Create a Coord With Your Favorite Main Piece as Your Focus

When this Lolita Blog Carnival prompt was chosen as this week’s topic, at first I had a brief moment of panic. Which is my favourite main piece? Mother shouldn’t have favourites and I do love every piece that I own. And then I remembered that actually there is a favourite…

You would’ve only just seen me unbox it, although I’ve had it for about a month now (still feels like a dream). Mary Magdalene’s Paulina JSK may not be what you’d peg as my favourite, since you know how much I like prints, but it is my absolute favourite piece in my collection, one I will treasure the most. I already have a coord planned for it, which I will wear to the next big tea party, so for this post I wanted to come up with a different look for it, something a bit more exciting than your typical Classic coord that you’d imagine for this dress.

| Mary Magdalene Paulina JSK | Infanta Swan Lake blouse |
Innocent World Pearl Ribbon OTKs | Angelic Pretty Elegant
Doll boots | Angelic Pretty Chess Chocolate Emblem brooch |

 Innocent World Original Crown Tassel clip | vintage brooch |
handmade tricorn hat | Jane Marple (?) ring|

While this dress is very Classic and Rococo, I feel like it wouldn’t be beneath a pirate queen to wear it. Well, more like a queen’s navy captain, it’s too elegant, expensive and clean for pirates who tend to be a little rough around the edges. The sleeves on this blouse are very poofy and flowy, adding a little fashionable swagger to the whole look.

In order to protect the dress and keep it as pristine as possible, all the brooches are pinned everywhere but the dress itself. The dangly brooch on the detachable bow almost looks like a medallion from a stolen treasure to be kept as close to one’s heart as possible. The Chess Chocolate Emblem brooch may not be the most military or pirate-y themed one on its own because of the cutlery, but at the neck no-one would be able to tell that it’s a fork and a spoon crossing together instead of swords or pistols. And the clip at the hat is a fancy way of showing one’s rank as well as adding a little extra decoration to an otherwise fairly plain tricorn (even if the feather is massive).

I would love to add one or two more rings to this, but unfortunately I’m a little lacking in non-themed Classic rings that I could mix and match. The majority of rings in my collection are Sweet and the few Classic ones I own tend to be themed (like books or a mask) or have another colour in them (like red or silver), so this is the only one I could use for now. In a way this could be the navy captain’s token from her queen to guide her through the stormy seas safely back home. The fact that it has a very weathered and worn look only adds to that story and adds depth and detail to the outfit.

It’s a little surprising how well these Innocent World socks match the dress in colour. I learnt to not expect my colours to match at all, so this is definitely a nice surprise. The little pearl pattern works nicely with the tiny cutouts in the dress, reflect the very few pearl details that there are (namely the buttons on the blouse and the dress bodice) and are another nod to lost pirate treasures.

Overall, for a coord that happened totally out of the blue and a thought along the lines of “hey, how about the tricorn”, it came out pretty nice, I wouldn’t mind taking it out on a spin one day. If I could improve on it, I would love to add a short military jacket and/or a navy and gold sash. This would tie the theme together a little bit neater, elevate it in terms of elegance and potentially provide another place to display the brooches (and maybe even add some). Although I’m not sure whether I’d prefer a sash or a jacket, this is something to consider for the future.

What is your favourite main piece that you own? Do you tend to coordinate it in similar ways every time or have you been experimenting and trying out new ideas? What’s the most experimental outfit you’ve ever put together and has it worked? The other bloggers have pulled out some amazing pieces to coord for this week’s Lolita Blog Carnival prompt, so check them all out!

Gyokuro and Orchids
The Bloody Tea Party
Pastel Peggy