Tokyo Kawaii Life order 11 - Liz Lisa Off shoulder floral OP & Ribbon lace sailor top, Juge Etta Halter party dress, Tralala Stripe offshoulder OP & hair clip

I wasn't planning on making an order in November, because I made a big impulse buy that was an unexpected expense earlier in the month, but the exchange rate is so good right now, and there was a time sale going on so...
Well actually, I was planning on purchasing during an earlier time sale but during the last day, TKL took all the Liz Lisa items out wtf. About a week later, they were put back, and I knew that I shouldn't miss my chance twice haha.

単色フラワーオフショルワンピース (142-6021-0)
Liz Lisa off shoulder floral OP in white

 

This is pretty much the original reason I wanted to do this order. I was really interested in this dress when it was released (Berri knows too well lol) but wasn't willing to pay full  price, and even at 40% off I was kind of like ehhhhh idk. In the end, I'm glad I waited until it finally included in the time sale! This white color option looks so different (imo) from the one that is the default for the listing in navy, and I'm really glad I clicked on it to check it out to find this color which is much better suited to my personal taste! The day after I finally bought it, I noticed there were only a few left and now white is sold out, so I think I made the right decision about when to purchase :)

Unfortunately, on me, in person, I find the ruffle to be quite large?? Idk, seems like it looks like a ridiculous costume when I look in the mirror. When I'm looking at these photos though, it looks exactly as it does on the stock photo model (in terms of volume), and I don't think it's extremely large on her? Ugh, now I'm not sure, but definitely my first impression when I tried it on (even with heels on) was that the ruffle is ridiculous on me in person wtf. I do like the print though! My mom said it reminded her of an old lady couch, but I still enjoy it haha. I also generally like this silhouette and the length of the dress. I guess I just wish the ruffle was maybe an inch or two shorter.

 

Also tried it on with my Liz Lisa OTK boots to see if that helped balance anything out at all. Not sure if it helped...I feel like the dress looks more like spring now though? Or autumn I guess. Since this was a release from autumn 2014 lol.

プリボンレースセーラートップス (142-1007-0)
Liz Lisa ribbon lace sailor top in navy

 

 

I really wasn't planning on buying this at this point, but when I saw that it was back in stock in navy at a great sale price (previously I think only the white version was available but suddenly that was sold out and this color fully stocked), I just threw it in my cart. I really loved this set up from early autumn back when it was first released but recently I decided that I shouldn't be buying/wearing set ups anymore (especially set ups with sailor collars) because I feel too old or something. But I wasn't going to buy the sukapan to go with it, and I couldn't resist the top in the color that I really wanted so...I just got it lol. I'm not sure if I'm going to have buyer's remorse with this or not. It's a super cute top for sure, particularly because of the details, but where am I going to wear it?? It is sold out now though, so I don't feel too weird about buying it.

 

I like this a lot more than I anticipated. I think it's pretty cute without the bow too, and I think I will likely wear it without it. Since I didn't buy the matching sukapan, I wasn't sure what to pair it with for these photos, so I picked a white lace detail sukapan I already own (above) and also some plain denim shorts (below). I like the girly details with the (ribbon) lace and the scalloped edges, and the length is actually not bad to wear with shorts. I think this is the first time I ordered only the top half of a set up without getting the bottom lol. I'm glad I did though since I wasn't planning on wearing them together. Now if only I could stop myself from buying clothes with sailor collars... 

ホルタードレス (341-6018-0)
Juge Etta halter party dress in pink

 

When I was thinking about ordering the week earlier, I didn't want to ship a single dress by itself so I was looking around for something else to throw in my cart to make the shipping a little more worth it. Berri had suggested I treat myself to a Juge Etta dress earlier, and I wasn't really considering it tbh because even on sale, they're not that cheap, but I decided to go check out the JE section in the Outlet anyway. I saw the listing for this dress and the featured color shown is black so I wasn't super interested, but when upon opening the link, I saw the pink and totally fell in love. The black was sold out so that wasn't really an option anyway, but black just seemed a lot more formal and the fabric didn't seem to showcase the details as well as the pink in the photos. There was only two left for pink (and now sold out), and I knew I needed to have one (for no particular reason). Truthfully, I don't have any place to wear this right now, but I think it would be great for a wedding or like a graduation party or something like that. The Outlet price wasn't making it dirt cheap in general, but it was a lot cheaper compared to the retail price lol. I do love my other Juge Etta products (all bought at outlet-like pricing) so I didn't have too much doubt that this would be nice as well. By the time the earlier time sale had ended, I had convinced myself that I definitely needed to have this dress in my next order lol. It went from something that wasn't on my radar at all to something I absolutely had to have.

 

Fits pretty well on my mannequin but not as well on me unfortunately. The chest area is a little big (I guess that's good news for some of you with a bit larger busts that not all hope is lost with LL & related products) but the straps were a bit snug in comparison - probably due to the design. The waist was also a bit big and so was the back. I'm thinking about getting it altered, but I think if I ever gain a little weight, it'll fit a little better (??) lol. In person, the material is just as shimmery and pretty as it seemed in the stock photo, and I'm really pleased with it. I like the length of this a lot, and I hope I have an occasion where I can wear it appropriately soon!

ストライプオフショウワンピース (642-6213-0)
Tralala stripe off shoulder OP in white

 

 

This was something else that I saw that I threw in my cart because it was priced well, and I wanted to make the shipping worth it lol. Tralala items get a lot cheaper on sale than a lot of Liz Lisa ones (although the retail is usually lower as well) and that's probably why it always feel like a bargain lol. I love off shoulder stuff and the skirt seemed like a good length, plus the color combo wasn't super bizarre so I told myself it was a good buy for the price. A reasonably basic dress with cute elements and now sold out!

 

The back and the front look basically the same lol. And actually there's no tag in the inside back where there usually is so maybe they did that on purpose? The price tag is attached on the inside where the care instructions usually are. When I first tried this on, I thought the side where the zipper was sewn in sat a little funny on my body, but I don't think it's noticeable here. I love the design and style of this dress, and don't regret just throwing it in my cart. The skirt material is a little cheap/thin, but I expected that based on the pricing, and at least it's lined + it's not super short, so it's okay.

バイカラーシュシュバンス (642-9234-0)
Tralala bi-color hair clip in black

I'm not overly fond of the color combo, but I needed just a small amount more in my cart to qualify for free shipping, so I sorted the in-stock time sale listings by price and just picked this lol. It's not actually a bad color combo, but just not something I would have picked on my own I think. The pink and navy were already sold out and there was only one left of it in black before the item was sold out completely, so I decided to just go for it since the price was right lol, and I got the last one. I think I will probably take it to work and leave it at my desk for when I need to just quickly clip my hair up. I wear a lot of black to work anyway haha.

For some reason I thought it would be a bit larger, but I don't mind the size at all! It is as described on the website. No surprises here really. A basic hair clip with cute bow details :)

It seems like everything I bought sold out less than a week after I purchased (at the same price)! Based on that, I really feel like I made a good decision now lol. Whenever I second guess paying a certain price for something, I always check back to see if anyone else was tempted at that same price and whether I was the only person or one of many who thought it was worth it to purchase at a certain price lol. It's comforting to know that I'm not the only one who went for these items.

Also, I'm wearing my new Flag J shoes with most of these outfits! I just bought from the Flag J Hawaii store a few weeks ago at 50% off :)

So far they seem really comfortable, and I'm really happy with them. I like the really neutral color that's very light but not bright/pure white. I also like the ankle strap which makes my foot/ankle seem more secure in the shoe. The design is simple but classic, and I think they will work well with a variety of outfits!

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Tenso shipping note!
This was my first order after Tenso changed their shipping options (on/around November 14)! They now have adjusted service fees and more shipping company choices than just EMS. I noticed that compared to the service fee I would have paid prior to the change, I was paying 20yen more (1000yen versus 980yen). However, I had the opportunity to choose between EMS, AIR Small Package, SAL Small Package or Surface Mail with decreasing pricing. Surface Mail is typically cheapest but has a 60 day estimated shipping period. I decided to go with SAL Small Package because it was only 40yen more than Surface Mail but expected to arrive in around 14 days instead.
I paid for Tenso on Nov 20, and my package was received at the post office in Tokyo on Nov 21. It left Tokyo on Nov 25. It arrived in Hawaii on Nov 25 (because of the time difference), and I received it on Nov 28 (note that Nov 27 was a federal holiday).
Overall, I paid about $16 less than I would have with the old system (taking the service fee into account). I was expecting the package to take closer to 14 days to get to me, but actually it only took about 8 days (because of the time difference) from the time it arrived at the post office in Japan. And actually, the transit time between Japan and Hawaii was the same amount of time as for EMS so I guess it gets transported the same way. What took longer, which you can probably tell from the dates, is the amount of time it took to leave Japan - like 4 days! I guess since it's not a priority, they just let it sit for a bit and prioritize other packages or something? Since I'm rarely in a rush to get things, I would rather save $16 and wait a little longer (but not as long as 60 days), but I do miss receiving my EMS packages within a week from ordering from TKL lol. Truthfully, 3 or 4 more days (if this 8 days delivery time is something standard I can expect to Hawaii for SAL) is not that bad, but I just get really antsy and was so used to EMS delivery. I will obviously just adjust if it means saving money, but it felt like a really long 8 days tbh.
After exploring the new shipping fee calculator a bit, I realized that as long as your package can be classed as a "small package" for either AIR or SAL, you'll most likely have a cheaper option than EMS. However, for heavier packages, and likely for most fukubukuro, those are no longer options and you'd have to go with their AIR or SAL international package (instead of their small package option). For a 7200g package (the approximate weight of past years' trunk fukubukuro),
EMS + service fee would cost 14630yen,
AIR + service fee would be 16730yen,
SAL + service fee would cost 13280yen, and
Surface Mail + service fee would be 8480yen.
There's a huge difference between the EMS pricing and the Surface Mail pricing, but of course also a huge difference in when you'd receive your items (4 days versus 60 days). I'm sure that some people would rather save that $60 though than receive their items right away. I think I would probably be tempted to go with SAL again and hope that 14 days is actually accurate for such a large parcel. I get really antsy when waiting for fukubukuro to arrive lol. If anyone decides to try and ship anything via Surface Mail to the US/North America (or anywhere really), I'd be really interested to know exactly how long it tastes/how accurate the 60 day estimated time is.

As a small reminder (and I'm sure those of you who actually read my posts are tired of reading these blurbs, but I am constantly getting blamed for not warning people of this, so here I go again) - I am extremely uncomfortable with my personal photos being used for the profit of others especially without a simple source link. In general, I would prefer for my photos not to be reposted without my permission at all, but if you feel the extreme need to do so, I simply ask that you just include a simple link back to my original post. Regardless of whether I watermark every single photo, I do still own the copyright to these pictures and you finding them on Google Image does not mean I do not own them anymore?? (There has been some confusion on that front apparently. And to be clear, Google does even warn you when you click on a photo that the image may be subject to copyright, and Google does not sever the photos from their original pages, so it's easy to find their source if you choose.) I do not blog and post these photos so that others can sell their products that are not associated with me in the slightest. And the response I get when I just ask for my photos to be sourced really discourages me from sharing and continuing to blog. I mean this in the least aggressive way possible, but I'm not just going to throw 80 smiley emojis in this to "soften the tone" because I am serious, and I honestly feel like you should be able to read a paragraph like this without emoticons and not be offended by its message.