You know what? This has been the first September in my working adult life where I didn’t play “Wake Me Up When September Ends” on loop the whole month. I have been rested and stress-free, and it has been glorious, and in turn made for some really fun outfit moments. May every September be like this, it has genuinely been so nice.
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Coord 1: Fetch Quests
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| | Violet Fane Charming Town skirt | Axes Femme cutsew | Innocent World Origa OTKs | offbrand shoes | Cutie Creator headbow | My Inspiration brooch | handmade bracelets | |
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| Still haven't learnt how to selfie in my bedroom. |
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| I may need more embroidery brooches. Which is a dangerous statement because I don't need more brooches. |
Nothing super fancy, but still something cute for going into town on a couple of errands. Romanticising the day with music from Hoa and feeling the sunshine on my skin.
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Coord 2: Something Casual
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| | HeartE Tartan JSK | Hell Bunny cutsew | Snag White Russian fishnets | Angelic Pretty Airy Dot socks | offbrand shoes and pin | handmade beret and bracelets | Angelic Pretty ribbon | Bibelot Rose badge | Star Glazed Delights Brand Whore ring | |
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| Look how nicely that beret works in practice. |
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| These pins are very in the mood of The Golden Girls banter. |
Once again, the coord was planned for a theatre outing and then on the day I didn’t have it in me to change, so I wore it the day after. The show I was going to wear it to was inspired by
The Golden Girls, so whilst this coord is a little bit more 90s than 80s, the bitchy pins are very in the spirit of Blanche. And also, I just
really wanted to style my new pink beret and pink x red is a great combo. Thankfully, since it’s a comfy look, it was fine to wear for working from home and a brief supermarket trip later.
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Coord 3: Chester Outing
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| | BtSSB Secret AIR Mail from Sweet Kitty JSK and OTKs | BtSSB shirring blouse | Sosic Shop shoes | offbrand hair clips, earrings, and necklace | Folk and Fortune Typewriter necklace | Cutie Creator wrist cuffs | Star Glazed Delights Brandwhore ring | Kinnōsuke the Kumakumya | |
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| Keeping it simple for a humid day. |
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| Is it blasphemy to put this ring this close to a Baby logo or is it meant to be? |
I asked my friend who lives in Chester whether she wanted to hang out, since we haven’t caught up in a while, and obviously that called for frills. That being said, I was low on inspiration, so rather than make things even harder on myself, I went with the extra easy option of going for a full-set of
Secret AIR MAIL from Sweet Kitty, now that I have a full set. Except that I ended up not liking the head ow on me and didn't want to bother with a fake fringe, so not really a full set. Making up for that loss by bringing The Boy on a trip to soak up some history. Enjoy bonus boy content.
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Coord 4: Early Autumn Alps Vacation
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| | BtSSB Polonaise Brillante ~ Ideas of a Maiden ~ Apron JSK | Axes Femme cutsew | AatP Lace-up Ribbon OTKs | offbrand shoes, beret, and necklace | Angelic Pretty Classical Petit Rose headbow | Violet Fane brooch | Bows and Crossbones bangles | |
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| Spot that green inner corner highlight. |
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| The pansy content that we are all here for. |
This was one of the fastest coords that I’d ever put together: I looked at the forecast, saw that it’d be 10-feels-like-8, thought ‘It’s finally time to wear this warm top!’, searched for which dress I hadn’t worn in a while that would work with this… profit! A green duotone with
Polonaise Brillante works so nicely and the coord was warm and cute for working from home. Very pleased with myself on this one, that’s a job well done, Paulina. On the coord, that is, let’s not bring the mood down by talking about actual work. A discord server friend had dubbed it an Early Autumn Alps Vacation because of the colour palette, so even though that wasn’t the original intention, it absolutely fits and now I want to do more with those vibes if I can.
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Coord 5: Last Summer Huzzah
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| | Lady Sloth Look at My Dreamy Sky Casual OP | offbrand top and shoes | Angelic Pretty Fancy Border crew socks | handmade beret and bracelets | Folk and Fortune Cruel Summer earrings | Rose Marie Seoir necklace | Angelic Pretty Logo Ribbon Charm wrist cuffs | Candy Kitsch ring | Banned Retro Bella belt | |
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| The glasses are my something blue for the top of the coord. As are the earrings, but they're hiding. |
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| Not sure what the light was doing here... |
As in, I’m enjoying knitwear one day and literally the following day going ‘But I still need to wear my summer things before I pack them away’. Ah, the duality of lolitas. The weather was not made for this kind of a coord, so when the time came later that day to go out for some groceries, I did change into something more practical, but whilst sitting at home and working on spreadsheets, this was absolutely fine.
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Coord 6: Speed Learning Lolita
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| | Angelic Pretty Diner Doll JSK | Sweet Fragrance apron | offbrand top | Innocent World OTKs | Sosic Shop shoes | BtSSB Princess Drop combs | Angelic Pretty Fancy Crepe necklace | Cutie Creator wrist cuffs | rings from Candy Kitsch, Twinkle Kitty Boutique, and Love a Lolita | Lady Sloth My Coffee Time brooches | |
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| Capturing the good hair day before braving the weather. |
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| I love this silly mouse and love pinning this pair of brooches in all kinds of cute places. |
Firstly, let's explain what ‘speed learning lolita' means. In January an idea floated at another meet to host a meetup where people could learn about the things they don't know or aren't confident with in a safe and quick environment (begone stuff like “I don't know how to shop from Taobao” etc.). So imagine a room with table islands, each with a person knowledgeable about a topic. The idea is that you hop around these tables, get a quick run of the thing, you can ask questions there and then, and once you're done, move to the next one. The meet went well, slightly smaller in numbers than what I anticipated based on RSVPs, but the first of anything is bound to be a learning curve. I have ideas on how to improve it in the future and the people who came did find it useful, which is ultimately what matters the most.
Since I wanted to be comfortable, Diner Doll's full shirring was a winner and this apron really made the layering extra fun. It was even warm enough to go out like this (seriously, what even is weather this September)! Part of me thought to maybe wear something more classic, since the other presenters would represent sweet and gothic, so that we'd have a full spread of the main substyles, but I was feeling this more. Sweet-classic for life, I guess.
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Coord 7: Shh, I Know It’s September
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| | Bodyline L262 JSK | Axes Femme cutsew | Innocent World Wendy OTKs | Irregular Choice Fancy-a-Cuppa boots | offbrand beret, hair clip, and brooch | Twylite Fashion hair clip | Cosy Kawaii Mood earrings | Once Upon a Cookie Treat Jelly Cookie necklace | brooch handmade by Kerry | Candy Kitsch bracelet | Angelic Pretty Melty Ribbon Chocolate ring | Twinkle Kitty Boutique ring | |
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| Who'd have thought that I'd get this much wear out of this weird 90s hat... |
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| These boots waited 9 months to be worn, they could not wait any longer! |
I’d like to believe that the nods are on the subtle side. Besides, I was only working from home, so who cares if I look seasonally out of touch within the comfort of my home? It’s been an odd day emotionally and the festive touches improved it immensely. Sometimes it really is the little things that make the biggest difference.
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Coord 8: Blue (Da Ba Dee)
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| | Bodyline L249 JSK | Axes Femme cutsew | Dancing Days cardigan | Angelic Pretty Fancy Candy OTKs | Bodyline shoes | Cutie Creator headbow | handmade earrings and bracelets | Angelic Pretty ribbon | Bubblegum Emporium necklace | brooches from Lady Sloth and Madillustration | Angelic Pretty Cute Ribbon wrist cuffs | Cutie Craze Cafe ring | |
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| Lol skincare routine quite literally be glowing. |
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| It's been years since I've worn this macaron brooch because it was broken for a while. And then even though I'd fixed it, I hadn't worn anything where it'd fit. Until now. Welcome back. |
A blue duotone with a couple of pink accents. Cute, comfy, great for working from home. I like how the royal blue and the sky blue work together, and the pops of pink complement the pinks in the print. To fix up the wonky mood from the day before, I was playing Chappell Roan instead of Gracie Abrams, as well as started the day with a really nice cooked breakfast (thank you, Bodyline, for all the shirring). It’s also a little funny how I’ve worn Bodyline two days in a row, that’s entirely coincidental.
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Coord 9: Garry Starr’s Penguin Classics
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| | Grove Deer Moon of Eternal Day OP | Axes Femme cutsew | Tabio socks | offbrand shoes and hair clips | Tiny Passerine Creations The Duchess’ Tea earrings | Fantastic Grim Jewelry necklace | Axes Femme brooch | vintage bracelet | |
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| It's ok, we can always renew your library loan. |
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| I would love to find a necklace and earrings that match this perfectly. |
This onset of last minute very warm weather messed with my outfit plans, so I improvised on the day. I decided to keep the vibes somewhat bookish and simple, and why shouldn’t I still use this sleeveless top for layering under, and in the end I was fairly pleased with the outcome. It’s not what I had my little heart set on, but I will find some other time to wear that. The show was incredible,
very for adults only (at least in that version) and incredibly clever, I have laughed my head off. If Garry Starr ever performs near you and you are comfortable with adult visuals, then you should absolutely go!
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Coord 10: Finally, Pumpkins
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| | Metamorphose Airline JSK | offbrand cardigan (upcycled by me) | Thunda Thighs OTKs | offbrand boots, laces, beret, necklace, and ear studs | hair clip from Lady Sloth’s Winter Spices skirt | Toadstool Art House brooch | Kirstteas Pumpkin Cat Bean Pie brooch | handmade bracelets | |
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| Looking particularly autumnal, just like I wanted. |
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| Pumpkins everywhere. All gourds are good gourds. |
I have been yearning to wear this, but had to wait until the cardigan was complete, which kept getting postponed because I kept running out of thread and also the weather was too warm. But no more! Chill activated, cosy mode was ON. And what else would I do my first lolita coord with this cardigan if not with the only other orange thing that I own? See, I told you that I’d prove how versatile this JSK is.
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As this is going up, I am on my way to London for the tea party in honour of launching The Lockhart Mansion Returns (read my review of book 1 here). Those coords will go into next month’s coords roundup post where hopefully we will get round to seeing the seasonal wardrobe swap happen. Weather had been so unpredictable this month, I have sweated and I have shivered, with no rhyme or reason to it. There are one or two summer items that I’d like to give their final moment to shine this year before they get packed up, but frankly, I cannot wait to play around with slightly different things for a change.
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