AYWi30C #6 - Channel a Lolita Era

At first glance this seemed like such an easy prompt – until I got to it. I’m not one for channelling specific lolita eras and my personal sweet spot is in that 2014 look (the Goldilocks zone between OTT Sweet and OTT Classic), which isn’t the most distinct one out there. At least not in a way where majority of the people would be able to tell from the coordinate that it’s that particular time the outfit is trying to reference. Luckily, the prompt asks merely to channel an era, not to replicate it entirely – and hopefully I have managed that.

| BtSSB Sugar Bouquet Halter Neck Shirring Princess JSK | BtSSB 134*405 shirring blouse | BtSSB Antique Ribbon shoes | Red Maria headbow | offbrand socks |

As I decided to go with an oldschool look, it was fitting that I picked one of my oldest dresses (in the sense of one released the earliest). It was originally brought out in 2007, so I looked through GLB scans from around that time for inspiration from the street snaps. Sadly, street snaps were usually quite small, to fit as many on a page as possible, and the scans were not the best resolution, however, I think I got the gist of it. So if the outfit seems a bit bare to you, remember that it probably would’ve looked like this had it been a 2007 GLB street snap. That and I do genuinely feel that people focused less on small accessories back then.

This blouse is one of those items that is making me consider whether to do more oldschool, as the details are simply exquisite.

The detachable sleeves have so much going on! Just looking at it makes me want to wear it again, this time in a wintery way.

Full body shirring can be as much of a feature as it can be a practical way of ensuring fit on different body shapes and sizes.

That lace! They don't do them like this anymore. For all my love of more modern lolita, this lace is just stun-ning!

Mid- to late 2000’s were a time when things started to get a bit more detailed, building up to the boom of OTT Sweet, whilst still keeping the oldschool values of quality over quantity. From afar this coordinate seems a bit plain, but when you get closer you can see all those amazing structural details. Both the dress and the blouse (which is a slightly later release, from 2010) have lots of extras that we associate with that period: chunky crochet lace, full body shirring, cotton fabrics, plenty of extras like ruffles and pintucks… They are truly captivating when you can admire them from up close and whilst I don’t plan on delving more into oldschool lolita, I can 100% see why it still has so many dedicated fans.

It's a lovely headbow - if only the colours matched a bit more, then it would've been truly perfect for this coordinate. Curse whoever brought sax blue over to Japan and let them muddle this thing up (as the dress was also sold as sax)!

Because oldschool is not something I do a lot, the rest of the coord is where I go from ‘doing’ the substyle to ‘channeling’ it and the era. My original plan was to create a big bow out of the halter ties which I detached from the dress. However, my bow tying skills remain totally rubbish and that plan failed. So as my rectangle headdresses are too modern looking to really work for this, my backup was this headbow. The colour match is at absolute zero and the gem chain is not detachable, so I had to tuck it under, but it has that big ol’ bow feel to it which was a common look in 2007-ish.

I will admit that the socks are much nicer in quality than what I assumed based on the stock photo. That lace mimics the lace on the dress quite well, it's just not exactly the shape you'd want for lolita.

I debated whether to go for solid white tights or those offbrand lace topped socks (or even my very plain lounging knee socks). Lolitas in late 2000’s kind of did all of those (as well as striped socks, but my only pair is red so an obvious no here) and there definitely was a sense of ‘making do’ with certain elements like legwear at that time. In the end these socks won – whilst, again, not an ideal option here, they work well enough and do channel that feeling of lace topped socks.The other two options simply would’ve looked too much like ‘baby’s first coordinate’, especially with the bow that clearly doesn’t match, than a conscious choice to channel the era.

I'm glad my impulse buy shoes are fitting in to my wardrobe so well.

In the absence of any kind of chunky shoes, regardless of colour, I had another tough decision. Browsing through GLB scans showed me that tea party shoes were already quite widely worn, although primarily with Angelic Pretty. However, whilst my Bodyline tea parties match very well in colour, their shape is that little bit too modern (rounded rather than almost square), so I went with the Antique Ribbon shoes. No doubt that mine are not a particularly old release given their condition, but I’m fairly confident that BtSSB were releasing that model back then already – or were just about to. And at least it’s not as bad a colour discord with them as it is with the headbow. As a side note, isn’t it funny how bar headbow and socks this coord is entirely BtSSB? I know that a lot of oldschool lolita fans swear by oldschool BtSSB (and looking at this, I can see why), but I didn’t anticipate this coord to turn out so close to being mono-brand one. Have no fear though, my plans for the single brand prompt later in this challenge will not use any of these pieces (as I don’t even have enough cohesive BtSSB pieces to make a decent mono-brand outfit).

Not sure if it's the bare face or the blonde wig, but I feel like I look way younger in this picture than I actually am. Maybe it's her - maybe it's the magic of oldschool lolita.

For the video I decided to use my ringlet wig (though I dared to brush some curls, so it may be less tight than it was - it was a bit too windswept otherwise from the last time). It’s an instantly recognisable oldschool lolita hairstyle, however, I’d like to point out that in 2007-ish trends were ever so slightly different. I saw a lot of street snaps with either teased pigtails and fringe, or simple curly up-do’s (some of which looked like extension hair pieces), or simple, natural hairstyles (especially on women with shorter hair in those slightly choppy 2000's cuts). As I’m no expert on oldschool, don’t ask me when did ringlet wigs become commonly used in lolita or fall out of use. My gut feeling is that ringlets were more of an earlier oldschool hairstyle (whether it be a wig or natural hair), in which case some people might have still done it in late 2000’s. On the other hand, I aimed to do my makeup just like I did back in those days: single colour pearlescent eyeshadow, kohl eyeliner (though with a Japanese influence of extending it and pointing it downward) and sparkly lip gloss. I used my fingers or the applicators included, and completely skipped any kind of foundation bar a touch of blush. Being able to get away with little to no makeup is another great side of oldschool that I very much appreciate!

Berry prints are not quite my thing. Yet the only other berry print I like is also from BtSSB. They clearly know how to seamlessly incorporate berries into other print themes, because I got this one for the florals.

I adore this logo. If one day I find some dainty, elegant jewellery with it, I might buy it.

All in all, whilst I can’t say that it’s my best outfit (in general or with this dress), I am pleased with it in the context of this prompt. Part of me would like to revisit and improve it, make it more authentically oldschool, but I’m also not willing to invest in the necessary pieces (especially shoes) at this moment. Still, it’s great to be able to do a coord with this dress that’s closer to how people might’ve worn with it when it was first released. Every way I’ve coordinated it so far has been more modern, so it was fun to add some more variety into this mix.

Click to enlarge.
These are, from left to right, from: April 2017, November 2017, June 2018 and April 2019.
There was another outfit, even if much less lolita, from May 2017 I believe, however, I have lost the pictures from then. It was basically the same as the first outfit though.

There are actually plenty of cool looking places around me that would’ve been great backdrops for street snap looking shots. However, I’m always paranoid about taking my tripod and filming/shooting solo outside. A, you never know if someone might try to steal your stuff and b, I feel like that draws even more attention to you than you already are through your clothes. Maybe one day I’ll manage to do a lookbook like that, when I have someone to help me film it. For now we’re sticking with basic indoors filming.

Lastly, a little bonus. I was actually cat sitting during filming and taking pictures of this outfit. Spy clearly saw that this coordinate was indeed lacking and proceeded to improve it with his presence. He later was laying and chilling under this dress, though I didn’t snap any pictures of that. It was cute nonetheless. Cats have good taste and only pick the bestest burando to lie on/under. I also could not resist including his little cameo in the video.

I have improved your flatlay, human. You are welcome.