Oh my gosh, spriiiiiing! I have missed you so, please, make yourself at home and stay with us for a while, it’s been too long and I did not realise the full extent your proper arrival would have on my mental health.
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Coord 1: Alice
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| | Metamorphose Shirring Tiered Ribbon JSK | offbrand blouse | AatP Alice’s Glittering Card Suits OTKs | Red Maria headbow | |
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Still figuring out how to selfie in my bedroom, the different angle of the window is throwing my selfie game off.
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Anything Alice in Wonderland adjacent is far from my preferences, but I guess sometimes you just gotta let it all out.
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Yes, this was worn for April’s Fool. And yes, I still actively dislike Alice in Wonderland themes, just like I have been on record saying. But I also needed something that was comfortable and easy, since I was filming. And since getting these socks from my UK EGL Secret Santa, they were just waiting for basically this coord since it’s not like I would’ve used them otherwise. It was nice to try something different and to have this look ticked off my list. It did its job. And the filming should be on YouTube soon, if it isn’t already (depending on what time you’re seeing this post).
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Coord 2: Slightly Later
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| | Resailan Jewelry Box JSK | Atelier Boz Roland jacket | MuFish tights | offbrand boots and necklace | handmade hat | Risu Rose necklace | Le Petit Four ring | |
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Oops, I accidentally uploaded the unedited photo. But go on, have something real here on the internet - this hat is covered in all kinds of fluff from storage.
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Huh, I forgot that this necklace also had a skull. My ring choice was purely for colour and vibes, but I guess I accidentally theme things better than I realise.
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My initial plan assumed wearing this on the last day of March, but as I wasn’t feeling too well it had to wait. Being set on packing up my winter things over the Easter weekend, I decided to wear this the weekend before. The coord did come out pretty much how I envisioned it, though somehow the pictures don’t quite reflect that. Still, as I wasn’t going anywhere that day, it kind of doesn’t matter since once the pictures were taken, most of the coord went off anyway. That’s the reality of dressing up and going nowhere. Not always, but sometimes.
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Coord 3: Retro Girlfriend
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| | HeartE Tartan JSK | The Seamstress of Bloomsbury Jive blouse | everything else is offbrand | |
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Feels like a while since I parted my hair this way. It feels weird now to think that this used to be my go-to.
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I really need to figure out a nicer photo spot for shoe shots.
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The outfit isn’t really lolita, but then this JSK is only tentatively lolita. Plus I enjoy showing how J-fashion items can be used to create non-J-fashion looks, even when sticking to “the lolita rules”. And I do really like this outfit, it’s exactly what your retro girlfriend would wear to support her partner at a sports event. Honestly, insert a sport of your choice, the point of the girlfriend is that she’s supportive and looks good, not that she’s learnt anything about the sport. And whether you win or lose, she will take you out for milkshakes afterwards.
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Coord 4: More of the Same
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| | Bodyline L262 JSK | The Seamstress of Bloomsbury Jive blouse | offbrand jacket | Angelic Pretty Drained Cherry OTKs | Sosic Shop shoes | handmade hair clips and earrings | |
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Upping my half-liner game because that stuff is just as effective at half the effort required.
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I'm trying to think if I ever actually wore these clips since making them and genuinely can't remember. Chances are that I never have because not long after I finished them I learnt that they're a slightly awkward shape for lolita fashion.
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Well, not exactly the same, but I really wanted to wear this jacket again since it is warm, soft, comforting, and cute, and the vibes of the outfit are pretty much the same too. I figured that whilst I am working from home due to having a minor cold, I might as well dress up and keep my spirits up, which doesn’t have to mean overthinking my looks. And actually, even though the vibes are very similar, the overall look is still pretty different from the previous look, which the thumbnail image at the top of this post shows off quite well. Moral of the story is: don’t be afraid to reuse base coords and overall ideas.
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Coord 5: Arcade Meet
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| | The Black Ribbon Konbini Market JSK | Angelic Pretty Logo Embroidery cutsew cardigan | offbrand socks, shoes, scrunchie, and earrings | handmade choker | Melty Wish necklace | |
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Very happy with my makeup here. It's extremely simple, but by being more colourful it stands out just the right amount.
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Big shoutout again to Melty Wish, the maker of this necklace. It got so many compliments frm the people at the meet.
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I have a confession to make: I have never been to the Arcade Club in Bury prior to this meet. Despite being the weeb that I am, there has always been an excuse not to. So when the meetup was called, I jumped at the opportunity to finally tick that place off my list and immediately set on constructing a coord that would be cute, fit the vibe of the place, and comfortable enough to play all those rhythm games in - which you see right here. It all came together so much better than I had imagined and I really love the way this looks, from head to toe. It was a very fun filled day and just like fun filled days tend to do, it went by much too quickly. Definitely would love to visit the arcade again, preferably when there are no kids (though admittedly, despite it being the Easter weekend and a Saturday, the kids were pretty reasonably behaved, colour me impressed), but even with my being on a direct tram line to Bury, it is a bit of a trek to get there. Still, hopefully now that I have been and know what to expect, I will put more effort into going.
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A few candids courtesy of @nyacinth. I will admit that I don't fully like the way I look here, I don't have a strong profile, but I'm sharing it anyway to embrace the fact that this is what I look like and I'm not always this carefully posed version that I share on the internet.
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Another candid from @nyacinth. I look like I have an idea of what I'm doing - I didn't. But I had fun anyway!
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*~*~*~*
Coord 6: Easter Sunday
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| | Angelic Pretty Crystal Dream Carnival Tiered JSK | Lady Sloth underskirt | offbrand blouse and ring | Jane Marple OTKs | Deary shoes | vintage hat | Puvithel Crystal Heart necklace and earrings | vii ring | Le Petit Four bracelet | |
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Far from my favourite selfie from this set, but at least on this one you can sort of see the eyeshadow double wing that I did for some experimental funsies.
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All the pretty navy jewels!
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Since the underskirt that I ordered specifically for this dress is finally with me, and given that I did not spend Easter Sunday 2022 in frills, I was really in the mood to dress up. There is nothing particularly Eastery about this coord, unless we count it as being OTT like an Easter egg. The inspiration was mainly the underskirt, which to me always creates a more elegant and classy look, and leaning into that, as well as trying a variation of navy x grey since
the 2020 version was actually a mix of grey and lavender, plus it leaned more sweet. For a day consisting mostly of food, watching
Shrek (still just as great as when it first came out, a truly timeless masterpiece), and sitting on the couch, this was very overdressed, but it’s Easter and it’s not like I left the house. Though it was also overstimulating, so after being done with
Shrek, which took me to almost 4pm, I did change into something a little less layered, so that I could cook in relative comfort.
*~*~*~*
Coord 7: Bright as an Easter Egg
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| | Metamorphose Bubble Bath skirt | vintage blouse | Pinky Girls cardigan | Roji Roji socks | Sosic Shop shoes | offbrand headband | Dear Celine badge | Angelic Pretty Cute Ribbon wrist cuffs | Candy Kitsch ring | |
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Huh, I could swear that I wore lipstick that day, but it must be a lot sheerer than I remember it being...
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Those bright colours make me so happy. No filter on the photo either! Just lots of natural light.
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Easter may be over, but I have just swapped my autumn/winter clothes out with the spring/summer ones, which rejuvenated my spirits. Suddenly I had all these new (not really) main pieces to play with, as well as a day of working from home straight after the Bank Holiday, it was prime time for dressing up. My heart went straight to the
Bubble Bath skirt because it’s silly, but also comfortable, and after an initial attempt at something monotone, I ended up fishing out the yellow bits to get as bright as I could. Sure, I wish that I had done something different with my hair, but I was also short on ideas, let alone the will, and this does the job and works with the headpiece. So yeah, I declare spring to be officially here after this grand (re)opening of my wardrobe.
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Coord 8: Suzume
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| | Lady Sloth Look at My Dreamy Sky Casual OP | offbrand blouse, shoes, jacket, and necklace | Snag fishnets | Chrysanthemum’s Concerto beret | Madillustration brooch | |
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The fact that I even bothered with any eyeliner, knowing full well that I'd be crying. Sometimes I'm not sure if I'm overconfident, brave or just plain stupid.
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This is how all the 'fun mums on Facebook' share pictures of their Snag tights. Though often with far worse backgrounds.
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I kid you not, I have been waiting for
Suzume no Tojimari to come out until at least November, when it came out in Japan, probably even from last summer when the first teaser dropped. So I booked myself to see it at the cinema the moment I could and dressed up for the occasion. Makoto Shinkai’s aesthetic is so rooted in that sky blue colour that this was the perfect dress for the film. I’ve kept my styling simple since I walked to the cinema, but also because the occasion didn’t exactly call for anything super OTT. The film was great, in my personal opinion much better than
Weathering With You, not as to my taste as
Your Name was, but there has been some… maturing, for a lack of a better word, within the themes (this could be a spoiler, so I’m telling you know to skip to the end of the bracket if you don’t want to read it, but there has been a good deal of healing one’s inner child within the film). I would definitely recommend seeing the film if you can.
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Coord 9: Green for Spring
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| | Metamorphose Sailor Tiered skirt | offbrand blouse, shoes, and jewellery | Innocent World Short Boots OTKs | Cutie Creator headbow | Metamorphose wrist cuffs | |
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Ok, I definitely did not have any makeup on here - yet somehow it looks like I have some funky eyeshadow situation going on here? How do faces even work?
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The damn near perfect match between this blouse and wrist cuffs is oh so satisfying!
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I know, I’d just brought my spring/summer things out of storage and am now styling it with a dark colour. But it is green and green is appropriate for spring. And for working from home and trying not to scream at my screen as the stress levels are rising again, this was perfectly fine and comfortable. And these wrist cuffs do not get enough wear, which is a shame considering how lovely they are, so all the more reason to whip out an ivory x dark green ensemble (and just look how well they match this top too!). One of my friends commented how this outfit was also quite sexy thanks to the sheer blouse and how high the skirt sits on me, which made me view it in a very different light. Still a good light, just different.
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Coord 10: Sweet Meet
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| Angelic Pretty Diner Doll JSK | Niu Niu Shop blouse | Angelic Pretty Cherry Stamp socks | Bodyline shoes | Pink Up Fanny’s Dressing Table hair clip | handmade earrings and bracelets | offbrand necklace, brooch, and ring | Sweet Dolly House Cookie Bon Bon ring | Vendula handbag |
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Another simple yet more colourful makeup. For how rarely I use blue eyeshadow, I really don't need a better one, but it was frustrating how much I needed to apply just for any of it to show up.
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Whilst the coord wasn't based around the bag, it tied the entire look together perfectly!
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Sweet Meets demands a sweet coord and ultimately
Diner Doll won the toss up between it and Bodyline’s macaron JSK. It’s just a much more traditionally sweet piece, as well as one that matches the shoes better since I wanted something comfy for the day and the commute. I’m so positively surprised just how well the blouse matches the dress too! Except for the lashes, the whole coord was really comfy to wear all day, which is always welcome. The plan for the day changed as our initial place for food turned out to be closed at the advertised opening time (we later found out that they had unexpected problems that forced them to open later), though the secondary option was pretty nice too. The most important thing was being able to spend quality time with everyone and it was so nice to see literally everyone stick to the theme, not a single stray gothic or classic lolita around. Doesn’t happen very often with the Leeds comm.
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Coord 11: Uncomplicated
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| | Chrysanthemum's Concerto The First Semester JSK | Axes Femme ccutsew | offbrand socks and shoes | Cutie Creator headbow | |
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An actual fully bare face. Not a trace of anything and only just about enough sleep to rest off the mad week I've had.
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Still not the best picture to truly showcase all these gorgeous details, but it gives a good enough indication.
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Because not every coord has to be super elaborate. Plus, having gotten this cutsew recently and falling in love with all the lacy details at the neckline, it's great to be able to make them into a feature of the coord thanks to this JSK cut. I would love to have this cutsew in other colours - not sure what other colours it was origially released in (probably black, maybe something else), but I'd love those.
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At the risk of sounding like I am measuring myself against standards that are not sustainable anymore, I am really pleased with how often I frilled up this month. And I had to correct myself to say “frilled up” and not “dressed up” because I dressed up a lot more than this, but that was in different styles than lolita (and in fact I will be dressing up in not-lolita some more this very weekend). Still, both seeing my number of outfits get to more like what I was used to between 2020-2022 and having a backlog of photos to post on Instagram again (at one point early this month I genuinely have gone through all that I had to share, but I have a buffer once again) makes me happy in that bittersweet way that mixes ‘yay, I wore cute stuff’ with ‘I am self-aware enough to realise that this happiness is a manifestation of my internalised capitalist mentality that ties my worth to my perceived productivity’.
But, that’s a bit too much of a glum start to the wrap up of what is a very happy post overall and a pretty good month. I wore cute and fun outfits. The weather improved enough times to have had a positive impact on my overall wellbeing. As of the day this post goes live, I am starting a 12-day holiday. There is joy, friendship, and beauty in my life, as well as plenty of enrichment in my enclosure, that is far, far more to be thankful for than many of us express.
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