Walk Through Namba - DevilInspired Overdress

My good friend from Portland has been in town recently, so we've been exploring all over Osaka together. Last Saturday, we got together to do some new release shopping in Amemura (Osaka's Harajuku equivalent) - she got the special dress set at Metamorphose, and we both hit up Angelic Pretty for this week's new items.

Afterward, we dropped our shopping bags off at her Airbnb (conveniently walking distance away).

We took some photos in the apartment, which is very nicely lit with a huge wall of windows!

I wore my new overdress from DevilInspired - they sent it to me last week and it arrived very quickly! I guess China to Japan isn't much of a distance haha.

Wardrobe Post 2017

Here I am, someone who very rarely gets sick, stuck at home with bronchitis. I went to the clinic in Japan for the very first time on Friday, as my bad cough had turned into a very bad and painful cough, and witnessed great Japanese healthcare at work (so cheap compared to America lol). Now I'm on antibiotics, plus a prescription strength cough suppressant and decongestant.

So what's a girl to do, except take the time to photograph her entire wardrobe for her blog..?

Honestly, this has been so much effort that I don't think I would have done it if I wasn't sick lol.

But here is my lolita wardrobe, in its (mostly) full glory...please be aware that this post is very image heavy!

Lucky Packs 2017

New Year's - the biggest holiday in Japan! It's full of customs and traditions...including fukubukuro, literally translated as "lucky bag", also known in English as lucky packs.

What's a fukubukuro?

Traditionally, they're deeply discounted mystery grab bags filled with leftover stock from the year before. Because it's considered bad luck for a shop to keep old stock into the new year, they stuff these bags full to get rid of everything quick. Nowadays, many shops do what they call "happy bags", where they make special items specifically to sell at New Year's and the contents are not a mystery.

This was my second year going fukubukuro shopping in Osaka (the first was during a visit 4 years ago), and I purchased 3 for myself: An Another Angelus (F.i.n.t's sister brand), Swimmer, and Innocent World. I also purchased one for my friend as part of my shopping service from Leur Getter, and she so generously offered the opportunity for me to post photos of it as well!

In recent years, many shops have begun offering reservations for fukubukuro, to cut down on the craziness at opening on release day. If you're in Japan when they begin reservations, it's a really great option to cut down on stress and waiting time! I reserved both the An Another Angelus and Leur Getter bags beforehand and picked them up on January 2nd.

Now what you've been waiting for - the reveals!