This shoot features Mystia Lorelei from Touhou Project (often known from Touhou Imperishable Night), affectionately called Mystia by everyone. The outfit I'm wearing was handmade by @🦇老婆, who poured a ton of thought into everything from the design to the stitching. The overall color scheme is brown and white, featuring abundant use of lace, ruffles, and feather elements. A ruby brooch is set in the center of the floral bow on the chest, while the hemline and cuffs are pieced together with white faux fur and feathers, making it remarkably ornate. The hat is a brown beret style lined with tiers of white lace along the brim and accented with metallic hardware and feathers on top. The small wings on my back, colored in black, white, and pink, were assembled myself, and the pink-and-white palette pairs wonderfully with the hair.
For makeup, to recreate that subtly mysterious and melancholic aura of the character, the foundation was applied very fair, with blush blended generously beneath the eyes and cheeks to evoke a fragile, doll-like presence. The eye makeup focused on drooped outer corners and dense false lashes, finished with a glossy berry lip color. The wig is a short pink bob with neatly trimmed straight bangs, accented with a black musical note hairpin on the left—a fun little detail.
The shooting took place indoors with a very simple setup: a white shaggy rug against a white wall, flanked by a tripod and two fill lights. Self-shooting is honestly quite tedious because the costume has so many components, taking considerable time just to put on. The hat in particular slipped easily, requiring readjustments of its placement and the direction of the feathers every time I shifted angles. The full-body shots were formatted into collages to display both front details and the dimensional layers of the skirt. Slipping into white over-the-knee Stockings and black leather shoes brought the entire ensemble together seamlessly.
The full-body poses demanded repeated fine-tuning; because the skirt is voluminous, it can look bulky without careful posing, so finding the right angle to accentuate the waistline was crucial. Mystia's outfit leans heavily into the Lolita style, where multi-tiered lace and floral prints really test the lighting. To better render the fabric textures on camera, I experimented with various light positions and ultimately settled on a softer front light, which kept the ruby brooch and intricate lace patterns sharp and clear. Even though the garment is complex to wear and requires cautious steps, seeing the final outcome gives a tremendous sense of accomplishment. Given the chance in the future, I hope to do more outdoor shoots to bring this exquisite charm into natural daylight and share this special Mystia atmosphere with everyone.