What is Liz Lisa/sizing info
I see more and more people interested in Liz Lisa/ himekaji these days! It makes me so happy to have new members of this amazing community, but I often see people in doubt of purchasing Liz Lisa. Theres no need to be nervous, and Im hoping that by the end of this post you will be able to purchase Liz Lisa confidently without a doubt.
So lets get started!
(For future reference, if you see "LL" , this is just "Liz Lisa" shortened.)
First, Liz Lisa is a Japanese brand, so not only are the clothes designed/sold in Japan, they are also sized for Japanese women to wear. Most Japanese women fall between size XS-M, and LL & many other himekaji brands are one size, or free size (usually labeled as size "0" or "F" on tags)
A lot of LL has "shirring" or an elastic part in the waist that is very stretchy. This is what helps the garment stretch and become "one size".
Measurements are the best way to tell if a specific piece will fit, as some pieces have lots of shirring, others have just a tiny patch of shirring in the back, and some have no shirring.
(shirring of varying amounts shown on the back of two different LL skirts and on the back of a LL dress)
Always always ALWAYS check the measurements, or if youre buying secondhand, ask for measurements if you are unsure.
Not only are waist measurements important, but shoulder, bust and length measurements as well! I have noted that with replicas, the sizing tends to run smaller, or have less shirring, so if you are planning on purchasing a replica, it may fit different than the authentic piece.
I have created a chart below of my size recommendations for authentic pieces. These are not official "recommendations", these are just guidelines I have created based on my sizing/how the pieces fit on me and the actual measurements from my clothes.
(My recommendation: US size 00-7 could fit into Liz Lisa, possibly size 8/10 depending on the piece and how much stretch it has)
As for shoes, Liz Lisa has 4 sizes for shoes. S, M, L, and occasionally LL (double L)
Im a size US 7/7.5 and I fit perfectly into the size L size shoes. below is Liz Lisa's size guide for shoes:
(Taken from Tokyo Otaku mode, I believe measurements are taken in CM)
Where to buy Liz Lisa
Now for the next part of this post.
As we know, LL is a Japanese brand. If you are not located in Japan it is impossible to buy directly from tokyo kawaii life (Liz Lisa's official webshop) without a shopping service since they only ship within Japan. Unfortunately buying Liz Lisa is not as simple as buying from Forever 21 online :(
However, you can use a shopping service, which is a person or company that is located in Japan who will purchase these items for you and ship them to your country. They often take a commission fee (for their time) and/or a bank fee/percentage of the cost of goods. International shipping can be VERY expensive. Im located in the US and every time I use a shopping service to purchase goods, the shipping usually amounts to $20-30 alone.
This is the same with buying secondhand from Japanese auction sites. You will need a shopping service for those as well.
The only place you can buy brand new LL without a shopping service is from Tokyo Otaku Mode. They sell official authentic LL items from current collections and will ship worldwide. The only downfall is that there are rarely good sales.
The only other place to buy Liz Lisa is by searching apps and auction sites for used pieces, and often they can be bought for a decent price.
To conclude with this part of the post (and lead into the next) Liz Lisa and himakaji brands are not cheap.
Cost/general pricing
Liz Lisa is a designer brand. Each design is a work of art that someone has taken the time skill and imagination to create. Therefore just like any other expensive brand out there, replicas exist.
Some sellers will try to call these "factory over-runs" but usually this means its a replica. Liz Lisa has very specific tags and most of the time replicas are made as close to the original as possible, but for about half the price.
Soon, I will be making a post specifically about replicas and how to determine before and after purchase if your piece is a replica. I will link this here later~
Liz Lisa's prices generally range between:
4,000-5,000 yen for blouses
6,000-9,000 yen for sweaters
4000-7000 yen for skirts
5,000 - 10000 yen for dresses
12000 yen plus for coats/outerwear.
Ank Rouge tends to run about 1,000 yen more than Liz Lisa.
Other Himekaji brands range in price, but are generally about the same cost.
Axes femme is more "mori-style" meaning there will be less pastels, more neutrals/earth tones. Axes Femme generally is about 1,000-2,000 yen cheaper than Liz Lisa.
Just know that if you are more concerned about money than dressing yourself in brands you love, replicas are an option, as well as shopping for secondhand Liz Lisa pieces.
All of my himekaji/Liz Lisa items were purchased secondhand, most between 50-60% less than retail price.
If you are looking to buy LL and himekaji brands secondhand, click HERE to visit my previous post, a complete guide on where to purchase secondhand.
Liz Lisa Collections
The next part of this post has a lot to do with the previous part.
Liz Lisa produces its clothes based on year and collection. Each year and season, Liz Lisa comes out with new items. Once those items are sold out they are never going to be produced again. This is why LL items are in a sense exclusive and limited. You can even preorder pieces from the upcoming releases to guarantee you get one, the only downfall is that these items are full price. There are often sales that go on each season, some as much as 50% off! This is when a lot of people buy their most anticipated pieces. The only downfall is that a lot of the most popular items will sell out as soon as the sale is announced. Sometimes its a specific color way that is sold out, or with shoes, a specific size. Rarely does Liz Lisa restock items that are sold out. Once its sold out, the only hope to find them again is to search for them secondhand (or settle for a replica if there is one)
But if you miss out on an item, there will surely be more cute items in the next collection. There is a collection every season; Summer Spring Fall and Winter. Usually these have super adorable names for each collection. I think this Springs collection is either "Twinkle" or "Candy" (something like that...forgive me, I buy all my pieces secondhand wayyy after the collections sell out)
Its easy to tell what collection your piece is from by looking at the wash tag. There should be an item/serial number at the top. The first two numbers are the year and the third number is the collection its from.
(Tags shown are from two different dresses. The Tag to the left is from the year 2012 (12) and from the Summer/Spring (1) collection. The dress on the right is from the year 2011 (11) and from the Winter/Fall collection (2) This tag can be located inside the garment, usually on the bottom right side)
Every now and then you will get a tag that doesn't make sense. It is speculated that some of the older collections didn't have this number system in place. Replicas also have a tendency to have incorrect numbers or ones that dont make sense, however the one shown below is authentic.
(This tag says it was made in the year 2018 (18), which is impossible because I purchased this in 2014)
If you see an item you like from a blogger, dont hesitate to ask what collection its from and if they dont know, ask for a pic of the wash tag. Then you can tell what year/collection its from and start scouting secondhand sites for that item! The older it is the harder it will be to find. Same goes with items from the current year. They are hard to find secondhand because the demand for them is very high.
Signature Style
Liz Lisa usually has a theme with their release. Once it was constellations, another time it was fruit, this winters collection seemed to have a lot of pom poms! Often times, there is a specific print/pattern that has a theme (for example, the Hansel and Gretel skirt, or the Mermaid print dress) and those pieces tend to sell out super fast! There are even certain styles that are more than just ordinary clothes. Get familiar with the terms "sukupan" and "culottes" since those are very popular styles for bottoms. Sukupan literally means skirt pants. This is basically a skirt with safety shorts built inside. This is so helpful, especially on windy days. Not all skirts are sukupan style, however most are! Another popular term is culottes. This one isnt of Japanese origin, however Japanese culottes tend to look different from the rest of the worlds. As far as Liz Lisa goes, culottes are basically really baggy or pleated shorts (they actually go between your legs) but when worn the bagginess makes them look just like a skirt!)
Heres my most recent post featuring my Tralala culottes:
***
Other than that, the only other term that may slightly be vague is "3-way bag" which is somewhat self explanatory. I do not own one, but these bags can be worn as a crossbody bag, hand bag, or mini backpack! This is made possible by multiple rings placed on the bag and straps that can be removed and moved to turn the bag into whichever style youd like! This is a very popular style of bag, infact I think most of Liz Lisa's larger bags are made this way now.
Not only are bags easy to style, Liz Lisa releases a lot of 2-piece's and set ups. These are usually a top and bottoms sold separately, but can be worn together as a matching pair. Below is a old picture of the only setup I own.
***
There are also different color ways to most pieces. Usually there is only two or three color ways to each piece. The most common colors for Liz Lisa pieces are white, blue, pink, red (often called bordeaux), beige, and brown. Recently Liz Lisa has been making a lot of pale yellow and lilac color ways, which have become quite popular with Spring approaching.
Liz Lisa has a lot of collaborations with other brands or even famous pop stars. Liz Lisa's most popular collaboration is with "MY Melody" which can be known by the pink bunny character. The tags to these collaboration pieces usually say "Lizmelo"....literally Liz Lisa x My Melody! These pieces can be super hard to find and are generally more expensive than other Liz Lisa pieces.
Although Liz Lisa sticks to very similar shades and prints, they also have "sister brands" that are very similar but with a different style. Liz Lisa Doll tends to have all the lacey accents but with more contrast and featuring darker colors, usually black and pink plaids and polka dots. Tralala and Penderie are very similar to each other and are probably the closest things to Liz Lisa. They dont cost quite as much, but their designs tend to be a bit more simple. The brand JugETTA is also very close to Liz Lisa, with a more classy business feel to its designs. Although Ank Rouge isn't really considered a sister brand, it has a lot of pieces that go very well with any other himekaji pieces!
My Story
I first stumbled across Liz Lisa when I was searching for outfit ideas. It was late 2013 and I had just went off to college after graduating high school. My style was changing and I needed to look to bloggers/fashionistas for inspiration on what was fashionable to buy. I think I was using Lookbook at the time and came across one post of a girl wearing the cutest little lace skirt. I clicked on the brand to find that the search results consisted of pastels and florals... my weak spot! I noticed that there was a theme or feeling to each post consisting of a piece from Liz Lisa. There was a sense of innocence, empowerment and self-confidence in each of the posters photos. I knew that I wanted to be like them, I always felt that I wanted to be a part of something big and there seems to be a connection between all the posters who had been wearing these adorable pastel outfits. Thats when I started educating myself on the brand (and going to others for help) and eventually purchasing my own pieces and starting an Instagram to gather inspiration!
I was very hesitant to purchase my first Liz Lisa piece. In fact, I found the piece I wanted, and I literally stalked the Ebay listing every day for 3 months hoping nobody would purchase it. It was the white floral organza skirt from the 2013 collection. It was priced at $40 plus shipping from Japan, which would round out to be around $50. At the time, I couldnt reason spending $50 on a skirt that may not even fit. I sent the seller a message with my concern, asking for the max waist measurement and gave her my waist measurement for her opinion. Thats when she told me (in roughly translated Japanese) that it would not fit me.
I was so sad, as I have slight body image issues. My measurements are 32/28/38 so Im larger in certain areas and smaller in other areas. I wanted to dress in a himekaji style soooo badly but I had no determination after I felt like nothing was ever going to fit, just because the seller said I couldnt 😢
I gave up on the skirt and instead, bought a Liz Lisa brown floral top that I found for only $12. It was being shipped from Japan so it was going to take a while to arrive. Meanwhile, I was searching secondhand apps (in this case, Poshmark) for clothes and found the Liz Lisa organza skirt I was obsessed with on Ebay, only in the pink colorway...for only $22!!!!! I instantly purchased it, hoping that it would fit.
Since the skirt was from a US seller, it arrived in 2 days so I consider it my first Liz Lisa purchase (not the floral top that hadnt arrived yet.)
The skirt fit perfectly! It was hard to get over my hips, but once I got it up over the booty, it fit like a glove! The shirring in the back was nice and stretchy~ from then on, I purchased Liz Lisa without hesitation. I have only come across 2 himekaji pieces that did not fit. The first was a pair of LL suspender shorts that had no shirring, and second, an Ank Rouge skirt/shorts that is way too small in the waist even though it has shirring)
Here is a recent post featuring my first Liz Lisa piece! This is the Pink organza skirt I purchased years ago :)
I hope you enjoyed this really long post! I think I have now covered most of the basics to buying Liz Lisa!
Im currently working on a post on how to differentiate between authentic and replica.
Then I plan on posting about how to start a successful Instagram/blog and a few tips Ive learned along the way!
After those posts I plan on starting a youtube channel and start posting about how to coordinate outfits/how to achieve different looks!
Let me know what you guys think!
If you'd like to contact me or if you have any more questions, feel free to send me a message on instagram!
hi what is the free size measurements?
ReplyDelete