1 Dress 4 Looks Take 9

Seeing as this year the aim is to get more wear out of the things I own instead of buying loads of new stuff, there’s nothing more appropriate than another 1 Dress 4 Looks post still early on in January. This time I’m pulling out another one of my dream dresses, Alice and the Pirates Sheherazade ~ One Thousand and One Nights ~ which I’d never think I’d fit in, let alone own. And yet here it is, after panicking over whether someone would outbid me (it was already pricey at ¥40’000 initial bid for the set including the JSK, OTKs and headdress), panic messaging strangers on Lolibrary to ask about the fit and then panic trying it on when it arrived followed by squeals of joy that I managed to zip it up without problems or a boob loaf. So, trying again to not repeat things that I’ve already done with this dress, let’s get to it!

Look 1: Pink and Gold

| vintage blouse | Metamorphose Heart Ladder Lace OTKs |
An*tai*na heels | offbrand headbow and rose clip | Risu Rose
necklace |

Sometime in the past when taking detail shots of this dressed I noticed little dusty pink flowers in the background. This gave me an idea to go for a toned down look involving pink with gold thrown in there for elegance. It came out very Classic, a little more so than I expected, but at the same time even with the gold heels this feels toned down enough to wear out for a shopping trip or maybe a casual afternoon tea. Even though the pink of the blouse and the socks don’t match and neither do any of the golds, it feels like there is enough to carry the theme on and create this lovely outfit.

Look 2: Casual

| Innocent World Torchon Crown Embroiery blouse | Secret
Shop shoes | Baby replica socks | offbrand beret | Two Days
Slow bow clips |

Continuing with the theme of dressing this print down: a simple look rather on the casual side. A wine beret would’ve balanced out the colours a little better, although beret with twin braids with those wine bow clips should work as well. I’m not entirely sure if the crown embroidery on the blouse would actually be visible or not, but I like the idea of it playing a little hide-and-seek.

Look 3: Full Autumn

| Axes Femme blouse | Sosic Shop shoes | Imperial
Fiddlesticks headbow | Enchantlic Enchantilly Angels'
Ball Party tights |

Although not particularly prominent or numerous, there are a few little brown elements in this JSK, which inspired me to try to pair it with brown. The results are just as lovely as I had hoped they’d be, even if the overall look ends up being quite dark. It reminds me a lot of autumn, with leaves turning red against the brown of the tree trunks and branches. I initially placed wine socks with this flatlay, but that was a bit too dark – some ivory tights with hints of burgundy here and there are a much better choice that gives this outfit the colour lift it needed.

Look 4: Summer

| offbrand blouse, bracelets and socks (not pictured) | Cutie
Creator hat | Secret Shop shoes |

Having done the previous coords I realised that pretty much every single one of these is an autumn/winter outfit. True, the jewel tones of the JSK lend themselves to making darker and warmer coords, however, I think it’d be a waste not to wear this print during other seasons of the year so I tried to create a light look for a hot summer’s day. What’s not pictured are ankle socks as they don’t photograph very well anymore (what can I say, they’re well loved), but the rest I’d keep pretty much as is: simple and light.

Doing this post has made me realise while my initial worry of Sheherazade being a very dressy print didn’t come true and I’ve been able to do quite casual outfits after wearing it more elaborately in 2016. At the same time, I realised just how much the colour of it influences my coording choices: I lean towards other jewel tones or darker colours without thinking much about it, especially if I’m trying to avoid going for another ivory and wine combo. This means that were I to keep wearing this dress during warmer and sunnier days, I may have to put in a bit more conscious effort to go for it, fighting the instinct to reach for lighter coloured dresses. But I think it can be done and it’s given me a lot of inspiration to wear it.