I'm not dead. I've just been in a long hiatus due to work and school commitments. I'll be trying to post some things up, but unfortunately can't make any promises. For now I wanted to share with you all my lucky pack from the Japanese clothing brand, Listen Flavor!
For those who don't know what Listen Flavor is it is a sort of a sweet and punk rock mix clothing style. The clothing are just super fun and cute yet has some edge to them depending on how you wear them. They've even done some anime and Hello Kitty collaborations. If anything you can maybe guess what kind of style they are knowing that they're based in Harajuku, Japan.
This is actually my first taste of Listen Flavor (excuse me for the pun ;P) and of course when it comes to Japan's New Year's packs then I couldn't resist! Now lucky packs in Japan are a big thing and are released on New Year's day. Think of of it like Black Friday of Japan, except in my opinion it's even better. One of the appeals is that it's the only time I can afford a lot of the Japanese clothing brands since I can get multiple things for a set price. The items inside a luck pack are worth more than the set price too which is an even better bargain. The only thing is that what's inside is a surprise!
This lucky pack was about $60 (not including international shipping) and I got it from KeraShop. You'll need a shopping service to buy from them and I used Tenso. There are a few other places that were selling them, but Kerashop had it at the exact retailed price in Yen (¥7000) so no mark ups! But honestly even with a markup it was only around $10 more at some other places. Each bag is supposed to consist of five items with an overall worth around $200, so obviously it was a pretty good deal to me!
Now onwards to the surprise!
The Bag! Every year it is different. I was actually surprised since it was kind of small, but when I opened it I saw that each item was wrapped really nicely and packed inside. Each item was individually wrapped in these plastic bags for clothes and had wax paper inserted to protect the prints from any staining or discoloration. Definitely makes packing much more efficient too. Though because of its size I'm not sure if I'll reuse it. I could kind of use it as a purse of some sorts for school.
First item! This was actually a guaranteed item for all lucky packs. This year I wanted to limit myself to just one lucky pack and when I was looking around of which one I should try I saw pictures of this and immediately went, "YUP, Listen Flavor it is!" Of course the price was also another factor, but THIS SHIRT. I just like cats.
YES, more cats! I LOVE this one. This is sort of a long light sweater dress, perfect with leggings under it. It's pretty big and long that I only took a picture of half its length. It's super pink too. It reminds of something out of the 80s, which I like.
Picture of the print on the back. Just super cute!
This one reminds me of beer bottle designs, especially when it's in black and white. Light hoodies are always nice.
There's always a dud item in every lucky pack and this one is it for mine. I'm not sure what the designers were thinking, but it reminds me of those cheesy souvenir shirts from Las Vegas. Unless that is what they intended it to be, but my thoughts are just OUCH. I don't even think I can maybe even sell it so it'll be either a shirt I'll keep to sleep in or just lounge around the house in. It's also SUPER HUGE. So yup this and yoga pants for my super lazy days!
GhostBuster knockoff cat version!!! I dig any shirt with cats on it.
View of the print on the back. Sorry for the slightly washed out look, but the color is just like how it looks in the picture above so it's a vibrant dark blue.
Overall Verdict
I'm pretty happy with this lucky pack. It's very fun and casual even though it may fall into the fairykei genre depending on how you coord them and so on. I would definitely wear them even to school paired with knee highs and shorts. Now the size I got was an M and by looking at the tags and other clothes online they seem to only have sizes M, L or Free. The lucky pack did not give me an option for a size and just came in M, which was better for me. I'm usually a size M in clothes from Japan despite being an XS-S in the States (I have boobs for an asian), but Listen Flavor is intended to be worn loose on those between a S and M. But because they are very loose and much bigger than normal they can fit girls (and boys) from a variety of sizes. I would say all of the shirts/hoodies that I got except for the cat ghostbuster knockoff shirt can even fit girls who are considered an L in US sizes. The cat ghostbuster shirt would fit between those who are S and M, with S being a little loose and M just fitting right. I like my t-shirts a little loose so M was perfect. So overall when it comes to sizes, Listen Flavor is one of the rare ones that will fit girls (and boys) of all sizes since a majority of Japanese clothing sizes tend to only fit girls between an S and M. I definitely highly recommend it for those who are looking for cute styles that can fit a much larger range of sizes!
Now I can only hope to save up for some of the My Melody and Twin Little Stars collaborations! Until next time!
