True Lolita Life: My Only Brand Dress Was Purchased By Accident

Yeah, you read that right: my only brand dress was purchased by accident.

Story time!

I tend toward classic and gothic with my lolita wardrobe. I'm much more inclined to wear black, ivory, or brown than white. As such, most of the purchases I've made have been along those lines. I'm not big on pastels or even light colors unless I can easily temper them with something darker.

But then I saw a dress.

There was a girl doing a massive moving sale, and she had several very pretty floral JSKs. One of them was pink and pretty, a little old school, and much farther toward the sweet side of classic than I usually wear. She labeled it as "unknown brand" and it was under 100 dollars. But it struck me, and it struck me hard. Three rows of ruffles on the skirt, pin tucks, lace... I was in love. And, as luck would have it, the front and back shirring on the JSK left plenty of room for my sizable bust.

I altered the straps so that it flattered my shape better.
They attach with buttons in the back, so it can easily be undone.

This picture really doesn't do it justice, unfortunately. Here's a close up of the skirt so you can get a look at the print in all of its glorious detail overload.

Ribbons, tiny bouquets, stripes, polka dots,
and even more flowers lining each of the stripes.

And a close up of the skirt details because they are gorgeous.

Needless to say, I bought it. When it finally arrived I loved it just as much as I had in pictures, and it matched everything. I mean everything. My first lolita items were, you see, part of a phenomenon my cousin calls "everything matches!" and this JSK fit more perfectly into that color scheme than I had thought it would. Antique pink and ivory with touches of green and burgundy and yellow in the print; it goes with everything I already had, especially my favorite 1928 "Manor House" jewelry. 

It's a good thing they keep making jewelry with these roses,
because it makes gift shopping for me really easy sometimes.

It's definitely a special occasion dress for me, a frock for Easter or days when I need to feel a little more princessy than usual. The details make it too dressy for my everyday wear. So I wore it on special occasions, my upcoming purchases list became a list of things that would match the level of frills that this JSK exhibited, I started making accessories specifically to match its style.

And then, a few months ago, I finally looked at the tag.

It turns out, I'd purchased a JSK made by Metamorphose Temps de Fille without realizing it. Huh.

My first reaction was, to be frank, "Holy f*ck, I fit into brand!"

I've been looking for this dress ever since I bought it to figure out what it's called, but haven't had any luck. I've seen one post selling a green version with the skirt ruffles removed on EGL-comm-sales, but other than that I have no idea.

The strange thing for me about owning a piece of brand clothing is that I always expected that brand wouldn't fit unless it was fully shirred. I'm a bigger girl by western standards and lolita isn't made for western bodies. I was totally content to rock the offbrand, but I'm not going to say I don't like that I fit into this dress. It's not because it's brand, though.

It's because I like the dress.