AYWi30C #14 - Inspired by a Mainstream Fashion Trend

Initially my brain interpreted this a bit too much as being inspired by another fashion style. But that's not quite what the prompt asked for. So just like Roli when she did this prompt, I looked up spring/summer 2020 trends – and luckily, Harpers Bazaar, whom I consider a trustworthy source of news on mainstream fashion, had a few that I could use whilst sticking with my original idea.

| Metamorphose Shirring Tiered Ribbon Pinafore JSK | Axess Femme cutsew and cape | Peacockalorum underskirt | Innocent World OTKs | Sosic Shop shoes | Cutie Creator headdress and wrist cuffs | Primark necklace and rings | Latte Galaxy brooch | offbrand brooch |

Two trends that HB mentioned were tiered dresses/skirts (how very lolita) and crochet (also common in our fashion, though not so much in my own wardrobe). My very, very first idea for this prompt, which got me quite excited, was to try to do a mori-kei inspired outfit. And even though you could argue that mori-kei was an alternative fashion rather than a mainstream trend, I can still use that same outfit because it features a tiered dress and knitted layers. Not crochet, but close enough. Still, even in a mainstream version I’m sure a tiered skirt paired with crochet pieces would give off major cottagecore vibes, so I count that as still working. Granted, for an outfit made out of spring/summer trends this is pretty autumnal, but hey, I live in the UK, warm weather is never a guarantee and I remember enough rainy summers spent in jumpers after our summer days happened in like April.

I love Axes Femme for their basics. This brand makes things that are comfortable, easy to wear and not that different from mainstream Western fashion which still has that touch of cuteness and femininity celebrated in East Asian womenswear.

It's a tiny detail that makes a world of difference.

I associate mori-kei and cottagecore with comfort, so for the top I went with this Axes Femme cutsew. Axes Femme sells these as undergarments, either for layering or for extra warmth, but they are lovely in their own right. As well as super comfortable and cosy. I enjoy wearing it under some non-lolita dresses where the lace at the neckline can peek, it adds a cute touch to the outfit.

Instant cosiness just from looking at it!

The knit and the pearls really add depth and texture to a garment that has such a simple cut.

These buttons allow the cape to have something resembling armholes or be the tent you need for comfort in winter months.

However, in this particular coord most of that top is hidden under the dress and the knitted cape. This is my crochet substitute for the mainstream trend thing and it truly is a cosy piece. Yes, one looks like a shapeless sack whilst wearing it, but since that’s usually during colder times, when our outfits are very layered anyway, who cares? Besides, mori-kei looks often don’t have much of a silhouette, allowing the layers to be loose and flowy, and this does exactly that. Ticking off two different, though somewhat related, fashion inspiration points with one piece.

As far as I know, these were from a lucky pack, so don't have an official name. However, they have that quintessential Innocent World look that (in theory) make them very versatile.

Due to the lengths there isn’t much of the socks left visible, so let’s give them a chance to shine. I thought that I would get more wear out of them when I bought them, but in real life the blue turned out to be yet another different shade, way more dusty than I had hoped for. Which is a shame because the design is the same loveliness that Innocent World got us used to. The florals really hone in on that cottagecore/mori vibe of the whole coord, even if you can only really catch fleeting glimpses of that.

Not my first choice for this particular coordinate, but they are a solid pair of versatile heels nonetheless.

In the original version of this coord I planned on putting on some short offbrand brown boots. Think Anya from Anastasia in her poor outfit, that sort of look. However, those boots were a cheap buy from eBay and I basically wore them to death within only like a year or so of having them? They had to be chucked in the bin and I haven’t found a replacement since. As my brown oxfords were met with a similar fate, these brown heels from Sosic Shop were the only option I had left that still matched the vibe that I was going for. On the one hand, I do like the chunky-ish platform with this, it hints at oldschool lolita (along with a few other pieces in this coord) and adds a touch of “I may be cottagecore, but I’m also firmly grounded and level headed” vibe. On the other, these heels are too cutesy and too typically lolita for what I really wanted to achieve. So while I’m happy with how they look, I would’ve changed the shoes if I only had an alternative that matched my vision better.

Is it me or is this picture oozing comforting vibes with all those shades of cream?

Once I laid it all out, even I was surprised how many pieces ended up being there. I guess these either blend into other ones (like the wrist cuffs) or sort of disappear against or under the larger, chunkier layers (like the brooches). And the larger pieces do have plenty of textural details to distract the eye with. However, even on a flatlay these accessories don’t seem like too little or too much – it was just enough to make the outfit a bit more interesting.

For something that was bought specifically for one-off wear, I am surprised that I found more uses for it. Though I may end up chopping the ribbons off. It's held on those clip combs, so it doesn't need the ribbons anyway.

Starting with the headdress, which is just the right sort of thing for a mori-kei inspired coordinate. Anything else would’ve felt like too much and taken away from that vibe, unless it was maybe some crochet accessories, which I don’t own. Granted, I’m not necessarily a fan of the ribbons tied under my chin look, though it seems to have worked well enough here. I’m more happy to have managed to work a rectangle headdress into a no-fringe hairstyle to be that bothered by the ribbons.

Is it giving me warm, cosy cottage vibes? Then in the outfit it goes.

As my insect necklace is black and would’ve stood out against this too much, I looked for something more delicate in my collection. This eventually landed on this Primark one I had since like 2011 or 2012 because it seemed like the next best match to the overall energy of this coord. I made up for any lacks with brooches: the insect one to tie in my insect rings and the Librarian Bear because she’s sort of vibe twin to me in this outfit. When I won this brooch at Myths of Our Own raffle, I thought that I wouldn’t use it, but I found myself reaching for that bear quite often, though usually in non-lolita outfits. She works great for otome-kei and, as I’ve now found out, for cottagecore. Maybe one day I should do an outfit to match her?

Moral of these rings is that hoarders sometimes win by not giving away things they don't think they'll ever use.

As already mentioned, the wrist cuffs are mostly an extension of the sleeves. Although the cutsew has lovely ruffled sleeve cuffs, they hit ever so slightly too short. Luckily, this lace is a nearly perfect colour match, so the two worked really well together. I had recently washed these, having discovered some mysterious stains, and now I’m not sure whether the swan charms were always silver with the pearl being on gold links or whether some coating has rubbed off. But I noticed it once I was done filming and now it bothers me a little. The rings were part of the pack I got from Primark. I use the other ones almost constantly, but never imagined that I’d actually find a use for these too. I respect bees, what they represent and how important they are to our ecosystem, but they’re not a motif that I’d want to wear. Yet they fit with the vibe perfectly here, so why not.

On this picture the white lace against the cream underskirt really bothers me. But it doesn't in the context of the whole coord.

As mori-kei is all about layers, I decided to extend the length on this dress with an underskirt. I’ve done this before with more dramatic poof, but I think it actually looks better with a softer, smaller petticoat like here? It just adds a touch of flowiness to the coordinate. Even if it sometimes hides the fact that I left the buttons open.

This is such a lovely shade of blue - and, of course, I own nothing else like it, so good luck trying to match anything.

Yasss, Meta, give methose functional buttons all the way down a dress!

Multiply this by maybe 4 or 5 and you'll get an idea of how gigantic this skirt is.

It's such an oldschool kind of detail, especially with the raschel lace, yet it doesn't feel quite so old. Maybe it's that blue colourway - or maybe it's just me and how I wear this JSK.

Although it is worth noting that the petticoat I used in this coordinate is actually my largest non-hoop A-line. It’s just that this dress is SO BIG that it swallows everything. The mainstream fashion inspiration were tiers and boy, this JSK has some tiers to give! Although only three of them, they are absolutely massive, if laid out in a circle, this dress would easily cover a double bed, possibly even a queen size one? My favourite part of it, however, are the functional buttons. I love that Meta lets me button this dress up or have it open, it makes this a much more versatile piece than it otherwise would’ve been. One day I’d love to wear it like an overdress, but finding a coordinate to go under that will be hard. This JSK is already pretty long, so ideally it’d have to be something of equal length or longer.

What I'm most impressed with is that this hair stayed wavy for hours. Have I finally found a method that really works for me? Or is it just because I'm not going out?

As I said, ribbons under my chin is not a look that I like on myself. I enjoyed it enough in the mirror to stick with it, though capturing it in a selfie in a flattering way was a challenge, the lookbook video does a slightly better job. Soft natural makeup was all that was needed here and I tried something similar to what I did at Easter. To get this hairstyle I simply braided my hair really tightly into two plaits for the night, adding a little bit of curling cream to help them set and stay. They actually held well enough afterwards, so I may try this again in the future for some other casual looks.

Click to enlarge this collage featuring cut off shoes, apparently.
From left to right these are from: August 2016, December 2016, December 2017, September 2018 and May 2019.

I remember that when I was buying this dress off Wunderwelt, they had described it as Angelic Pretty. Whether I was looking to get something to wear more casually or whether I merely caved in because it was cheap, I can’t remember anymore, but I’m glad that I did get it. Even though it’s a release firmly from the oldschool days (it’s from 2007 as far as I remember), it can still look quite modern. There were times when I thought about selling it, because that tiered skirt is a lot to steam and cotton wrinkles very easily, but I don’t actually think I could. It’s just too comfortable, so while one day I might actually part with it, that time is not here yet.

Hopefully you’ll enjoy the lookbook that accompanies this one. There were more things that I wanted to do, which I ultimately didn’t have the energy for. Filming these on your own involves a lot of fiddling and blindly hoping that you’re in the right spot on camera, so I thought it better to stick to the simple shots that I had instead of keep trying to maybe manage something that only met my expectations halfway.

Oh, and since that’s tomorrow: happy Summer ILD, everyone! With all that’s been going on, many plans had to be cancelled or postponed, including mine. So now I’m at a bit of a loss as to what to do to celebrate. I never celebrated it in my lonelita days, so it just feels strange to not do something and not meet with my comm. What are your plans for tomorrow, if you have any?