the hero piece of summer layering
5 ways i styled this pleated sheer dress
One of the joys of shopping on Japanese eBay is the constant discovery of new brands. After coming back from Tokyo and having an underwhelming IRL vintage shopping experience, I felt even more committed to finding local designers on the platform.
That’s how I ended up with this sheer baby blue pleated dress. Which I L-O-V-E. It came in the mail yesterday. I wore it today for a coffee shop working session and got a bunch of compliments :) it’s always fun to strike up conversations with strangers over a mutual appreciation for fashion.
It started with a casual search for pleated Issey Miyake dresses on Japanese eBay. I almost bid on this wildly adorable fruit sando print dress but if I was being real with myself, I liked the print—not the scoop neck nor the A-line cut.
However, I was attached to the idea of a floaty pleated one-piece garment to layer over sheer slips for summer…
But nothing clicked. It’s funny how I often love seeing Issey Miyake pieces on others (and I think it looks amazing! artful!) but I have come to accept maybe some designers are just not for me. It’s like an intuition that becomes stronger with age and self-knowledge...you know what kinds of clothes are the most “you.”
Then, this listing showed up. A pale blue column style dress with floaty little appliques, reminiscent of a jellyfish. I felt a spark in my gut.
NOT Issey, but the seller wrote “issey miyake” in the description. Thank god for resellers who write “similar to xyz designer” in their item descriptions! I know this ticks some people off, but personally I’ve always found it funny and clever. I believe it is the sign of a master thrifter, someone with a trained eye and major styling chops.
I fell down a rabbit hole of the Japanese brand who makes this dress and bookmarked everything from asymmetric long sleeve tops to color-block-y flowy pants. In the end I thought it wise to just order one item to ‘try’ the brand.
This dress was so easy to style straight out of the box. It IS polyester. But it works for my because (1) it’s so sheer you don’t feel the “synthetic heat” get trapped and (2) it’s meant for layering, so I will wear silks close the body underneath it.
There’s also something subtly Asian about the high mockneck and column shape. A little bit of qipao kimono ao dai influence for sure. The left side has a high slit which makes it easy to move around in. I used a tiny safety pin to clip the side more and create more slits of violet down the side that I found visually interesting. I don’t have any summer weddings to attend but this would be a strong contender as an unconventional occasion dress. Though, I believe in dressing up for just for working at a cafe, so that doesn’t really matter!
At $90 it was more affordable than most Issey dresses I bookmarked.
There are plentiful listings under $150 from this brand on Japanese eBay:
*and below the fold, details on the 5 outfits I styled it with