fairy shopping meetup

Dear Fairies,

About a week ago, I planned my first "official" fairy kei meetup. I planned to go back-to-school shopping. Although only one girl, Jazmine, could make it out of the group, but we had a lovely little time ^_^

First off, we went to a thrift store to see what we could find. Jazmine bought quite a few things including a very cute 80s retro sweater in pastel yellow and pink with ribbons on it. I had seen this sweater on the rack first, but I decided to give it to Jazmine since she's new to the fashion and needed something super cute to add to her fairy wardrobe. As for me, I only bought two tops. One is an 80s/90s purple floral blouse with a cute scalloped collar. The other was a handmade shirt made of a sprinkles fabric which I liked a lot and decided to use as a reconstruction project.

Next, we decided to go look around a bit and saw two other resale shops. I didn't find anything I wanted to buy at either place, but Jazmine bought three sets of cute pastel hoop earrings in pink, purple, and blue as well as a bag. Of course, every place we went into people were curious about our style XD

While driving to the thrift store, I saw a frozen yogurt place which looked interesting, so I proposed we stop by and have a bite. It's a local frozen yogurt company called 

Monster Yogurt. 

 

When we walked in, all the walls and the floor were lime green. Also, while the yogurt and flavors were pretty standard, I had never seen so many toppings to put on frozen yogurt before! Not only was there a standard bar of toppings, there was a wall and a half of candies, nuts, and cereals. The picture below is about 2/3 of

 the toppings that were on the walls. On top of that, there was not a whipped cream can but a whipped cream machine.

 I got a lovely strawberry yogurt and topped it with white chocolate chips, strawberries, whipped cream, strawberry and cherry syrup, a heart gummy, and the perfect touch was some really awesome chocolate sort of things that looked like pearls. I brought Prize Popple with us too~

The yogurt here was very good, had an awesome selection of toppings, and the price was perfect! I only wish there was a Monster Yogurt in my area. I got a little photo of Jazmine with Prize and my new Hello Kitty bag.

Our last stop for the day was a little cosplay shop that just opened in a new location called Cosplay N Charm (click for their webshop!). We ended up getting a bit lost before actually finding but we made it!

 

Cosplay N Charm is more than just a cosplay store. Not only do they sell cosplay costumes, but anime merchandise, cute accessories handmade by the owners, and clothing/accessories from Korea and Japan. It was quite a cute little store with a wide variety of things from the fashionable to the anime geek. The quality of the items seemed to vary from brand name to offbrand/unknown. There was a Baby Biscuit lolita bag which Jazmine told me was definitely a real name brand item. 

Although I'm mainly fairy kei, I sometimes dabble in classic lolita, so I looked through some of their lolita style clothing and found a cute, good quality offbrand blouse from Korea to go with a lolita skirt I'm going to get soon. I went to the dressing room to try it on. The dressing room was super cute I had to take a picture. I just loved the drapes and mirror.

 The blouse was lovely, so I decided to buy it along with another sale item for only $8: green colored contact lenses!The shop sells Magic Color contact lenses. This was the first time I have bought colored contact lenses. While we were there, one of the owners was working on sewing a little panda plushie. She said that she will soon make it into a vampire panda complete with bat wings to sell at an upcoming anime con.

Although I didn't buy a whole lot of items, I had a lot of fun with Jazmine, was lucky to find such good deals on stuff, and we discovered a couple of cool places.

So, onto what I actually bought! At the thrift store, I bought two shirts. The first is a cute retro 80s/90s blouse with cute little machine embroidery flowers and butterflies on the collar for only $1. The collar is also slightly scalloped on the edges. The second is a handmade shirt made of a cool sprinkles fabric for about $1.50, which I thought would be good to reconstruct.

At Cosplay and Charm I bought green Magic Color contact lenses on sale for $8

 

I also got a Korean offbrand white long-sleeved lolita style blouse with clear sparkly buttons on sale for $10

This is great quality for offbrand as the fabric is nice, there is careful detail including darts down the back and front for a good fit. I just adore it!

 

AND a bonus My NeighborTotoro button! Cosplay N Charm was having a promotion where they were giving free anime buttons to customers. This was definitely a lovely cherry-on-top. The button is a little bigger than an inch with a good quality plastic backing. Ideally, I'd like to start accumulating more Studio Ghibli merchandise since they are the pinnacle of anime.

 What I Wore

Silver Sequin Bow: Claire’s ~ $1

Bow Clip: <$1

Rhinestone Studded Glasses: Claire’s ~$3

Han Solo Shirt: Urban Outfitters (on sale)

Petticoat: Hot Topic (full price)

Black w/ Silver Polka Dot Tights: Target (full price)

Socks: Target (full price)

Shoes w/ Beads added by me: Keds (gift)

Bracelet: made by me

Popples Button: bought on EBay (gift)

~Sparkling Ga Eul

Faith, Trust and Fairy Kei Dust!

confession #5: i think fairy kei shouldn't have to be expensive

Dear Fairies,

Yes, fairy kei can be and is much more cost effective, practical, and efficient than many other alternative fashions. This is one of the main reasons I love the fashion~ The 80s/90s kitschy aspect of fairy kei makes it easy to get clothing from thrift stores, vintage stores mainstream stores, and DIY.

Although many have tried to make excuses as to why they could never afford a fairy kei wardrobe, I beg to differ. While there are brands and stores that sell fairy-esque clothing and accessories that can get a bit pricey, they are by no means necessary in creating a super kawaii fairy look. This is similar to the “lolita on a budget” argument, except likely less expensive, with a wider scope, with more possibilities, and maybe with less leg work.

Think about a veteran street fashion like punk. Vivenne Westwood may be the most awesome punk clothing, but punk thrives on being a fashion that is solely DIY. My friend, who’s a glamorous punk doesn’t know how to sew but DIYs and thrifts like a beast and she looks amazing all the time. Only when it’s on sale and a must-have item does she splurge on Westwood.

I love shopping for vintage and thrift finds that are inexpensive online and in-store. Also, when I hit up the mall or any other mainstream stores, I always head to the sale racks for any fairy kei-able pieces. I love getting crafty and creative in designing and making my own accessories with inexpensive fabrics and odds and ends. To me, finding more ways to save money actually lends itself to the very kitschy little girl look. I love the fact that fairy kei is quite easy to shop for and doesn’t have to cost over $100 for a single outfit. I have learned to trust in my abilities to create my own look creatively on a budget. Not to mention, fairy kei is also easy to sew things for. A simple skirt or tutu with an elastic waistband or a simple empire or shift style dress could do the trick in many cases with the right fabrics.

Basically, I just love that getting “cheap” makes me think outside the box by look for fairy kei pieces in places like antique shops, flea markets, dollar sections, young girls’ sections, and even my mom’s old clothing! But remember that inexpensive doesn't have to mean lower quality. I always try to find good deals on good quality items. I don't buy inexpensive items that look like they will fall apart anytime soon. It's generally better to find good quality items with a good price than something that is both "cheap" in price and quality.

Because of all the possibilities and wide scope of fairy kei, it makes it easier to find pieces on a budget. Check out this post I put up last for a little list I compiled for “cheap” fairy kei links.

This is a typical fairy kei outfit I might wear on a given day which is comprised of items I bought from several different places. Not including the price of shoes (which are usually the most pricey items I own), this outfit cost a little less than $40 altogether (Including shoes, it comes to about $100). A Japanese brand shirt alone could cost $40 or more!

What I’m Wearing:

White Ribbon Bow w/ Pink Trim: Antique Mall <$1

Ponytail Holder: <$1

Rhinestone Studded Glasses: Claire’s ~$3

80s Pink and White Sparkly Sweater: Thrift Store ~$4

Tutu: Hot Topic ~$14

Tights: Target ~$6

Cuff Socks: Target 4 pairs~ $5

Old Shoes: Asics ~$60 (on sale)

Bow Shoe Toppers: Made by me ~$2

Necklace: Made by me <$1

Scrunchie: Made by me w/ old fabric ~$1

Princess Ribbon: Dollar Store $1

~Sparkling Ga Eul

Faith, Trust and Fairy Kei Dust!