June Coords Roundup

Welcome to the month of screaming. Some of the screaming was bad. Some of it was the best. But ultimately, it was all about the screaming.

*~*~*~*
Coord 1: Casual ILD

| Metamorphose Bubble Bath skirt | offbrand cutsew, tights, and brooch | Bodyline shoes | BtSSB Princess Drop combs | Big Pink Boutique earrings | Folk and Fortune Midnight Diner necklace | handmade bracelets | Banned Retro Bella belt |

Thinking about all the comms somewhere out there on that day who had a fancy afternoon tea or something.

Still way too amused by this pin.

I wasn't even going to do anything for ILD specifically. However, since I was leaving the house anyway for a day of pottering around town, I may as well have worn a casual coord. So I did. It's far from perfect, but I felt cute and really liked it.

*~*~*~*
Coord 2: Groceries and Film

| Metamorphose Sailor Tiered skirt | handmade bracelets | Bibelot Rose badge | Banned Retro Bella belt | everything else is offbrand |

I don't know how this managed to come out blurry. It was apparently one of them days.

A day of being low on energy.

For the following say I had a friend come over to watch a film and also needed to go out to get my groceries. There was no reason not to dress up, but also no reason to overcomplicate things. Hence another casual skirt and a comfy top coord. These shoes are super fun, I got them for the TQiD afterparty and I'm enjoying seeing how many other things I can wear them with.

*~*~*~*
Coord 3: Larme-ish

| BtSSb Dreaming Sherbet skirt | offbrand top, earrings, and belt | Snag White Russian fishnets | Vivienne Westwood x Melissa Anglomania shoes | Pink Up Fanny’s Dressing Table hair clip | Promised Land Creations pendant | vintage bangles | Japanese indie brand ring |

The black and sax is an underrated colour combo, bittersweet lolitas are sleeping on it.

A very lazy detail picture.

It’s been a long time since I was in frills for an Assessment Board and I have revived this lockdown tradition. It was actually Whering that suggested this top/skirt/shoes combo and I instantly knew that it would be cute with the right styling, so added all that and voila! A very cute and pretty comfortable coord for screaming at a monitor during working hours.

*~*~*~*
Coord 4: Reunion Dinner

| Bodyline Sweet Macaron JSK | BtSSB Snow Dot skirt as underskirt | Axes Femme cutsew | Angelic Pretty Colorful Polkadot OTKs | Bodyline shoes | BtSSB Princess Drop combs | Angelic Pretty Fancy Crepe necklace | Madillustration Dream On brooch | handmade bracelets | offbrand belt |

Didn't I say that black x sax was underrated? I'm just adamant on proving it.

Truth is that I didn't take a detail shot from this outfit. However, after wanting coord pics in front of this wall ever since it was painted, I think the wall deserves to be my detail shot for this one, don't you think?

The evening before The Queen is Dead our Discord server planned a reunion dinner. It was a little bit less of a reunion than originally planned because one group of people had missed their connection flight, but there was still a good number of us there. In looking for a comfy option I landed on this JSK, which I then scrolled through my past looks for inspiration. I ended up finding it basically in this post because with the whole event being more friendly towards punk, oldschool, and bittersweet themes, why not lean into that now? The skirt as an underskirt was the right choice to both balance out all those black pieces and add the extra bit of length that I prefer these days. We had a very lovely time catching up (even despite pre-event stress and in-event tiredness getting the best of me at times), and it set the tone for what then turned out to be the best weekend of my life.

*~*~*~*
Coord 5: TQiD Day 1 - Tartan Menace

| HeartE Tartan JSK | Summer Tales Boutique Nostalgia Collection: Royal Tartan blouse and headbow | offbrand tights, shoes, backpack, and ribbon | Three Little Pirates earrings |

Sneaking in a selfie in the modelling room whilst it was empty. I am so very pleased with this hair too!

Big thank you to Grace from Nail Huns for completing my look with tartan nails!

Finally, after two years of knowing about it, The Queen is Dead: Long Live Lolita EGL event took place! This outfit was in the making from basically 2022, when Jo and Gee first told me that they were going to do it, and it came together exactly the way that I had imagined. The only thing on my person that was not tartan was my petticoat (and I feel very ita about that lol). Yes, even my underwear was tartan. I picked a theme and committed to it – even had a tartan umbrella on loan from a friend for the official photographer pictures! I will talk about the event separately, not only because it deserves it, but also because I am still recovering from it all. The one thing I will add here is how surprised I was at the number of people who did not recognise me. I know that this is more punky than what I normally do, but I thought between still using my own hair and wearing red (which I wear frequently anyway) my comm friends would have an easier time spotting me, but apparently not. It wasn’t as bad as when I wear blonde wigs though, so we’re all good.

*~*~*~*
Coord 6: TQiD Day 2 - Arse Out Ero

| Bodyline L581 blouse | Naddine Atelier bow top | Hosihbako Works corset | Fanplusfriend cage skirt | bloomers by @qiannegl | 8th Sin Creations garters | Asos fishnets | offbrand ribbons, hair clips, and ring | Elf Armorie Cupid’s Heart shoes | Antique Beast Hecate headdress | Tiny Passerine Creations The Duchess’ Tea earrings | Estrellas Bright Star choker | Enchanted Dream Wear necklace | Star Glazed Delights Brand Whore ring |

The go-to face of slutty demons.

Surprise, there's still some hidden (not really) tartan!

At this point I live by the rule that there are only two flavours of ero lolita: arse out or tits out. Having ran out of planning energy with my tartan menace look, I struggled for a while with the tea party before finally deciding on just scandalising people with ero. Causing scandal is still very in the punk spirit, right? So I put this together with pieces that I mostly already had or that I was going to get anyway (like the white Hecate headdress). The only things bought specifically for this were the garters and the tights; the Naddine Atelier bow top was my only actual event purchase and I was extremely pleased with how well it went this look. It’s actually a bit ironic of me to have worn the Brand Whore ring given that literally nothing on me was brand. Despite the elegant setting of the Midland Hotel, I managed to engage in plenty of most embarrassing behaviour, sluttiness levels were at an all time high and I may have left one poor Kumya in need of therapy (or at least a good clean of their poor eyes). This was exactly what I was hoping to do at the tea party, so mission accomplished!

May you and everyone in this picture find Jesus.

*~*~*~*

And yes, that is the end for this post. Having somehow hurt my knee just standing at the TQiD fashion show and then needing all the recovery time I could get, and then the weather turning actually legit summery, which doesn’t inspire layering too much, I decided that I’ll wrap this post up now. The fact that it is ending on a high is pure coincidence, I just genuinely haven’t worn frills since TQiD and don’t think that I will before June ends, so might as well put this post up with what I do have. It’s actually quite funny how all these coords ended up being in colour-coordinated pairs: a pink pair, a black x sax pair, and a red pair. Completely by accident.

How to Dress for an Event that's Not Your Style

 Lolita fashion is wonderfully diverse under that broad umbrella of what makes something lolita or not. This also means that if you venture out to hang out with other lolitas, whether at themed meetups or at large events, you may find yourself wanting to attend something that isn’t actually what you wear. Whilst a respectable organiser will ensure that coords outside of the main theme or the most obvious substyle are still welcome, it can make one self-conscious to arrive knowing how much we stick out.

As you’re reading this, The Queen is Dead – Long Live Lolita event is taking place in Manchester tomorrow. And whilst I am going, the oldschool, punk, and goth styles that it primarily caters to are a far cry from what I wear. Yet I am still going and feel that the journey I went on to nail down my own coords may carry kernels of useful advice to anyone who finds themselves in a similar position. So with this as the background to my takes, I hope that the advice comes in useful for some of you.

Photo by João Jesus on Pexels.com

1. The Intersection of What You Like and What Fits

Even if you do not wear any of the styles that the event theme lends itself the most to, there may still be something, one small aspect, that you like and have that could be a sufficient nod. For example, whilst goth, punk, and oldschool vibes are not quite for me, I do like tartan as a pattern. Thankfully it is one that features very prominently in all three of those and is instantly recognisable as something that fits that theme, so even if my outfit isn’t quite any of those substyles, it won’t look out of place. Your link can be as tenuous as that: a motif, a colour, a particular item, something that you imagine a lot of people might be wearing that you also happen to own and can build upon that.

If you're coming to TQiD, catch me in this tomorrow!

2. A Specific Word that Resonates with You

The longer the event title, the more you have to play with. With a full event name of The Queen is Dead – Long Live Lolita, there is room to go with the sub-title and create a coord that one thinks represents the future of this fashion. But there is also room for classic lolitas to latch onto the word “queen” and find all the royal vibes they wish, from Innocent World-style crowns everywhere to lolita reinterpretations of iconic queens who are now dead (I am looking forward to seeing how many Marie Antoinettes may be there). Although the more outside the box you go with your specific word, the higher the chance of still standing out amongst the majority, at least this way you have a story to go with your outfit. It’s no longer being different because you don’t fit – it’s being original with your interpretation.

Alice in Wonderland is my pet peeve of themes in lolita, but it perfectly illustrates the point of picking a word or something about the event theme to run with.
Picture from Show.me.uk

3. Dominant Colours of the Event

Some event themes have obvious dominant colours. You know that if something is for Halloween or Valentines Day, then you can dress in the blacks/oranges/purples or reds/pinks associated with that holiday, even if the substyle of your coord is completely off. Certain motifs also bring to mind specific shades, such as dusty pinks and greens for anything floral or blues, golds, and silvers for anything celestial. Whether the dominant colours of the event are clear from the theme itself or you’re getting an idea based on what the people you know will be wearing, then whatever is the closest to that amongst what you own, dressing in that should allow you to fit in with others. A dark shade in a sea of black certainly fits in more closely than a singular pastel soul.

The Western Community Porbl - an official Pantone shade of the lolita community.
Picture taken from Atelier Pierrot's Facebook.

4. Community Maketh an Event

Even when we can’t put our finger on it fully, there are some noticeable differences in how different lolita communities coordinate their frills. This can be as large scale as communities from different countries or as insular as specific groups within the local comms. For example, my impression of the US comms are that they are on the whole much younger and lean more towards sweet lolita – whereas the Spanish comms have a strong cohort of long-standing members who all exude very regal classic and gothic vibes. If you know what the people organising the event may be into or have a certain idea of what lolitas from that comm/place/country tend to wear, then that will make it easier to adapt to their vibes. After all, plenty of Angelic Pretty prints can be styled in a very OTT Classic sort of way and a simple black dress can be sweetened up if needed. And then you’re in with the locals, blending in like a pro!

Some comms simply have a look. Even if that look may be a result of the zeitgeist, it will still be relevant to events hosted whilst in said zeitgeist.
Photo from SoraNews24.com

Of course, you always have the option of buying an outfit just for this one event and then hope to sell it on. To me the cons of this outweigh the pros: it is an additional expense, it is a bit wasteful (even if you do resell it with minimal loss), and if it’s not a style that you usually wear then you might not feel your most comfortable, thus ruining the vibes for yourself. This is why my advice stuck to the more straightforward suggestions on how to reinterpret the theme or find the link as this way allows you to wear something that you already own and already know you feel good in. And that is ultimately what matters more at events and meetups. Go there to have fun and enjoy yourself with your friends or to make new ones. The lolita community is wonderful and will embrace you in whatever style of frills you wear.