AYWi30C #30 - To suit a particular makeup look

 For someone who quite likes playing with makeup, I’m not necessarily the most imaginative person. I copy rather than create. In the absence of any pressing ideas or external suggestions, and as time pressure grew, I decided to join in the spooky spirit of October and go with something gothic. Not my usual choice, but still more specific of a make-up look than my usual go-to’s.

| Metamorphose Gold Braid Tuck Pinafore JSK | Haenuli x I Do Declare blouse | Enchantlic Enchantilly Crown of the Rose Princess tights | Vivienne Westwood x Melissa Anglomania heels | After Midnight crown | offbrand flower clips, hair pins, earrings, brooch and ring | Puvithel Crystal Heart necklace | Voodoodolly ring |

Having ran out of my typical gothic options earlier throughout the challenge, I had to get creative. Fortunately, red is a very gothy colour and as my very vague vision took me towards vampire territory, an all red coord with black accents worked out perfectly. It’s still very me, in that it’s quite an elegant version of gothic with florals which are one of my favourite motifs to lean on. Whilst the flatlay alone conveys that idea enough, together with the makeup it really managed to create a cohesive vision.

An attempt was made, ok? That's all I can say.

Also, forgive my camera consistently throwing the actual shades of red out of the window here, this will be a pretty common theme throughout the post.

For every time that I swear I will not use these blouses in flatlays, something always happens that changes my mind or forces me too. The enormous volume of these sleeves simply cannot be conveyed through flatlay photos and that is the key feature of this blouse. Sure, I can show you the brass buttons and the lovely colour - but that’s just not what we’re here for.

There is a reason why these were my most worn item of legwear throughout 2020.

For a moment I toyed with going to my black fishnets with this look. However, that felt a bit too much like the gothic look from prompt #9 of this challenge, especially with the blouse and the shoes. This is partly what led to the outfit being red with pops of black. Besides, despite the tights being somewhat more princessy and elegant inherently, the roses do look great with a gothic look.

Timeless design, simply timeless.

The trusty old Vivienne Westwood heels. They are just so iconic and so perfect for when you need that little bit of an edge to your look. I am glad that I got a pair, even if it doesn’t get that much use with me. But when they do, boy, do they complete an outfit just right!

If you've been here for a while, you will recognise a few of these from my other gothic and/or black coords.

This may seem somewhat imbalanced, particularly with the headpieces, but this was worn with a black wig, which provided all the colour balance necessary there. Many of these are absolute staples for me every time I wear something goth and/or black. Sure, because I own so little of other things, but also they are just that good, so why try to improve something that’s already amazing?

Category is: red and non-sweet headwear.

I can already sense the displeasure at the colours being off that some of you might be experiencing right now. It’s not the end of the world in my universe, so it goes. For someone with as many flower hair clips as I do though, I sure thought I owned more in wine red.

Two proofs that your accessories don't have to be expensive, they just have to have enough level of detail to work with lolita.

As far as I remember, the earrings are actually handmade by a friend’s sister. She gifted these to me when we first met, which was extra sweet of her, and they are incredibly elegant. They obviously survived the purge, as you can see here, but there was never really any danger for them, they are too pretty to purge, even if I hardly ever get a chance to wear them. The brooch on the other hand keeps proving that you need to have your eyes open at all times. Did I really anticipate this brooch from a random discount shop in Germany to get this much wear? No, absolutely not! Yet here we are. So I’m very sorry to say that this brooch thinks there are no excuses to not get more accessories for one’s lolita coords and it will not change its mind about that.

Possibly the most sparkly photo I've ever taken. Witout a glitter filter, that is.

Urgh, there is just no way to photograph this necklace in a way that shows off its true sparkle! The lookbook video manages to showcase that a little bit, so do make sure to check that out. As per usual, seeing it in its full glory has me regretting not getting more gunmetal x clear pieces, but that’s just something I’ll have to live with. Rings… Well, it was just one originally, the Voodoodolly one, because, you know, it’s another of my gothic staples. But the coord really felt like it needed another one and in the absence of another sufficiently large black, silver or red one, this was the next best thing. It is technically gold, but that gold is so pale you can only really tell when you’re this close.

Did someone say square neckline? Oh yes, love me some of that!

Still impressed that despite there being no need for that, the buttons can actually open.

Not sure if I love the pleats more or those points at the bottom of the bodice. But I love them both incredibly much!

Ah, this dress makes me so happy every time I look at it. When I do, it really makes me appreciate the non-printed dresses so much because the level of finish on this one piece (a collaboration one at that) puts many of my printed dresses to shame. The fabric, with its texture and lightweight drape, flows and swishes with every movement. The faux buttons and the braid add a pop of colour, whilst also adding structure by creating points and angles where otherwise there would be none. The pintucks and pleats, ever so subtle, create depth and textural interest so that your eye isn’t just scanning a flat expanse of a smooth fabric, but has something to linger on for a bit and admire. For all the wait that it took me to get this dress, it was without a shadow of a doubt worth it and even if it may not be the most exciting piece to photograph for detail shots, it is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful thing that I own.

God bless camera magic because this makeup seemed a lot more rough around the edges as I was doing it. Another proof that you don't always need to worry so much.

First of all, although the photo above doesn’t quite reflect that, this had been an exceptionally good eyeliner day, especially considering how I drew it a slightly different way. The shape just came together so effortlessly and hopefully when I attempt to do it that way next time, it won’t all fail on me. Secondly, had I had the time or the energy, I totally would have worn my vampire teeth for this for the extra drama. However, as I took photos and filmed things in between finishing work and eating, this was really not feasible. The only thing that I would love to improve upon in the future are the lips. I tried to recreate a fairly specific type of lip makeup, which sort of worked, but in my rendition wasn’t quite as defined. I also don’t have that much lip surface area to work with compared to the typical lip makeup models you come across via Pinterest etc., so maybe I am making a less than fair comparison. Nonetheless, I am very pleased with the makeup, it complements the look perfectly and vice versa.

The selection of coords so far. Some lewks were had and I definitely look forward to more.
From left to right these are from: April 2020, August 2020, December 2020, February 2021, and June 2021.

Gold Braid Tuck Pinafore is still relatively new within my collection, though it also arrived at a time when my wearing of lolita has gone dramatically up. So there is a fair share of looks across the fanciness spectrum - though mostly on the fancier side since, despite such a simple cut, it is a very elegant piece and it deserves being treated as such. Having it after so many years of searching is so exciting, there are definitely looks that I haven’t explored yet (even beyond what I shared in the 1 Dress 4 Looks post for this dress, which frankly, I’m not entirely happy with).

This is it. The final post. The final lookbook. Did I ever anticipate to end this challenge on a gothic look? No, never. In all fairness, I expected that throughout this challenge I wouldn’t have more than just one gothic look, yet I believe that this is the third? But! I’ll do some proper summaries later on, with all sorts of lists, numbers, breakdowns etc. Right now I would like to thank Roli for putting this challenge together, because it has been an absolute blast! And, of course, thank all of you for all the kind words throughout the challenge.