Natural Spring Coordinate

Hello lovelies!  I'm back today with just a quick photo!  I put together this cozy coordinate for spring days here that just won't warm up.  Rather than a "cute" look, this one is more of a "natural" style.  Don't mind the guy photo-bombing in the back...

Dress, petticoat, sweater:  purchased at Doota in Seoul

Tights:  Tabbisocks

Clogs:  Sbicca

Necklace:  Wonder Rocket

Here you can see the lovely prints on the dress and tights better  Hope you guys don't mind the picture of my feet!  

I can't really decide if I like natural or cute styles better...so I wear both ^_^  The natural look seems to make the most sense in terms of capturing a "forest girl" look.  I picture a girl who lives in a fairytale cottage in the woods and wears natural fabrics and floral prints.  

I do like the frilly, lace-y, layered styles that also constitute Mori style, but they seem less likely to be worn by a "forest wanderer."  Just my two cents.  Both looks are lovely, and I certainly can't choose between them!

Which do you prefer?  Leave me a comment!

Blythe

Just a quick post today...this week is really busy unfortunately 

Today I want to introduce one of my Blythe dolls!

Her name is Jade and she's kind of a doll-version of me ^_^  Well, at least, she has my hair color and I dress her in tiny Mori fashions.  Here she is in an outfit she's been wearing for a while, because it suits her so well.

In case you're not familiar with Blythe dolls, they were originally made by the Kenner toy company in the 1970s.  The play feature or gimmick that Blythes have, is that you can change their eye colors with a pull string in the back.  Each click of the pull string changes the doll's eyes to a different color and expression.  Typically, each doll has a pair of left-facing eyes, a pair of right-facing eyes, and two sets that look straight ahead.  The original dolls were not very popular with children unfortunately, and were discontinued after about a year.

Flash-forward to now ... because of their rarity and popularity with collectors, original Kenner Blythes are now worth hundreds or thousands of dollars!

Fortunately for most of us, the Japanese toy company Takara now makes new Blythes that look similar to the originals, without the astronomical price tag.  They even made an actual Mori girl Blythe a few years ago!

Isn't she lovely?  Her name is Vinter Arden.  Unluckily for me, I was taking a break from Blythes when she was released, and didn't know about her until she was long sold out I'll probably never own Vinter Arden because she is very popular now, and tends to sell in the $600 range.  Oh well.

I like my own Jade very much anyways ^_^  It's fun to look at handmade Blythe clothes on etsy for her, and I kind of like that she wasn't a "pre-made" Mori girl.  After, Mori style is about doing your own thing, right?

In terms of more recently released Blythes, I really like Misha Tebyu Lyublyu, a girl with a really funny name and a fairy tale/folkloric look.  She's got a Goldielocks and the 3 Bears theme going. I don't add to my Blythe family very often, but I may have to pick her up before she goes up too much in value.

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Shoes!

Lol, I guess today's post is pretty self-explanatory ^_^  These are my current mori style shoes.

The brown clogs on the bottom left are probably what I wear most often because they're so versatile and look great with tights.  They're from Sbicca, along with the beige furry clogs.  

It's raining here today, so I'll be wearing the brown boots outside.  I fount them online at Spring Days, along with the ruffled flats on the bottom right.  

Lastly, the Birkenstocks on the upper right are sooo comfortable.  I actually bought those in Japan, since that style with the crossed straps doesn't seem to be available in the US.  I wore them for a whole day of sight-seeing in Kyoto.  

And just for fun, these are what I wear around the house ^_^

Spring Morning Coordinate (~_^)

Hello deer-y!  I finally got around to taking a photo of my outfit for today!

Top:  Spring Days
Tank top:  Wonder Rocket
Skirt:  Wonder Rocket
socks:  Uniqlo
Shoes:  Calmlife
Necklace:  Morning Mori

I believe Wonder Rocket still has the tank in stock, although they are sold out of the the gray color.  The skirt is also sold out, but they still have a similar one.

Unfortunately, I think the Morning Mori store is no longer open, or at least is on hiatus.  The girl who ran that shop was very sweet.  I actually received this necklace as a gift when she was out of stock of something I wanted.

Spring Days is a great store on Rakuten that ships internationally and has a lot of very cute basics and natural style clothing.

Calmlife is a shoe store on Rakuten that also ships internationally.  I found these very cute natural style mary janes in their store--they are made in Japan even!

Please feel free to comment on my coordinates!

Currently reading:  The Children of Green Knowe by Lucy Boston
Currently listening to:  Songs from a Secret Garden

South Korea haul

Just sharing my new bag from Insadong market in Seoul!  The woman selling it had a lovely booth full of beautiful bags and handmade jewelry.

JB thinks the print looks like Santa Claus and Christmas trees, but it's Little Red Riding Hood actually 

The bag is reversible and has owls on the other side ^_^  I haven't used it that way yet though.

I also picked up these darling Le Sucre bunnies in the Doota department store.  They look very Mori, don't they?  I would totally wear the outfits they have!  Yesterday the brown one took a ride in the Red Riding Hood bag with me to work--the bag is perfectly bunny-sized!

Lastly I have to share the Panda hand cream I found at Etude House.  It's called "Missing U" hand cream, and I think a portion of the proceeds benefit endangered animals.  The cream is peach scented, and absorbs pretty well without being overly greasy.  To be honest, I bought it for the cute packaging ~_^

Hope you enjoyed these little finds!  I also came back other cosmetics and some Mori-style clothing that I'll share in later posts.  

Wonder Rocket

Today I want to share one of my favorite Mori girl brands, Wonder Rocket.  They are one of the most popular brands for Mori girl fashion, and have several locations in Tokyo, including Harajuku.  As you delve more into the style, you will start to notice that there are a wide variety of looks within the style.  And that is the essence of Mori girl really--embracing the freedom to express yourself and wear what you like, regardless of mainstream fashion trends.

While there is no one way to be a Mori girl, there are definitely identifiable subsets of the style.  Wonder Rocket, in my opinion, falls into the "cute" category.  The look is very playful and full of youthful innocence.  I've never been to one of their physical stores, but that's on my list for next time I visit Japan  I love to browse the "staff snap" section, where they showcase what the shop staff is wearing.  Here are some of my current favorites:

It's nice to see some color in a Mori girl coord.  I think the earthy green works very well within the style.

I love the cardigan tunic with the long eyelet ruffle.  I think this would be very versatile in a lot of coordinates.  It helps to pull off the layered look without losing waist definition or being overly bulky.

Can you tell I love that green skirt?

How to order? 
The only downside to Wonder Rocket, if you're outside of Japan, is that they don't ship internationally.  To order from their online store, you will have to use a deputy service that will purchase the goods for you in Japan, and then ship them to you.  They generally charge a commission, and you will have to pay for shipping from the store to the Japanese address of the deputy service, and then international shipping to you.  Unfortunately, this can get pricey.

I have been using Shopping Mall Japan for my Japanese purchases.  For shop orders, you fill out a special order form telling them exactly what you want (color, size, quantity, link to the item, price), and SMJ orders the items for you.  You have to pay for the items when invoiced, and they charge service fees of about $8 per item, plus shipping to them and then to you.  Needless to say, this adds up fast.

I also recently signed up for Tenso, another deputy service.  I'm not sure if Tenso is cheaper or not, as my first order isn't complete yet.  Tenso differs from SMJ in that when you sign up, you are given your own Japanese address (the Tenso warehouse with your own ID number) that you can then use to place orders on your own.  Service fees are 10% of your total cost, plus any domestic shipping to Tenso, plus EMS international shipping.  I feel like it's possible for a percentage fee to be cheaper sometimes than the flat rate multiplier that SMJ uses.  If your order contains many items but isn't that pricey, you probably come out on top using Tenso.  I'll post again once I receive my Tenso order and do a proper review of both services.

What did I buy this time?  You'll have to wait and see...

Hopefully I'll have time to share some of my own coordinates soon!

Mori Girl Interlude

So over the last year, I've become interested in the Mori Girl fashion/lifestyle.

The Mori Girl fashion originates from Japan, and is best described as the look of a girl who lives in the forest.  The Mori Girl community was started on Mixi, Japan's largest social networking site, by a girl known as choco.

Choco's "Mori Girl checklist" is a list of some 60-something "rules" for those defining themselves as Mori Girls.  I personally don't take these as hard and fast "rules," since it seems silly to change your likes and personality to fit in a group, but more as general characteristics that define the style.  Here's the checklist:

Mori-Girl (Forrest Girl) Provisions  [Source:  morigirl livejournal community]
＊Loves loose fitting one-piece dresses.
*Wears one piece dresses and skirts as everyday dresses.
＊Prefers somewhat quirky clothing to simples ones (but doesn’t really like out and out flashy ones)
＊Seemingly Natural type fashion style with little quirk.
＊ Loves to be particular about materials.
＊ Loves to wear ethnic clothes.
＊Dresses in A line clothes.
＊Loves one-piece dresses little girls would wear too.
＊ Loves smock-like one piece dresses and blouses.
＊Don’t like super sweet fashion.
＊ Loves deep earthy colors like Bordeaux (burgundy), dark green, dark blue, and brown.
＊Looks good in warm colors.
＊More comfortable with short nails.
＊Loves soft, cushy knit or fur caps.
＊Loves ear muffs.
＊Loves ponchos and boleros.
＊Likes to hold leather bags.
＊Uses pochette at every chance.
＊Prefers gold accessories to silver ones.
＊ Finds old items charming.
＊ Loves pocket watches.
＊Loves necklaces with large motifs like loupes.
＊ Loves animal motifs.
＊Loves candy and sweets motifs.
＊Loves checks and polka-dots.
＊Loves retro flower prints.
＊Loves laces.
＊Loves tights and leggings.
＊ Wears flat soled shoes as default foot-wears
＊Loves round-toed shoes.
＊If wearing sneakers, they must be slip-ons that’s loose fitting and cute.
＊ Prefer cloth buttons to ordinary buttons
＊Loves to wrap the scarves and stoles all the way around the neck.
＊Default winter wear is turtlenecks.
＊Loves to wear layers.
＊Feels the pangs for puffed sleeves.
＊ Loves fairy tales.
＊Have light complexion.
＊Soft curled hair.
＊Bob cut with short bangs.
＊Short bangs, long hair with curly hair.
＊Girlie-girlie.
＊ Loves Felissimo.
＊ Loves especially Syrup and Snow Fellisimo
＊Loves the vibe of Q-pot candy-shaped accessories.
＊Loves to hang loose/chill at cafÈs.
＊Loves to take a walk with a camera in a hand.
＊ Before you know it, you find yourself shopping one small shop to the next.
＊A  collector,  you have a habit of collecting things you love.
＊ Feel happy when you find cute books at bookstores.
＊ Gets exited at the furniture store.
＊ Loves hand-made stuff.
＊ Loves winter and autumn as far as the seasons go.
＊Wants to travel to northern Europe someday.
＊Likes to put round make-up on cheeks.
＊ If you are going to put any perfumes, you’d like faint flower scents.
＊A girl with soft air about her (or longs to be one)
＊ A girl with a pure and clear air (or longs to be one.)
＊ You were told you permeate a laid-back aura at all times.
＊You consider Hagu from “Honey and Clover” a Mori Girl.
* Shizuru Satonaka from “Tada, kimi wo aishiteru (I simply love you)” is also a Mori Girl
＊ A friend told you that you look like you belong in a forest

Many of these characteristics describe me pretty well.  I love reading fairytales, searching for treasures at antique fairs, taking pictures of my collections, and anything artsy-craftsy.  As a child, I loved history and old things, and always wished my family had a "real" garden like in "The Secret Garden," instead of an overgrown vegetable plot.  My winterwear is accented with chunky, slouchy knit hats, furry earmuffs, textured tights and wooly boots.  The Mori Girl style really appeals to the dreamer in me, and I just love the calm and peace the look evokes.  It makes me think of quiet nature walks, leaves that are turning, and tiny cottages filled with well-chosen knick knacks. I hope to share some of my Mori-inspired outfits in future posts!