August Coords Roundup

Yes, I have bounced back in August and managed to frill up at the rate that I have gotten used to. It’s nice to have so many outfits to look back on and remind me of the good times this month (even though there were also some low moments in between those).

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Coord 1: Sparkle

| Resailan Jewelry Box JSK | Lady Sloth Galaxy Witch overdress | AatP Arabesque OTKs | Deary heels | Haruhi Clover headbow | offbrand earrings, necklace, rings, and ribbon belt | handmade bracelets | Puvithel Crystal Heart brooch |

Those were some of the quickest photos I took because my hair wasn't quite dry and I needed to be fast before all the curls fell out.

Don't look too closely or *gasp* you will see my bra. I have no shame though, I'm content with being a harlot.

My Discord server had a meet on the last day of July and since July’s monthly coord challenge theme was sparkle, I decided to try to match that. My original plan was more or less this, but with Crystal Dream Carnival, however, that wasn’t sitting comfortably enough, so I swapped the dresses. But pretty much everything else is how I envisioned it. Even the hair, which didn’t dry enough to hold the curl, but as it was a Sunday I had the rollers in until the last minute and then took the photos before whatever did come out of the curls disappeared. It probably isn’t the most sparkly or glittery thing that I could’ve done, but between the glitter mesh overdress, the glitter makeup, and the various bits of shiny jewellery it seems enough.

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Coord 2: Out About Town

| Innocent World Georges Rose JSK | Violet Fane Antiquite tights | offbrand blouse, shoes, barrette, and jewellery |

These glasses are so flattering, I'm very glad I caved in and bought them.

Seriously, just look at how pretty they are!

My Mum came over to visit for the weekend and on the day of her arrival we went out for dinner to a South African restaurant. Since I already needed to be clothed, I battled my inner demons which have been bothering me and dressed up to spite them. Though I resisted taking full on outfit photos, mirror selfie was good enough (and every take actually came out to my liking, which I’m pleased with). Shame that the lighting obscures the fact that this blouse is a lovely dark green to match the other dark greens, but you can’t have it all. Dressing up helped somewhat and the dinner was really delicious, if anyone had asked me what I expected South African food to taste like I would’ve said much hotter, but it was spiced and flavoursome, whilst also quite sweet and fruity. Definitely will be back to try more!

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Coord 3: Six in Summer, Take 1

| Haenuli Lovely Memories JSK | offbrand blouse, jacket, and earrings | replica socks | Sosic Shop heels | Pink Up Fanny’s Dressing Table hair clip | pins from Six: The Musical |

I'd say give this pop princess a microphone, but my singing might not be the fast pass to a singing career...

Representing all the queens!

The reason for my Mum’s visit was that we were going to see Six: The Musical (her for the first time, while me for the third). This obviously required dressing up and obviously had to incorporate the pins I got in London in January. My original plan fell through due to procrastinating too long on crafting and then having insufficient materials, so I once again had to battle my inner demons for some inspiration, but it was worth it because I liked this look. The dress isn’t denim, yet against the denim jacket feels and looks surprisingly similar, and the pins were just right, I love them so much! We once again went out for dinner first, this time to a Polish restaurant, before heading to the theatre. I am pleased to report that I have now converted my Mum to the Six fandom, when I went to the shop to get something, she also jumped at getting a pin, and loved every bit of the show. And I will say, this is now the third cast lineup that I’ve seen live (and at least fourth or fifth counting what I saw on YouTube) and it may be one of my favourites? Everyone did a smashing job and the best news is that I booked the tickets to see Six with Mum after I already bought one to see on my own, so roll on Six viewing number four!

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Coord 4: Six in Summer, Take 2

| AatP Rosier Fleur JSK | Lady Sloth Glitter Mesh blouse | Snag White Russian fishnets | Angelic Pretty Elegant Doll boots | offbrand hair pins | Axes Femme earrings | pins from Six: The Musical |

I'm less pleased with the selfies from this look, but I needed to be out the door on time, so they'll do. It was just hard to take a selfie that also showed the space buns, is all.

The other way round would've been more 'chronological' I guess, but meh, who cares.

So the coord had to be adjusted for a few things: working from the office on that same day (so something quick to change into), weather heating up again, and the fact that this year alone I’ve seen Six whilst dressed in red and in blue already. I don’t mean to be showing favouritism to any of the queens in the show, so it was time to pick something else. Oh, and I once again wanted to wear all my pins because they are too good not to and until I find a crown-shaped ita bag, finding ways to wear them is the only option (if you ever spot crown-shaped ita bags or something like that, let me know, please!). I like how, when arranged likes this across the neckline, they look like an elaborate necklace or a chain of office. That and the whole coord is exactly the mix of regal and cool that I wanted, the perfect pop princess combination. This time I had front row tickets and had an official Six mask on, so the cast definitely saw me and I hope this visible show of support gave them the fuzzies because they did a stellar job. This musical remains a firm favourite of mine and with every cast change that I get to see I am shown a whole new facet to a character that I thought I knew,

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Coord 5: Heatwave Gingham

| Chrysanthemum’s Concerto Lost in the Garden of Eden JSK | Cat Tea Party blouse | handmade apron | Angelic Pretty Wrapping Cherry socks | Bodyline shoes | Cutie Creator headbow and wrist cuffs |

Let's face it, even if I wasn't working from home, anything more than some lipstick and maybe cream blush on a heatwave day is excessive.

There is something so very satisfying about how simple this is.

This ended up being this month’s coord 1 for the No Buy Support Challenge, so read more about the outfit here.

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Coord 6: Heatwave Outing

| Violet Fane Otome Nostalgia skirt | Crown Label cutsew | Metamorphose shoes | offbrand socks | Cutie Creator hat | Dentelles brooch | handmade bracelets |

Guess which bitch booked herself a cinema ticket whilst it was still heatwave and still insisted on wearing frills? *puts hand up* Granted, this was super, super casual, so casual that after taking this photo I changed into different shoes (these carried too much risk of losing one of the detachable bows) and forgot to put my bracelets back on after washing my hands. Somehow I survived public transport and walking, mainly thanks to an iced tea and Gatsby cooling wipes from Japan. Believe it or not, this look actually started with wanting to do something pretty oldschool, mainly leaning into the blouseless JSK looks (with the candidate being Meta’s Shirring Tiered Ribbon JSK). After spending a good chunk of time looking through coords by R.R.Memorandum’s owner and designer, @onlyfrillsandhorses, I realised that I didn’t have the right pieces to make that idea work, but I could still do something in that spirit with this cutsew, and the rest was born. Had it been even a little cooler I would’ve swapped the hat for something else, but sun protection was absolutely necessary. The film I went to see was called Fortune Favours Lady Nikuko and whilst the obvious fatphobia limited how much I could enjoy it (Nikuko was done dirty, she seems like a sweetheart, but consistently the jokes were about laughing at her rather than with her), I had a good time and the film was worth weebing up for.

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Coord 7: Cool Monday

| Bodyline L249 JSK | Dear Celine Polka Dot Waltz blouse | offbrand socks and shoes | Chrysanthemum’s Concerto beret | Bibelot Rose badge | Dear Celine badge | handmade bracelets | Angelic Pretty Logo Ribbon Charm wrist cuffs | Twinkle Kitty Boutique ring | Candy Kitsch ring |

Blue eyeshadow is a vibe. I get why it fell out of favour for a while, but I like it.

I have gotten so much more wear out of these blouses than I ever would have anticipated.

Cool both in temperature and because I was going for more casual, streetwear-ish vibes with the sneakers. It’s not a revolutionary coord, but it was comfy and cute, which was what I needed.

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Coord 8: Ladylike

| Innocent World Georges Rose JSK | offbrand top and necklace | Innocent World Tulle Lace Millefeuille bolero | Angelic Pretty Cinema Doll OTKs | Elf Armorie Cupid’s Heart shoes | Manda Rin Designs hat | vintage earrings |

I am pretty open about liking my grey hairs and in particular I love how they add that little extra flair to a hairstyle like this. It's a built-in highlight of the most mature variety.

Fun fact, the quilted fabric under the hat is one of my couch covers.

Sometimes you just want to look like you’re casually going shopping at Harrods even though you’re actually just working from home. This, together with the previous Georges Rose look from this post, was going to be my No Buy Support Challenge attempt for this month before I read the prompt more carefully and realised that this doesn’t quite meet the brief. But the coord is still cute.

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Coord 9: Quick Filming

| Angelic Pretty Crystal Dream Carnival Tiered JSK | offbrand blouse, earrings, and ring | Bodyline L380 skirt | replica socks | Deary shoes | vintage hat, gloves, necklace, and ring |

The redemption outfit this hat deserves. (Even though it's supposed to be worn with the bow on the side, I simply refuse.)

This ring (as well as the necklace in this coord) belonged to my late Grandmother. I don't often wear the jewellery that I inherited from her, but every time I do, I feel her closer to me and I remember the times that she wore those pieces. True to a person brought up in the 50s and 60s, she was always classy when leavingthe house.

The story started similarly to a lot of my outfits: I needed something to wear for filming, I checked what’s something I haven’t worn in a while, I looked at what I’ve done with that dress in the past, and let inspiration take over. In this particular case what inspired me was how cute this dress looked styled in something more retro back in June 2018 and the urge to redo that coord with some updates was pretty strong. It’s sad that the skirt misbehaved in photos, but besides that I am very pleased with this look. Especially with how well the hat worked with it, this is the redemption I was hoping for after the first less successfull attempt. Though let’s be honest, this was not the most comfortable thing to wear, so as soon as filming was done, off went the entire thing in favour of something with lots of shirring and fewer layers. But it got immortalised in both photo and video format, which is enough for me.

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Coord 10: Back to (High) School

| Chrysanthemum’s Concerto Lost in the Garden of Eden JSK | offbrand blouse, jacket, shoes, and beret | Angelic Pretty Alphabet Marine OTKs | Axes Femme earrings | Fluffy Tori pin | Tea Party Club badge | Sweet Dolly House Cookie Bon Bon ring | Angelic Pretty British Ribbon ring |

Cool people make their bomber jackets kawaii, right?

Never heard of a brand called Brave Soul. If this jacket is representative of their style, then I might look for more of their stuff on Vinted.

And coord 2 for this month’s No Buy Support Challenge, again, a bit more on the outfit is in the separate post.

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Coord 11: Doki Doki 2022

| Metamorphose Airline JSK | Snag Fishing for Love fishnets | offbrand shoes | handmade hat | vintage gloves |

Welcome on board this Metamorphose Airlines flight number N053N53 to Doki Doki Festival, make sure to fasten your seatbelt and enjoy the in-flight entertainment.

There's a seller on Etsy who makes polymer clay name tags and I think one day I will request a custom one for this dress.

Cons are back and what better excuse to wear something more ridiculous than a con. So Airline-chan made a proper debut, as I finally got to a stage where this coord is complete in a tick-box way i.e. it has every piece covered and the colours are balanced. It was SO MUCH fun, both just being at the con itself and getting to lean into the character by directing people to their nearest emergency exit. Doki Doki is such a great con with a really chill vibe, made all the better by seeing so many of my friends and hanging out with them. As a bonus I also sold a few bits, including some I didn’t expect to go so easily, which is always nice. The cogs are already turning for next year’s Doki Doki and I can’t wait for that.

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Finishing the month on a con outfit, especially such an iconic one, is a great high. After the low of July it feels refreshing and revitalising to have worn frills so often this month, despite new challenges and warmer weather. As we approach autumn and winter, I am all primed and ready to get more seasonal with my looks as well as food choices and general cosiness around. Moreover, knowing now what I want out of my style has given me a big motivational kick up the backside to go after it, as well as a fresh outlook at what I own and how I can wear it next to match this new direction. There will be more on that at some point later, for now I need to somehow get through September without losing all my marbles. Fingers crossed!