1 Dress 4 Looks Take 16

Innocent World’s Revival Sweet Teddybear is one of those dream dresses that became a dream dress, rather than an instant love. It is also a dress that I’ve been hunting for the longest, resisting numerous temptations to buy it in brown when the blue version was nowhere to be seen. That shade of powder blue is so far impossible to match (going to have to actually get bits from Innocent World itself to get even remotely close to a match), so I’m very lucky that it goes so well with a few other colours, which has allowed me to wear it out a couple of times already (which you can see here and here).

Look 1: Chocolatey

| Axes Femme blouse | Cutie Creator headbow | Innocent
World Lauretta OTKs | Bodyline tea parties | Twinkle Kitty
Boutique rings |

Since the dress features many sweets covered in chocolate, I wanted to pair it with this Axes Femme blouse. It gives off a more mature vibe, which would’ve been better complimented by my brown heels, however without better matching blue socks that would’ve been unbalanced. Besides, all these blocks of brown will help hide the fact that the blues don’t match at all here when worn (something which is quite obvious on a flatlay). But the browns bring out the sweet element of the print and this outfit would be great for a relaxed meet or an afternoon tea.

Look 2: Dusty Rose

| vintage blouse | Angelic Pretty Dolly Chiffon headbow |
Innocent World Diamond Rose OTKs | Bodyline tea
parties | Enchantlic Enchantilly necklace |

I wanted to play off the fact that this dress is a dusty shade, as well as bring out all the roses that feature on the dress in the background print  and the bottom of the print (which, when you think about it, is a little odd and not quite fitting with the bears and sweets theme, but who cares). Only after taking the photo I realised that I could’ve added a flower headband that I won at the DMC tea party raffle, it’d bring the rose theme together a little bit more, but I’m still happy with it.

Look 3: Simple Blues

| Axes Femme blouse | Metamorphose Rose Letter necklace |
offbrand heels, socks and beret |

This is the best I could do to match the blues, although the blouse and the socks are still closer to a pastel rather than a dusty tone. If you look closely, what looks like lighter blue stripes is actually white, however, from a distance they create the illusion of it being a lighter shade which would match the blouse quite well though. It’s not the most exciting outfit, yet it feels very me, I’d love to take it out on a spin one day.

Look 4: Sweet

| Angelic Pretty Large Ribbon Brooch blouse | Angelic
Pretty Ladder Ribbon OTKs | Metamorphose Triple Bow
heels | Angelic Pretty Logo Ribbon Charm wrist cuffs | Red
Maria headbow | Madillustration brooch | BtssB Merry
Sweet Cake ring | Twinkle Kitty Boutique rings |

Innocent World doesn’t really do your typical pastel Sweet – which is all the more reason to try that sort of look with this dress. And you know what? It’s my favourite of the lot. Although the sax of the socks doesn’t match the dress at all, because the bows on them match to all the other pink bits here, they end up working really well here. If I wanted to make it more OTT, I could add my whipped cream headdress and it’d take it that next level of extra. It’s such a bright and fun outfit that I can’t wait for a chance to wear it!

Innocent World is quite well known for the skilful way it blends Sweet and Classic Lolita styles – their Sweet prints are never the sort of in-your-face-Sweet you see AP or Baby do, but instead retain a lot of subtlety without compromising on detail. I wanted to create outfits that reflected that (as well as try that one thing a little outside IW’s usual box) and I think I managed. Because of the nightmare-to-match shade of blue so far I’ve been resorting to pairing this dress with red and white, so it’s nice to explore further alternatives. But honestly, why do the sax blues never match?