August Coords Roundup

The forecast of salt air and rust on doors came pretty true, certainly in my heart. August was a weird mix of weathers and an interesting mix of stuff that I got up to, which meant some fun outfits got to happen.

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Coord 1: Off to York

| Metamorphose Shirring Tiered Ribbon JSK | Axes Femme cutsew | offbrand bolero, socks, necklace, and brooch | Memery shoes | Cutie Creator hat | BtSSB Princess Drop combs | Latte Galaxy brooch | Felfira Moon Designs brooch | handmade bracelets |

Curly twin tails just look so much cuter.

For a pendant I got off eBay, this is coming through at the oddest moments.

I'd been testing out whether this coord could work when playing with Whering and then when I realised that it would, decided that this would be my outfit for going on a day trip to York. It had been far too long since I was last in York and I'd been itching, so made sure to go during my week off work. The coord came together just right, the perfect level of breathable and still covered. And I had a very lovely day, as always whenever I go to York. Managed to find a few cute things (not doing too well with that no-buy on that front but shh) and unusually for me I actually went about the day without my headphones, just enjoying the sounds of summer in the city.

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Coord 2: Filming Day

| Innocent World Revival Sweets Teddybear JSK | Axes Feme cutsew | Naddine Atelier bow top | BtSSB Secret AIR MAIL from Sweet Kitty OTKs | Hot Chocolate Designs Dear Santa shoes | Cutie Creator Maiden’s Prayer headbow | offbrand earrings | Melty Wish necklace | Latte Galaxy brooch | Violet Fane brooch | handmade bracelets and ring |

Day 2 curls now quite as tight, but I just about managed to keep something there.

When putting this bow top on, I realised that it either forces you to embrace the bow on just your boobs look or you'll have to faff with the (thankfully long) bow tails. For now I chose the latter, but I'll work my way up to the former.

Honestly? I'll be the first to admit my surprise at how well this ended up working. The idea came to me as I was playing with things in Whering, wanting to do a more tricolour coord with this dress. And I almost dropped it because the bow does sit very much over the boobs and it looked just a touch awkward – until I realised that I could wrap the tails of the bow and lower the layer until the dress’ waistline. And that was the winning move there. That being said, it was one of the hot days, so the moment filming was done, it all got yeeted off because I had to leave the house for a few chores and this was way too much. Velvet is not made for 30° weather.

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Coord 3: Casual Travels

| Physical Drop Shirring 3-Tier OP | Tabio socks | offbrand shoes and hair clip | Folk and Fortune Typewriter necklace |

Can you tell that the hair in that bun was curled? I needed it a bit more voluminous for the following day, but it was more practical tied back for the journey.

The only kind of apple socks that are welcome in this house.

Long car journeys demand comfort – but who said that comfort can’t be stylish? Physical Drop is coming to the rescue in this extremely simple look. It also survived some thorny brambles and excitable dogs, which really goes to show that Kato-san makes things that are built to bloody last! I so need more Physical Drop in my life now.

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Coord 4: Vintage Summer

| Metamorphose Vintage Fruit OP | Tutuanna socks | Memery sandals | Cutie Creator hat | Two Days Slow hair clips | handmade necklace | Bows and Crossbones bangles |

The overcast natural light is doing something funky to my eyes there, but I can't say that I'm that upset by it.

When in doubt, throw a chunky bangle at it.

TW: dementia

I am a little annoyed with myself because this coord was supposed to feature the same bolero as the one I wore to York, but I entirely forgot about it as I was getting dressed. Still, I think the look works even without it. I was explicitly asked if I could wear something a little bit more extra to meet my boyfriend’s family member with dementia, with the logic being that a more unusual outfit might help them remember me a little bit better (since theirs is in the relatively early stages). Whilst he had something a bit more traditionally sweet lolita in mind, I also had to consider practicalities (like weather and packing) and figured that between the print and the hat, this still counted as out there for normies without being too much. The locals, when we went round the charity shops first, seemed to absolutely love me, but then we were in a town filled with older people and we all know that older people absolutely love lolita.

At this point I will add that I also frilled the next day, for the journey back, however, there are absolutely no photos of that, so have a Whering collage and know that the outfit also included the same Typewriter necklace as the day before.

| Metamorphose Polka Dots skirt | Folk and Fortune Typewriter necklace (not pictured here) | everything else is offbrand |

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Coord 5: 101st Dalmatian

| Bodyline L380 skirt | offbrand top and hair clips | Angelic Pretty Colorful Polka Dots OTKs | Elf Armorie Cupid’s Heart shoes | Cutie Creator headdress | Axes Femme earrings | Promised Land Creations necklace | Manda Rin Designs brooch | AatP Tulle wrist cuffs |

Lol, I can't even remember what I did for my hair then.

We can sort of count these clusters of roses on the lace as just fancy dots, right?

When you’re about to see 101 Dalmatians at the theatre, it obviously calls for an appropriate coord. I’m sticking to my guns about this being inspired by the dalmatians themselves and not Cruella, although you can’t get the cat person out of me and I had to include a cat brooch (mostly for colours rather than themes, but still). I tried this coord with both these shoes and black ones, and black ones looked very unbalanced, even if these aren’t fully perfect either. But I like the coord overall.

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Coord 6: Business Lunch

| Lady Sloth Slavic Bestiary JSK | Stroje.pl blouse | MuFish tights | Elf Armorie Cupid’s Heart shoes | offbrand hair clips and earrings | My Inspiration brooch and necklace | Banned Retro Bella belt |

There was this one time before when I decided to just brush my curls out not against my hand (which stops them frizzing) and basically discovered the Rachel Maksy poodle.

I've been feeling autumnal for most of August, so obviously these dried herbs spoke to me.

Sometimes community mods have things that are easier to discuss in person than via group chats. At those times you can legitimately fill out the restaurant's survey to say that the reason for your visit was business. Jokes aside, the mod team for Leeds EGL needed to brainstorm some things and obviously that counts as a meetup. It was warm and humid, but since I was staying in Leeds overnight, I needed to be a bit tactical about what to wear and pack, especially with shoes. Besides, cotton and linen are the right summer fabrics. They won't stop you from sweating, but they won't make you feel gross about it either. Hence the coord. That and because I figured out that I like this dress best on me when it's styled to amplify the Slavic vibes rather than the goth ones. I almost wore my handmade apron, but it covered up the entire front, at which point this could've been any dress. But next time.

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Coord 7: Pub Meet

| Haenuli Lovely Memories JSK | Lady Sloth crop top | offbrand socks, hair clip, and brooch | Elf Armorie Cupid's Heart shoes | handmade hat, earrings, and bracelets | Innocent World Organdy Bow Rose hair clip | BtSSB Princess Drop combs | vintage necklace | Angelic Pretty Cute Ribbon wrist cuffs | Banned Retro Bella belt |

Fully forgot that this hat is too big for my head and basically just carried it in my hand the whole day.

But look at the cute floral decorations I added to it! It was there!

Speaking of being tactical with packing, this was the day after at a casual pub meet. Temperatures shot up, so I had to be a bit better about dressing for the weather. I considered revisiting this blouseless coord from July 2021, but since I could only bring one pair of shoes and I would sweat anyway, then I might as well wear a blouse. I really like how this coord came up. It's absolutely not casual and not really what one would think of first when going to the pub, but it capitalised on that one day of summer perfectly!

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Coord 8: Dragon Age Friday

| Song and Temple Fairytale Library skirt | Angelic Pretty Twinkle Star socks | handmade bracelets | everything else is offbrand |

The success here is managing to catch this much of that bow at the back.

Sometimes all you have to hand is a wonky AliExpress necklace that purports to be a replica of a Lord of the Rings piece of jewellery. And that's ok.

I’ve definitely worn a version of this before. But it was a WFH Friday, I was low on motivation for everything just generally, needed something that would be fine for my weekly supermarket trip, but also wanted to lift my spirit a little bit with something cute… and then the night before BioWare finally announced when Dragon Age: The Veilguard will be released, so the coord made itself.

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Coord 9: Lord of the Dance

| Chrysanthemum's Concerto The First Semester JSK | Infanta blouse | morun x muuna stoik overskirt | Violet Fane Enchanted Ivy tights | offbrand shoes and necklaces | Rose of Sharon hair clips | Tiny Passerine Creations The Duchess’ Tea earrings | handmade necklace and bracelets | vintage gloves and brooch |

Funnily enough, on that day it was also the anniversary of the previous time I'd done that hairstyle.

Adding all the pearls in my possession. Probably could do with one or two more strings if I'm honest.

In this instalment of Paulina Overdresses for Theatre, we go full Irish princess vibes because I really love Lord of the Dance and Irish dancing. As it transpired, I love the original Lord of the Dance and not what it is now, but despite my grumbles, I did have a nice evening. And the coord came out even nicer than I thought it would. The hair is a playful take on competition ringlets, as well as a test for this hairstyle because maybe it will enter the rotation more frequently (it is just a pile of curls haphazardly pinned to the top of my head after all). There really isn't anything that I would change here and in fact, I would love to wear this again sometime.

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Coord 10: Cruel Summer at Work

| BtSSB Dreaming Sherbet skirt | offbrand cutsew and badge | Snag Plee-yay tights | Sosic Shop shoes | Pink Up Fanny's Dressing Table hair clip | Folk and Fortune Cruel Summer earrings | Madillustration Dream On brooch |

Truth be told, I don't like any of the selfies that I took that day, I was rushing and should've brought a brighter lipstick, but we make do with what we have.

Cruel Summer with you <3

After abandoning my plans to dress up for theatre the night before, I gravitated towards this when searching for something to wear for a Wednesday at the office. Ever since announcing that I'd be leaving that job, I've been making the same Cruel Summer joke and all of that week I'd been including subtle references to me going, so why not take it up a notch. It also cooled down weather-wise: not quite up to the autumnal levels that my soul was craving, but just about enough for some lighter long sleeves and this top with cutouts is the perfect hot/cold thing. It's a simple coord, yet mighty in how it lifted my spirits during the countdown to leaving.

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Coord 11: For Five More Minutes We're SIX

| Metamorphose Polka Dots Shirring Pinafore JSK | Haenuli X I Do Declare blouse | Cutie Creator tights | Angelic Pretty Elegant Doll boots | offbrand hair clip and ring | Folk and Fortune Fleur de Lys earrings | Angelic Pretty Royal Unicorn necklace | vintage brooch | 8th Sin Creations harness | handmade belt | vii ring |

Peep that green eyeshadow with the fuchsia lipstick. It is all on theme, I promise.

And the remaining two colours. We will ignore the T-shirt layering because I ask that we do.

In other words, I went to see SIX for the fifth time. Part of me considered going all pink in honour of Katherine Howard, but I couldn't commit like that. Also, it was my last day at my previous job, so I didn't want to spend ages getting changed in between the activities. I still changed entirely, but kept most of my makeup and worked it into the look. The white and black with gold accents and the layers gives off enough of that pop group vibe to match the show. And since that already referenced two of the six queens, I changed my lipstick so that the makeup referenced another two, and then my accessories completed the set. So yes, they are all mismatched, but together they do follow a theme. Big brain energy right there.

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Coord 12: Southport Trip

| Chrysanthemum's Concerto Lost in the Garden of Eden JSK | Fi.n.t. cutsew | Hell Bunny cardigan | Snag tights | Angelic Pretty Drained Cherry socks | Sosic Shop shoes | offbrand beret, barrette, earrings, and ring | Two Days Slow hair clips | handmade choker | vintage necklace | Dear Celine badge | Tea Party Club badge | Sweet Dolly House Cookie Bon Bon ring |

Tell you what, pinning that barette up there was almost a feat of engineering, it took a lot of figuring out.

All the polka dot bows!

A slightly cursed meetup because first the weather went down and then the public transport did. The former only altered my coord plans slightly, I layered the socks with tights and swapped out the wrist cuffs, bracelets, and short sleeve cardigan for this long sleeve one. The latter though… Let's just say, ooofff. But once the public transport curse got overcome and I finally arrived, I had a great time. Love me a smaller meetup, love eating and chatting, followed up by antique shop visits and playing on the 2p machines (I won enough tickets for one whole Maoam Strip, go me!), so the long journey was well and truly worth it. Southport turned out to be a lot cuter than I had anticipated, so hopefully next time I’ll get to see it in a bit more of a summery weather.

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As you’re reading this, I’m at the end of my first week of a new job. It will be weird getting a whole new set of people used to my sense of dressing and introducing them to petticoated styles, but eh, they’ll get over the novelty and I don’t plan on being too gentle with them. But it did mean that for that last week I took a bit of a break from frills just so that I had one thing fewer on my plate. I keep saying that I need to consider my energy levels more, so this is the time to do that. That being said, with September kicking in, although no doubts we’ll get a last summery weather huzzah, I am ready to get back into all my knitwear and jewel tones. And gourds, for all that is holy, please, let me have all the gourds!