Halfway through the year. And bar three main pieces, I have worn everything in my wardrobe that is currently with me - even if not really thanks to this month.
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Coord 1: A Railway Soiree
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| | Metamorphose Gold Braid Tuck Pinafore JSK | offbrand blouse, hair clips, and rings | Snag White Russian fishnets | Elf Armorie Cupid’s Heart shoes | Axes Femme earrings | Rose Marie Seoir necklace | |
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When in doubt: winged eyeliner, red lipstick, and a half wig.
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Although boy, I really should do something about this half wig...
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This year my comm celebrated ILD the day after with an afternoon tea on a steam train in Yorkshire. Thankfully I got a lift, so I didn’t have to compromise between the practical needs for public transport (beyond needing to be ready early) and ILD fanciness. At the same time, in the lead up to the meetup I’ve gone through a real outfit crisis of feeling uninspired with what I have, feeling like I have nothing that suited the theme, and feeling like all my options were for cooler weather than the sunny low 20s we had. So I decided to go with a somewhat basic outfit with larme-kei vibes, though in the end I admit that I was really feeling it once this was on. Even all the pictures I took, as well as all the ones that I had taken, turned out really lit, which in turn made me love the coord all the more. Our ILD was also on fire - literally as on the way back there was a fire by the tracks, apparently a common thing with steam trains. Considering how the train was the main attraction, we didn’t have very high expectations for the food itself, but it was quite nice. All that I’d say is that the staff could have been a little bit more present/attentive with the drinks refills, particularly as the day was warm and sunny. After the tea service we stopped at Keighley station for a whole bunch of pictures, and then some of us ventured back on the steam train (since we had an unlimited daily tickets as far as riding the train went) to go for a brief jaunt in Haworth. Overall, it was a really lovely day, a fantastic ILD celebration, and even though the early morning on the day combined with an early morning for work the day after was an objectively poor choice for my levels of physical energy, it did plenty of good for my emotional wellbeing.
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Coord 2: Back to Life
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| | Summer Fairy Limited Menu JSK | Axes Femme cutsew | Angelic Pretty Twinkle Star socks | offbrand shoes and hair tie | Candy Kitsch earrings | Folk and Fortune Late Night Diner necklace | handmade bracelets | |
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Enjoying all the nonsense pieces that I have gathered in one outfit.
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Fun fact, this photo was taken the day before I wore this coord, purely to get a nice backdrop for this necklaces as it had only just arrived.
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After a solid week of crunch time I asked to work from home on Monday once my hell was over and took the opportunity to dress in something cute. Even though it was a bit too hot for frills, I couldn’t wait, so I adapted the coord as much as possible and then adapted myself by only wearing the petticoat for the picture. The dots on the cutsew are basically exactly the same as those on the hem of the dress, which I appreciate a lot. The day was far from the smooth return that I have hoped for and the coord made it better. When in doubt, wear your stupid pieces.
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Coord 3: It’s Been a While
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| | Violet Fane Charming Town skirt | offbrand top, socks, and corset | Hush Puppies boots | vintage hat | Lady Sloth Winter Spices necklaces | Innocent World Tulle wrist cuffs | |
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This post is just a progression from fancy to as bare-faced and non-fussy as I can get away with whilst still having it work with frills.
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Good people: the AliExpress corset belt thingy. It's surprisingly alright.
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So I’ve been slowly returning back from the brain-dead and by this coord I realised that I’d only worn lolita twice in the whole of June and only had about one week left to squeeze some looks in. Granted, even if I wasn’t all mushy-brained, it was hot, a bit too much for frills (or at least the frilly ideas that had me excited), so it’s not like there were tonnes of actual missed opportunities, but still, over the last three years the prospect of only wearing frills three times in a month became unusual to the point of scary. The original coord idea was even more casual (and less lolita), but that didn’t actually work on a body and as I needed to be in proper clothes, I quickly cobbled this together. The idea came out pretty cute, not perfect, but for something that was literally thrown together in a matter of minutes, it works well enough. And to be honest, the only things I would have changed would be the hair accessory and maybe the wrist cuffs, everything else I quite like as is.
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Coord 4: Summertime Supermarket
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| | Violet Fane Otome Nostalgia skirt | Axes Femme skirt | offbrand shoes and hair pins | Kreation Studio earrings | |
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Very messy braid crown, but the trade off is that I am wearing lipstick. Soooo, six and two threes.
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This is a surprisingly flattering shape. Axes Femme really do some great cutsews, gotta give it to them.
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All I wanted was an excuse to wear my new-to-me Axes Femme cutsew. It is still hot, hence the very toned down look, but I really like this top and it looks especially cute with
Otome Nostalgia. This may be a combo that I’ll be rewearing more because it’s so effortlessly stylish, great for supermarket trips, but also potentially the office, casual date night, or just anything really. Also, I would’ve taken a proper coord pic, since this was a Saturday, but that week I was cat-sitting for my friend and one of Mr Panda Cat favourite napping spots is that fluffy rug where I take my outfit pictures, so I couldn’t be mean and kick him out of that!
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Proof as well as paying my Fluffy Baby Tax.
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Coord 5: Work and Play
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| | Victorian Maiden Shirring Frill JSK | Innocent World Original Lace Millefeuille bolero | Sosic Shop shoes | offbrand socks and necklace | |
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Interesting how somehow I look like I have eyeshadow on when I don't. Must be this colour pallette on me.
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Me: keeps thinking to add more small pendants and necklaces.
Also me: doesn't do that and circles through the same three.
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I wasn’t even sure if I’d manage to squeeze a coord in before this post went up, but managed in the end. I’ve steamed this dress over the weekend in anticipation of a date that got cancelled in the end. Since the weather cooled down, I probably would’ve dressed up for working from home anyway, and another date was lined up for the evening - why the heck not. It’s neutral and simple enough. And yes, I don’t have a hair accessory because I wanted a pink bow to put at the back of my head and don’t have one, so since it wouldn’t have been visible anyway, I decided not to bother with a lesser replacement. When looking at how I’ve worn this dress previously, I noticed that I’m not actually that keen on the shape of the neckline, since all of my favourite looks involve covering it up with a jacket, cardi or a bolero, so here’s some food for thought. Although I’m also considering whether the dress may be cursed because this date also did not happen (though this time without the notice).
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There are so many things in June that are not conducive to frills, work stress and heatwaves being the main ones. So I am making conscious effort to stop and acknowledge that I have worn frills, as well as have worn cute non-lolita outfits in between (Whering has been so good for that!). On the day that this post goes live I am taking another week off work, though unlike the May week of leave I am not planning anything as ambitious as that. It will still be nice to take the time to engage with something creative and catch some physical and emotional rest. And maybe, just maybe, the temperatures will drop to something a touch more frills-friendly. If not - at least it will be Barbie month!
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