Season 2 - Episode 8: My Ouji Starter Pack & Some Chocolate Throwback

"Ship's Log, Stardate 94184.97: 

I'm getting pretty good milage out of my first ouji items.

These are the 6 items I purchased so that I could start practicing ouji!

My "ouji starter pack" contains: 

- Putumayo Long Vest in Wine

- F+F Silence Lonely Vest in Black

- F+F Whale Bones Bay Vest in Black

- Putumayo Prince Pants in Wine

- Putumayo Prince Pants in Pinstripe Black

- F+F Beyond the End of Time Breeches in Black

I stuck to the same narrow color palette I use for my lolita items, so I could squeeze as many combinations out of them as possible, and also so that I could coord them with many of the blouses, tights, and shoes that I already have.

(Lg = main piece, Sm = secondary/accessories)

It would have been a lot harder had I started with something that had a print, a colorful pinstripe, or was a salopette style (and was therefore unable to wear the pants separately from the vest), so I am glad I began with those six pieces.

Here are my top ten ouji coords using those items:

I have been utilizing some of the White, Ivory, and Black blouses from my lolita wardrobe. The first is Putumayo, the rest are mostly F+F with an Atelier Pierrot worn in #5 and an offbrand swap meet trade in #6. Other hair accessories make their way in, but I trimmed the bicorn and tricorn specifically for ouji.

The shoes I use for both are the black offbrand OTK boots, black Christian Siriano booties (super inexpensive!), brown Tribeca oxfords, and my wine Fluevogs (which I'm wearing with Putumayo shoe clips in #5).

I am starting to feel super same-y, though, so I'd like to start branching out into some less versatile pieces and larger investments, like an AatP salopette or a long Atelier Boz jacket.

While on the hunt for some new ouji digs, I'll be rocking a few more dresses.

Up next in the rotation are Gobelin Crest, one of the salopettes, and Electric Circus in the Moonlight Night (thank you, google docs), but before I get to them, I wanted to go through and re-try a few I have in storage.  I don't wear them for one reason or another, and yet I am too attached to sell them.

One of them is AP's Melty Royal Creamy Chocolate JSK in brown (Edit: the names are starting to run together in my head at this point XD).  I loved it the moment I saw it and even got to volunteer to model it in pink, which encouraged me to purchase it in brown.

Somehow, it looked okay in the show...  I'm in here somewhere!
(https://www.facebook.com/pg/RedEnvelopePhotos/photos/?tab=album&album_id=496957193766794)

My biggest issue with it is that without a positively overwhelming amount of underskirt, it makes me look like a toad that robbed a pageant queen.  It just looks tight and uncomfortable and way too short and ugh!  They must have worked some alteration magic on that pink one, because it sure looks okay to me.

I decided to give it one more go with some buttons moved around to allow it to sit a little lower and more comfortably.  I tried really hard to keep things balanced for such a short dress - the sock height, hair volume, and shoe weight were key - so I could just be comfortable and not have to hold my breath or hunch over.

I gave the crown another go as well, why not?
I always pair this dress with that same chocolate box headdress, so this is a nice change of pace.

I am feeling a lot better about it - not great enough to throw it back into the rotation, but enough that I am definitely not selling it at this time.   I'll keep trying it until I am certain one way or the other, and at least the dress is getting love instead of hiding away.  Who knows, maybe all it needs are a few simple (ahem - pro!, as in cannot do myself!) alterations?

If you've got any tips for a 5'6", long torso-ed long-chan, lemme know, especially when it comes to wearing this JSK in a much more casual way.

Until next time, Bear signing off!" 

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