Gothic Capsule out of My Own Wardrobe

Remember that capsule lolita wardrobe out of your own clothes prompt from Lolita Blog Carnival a while back? I said that doing one had me hooked on trying myself at doing more and here I am. With what is probably the most challenging one I could pick (apart from ouji), considering how gothic is very visibly my tertiary style. Still, all of this is in the name of fun and I thought that it may help me expand my coordinating ideas within that substyle, so let’s do it!

While it won’t come across very well, since I dress predominantly in sweet-classic, I absolutely adore the look of white gothic style. There’s something about the neatness and cleanliness of it that really appeals to me. And I do wear all-white/all-ivory outfits fairly often, though they tend to lean very classic, so it’s not such a far-fetched idea for me. However, with that, as well as with ‘regular’ gothic style, it’s all about the cut and detail, avoiding things that are too sweet or too cutesy and adding that bit of edge to an outfit. As such, given that I am working with just my own wardrobe and am not going to use anything that I don’t own, the colour scheme I settled on is ivory, black and red. Like last time, where I don’t own a suitable stock photo to do the collages with, I will be using a picture of the nearest approximate thing, except for the jewellery because that was easier to just take from my actual pictures.

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Yes, I realise that this is heavily blurring the line between gothic and classic. When one overwhelms the other in your wardrobe, things like this are inevitable. Nonetheless, considering how rarely I wear gothic (and how picky I am when it comes to gothic pieces), this is not the worst attempt. This time I have included accessories, as I believe they are key to tipping a coordinate from classic to gothic territory. (Though I am proud how without accessories I am at exactly 33 pieces.) I still very obviously lack in gothic hair accessories, which does bother me a little, but what can I do?

Just like last time, here are some coordinates!

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My very first gothic piece that I ever bought (even though it has the most un-gothic name Sugar Plum Fairy Princess). Those cap sleeves are a little annoying, nonetheless the dress is absolutely stunning. Despite having worn it a couple of times, I still don’t feel like I really did it justice because of my still budding gothic collection, though this makes me excited to try some of these looks out.

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Ah, the first gothic dress that really spoke to me. I ignored its siren call, but eventually stopped kidding myself and bought it. It is such a unique take on the Snow White fairy tale (which has never been my favourite) and I totally love it. Although every time I look at this dress I keep thinking that there are reds in the print, because of the apple, yet there aren’t, just that little bow on the bodice. Not that this will stop me from adding some reds in.

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Although this is an OP and as such the least versatile piece by default, it is also Meta. And as we all know, Meta excel at creating all kinds of detachable parts for their dresses. This in turn makes this OP pretty versatile, as I can attach and detach the collar, cuffs and the sash as I please. This particular piece is comfortable enough to be worn more casually and luxurious enough to do something more OTT with, which I hope comes across in the collages.

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Normally I would’ve said that this is a very classic piece, end of. However, because of that clean A-line underbust cut I think it has potential to be styled in a gothic way. If I were to wear it with any of those mesh blouses, I would wear some more lingerie style bra underneath to spice things up – that would definitely take the outfit more into gothic territory.

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Rosier Fleur is definitely one of those pieces that can only be fully appreciated in person. The texture of this dress is stunning and it’s so lightweight that it could be the perfect goth solution for summer (minus the fact that it’s 100% polyester). The coord with the red I Do Declare blouse has been in my head for so long now (though likely with a different headpiece, but obviously I can’t do it in this capsule), I am only looking for an occasion to wear it. Well, and maybe for a piece or two to truly complete it.

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Again, while the piece itself screams classic to me, if you ignore some of the details on it (like the heart lace on one of the tiers) it could be styled in a gothic way. The high waist is boned, creating a nice silhouette which would work well for elegant gothic looks.

Are all of these unquestionably goth? Probably not. Are they far from it? Also probably not. Had I had some more gothic headpieces and maybe some extra legwear, I would probably rely much less on jewellery to prevent these coordinates from straying back into classic territory, where my natural instincts want to take them. But to know that even now, even whilst missing some more goth builder pieces, I can put together all of these coordinates – that’s quite enlightening. I hadn’t looked at my wardrobe from this angle, so I feel like I discovered something very new to myself. And there are definitely some outfits in my bank that I would simply love to try out sooner or later.