Wardrobe Project: Dream tartan suit

Today is a very special Wardrobe Project entry!

First a bit of backstory:

A few years back I started toying with the idea of maybe finally buying some more lolita fashion clothes. I've been a big fan of some of the lolita brands since about 2003, but at the time most things were both very much out of my price range as well as very hard to come by if you didn't live in Japan or had a friend who did so. 

In 2005 I did get the chance to buy this top (the only thing I could afford) from Baby the Stars Shine Bright through a friend of a friend of a friend in Japan. I was also very lucky to buy an inexpensive second hand dress from Metamorphose around the same time. I can't remember if it was through Ebay or maybe a message board, but I don't think it was more than about £30 which seems crazy looking back.

Sidenote, I think this is the only time in my adult life that I've had my natural haircolour! And it was only because I had recently become allergic to certain types of hairdye and was figuring things out.

I have sadly sold the dress since. When I got a bit older I felt that it looked unflattering on me, but I think it just didn't go with the hairstyle I had at the time and I kind of wish I had held on to it. I absolutely love that dusty pink colour and the big collar. It was always really big on me though and it only looked ok after I used lots of safety pins in strategic places to pull it together.

The top however is still in my wardrobe!

Anyway, when I had a bit of money some years ago and started looking into buying lolita fashion again, I realised that not only could I afford a lot of things, it had also become so much more accessible outside of Japan.

At first I was just going to buy one dress, so it had to be the most ultimate indulgent thing, and to me that was one of those ultra sweet dresses from Angelic Pretty, and it had to be the black colourway. I had a shortlist of a few different options and the first one that turned up at a reasonable price was Dreamy Dollhouse.

(same chair as in the 2005 photo!)

It was actually my second choice at the time (after Milky Planet), but once I got it I realised I actually like this one best anyway.

I adore this dress, but it's one of the least used garments in my closet precisely because it is so ultra sweet and not my usual style. I'm completely fine with that though since it was supposed to be a treat and not something I would normally buy.

Having realised how comparatively easy it was to find lolita fashion I started compiling a wish list. I looked through all my favourite brands on Lolibrary (amazing resource!) to see what might be out there.

As I've said many times before I mainly buy my clothes second hand for environmental reasons, but I am also not really into most lolita brand releases from the last ten years or so.

I have been steadily checking things off my list, but I had one top dream item that I thought was too far-fetched to even put on the list, and I put some pretty far-fetched items on the list!

That item was this 2005 tartan suit by Angelic Pretty.

If you're into lolita fashion you know these Vivienne Westwood-inspired tartan suits are kind of a a standard item for several brands, at least they used to be for a while, so there are quite a lot of different ones out there. Again I had a shortlist of tartan suits I liked, but this to me was the ultimate one.

I had never even seen a picture of someone actually wearing this set so I had no hopes of actually finding it, even less finding both the skirt and jacket together.

So I couldn't believe when I came across THE suit on Chinese second hand site Xianyu a couple of weeks ago. It was expensive but not as expensive as what newer, less-interesting-to-me tartan suits tend to go for second hand.

The previous owner even included some handmade matching accessories, including the tie which I would have made myself anyway since the original stock photo showed the suit worn with a matching tie, perfect!

I truly never thought this day would come, and I am over the moon to finally be wearing my ultimate dream suit!

Outfit Details

Suit: British Jacket and British Skirt by Angelic Pretty.

Blouse: Handmade by me.

Socks: Jane Marple

Shoes: Victoire by Baby the Stars Shine Bright.

All second hand including the blouse which was made using parts from two old shirts.

Abrupt hairstyle change since halfway through taking these photos I started thinking maybe the pigtails didn't suit me :D

Thank you for reading!