Even though I know that I’ve ‘caught up’ towards the end of the month thanks to being on leave, July still felt like it didn’t have that much lolita happening. Granted, understandably so: the UK has had an actual, genuine, legit heatwave for good two weeks straight and whilst my flat remains cool enough for frills to be comfortable, that didn’t necessarily stop my will to wear them from going down. Especially as I’d started investing in non-lolita clothes (by which I mean that I bought one dress that I wanted to wear all the time), which were more weather-appropriate. Also, why is it that I want to wear cardigans and cold-weather outfits precisely the moment that we’re given sunshine and heat that I crave so much during colder months? Why can’t I just enjoy being seasonally in the moment? Send your answers on a postcard to 13 Nonsense Street, Diddlysquat DQ1 13DD UK.
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Coord 1: Charity Shopping
| Violet Fane Otome Nostalgia skirt | Rose Marie Seoir necklace | everything else is offbrand |
I've gotten really into wearing mascara again over the course of the month.
So glad I caved in to these sleeves. Even if wearing them is very strange, they look so cool!
July started off with a 4-day weekend for me, so I took the chance to venture somewhere new and explore the charity shops there. This meant needing to be practical with footwear, though I did compromise on the top. I bought it at my most local charity shop, intending to use it for other casual and J-fashion looks, but it looks nice with casual lolita too, don’t you think? It gives the weirdest “hot and cold at the same time” sensation, though that helped to ensure I didn’t overheat. The trip was definitely quite successful, even if I only returned with some new glasses, groceries and a handful of compliments on my skirt.
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Coord 2: Retro Post
| BtSSB Secret AIR MAIL from Sweet Kitty JSK | offbrand cardigan | Angelic Pretty Wrapping Cherry ankle socks | Deary heels | Innocent World Art Nouveau headbow | Metamorphose Rose Letter necklace | Violet Fane Post Office brooch | handmade bracelets | Twinkle Kitty Boutique rings |
I think the next step to master in my hair game will be teasing and smoothing.
Allow me to offer you a birb in these trying times.
Having completed my coord archive Google Drive folder the day before, I finally got to a place where I could easily see what sort of ways I’ve already worn a dress before. This is helpful with those pieces that I sometimes find myself stuck with, of which this is one. Although I had originally planned to wear it differently, the mood also struck me to curl my hair the night before, so in the end I went with something more typical for me and for this dress that’s nonetheless cute and fun. Just because a colour combination or a vibe has been done before doesn’t mean that switching out a couple of pieces won’t make it into something new.
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Coord 3: Lavender & Merry-go-round
| Angelic Pretty Crystal Dream Carnival Tiered JSK | Chess Story Gift from Budapest blouse and detachable bow | Metamorphose Lace-up Bouquet OTKs | Deary heels | Shinku Rose hair clips | offbrand earrings | Gravelvet Iridescent Princess necklace | handmade bracelets |
I feel like of all my wigs this is the one I reach for (even mentally) the least, but it's somehow one of the nicest ones I own?
When you go to your big brother after kids on the playground are mean to you...
Another Coord Mashup theme, though I’ll be honest, this only counts as worn so very tentatively. I’ve been filming the next AYWi30C lookbook beforehand and wanted to capitalise on makeup, but despite it not being hot, it was so stuffy that I got too hot and sweaty for frills, especially this involved. So I only wore this look for the photo, then promptly took it off. But I’m counting this nonetheless! It’s kind of an updated version of this coord from 2017 (where you can finally see the lavender instead of it being hidden under the cardigan). It’s the closest I have to a merry-go-round print, but carnival prints count too, right? After I shed this I watched Luca on Disney+, which was such a sweet film, I enjoyed it a lot and am enamoured with Giulia’s Dad, he is Dad goals.
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Coord 4: Rococo Summer
| BtSSB Soiree of the Beginning of My Memories JSK | Angelic Pretty Romantic Bright blouse | offbrand tights and choker | Laura Ashley shoes | DIY hat with a clip from the blouse | handmade bracelets |
Hide the fact that your hat doesn't stay where you want it too with cute posing.
It's actually one hella wonky hat, but heck, it's my handiwork and I'm pretty pleased with it.
Of course it was a rainy Monday when I wanted to wear a summery look. I’d picked this outfit based on the forecasted temperature and didn’t take notice of what the weather would actually do, trying to balance being cute with not overheating. I had finally finished DIY-ing that hat over the weekend and it seemed perfect to wear with this dress for a more summery, country-ish look. But hey, it’s not the first time over the working from home period that I’d be completely weather inappropriate.
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Coord 5: Heatwave Frills
| Haenuli Lovely Memories JSK | offbrand socks and earrings | Deary heels | Naked Lace Company bow barette | Tiny Passerine Creations necklace and ring | vintage gloves |
Would more traditionally vintage hair and makeup styling improve this look? Totally. Could I be bothered? Absolutely not!
As soon as I can go to another vintage fair, I am hunting down more gloves.
Was wearing lolita in the heatwave that we had a smart idea? No, it probably wasn’t. But I was going to be hot regardless of what I wore, so why not something cute? Blouseless lolita is not that bad with a bustier, though there was definitely a mental barrier to get over. The things we do to feel cute… I also really would've preferred to have some sort of a navy necklace or maybe even a scarf, just something in that area that was navy to balance the colours out a bit more. This might be a look that I will re-do in the future to realise the vision that I wanted to aim for and got too hot and tired halfway through executing it.
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Coord 6: Cute in Pink & Blue
| Innocent World Revival Sweet Teddybear JSK | offbrand blouse, socks and earrings | Metamorphose shoes | Celestial Castle hairclip | Dentelles brooch | Angelic Pretty Logo Ribbon Charm wrist cuffs | handmade bracelets | Banned Retro Bella belt |
I am currently loving these earrings and as I am in town the moment this post is going live, rest assured that I am going back to the shop I got them from to see if any of the other colourways they came in are still available and if they're something I could work with.
Current mood is braid crowns and double bow clips with a chain. By which I mean that I've done it twice within the space of a week. But I would genuinely like more clips like these.
Even though the heatwave carried on, my flat is indeed cool enough to warrant frills like this, so I indulged. I am so pleased with how well my Coord Archive is working in keeping tabs on what I’ve worn previously to inspire the next look because that is exactly how this one came together. But clothes aside, that was an uneventful day - except for this one tiny, small detail that I, erm, talked with RinRin Doll and she called me cute!? Lads, I am still reeling from that, it was such an odd set of circumstances that led me to hosting that talk show with her and Minori in the first place, but I am eternally grateful for it for the opportunity to (privately) fangirl, whilst (outwardly and professionally) talk with her about all sorts of things including the UK community, which Chinese brands are popular amongst people, how do we deal with the heat without air con and more, as well as the event. It was a voice call only, so it won’t mean anything if I say that my hands were totally not waving around to release all that pent up excitement - especially because that would be an utter lie and my hands were all over the place to compensate for having to sound cool. I will write more about the MinoRinRin talk show separately, so look out for that!
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Coord 7: Reunion Picnic
| Innocent World Georges Rose JSK | Innocent World bolero | offbrand socks, shoes, necklace and bracelets | Rose of Sharon hair clip | vintage brooches | Amadea Kingdom The Adventurer D20 brooch |
Oh look, it's that same hairstyle and accessory type!
Whilst I have detail shots of the necklace and the hair clip, I'm picking this one instead because of the brooch placement and that glimpse of the bolero's lace which I ironed the night before.
If you follow me on Instagram or if we are friends on Facebook, then you will know by now that my comm’s reunion picnic had a really awful disruption in the form of anti-lockdown/anti-vax protesters getting real nasty and making us feel unsafe to the point of fleeing the park we were at which they stormed. It’s so unfair that ignorant entitled pricks can just endanger people like that because boohoo their favourite pub imposed a vaccinated-people-only restriction or whatever. But let’s not dwell on that, let’s keep that in the past where it belongs and move on. Unusually for me I was Naked-chan for this meet for a long time until a friend I was catching the train to Leeds with said that she was going to wear a floral Innocent World dress. That inspired me to wear my Innocent World floral dress and whilst I initially started out with a more typically country lolita styling, I ended up with this country-ish look that’s all ivory with pops of dark green. Because we need more dark green in lolita and this was more comfortable and cuter than the other oen. And whilst I can’t say that I was cold (I did bring a long sleeve bolero in case it cooled down, which I never had to do), it also wasn’t quite so warm to really necessitate such summery layers. But as I said, it worked out fine in the end.
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Coord 8: MinoRinRin Talk Show
| Baroque Repose of Queen Teatime Dress | L’Esprit de la Noblesse Le Nuage blouse | replica socks | Laura Ashley shoes | After Midnight flower crown | Claire’s hair clips | offbrand earrings and rings | vintage necklace | Peppermint Fox brooch | offbrand flower brooch |
Once again, I would've wanted some fancier hairstyle with this look, but it was that or sleep and I needed sleep really badly. Shoutout to Lola's Lashes for giving me falsies distracting enough to hide a multitude of shortcuts in plain sight.
Damn, I love this print so much, it's so beautifully intricate! I want my house like this too.
Literally the day after that reunion picnic was the MinoRinRin talk show that I co-hosted for Hyper Japan. Given that I wasn’t quite rested after my very eventful weekend (by then I’d been busy with something requiring my energy for the fourth day in a row), my priority was comfort, though I guess I couldn’t resist a bit of OTT styling. Combining this OP with this blouse had been on my mind for a while and I was so pleased that the two had worked together as well as I wanted them to. Although I would’ve wanted something fancier for my hair, I literally had zero ideas, zero will and zero tolerance for something like a wig, so this was the best that I could do. And I think this is the first time that I’m actually wearing this flower crown having owned it for… oh my God, three and a half years now! Wow…
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Coord 9: Welp, I Guess We’re Doing This
| Metamorphose My Little CA JSK | offbrand blouse and socks | Irregular Choice Flickety Kiss shoes | vintage gloves |
I'm going to have to look up videos on how to tie a nice bow with scarves like this, this was hard!
Welcome on board this Metamorphose Airline flight number 132021, my name is Paulina and I hope that you have a comfortable journey.
I declare the 78th Nonsense Games open! Full disclosure, I wasn’t actually going to wear this just yet, I only put this on to film a worn shot for the unboxing video that will come later. But was I really going to take this off straight afterwards? Especially on a rainy, stormy day that needed some brightening up? Of course not! I am living what I preach which is to wear your dream dresses instead of waiting for the “perfect coord”. The perfect coord will still happen, this dress isn’t leaving my possession anytime soon. And until then I can just have fun with it. It was also the perfect opportunity to sort of, kind of, tentatively figure out how Instagram reels work from the technical side. The first one will be very basic, but we all gotta start somewhere.
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There was actually a chance that I’d wear something after that impromptu last coord, but you know what? Fuck that! Let’s end the post on a high. (And no-one try to stop me and my puns, accept the dad joke lover that I am in reality!)
July felt both really fast and quite slow. Fast in that wow, it is August in just a few days, but slow in that I didn’t have that many days that blended into one and I do feel like I’ve been present throughout this month. Maybe it’s because somehow in my head I feel like a lot has happened? Is this what life used to be like pre-2020? Whatever the case may be, I hope that you all had a good month too. I for one look forward to August, both in terms having a bit of a break (if you hear me mumble anything about doing NaNo in November, now that I’ve done both camps this year, please, do me the favour of slapping me in the face first) and things that will be happening (potentially two more in-person meets and my first GLISH!). And some stuff that I am not looking forward to quite so much, but let’s ignore that for just a little while longer.
Otome Nostalgia was such an instant hit for Violet Fane. I am very glad that I went with the sensible choice of getting the skirt rather than the OP because now I know just how versatile this print is. What you see here isn’t even everything that I noted down - I simply got lazy on the day and only photographed the four coords that I needed for the post.
Look 1: Preppy Autumnal
| A.R.W. blouse | Pretty Rock Baby Spring Break Upper East Side cardigan | Innocent World Belle Epoque OTKs | offbrand shoes, beret and hair clip |
This may be the one that I am most excited to wear, so keep your eyes peeled. As soon as it’s cool enough for me to do so, this is getting worn. The photo is a bit too overexposed to truly showcase this, despite my best attempts to fix that, but the green pieces really bring out the greens from the print. They’re small, but they’re there. I’d probably wear this with my red or ginger wig for that extra autumnal vibe.
Look 2: Blue Skies
| Angelic Pretty Whip Girl cutsew | Angelic Pretty Sugar Ribbon OTKs | offbrand shoes, beret and earrings | handmade hair clips | Chocomint ring | Cat Tea Party ring | Angelic Pretty Cute Ribbon wrist cuffs |
I had an idea for pairing this skirt with sax since that’s another colour that features in the print, though not too obviously. The cloud theme is mostly added because of the colour, it could just as easily have worked with something more generic like bows. Coordinating too many shades of sax is the bane of my existence, hence going down the easier route of applying a theme as the shades were already working pretty well together.
Look 3: An Attempt at Oldschool
| BtSSB 134*405 Shirring blouse | Innocent World shoes | Cutie Creator headdress | Lady Sloth brooch | Equaliteas pin | offbrand blazer and socks |
Yes, I remember that I’m selling these shoes. But until they get sold, I can still use them in flatlays. Especially since whilst I like how the blazer looks with this skirt, I doubt that I’d wear it styled in such an oldschool inspired way myself. It’s not my vibe. Though maybe? I don’t know. It’s a cool look though that I wanted to showcase.
Look 4: Hot Girl Summer
| Cat Tea Party top | Banned Retro Bella belt | Angelic Pretty Wrapping Cherry socks | Irregular Choice sandals | Cutie Creator straw hat | handmade bracelets and earrings | Cutie Craze Cafe Whipped Cream Cherry ring |
Experimental much? Definitely! Screw whether this is lolita or not, this is a fun look. Will I ever wear it? If the weather and the guts to expose this my midriff ever meet on the same day, then I might. Nothing is impossible at this point.
As I said, this is barely scratching the surface of possibilities. I had two more looks sketched out, one more along the lines of that 80s/90s retro pop I’ve been vibing with ever since I got those Irregular Choice High Score shoes, the other one leaning more vintage shoujo princess and trying something hime with pinks. Laziness was my friend that day, but hopefully one day those two will still get to happen.
This is a concept that must be so confusing to newer lolitas to grasp, especially since it’s usually mentioned in passing and not explained, e.g. “X is fine as long as it’s intentional and reads as such”. But how to even do that? How can veteran lolitas just look at two coords from two strangers and tell which one is intentionally simple or intentionally mismatched and which one is so because of a lack of coordinating experience or missing the appropriate pieces? This isn’t easy to explain, so make sure you’re sitting comfortably while I do my best.
For starters, intentionality of one’s styling can indeed get lost, even on lolitas who have been wearing the fashion for a while. And this isn’t always due to the coordinate not being clear on its intentions. Things get lost in translation and we all approach the fashion with our own set of preconceptions and look at things from our own points of view. Someone with the first-hand experience and understanding of what wearing lolita was like in 2007 will be more likely to catch the references to coords from that time than someone who only started in the fashion in 2018 and didn’t look to the past with any degree of detail. And this is just an easy, fairly universal example. There are plenty of coords out there that make deliberate choices to bend the rules or to use particular pieces - as cultural nods, character inspirations, particular personal associations etc. - which some will understand and others will not.
Having said this, there is a certain degree of intentionality that is clear to catch and differentiate from lolitas who are still building their collection and polishing their coordinates, though not exclusively. As mentioned before, a veteran lolita will usually be able to tell when a coord is lacking in accessories because the wearer chose to keep it simple and when they simply don’t have them. One of the key elements differentiating the two is that an intentionally simple coordinate will not lack depth, whereas one that’s missing the right pieces often will. I’ve covered depth in a coordinate at length, so do refer to that post for more on that.
In previous posts I aimed to avoid making ‘good vs bad’ coordinate comparisons, as this series is aimed at the intermediate lolitas who I expect to know what makes a coordinate less successful. Yet in this case, because of the nature of the topic and because I want to focus on simpler outfits, I will have to dig into some older outfits of mine to get examples that are both simple and where the intentionality is lost due to my not having the right pieces. Whilst I could recreate some past outfits or even put together new ones that I think I would’ve done when my wardrobe was smaller, using actual past coordinates feels more organic and should make the point more poignant. Even if the point is “learn from my mistakes, kids”.
Luckily, for this one I do have just the right comparison: one of my earliest actual lolita coords with Bodyline’s Sweet Macaron JSK vs the twinning coord with Roli. Even if I hadn’t told you that this left coordinate is one of my first proper lolita ones, you’d know that in an instance. The imbalance in themes is not helping that in any way, though that’s a point to make later. It’s not that the tights and blouse are necessarily bad - more so that they don’t create enough visual differentiation to make this coord any more interesting than what the dress brings to the table. The two make for fairly solid layer of cream, which combined with this JSK being on the shorter side on me, quite literally creates a blank canvas under a bright garment. Without more prominent accessories or textures to break this up, the coordinate looks flat and one loses interest in it very quickly. This is one telltale sign that the coord isn’t simple by design, but due to a lack of skill and alternative pieces. On the other hand, the twinning coord is without a doubt intentionally simple, both on its own merit and in comparison. Not only is every element consistent in substyle and theme, but despite this being a more casual outfit, it manages to create a lot more depth than the other one. The cutsew layered over the dress breaks up the block of bright blue, the layered hair accessories maintain balance and provide two different textures, the ruffles of the ankle socks together with the triple bow shoes add some textural and visual interest at the bottom. Moreover, whilst there aren’t that many accessories in the coord, they are more prominent and more carefully placed, which also fills in the gaps and adds depth to areas that could otherwise be quite flat, something which the 2016 coord doesn’t even attempt. All of this whilst still keeping the look decidedly on the simple, casual side.
Again, there's nothing wrong with simplicity. But simplicity doesn't have to equal lack of interesting things in the coord - drawing those out is what makes people do a double take instead of moving on.
On the other hand, intentionality can also manifest itself through uniformity of theme, which this time is more closely tied to substyles. This isn’t to say that every coordinate has to strictly adhere to one substyle, no mixing allowed. Instead, it’s about the overall styling remaining consistent and clear on what substyle is the dominant one in the outfit, and in case of mixing substyles - not letting one overpower the other. It is one thing to deliberately go for a sweeter gothic look (which in lolita is most common either as oldschool gothic or as bittersweet) and another when someone aims for a gothic coordinate, but through inexperience or lack of alternatives at the time uses sweeter pieces in black for that. A big part of getting that consistency right comes down to understanding the nuances of your chosen substyle such as cuts (e.g. knowing that not every black blouse is gothic), themes, colours etc. Some of the mistakes could stem from unsuccessful experimentation attempts or from being in that position where we still figure out what kind of lolita we really want to wear and what looks best on us. Which isn’t a bad thing, experimenting and trying new things is how we learn - as long as we do reflect on our attempts and extract the lessons from that.
And I have just the right example from 2016 to use: the Magic Tea Party Bears Paradise skirt. The left picture is the first time I wore it and, bless the cotton socks of 2016 Paulina who thought that she was being intentionally sweet-classic, but it’s really clear that it was a case of not having anything better in my wardrobe back then. The coord lacks intentionality because it lacks consistency. Yes, each element - the blouse, flower clip, shoes and arguably even the socks - is classic, but they do not match each other’s fanciness levels or theme (i.e. which kind of classic lolita was I going for). The blouse is really elegant and more princessy, while the shoes are very casual, better suited to vintage/academia-inspired looks, with the hair styling and everything else sitting somewhere in between. On top of this the coord is not getting the colour balance quite right because whilst we can see that an attempt was made, the shades are significantly off, prominently so thanks to the size of those pieces, and not a single match was made. All of this makes it obvious that whilst it may have been a conscious choice at the time to pick these pieces over others, this is as far as intentionality goes and that the choice was a result of not having better alternatives and a more trained eye for what makes a coordinate sweet-classic. And in comparison to this August 2019 one it is really not faring very well, despite the fact that this isn’t even the best oldschool coordinate out there. However, not only the colours match much better (there are still several shades of cream, but each one matches at least one other), the entire coordinate is consistent in the substyle it aims at. The cuts of each piece, as well as their placement (i.e. blouse over the skirt, under the knee socks) are proof that the choices made here were deliberate and thought through. Even though this look could have been executed better with better items, such as more oldschool socks and shoes, they are not out of place combined with each other like the left one. Moreover, this coord actually uses even fewer accessories than the 2016 one - in 2016 I had a pair of earrings, a necklace and that flower clip, in here it’s just the necklace (the very same one even) and the headdress - yet thanks to the depth created by textures no part of the outfit feels empty or lacking.
Hopefully this will also serve as proof that you don't have to go out mixing every single substyle you can think of to have a nice coord. Sometimes it's better to do one thing well than to do multiple things poorly.
What results in coordinates reading as intentional is, to put it simply, paying attention to every element of it. And I do mean every one: hair and makeup, choice of cuts and accessories, placement and pairing, consistency and depth - everything! And that applies to whatever the coorda are trying to achieve, be it simplicity, a particular theme, character/cultural references or something else entirely. Depending on the intent, some other aspects will be more important than others, e.g. hair and makeup in hime coords or quality of materials when making character-inspired outfits. At the end of the day, if the outfit is supposed to be lolita, then ensuring that it has an appropriate degree of depth for its purpose and that it is consistent in themes/substyles/levels of fanciness etc. will help make it come across as deliberate and spare you unsolicited concrit from people who interpret your choices as mistakes. Like I mentioned at the beginning, this may not always happen since we all view things through the lens of our own experiences, but you should nonetheless notice a drop in comments offering concrit that show misunderstanding of your intentions.
It was hard to select just one lolita as an example for this theme. Pretty much any lolita who has been wearing the fashion for a while will have coords showing intentionality, even if not every single one will do so perfectly (without meaning to sound egocentric, my 2020 coords are the prime example here, as some were so casually thrown together for working from home that whatever intentionality there was got lost in translation). So whoever’s style you admire, you will hopefully see the elements at play in their coordinates that make them read as intentional. For me, as someone who really appreciates people who do things differently within this fashion and wants to see people pushing the boundaries to create new things, I completely adore coords put together by Ineray Niavari, a lolita I’ve seen several times on Closet of Frills, and recently found on Instagram as @1neray. Whether she is incorporating her Mexican culture and heritage into the coord, creating something themed, or recreating a non-lolita outfit through lolita fashion, her looks are always instantly recognisable as whatever theme or inspiration she picked. How deliberate her styling is comes across through the choice of pieces, their colours, patterns, cuts, placement, where the lolita rules are bent and where they are adhered to etc. Every time I come across one of her coords, I adore the creativity and even when sometimes certain elements might not be to my particular taste, this is a difference of preferences, not any kind of a fault with the coordinate itself. People like Ineray are great inspiration for anyone who wants to start incorporating more of their non-lolita personality (their interests, tastes, personal history etc.) into lolita fashion well, keeping it looking like a fashion outfit and preventing from becoming costume-y.
In other words, creating coordinates that are intentionally reading a certain way is another aspect of advanced coordinating that relies heavily on having the right kinds of pieces, as well as knowing how to use them. As such, it will naturally come easier to those who: a) know how they want to look in lolita; and b) invest the necessary time and funds to obtain those pieces. Those who are interested in only one substyle and/or in a more limited colour palette will achieve it sooner than those of us who try to have a bit of everything. It’s also why this is advanced coordinating and not novice coordinating, so the better you get at this, the more you will have noticed the improvements in your own looks and the more you will be pleased with your coords for longer. Just don’t be too hard on yourself when you do finally get to look back and see your past coords when they clearly lack that. You did the best you could with what you had at the time and wouldn’t be where you are now without going through those previous stages.
July’s Bibliotheca is all about DIY. And whilst I thought about sharing some of the things I made/upcycled and have shared both tutorials and the ‘DIY show off’ posts in the past, it felt like a better time to look at the topic more broadly. Particularly as I don’t consider myself the most crafty person out there, but more of a hobbyist dabbler, dipping in and out of the various easy mode things.
Photo by Anete Lusina on Pexels.com
The early days of lolita fashion amongst the Western community were very focused on DIY. The inaccessibility of clothes and accessories directly from Japan meant that this was the only way for lolitas outside of Japan to participate in the fashion. And whilst so many of the tutorial links are dead, the extent of the library of tutorials on both EGL Livejournal and other blogs was encouraging - it was a way to say that anyone could wear this fashion rather than making anyone face an ultimatum.
I myself had joined when lolita was already a lot easier to get a hold of in the West, so I never had much need for DIY. I’ve always been a hobbyist DIY dabbler, getting into a certain thing for a while before drifting away from it, never really mastering anything in particular. As a young teen I had a phase of handsewing patterns in sequins onto T-shirts, which were wonky and very ‘of their time’ in design (there were some good things about the cusp of the 90s and the 00s), but I enjoyed the process and the creative outburst they provided. These days I’ve had ebbs and flows of embroidery, sewing lace onto things, making simple accessories that required little more than hot glue… Of the DIY projects I’ve taken up, making bracelets is the one I’m most consistent in sticking to because of how inexpensive, simple and quick it is, allowing me full control of how I fill whatever wardrobe gaps I might have.
Every single one of these is handmade. And most of them get a lot of use, so bracelets are a very high payoff DIY thing for me for very minimal effort.
Part of me sees that handmade and DIY things never left our community. From skilled professionals to fellow DIY amateurs, from hobbyists to those turning their skills into shops and indie brands, DIY is still a prominent thing within lolita fashion. My own comm has often enjoyed the more relaxed crafting meetups, both in person and online, whether it was a ‘bring your own project’ thing or making something together. The spirit of making things yourself and accepting that this is a legitimate way to be a part of lolita fashion carries on, though people have definitely gotten stricter over the quality of materials than they had been based on some of the old tutorials that I have seen.
At the same time, as a wider community we really have moved quite far from where we started. Not having the exact accessory we want is more commonly met with offers to search on Taobao or suggestions of indie brands who specialise in that sort of thing than with links to tutorials. There isn’t a thing that can’t be purchased these days, it’s only a question of price. I can’t help but feel that this environment contributes to what newcomers view as an exclusionary or even elitist space, as the talks of ‘This person can make that for you’ and ‘You could get that here’ drowns out much of the genuine admiration that we still have for quality handmade items. Just like concrit on outfits can sometimes fall on deaf ears, misunderstood for cattiness, so can concrit on DIY where comments on the quality of items is mistaken for snobbiness and arrogance.
My most recent upcycling project, though the bow clip was taken from a blouse. I've made this hat shorter and added the lace and ribbon, and whilst it's not perfect, it's good enough for my needs.
I sincerely doubt that we will ever see a complete separation of DIY from J-fashion. For one, as a community we rely all too much on independent creators for items for our coords, from little bits like jewellery, headpieces and wrist cuffs to larger ones like blouses, underskirts and even main pieces. Between that and how much of an outlet for creativity lolita fashion is, some of which comes not only from how individual items are put together but also from creating custom elements. And once in-person big events make a comeback, that creativity is bound to come out in the form of people making their own pieces to execute that vision that’s spent a year and half now (or even more) to see the light of day and be admired by others.
However, do I think that DIY will come back into J-fashions such as lolita to the same degree of pervasiveness as we’ve seen in the beginnings? No, not within the global North where it really is easier and cheaper to save up for a ready-made item than it is to make it yourself. With some exceptions, as always, though committing to making one’s own things appears to remain committed to the communities and individuals for whom DIY is still necessary if they are to afford to participate. And I hope that wherever those people are, whatever community they join or whatever online space they enter, they are met with the kindness and understanding that lolitas had when DIY was everyone’s standard back in the day. Just because shopping from Taobao is cheap for one person doesn’t mean that it will be so for another - or that they want to go down that route.
No, I haven’t forgotten about the list of capsule wardrobes that I said that I’d do. They are for me to reach for both when I need something different to post and when I have the energy to put the post together. Because I’m hardly a wizard of photo editing, doing these takes me quite a bit of time and since I have my own photos to use, I want to capitalise on that.
This particular idea was sent to me by @ribbonandsugarplum and although it may not have been one to get me immediately excited, it turned out to be one that was incredibly easy to put together. It practically happened on its own, very little thought involved. Especially once that green Innocent World bolero was finally mine. It’s a very spring-appropriate capsule, so shame that spring is gone for me for the next three quarters of the year, but at least it will be ready and waiting for its time to shine.
THE CAPSULE
Everything except the ankle socks uses my own photos.
Like I said, this whole capsule came together practically instantly. Thinking about the theme, tea time in the garden, immediately led me to florals, to classic and country themes, to tea parties big and small, to something that a pretty fancy lifestyler and a truly elegant lady of leisure would wear. Once I identified the main pieces, it was almost instinctive to lean into the greens and pinks with only splashes of ivory for some colour balance and easy options.
And now that I actually see it all at once, I do see how this ticks all of those boxes. This capsule could easily take me from daily errands to very fancy tea parties, especially when supplemented by the smaller accessories. I’m excited to start playing with it and put together some coords!
COORDS
Baroque Repose of Queen Teatime Dress
Even though OPs are typically not very versatile, this one bypasses that by being short sleeved. That means much easier time layering something over or under it for extra versatility. There’s also the detachable overdress that I could use, though I don’t have a photo of that - but basically whenever you see a more OTT coord in this post, assume that using the overdress is a possibility.
Innocent World Georges Rose JSK
The beauty of this dress is that it really does blend in and mask as a vintage dress. Simple classy florals for when you want to attract less attention. Of course, I could’ve put something very extravagant with it, but chances are that with this capsule I’d save those ideas for other dresses. Or when really running out of options.
Violet Fane Charming Town skirt.
Similarly with this skirt, it’s there for the day-to-day looks. Granted, it would be harder to dress it up with the contents of this particular capsule than it would be with the Innocent World JSK, though it could be possible if I tried hard enough.
Angelic Pretty Flower Garden JSK.
One of my wardrobe’s outliers finally feels like it’s found a place where it fits in perfectly. It has a moment to shine here with all of these pieces and actually seeing these possibilities gets me quite excited for what I could do with this. Mind racing with ideas, I’ve only included the first four.
BtSSB Soiree of the Beginning of My Memories JSK.
Lastly something a bit more explicitly green to add to this mix. If this wasn’t a capsule or if I wasn’t so strict with myself on limits, I’d probably include the dark green shoes and headbow too, but that seemed excessive and too specific to this dress. So the light green and the pinks will have to do.
FINAL WORDS
The one thing that I’m the most impressed with about this capsule is how colourful it is. Even though in essence it is quite limited in terms of the actual colour palette used, it doesn’t look like it at a glance. Capsule wardrobes are by definition scaled down in terms of colours and prints, but with clever coordinating this doesn’t have to be obviously so. And florals are probably one of the easiest ways of masking that because even though the colours of and within the main pieces are a bit all over, the floral motifs tie them together and make the coloured supplementing pieces work for them all.
There are definitely coords in here that would’ve taken me time to come up with. As well as those that I’ve had at the back of my mind in some form or another already. I doubt that I’d ever need the whole capsule, though I guess if some particularly fancy springtime trip were to ever happen, this wouldn’t be a bad one to pack with me.
Long-time readers may recall my mentioning something called a coord bank several times here. It’s nothing that fancy, really, just a name for outfits that I have put together and haven’t ever had the chance to wear. Some of these exist as part of my 1 Dress 4 Looks series, some were put together for other specific prompts, and others exist in my mind or a Google doc where I jot down loose ideas. As I said, nothing necessarily formalised or standardised, but certainly useful. And for those who don’t have a coord bank of their own let me present you with a few reasons for why it’s good to have one.
1. Quick and easy menu for busy people
By far the biggest benefit is just having something ready to reach for when you need it. Let’s face it, life gets in the way sometimes. We get busy or tired (or both), but we might still want to dress up and/or join a lolita meetup/event. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with repeating outfits or with the simplest of coords that you know work. But having a coord bank to dip into for something in a pinch means that those aren’t your only choices.
With some minor changes, this is the same outfit as what I put together for the 41st 1 Dress 4 Looks post.
2. A base to build on
A coord bank doesn’t have to consist of completed outfits only. Moreover, depending on how long you’ve been adding to yours, you’re inevitably dealing with style shifts, changes in what you own and growth of confidence and experience. But at times it’s easier to improve an existing idea than to create something from scratch. And this applies equally whether it’s for an elaborate themed coord for a special event or if you’re merely looking for inspiration. You may already have something that you like that you merely forgot about that would be perfect with a few tweaks. If you keep it in a coord bank, it will safely wait for you.
Nothing sends a clearer signal that you may be missing something than trying to put an outfit together and realising that you don’t have X. Sadly, most of us tend to notice that in the moment, not make a note of that anywhere and forget until the next time it happens. I know, I’ve been there. Having a coord bank that you can browse will trigger your memory, as well as show you how much you might need something, thus prompting wishlist changes. It’s perfectly possible that the white headbow you thought you needed isn’t actually as pressing as a pair of red shoes based on the coords you’ve already tried to put together.
I must have noticed that I was missing a pink headbow long before I finally made one. Otherwise I wouldn't have put the effort in. And it literally was so needed that it was my most worn hair accessory of 2020.
4. Source of inspiration
It may sound quite narcissistic to get inspired by yourself - it could be, but chances are that if you’re already aware of that, this isn’t a problem that you’d have to worry about. What I do mean by your coord bank being a source of inspiration links to point no 2 about giving you something to work with. But it also encompasses the fact that seeing your various plans and ideas in one place can genuinely spark something new. Maybe you’ll notice a blouse and sock combination that you hadn’t thought of before? Or realise that, actually, this set of colours could work with this main piece you’ve been a bit stuck with. Worst case scenario, once your coord bank isn’t that new anymore, you might find yourself inspired by seeing how your coordination skills have improved between the oldest and the newest example. Being inspired to keep experimenting and trying to put outfits together is very motivating and can reignite the spark you feel for this fashion.
I say quite often that experimenting itself is great and everyone should do it because there is nothing forcing you to share those experiments if you don’t want to. By all means, take photos of them, regardless of how successful they may have turned out to be, then keep them in your coords bank. Once enough time has passed that you’re able to look at the less successful ones without an internal cringe, you might notice what they need to make the underlying idea work. Or you’ll realise that whilst the idea didn’t work that time, if you tried it with another main piece it totally could. Scientists say that no results are still results and the same goes for unsuccessful fashion experiments. But only if you take the time and energy to reflect on them properly, extract and then apply those lessons for the future.
Not all the flatlays I put together make it into the final 1 Dress 4 Looks post. Some are too much of a work in progress, while others have the misfortune of paling in comparison to the rest.
BONUS: It makes you feel like a powerful villain
… or like a dragon with your hoard. Because you don’t just have “potential outfits”. You have an entire bank of coords. A bank suggests wealth and riches. For security reasons only you are allowed to know how much is actually inside that vault, so why not let people think that you’re so creative with what you have that you physically don’t have the time to wear all of those coords out and need a bank for them?
Hopefully these have encouraged you to start your own coords bank, if you don’t have one yet. However, if you’re looking for tips on how to keep one, I’m afraid you’re looking at the wrong person. For all my love of organising, labelling and cataloguing things, I don’t have a singular place yet. Not unless we count this blog as one. So yeah, if you have suggestions on that, I’m all ears!
