March Coords Roundup

I learnt that there is a proverb in the English language that says that “March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb”. It mostly proved true for March 2023 and whilst the end of the month was decidedly of the rainy variety, I appreciate every bit of mildness that we got after that bitter start to the month.

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Coord 1: Double Tartan

| Innocent World White Double Braid Tartan skirt | Summer Tales Boutique Nostalgia Collection: Royal Stewart blouse | Innocent World Union Flag Lame OTKs | Sosic Shop shoes | Cutie Creator headpiece | AmaStacia earrings | Le Petit Four The Warrior Sacred Heart necklace |

That headband doesn't get enough love and that's not ok. Though how often do I say that about an item and then do nothing different?

This blouse! Honestly, it is worth every penny I spent on it, it is exquisite!

This blouse had lingered for entire TWELVE DAYS before it finally got worn. That is unacceptable for a blouse this good. I will say, if you’re waiting to pounce on one of these from Summer Tales Boutique, but you’re worried about sizing, it is a little more generous than they give them credit for. Mine is size 1, which was marked as max waist 80 or 80-something centimetres and it can definitely comfortably fit bigger by at least 10cm and it might even push it to 15cm. For the start of March I should’ve been eager to wear something more spring-like, but it was still cold and I was in the mood to wear my winter-only pieces before they get packed up, which resulted in this coord. (Not that I wasn’t simultaneously itching to be spring-like, but it was just too cold to do that comfortably.) The two tartans worked really well with each other and the overall effect was way more elegant than I anticipated, but in a good way, as there was still enough shirring to make this ok for working from home.

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Coord 2: Casual Thursday

| Violet Fane Ginza Kissaten skirt | Angelic Pretty Logo Embroidered Turtleneck cutsew | Innocent World Origa OTKs | Elf Armorie Cupid’s Heart shoes | Cutie Creator headbow | offbrand earrings and necklace | Banned Retro Bella belt |

Thursdays are an absolute barest minimum effort days when it comes to hair because it's usually a hair wash morning and it is just too loose to do anything with (and 'loose' isn't even the word I want to use, but there isn't quite the equivalent in English to the Polish word I have in mind). So I better learn to accept that or find some equally bare minimum hairstyles that I can fall back on.

For a necklace bought at a bring and buy nearly 6 years ago now it's hoding up pretty well.

As if it’s been an entire week without frills between these two! ToT The colder weather and having way too many fancy ideas without enough fancy reasons to wear them resulted in that break - and honestly, it was kind of painful. But here we go, break is over, back to dressing up for working from home, this time inspired by the oh-so-noble reason of basically catching up with my Instagram backlog. So I looked for something that would fit into the colour scheme next and this floated into my head. There might not be that much red on the print, but there’s still a little bit of it there, plus at least it’s a warm colour. And I do like throwing red everywhere I can think of.

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Coord 3: Something Blue

| Innocent World Revival Sweet Teddybear JSK | Axes Femme top | Angelic Pretty Romantic Angel OTKs | offbrand boots, scrunchie, and earrings | handmade (not by me) headbow | Tiny Passerine Creations necklace | belt from Violet Fane's Otome Nostalgia |

It doesn't look like such a big headbow - until you put it on.

That embroidery though! I am so in love with it, it is everything I wanted in a classic pink headbow.

From the category of ‘rescue still rewearable stuff from the laundry pile’ comes the latest edition of the timeless pink and sax colour combination, this time in a very cosy and comfortable working from home version. I really wanted to wear my ridiculous macaron ring that I got at the book launch tea party, but it was way too OTT for this vibe. It’s a shame that the scrunchie was barely visible with that headbow, because that is how I actually spent the day, but that’s photos for you. It was a lovely day (minus the work, though I did introduce a Bare Minimum Friday into my working life, which helped) and that was a good look to take me into the weekend.

Have a bonus selfie of how I actually looked like, where you can also see the scrunchie

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Coord 4: Goth Impostor

| AatP Sugar Plum Fairy Princess JSK | offbrand blouse, boots, and necklace | Teja Jamilla Crown tights | Antique Beast headdress | After Midnight necklace | handmade bracelets |

Yes, the cameo necklace has flipped. No, I could not be bothered to redo the selfies.

Once again I am sad that I did not jump on a trend sooner because these tights are amazing and recently Teja Jamilla announced that they can't make these for now with all the costs involved.

After the previous week’s charity shop trip, where I went in search for clothes, deliberately dressed in something normie to make changing easier and then didn’t need to do that even once, on this particular charity shop hop I decided to ignore all that and just wear something nice. Even though it was cold so most of the outfit was covered by my coat anyway. I still knew that I was dressed up and that was enough. Your local goth impostor went to a neighbouring town in search of clothes and returned with a pricey collectible and some fancy food, no new clothes. I do wish that I had more grey/silver bits to incorporate into this, it would’ve rounded out the coord and made it more complete. This is still a good attempt with what I had, so I’m not going to be too harsh on myself. Especially since I got enough approval from actual goths on my Discord server to validate my attempt. But yeah, after this unexpected shopping stint I put myself on no buy until at least the end of the month (if you want to bet money at this point on how long this lasted, I suggest keeping your starting bids low).

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Coord 5: Triple Corset

| Haenuli Just One Bite JSK | British Retro Louis Louis Royal Stewart Tartan dress as underskirt | Summer Tales Boutique Nostalgia Collection: Royal Stewart blouse and headbow | Teja Jamilla Crown tights | offbrand shoes and ring | Metamorphose Le Grand Couronne necklace | Annzley corset | Vanyar wig |

Big bows and wigs don't gel well in practice, the wig was way too slippery. Am I missing some common trick here?

I love this detail shot so much, the layering worked out so well and I am still super proud of this whole look!

Also known as being vastly overdressed for working from home. But knowing that I wouldn’t frill up at the weekend, this idea living rent-free in my head for a while, and the shoes finally arriving all combined to motivate me to wear this just because I could. As for the three corsets: there’s the one that I usually wear for work (and the back support was very needed here because I had 9 layers across my waist when including the tights waistband!), the Haenuli JSK is boned, and then I had the decorative corset over it all. Honestly though? It was such a banging look! It’s a shame that I wasn’t going anywhere (though my feet are probably grateful, these shoes are not for walking, I need some extra insoles) because this is too good to keep just to myself. All of this tartan is a total vibe, so if I can’t re-wear this outside somewhere for a photoshoot, I am fully getting a commission of this look! Though to be fully honest, as great as this looked, it was also seriously overstimulating and I was gradually yeeting layers before the working day was even over. For context, on my usual wfh day when I am in frills I keep most of the coord on until it’s pyjama time in the evening, which tells you how overstimulating this was to wear. Still worth it though. An undisputed favourite in this outfit post.

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Coord 6: Cosy Kissa

| Violet Fane Ginza Kissaten skirt | Axes Femme cutsew | Ireland’s Eye sweater vest | AatP Lace-Up Ribbon OTKs | Sosic Shop shoes | Angelic Pretty Classical Petit Rose headbow | Violet Fane brooch |

It might be time to get some light green hair clips or something so that I'm not constantly relying on this specific headbow.

Texture appreciation post! This sweater vest has such a lovely cable knit and it's wonderfully soft to the touch.

Some time prior to this outfit I had been wondering whether I am a sweater vest kind of person. There was only one way to find out and after getting this one I am definitely Team Sweater Vest, so the current obsession had to be incorporated into frills. Ginza Kissaten is both cosy enough to match this kind of knitwear and has enough greens to support another shade of it, which basically meant that my next working from home outfit had sorted itself out. Not much more to say about this, I have been basically living in this vest during that week, even if mostly in non-lolita outfits, but it definitely won’t be the last time that it makes a frilly appearance.

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Coord 7: Spring Has Sprung

| BtSSB Polonaise Brillante ~Ideas of a Maiden~ Apron JSK and OTKs | offbrand cutsew and earrings | Laura Ashley shoes | handmade (not by me) headbow | Dentelles brooch | Angelic Pretty Logo Ribbon Charm wrist cuffs |

Towards the end of the month I got into doing simple eyeshadows with my fingers. And I am literally the kind of person who hates getting their hands dirty, I am constantly wiping them off everything, so it says a lot to what an unusual thing this is for me.

More lovely textures. Although at some point over the course of the day one of the buttons holding the apron in place has popped off and I am procrastinating on sewing it back on.

This was going to be my outfit for our Discord server meetup under the theme of Spring Has Sprung. However, I had a change of plans that meant I wouldn’t be able to go and even if - this outfit wouldn’t work for the rest of the day that I had planned. So as to not waste a perfectly good outfit, I wore it the day before, which also was supposed to be quite full with various activities that one after another kept being postponed or cancelled. So in the end spring has sprung, I was all dressed up and literally went nowhere (contemplated going out to the supermarket, but couldn’t be arsed even for that and ordered my groceries delivered), just rested whilst looking fancy. And sometimes that is exactly the kind of Saturday that one should have.

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Coord 8: Gal About Town

| Bodyline Moulin High Waist skirt | The Seamstress of Bloomsbury Jive blouse | Innocent World Ribbon Lace Millefeuille bolero | offbrand tights, earrings, and brooch | American Duchess Bernadette shoes | vintage hat and brooch |

Shame that the wind has bested me and the hat had to go in a tote bag within 10 minutes of being outside.

Ah yes, pretending like this is a totally natural way to hold a handbag because the actual way doesn't look pleasing on photos.

A friend whom I haven’t seen in 12 years (!) was over on my side of the pond, so we arranged for a reunion. Since our plan was vague and could incorporate a bit of walking to show her and her fiance some of Manchester, I needed something that I could comfortably walk in, but also be visible in case we got separated. In the end we didn’t do that much walking, but the outfit was still cute enough for the day we had. It is pretty blatantly inspired by what I wore with AatP’s Rosier Fleur JSK in April 2020, but the idea still works really well, so why not reuse it?

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Coord 9: CAKE: The Marie Antoinette Playlist

| Mary Magdalene Paulina JSK | offbrand blouse | Innocent World Gilder bolero | MuFish tights | Elf Armorie Cupid's Heart shoes | Triple Fortune headdress | Puvithel Crystal Heart earrings and necklace |

A subtler version of the iconic Rococo look since I'm off to the theatre in the 2020s and not the 1720s. And I'm surprised how well the hair worked out, it was pretty comfortable to wear all day too.

How to start an online fight 101: these are infinitely better blue roses than what Moitie puts out :P

You bet that when a theatre sends me info about a show called “CAKE: The Marie Antoinette Playlist” coming to town, I am booking myself into it! And of course that demands a suitably inspired outfit to match. As the most Rococo-like dress I own that isn't in storage, my namesake JSK won the contest of what to wear unchallenged. Though I am in need of reviving some of my excitement for it, I feel like I am short on options to wear it, which makes me feel sad. Some ideas are floating into my head, so I should work on those. Also, it onl;y took me years of owning this bolero to realise that it is not, in fact, one of the Millefeuille ones, but a model that uses the exact same cut and differs in how much lace is used. I know, wild. Which justifies my buying a new ivory Millefeuille (don't worry, it's one of those from my wishlist, but still, if you were betting on how long my no-buy would last, I hope you won).

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The contradiction of my feeling like I haven't dressed up much and seeing 9 whole outfits here (and 10 in reality, it's just that today's won't make it into this post, so it will go into next month's) is astonishing. And I have very much tried to get through those winter pieces this month because I have artibrarily decided that April is when I will take my spring/summer things out of storage and do the big switcheroo. Will I regret it? Only time will tell so stay tuned.