Japan 2020 Highlights: Tansuya

A somewhat unexpected highlight of the Japan trip was shopping at Tansuya, a secondhand kimono chain. It started while we were in Tokyo when we went to the branch at Nippori, the fabric district, since I had read that they had lots of cheap, damaged or worn kimonos for sale very cheap. Indeed they did, and we actually visited this shop twice.

There was also one in Shinjuku Station, which we did not visit, since we thought only the Nippori store had the cheap kimonos. We were wrong...

...because we went to Kyoto, and in the mall right near our hotel we discovered another Tansuya! So we added more kimono and obi and other pretty things to our purchases.

And then we moved onto Hiroshima, and I just happened to be wandering around on my own while James got a much needed massage when I spotted, you guessed it, another Tansuya! If memory serves me right, this is where I bought the brown haori.

To make things even more ridiculous when we went to a particular Book Off in Osaka we passed a Tansuya on the way, where James found the most stunning furisode and we bought way too many obijime.

We thought it was hilarious that we'd stumbled into a Tansuya every city we travelled too. But it did get a bit excessive when we walked past another one in Namba Station on our way to transfer to the airport train ^__^

I never thought we'd own such lovely things as the kimonos we bought at Tansuya. As we were on a budget we only shopped their cheapest items, most of which are damaged in some way. But the quality of Japanese secondhand items hold true even with kimono - most of the damage is tiny snags or stains, or at worst, yellowed lining. The garments and still whole and still amazingly beautiful.

There was also a lot to admire in these stores, like the vegetable patterned kimono above! James even found a gorgeous kimono raincoat thing, which is really cool and not what we thought we'd be getting at a kimono shop. And he got himself a very attractive red and black haori, which he look amazing in!

As you'll have seen in my coord posts, I have been experimenting with wa lolita, and James has started using some kimonos in his photoshoots. We still need to acquire the proper undergarments and such if we want to dress me or models properly, but for now it's just been great fun to have bought such beautiful clothes and be able to wear them in non-traditional ways.

Japan 2020 Highlights: Lolita

I am back from Japan! It was a wonderful but thoroughly exhausting trip. And, to be honest, I've realised that I don't actually want to do a blow-by-blow blog series about this trip. Instead I'm going to be sharing a few highlight posts focused on some of the most noteworthy aspects and experiences of the trip. Starting with, of course, the lolita side of things!

My lolita shopping this time around was actually rather modest, especially compared to last year's Tokyo trip!  This was not entirely through lack of trying, but ultimately I just didn’t find much that suited me and my budget. Still, as you can see below I did still come home richer in lolita than I left!

In the end I bought two cutsews, a haori, a bolero, a bracelet, some hairclips and a headband. Because I’m me, here’s some ramblings about every single thing, starting with the small bits.

Smallest thing first, I bought this bracelet at Ikebukuro Closet Child. I have the same one in pink x white and red x white, so knew that I get good wear out of this colourway. Unfortunately the little ribbon bow came untied and fell off and I decided not to put it back on. Still cute though!

These Hello Kitty clips came from Don Quijote, and they had a whole bunch of other Sanrio ones as well. But I exercised restraint and only got one set. I did spend a while debating between these ones with pink bows or a set with the traditional red bows but James suggested I get these ones so I did.

When in Akihabara James and I went to the maid cafe Mai Dreaming, which was ridiculously cute and fun. They loved James’s Sailor Moon knuckle tattoos, and even put on Sailor Moon music because of us! As part of the package we picked, we got to take home a souvenir each. James picked a keychain, which started his camera bag collection, and I chose this little bear headband! When I thought we may be going to Disney Sea I was thinking of getting some Duffy ears there but hey, this is a great alternative! Not super high quality but they’re cute and I love getting wearable mementos.

Moving onto the actual clothing items, I got this cute Nile Perch bolero from Shinjuku Closet Child. A bit frivolous for sure, but it was very cheap and cute and definitely gives me a good sweet outerwear option which I was very much lacking. It’s a bit snug at the moment but oh well.

I must admit, however, that the trend of buying things that don’t really fit has continued to be a trend for me. What can I say? I see cheap things, get excited, and just buy them! Case in point, this Angelic Pretty cutsew from Osaka Closet Child. It’s super adorable but I’m 90% sure it’s going to go straight to my sales folder. Not only am I too big for it right now, I think it’s just too short in the torso and the sleeves for me no matter what.

This Axes Femme cutsew, bought at the same time, is also too small but I know that Axes Femme fits me okay when I’m a smaller dress size. It’s not an exciting piece but it is pretty so I’m glad that I snagged it from the sale rack. It’s new with tags too!

Lastly, at secondhand kimono chain Tansu-ya in Hiroshima I found this pretty haori. I love the use of haori jackets in wa lolita, and thought this one was perfect for the classic (and maybe even chocolate-y sweet) side of my wardrobe. I especially love the vibrant lining! Tansu-ya in general will be its own highlight post, because thanks to their affordable pricing I now have a massive love for kimonos and am so excited to learn more about how to wear these beautiful garments.

In terms of where I went for lolita, I actually stuck wholly to secondhand loltia stores this time around; four branches of Closet Child as well as Maiden Clothing. Though I’d have liked to have acquired some brand socks as well, I didn’t have much desire to visit any of the brand stores. Too much out of my price range at the moment and there was so much to see and do that I didn’t want to spend time window shopping.

I also wore lolita twice while in Japan, once for Harajuku and then for the Kyoto Railway Museum. I’ll write more about these outfits when I do my quarterly outfit roundup in a bit but I thought they deserved to be featured here regardless. I very nearly didn’t take any lolita with me and I’m glad I did.

So that’s the lolita side of things from this trip! Not too extensive, but certainly still a highlight of the holiday ^__^