October Coords Roundup

Honestly, October started a lot better than it’s finishing. Not in like a major way, but in my greed I picked up an extra one-off job at a time when my full-time one was getting more intense and spent the last week doing nothing but work and basic human functions.Hey, at least until then I managed to wear a few cute things!

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Coord 1: Comedy Friday

| Innocent World Georges Rose JSK | Axes Femme cutsew | Ireland’s Eye sweater vest | Snag tights | Tabio socks | Elf Armorie Cupid’s Heart shoes | Cutie Creator headbow | offbrand earrings | handmade (not by me) brooch | Enchantlic Enchantilly necklace |

If I remember right, that was during my spell of wearing more mascara, which really does make a difference.

The colours on this necklace are so faint that capturing them isn't easy, really glad I managed here.

Still in September (but just after the September Coords Roundup post went up) I went to Jon Richardson’s comedy show called The Knitwit. In honour of his love of cardigans, I knew I had to wear my sweater vest and after a while I landed on this utterly grandparent combo of florals, knitwear, and lace. Super cosy, super cute, still getting to use my spring/summer pieces before they got packed up, and relatively toasty. All that I was missing was some Werther’s Original sweeties (which I started craving as soon as I typed this out).

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Coord 2: Seeing a Friend

| Violet Fane Charming Town skirt | Axes Femme jumper | Innocent World Lauretta OTKs | offbrand shoes and necklace | Cutie Creator headbow | Cosy Kawaii Mood earrings |

Initially I wasn't sure about this necklace. Maybe I should get an actual detachable collar?

I hate the taste of coffee, but love everything else: smell, warmth, aesthetic.

I spent the weekend in Liverpool, seeing a friend who’d moved there only a few months before. Taking advantage of the weather being somewhat mild and somewhat dry, I of course dressed up, though kept it on the more casual side. The earrings were the main inspiration. For someone who does not drink coffee I am chuffed to bits with them and have some other cosy looks in mind. It was also great to hang out with my friend, see his new place, see a little bit of Liverpool, and most importantly chat until the wee hours of the morning.

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Coord 3: Princess at Home

| Angelic Pretty Flower Garden JSK | Millefleurs Georgette blouse | BtSSB Dreaming Sherbet skirt | Angelic Pretty Salon de The Rose OTKs | offbrand boots and earrings | Le Petit Four headpiece | Violet Fane Le Portrait De La Reine necklace | handmade (not by me) brooch | Slightly Ghosts Forget-Me-Not pin | handmade ring | Tiny Passerine Creations ring | handmade (not by me) ring |

Slowly working out low effort hairstyles that give me the volume of hair that I need for fancier looks when I work from home. Except that I can't quite remember what I did here...

FINALLY! Nearly a whole year after getting this ring I found a coord to use it in!

Was this entirely excessive for a day of working at home and some chores? Oh, absolutely, totally. And very impractical too. But it made me very happy to sit around and be a princess with all the lace bits and stuff. Both the layering and the muted dusty tones of each piece came together so well. The last huzzah pre-packing for the colder months for this JSK, although the long sleeves, OTKs, and boots kind of make it quite autumn appropriate. Yes, all of this made me very happy indeed on an otherwise quite mundane Thursday.

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Coord 4: Comfy and Cosy

| Metamorphose Shirring Tiered Ribbon JSK | Axes Femme top | Innocent World OTKs | Laura Ashley shoes | Chrysanthemum’s Concerto beret | handmade (not by me) headbow | offbrand necklace | Lady Sloth My Coffee Time brooches | Peppermint Fox brooch |

Seriously, in person you'd never think that this bow is so massive. But point a camera at it and the diva wants to steal all of the spotlight.

So, Paulina, do you like tea? Why, yes, what gave it away?

This is one of those absolutely not groundbreaking looks that is still different enough from its previous iterations that it appealed to me. I may need to rethink the proportions of this headbow as it  photographs as so much larger than it is and balancing it out gets a little tricky. But beyond that I have no major reflections on this coord. It was the end of the week that I was very much looking forward to having over and done with, so low energy motivated the comfy layers and cosy vibes are an absolute necessity for October evenings.

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Coord 5: Casual Meetup

| Wonderland Ukiyoe Lilith’s Collection skirt | Axes Femme cutsew | Innocent World Rose Lace Millefeuille bolero | Red Maria tights | Hush Puppies boots | Angelic Pretty Classical Petit Rose headbow | handmade earrings | offbrand brooch and rings |

Thinking about those amazing colour matches with pieces that are completely unrelated.

For a while now I've wanted a main piece that did this. And now I finally have one.

CLAM had a very casual meetup to go to Wagamama for lunch and then potter around. With there being no theme, the weather being way too warm for October, and me not quite feeling the spooks, I opted for the next logical idea for an outfit which was to wear my most recent acquisition. On paper this is a skirt and a cutsew, so fits the casual meetup vibe, even if in practice this is much fancier than just a skirt and a cutsew. I must say, I really love this skirt! It is heavy. So heavy that, worried that it might kill my Aurora and Ariel petticoat, I decided to wear two petticoats and so that I wouldn’t have to carry that weight - a corset. It will also take a bit of getting used to as this is longer and more voluminous than most of my dresses, not just lolita. Walking in it, especially stairs, is a very different feat. But I am very much enjoying it and can’t wait to wear it more (as shown by the 1 Dress 4 Looks post with it). Back to the outfit though, it really was a no-thinking kind of affair, very traditionally classic lolita, and it impressed others in attendance with my luck in colour matching this particular shade of light grassy green. The meetup ended up a lot larger than I anticipated, which was nice, lots of new people, excellent vibes, and this was a great day all around.

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Coord 6: Pumpkin Spice

| Lady Sloth Winter Spices skirt and necklace | offbrand top | Snag Papaya tights | Bodyline shoes | Chrysanthemum’s Concerto beret | Toadstool House Art brooch |

I have since acquired a better lipstick for autumn that I have basically been living in since it arrived.

Gourds are by far the best thing about autumn.

Yes, I am also a pumpkin spice girlie now (though I prefer to take mine in savoury form - so far I made a pie and found a bread). Been thinking about adding an orange top to my wardrobe overall since probably last year and finally committed this year when I found this one BNWT on Vinted for like £4. Also, fun fact: even though this skirt is one of my designated winter pieces, I somehow missed it out when packing stuff for spring/summer, so it’s actually been sitting in my wardrobe this entire time. But I refrained from wearing it, even though I could have, and I’m quite glad because this coord is a worthy first outing of the year. Yeah, it’s giving a little bit of Velma from Scooby Doo, but I’m not mad at that.

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Coord 7: Eras

| AatP Sugar Plum Fairy Princess JSK | offbrand cutsew, jacket, boots, hat, earrings, and brooches | Angelic Pretty Crown Ribbon OTKs | Rose Marie Seoir necklace | Puvithel Crystal Heart brooch | MandaRin Designs brooches | Love from the North pin | vintage brooches | Lady Sloth My Coffee Time brooch | Sweet Dolly House Snowflake Cookie brooch | Magical Mews Swan Hoe pin | handmade ring |

Ok, I did ditch the hat after the photos, I wasn't feeling that brave to stick out even more.

A brooch for every mood. Looking back this is somehow giving big 80s vibes - probably because the jacket is likely from around the 80s.

I would not consider myself a Swiftie, however, I do enjoy Taylor Swift’s music. In other words, I would not have paid my own money for the bloodbath that was the tour tickets sale, but I was happy to see that at the cinema. And of course I had to dress up, though I was very torn on what to wear (or how). So I did the smartest thing ever: I messaged @lena_golita (who is a much bigger fan than I am) asking for help and she basically ended up putting this whole thing for me based on some of my favourite songs and my wardrobe. The outfit is based off Taylor Swift’s Red Tour look from 2014 and even though the brooches are an eclectic bunch, they all hold meaning in relation to Taylor Swift’s common motifs in lyrics (which I kindly received a cheat sheet for).

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Coord 8: Elegant Witch

| Alice Girl Velvet Cake OP | Angelic Pretty Lovely Ribbon OTKs | offbrand boots, choker, rings, and brooch | Rose Thorn hat | Chrysanthemum’s Concerto necklace | Patisserie Pink Bottled Stardust brooch | Dalao Home wig |

The mahoosive hat is back, baby!

As is usually the case, this is a brooch that I was going to give away to someone and am now finding uses for.

Filming a Halloween themed video required at least an attempt at matching the theme and in not wanting to overcomplicate things for myself, an OP was the natural choice. The outfit came together pretty much just as I had wanted it to (though only now, as I type this, I remember that I was also considering another layer that I totally forgot about - oh well). This hat is so massive that floppage of some sort is completely unavoidable. The video is already out, so if you want some hot takes, head over to my YouTube channel.

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Coord 9: Shimmer

| Song and Temple Fairytale Library skirt and clip | Axes Femme cutsew | Angelic Pretty Glitter Knit cardigan | Elf Armorie Cupid’s Heart shoes | Patisserie Pink Bookshelf brooch |

Students are back and my selfie spot is too open, so this is the best of the bunch I took in extreme haste.

Attempting to capture some of that shimmer.

The main reason for dressing up somewhat to the office was that I wanted to try these shoes and break them in a little bit before wearing them all weekend at the end of that week. Even though I have two pairs of Elf Armorie shoes, those are suede, whilst this one is a stiffer pleather or something material. I needn’t have worried because of course they’re just as comfortable, but at least I looked cute at the office. With Taylor Swift’s Bejewelled stuck in my head leaning into a shimmery theme was quite natural: pretty much every layer has something shiny or shimmery, I even bothered with a sparkly eyeshadow for once (whereas for the office I usually only do lipstick).

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Coord 10: Red

| Metamorphose Classical Sister OP | Angelic Pretty Lovely Ribbon OTKs | Elf Armorie Cupid’s Heart shoes | offbrand hat, jacket, and choker | Magical Mews Swan Hoe pin | Love from the North pin |

This is the more autumnal lipstick I mentioned earlier. It's so good, I'm lowkey obsessed.

Why wouldn't you wear the MetamorHoe pin when given a chance?

Before the swiftie intervention, this was the rough outfit idea I had for seeing The Eras Tour, as inspired by the album cover of Red (Taylor’s Version). The outfit was too nice to waste, so I wore it the week after that for working from home and to see a musical in the evening, one called “Cheeky Little Brown”. Mostly though I just wanted to be autumnal, the mood was certainly there. Since the outfit is long sleeve OP based, there isn’t that much to say about it…

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Coord 11: Celestial Witch

| Angelic Pretty Crystal Dream Carnival Tiered JSK | Bodyline L581 blouse | Metamorphose Snow Crystal OTKs | Elf Armorie Cupid’s Heart shoes | Rose Thorn witch hat | offbrand earrings | Puvithel Crystal Heart necklace | Gravelvet Iridescent Princess necklace | Patisserie Pink Bottled Stardust brooch | vii ring | Lady Sloth Welcome to My Dollhouse underskirt | Boguta underskirt | Glasses Lit glasses |

Finally a makeup look worth talking about, something different. Not quite what I pulled off Pinterest for my inspiration, as apparently none of my blue eyeshadows are pigmented enough, but still really fun. I might do this pink under the eye more often, I like it quite a lot.

ALL the sparlies.

The Leeds comm got a community stall at the Leeds Alternative Market and so I went to show support. Whilst the event is geared at the more widely known kinds of alternative, everyone is welcome - it’s just that various sorts of goth, steampunk, and hippie vendors are the most prevalent. I decided not to engage with the goth side and instead embraced the alternative in this celestial witchy form (witcihng twice during Halloween Month, tis truly a blessing). It was certainly on the more dressy side of things, but it brought me tonnes of joy since the outfit really came together exactly as I envisaged it. And it clearly resonated with others because the number of times that people complimented me and said something nice, as well as the absolute diversity of people who did so, made my day, I felt like I was bewitching everyone with good vibes and spreading some positivity, which made all the effort of dressing up like this 110% worth it! The market was also great to browse, whilst not much appealed to me directly, I still bought a few little bits and took a whole bunch of business cards to look at people’s stuff later, without the background noise. I think this may become more of an annual thing for us given how many we were able to stop and talk to, as well as point blank recruit to the comm, and I look forward to that.

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On Halloween itself I have a big meeting at work where we present people for their final awards. Whilst Academic Trick or Treat: Award or Resit, as I’ve started to call it, isn’t worthy enough of fully dressing in frills, I will try to sneak in a bat brooch or something into my outfit for the day. Other than that (and other than rest after this week) I am looking forward to November and getting a little bit more cosy, as well as getting ready for Christmas and going to Japan (which I booked earlier this month, yaaaay!). Some of that will get its own posts here - and some of it won’t. Either way, hopefully you all enjoyed/are enjoying Spooky Month and aren’t dreading the upcoming season after it.

1 Dress 4 Looks Take 66

You know, I can’t actually remember what drew me to this Lilith’s Collection skirt from Wonderland Ukiyoe. Obviously something because I bought it, but the entire time of waiting for the preorder to be ready I kept wondering whether I had actually given in to an impulse, despite having very tangible proof that I dd not. There was definitely an element of me buying into the fantasy that the beautiful model pictures sold me. Yet whenever I looked at the pictures, I would catch that moment of understanding, of seeing the thread of thought that I had. It grew stronger once the skirt actually arrived and I could marvel at how beautifully made it is (and it's SO heavy!). This could turn out to be another one of those surprise items that I wear frequently thanks to how easy to coord they are. And this post may could very well be the start of that.

Look 1: Casually Feminine

| Axes Femme top | AatP Lace-Up Ribbon OTKs | Laura Ashley shoes | Angelic Pretty Classical Petit Rose headbow | Enchantlic Enchantilly necklace | Violet Fane brooch |

Pink and green is one of my favourite colour combinations. And whilst this skirt can get quite fancy, being able to tone it down is quite important to me. This coord is a combination of these two sentiments and seeing it come together like this is inspiring me to wear it ASAP. The dusty tones make me so happy!

Look 2: Shōwa Period

| Millefleurs Georgette blouse | vintage haori | Angelic Pretty Salon de The Rose OTKs | Hush Puppies boots | MandaRin hat | offbrand flower clip and brooch | vintage brooch | My Inspiration necklace |

Even though this coord it’s not a traditional lolita shape, I think the length of this skirt will lend itself perfectly for a wa look. This would no doubt look better worn than flat, but the flatlay still manages to convey enough of a vibe. Not sur what I’d wear this to, probably a more relaxed meetup - hopefully an occasion will present itself.

Look 3: Green Monochrome

| Axes Femme cutsew | Innocent World Short Boots OTKs | offbrand shoes and beret | Angelic Pretty Classical Petit Rose headbow | Rose of Sharon brooch | vintage earrings | Grand Embassy button badge | Metamorphose wrist cuffs |

Leaning a little bit more into the historybounding vibe of the skirt, I tried an all-green look with this cutsew which also has that historybounding feel to it. There are like a dozen shades of green here, but since except the beret and shoes they’re mostly cool tones the coord ends up working quite well. I do feel like a fancier hat would be more hisotrybounding appropriate, however I’m not sure if I’m ready to embrace the green in my wardrobe enough to get a hat just yet.

Look 4: Cottagecore

| Stroje.pl blouse | handmade apron | BtSSB Polonaise Brillante OTKs | offbrand boots with green laces | Dreamy Bows floral headband | Le Petit Four ring | Tea and Paintwater brooch |

This may actually be the fantasy that I want to live, the one that Wonderland Ukiyoe has sold me on and that got me to buy the skirt. And it is also why we love solid coloured pieces, they carry these various ideas so well. This coord would be really fun to play with the textures through all the parts that I could gather and have higher or lower than the other ones. All that is missing are braids in my hair.


Even just planning these coords has gotten me excited to wear this skirt. Especially the first and last looks. But as usual, this post only scratches the surface of possibilities and I am very excited to explore the rest.

Lolidrobe Reassessment Post 2023.03

Welcome to Spooky Month! As of writing (and publishing) this post I have not yet done my seasonal wardrobe switcheroo, but plan on getting that done shortly. The air is getting that lovely crisp kind of cool and I am so ready to be cosy and autumnal, bidding my time for the spooks to pass and for it to get to a more socially acceptable time to unleash myself on the world with all my festive cheer. But that’s a by-the-by.

New additions

Once again, I would like to believe that I have gotten my spending down and that I am not buying so much. But the facts are that even if lolita spending is down, overall spending still manages to find an avenue.

• 1 JSK (classic in wine*)
• 1 pair of shoes (sweet in white x blue/red)
• 1 pair of socks (sweet in pink*)
• 1 bag (sweet in red)
• 2 sashes (1 classic in ivory x gold, 1 sweet in white x red)
• 7 sets of accessories (1 pair of sweet earrings in red, 1 pair of sweet earrings in brown, 1 sweet brooch in orange, 1 classic brooch in gold x blue, 1 sweet pin in white x green, 2 sweet button badges in pink)

Click to enlarge.

And for once I can actually say that indeed, I haven’t. Again, there have definitely been non-lolita things that got me instead, but even there I don’t feel like it’s not been quite so bad. Plus, a small bit of luck in finding unfinished personal admin business meant that I could add a little bit of a treat yourself splash for myself in the form of that JSK (which is yet to be seen whether it’ll even fit, but shhh, let’s have hope).

Possible new looks

With so few new additions one would think that there wasn’t much room on what new looks I could do. But I’d argue that these few bits have resulted in some really cute outfit and here are my receipts to support that claim.

From September 2023 (to be included in the next coords roundup post).

From September 2023.

From September 2023.

Replacement and need list progress

There has been some movement on the replacements list! First I sold the gold shoes, yaaay! Sadly, Elf Armorie did not include a gold colourway in their most recent drop of the Cupid’s Heart heels and despite looking at maybe the Modo ones (which people have also raved about the comfort of), there’s been no luck there either. So I will bide my time and wait until either of those release a gold pair. And secondly, I found a pair of pink ankle socks that will be much nicer than the current offbrand ones I have. Given that they have little worth and are very worn, I’ll probably still hold onto them rather than straight up chucking them out, but they’ll stay a more casual pair for work and home.

On the other hand, the need list has seen precisely zero movement over the last quarter. Some of it is my fault (procrastination, baby), most is a lack of options I like. I am starting to rethink the need for the OTKs, given that I seem to be managing quite alright without them, same with the small red headbow. The other things would probably have a much more of an impact on my wardrobe, so they’re definitely staying for now. But those three I’ll mull over some more.

Current wishlist

On the one hand, the prints that I am most actively searching for continue to elude me. On the other – I have just bought a new JSK, which is a wine red floral one from Mary Magdalene (Dot Bouquet, in case anyone was curious). If that turns out to fit I think it would satisfy the same need that has me lusting after BtSSB’s Antoinette Bouquet and maaaybe even fill in the red-based floral niche. The latter I still have reservations about, but it’ll all come out for sure once the dress arrives and I try it on. Until then I’m not ticking anything off just yet.

As far as the non-wishlist dress goes, nothing has changed here. I’ve actually been once again thinking that I could use a few more layering pieces, but am still stuck on establishing what that actually is. Naturally, this means that nothing has happened in practice, even if behind the scenes my brain is whirring. I’ll get round to it, eventually.

New Year’s goals: progress summary

1. Did I take at least one coord photo outside this quarter: yes! This has been going really well and I think I am finally achieving the balance that I wanted between having pictures, taking things easy with mirror selfies, and taking advantage of opportunities to get photos outside when I can. Hopefully this will stick because I am genuinely enjoying the range.
2. Did I obtain any pieces of lolita art or home decor: yes. As mentioned in the last Lolidrobe Reassessment post, the Q-Pot tin became my second one. Ideas for more things continue to live rent free in my head whilst I do absolutely nothing about them.
3. Did I make at least one item from Otome no Sewing: I decided on a project! Was any progress made? Hahaha, you’re funny!
4. Have I transferred my entire wardrobe to Whering: big fail. I started, then stopped, now things are about to be shuffled about, and already I have so much in the app that is significantly slowing it down. So yeah, nearly all of the lolita clothes are on there, there are a few of the recent additions (shoes, bags etc.) that haven’t happened yet, but as far as my non-lolita wardrobe goes, it’s most things (the ones that get used relatively often) and the rest lingers. I don’t want to fully abandon this goal, but I may need to face reality and admit that despite using Whering more and more on a daily basis, it has not been my priority and gradually disappearing daylight as we move further into autumn and winter is not going to encourage major shifts in behaviour. In other words, I’m leaving this in limbo.

This post ends on an interesting note. On the one hand, I am recognising that there are some goals I’ve not done some well, acknowledging areas where I sense a need for change and don’t yet have a concrete idea of what that change should be, and feeling myself want that seasonal swap asap to inject a bit of artificial novelty into how I perceive my wardrobe. And on the other hand, I am really quite content with where I am. The things that I have been getting tend to be small and/or of practical nature (like the shoes above) and they are enabling me to do more with my wardrobe. I’ve also noticed over the last few coord roundup posts that I’ve been leaning more casual (not all of it because of the weather) and I am positively curious as to what that means for the last quarter of this month. I guess there is only one way to find out, right?

How are you all doing? Hopefully all of you excited for Spooky Month are making the most of it and enjoying it to the fullest!