Outfit: Pastel Batty Girl

Hello again lovelies!

Another outfit post for you!

I think Mondays are pretty good days for postings, right?  I prep 'em on the weekend, then post 'em Monday morning!

Hopefully Monday postings will make your day a little brighter. ^^

Anyway, this outfit was inspired by all of the pastel spooky pixels I've seen on tumblr lately.  I love spooky-cute stuff!

Let's go!

Details from the top down:

Skull Ribbon Clips: Target

Sailor Moon Earrings: hobbit.town Jewelry

Jacket: Pinkly Ever After

Seifuku Top: Bodyline

Bow Ring: Love Culture

Shorts: Savers

Bat Tights: Holley Tea Time

Shoes: Bodyline

First off, I'd like to apologize for the lighting.  I have plenty of space in this area of my apartment to take full body outfit shots, but the lighting is definitely not the best.  I'm playing around with my tripod in different areas of my humble abode to make sure I get the best lighting possible, so don't be alarmed if the location for these shots changes in the next few posts!

So for this coordinate, I wanted to look like one of the bats on my tights.  A bit silly, but lots of fun!  The bat itself is lavender, so my lavender seifuku top worked perfectly!  The fact that it's also white fits in with the melty moons, eyeballs, bones, and such on my tights.  The pink jacket fits with the background of the tights, so I had a good color balance on top and bottom.  There was a bit of black in the outlines of the designs on the tights, so I paired everything with my favorite black high waist shorts.  The dark color and cut of the shorts also created a nice body shape and contrast to the light colors in my outfit.  For shoes, I went with my Bodyline ribbon shoes.  These are one of my favorite pairs of shoes because they're so comfortable.  Seriously, they're my most comfortable pair of stylish shoes that I own.  I think I'll have to get them in black as well. xD

As far as accessories go, I just wanted to use things that fit in with the color scheme of the outfit, so the pink bow ring and my pink and purple sailor moon earrings did the job.  The entire outfit itself is pretty loud, so I didn't want to pile on the jewelry.  

To top it all off, I tried to style my hair to look like bat wings.  I tied it up in twin tails and teased it to give it more shape.  Unfortunately, a big rainstorm hit after class that day, so by the time I took these photos, my hair had fallen considerably.  But all was not lost, as I had my super cute skull ribbons in!  I bought them in the dollar section at Target during the Halloween season, but I haven't worn them much in the past couple of years since they didn't seem to go with anything in my closet.  I was digging through my hair accessory bin (yes, bin) right before I had to run out the door, and at the bottom I saw these and knew they would work wonders with this coordinate.  

The many layers in this outfit kept me warm on a chilly Autumn day, and I was a little drop of color in the otherwise gray, gloomy day.  I had great fun sporting this look around campus, and the receptionist at the Student Service Center said I looked like a pink, fuzzy bunny!  Not exactly what I was going for, but pink fuzzy bunnies are super cute so it's still an awesome compliment!

I hope you enjoyed this post, and I'll have plenty more outfit posts to show you in the coming weeks!

If you like what you read, please consider following me here on Google or on Bloglovin!  I definitely appreciate your support.

Thank you so much for reading, and I'll see you next time!

xoxo

Martha

Outfit: First Day Of School!

Hello lovelies!

I'm back with another outfit post!  Now that I'm all settled into my apartment in Illinois, you'll be seeing photos taken in a different environment.  The lighting in this apartment is slightly orange in some places, so I'll do my best to keep it as bright as possible!

On Monday I started my final year in University, so it was my last first day of school!

Crazy, huh?

It's strange to think about.  Once I finish up and graduate, I'll have been in school for 17 years of my life.  It's going to be quite a change going from school and joining the workforce, but I have until May to get as much as I can out of my last year of school, and I'm ready to learn a lot and then bust out of the gates, guns blazing!

Anyway, all the sentimental stuff aside, I knew I wanted to wear at least part of my seifuku on Monday since it's a school uniform, and I thought it would be a nice way to start the year.  Unfortunately, it was incredibly hot that day, and that seifuku is all synthetic so it doesn't breathe.  I couldn't wear the entire uniform, but I did wear the top!

Without further ado, let's get on to the photos, shall we?

Details from the top down:

Hello Kitty Headband: Target

Rose Hair Clips: H&M

Sailor Moon Earrings: hobbit.town Jewelry

Seifuku Top: Bodyline

Starfish Ring: Chicago Toy Fair

High Waist Shorts: Savers

I'm sorry for these photos being mirror shots, but I took these before I went out the door for my 8am class!  It's not bad at all really if you get some sleep and a nice cup of tea or coffee after you wake up.

Anyway, I thought this outfit was nice and simple, but still a lot of fun and kind of quirky.  If you've been reading for a while, you'll probably recognize the Hello Kitty headband that I got in the dollar section of Target.  I almost didn't wear it, but I didn't think the rose clips were quite enough on their own.  Speaking of the rose clips, aren't they darling?  I haven't worn them too often, and the last time I did was when I put my hair up while wearing my Ko-Furisode Kimono over a year ago, so I'm glad I found another way to coordinate them!  

The seifuku top from Bodyline should also be familiar if you've been reading my blog for a while, since it's a versatile piece that I like to pair with various things.  I think it's perfect to wear with high waist shorts since it has a short length, and shows just a peek of tummy.  The shorts are another DIY project.  I bought some high waist jeans from Savers for a few bucks, measured and cut off the legs, rolled them up, and voila!  Cheap, cute, high waist shorts!  I like the dark wash of these shorts, and I think it gives a nice balance with all of the pastel colors (read: PINK) in the rest of the outfit.  

The last main pieces of this coordinate are my favorite hobbit.town Jewelry Sailor Moon earrings, and my starfish ring!  The Sailor Moon earrings have been in most of my coordinates since I bought them in June.  If you'd like to read about them and the awesome shop they came from, check out my review here!

The starfish ring was a gift from a friend's mother when we took an adventure to the Chicago Toy Fair a couple years back.  It was unexpected and so kind!  Thank you so much Mama L!  She bought her daughter (my friend Micki) a panda ring, and the pink starfish for me since black is Micki's favorite color and pink is mine.  I'm not even sure if Micki still has her ring, but I like to put this with casual coordinates because it's fun and a nice conversation starter.

In the spirit of keeping it simple, that's it for my back to school outfit!

I hope you enjoyed this post and keep on the lookout for more outfit posts and fun stuff ahead!

The next post will be my August favorites in a few days, and I have a lot of awesome recommendations for y'all!

Thank you so much for reading, and I'll see you next time!

xoxo

Martha

Review: Bodyline Purple Seifuku

Hey people!

Today I'm back with another review, and it's SEIFUKU TIME!

For those of you who don't know what a Seifuku is, a Seifuku is an abbreviation for "Seira Fuku" or "Sailor Uniform" in Japanese.  Seifukus are what Japanese girls wear to school as their uniforms.  In the past few years, Seifukus have taken off not only as required wear for school, but as a fashion trend!  They not only come in the tradition patterns and colors, but they can come in bright colors with tons of different accessories.

I already have a pink Seifuku, but I decided to get another since I love them so much.  This time, it's purple!  I ordered my Seifuku from Bodyline, and it cost me $22.  There was a free shipping thing going on around the time I bought it, and it's always best to buy from Bodyline when those things happen, or else you'll be paying $10-$20 for shipping, at least to the US where I'm from.

Onto the pictures!

It came in one of those plastic mailing sleeves, and this is how it looked when I unfolded it.  It was on a hanger and in a plastic garment bag.  The hanger was broken, but there was no damage to the garment itself.

Here we have a close up of the ribbon--tag still attached--no loose threads or anything.  It's in good shape!  Its length is adjustable to however you'd like to wear it.

And the skirt!  It's wrinkled from being folded up in its parcel, but the pleats are very well intact and held together neatly by the white thread at the bottom.  When you receive your Seifuku, you have to gently pull out the thread with a pair of scissors, and then your skirt will be properly flippy!

I got my pink Seifuku around three years ago I think, so they've added a few updates to them, one being these hanger loops on the skirt!  Convenient for when you don't have one of those skirt hangers with clips, you can just hang it on a normal hanger!

Another update is the design of the white stripes on the back of the top.  The lines on my pink Seifuku are just normal and straight, while these have a little loop at the corner.  Not a huge difference, but I think it's a cute little touch.

I've posted photos of myself in full Seifuku, but let me show you an example of how I coordinated it with something else!

Seifuku Top:  Bodyline

Shorts:  Target

Kandi Bracelet:  From a friendly raver :D

Here I used the top of the Seifuku as a crop top, then put on my favorite pair of pink shorts with it, and just a simple kandi bracelet for a little jewelry.  I think the outfit in itself makes a statement enough, so it doesn't need too many accessories.

Seifukus are very versatile in that you can mix and match the top or bottom with multiple different pieces to make a super cute outfit!  Not many people notice that the individual piece came from a school uniform design anyway, especially if your Seifuku is in a bright color like this one!

This product is well made, has great color, and has some nice little updates from its previous version, so I'll give the Seifuku a 5/5 stars!

I was a little disappointed with the broken hanger in the packaging, but since the garment itself had no damage, and I have plenty of hangers, I decided not to take any points off.  

Do you like Seifuku fashion?  Do you have a Seifuku?  Where do you like to purchase yours?  Let me know in the comments!

I hope you enjoyed the review, and I'll see y'all in my next post!

xoxo

Martha

Outfit: Academy Girl

Hey there honey bears!

It's been a while!  Life has been pretty crazy with a whole bunch of rehearsals, performances, and HOMEWORK!  And while the homework won't stop since exams are coming up, I've done my last ensemble performances of the year!  YAY!

So!  I have another outfit post for you!  This one was inspired by school fashion in anime, particularly those fancy Academies and boarding schools you see in Shoujo titles.

Let's go!

Note:  I apologize for the streaky mirror...I tried cleaning it with a Mr. Clean magic eraser but WOW it didn't work.  Back to good old Windex!

Details:

Turtleneck:  Thrift Shop (Originally Ralph Lauren)

Skirt:  Bodyline

Necklace:  Charming Charlie's

The goal for this outfit was to be simple, stylish, and cute!  I personally like the cream turtleneck paired with the skirt.  The color combination is one of my favorites, yet the clean cut style of both pieces reflects that academy type look I was going for.

Usually when I put together an outfit based off of anime style, I add a whole bunch of accessories and make up to play up the animation factor, but since students of these institutions are supposed to be clean cut, I decided to go with a pendant necklace and minimal make up.  I like that the pendant necklace is simple, but it's still big enough to be seen from a distance and has great sparkle!

I wore this outfit on the last day of choir tour a couple of weeks ago, and it was still very comfortable to wear on the long bus ride back to campus.  Fashion and comfort together is always A+!  

I hope you enjoyed this outfit, and look forward to new posts!  I received a bunch of new items in the mail, so I have some shop reviews coming your way very soon!

What's your favorite anime Academy?  Would you wear their uniform?  Let me know in the comment section!

Thanks so much for reading, and I'll see you in my next post!

xoxo

Martha