April Coords Roundup

Wow, that went by in a flash! I don’t even know when, April really flew by in mostly grey light. But it is warmer now, so this will be an interesting one to reflect back on.

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Coord 1: Compensating

| Metamorphose Polka Dots skirt | Ank Rouge cutsew | offbrand jacket, tights, and hair clip |

As I fell ill with Covid, I could not go to Germany for Easter like originally planned. However, because life is a lover of irony, the day that I was supposed to fly out was the second one of me feeling better enough to wear proper clothes. So rather than think what to wear, I went with what was already planned out (except the shoes and makeup). It didn’t warrant more than just a mirror selfie, but clothes were worn and that matters. That day I also discovered Dungeon Meshi on Netflix and that show is so strongly coded for my D&D character in that weird anime nonsense with food kind of way that I oscillated between being very amused and being very perplexed.

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Coord 2: As Above

| Metamorphose Polka Dots skirt | Stroje.pl blouse | Snag tights | offbrand sweater vest and hair clip | Mademoiselle Boutique necklace | vintage necklace |

Does what it says on the tin: this is another outfit I had pre-planned and it was easier to wear that than to exert brain cells to come up with something else. Plus, this was very comfortable!

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Coord 3: Happy Easter

| Baroque Repose of Queen Teatime Dress and tights | Irregular Choice Flickety Kiss shoes | Jeshii Doll bonnet | headbow handmade by Jule | necklace handmade by me | Enchantlic Enchantilly necklace | vintage gloves | Le Petit Four bracelet |

Look, a face with actual makeup and lashes!

The way this bracelet and this glove work together makes me yearn to go to a Regency ball and dance the night away.

Easter Sunday, the lazy affair that it was, still deserved something floral and elegant, as well as comfy. This OP jumped out at me as a contender and since I really wanted to play up the pinks of the flowers somehow, after some playing around I ended with this styling. When can you wear a bonnet if not at Easter? This one hasn't seen the light of day in much too long. Now comes the honesty part: shoes, bonnet, gloves, and bracelet were promptly yeeted off the moment the photos were done because I needed freedom of movement to cook. The rest somehow stayed on, but mostly due to laziness because what more do you need to sit down and watch anime? (Side note, Dungeon Meshi is wholly my cup of tea, but dang, I did not expect it to get so dark, give me back my wholesome anime about weird foods, you cowards!) The rest of the coord did then come off by the time I was ready to order myself a curry for dinner. It's already been hard to make Easter feel different from the rest of the week before it, so I didn't try to make my life even harder. But at least I looked great whilst lounging around and watching anime like the good weeb that I am.

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Coord 4: Tentative and recycled

| Wonderland Ukiyoe Lilith’s Collection skirt | The Seamstress of Bloomsbury Jive blouse | Axes Femme Kawaii Bear Brooch cardigan | Tabio socks | offbrand shoes | Cutie Creator headbow | vintage necklace | Dentelles brooch |

Back to mascara and lipstick sort of days.

When I first got this necklace at a work Secret Santa, I wasn't sure. But by now I've worn it so many times that I am extremely glad to own it.

Tentative because it’s only tentative that this is lolita. And recycled because that’s what I was going to wear to a theatre show that I had to skip because of being ill with Covid. It does the job just as well for working from home and I like the green/pink/brown tricolour that’s going on here, it’s very spring-like. Unlike the chillier weather, though this skirt is lovely, long, and heavy, which helps with that part. I need to wear it more.

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Coord 5: A Long Time Coming

| Physical Drop Shirring 3-Tier OP | Amavel cardigan | Snag Plee-yay tights | offbrand shoes and flower clips | Enchantlic Enchantilly necklace | Folk and Fortune Diamond of the First Water brooch |

Trying to photographs hair clips that are at the side of your head is so very tricky.

Fun fact: I forgot that I ordered this brooch with the pearl drop, so when it arrived, I thought that there was a mistake with my order. There wasn't, I'm just very forgetful.

A whole week went by with nary a proper coord (though one super casual one that did not get anything, not a mirror selfie, not even a Whering collage). I realised that I’ve waited long enough to wear this OP from Physical Drop and it was time to stop waiting. The weather was far from spring-like (in fact it was pouring it down and windy as all hell, I know because I went out to the library and battled that wind), but at least I could lie to myself about that. The coord was inspired by my new Folk and Fortune brooch (spotted a theme to my life yet?) and since my spring/summer clothes were still packed up, it was another reason to finally give this OP a spin instead of waiting for some arbitrary time in the future when the weather would be ‘nice’ (it’s Manchester, the weather is always meh, I need to accept that). I’m so very glad that I dressed up, even in something as simple as this, because that turned out to be a very sweary WFH day, so at least I had this cute outfit to cheer me up.

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Coord 6: 42 Balloons

| Haenuli Whipped Cream Kitty JSK | Axes Femme cutsew | Snag White Russian fishnets | Angelic Pretty Fancy Border socks | offbrand shoes, jacket, barrette, earrings, and pin | Melty Wish necklace | handmade choker and bracelets | handmade (not by me) bracelet | Madillustration brooch |

Clear glassess feel very 80s, even though their shape isn't. But my hair could do with more volume (just generally tbh).

Dream On brooch for Stupid Dreams, a friendship bracelet for the vibes, and a train pin because I can. If your coords aren't making you smile, then why are you wearing them?

By this point April felt like it was slipping away from me and so much was happening that I didn’t have the time to prepare for. Thankfully, past me built in those little theatre breaks and this one motivated me to dress up a bit. With no prior knowledge of the show, I just dug out that it’s set in the 80’s and tried to come up with something vaguely inspired for that (with minimum effort in the hair and makeup department because I was also working that day). The outfit came together really nicely, even with the minimum hair and makeup (which I feel is still somewhat authentic to the decade, if I’m not doing that every day now, when these things get so elaborate, then I wouldn’t have been doing that in the 80’s when it was less so, so surely there were others who felt the same). 42 Balloons became my new favourite basically from the moment it started, it is such a wonderful show that I want to scream about from the rooftops and get everyone to watch. If you get a chance, please do!

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Coord 7: Wedding

| Haenuli Lovely Memories JSK | L’Esprit de la Noblesse Le Nuage blouse | Red Maria tights | Irregular Choice Flickety Kiss shoes | Triple Fortune bonnet | Tiny Passerine Creations The Duchess’ Tea parure | Folk and Fortune Diamond of the First Water brooch | handmade (not by me) brooch | offbrand belt |

Wedding! A wedding! We're going to have a wedding! That hair also lasted surprisingly well throughout the course of the day.

Me playing favourites with new accessories? No, you must be mistaken.

The wedding bells have finally tolled for @petticats and I could not be happier for them! The invitation explicitly invited guests to be colourful and after asking for further permission regarding the bonnet, this outfit was born. It is a successor to this one from the Around Your Wardrobe in 30 Coordinates series because it was perfect for the occasion. Ever since getting this dress I thought that it would be ideal for weddings, since it can be worn in ways that don’t read as lolita and still be elegant enough for the occasion, so I’m glad that this finally happened for it. Although I will say, whilst I managed all of the wedding itself in these shoes, I was very grateful to change out of them for the evening reception, not only because the accumulated pain was a bit much, but also because flats are way easier to jump around in to the sound of musical and Disney tunes. 10/10 incredible wedding, one of the best ones I’ve ever been to.

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Coord 8: Wizard of Oz

| L'Esprit de la Noblesse La Bibliotheque JSK | offbrand blouse and shoes | Axes Femme Kawaii Bear Brooch cardigan | Red Maria tights | Cutie Creator headbow | Puvithel Crystal Heart necklace and brooch | vii ring |

These glasses were just made for wearing to The Wizard of Oz!

I managed to get a handful of really nice detail shots. I'll see what will happen by the time I get to post this trio on my Instagram grid, it may end up being a different detail shot.

The spring of theatre continued with seeing The Wizard of Oz. A friend who's seen it on the West End said that the staging was quite green and pink for Oz itself, which settled my decision on wearing this dress as opposed to gingham. Surprisingly, I've not worn it yet with pink, but the combo really works so well and the cardigan kept me cosy in the chilly evening air. Although I think it may be time to consider either altering this dress or selling it, it was a touch tight and the cardigan was almost as much for hiding as it was for warmth.
 

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Everyone around me has also noticed that this April has been cool and grey for much longer than in the past few years. It has finally warmed up right at the absolute end (i.e. the very last day), so even though I committed to swapping my autumn/winter bits for the spring/summer ones around the ¾ mark, it didn’t get a proper chance to kick in until now. My thoughts, when not preoccupied with work, are busy with preparing for The Queen is Dead, and together with getting a bit fed up with my autumn/winter wardrobe this all explains a less than enthusiastic attitude towards frilling up this month. Of course, this is being followed by ambitious plans for May that I will try to curb down as much as feels actually realistic. But as usual, it all remains to be seen. On a positive note though, I really enjoy the dominance of green in April, that was very seasonally appropriate and very much what I am into right now.

1 Dress 4 Looks Take 69

Not to kick the post off with crass, but ooohhh yeahhh!

Now that I have this out of my system, it really is an ooohhh yeahhh because this is my first Physical Drop piece, called simply Long Sleeve Shirring Dress, and one that I was able to buy at their branch in Jiyugaoka, Tokyo. It’s such a fancy OP that I don’t really want to tone it down too much, but you know me, always up for having options.

Look 1: Layered Elegance

| Hoshibako Works corset | Angelic Pretty Brigitte Regimen OTKs | Modo Prayer Poem shoes | Vierge Vampur bonnet | Puvithel Crystal Heart necklace | Tiny Passerine Creations The Duchesss' Tea earrings | Le Petit Four bracelet | handmade ring |

As per the introduction, it’s a fancy OP, let’s wear it in fancy ways. There is nothing complicated about this first coord, which is precisely why it works so well. Wine red and gold accents compliment one another perfectly and the simplicity of the styling is what exudes elegance. Not everything needs to be OTT in terms of the number of things to look elegant and fancy. Also, I am still annoyed that I misplaced my Puvithel red earrings. I know that they are somewhere in my house, but for the life of me I cannot thing where of the places I haven’t looked yet they could be!

Look 2: Nods to Vintage

| Innocent World Tulle Lace Millefeuille volero | vintage hat and brooch | Violet Fane Antiquite tights | Elf Armorie Cupid’s Heart shoes | offbrand earrings, necklace, and ring |

Layering long sleeve OPs is not always easy, though thankfully the fabric of this one is light enough to allow for at least some layering. And how could I not try at least one of my Millefeuille boleros with this? It may seem like the hat and the bolero are too much ivory at the top, but you need to imagine this with a red wig that would offset that. In a way all of those neutral colours are helping to tone down some of the inherent fanciness of this OP cut. Not all of it, this is still a very elegant outfit - but you can totally see this being worn to go antiquing, for example, it doesn’t have to be contained to fancy tea rooms.

Look 3: Ero

| Annzley corset | handmade garter belt | offbrand tights, hair clip, and brooch | Vivienne Westwood x Melissa Anglomania shoes | Pauline Garden headpiece | Estrellas Bright Star choker | Puvithel Crystal Heart necklace | vintage brooch | AatP Tulle Lace wrist cuffs | Star Glazed Delights Brandwhore ring |

First of all, you have to imagine this worn off-shoulder. This is quite crucial styling that a flatlay just cannot convey. It's also very likely that the garter belt would be used to lift parts of the skirt and show off a cage skirt underneath. Simple yet effective. I like how this has somehow ended up being the most intricate coord of the post, there is a lot of layering here that adds tonnes of visual interest and dimension. Which feels like an accomplishment given that black is not very prominent in my wardrobe.

Look 4: Kitchen Witch

| Rose Thorn hat | handmade apron | BtSSB Border OTKs | Hush Puppies boots | Q-Pot Teabag necklace | Patisserie Pink Bottled Stardust brooch | Erstwilder Potentially Poisoned Chalice brooch |

This one last coord is a spin on a similar one that I wore in October of last year. But with a more homely twist. I am way more of a cottagecore kind of witch than a typical Halloween one and this coord manages that playful vibe. Striped socks for whimsy, apron for practicality, and quirky jewellery for approachability. That's my recipe for becoming your cute local witch. Also, looking at the flatlay, this coord doesn't read very interesting, it reads a little empty. Once again, styling (hair and makeup) would play a big part here. But there's something to be said about practicality. Your local kitchen witch is working with her hands a lot and can’t have stuff weighing her down or getting in the way. Anything like rings would just be taken off, so why not skip that step?


I tried specifically to avoid deliberate attempts at toning this OP down to something that it is not. It’s a fancy dress and it deserves to be worn in fancy ways. In some ways, it will inevitably duplicate some of the looks that I’ve done and will do with my Alice Girl OP, but that’s unavoidable with two incredibly similar dresses. At least this one doesn’t have to be confined to just winter. It also hasn’t escaped my notice that three out of four of these coords utilise a three-strap heel design. Each a different one, but in principle it’s the same item. It seems like three-strap heels are the new part of Art de Paulina.

The Good Eggs of Lolita Fashion

For those unfamiliar with British English (and this particular phrase is most commonly found in the North of England, such as Yorkshire), someone who is a good egg is a nice person. If you get called a good egg, that means the person calling you that is fond of you. It’s one of those phrases that I absolutely adore, partly because I totally love eggs (in pretty much any form) and partly because to me it’s an incredibly homely, heartwarming, honest-no-frills phrases.

Every community has its own good eggs. In my opinion, the goodest eggs are the people who often won’t volunteer to claim that label for themselves, but instead will humbly be nice in the background and may not even expect praise or reward (though absolutely make sure that they get the recognition and appreciation they deserve!). So I would like to spread a little bit of love for those good eggs in our wider community (so beyond just the mods for our local comms) and hopefully make you all aware of them.

Picture by Roman Odinstov on Pexels.com

Connie from Atelier Pierrot

Picture taken from Atelier Pierrot's Facebook.

Whether you are Atelier Pierrot’s target demographic or not, Connie’s work with them is bringing so much good into lolita fashion at large. From as immediate as bridging the language gap and allowing more people outside of Japan to easily shop with Atelier Pierrot to all of the behind-the-scenes work he does that increases the brand’s inclusivity, international profile, and transparency. His post on Rufflechat about what goes into producing plus size pieces was the wake-up call that the Western community needed to put their money where their mouths are. All of that while rocking a killer style that’s inspiring loads of people – I’ve seen more and more newbies join the fashion as AtePie stans and it’s absolutely because of the work he does. A fully certified good egg!

Lolibrarians

Image taken from Lolibrary.org.

For most lolitas this fashion isn’t the only hobby and not the only hoarder hobby either. Have you ever wished that those other hobbies also had an equivalent of Lolibrary? I sure have. If you have too, then make sure to throw some money at them. None of us could imagine the lolita fashion community without Lolibrary and the dedicated work that the Lolibrarians put into it, from cataloguing and archiving down to coding and making sure the website runs. It is entirely volunteer-led, they have their own lives and full-time jobs, yet still find the time to run this resource for the community. When I say that we don’t deserve them, I mean it 75% seriously and only 25% jokingly. You know as well as I do how los we’d be if Lolibrary was suddenly gone. So get a fiver out of that birthday money and chip in to the upkeep of our community’s most valuable resource and the good eggs that run it.

Wonder Tea Party

Image from Wonder Tea Party's X account.

A well-written skit makes us feel seen and validated, our behaviours reflected in a humorous way that helps us maintain some distance towards ourselves. There’s been a gap in those in our community for quite some time until the Wonder Tea Party lolitas filled it. And the fact that they are all Japanese lolitas makes it all the better. We get a glimpse into the differences of how the fashion and its wearers are perceived in Japan versus other countries, but even more importantly – they show us the similarities. There is more that we have in common than what divides us and the Wonder Tea Party shorts are always so positive. Their catchphrase of “Lolita-tte honto ni tanoshii!” (“Lolita is really fun!”) always makes me smile. This is what it’s all about – shared joy over something that makes us happy. And anyone who brings goodness and smiles into the world is a good egg.


You know who else is a bunch of good eggs? The Bibliotheca bloggers and the Bibliotheca team at Bay Area Kei who run this amazing scheme. They make written content happen and then deliver a summary of this fantastic written content to your email (and only if you join, so nothing unsolicited). And then, like the good eggs they all are, they create a circle of inspiration whereby a silly theme such as this, egg, gets thrown around, taken seriously, and we all have a great time reading about all kinds of eggs in April. So if you haven’t subscribed to the mailing list yet, do that now. We can offer you some eggs in these trying times.

Lolidrobe Reassessment Post 2024.01

Spring is threatening to actually stay and even waxing my legs hasn’t coaxed that cold snap yet (sorry for the tmi), which has me contemplating changing my wardrobe out soon. I mean, it is April now, right?

New additions

Every year for the past few I feel like the first quarter is the slowest one to pick up with these purchases. And probably every year, whilst some of that feeling has a basis in reality, it’s not as little as I would have liked to believe.

• 1 pair of tights (sweet in pink x red)
• 1 pair of shoes (classic boots in gold x red)
• 1 bag (red tartan backpack)
• and 8 sets of accessories (1 sweet brooch in red x gold, 1 pair of angel wings*, 1 pair of sweet earrings in red, 1 pair of sweet earrings in gold, 1 pair of classic earrings in gold, 1 sweet brooch in pastel tricolour, 1 classic brooch in gold, 1 gothic headpiece in white*)

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Admittedly, this is skewed by the fact that despite making many purchases in Japan that were already in January, I am excluding Japan from this list altogether. That was its own separate time zone, outside of the strict confinements of what is 2023 and what is 2024. It means that the list above is much shorter than it otherwise would have been, since the end of my trip is when I did the most shopping. Also, plenty of my purchases have been in that grey area where my lolita and non-lolita wardrobes overlap (basically everything that’s not a main piece or a blouse), so if I were to be stricter with separating them, there would’ve been even less.

To be honest, I would like to keep this level of fashion spending carry on through most of the rest of this year. It’s not like I actively need stuff (well, I do for my non-lolita wardrobe), certainly not in any major quantities, and at some point the time really comes to call a spade a spade and say that this is just a habit and not meaningful spending in any way.
Also, I know that the wings have technically arrived, but I could not be bothered to dig them out from the bottom of the wardrobe for this picture. You all know what a pair of costume angel wings looks like.

Possible new looks

Since I excluded Japan purchases from the list above, it’s only fair that I exclude them from showing how the new additions help me create new looks. Which basically removed January from the picture, but let’s be honest, this year in particular January was very long and deserves to be forgotten a little. Some of the new bits I got over the last three months are either for specific events or more for autumn/winter season, so they won’t see any wear for a good while still to come. But this is what flatlays are for, am I right?

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Picture from March.

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Picture from February.

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Picture from February.

Replacement and need list progress

It’s no longer much of a list as much as just an item to replace. Once I came close to actually finding an ivory JSK that I liked, but ultimately decided that the colour was not quite the right shade for what I wanted. I even messaged an indie brand about commissioning one, but got very much ghosted. And despite checking so many other places, from second hand sales sites to Taobao resellers, there has been nothing that appealed to me aesthetically. So for now I am still holding on. I want it to be the right thing for me and not just any first thing I find.

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Nothing has happened on the need list front either. This is more due to these items being so much more specific than the broad criteria I have for an ivory dress. Admittedly, the pink beret should be much further along than it is, which is entirely on me… The rest, however, just has not appeared. And I have looked – and been looking since.

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Current wishlist

I find myself at an odd point where my wishlist is pretty specific. I do keep checking various second hand sales places daily, but either these items are ones that people are holding on to or, if they are up for sale, they are not at price points that I am willing to pay. Part of me wonders how much healthier it would be if I stopped checking these second hand sales sites, but the fear of missing out still has me in quite a strong grip.

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This holds particularly true for the non-dress part of my wishlist, namely because of the Millefeuille boleros. They are my collection items, my Pokemons if you wish, so they rely on my being on top of checking places and sometimes on being quick about buying them. Admittedly, I probably could have gotten myself a wine underskirt by now if I didn’t procrastinate, but still. My shopping mood for this first part of 2024 has been focused so much more around my non-lolita wardrobe which feels in a much more immediate need of a refresh.

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New Year’s goals: progress summary

For 2024 I kept my goals a lot smaller and much more targeted. Did that work though?

• Did I finish the craft projects I started in 2023? No. I have had some motivation boosts, first in terms of getting advice on how to go about one of them and then to get something specific (but completely different) done for a friend as a present. I keep telling myself that I can just do a little bit at a time, but it is yet to translate into actually doing that.
• Did I learn a new hairstyle? No. It’s hard to learn without knowing specifically what it is that you are trying to learn. As I said in the original post about my goals, the big princessy curls are a nice goal, but not what this is about. I have experimented a little bit more with looks, but it is not quite the easy and effective go-to hairstyle that I was hoping for. I should probably take a long and hard look at some hairstyles and actually pick a specific one to practise, the vague nature of this goal is not helping.
• Did I sort through my bags? I made a significant start! Mid-March I had a burst of energy and managed to shuffle things around in my wardrobe so that bags now have enough space, as well as got rid of a few. One (maybe two) I would like to attempt to fix first, which will require a few more specialist supplies, and one I already managed to sell with another one due to be listed in a few more places. This is seriously better than where I was at the start of January and I feel so much better about it!

I would love to say that I am welcoming the advent of spring with open arms and a newly refreshed attitude. But the truth is that as I am writing this post I am actually full of flu, a blocked nose, and shivering a little despite the fluffy pyjamas and a blanket. What is keeping me going is that a few times already I was able to roam the outside in lighter jackets (and even overheat once or twice). I keep looking at Vintage Fruit and my green Physical Drop OP longingly, waiting for the right time to wear them and enjoy looking like a 10/10 cutie patootie.

March Coords Roundup

I can’t really think of anything special to say for this part – so let’s not delay any further! Enjoy March’s assortment of coords.

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Coord 1: Granny

| BtSSB Polonaise Brillante ~ Ideas of a Maiden ~ Apron JSK | Axes Femme cutsew | Innocent World Belle Epoque OTKs | Elf Armorie Cupid’s Heart shoes | Cutie Creator Maiden’s Prayer headbow | offbrand shawl, earrings, and necklace | handmade necklace and bracelets | Bow and Crossbones bangles | Folk and Fortune Kukuryku brooch | Twinkle Kitty Boutique rings |

I don't know what I did differently from any other time, but that hair actually stayed pretty well for most of the day.

Robert the Rooster keeping it together.

The first meetup of the month was this very chill one that I organised. A new place opened in Manchester called Gran T's Coffeehouse, which aims to create a cosy space where you'd feel like having a cuppa at your grandma's. I contemplated something more granny-ish, but in the end the pull of Polonaise Brillante was too strong, so I didn’t bother resisting. After all, a floral dress and a shawl is very granny-appropriate. The venue was a lot more modern than I would've expected from the vibes description (and the very modern playlist that flung between millennial hits such as Usher's “Yeah” to more recent ones like Dua Lipa's “Levitating” clashed with the granny vibes even more), but the drinks and food were delicious and the whole space was very cosy and inviting. It was also pretty busy too, so it took us a little while of waiting, ready to pounce on a couch seat, but then we stayed until the place was literally closing. And it was a good meetup too! Sometimes all you need is the basic “place, date, time, just bring yourself”, no planned activities kind of thing.

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Coord 2: Spring-like

| Haenuli Lovely Memories JSK | The Seamstress of Bloomsbury Jive blouse | Pinky Girls cardigan | Roji Roji OTKs | Irregular Choice Flickety Kiss shoes | offbrand hair clips | Angelic Pretty Charlotte Bear brooch | Felfira Moon Designs brooch | Risu Rose ring | Japanese indie ring | Banned Retro Bella belt |

To further prove the point made above,this is the same hair on day two. A little bit more messy, but still undeniably wavy.

Ever since geting this ring I'd been waiting for the right opportunity to wear it. This coord may not be quite it, but I was done waiting.

My icy fingers very loudly protested any notions of it being spring-like, but sometimes manifesting and being delusional are indistinguishable from one another. I had an unusual these days work from home Monday and really wanted to capitalise on that. The main reason was not having worn this JSK since July of last year - there was one attempt when I couldn’t zip myself up. And it does fit differently now than it used to, but not quite so badly. My initial ideas revolved around doing something with red, but I wasn’t into any of them. Meanwhile sax and yellow is a very cheerful combination. So even though the themes of the accessories are a bit all over the place, even though I was still cold (and layered underneath this), and even though I have to rethink how I wear this dress a little bit, none of this dampened how happy I felt in this coord. Simple as that.

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Coord 3: Dotted Letters

| BtSSB Secret AIR MAIL from Sweet Kitty JSK | Laura Ashley blouse | Haenuli Secret Garden tights | Sosic Shop shoes | offbrand hair clip | Kreation Studio earrings | Metamorphose Rose Letter necklace | Melty Wish necklace | Sweet Dolly House Cookie Bon Bon ring | handmade ring |

Yay for normalising a ponytail and no makeup in lolita.

When all your post arrives on the same day.

Gosh, working from home is feeling more hectic than I remember it being. Somehow though, I still managed to get dressed and that very fact has been lifting my spirits through the stresses of working from home. There wasn’t that much thought put into the coord itself: it’s been a while since I’ve worn this dress, what haven’t I worn with it yet, what am I feeling like, what practicalities do I need to consider, just that. But sometimes that is all that you need.

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Coord 4: Errands Day

| Violet Fane Charming Town skirt | Axes Femme cutsew and cardigan | Metamorphose Heart Ladder Lace OTKs | offbrand shoes, hair clip, and necklace | XKawaiiCutieX earrings | Folk and Fortune Romance Book Club Book Stack brooch |

The joy of now having more glasses that match more of my outfits is almost overwhelming.

This brooch is getting tonnes of wear, both in and out of lolita.

I was actually supposed to go to the library to pick up a book the day before, but it turned out that the library closed earlier on Fridays than I thought. So whilst that outfit wasn’t lolita, it still centred around this brooch, and I really wanted to wear it for that particular task, so this look happened instead. I adore this brooch so much, I’m tempted to get the Spicy Book Club one too, but maybe after next payday. And seeing as I was already out during the day, I did a few other bits and bobs (maily drop off a bunch of old glasses for recycling and do my grocery shopping). All perfect things for a casual outfit like this.

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Coord 5: Brown Tones

| Angelic Pretty Royal Unicorn Switching JSK | Axes Femme blouse | Innocent World Fleurs Checkered OTKs | Modo Prayer Poem shoes | Physical Drop headbow | handmade earrings | Folk and Fortune Ruby Hilt Dagger brooch |

When I bought this headbow, I had a moment of guilt, knowing that I was impulse buying. But given how frequently I've reached for it, I now feel that I should've gotten it in more colours.

My other recent brooch love. Although this one is not as easy to slot into multiple outfits as the book stack one.

First of all, I'd like to say that I write my coord roundups as they happen and this one I wrote on my phone. The fact that predictive text got pretty much that whole list of items down with barely any prompting from me is actually nuts. Am I that predictable with my styling choices? My phone seems to think that this is my template.

As for the actual coord, it was a working from home day and my main thing was that I wanted to wear this incredibly badass brooch from Folk and Fortune. I couldn't go too fantasy because of time and other practical constraints, but when has daggers and gobelin not worked together like a dream? Once again, wearing an outfit all in shades of brown with some gold touches had me reevaluating my entire wardrobe and the choices within it. I won't jump ship, don’t worry, but it is incredible how intensively the thoughts of adding more brown keep coming back.

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Coord 6: Double the Doll

| Angelic Pretty Cinema Doll JSK | offbrand cutsew, tights, hair clip, and earrings | Innocent World Original Lace Millefeuille bolero | Elf Armorie Cupid’s Heart shoes | Promised Land Creations necklace | Rose Marie Seoir necklace | Manda Rin Designs brooches |

An attempt was made at curling my hair using hair straighteners. Every time I think I understand how that works, reality proves me wrong.

The inspiration vs the art. Manda Rin did such an incredible job with these Cinema Doll brooches.

Two Cinema Dolls!

When the Vintage Home Show came to Manchester, and to Victoria Baths no less, I signed up as quickly as I could. Looking for fun home decor stuff and checking out the venue for The Queen is Dead? Yes, please! At the previous CLAM meetup it also transpired that both Jo and Gee, TQiD organisers, own Cinema Doll, so since we decided to combine the event with event planning, we decided to triplet that too. Unfortunately, Gee couldn't make it in the end, so tripleting turned to twinning. The leather jackets were probably the most coincidental part of this twinning because we both needed a practical layer and we both would've worn ours anyway. The vintage home show was nice, nothing quite to my taste (or price range), but lots of fun kitsch things to look at nonetheless. Wandering around Victoria Baths and seeing how it will all come together for June was infinitely more fun and I am already so hyped for all the cool photos that will come out of that.

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Coord 7: Kind of Minnie

| Bodyline L262 JSK | Axes Femme cutsew | offbrand tights, hair ties, and earrings | Elf Armorie Cupid’s Heart shoes | Chrysanthemum’s Concerto necklace | AatP Tulle Lace wrist cuffs |

So many dots!

A somewhat... I guess uncomfortable?, detail shot - but definitely an honest one as that was one of the big feature points of this whole outfit.

There’s kind of no way to wear a red and black look with lots of polka dots without giving off a Minnie Mouse vibe. And that’s OK, Minnie’s style is iconic and recognisable worldwide, so within the comfort of my own home I can do that. I was actually looking for something vaguely retro to wear to see My Beautiful Laundrette at the theatre that evening, as well as something that’d be appropriate for working from home, and this managed to do both.

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Coord 8: More Spring

| Angelic Pretty Diner Doll JSK | The Seamstress of Bloomsbury Jive blouse | Pinky Girls cardigan | Roji Roji OTKs | Irregular Choice Flickety Kiss shoes | Pink Up Fanny’s Dressing Table hair clip | Candy Kitsch earrings | Folk and Fortune Late Night Diner necklace | Folk and Fortune Romance Book Club Book Stack brooch | Trixie La Fleur Milkshake brooch |

It's a bit of a shame that the glasses, as great as they are, hide the fact that I toned down my usual blue eyeshadow with a layer of sparkly green one that made it more minty and matching the dress better.

Another ecclectic choice of accessories, some there to match the print and some just to match the colours.

Oh yes, this very much is the same cardi and socks base as earlier this month. These are my only big yellow pieces, so there’s no avoiding some level of repetition. That being said, by this point March was well into actual spring and the blue skies with sunshine warranted something appropriate. Diner Doll is such a bright pastel print that makes it perfect for spring and the outfit sort of came together all on its own. The only thing that I’d change if I could is the hair accessory. I love me a big bow at the back of the head, but I feel this would be better suited either to some clips right where I pinned my hair back or a small headbow. How long have I had this dress? Clearly for long enough to know that I should invest in a few more mint bits. Also, that same evening I went to the supermarket - I was going to change out of this coord because I didn't have the energy to deal with the attention, but I also didn't want to change fully just to go out, so I bit the bullet and just did the thing. And I am very glad that I did because a mother with a daughter (around 7 years old maybe) stopped me to compliment my outfit and the daughter said that I looked like Barbie and she likes Barbie. My heart melted, my eyes watered, it was so worth it just for that one moment.

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Coord 9: Pre-D&D Filming

| Lady Sloth Slavic Bestiary JSK | Lady Sloth Glitter Mesh blouse | Angelic Pretty Crown Ribbon OTKs | Modo Prayer Poem shoes | Cutie Creator headbow | Folk and Fortune Fleur-de-lys earrings | Risu Rose necklace | Folk and Fortune Ruby Hilt Dagger brooch | offbrand corset |

Some days you just embrace a big sticky-outy bow on top of your head.

These earrings are just as sparkly as the photo makes them out to be.

Was filming before a D&D session when you've woken up with a sore throat a sensible idea? No, probably not. But I was determined to film and had this planned for a while, delayed by something not arriving in time, so I applied all of the precautions I could to minimise the impact. This outfit was one that needed to be put on before I could see that it'd work. The Whering flatlay was all over the place with colours, but once it was on, I knew exactly what to add and how to style it. Sure, I'd have loved to do something more OTT with this concept, but the whole coord was yeeted off the moment I was finished filming, so there was little point in going too hard for a video. I'll just shelve the ideas for later.

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There was a bunch of coords that were due to happen whilst still in March, with it being Easter and all, but at this point I don’t think that they will happen as I fell ill right before that. So if anything does change about that, I’ll just add it to April’s post. This here is still an interesting assortment of coords and colours for March, probably one that has the fewest looks that are fully 'template me' so to speak. There are elements of my template in most of them, but inevitably with a twist. It’s definitely what kept me more interested at a time when the transition between the seasons, the unpredictable weather, and the boredom with the designated autumn/winter pieces can get me down. Once the wardrobe switch takes place, I imagine there will be a bit more of a typical me assortment of looks, at least initially. Or maybe not – I’m excited to see either way!