Liz Lisa early Spring 2014 & Jumper skirt, Pom pom boots order

Blog pictures from Liz Lisa's official blog, lizlisa.jp and Liz Lisa's Sendai blog
Pictures from the earliest Spring 2014 releases 

 

It's obvious that lavender will be a highlight in Liz Lisa's spring color palate. I'm not personally a huge fan of wearing lavender (I like it as a color but less on myself) but I love seeing it as a color option. There is also a lot of navy which wasn't uncommon in the past, but an interesting choice for spring.
There are even lavender and navy shoe options which I feel like I rarely see.

Even though I won't be purchasing this (long sleeves), this is one of my favorite coordinates from what's been released so far!

I feel like it could be appropriate in a variety of situations from work to dinner to church or a party. It's a little matchy-matchy with all of the navy and white, but I like that it's an obvious set.

I especially like the purses/bags for this season with the color choices and the design. 

I don't need any more purses (∩︵∩) since I recently got a Samantha Thavasa bag and still have many others, and shipping bags is actually more expensive than it seems. But if it weren't for all that, I'd have pre-ordered 1 or 2.

This is the skirt I was dying over when I saw the first release of the spring images -

 

When I saw that it was finally released on VENT (so happy that it was immediately available and didn't have to preorder), I purchased it in white on 1/17 and it arrived at my post office on 1/27 (I wasn't home to sign for it so I had to pick it up the day after).
(In my experience,) The clothes always come in plastic wrappings, but usually the item is folded within the plastic so less plastic needs to be used with the exception of certain dresses or coats.

I was very surprised to see this skirt in a full plastic bag. This item (at 6,720yen - yikes did I really pay full price :|) is 500yen+tax more than the average skirt/bottom from Liz Lisa so I was hoping for some slight enhancement that made it worth the increase. I was happy to see that this skirt has a side zipper and the material seems to be good quality. It does seem to be a little bit longer on me than other Liz Lisa items but not so much that it looks irregular.
All the shop staff coordinates have a long sleeve shirt with this skirt, and as much as I like the look, I don't think I'll wear it that way. However, there are many interesting long sleeve tops (many of which are cropped) in the webstore right now and I think most of them would be able to work with this skirt.

 I'd consider buying one with the rose cut out collar details at sale price to alternately use as a pull over sweater/layering piece rather than just a top.
Again, sorry for the bad lighting. Due to a change in my work schedule, I leave my house before the sun rises and get home right around the time it's setting (when it's basically dark) so these are all photos taken with my bad room lighting with no aid of natural light. Also taken on my phone because my DSLR takes extremely yellow photos with only my room light.

 

In the package was the Spring 2014 newspaper and an ad for Tralala's Spring collection. The newspaper is actually quite large! Practically the size of a regular newspaper except a little skinner. I was very surprised to see it at that size lol.

 

The newspaper contents have already been released on lizlisa.com so if you're interested, you should go there for high quality photographs, but here's a quick look at it -

 

I'm excited about the spring novelty items. I would like them a lot more if they would be available through VENT, but I'm half considering asking someone to in-store shop for me just so I can get them...

Here's the skirt on the mannequin -

 

I thought this skirt would be really similar to the suspender skirt I already have from Summer 2013, but there are some definite differences besides the obvious small style details. First, the quality of the spring skirt is better (not exponentially so, but noticeable). There isn't anything wrong with the pink summer one, but it was priced cheaper and that's reflected in the difference. Second, the skirt length is longer for the spring skirt. Third, the waistband is thicker and sturdier on the spring skirt and because of this, there is a side zipper that the summer one does not have. I think the waist on the spring skirt is also meant to sit a bit higher on the body as well. 

Hopefully coordinate pictures this weekend if the lighting is good. A bit doubtful since it's been really cloudy lately, and I do have errands to run. It might have to wait until I get my next order in so I can kill two birds with one stone ...

My thoughts on Liz Lisa Spring 2014 thus far
It really seems like Liz Lisa/clothing brands in general just can't win. They get criticized that everything is too similar/mundane (too much pink, same skirt in different colors, not enough variety), and then when they try to explore other silhouettes and a slightly different color palate, customers still complain. I personally like that the spring collection is something different. I don't want to buy every single thing in what has so far been released from the spring collection, but that's how I feel about items every season. I never like 100% of the items. I think if I could try some of the items on before purchasing them, I'd buy a lot more because it wouldn't be such a guessing game since fit is really important on many of these items like the denim pencil skirt with suspender straps.

I'm not willing to take the chance with most of the items at full price, but there are some I'd definitely snatch during the sales later this year if they're still in stock.
I titled this blog post "early Spring 2014" because I think I've seen some blog photos of spring stuff that has yet to be listed online, and I'm definitely excited about that and for short sleeved stuff and shorts that I'm sure is soon to come in the next month or so. I think if you have an open mind and aren't afraid to experiment with fashion, this slightly different direction that Liz Lisa is going with is fantastic! Pin up isn't exactly a new idea, but in combination with the Liz Lisa aesthetic/Japanese fashion, I think there are some really interesting pieces in this collection. When I see how shop staff coordinate the different pieces in ways that I would personally never think of, I become more convinced that I like the concept and can't wait to see more.

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Also, as slightly alluded to above, submitted another VENT order -__-
I wasn't planning on buying for awhile/until spring items went on sale, but email coupon. How can I turn down 30% off already reduced prices? Unfortunately the coupon couldn't be used on any spring releases or preorder items, but that's just as well because it meant I spent less.
These boots were originally 14490yen and were on sale for 5250yen at 64% off. I had been thinking about buying these boots at the 5250yen price but wasn't sure about how often I'd be able to wear them since the pom poms kind of scream autumn/winter to me. Don't get me wrong, I love pom poms, but boots are already kind of weird in Hawaii so any kind of pom pom/fur boots are even more highly criticized and look extremely out of place.

 

I really wanted them in pink but they only had beige and the brown in my size. I decided on beige because I already have a dark brown boot. With the coupon code, the boots came down to around $37, but I had to pay for domestic shipping so my total with VENT was 4200yen. Not bad for boots that were originally 14490yen! Don't tell me that brand is impossibly expensive because you can truly get some really great deals. I'm thinking that Tenso shipping will be around $45-55 but I'm willing to pay that much for boots. Can't wait :3

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  How to order from Liz Lisa and Tokyo Kawaii Life video and photo tutorial here!