The end-of-year holidays are a great time to be a fan of lolita fashion. A lot of brands hold sales and most of them also participate in offering “Fukubukuro” packages, what we commonly call “lucky bags” or “lucky packs” in English. Most lolita fashion enthusiasts or fans who buy pop culture merch from Japanese websites will be familiar with the concept, but for those who aren’t, here’s a brief explanation. These packs are usually filled with overstock merchandise offered at a steep discount – it’s cheap because there’s too much of it (probably because the items didn’t sell very well) and you don’t get to choose the items inside. Some lolita fashion brands have altered the tradition somewhat by offering lucky bags that are filled with special re-released prints and they’ll share the information about it beforehand, but many still stick to offering surprises.
Garment size can be an issue in these cases. Many brands operate on what they call “free size” which is supposed to be a “one-size-fits-most” deal. As someone of above-average height and who has a somewhat curvaceous build, things fitting and being long enough to not look goofy on me is always a concern. For these reasons lucky packs can often be a bit of a crap shoot – most brands seem to be more reasonable, offering fully-shirred (elastic all the way around the bodice) items or other things which are likely to fit a wider assortment of figures, but it’s not 100% by any means. That’s why I was pleased when Innocent World, my favorite lolita fashion brand, started offering some of their lucky bags or “happy packs” sorted by size. This gave me enough confidence to put in an order and not worry about whether the majority of the items would fit or not. I grabbed one of these happy packs mid-year, and if time allows I may make a post about what I received in that pack. But the Winter lucky pack that I ordered in December arrived this week and I got to open it last night, so I thought I’d post about it and share some pictures of what I received.
Just as a note, I’m using a phone camera that’s not very good. I did a little tweaking and color correction afterward but because my room is a warm orange color and this took place at night, there wasn’t much I could do. I’ll do my best to link to stock photos so that you can see what these items should actually look like.
Packaging
The items all came packed in one large shipping box, and they all fit pretty snugly inside. Everything inside the box was packaged in its own cellophane or plastic garment bag. The larger articles of clothing each came with a clothes hanger (which is nice, since I’m always running out of them).
Unidentified Beige Socks with floral ribbon Pattern
Try as I might, I couldn’t identify the name of the sock from online resources. The socks are a light beige color with darker tan detailing of ribbons, roses, and other flowers. The foot portion has two ribbons in the design. The socks are over-the-knee length. These are always very versatile items and I can use these with several garments I already own.
Torchon Lace Knee Socks
This is the other pair of socks I received, and they’re kind of what many people would think of as being “lolita” considering that they have the classic black fabric, white lace color scheme of old-school lolita fashion. I have a pair of similar socks from Bodyline but the lace on these is leaps and bounds nicer so I’m thinking I might retire those.
IW Charm Clip
This is one of the two hair accessories I received. It’s a very simple grosgrain ribbon with a small Innocent World logo charm on one part of the bow and an alligator clip on the back. I was thinking to myself recently that I get so hung up on big pieces that my accessory collection has suffered, and having small, versatile items like this around is helpful in fixing that.
Unidentified Peter Pan Collar Blouse
I tried pretty hard to figure out what blouse this was, but to no avail. It’s high quality cotton in a light beige color, has a ruffle around the yoke with some pintuck detailing inside, and has a peter pan collar with lace and lace around the sleeves. The buttons have a sunburst pattern on them. The Bottom of the blouse is plain rather than ruffled and there are no waist ties, which leads me to believe that this one is truly meant to be tucked-in. It’s another great basic piece that I think will look good with several of my items.
Floral JSK
Once again I’m not quite certain what JSK this is. The bodice is very reminiscent of the Theresia Rose JSK and the Bertille Rose JSK re-release that was supposed to be in some of the packs, but it’s not quite like either and beyond that I’m stumped. In any case, it’s really pretty and I’ll look forward to wearing it when it’s not quite so cold outside.
The Second Rozen Maiden Doll Kanaria Set
Innocent World did a collaboration with the anime series Rozen Maiden a while back, converting several of the characters’ outfits into something more fitting for lolita fashion. Lolita fashion shows up fairly often in anime and a lot of the characters from this series seem inspired by that look, but in most cases trying to portray the outfits in the anime directly would come across as too cartoonish. Case in point – the character Kanaria from the show looks like this:
The outfit takes the essence of her design and makes it more reasonable for lolita (or in this case, boystyle or ouji) fashion. I received the knickers, overdress and headdress from the set (there is also a blouse and socks pictured for the set but I’m guessing that those sold out quicker.
I’m still trying to wrap my head around this one, but I think I can make it work if it separate out the pieces and get a waistcoat to wear with the knickers. I was just thinking to myself the other day that I’d like to try boystyle some time, so maybe it’s time to give it a try.
Bonus Photos
Here are some photos of me trying stuff on. It all fits for the most part, though like all IW JSKs I’m going to have to adjust the straps on the floral JSK to be longer since my torso is longer than the default allows (you can do this by moving the buttons that are on the shoulder straps).
Well, I hope you enjoyed this exciting unboxing. I’ve got another lucky pack on its way sometime soon from Enchantlic Enchantilly, so look forward to some more poor lighting and crappy mirror shots when that arrives.
Kyoji is a convict fresh out of a stint in prison. With nowhere to go and no family to speak of, he’d normally be in a bind, but something life-changing happened to him while he was in the slammer – Yakumo, the most famous Rakugo performer in Japan, gave a rousing performance of “Shinigami” at the prison, and Kyoji was instantly smitten. It’s been a year now, but that rendition of the story left its mark and Kyoji makes it his first order of business to seek out Yakumo and become his apprentice. Having spent the last of his money on a brand new suit, he seeks Yakumo out and the master seems so amused that he agrees to take Kyoji on, giving him the new name “Yotaro,” or “Fool.”
