Things That Look Like Sets But Aren't

As a long-standing advocate of coordinating instead of matching, as well as someone who’s been in lolita fashion for literally over a decade, I have my fair share of sets that aren’t really sets. There is no trick to getting those, just patience, keeping your eyes and mind open, and being lucky. But the results are definitely worth it. Because not only is getting a full lolita set not always possible - it’s also not always necessary. Welcome to this little Show’n’Tell post.

One: A Whole Outfit

| Innocent World Rose Lace Millefeuille bolero | Wonderland Ukiyoe Lilith’s Collection skirt | Angelic Pretty Classical Petit Rose headbow | AatP Lace-Up Ribbon OTKs | Violet Fane brooch |

This is the one that many of us aspire to when getting the actual full set is not an option: something that still looks like a complete outfit because of how well all the pieces coordinate with one another. I wore most of this coord to a meetup in October and lost track of how many people pointed out the perfect colour matching. But getting to this stage took around 6 years as the earliest piece here was bought in 2017 and the latest only this year. The extra funny thing here is that whilst many might think that matching an uncommon colour like this one would be trickier because it is, well, uncommon, I’d argue that it was easier than matching some of my very common colours (like wine red or sax blue) since those have a bazillion shades and undertones that throw a spanner in the works.

Two: An Accessory Set

| Puvithel Crystal Heart necklace | Le Petit Four bracelet | vii ring |

A certainly much easier thing to accomplish is obtaining individual accessories that together appear as if they are a matching set. Depending on your style of choice, this usually works well because certain motifs and colour combinations pop up relatively often. I mean, a lot of cameos are made out of the same mould and although there are obviously hundreds of cupcake shaped jewellery pieces, with that volume you’re bound to find a few that look deceptively similar. This trio worked out particularly nice and it’s only upon a much closer inspection that you’d be able to notice the slight differences in style or shades of blue. I also have the Puvithel crystal earrings and brooch, which obviously make this even more of a set, but since they are by the same maker and from the same series as the necklace, it’s much less impressive for the purposes of this post.

Three: Coord Statement Pieces

| Angelic Pretty Candy Fun Fair OTKs | Dancing Days cardigan | Vendula Diner bag | Folk & Fortune Late Night Diner necklace |

But arguably the most useful accidental set for a lolita is one that basically is a lot of complimentary builder pieces that can then be worn with a variety of main pieces. A full set in the traditional lolita sense is great, but that is just one look. Whereas something like this can be worn with a range of main pieces, blouses, hair pieces, and shoes to flavour the outfit differently. It’s the same vibe, just with a different undertone. And especially when you’ve fallen into the trap of buying more main pieces than builder ones, having something like this can really trick your brain into thinking that you have more coord options than you actually do. This may be the set that I am most pleased with because of how it evolved, first with just the colours and then with the diner theme happening on top of it. If you like a certain theme or motif a lot, getting a set like this will do your wardrobe a big favour, trust me.


All of these ‘fake sets’ were completely accidental matches and lucky finds. Often ones I didn’t notice until they were already in my possession, though sometimes deliberate in that “Hm, I have this, so it could match that” way. So really, don’t fret if your pinks don’t match or if you couldn’t get a full set of the release you liked. If my wardrobe is anything to go by, there are incredible and totally unexpected matches just waiting for you to be discovered.