is a popular Taiwanese brand founded by Mayuki Zhou in 2005. Along with its sister brands Mayuki and YOCO, Tokyo Fashion is one of the top Taiwanese webstores, and they have consistently good quality. Their styles often get copied by Chinese wholesalers, unfortunately, but if you want the real thing you can buy directly from them - they ship internationally, and the price works out to about the same as a wholesale site anyway.

You have to sign up with their system to order, but then you actually order by email. Even though they do have instructions on their site, only the general instructions are in English, and I thought that non-Chinese-speakers might have some difficulty navigating, so I made a quick guide.

Part I: Signing Up

Part II: Shopping

Part III: Placing an Order

Warning: image heavy! Click on the images to expand.

Please feel free to make suggestions for improving this guide! I am constantly revising it to help provide the most updated information.

Comments have been closed because most of them are questions about things that have already been explained. If you have any questions or suggestions, please email me.

Last revision: August 23, 2012

Tokyo Fashion Review

I made my first online purchase directly from Tokyo Fashion on February 7, 2012. I've bought their clothes from YesStyle before, as well as the now-defunct angiehearts.net. I love the styles, quality, and price of their clothes - but the YesStyle markup is ridiculous, and most of the other places using Tokyo Fashion stock photos are really selling cheap replicas...for about the same price as the originals. Tokyo Fashion has two slightly-more-upscale sister brands, Mayuki and YOCO, but all are sold in the same webstore.

Tokyo Fashion is Taipei-based, and their clothes are manufactured in Hong Kong.

Minimum international order at Tokyo Fashion is supposedly 15 pieces according to their overseas instructions, but readers have told me that they've gotten away with fewer items, and at least one person was told by Tokyo Fashion that the actual minimum is 5 items. In any case, if you're a few items short you can easily add some light, cheap items to reach the item minimum without inflating your shipping cost too much (shipping is pretty expensive, as they only ship EMS).

Read on for an overview, timeline, reviews, and a price comparison with YesStyle.

Outfit 03/10/12

New blog, first post. I used to keep track of what I wore, but found that limiting and so stopped. This will be a loose collection of (mostly) fashion/beauty-related stuff, none of it serious or high fashion (hence the name "I am not high fashion" - I'm really not at all, and not interested in it).

What I wore today: