Cupcake Kamisama's Lolita World: May 2022

31 May 2022

May Coords Roundup

Yes, May finally brought some warm weather! We’ve all been waiting so long for this that I am willing to glance over every single day that’s been a bit meh or even downright chilly. Though looking at these outfits, you’d think that it’s been quite warm all throughout the month… The deceptions that are possible when working from home and staying indoors.

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Coord 1: Ginza Kissaten

One day I will work out how to do that Farrah Fawcett hairstyle.

Patiently figuring out what to order from this cafe's vast menu.

The first outing for this skirt was a more casual affair for a WFH Friday. I tried to play up a bit to the warm colour scheme and give a slight nod to the 70’s vibes with my styling. It felt pretty outside my usual things to go with this much brown and yellow-based ivory, nonetheless I enjoyed the look. It was comfortable to work in and gave me hope that despite this print being much warmer tones than most of my wardrobe, it will find its place within it.

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Coord 2: Lads Reunited

Once again, this wig was out there confusing people into thinking that I'd cut my hair. Do not underestimate the wigs in your local haircare shop.

Tying this into a somewhat pleasing shape was harder than it should have been.

Paul has emerged once again and gathered up all his lad friends for some reunion drinks. There were some internal debates as to what to wear before settling on this slightly bonkers look. Somehow the combination of so many dots and the white, red, and black colour scheme makes me think of pierrot clowns? Either way, this was comfy, survived an entire day of trains, drinks, fried chicken, and bantz. Dry Dock did not fail to disappoint as a venue in that we were well served, comfortable, and unbothered by others (except for one person who asked what was the theme and ended up being told that they should step up their game and dress more fancy themselves). And whilst getting fried chicken later, someone who clearly knew about lolita and J-fashion found us, ended up joining for a bit at our table, and then getting semi-recruited (i.e. told to find us on Facebook) so that we could properly help them get into the fashion if that’s what they want. I do hope that they’ll do it, they’d look super cute in lolita and seemed really sweet.

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Coord 3: Tartan x Black

Feeling cute, working at home, just the usual stuff.

This puts me at only two types of lace that I don't yet have from IW's Millefuille boleros.

This coord ended up doing so much, including being May’s No Buy Support Challenge one, so check out the post on that one here.

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Coord 4: RHS Bridgewater

Definitely underestimated the weather that day and this stayed under a jacket most of the day.

For how often I end up wearing this necklace, I don't think it gets the love it deserves.

I had Friday the 13th booked off work and decided to do some exploring in my local(ish) area. This ended up being a trip to RHS Bridgewater gardens, where I enjoyed all the spring flowers and other greenery that the place had to offer (and was one of the very few who was neither a pensioner, a child on a school trip or a parent with a young child). Of course, this required dressing up and since one cannot go wrong with some sax and pink, that’s what I ended up wearing. As much as I would’ve preferred different shoes with this, I needed to prioritise comfort given that I was walking a lot, so these were the best matching ones. It’s very good that RHS Bridgewater offers combined entry and return bus tickets, I will definitely make use of that again in the future, I’d love to explore more once some of the under construction sections are complete, as well as during different seasons. This outing was also one that I vlogged a little, so if you want to see what the gardens look like, you need not go any further than here.

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Coord 5: Afternoon Tea at Richmond Tea Rooms

I swear to God, between the hat pin, regular hair pins and U-pins this hat still did not feel too secure, it is a miracle that the wind hasn't blown it off my head even once.

Hiding the button holes with flower clips.

Let’s not play around with modesty, this outfit fucking slaps! It started out with just an idea, a little ‘can I wear this completely non-lolita dress with this JSK’ experiment. Which then morphed into adding the accessories that I felt ticked that cottagecore vibe. And then once the hair and makeup were all in place it was all like *chef’s kiss*. I love how this looked, I love how the photos came together, I love how this felt to wear - it was exactly like I envisioned it and then some. Really, really pleased with this. The afternoon tea was also gorgeous, I expected nothing less from Richmond Tea Rooms, they really delivered on all fronts. Afterwards we went for a brief stroll around town, aiming to get to the Manchester Cathedral for some pictures, but when the rest of the group headed for a bar which was also planned, I ducked out, correctly judging that my energy levels were dropping and I needed to get home and be a granny. Though the good thing about this coord was that after all this I could take everything off but the British Retro dress and still have a cute yet comfortable outfit to lounge in.

Obligatory tea spread picture.

I love it when staff bring you teapots and/or teacups that match your outfit.

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Coord 6: Sunday Shopping

| Chrysanthemum’s Concerto Lost in the Garden of Eden JSK | Primark blouse and shoes | Mademoiselle Boutique necklace |

Is this even a coord? Probably not, it leans so far into casual frills that more of it is on the side outside of the lolita fashion boundary. But heck it, it’s my blog and this dress is very cute (even a McDonald’s employee noticed and complimented me on it). Plus, it’s fun to see how clothes designed for lolita can work in these extremely non-lolita looks, with just a pair of plimsoles and a blouse. Sadly, the charity shopping that I ventured out on turned out to be entirely fruitless, but at least I got groceries and McDonald’s, and when I got home I finished the scone from Richmond that I brought back the day before.

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Coord 7: Another Super Casual Look

As it says on the tin, another outfit that is so casual it probably doesn’t qualify as lolita anymore, but I’m including it here. Being able to acknowledge those ultra-casual coords and enjoy them for what they are, without feeling the pressure of turning out a look is very freeing and fun. This is exactly what I wanted when I did my 2022 goals and this was the one where I felt like I was achieving it. Also, that awkward moment when you are walking a student to an exam and they ask if your outfit is lolita-inspired - and you’re there, stuck between wanting to check if you should be recruiting and the mortification of not wanting to be perceived. True story.

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Coord 8: Friday Librarian

I thought about adding some sort of a hair accessory, but it would either squish or disappear behihnd this volume, so I let the hairstyle speak for itself.

ALL the books!

If you recognise this coord, then well done - with a few changes, this featured as a flatlay in the 1 Dress 4 Looks post for this JSK. Not only I had the energy to dress up since I was working from home, but I also had a bit of extra time since I was starting an hour later that day, yet decided to still wake up as I normally would have. It meant that I could do everything I do in the morning as well as get dressed, as well as take a few flatlay photos for this month’s 1 Dress 4 Looks post. Though not necessarily in that order.

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Coord 9: Sunday Groceries

Whoa, selfies in a different room? Harder than I anticipated, somehow.

Still so pleased with these bracelets.

Aldi doesn’t necessarily need me at my finest, but since I needed to be clothed anyway to get my food, why not something cute. I was going to put some bow clips in my hair and then forgot. Though let’s face it, it’s not like it matters that much with casual frills.

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Coord 10: Nautical Boi

One boi reporting for duty.

You know, all this time I was convinced that this was a bear brooch and only just now realised that this might be, in fact, an otter.

The evening before my Discord server had a meetup to discuss the plans for our summer trip. As one of the themes we are planning on doing during that is sailor/nautical/sea/marine/pirate/anything related, it got me in the mood. Hence kicking off the week with a casual nautical ouji. Not much else to it.

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Coord 11: Fresh Cherry

Pretending like I wore all this with my work headphones.

I fully plan on making it to one of the next Makers' Markets where I got this ring from and hopefully buy more from that seller, they had so many cute things for very cheap!

Mint x red is an underrated colour combination, in my opinion. Something comfy for a work from home Friday, though I’d be lying if I claimed that it was warm enough to wear this. Or that everything in here stayed on me the entire time. But this is the internet, we can pretend.

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As we’re going into June, I feel the need to tell myself that it is ok to slow down the frills. Not that I anticipate the weather to prevent them from happening, but the first half of the month may hand my arse back to me with work and energy will have to be spent elsewhere. Despite less rigorous tracking that I have over the last 2 or so years, I’ve still just about worn every item in my possession once already. That’s not a bad way to enter the half-year point. Although as my need for casual looks grows, I will either have to work harder on releasing myself from the pressure to *style* what I own or to invest in a couple more casual pieces. Stay tuned to find out which way this cookie will crumble!

27 May 2022

1 Dress 4 Looks Take 59

Do you know that feeling of buying something because you’ve been going back to it time and time again, and realised how upset you’d be if it sold out? That is the story of how I got this La Couronne Classique Robe from Juliette et Justine. And so it’s with me since January of this year, though so far it’s had more non-lolita wear than lolita one. So let’s fix that here!

Look 1: Tartan Sailor

A simple offering for the season of sailor coords, even if of a more cool weather variety. Because seaside can be windy and seaside can be visited outside of summer too. Plus, dressing in sailor lolita is a mood unrestrained by seasonality, sail away whenever you want to.

Look 2: Villainess

Sure, this could equally well be worn for a night at the opera or some other evening affair by someone with pure and good intentions. But something about the big hat, gloves, and corset gives me villain vibes. Let me cackle behind closed doors that these fools have not yet worked out it was I who killed my rich husband!

Look 3: Golden Child

Gold and red tartan looks so royal and made for each other. Substyle-wise this coord occupies an interesting niche of being classic, yet with a few too sweet elements to be fully classic, which somehow still manage to work. I’m not even sure what sort of an occasion I would wear this to, but a meetup in late autumn or early winter doesn’t seem that unlikely a scenario.

Look 4: The Warrior

Will I ever get tired of this formula for an outfit? No, probably not. If I still haven’t gotten over the Hell Bunny cardigan and the IW Anchor OTKs formulas for sailor outfits, then chances of me scrapping this jacket and necklace combo are very low. It just looks so well and adds an instant badass flair. I need to get a sword and pose with one in this…

The question now remains, how many of these looks will actually get worn. And the truth is that either not many or only with adjustments. Why? Because despite costing as much as JetJ does when brand new, they thought that doing a wool dress without lining was a great idea. Trust me, this thing is itchy as hell and I am still a bit bitter that I paid as much as I did for it or that JetJ’s quality gets praised so high when this clearly doesn’t support it. Anyway, let’s put the bitterness aside for now - these are four great looks and as usual, there were some extras that didn’t make it to the post. So chances are that whenever I decide to wear it, it will be one of those.

24 May 2022

Sweet Prints I Currently Want

I originally wasn’t even going to do an image dump post like this. But ultimately it’s always good to talk about these things, you never know who might come out of the woods to be like “Hey, I can sell this to you” or “I’ve found it, here’s the link, go and get it”. And I am yet to meet a lolita who doesn’t like a little nosey into what other people want or to just look at dresses. So since I officially figured out what I want from the sweet side of my wardrobe, here are some of the dresses that I am looking for. Some of these might make it into an official update of the wishlist, but not all, as this is as much a mood board sort of post as it is a list of where my tastes currently sit.

Metamorphose Vintage Fruit OP in red

The top of the list, the one that definitely is on the wishlist and the one that sparked it all. Not just the post or the vibe, but the one that helped me figure out what sort of things I was gravitating towards with sweet lolita. In short that is vintage vibes, food motifs and being able to coordinate it with red. And comfort, I’m currently big on comfort and going through my wardrobe to streamline that, which an OP with a fully shirred back will definitely tick off. So yeah, if you spot the red OP anywhere, please, please, please let me know!

Image from Lolibrary.org

The Black Ribbon Konbini Market JSK in Oyatsu Blue

Ok, at this point this is a bit of a weird one to include since all we know is the fabric and that The Black Ribbon plans on making a JSK in it. But ever since that fabric was previewed (in like January?) I have been primed, ready, stalking their Instagram for the slightest sliver of news. If memory serves me right, we can’t be too far from this being announced, but the wait is killing me nonetheless and I am planning strategies to make sure that I do not miss out on this, I really want it so badly.

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Axes Femme x Coca-Cola JSK in red

What are my chances of finding it without needing to sell an arm and a leg? Probably pretty slim. I have already kicked myself in the butt enough times for missing out on this both times it was available directly from Axes Femme. So I’m not necessarily holding out for it or even actively looking. This is one of those that would be lovely to own and that I know I could wear instantly, so if the stars ever aligned the right way that would be lovely.

Image from Lolibrary.org

BtSSB’s Kitten’s Sweet Cherries Cafe Diner Frill JSK in white or in sax

The funny thing is, I remember noticing it when it came out in a sort of “Huh, cute, but not for me, I’m happy to just admire it” kind of way. A few times others have also pointed out how this is something that they could see me in, undoubtedly picking up on the tricolour and the retro themes. It took time for all this to blossom into thoughts of maybe keeping an eye out for it. My relationship with BtSSB right now is a little bit complicated in that I love their designs, but their cuts seem to have something that I’m less keen on (if not length, as BtSSB is generally shorter than what I currently aim for, then the fit). So I wouldn’t jump on this one unless it was a really good price. Having said this, both the white and the sax are cute (and even the yellow, which looks like it could pass of as just very yellow cream), and it’s nice to not be that picky about colourways for once.

Image from Lolibrary.org.

Metamorphose Matryoshka Doll JSK in ivory

Ok, not really a food print here, but pretty much everything else on my criteria list is there with the added Eastern European twist. It's another print that had people surprised that I don't already own it and I can't blame them. The only one I can blame is myself because it's also one that I remember coming out, pondering relatively seriously, then deciding against for reasons I can't quite remember now. On the plus side, I don't think that I'd be unhappy with any of the JSK cuts as long as they're in ivory. Is Matryoshka Doll actually joining my official wishlist? I'm not sure yet. But if you spot any of the JSKs, especially the apron JSK (pictured above) or any of the other ones, do let me know.

Image from Lolibrary.org

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Angelic Pretty Sugar Fairy Cake JSK in mint

Some time ago, probably as a freebie with another purchase, I had Imai Kira’s illustration postcard of this print, which I since sold. And being aware of it since then, I did kind of keep going back to it every now and then, mostly sitting on the fence and deciding to leave it. Whilst this one might struggle to meet the “can be coordinated with red” criteria I established earlier, it would keep company to my Diner Doll JSK really well and work with everything else that I’ve done with that so far. Though the halterneck cut, as cute as it is, might offer the same hurdles as my Fantasy Theater JSK did with blouses, plus the fit could be a bit too tight at the moment though. But the aesthetic is firmly there.

Image from Lolibrary.org.

Angelic Pretty Cherry Stamp JSK in mint

In the same vein, but a bit more strongly, this one is almost the perfect example of what I’m looking for in sweet prints now. Except for the fit. And potentially fabric, I can’t remember for sure and only have vague memories of somebody mentioning that this particular polyester felt like a shower curtain. So it’s one that I will absolutely not be looking to buy, but if I ever find anything like it, I totally would.

Image from Lolibrary.org.

Angelic Pretty French Cafe OP or Ribbon JSK in blue

You’re probably thinking: But Paulina, AP just did an MTO for French Cafe, why didn’t you get in on that? I didn’t get in on that, dear reader, because the cut that was re-released is the one that wouldn’t be too flattering on me and the prospect of buying a brand new dress and then having to budget in £60+ to alter it did not thrill me. Plus, at the time I was still anticipating The Black Ribbon announcing Konbini Market any minute. Believe me, that was a long and hard internal battle. Had AP re-released all of the original cuts, it probably would’ve won me over with one of them. But as is I think I will wait until the MTO has shipped out, wait for a few people to comment on the quality etc., and then potentially look for it second hand. Or see if any of the other cuts start appearing as people might replace their original release versions with the MTO one.

Image from Lolibrary.org.

This is everything that I have tracked so far. Which isn’t to say that it’s the definitive list or that I am only looking for these prints and nothing else. As mentioned at the beginning, other than the very top two which are firmly on my wishlist now, the rest are an idea of the vibe that I want, a direction. I would love to support more indie brands should they release things with this sort of aesthetic (and Violet Fane’s Sumire line is pretty primed for making something that I would fall for), particularly as I am done with trying to squeeze myself into things when I can, you know, get things that already fit me well.

Moreover, whilst over here I am talking about my lolita wardrobe, the vibe I’ve outlined isn’t going to be restricted to just that. Overhauling and pinpointing my style in lolita has led to doing the same across everything that I wear, and particularly after venturing out to the Festival of Vintage in York, where I got to examine a lot of my feelings about my style in direct comparison to the other attendees, I realised that my vintage wardrobe would also excellently fit into the categories I’ve set for myself. That side is a bit more of a work in progress still, but to know that both halves of my wardrobe will continue to be able to interact and mix is very reassuring as I have grown used to having that level of freedom.

Hope you’ve enjoyed this photo dump post with some explanations on why the above dresses appeal to me at the moment, as I said earlier, if you get a whiff of any of the Vintage Fruit OP being sold anywhere or of something with a similar look dropping anywhere, hit me up, please!

20 May 2022

Non-lolita shoes appreciation post

In words of an actual legend, “These shoes are $300 fucking dollars… Let’s get them!” Bibliotheca’s theme for May is shoes and I am taking this as justification for going virtual window shopping. Because if my taste in lolita clothes is expensive, then so is my taste in shoes, apparently. All of these would work really nicely with lolita, but could equally spice up less frilly outfits. Peruse at your own risk, I am not responsible for passing on any shoe cravings this post may induce.

Irregular Choice

An obvious first stop, mixing lolita fashion with Irregular Choice shoes seems to be a tale as old as time. The whimsical designs pair so perfectly with sweet lolita and whilst based on my own collection not every model turns out to be as comfortable to wear as it is stunning to look at, sometimes they’re just too pretty to resist.