July Coords Roundup

It’s ironic how I gave myself permission in June to frill up less and be kind to myself about it, and ended up needing that in July. Life doesn’t always work out the way you envisioned it.

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Coord 1: Art Gallery Explorer

| Angelic Pretty Royal Unicorn Switching JSK | Chess Story Gift from Budapest blouse and bow pin at the waist | Angelic Pretty Salon de The Rose OTKs | Elf Armorie Cupid’s Heart shoes | vintage hat | offbrand earrings and bracelets | Tiny Passerine Creations necklace and ring | brooches from Peacockalorum and Peppermint Fox |

I did a slightly different kind of eye makeup, though typically any photos actually showcasing that look crap.

Love these brooches, they look so beautiful together.

You would not believe the stress this coord caused me. More in the sense that for this meetup I originally had a completely different idea, which then had to be scrapped last minute due to uncomfortable fit and everything else either didn’t fit either or I just couldn’t get it styled in a way I liked. It took over an hour the night before the meet of trying various clothes on before I finally landed on this. So my opinion of this look is tainted by the fact that it wasn’t the vibe that I was originally feeling, but objectively I do like the coord. Somehow I managed to balance those lavenders and the nerdy yet classy botanical explorer vibe is one that I am quite fond of. The meetup was also super great, really chill and a great balance between meeting new people and catching up with friends. Sadly casualties include one earring (probably as I was putting my mask on when embarking on my trip back home), but I guess in the grand scheme of things it could’ve been worse.

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Coord 2: Back After a Break

| Violet Fane Otome Nostalgia skirt | Axes Femme blouse | offbrand socks, shoes, earrings, necklace and bracelets | Pink Up Fanny’s Dressing Table hair clip | vintage brooch | Madillustration brooch |

Living that bare minimum life.

I really thought this pearl necklace would peek out a little bit more, though I kind of dig the extra subtlety.

After what felt like a whole lifetime, I finally found the will to dress up. It was still a bit too warm for anything super involved, plus it was a work from home Tuesday, so simplicity was key, nonetheless it did wonders to my mental health.

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Coord 3: Summer in the City

| Metamorphose Sailor Tiered skirt | The Seamstress of Bloomsbury Jive blouse | offbrand socks, shoes and earrings | Cutie Creator hat | Celestial Castle hair clip | Angelic Pretty Fancy Crepe necklace | handmade bracelets | Banned Retro Bella belt | Angelic Pretty Trump Heart bag |

That glow is sponsored by factor 50 sunscreen.

The hat needed more bows, it's as simple as that.

To distract myself from the trip that I was supposed to be on and had to cancel because Covid didn’t clear quickly enough, I treated myself to a day out to the cinema to see Thor: Love and Thunder. This was right as the heatwave was starting, but before it reached unbearable temperatures, so I was still able to frill up without any discomfort. The film was everything that you’d expect from it in all the Thor himbo glory, and afterwards I treated myself to some rolled ice-cream from a van that’s always outside of that particular cinema, but that was the first time when the weather actually justified getting some.

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Coord 4: Casual Tea

| Violet Fane Ginza Kissaten skirt | The Seamstress of Bloomsbury Jive blouse | Pinky Girls cardigan | RojiRoji socks | Sosic Shop shoes | offbrand hair clip | Twylite Fashion hair clip | Q-Pot Tea Bag necklace |

Whilst I wish I had two of those bronze-y clips, I equally dig the mismatched look.

Don't even remind me that I own what is potentially the most expensive tea bag ever...

Partly to make myself feel better that I barely dressed up this month and partly because I could wait no longer to put a coordinate around this dumb necklace, I dressed up for a work from home Monday. Ginza Kissaten seemed like the best match for the necklace, both in theme and colour, so with the coord base from the 1 Dress 4 Looks post I switched a few things up and here we are. I must say that I’m pretty surprised at these socks, I didn’t expect them to be so soft and stretchy, even if the vertical stretch isn’t quite strong enough to stay over the knee for too long. Also, in case you missed the dramatics in my IG stories, when I ordered this necklace I completely did not realise that it was an actual tea bag with actual tea inside. Upon much debating the consensus is that the tea must be coated in something to preserve it, since the listing clearly forbids eating this tea, but at the price of Q-Pot I still feel like a sucker for falling for it. Living in the UK where moisture never really leaves the air and rains are frequent is not optimal for wearing tea bag jewellery.

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Coord 5: Blackpink

| AatP Sugar Plum Fairy Princess JSK | Lazy Oaf top | offbrand tights and hair clips | Vivienne Westwood x Melissa Anglomania shoes | Antique Beast headdress | Ruby Rose clip | Voodoodolly ring | Star Glazed Delights ring | Banned Retro Bella belt |

Was it a bit much for just working from home? Sure. And I did contemplate just keeping it bare face and taking a mirror selfie with the phone obscuring my face. But ultimately wanting to give this coord idea a fair shot won.

May the power of big rings compel you.

Ngl, this coord was a little bit nicer in my head than it came out in real life. Some of it is because this was another work from home day, so I didn’t have the time or energy to do anything more elaborate with my hair. But part is just that this is a right mishmash of things that don’t necessarily want to gel with each other. However, since the weather cooled down enough to allow something like this and since I already had it on, on it stayed. If I keep this dress (and right now this is a serious internal debate), then one day I will take the time to ponder how to make this idea work.

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Coord 6: All the Shades of Blue

| BtSSB Dreaming Sherbet skirt | The Seamstress of Bloomsbury Jive blouse | Dancing Days cardigan | Angelic Pretty Twinkle Star socks | Sosic Shop shoes | offbrand barrette, earrings, and necklace | Lady Sloth My Coffee Time brooches |

Casual(ish) frills for work and throwing all the shades of blue at the outfit until something resembling cohesion emerged. Not much more to say about it, really.

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I contemplated squeezing in one more coord before the post was due, but energy levels rejected that request. There was a time when dressing up six times in one month would’ve been so much, whereas now it’s around half of what I’ve been averaging over the last two years. And I keep telling myself that that’s ok. Circumstances aside (being ill, hottest weather on record, actually quite a lot of work), whilst wearing clothes that make me happy, well, makes me happy, lolita isn’t the only style I wear. Moreover, the whole idea behind my 2022 goal of taking more mirror selfies was to take away some of the pressure I’ve been feeling to document what I wear in favour of just enjoying myself. And on top of that there’s been another bit of a style crisis which I’m waiting out to see if it’s really a style crisis or if I’m just feeling summery. Hopefully the answer will become apparent soon!

No Buy Support Wardrobe Challenge: 1 Piece, 4 Seasons

The most involved prompt of this whole challenge. And whilst technically ‘piece’ could be anything, ‘main piece’ is the most obvious interpretation, which is the one that I’ve gone for. The disclaimer here is that none of these coords was worn for more than about half an hour at a time, because to make the prompt extra involved I decided to do a video lookbook of these and recorded everything in one day. Ill-advised in July? Probably, but it got the job done.

The Dress

For these looks I picked Angelic Pretty’s Cinema Doll JSK for two reasons. One, it is simply a gorgeous dress that I fall in love with every time I bring it out. And two, considering how it is a relatively themed piece, it’s also one of the most versatile ones out of the 50-odd main pieces in my possession. Including the four looks you’re about to see, I’ve worn Cinema Doll in 12 different ways and I’m nowhere near scratching the surface of my possibilities. That includes more casual or laid back coords as well as those more elaborate ones, this is truly one of those dresses that you can throw on and the coord practically makes itself.

The one. The only. The icon. The legend. The queen. Cinema Doll.

Spring

| New Look blouse | Angelic Pretty Romantic Angel OTKs | offbrand shoes and beret | handmade headbow and bracelets | Promised Land Creations earrings and necklace | Manda Rin Designs brooches | Star Glazed Delights ring |

There are genuinely three different blushers on my cheeks. Does the camera care to show that? Does it ever!

This necklace gets so much wear, more so outside of lolita, it's just the perfect finishing touch.

Pink for spring may be obvious, but there’s also not much point in going against the grain just for the sake of it. It’s a very spring-like colour not least because of the association with the cherry blossom season in Japan and I’ve been embracing pink in my life more in general as the years go on. The key point here is to reflect the world returning to life after winter, whilst still acknowledging that spring doesn’t just happen one day. In other words, whilst the blouse is long sleeve, it’s also made out of a lightweight fabric that can be comfortable on its own on a warmer day and easily layered with a cardigan on a cooler one. The socks are also a thicker knit that would prevent those late winter chilly breezes from bothering you, whilst at the same time keeping things light with the colour scheme.

For me spring, especially early spring, is that time of the year when I flick between wanting to wear more classic and wanting to embrace sweet. So this coord straddling the line between the two with a slightly heavier lean towards classic is a perfect reflection of that. No need to choose when you can blend both into the exact mix that you want. Especially as the gradually warming weather can get me in a very romantic mood, appreciating what I have and seeing the joy in little things, which is what spring is often about, being in the moment and being grateful for that instead of dwelling on what may be or what could’ve been.

Summer

| The Seamstress of Bloomsbury Jive blouse | Sosic Shop shoes | offbrand socks, hair clip, and earrings | Dear Celine badge | handmade bracelets | Chocomint ring |

The vibe of this blouse and hairstyle continues, this time with Cinema Doll.

The most jangly ring out there.

Or more specifically, the romanticised idea of summer that we enjoy imagining. As anyone living in hot countries would tell you, wearing lolita in the summer is either to accept some suffering or simply put off until things cool down. Even for me this is the sort of outfit that I’d wear during British summer (i.e. in the pleasant 20-25°C range) and not for actual summer (like the 30-ish°C heatwave that hit the UK literally within days of these looks being photographed). Nonetheless, it’s a distinctly summery outfit, if not by virtue of being unable to wear it at any other time of the year, then at the very least thanks to its bright look.

The choice of sax blue as a secondary colour evokes those clear blue skies that we enjoy during the summer months. And thankfully, this blouse is very lightweight and breathable, so that it offers some comfort during warm weather spells. In fact, everything in this coord is designed to offer as much comfort during warm weather as possible: hair is up to keep the breeze on the neck, the socks are not just ankle length but also crochet, whatever accessories are directly on the skin are plastic so that they won’t absorb sweat and can be quickly rinsed in cold water before being put back on. Even makeup is the absolute bare minimum, just some liner, mascara, blush and sheer lipstick (and had I actually been going out - sunscreen, of course). This is very much the sort of look to wear on an ice-cream date, just as cool and refreshing as the ultimate summer dessert.

Autumn

| Infanta Swan Lake blouse | Innocent World Rose Lace Millefeuille bolero | Innocent World Lauretta OTKs | Elf Armorie Cupid’s Heart shoes | Manda Rin Designs hat | offbrand earrings | Axes Femme brooch | Risu Rose ring | Angelic Pretty Melty Ribbon Chocolate ring |

Bringing back those Edwardian vibes with the hair and the hat.

It's a shame that the camera could only focus on one ring or the other, though you can just about make out the details of the left one.

Autumn is just like spring, but with colourful leaves instead of flowers. There, that’s the seasons cracked for you. Jokes aside, autumn also has moments of being quite warm and moments of being pretty chilly, which necessitates layers. This coord actually showcases those with the bolero, since the psychological effect of it being autumn kicks in and makes one believe that the same temperature as April is colder in September. And as things start feeling colder, together with the leaves changing colours it awakens my desire to embrace the earth tones and I once again get on the ‘want more brown’ train. All of that naturally leans towards more classic lolita looks and all that’s left to do is to bring all the vibes together into an outfit that’s appropriately sophisticated for this JSK.

It ended up like an ever so slightly more colourful version of how I wore this dress when I was in London in January. I mean, I do love a good formula and am a sucker for Innocent World’s Millefeuille boleros, so this shouldn’t be that much of a surprise, although I admit that the less harsh colour scheme makes a bigger difference than I anticipated. In a way, since this is so similar to what I’ve done previously, it also feels like the most wearable of the four looks here - I could genuinely see myself wearing this to a museum meet or just to visit some cute cafe. And as cooler times in autumn are more conducive to wearing multiple layers, this inevitably means more opportunities like those two for going out with your comm or on a solo date, without having to worry whether the weather will cooperate.

Winter

| vintage blouse and brooch | Angelic Pretty Lovely Ribbon OTKs | offbrand stole, boot toppers, and ring | Hush Puppies boots | Cutie Creator headbow | Ebony and Ivory brooch | Star Glazed Delights ring |

Fun fact, this was the second look I filmed/photographed on the day and that sparkly eyeshadow did not want to come off peacefully to let me do the matte makeup looks.

Faux fur and velvet, what could be more wintery than that?

The first idea that I put together for this was something that I quickly realised was a rehashed version of the November 2020 coord that I did with Cinema Doll. So I scrapped that plan and tried to approach it slightly differently, deciding to go down the festive route in the end. Winter is more than just Christmas, but if we’re honest here, Christmas is definitely the highlight of the season and I’m excited about Christmas at pretty much any time of the year. Once I had this direction, the rest of the coord practically put itself together, from the red as a secondary colour to the faux fur and snowflake accents. Initially I did try to do this as a sort of tricolour coord by incorporating some sax blue into it as well before remembering that with Cinema Doll less is often more and that what I had already was good enough.

Somehow, just like the spring coord, it ended up more on the sweet-classic spectrum rather than commit to just one, though this time it is leaning a touch more sweet. The whimsical atmosphere around Christmas is perfect for unleashing one’s sweeter and cuter side, though at the same time this print simply won’t drop below a certain level of inherent classic vibe. And whilst a lot of people dislike winter or only like the romanticised idea of it, I’ve always liked winter (even if I absolutely detest what that looks like in the UK, but let’s not open that can of worms). Those classic vibes work really well with the sense of nostalgia that always wraps its arms around me around Christmastime and even if winter isn’t always picture-perfect, living and dressing as if you were in that winter postcard can really improve on the dreary reality.


Last but not least, here is the lookbook of these four coords so that you can see them all in motion. The most involved prompt of this challenge definitely deserves the double treatment of blog and video. The rest of the prompts are winding down in intensity, meaning that they should be back to being outfits that were actually worn. Maybe if this one hadn’t hit the summer months but been contained to an early autumn or mid-spring, it would’ve been easier to wear all four of these seasonal looks without freezing or roasting. But such is life and the point of the challenge, I guess.

1 Dress 4 Looks Take 61

This is an interesting point of this series: the first time showcasing a dress that I haven’t worn yet. I believe this model is called Velvet Cake, though translations vary, and it’s a stretch velvet number from the very inexpensive Chinese brand Alice Girl. Getting it was a bit of a gamble, since I had no prior experience with the brand, but at the price (which was around £20, if memory serves me right) I decided to give it a shot. As is common with preorders, this one was slightly delayed, so by the time it reached me, the weather was firmly not velvet weather. But that won’t stop me from putting together some flatlay coords so that when it is cool enough, I already have some options!

Look 1: The Widow

| offbrand tights and brooch | Elf Armorie Cupid’s Heart shoes | vintage hat | Puvithel Crystal Heart necklace | Voodoodolly ring |

I toyed with the idea of adding the black corset to it as well and whilst it would work, for now I’m happy to let the dress do all the talking. The idea still reads through with the dramatic hat and black fishnets. It’s simple and elegant, complimenting the dress and putting it in the spotlight. Definitely something to consider wearing once possible.

Look 2: The Sweetheart

| Snag Sweetheart tights | Elf Armorie Cupid’s Heart tights | Cutie Creator Maiden’s Prayer headbow | Kreation Studio earrings | Violet Fane Post Office brooch | Patisserie Pink Lock and Key brooch | 4 Aces ring | handmade ring | Angelic Pretty bag |

Alternatively known as the Valentine because this is definitely something that I’d wear to a Valentine’s Day date. Sure, there are God knows how many shades of red, none of which really match, but isn’t that precisely the spirit of Valentine’s Day? That and everything with hearts and love letters. Which is exactly what this is.

Look 3: The Empress

| AatP Arabesque OTKs | Irregular Choice Total Freedom shoes | offbrand kokoshnik and ring | Innocent World gloves | handmade chain of office |

This probably needs a bit of work, though I haven’t yet put my finger quite on what it is that’s needed here. The idea started with the kokoshnik and elevating this dress to something very regal, fit for sitting on a throne and passing judgements. It seems to be around 80% there, I think a less cutesy heel would’ve helped a lot, as well as maybe something to decorate the skirt portion of the dress a bit more? I’m not sure yet, but I’m keen on getting it to a 100% done.

Look 4: The Cool Girl

| offbrand jacket and earrings | Angelic Pretty Alphabet Marine OTKs | Bodyline shoes | Song and Temple Fairytale Library scrunchie | Rose Marie Seoir necklaces | Fluffy Tori pin |

Although I did my best to avoid crowding this post with layered looks to instead focus on showing how much can be done with the OP as it is and fully showing, I couldn’t resist this one. Mostly because after years of hunting I finally have a varsity jacket that ticks all my boxes and it’s too damn warm to wear it - even looking at this flatlay gets me uncomfortably hot. But picture this with a fringe and a curled hair ponytail, some winged eyeliner, red lipstick, maybe even a pair of sunglasses (for the drama more than anything else) and this girl is definitely sitting at the cool table at her school!


To be completely honest, when this dress arrived, I almost parted with it. Some of it was just my feelings needing to sort themselves out, but the price of this dress definitely shows and I was a little disappointed with its construction even though I had no real reason to be. But now, after some time has passed and especially after putting these few coords together, I feel much more optimistic about it. I will try to make it work first and if after that the spark still doesn’t appear, I can make a decision then. But for now I’d like to at least get a chance to wear even one of these - or the ones that haven’t made it to the post. Seriously, just imagine this with a witch hat!

Graduation outfits I could've worn and didn't

Every time the graduation season approaches, it gets me thinking about my own graduation. Not because I regret not wearing lolita, but because back then I couldn’t. For those who don’t know, I did my degree at the University of Oxford, which has a set academic dress (called a sub fusc), so there was never a chance of me wearing my Crystal Dream Carnival to graduate in or whatever. Having said this, because of this background whenever I do see people graduating in clothes that don’t immediately pass off as formal or office-like, it strikes me as too informal or party-like for the occasion.

Now I realise that Oxford’s sub fusc is actually a lot more open to interpretation and flexible. Even if at the time my wardrobe didn’t allow me to wear lolita to my graduation, it doesn’t mean that it would’ve been entirely forbidden. So in the spirit of graduation season, I wanted to share some theoretical outfits that any Oxon lolita could wear to their graduation should they wish to.

What is a sub fusc?

For the non-Oxonian readers (so the vast majority of you), let me first explain what a sub fusc consists of. I’ve double checked the official website and it seems that they’ve updated the guidelines slightly - in my time it had to be black and white, whereas now apparently other dark colours, like dark grey or dark blue, are allowed, but no patterns of any sort. However, it looks like the colours still can’t be mixed, so no black-and-white in one garment, it has to be either/or as specified or you won’t be allowed into the theatre. I’ll stick to what I know, which was:

• A plain white collared shirt or blouse with sleeves
• A black skirt
• Black tights, stockings or socks (no bare skin could be visible between the hem and the shoe)
• Black shoes
• A black ribbon at the neck*
• A dark jacket if required**
• A mortarboard
• A gown appropriate to your academic status

* The ribbon was a black velvet ribbon, usually bought in a set with the gown and the mortarboard. Whilst the dress code could encompass other fabrics, it wouldn’t allow for a bow unless it was a bow tie (and in my times, sub fusc was still gendered, so one had to choose either the fully masculine or the fully feminine version).
** Again, due to the gendering of sub fusc in my time, feminine sub fusc usually did not allow for a jacket, so I will skip it here. Most graduations take place in the summer anyway.

Since the gown and mortarboard are prescribed, I won’t be including them in the outfits. But everything else not only could be lolita, but could be lolita pretty easily! So let’s have some fun with that format, shall we?
Side note: I will be using Wunderwelt’s stock pictures because I can’t be bothered faffing with the various brand stock photo formats. Unless I can’t find something that works for my needs, WW’s stock pictures are the easiest to put into a collage.

A sweet lolita sub fusc

To me the best way to wear sweet lolita to an Oxford graduation would be to go oldschool. If you’re already restricted to solid colours and a black x white colour scheme, playing into it seems the most sensible. Plus, most of the streets around the Sheldonian Theatre, where graduation takes place, are made of cobblestones, so your feed will be grateful for those chunky Mary Janes. Whilst I’d err on the side of caution with hair accessories, a pair of black comb ribbons would definitely be fine and still play well into the less busy nature of the substyle. Should you happen to be taking the winter graduation ceremony, you could make use of velvets to stay warm, whereas in summer a less voluminous cotton skirt and cotton blouse will keep you cooler. Although Usakumya would have to stay with your family for the ceremony itself, it is the perfect sweet accessory (and a great graduation present).

| BtSSB's Skirt with Cummerbund (though the cummerbund is missing) | Angelic Pretty Pintuck Pearl blouse | Atelier Pierrot lace OTKs | Queen Bee One Strap Round Toe Pumps | Angelic Pretty Logo Ribbon Charm combs | BtSSB's Usakumya pochette |

A classic lolita sub fusc

Being the most versatile and normie-passing substyle, classic lolita is absolutely the easiest one to wear as sub fusc. Whilst you could push the definitions of what’s accepted to some of the more intricate and princessy realms, your bog-standard Innocent World type of classic is just ideal for the occasion. No Oxford porter would question whether an outfit like the one below can be accepted into the ceremony, they probably wouldn’t even particularly notice it sticking out of the norm. With the unpredictability of weather in the UK, a parasol could be great either for a rainy ceremony or for a particularly sunny one, to keep you cool - trust me, under the graduation gown you will want every bit of shade you can get. In all seriousness though, I’m sure that someone has already worn classic lolita to their Oxford graduation, so this doesn’t feel as exciting, even if it’s still a nice coord.

| Innocent World High Waist Flare skirt | Atelier Pierrot Chest Insertion Lace blouse | Innocent World Heart Scallop shoes | Angelic Pretty Nostalgia OTKs | Victorian Maiden Garland Corsage comb | BtSSB's Bird Cage parasol |

A gothic lolita sub fusc

Time to go all-Moitie, baby! Of course, you could go with all sorts of gothic, the clean, minimalistic style that Atelier Boz favoured or that Sheglit now seems to do would also be great - but if you have a chance to graduate in (almost) head-to-toe Moitie, then why wouldn’t you? For all the prints that made them iconic, they have some absolutely excellent solid coloured pieces. My only advice would be to make sure that if you do go with this, to make sure the skirt does reach your knees at least, let’s not push the porters too much because they genuinely rule the place. Am I being risky with these embroidery socks though? Hell yeah! I got bored of the solid legwear and hopefully the embroidery could be hidden in the shoe somehow.

| Scallop Lace skirt | Candelabra Embroidery shirt | Logo Embroidery OTKs | Candelabra Strap pumps | M+Cross Rose Round headdress | Metal Rose & Cross earrings |

To anyone out there who was able to wear whatever they wanted to their graduation ceremony - what did you wear? And how do you think you would’ve fared if you had to wear a sub fusc? Trust me when I say that this is way more exciting to talk about than it was to wear, most people I knew, myself included, went very low effort with ours and were it not for the gowns, we would’ve been indistinguishable from very corporate workers.

Lolidrobe Reassessment Post 2022.02

Oh my God, already?! But I’ve only just done a reassessment post! Wow…

New additions

No, officer, I have not been spending all my money on dresses. I tried to spend it on builder pieces instead…

• 2 JSKs (sweet in red* and sweet in navy*)
• 1 blouse (sweet in sax)
• 2 pieces of outerwear (sweet cardigan in sax and a sweet varsity jacket in navy)
• 1 basket
• 1 pair of socks (sweet in mint)
• and 6 sets of accessories (1 sweet beret in blue, 1 sweet ring in blue, 1 pair of sweet earrings in pink, 1 classic brooch in gold, 1 pair of gloves in orange, 1 sweet necklace in gold*)

That's a very blue haul...

The little bits

Jokes aside, as I am in the process of slowly overhauling my wardrobe, I do need to update my staples, so definitely expect there to be more blouses in this and maybe even more cardigans. *le gasp* But that’s what may come, for now let’s focus on what has come - and at least of those two JSKs, one was something I expected to purchase. The basket and the varsity jacket were also somethings I’ve been looking for for at least two years, so all in all I’d say that it’s not a bad quarter. Sensible or at least accounted-for purchases balance out the unexpected ones and even those latter ones are proving to be things that I’m getting some use of already.

Possible new looks

Whilst my intention is mostly to replace things that no longer fit me correctly with similar versions rather than get fully brand new things, having worked out what I want comes with a certain degree of novelty to my wardrobe. Though in the whirlwind of the last few months that led to me not realising that it was time for another reassessment post, I haven’t necessarily made the most of that. But it seems fairly self-explanatory how something like a wicker basket would allow me to polish and better tie off my future looks.

From June 2022.

From May 2022.

From May 2022.

Replacement and need list progress

As expected, replacements are still where they were last. Although in all fairness, so is the need list. With the combination of a lack of availability of the right items and a lack of time to search, none of the purchases that I made are filling these particular spots. Moreover, a lot of the replacements with things like blouses will be made a little bit more ad-hoc right now, as I try items and make decisions as I go along. So this won’t be the full picture until I’ve gone through everything.

Replacement list as of 05.07.2022

Need list as of 05.07.2022

Current wishlist

Yay, further additions to the wishlist with no things going off it. Great… Although I guess having figured out one side of my style a bit better this was sort of to be expected. I’d love to pinpoint the classic side of my style in a simiar way too, but that seems too overwhelming right now, so inaction it is.

Main piece wishlist as of 05.07.2022

On the other hand, the non-dress list stayed pretty much the same, nothing to add to that and nothing that’s been ticked off. I am slowly working out more specifics in terms of those layering pieces that I’d like to add to my wardrobe, so the next step is working out where to get them from.

Non-main piece wishlist as of 05.07.2022

New Year’s goals: progress summary

Progress on this year’s goals is a lot slower than previously, my attention span keeps getting distracted by various other things. At times like this it’s good to have these quarterly review posts to come back to, they definitely help me remember and re-prioritise these things.

1. Did I create a themed lookbook video: not yet. The first plan was scrapped as the inspiration wasn’t quite there this year (maybe next year). So I’ve gone back to the drawing board and am working towards a new plan.
2. Did I take more mirror selfies: yes. This will be a continuing work in progress and it is getting better, as evidenced by the increasing number of them sneaking into the coord roundup posts.
3. Wardrobe Overhaul
1. Have I done a wardrobe purge: another work still in progress. My first plan was to do it all in one big go and around May I realised that I’ll never find the time and energy to do that. So instead I adopted a ‘one thing a day’ approach to tackle the overhaul more systematically. I might write more about it at some point, we’ll see.
2. Have I divided my wardrobe into seasonal parts: as above, although this one will have to be done a bit more in one go purely because of its nature. I’ve set aside some time to do this soon, so by the next reassessment post there should be progress.

July… Where have you taken my June (and May, but mostly June)? I know that those months happen, but somehow I don’t feel like I actually lived through them. Despite still having at least two months of formal summer, my mind is already on the cooler months. But I am trying to ground myself in the now, stay present and focus on working through this wardrobe overhaul, that’s something I would like to finish sooner rather than later. Some of it won’t be possible unless things cool down, but then again, that’s one of the advantages of living in the UK: warm weather is never guaranteed.

June Coords Roundup

Hello, July, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes? Wanna wave goodbye to June with me?

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Coord 1: Summer ILD

| BtSSB Soiree of the Beginning of My Memories JSK | Infanta blouse | replica socks | Elf Armorie Cupid’s Heart shoes | vintage hat, necklace and brooch | offbrand earrings, bracelets and rings | Love from the North pin |

The dilemma between wanting to have the drama of wearing a veil and not wanting to be rude whilst talking to people was so real.

Framing one brooch with another.

The first time that I had the energy and will to dress up in June was, quite fortunately, for Summer ILD that I was hosting. Nothing was speaking to me in any particularly strong way coord-wise, so I once again dipped into the 1 Dress 4 Looks posts to pick something that was ready-made and tweaked it for my needs. We went to The Midland Hotel for the tea, which did not disappoint, delivering excellent tea spread, excellent service, and an excellent atmosphere. Whilst none of us cared about the platinum jubilee, the photo set the hotel had in their lobby was too good to not take advantage of and with some clever angling it was possible to hide the “God save the Queen” writing on the mirror. Afterwards we headed into town to admire the flower show displays, where we got chatting with two lovely people running one of the stalls who were really incredible, not only letting us take photos with their stalls, but keeping street paparazzi at bay for us. 10/10 best people, they really made our day.

The excellent tea spread.

And all the Platinum Jubilee themed sweets. The one time when I'm not wearing tricolour and didn't have all of this match my outfit...

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Coord 2: Film Noir

| Haenuli Just One Bite JSK | L’Esprit de la Noblesse Le Nuage blouse | Innocent World Union Flag Lame OTKs | Vivienne Westwood x Melissa Anglomania heels | vintage hat | offbrand earring | Puvithel Crystal Heart necklace | Wicked and Whimsy ring |

Day 2 rescue curls that somehow ended up looking waaay better than the day 1 ones. Hair gods are so fickle!

My husband? Dead? How... tragic.

Another outfit that multitasked hard and that I wrote more about in a separate post here.

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Coord 3: Wedding Meet

| Baroque Repose of Queen OP | Miss Point corset | offbrand tights, tiara, earrings, ring and bouquet | Elf Armorie Cupid’s Heart shoes | vintage necklace and gloves |

To be honest, I'm not keen on any selfies I took that day, which sucks because I really liked this look in person. It sucks when a bad selfie day happens on a great look day, but it happens.

This bouquet fully passed the test of being wedding-appropriate.

This coord is brought to you by the kind souls on my Discord server. The meetup was coming up fast and I knew I wanted to wear this dress, since it’s arguably my most bridal one - but the week has wiped me out of all spoons and brain cells. Thankfully in our community it’s perfectly fine to ask others to style you, so between about three people this coord was created, not a single addition from me was made (other than hair and makeup choices) and I could not be happier with the look. The meetup was also really lovely, Leeds Minster were really nice about us basically doing a vanity photoshoot there (they’ve asked for a donation, so all of us gave at least the minimum asked), and overall we had a very chill time. Everyone agreed that going back to basics and doing lower energy meetups is still very much needed as we slowly re-enter the post-pandemic world, and being fancy with fancy friends was such a great reset for my fried brain.

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Coord 4: Apple of My Eye

| Chrysanthemum’s Concerto Lost in the Garden of Eden JSK | Metamorphose blouse | Innocent World Rose Lace Millefeuille bolero | Tabio socks | Bodyline shoes | Two Days Slow hair clips | offbrand necklace |

You can juuust about make out the green eyeshadow I was wearing, which I absolutely adore.

These shoes are a bit too beat up for closeups like this, but since the coord was put together around the socks, they had to be the detail shot.

My friends linked me these socks some time ago and they lived in my head rent-free for long enough to be a sign that they should live rent-free in my drawer. And once they arrived, even though I didn’t plan on including them with lolita coords, the inspiration was there. I would’ve loved to have a matching green short sleeve blouse instead of this bolero, which is a bit too classic for the rest of the coord, but that’s the best colour-matching thing in my possession right now, so it had to do. And I do really like this coordinate, it’s very fresh and just the right look for such a cute pair of socks.

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Coord 5: Solo Date

| Victorian Maiden Shirring Frill JSK | Cutie Creator headbow | Summer Tales Boutique necklace | Grimoire brooch | everything else is offbrand |

Did my makeup all in peachy tones and whilst I love it, those peachy tones do not work on me unless I have full foundation on underneath. There go my plans of doing quick peach-toned looks.

An aesthetic cluster of accessories.

It started with my spontaneously booking a cinema ticket, which then grew into a whole occasion for a little me-time. And what me-time is complete without dressing up? The weather forecast promised more warmth than I ended up getting, but it’s fine, I walked everywhere (hence the practical shoes) and warmed up. The staff at the restaurant where I had my breakfast were very complimentary of the dress too. Since I needed practical shoes, I coorded everything else around them, aiming for something mori-kei-inspired with natural themes and neutral colours. The solo date went so well that I want to make it a more regular thing, so here’s to hoping!

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Coord 6: Retro Sweet

| Metamorphose Bubble Bath skirt | The Seamstress of Bloomsbury Jive blouse | offbrand socks and necklace | Sosic Shop shoes | Pink Up Fanny’s Dressing Table clip | The Seamstress of Bloomsbury brooch | Angelic Pretty Cute Ribbon wrist cuffs | Candy Kitsch ring |

The fringe and curly ponytail is such an excellent quick look and great for summer too!

Kitty says "Moisturise".

It could be the hairstyle, but I felt like the female lead of some high school rom com set in the 50s - or a 50s makeup counter assistant, either is fine with me! The blouse is new and I wanted to test how it would look with sweet lolita before fully committing to adding it to that side of my wardrobe, and given where my preferences currently lie, I think it passes the test. I may even get it in a few more colours, if my size is restocked.

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Coord 7: Feeling Cool

| Metamorphose Polka Dots Shirring Pinafore JSK | offbrand top | Snag White Russian fishnets | Irregular Choice High Score shoes | bow clip from Lady Sloth’s Winter Spices skirt | belta from Meta’s Airline JSK | Big Pink Boutique earrings | Fluffy Tori pins | Twinkle Kitty Boutique ring |

Told you this hairstyle was a mood! Also, the eyeshadow was one that I got for free from my building's Corridor of Gifts (i.e. where everyone leaves their unwanted stuff - it was completely new and unused).

Repping the kawaii dotty life.

Recycling the hairstyle from the previous day and inspired by a friend’s coord I decided to do something that was skirting the definition of lolita. There was also a significant amount of guilt that these shoes haven’t seen much wear, so I coordinated everything around them. Is it lolita? Hm, questionable. Is it cool tho? 1000%! And as I was thinking about where everything is from, I realised that despite having some expensive pieces this coord is actually one of my least expensive ones purely because I was gifted a lot of these pieces. Now that’s a real win here!

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Coord 8: Country Skies

| Lady Sloth Look at My Dreamy Sky OP | offbrand socks and bolero | Sosic Shop shoes | Cutie Creator hat |

A hat is your friend if you want to pass off lazy hairstyles as fancier than they acually are. If you can call brushed hair left alone a hairstyle.

Let me go on a picnic, dammit!

Times have once again called for summery looks and I realised that for how great this dress would be with a straw hat, that hasn’t happened so far. Uncomplicated, very basic, but it was cute and comfortable for working from home and trying to make it to the weekend with at least one marble still intact.

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Coord 9: Brunch In

| Grove Deer Moon of Eternal Day OP | Innocent World bolero | Angelic Pretty Wrapping Cherry socks | Irregular Choice sandals | offbrand hair clip and earrings | My Inspiration brooch | handmade bracelets |

Brunch at home deserves nice looks too!

Lace appreciation photo. This kind of lace is a chore whenever you wash it, as you have to make sure to straighten it whilst it's still damp, but dang is it worth it.

Inspired by the previous Sunday’s trip out, I really wanted to do something like that again, however, my bank account said a firm no. So instead I decided to make the fancy brunch be an at-home occasion. Because fancy things can be at home too and deserve dressing up equally as much. And with a change of shoes a bit later the supermarket also got to admire this look.

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Coord 10: The Wench

| Innocent World White Double Braid Tartan skirt | offbrand dress as a top | apron from BtSSB’s Polonaise Brillante JSK | Pairs Scotland socks | Hush Puppies boots | Kaneko headdress | Summer Tales Boutique necklace | My Inspiration necklace |

My goal with these curls was something more, well, hobbity, but that didn't work out. However, I think that this was an accidental insight into how to get some more 70s curls, so stay tuned for further experimentation!

Sure, the embroidery nbrooch is nice, but I am also here for the texture of the cotton dress underneath.

I debated with myself whether to share this look here since it isn’t lolita, it just happens to use some lolita pieces. But the usual ‘my blog, my rules’ aside, I think it’s good to show how you can use lolita pieces to create non-lolita looks too. What I really wish that I owned was a front laced corset vest, but alas, that will have to wait. All that you see here was my attempt at getting that cottagecore wench/summertime hobbit look down with what I currently own because I saw one too many ‘get ready with me for ren faire’ reels on Instagram that featured Celtic Woman’s Téir Abhaile Riú as the background track. And because I’ve been in a mood to rewatch Lord of the Rings for longer than I can recall and it still hasn’t happened, and I am physically itching.

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Coord 11: Office Sunshine

| Lady Sloth Look at My Dreamy Sky OP | Sosic Shop shoes | Chrysanthemum’s Concerto beret | offbrand earrings |

This look either had the beret on or the shoes, not once during the whole day were both of these on at the same time.

Proof that this beret goes exquisitely well with this dress.

And wrapping the post up with another non-lolita look because this beret has finally arrived and I simply had to wear it with this dress asap. Even though asap meant to the office, so of course I wasn’t going to sit in the office with a beret on, despite really wanting to. And even though it was quite warm so there is absolutely no legwear here and this is just a dress with a petticoat. But stuff it, sometimes you have to be the sliver of blue skies in your office and I take my role of being that person very seriously.

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Not going to lie, I am a bit surprised that I managed (arguably) 11 coords this month. After giving myself a pass to dress up less it seems that the need to do so still eventually caught up with me. The date stamps very clearly mark a turning point around mid-month, when my stress levels finally started going down enough to free up energy for creative pursuits. Although truth be told, this month was mostly a blur, it feels more like one very long week rather than a month and even looking at these outfits the days they were worn on kind of blend into each other with the earlier ones seeming like they’re from another life. Also, I am once again realising that my wardrobe is not made for summery weather, I’m struggling for options and am longing to be able to layer up in cardigans a bit more comfortably. Probably won’t happen for a while though, so that’s something I will have to address some other way. I shouldn’t complain, true summery warmth is a rarity for me and I have enjoyed being able to go out bare legged and stuff. I just also want to wear the cute cardigans that I have.