February Coords Roundup

Have I squeezed all of the lovecore things into February that I possibly could have? Hm, there probably could have been more. It’s fortunate then that the lovecore aesthetic doesn’t have to be confined to just this one very short month, right?

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Coord 1: Lunar New Year

| Bodyline L380 skirt | Lady Sloth Glitter Mesh blouse | vintage haori, belt and brooch | Resailan Jewelry Box tights | Hush Puppies boots | AatP Sheherazade headdress | offbrand hair clip | Innocent World Moon and Star Pearl necklace |

Confirmed: liquid lipstick works well as an eyeliner.

This clip doesn't get the love it deserves.

I managed to kick the month off with an actual coord for Lunar New Year. In trying to put something with auspicious colours together I went from doing an ivory and red to ivory with red and gold, which I think I like more. There was also an attempt to include a celestial theme in there by the addition of the moon clip, the necklace and wearing the tights back to front, since that’s where the moons are (though they are too high and end up being hidden by the skirt). I would also like to say that I am very impressed with myself considering how I cooked in this whole ensemble and did not dip my sleeves into any of the countless pots I had around. If ever there was a lifestyler skill unlocked, this would be it.

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Coord 2: Dotty for a Bag

| Metamorphose Airline JSK | Laura Ashley blouse | Angelic Pretty Drained Cherry OTKs | offbrand shoes, scarf and earrings | Dream Masquerade Carnival pin | Banned Retro Bella belt | bows from Haenuli’s Whipped Cream Kitty JSK | Boguta bag |

The best beehive attempt to date, glad it got the recognition.

The absurdly large bow.

Yes, this entire coord came to be because the stupid bow bag arrived the day before. And since this dress is also stupid, the two stupid things had to go together. I’ve also used this coord to kickstart my No Buy Support Challenge, completely out of order, but when the stars align like that you just have to. I wrote more both about the bag and about the coord in separate posts which are linked here, so make sure to check those out.

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Coord 3: Valentine’s Witch

| Mary Magdalene Deborah Doll JSK | L’Esprit de la Noblesse Le Nuage blouse | Violet Fane Antiquite tights | Hush Puppies boots | offbrand witch hat with Puvithel’s Crystal Heart necklace | Innocent World Moon and Star Pearl necklace | Rose Marie Seoir necklace | Gravelvet Iridescent Princess necklace | Patisserie Pink Bottled Stardust brooch | vintage belt with Violet Fane’s Esoteric Shop brooch | Love Letters game pouch with Patisserie Pink’s Lock and Key brooch | Wicked and Whimsy ring | 4 Aces ring | Primark rings | Brightlele wig |

When your family tries to bomb you with heart confetti in birthday cards, you save that stuff up for a time of need. This was the time of need.

At this point I would like to thank the creators of Meitu app for allowing me to remove the gigantic safety pin that actually kept this heavy necklace on the hat.

Sometimes what you need is an outside-the-box prompt to come up with something cool. James the Enthusiast once again reached out to offer to collaborate, except this time he had a more specific idea: a Valentine’s Day witch. Now that is something I never would’ve thought of myself and was excited to try. This is the effect and I cannot stress enough how much I loved this look! Everything clicked into place just as I had hoped and truth be told, I felt like I should be a playable character in some J-RPG game. What made this even better was that except the selfie, all the photos were taken by my incredible boyfriend who stepped into full pro mode and made me look extra nice on the photos he took. I’m not crying, you’re crying!

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Coord 4: Mixed Transportation

| Metamorphose Airline JSK | Hell Bunny cardigan | Snag Take a Selfie tights | offbrand boots, beret and earrings | bow clip from Lady Sloth’s Winter Spices skirt | vintage brooch |

Gosh, how grateful am I for wearing glasses and being able to use them as a distraction from minimalist or even non-existing makeup on days when I can't be bothered...!

Blue hearts? Blue hearts.

The second one for the No Buy Support challenge, so since I wrote about it pretty extensively there, simply check out that post.

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Coord 5: Love Letter

| BtSSB Secret AIR MAIL from Sweet Kitty JSK | Lazy Oaf cutsew | Snag Take a Selfie tights | Irregular Choice Flickety Kiss heels | offbrand beret | handmade headbow and ring | Kreation Studio earrings | Violet Fane brooch | Vanyar wig |

I love a heart motif and I love any postal motifs. Combine them together and I am head over heels in love!

There was going to be a review of these earrings and then it slipped my mind. But they are excellent!

The idea for this coord came up as I was planning my outfits for the meetups I was going to attend in February, but this one didn't have a clear occasion. Just something I wanted to wear. Thankfully an extra work from home day appeared, so I seized the opportunity. My collection of heart/letter/heart letter themed items is growing, which I am very pleased with, lovecore all around!

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Coord 6: Mama Doreen's

| Grove Deer Moon of Eternal Day OP | Miss Point corset | Enchantlic Enchantilly Angel’s Ball Party tights | offbrand shoes and hair clips | Puvithel necklace and earrings |

Hello from your resident frill harlot.

Every now and then my phone decides that I need to be extra white. I am light skinned, but not literally white, calm down, phone!

My first in-person meet of the year, woooo! We went to Mama Doreen’s in Harrogate, which due to its location and how public transport works in the UK, I stayed with a friend in York the night before. Which explains a lot about this coord as it had to be: a) suitable for the theme; b) easy enough to pack lightly (as I did not want to bring an entire suitcase); and c) layerable enough for warmth during travelling. There was also d) appropriate for a night out that same day, but I ended up not going, so that fell through. In the end I arrived at ero lolita, at the slight cost of being warm, though for transits I was changing the heels into practical boots, so it wasn’t not so bad. I am slightly annoyed with myself that I forgot to pack some bracelets, but eh, it’s ero, it will slide because of that. The afternoon tea set we had at Mama Doreen’s was amazing, pretty classic flavour-wise, but done to a beautiful standard and so generous! Even though I’d managed to finish mine (and have a Ji fried chicken Ji-nitiation later, but that’s more of a reflection on that week), it was a formidable opponent. The staff were also incredible, not just complimentary, but very much on it, remembering people’s orders and quick with bringing things like refills, even bringing us teacups that they felt matched our outfits. Mama Doreen’s gets a 10/10, I am definitely finding a way to go back there!

Look at that tray of food! The strawberries were also covered in red edible glitter, you know, for extra pizzaz.

It started snowing very heavily pretty much the moment we got in to Mama Doreen's and did not stop until much later. So, ugh, yeah, thank goodness for those practical boots, even though things were still very precarious with them on.

At the same time, snow makes everything so pretty. Yorkshire is pretty in general, but snow adds to the charm.

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Coord 7: Business Casual

| Metamorphose Sailor Tiered skirt | Love from the North pin | IREGL pin | vintage necklace | everything else is offbrand |

Enjoy an office selfie in a single take. Very glad that this seat next to the window was free since it has the best light, but I'm not always guaranteed to sit there since we're hotdesking.

Repping two amazing events and longing for more.

Or just business, I guess. I wore this to the office since I felt the need to dress up at least a little, but needed to stay comfortable and relatively low key. And you can’t go wrong with some tartans for a bit of business chic with that quirky twist.

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Coord 8: Cocoa Cabana

| Vitorian Maiden Shirring Frill JSK | Innocent World Rose Lace Millefeuille bolero | Enchantlic Enchantilly Crown of the Rose Princess tights | offbrand shoes, hair clips, top and earrings | Enchantlic Enchantilly necklace | Kaneko brooch | handmade ring | handmade (not by me) brooch | belt from Grove Deer’s Moon of Eternal Day OP |

Definitely one of the most pleased I've been with my makeup, the layered lipsticks and the lashes were just the touches to tip this to the next level.

Fun fact, in my rush to get home on time for adulting I managed to break off bits of both of those things pictured here.

The second Valentine’s Day meet that I got to attend was at Cocoa Cabana, a Manchester venue that we’ve been to several times already. They can be trusted to feed us well, which is exactly what they did. For this one I decided to go with a pink x red colour scheme with lots of roses - very theme-appropriate, as well as comfortable and elegant. Sadly though I had to dip out and go home to adult way before the meetup was actually over, which was gutting, I really wanted to stay out and hang out with my comm some more, but life said no very soon after the meet started, so my mind was half elsewhere all that time. I feel robbed! But at least the adulting seems to have fixed what it needed to.

As the name suggests, Cocoa Cabana specialises in chocolate and all of their chocolate bits were exquisite!

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February turned out to be much more draining than I anticipated it being. Too many things have happened, many of which I could’ve done without, but had no control over, so here we are. It got to the end of the month and I was so tired from constantly having to deal with something that I was fully ready to treat myself just to feel something nice, which is not how the month started. Anyway, at least I got to wear so much red and pink, which is amazing. And now it’s March, so fingers crossed this will mean some nice and warm weather. I don’t think I’ve ever been as ready for spring as I am now…