Cupcake Kamisama's Lolita World: 2024

31 Dec 2024

December Coords Roundup

I thought that maybe I’d have it in me to frill up again post-Christmas, but it turned out that I didn’t.

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Coord 1: Finishing the Decorating

A different kind of a selfie.

All the gingerbread accessories.

Kicked December off with a healthy dose of falalalala. I finished decorating my flat (meaning that all the fabric things: tablecloth, bedding, pillows, oven glove etc. came out to play) and a comfy coord like this really helped with getting into the spirit. Earlier this year I also acquired a very cute vintage apron, which when I put on, it really matched the coord quite well, so I took the chance to snap a picture with that and with my Christmas tree too for extra vibes.

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Coord 2: Festive Work

It's been a while since I braided a ribbon into my hair and whilst my hair is a little too short, it still just about works.

A very correct gift from friends.

Due to a range of reasons, I was working at home on the first Monday of December, which naturally meant dressing up. Although I did most of it during a really big work meeting that I only needed to listen in on rather than participate, then promptly took off a handful of the bits once the photos were done. Still, gold and red, tartan touches, festive ribbons, all of that really made the Monday so much nicer and although I would’ve liked to swap my hair bits around next time (i.e. do a tartan ribbon and a gold headbow), since only the ribbons stayed after the photos, I’m not too mad about it.

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Coord 3: Travelling to York

Nothing fancy and keeping things practical for travelling to York for ILD, which I have decided to turn into a treat with a fancy hotel stay. Transporting petticoat by wearing it and all that.

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Coord 4: Winter ILD

Don't ask me how I managed that glowy look, I'm quite baffled myself.

Best ouji accessory.

After 5 long years of separation, we returned to the Grand Hotel in York for an afternoon tea. I am ever so grateful that I chose to stay in York the night before because this was the most relaxed that I’d been getting to a meet, even including Storm Darragh. The coord came out so well and every location where it got photographed I have some lovely snaps. The textures worked beautifully and I was toasty enough. Even my hair and bonnet survived the short walk in the wind, which is an ILD miracle. It was a lovely day of good food and good yapping, which is all that we want from an ILD celebration.

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Coord 5: A Packed Day

| Metamorphose Polka Dots skirt | Angelic Pretty Logo Embroidery Turtleneck cutsew | everything else is offbrand |

Don't mind the frizz, that's inevitable when you walk to work.

I feel like every year, without a fail, if I wear this jumper, then this is the detail shot.

A blatant re-do of a coord from December 2023, with only a few minor changes. Namely the cutsew, boots, and headwear for comfort reasons. It was the day of the work Christmas meal, so I wanted both comfort and festivity. And that same day I was going to see a show, Miracle on the 34th Street musical, so I also wanted to not have to change between day and evening. The coord worked well and I’m very happy with the Christmas lunch we had.

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Coord 6: Cosy Snowflake

The gold flecks, by the way, are the lights on my Christmas tree reflecting in my glasses.

A snowflake on a snowflake.

I’ve features one of my Christmas jumpers, time for another one. Since that week I only had one day working at home, I really wanted to capitalise on that with a nice outfit. The jumper is so soft and warm and although not explicitly Christmassy, the Fancy Border socks (and print generally) does give me Christmas sweater vibes, so the two pair really well together.

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Coord 7: CLAM Christmas Lunch

The daft selfie I took because I was feeling it turned out way nicer than any of the other ones, so I've been using it everywhere.

If you want to see the gif version of this detail pic, then head to my Instagram.

As it is now the third one in a row, I can officially declare it an annual tradition! The CLAM Christmas lunch is one of my proudest moments, every one of these fills me with so much festive community spirit and joy to fill up the bar for the rest of the year. So naturally, I go as festive as I can with the coords too. This idea started with the tights and then the moment I realised that I have my favourite shoes in both red and green, the two most festive colours, everything else just sort of happened. I really like how it came together and whilst I would love to try this with some kind of Christmassy overskirt next time, this is more in the spirit of rewearing the same coord, but slightly different, not an improvement on a current lack as such. The lunch was as filling and delicious as the previous two years. It’s always great to see the mix of faces: regulars, haven’t-been-in-a-whiles, newer people… The atmosphere was so lovely and warming, and I am already looking forward to doing this next year!

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Coord 8: Subtle Golds

The rare full face of makeup for working from home because this peachy blush doesn't show up otherwise.

Gold? Check. Snoflakes? Check. Subtlety? Check.

Taking advantage of a WFH Monday, I dressed up with the intention of doing some filming during my lunch break. I realised that whilst I’ve coorded this dress with white and with gold, I’ve never done an entirely beige/ivory coord, and thankfully this one was so easy to wear and easy to wear. And basically everything had some sort of a gold detail, so I pulled it through more with jewellery, picking at my snowflakes specifically in a nod to it being December and pre-Christmas.

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Coord 9: Work Festive

Now, I’m not exactly counting that as a lolita coord, but it’s using enough lolita pieces that I felt it worth documenting. And since I’ve taken a photo, then it can go here. Not every coord you’ll wear will be Instagram perfection and that’s fine. Just wish there were better photo spots in and around my office.

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Coord 10: Winter Beast

I completely forgot that I have a pair of earrings that would've worked so much nicer with this coord.

All the shades of blue in here.

Not sure why I haven’t really considered coordinating this print with cool tones before when it is very clearly what it needs. But I did now and that’s what matters. The last working day of the year and I was at home, mostly doing everything but working. Whilst I’m not necessarily raving about this particular coord as such, it’s nice but not incredible, it has given me ideas on how to style this JSK going forward, which is the more important thing here.

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Coord 11: Fun and Games

My Mum's balcony is gorgeous, but also awkward with light - the best one is always in the least pretty spots.

This is not quite Spy, but a black cat is always good.

During my Christmas break I took one day away to hang out with my DnD friends. Dressing up was completelt optional, but how could I not? I still kept things to a relative minimum and my friends called my outfit as giving The Muppets Christmas Carol in a good way, which, whilst not intentional, I embrace fully. It was a lovely day playing board games and chatting shit, a very good day of rest.

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Coord 12: Baking Day

Carrying on with the small capsule wardrobe, here's an iteration that was worn for a day of baking before Christmas Eve. Not much to say about this and it's also why I didn't bother taking a better picture.

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Coord 12: Christmas Eve

Once again I send praises to Meitu for making something usable out of these horribly lit pictures.

The funny (to me) part is that everyone else thought that I was dressed to the nines when I genuinely went for comfort and ease first.

When thinking of what to wear for Christmas Eve, my priorities were comfort, ability to accommodate food, ease of packing, and then fanciness. Physical Drop came to the rescue with this OP and delivered all of that impact with barely any styling. It's a shame that my parents’ house is so dark and I didn't want to pack my lights as well as the mini tripod, because I went with green earrings, shoes, and barrette to have a red x green Christmassy coord that's disappearing in this darkness despite the help from Meitu.

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Coord 13: No Photo

I couldn’t be bothered with moving things or weird mirror selfie angles, so I decided not to bother with taking a photo. This Whering collage will give you a good enough idea of how cute I looked for family board games.

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And just like that, we made it to the last coords roundup post of 2024. What a year it has been. I’ll reflect on it properly in another post, especially as I want to dedicate some serious thought to my goals for 2025 (and whether I want to set any). For now though, I feel that I am leaving the year in a good place and with some good coords under my belt. Whether you were able to frill lots this year or only a little or even not at all – may you enter the new year content and safe, then stay that way.

29 Nov 2024

November Coords Roundup

For a month that’s usually dark and quite dreary, it feels to have gone pretty quickly this time round.

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Coord 1: Casual Errands

November was a big month of using blush for eyeshadow, even if not every instance of that makeup style got captured on a photo.

Velvet ribbons attract fluff like nobody's business, don't they?

I made myself go into town for a few small errands and wanted something cute yet casual to wear. This cutsew is perfect for the season and weather, and together with the solid colour tights they give off very fun art teacher vibes. And the look even ended up going on an impromptu bonfire night thing, though with much, much more practical shoes, of course.

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Coord 2: More Errands

Sadly, this blouse and it's ivory counterpart will have to leave, they are not it anymore for me.

The four hearts of the coord.

Or more like finishing the one errand that I didn’t get round to the Saturday before, though I also set up my new Xbox in this (minus the shoes, they were just for pictures). I like the business cute vibes of this, they suited working from home. And the secret Christmas lofi tracks that I was playing whilst working.

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Coord 3: Liverpool Comic Con

Forever shocked in retro-style selfies.

Honestly? I wish that I was more into the look of striped socks because they are so comfy.

Obviously cons are an excuse to go with something that stands out a little bit more and since this was a Western con (as opposed to an anime one), I decided to go with the Dumb Burger Dress. It’s comfortable, has a pocket, and stands out sufficiently. The coord itself isn’t massively complicated, I coordinated for warmth and comfort first, but thanks to the print it’s impactful enough. Though since I went with my boyfriend who was in cosplay (as One Punch Man), for once he was getting more attention than I was. It was nice that he got asked for pictures by so many people. I managed to hand out two leaflets for the bring and buy, and even found one thing to buy for myself, so whilst I won’t be in a rush to go back to another con like this, it was a good day and I enjoyed myself.

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Coord 4: Wintry Packing

I was going to do more to this coord, but then the day rolled on, I was working (from home but still) and I had so many random things to pack that comfort and efficiency took priority. It wasn’t quite snowy outside, but mid-November was pretty chilly, so the snowflake themed stuff was very appropriate.

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Coord 5: Bring and Buy Organiser Twins

The face of someone who has not yet gotten themselves overwhelmed with the amount of clothes.

Captain Chris love and supremacy!

We did it! Several months of pretty intense work and The Big Northern EGL Bring and Buy happened, being a resounding success. My wonderful co-host, @heartmarblecookie, and I have twinned Meta’s Bubble Bath, both because we could and because a mint and pink coord reflected the whole event branding perfectly. Flats were absolutely necessary for all the running around and since it is the middle of November, warm layers were also a must. The coord was just the right level of comfy that I needed for all of the event organising and so many people commented on how cute our twinning look was when they spotted us next to one another (difficult to see the twinning when we’re both running around in different directions). As fun as it was to put the bring and buy on, we’ll wait a little bit before doing another one of this size though. Although I will equally happily pass the baton on to someone so that I can appreciate the masses of clothes that were brought in.

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Coord 6: Sunday Brunch

That should've been the look of worry at how I needed more warmth.

We are totally going to pretend that the lovely ribbed textures of the cutsew and the ribbon were the point of this detail shot.

The day after my friend, @_chrissii_, who was staying with me, and I wanted to go out for brunch. So for that and for the colder weather I went with full shirring and warm knits, although I really should’ve changed my shoes after the pictures. We dawdled too long in the morning watching daft videos online, so we missed our chance for a proper brunch, but a trip to Popeye’s was still good (their festive burger may not be very festive, but it is delicious, I recommend). Once I dropped her off at the train station and returned home, however, the whole coord was yeeted off in favour of me yeeting myself into a hot bath after a cold trip outside. All my fault though, so hold off on the sympathy, I don’t think I deserve it here.

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Coord 7: Warm Knits

That bare minimum effort look.

Oh no, not another one? Oh yes! Another one!

Although apparently not warm enough and I still needed another layer over me. That being said, the coord turned out cute and it was great for working from home, then finally decorating (I did not have the energy for that on post-Bring and Buy Sunday).

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Coord 8: More Warm Knits

Also been very much into doing my whole face with just one lipstick. And by 'whole' I mean as a lipstick, blush, and eyeshadow.

The picture doesn't quite capture the width of these leg warmers, but it certainly captures how cosy they are.

Temperatures have gone to below 0°C outside, which means that the inside is chilly too. And lolita is great if what you need is layering. Having remembered about these leg warmers, I quickly whipped up a coord in Whering and it proved to be a winner in 3D as well. Don’t diss leg warmers, people, they really do work.

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Coord 9: Enchanted Curiosities Market

Still debating with myself whether this look is actually gothic lolita or not. But it gathered a lot of compliments at the market.

November saw a 300% increase in Captain Chris in my household. I've gone from 0 Captain Chris things to 3, this one being a gift from @_chrissii_ from her trip to Japan.

Another attempt at gothic by a mostly sweet-classic lolita. An alternative market was held in Manchester, a prime opportunity to do some Secret Santa shopping, so I wanted to dress appropriately. I like how this coord came out. It's more me than a typical goth coord would be – even if I still felt like a little bit of an impostor when all the lovely stall holders complimented me. It's hard to tell people that you're more into white and gold when all you're wearing is black and silver, you know? But despite that and despite the rain, it was a very good day and a very good market, I hope that it will happen again for all my friends who couldn't make it.

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I stopped at this, a nice highlight to wrap the post up on, because the various work commitments meant that I was left with little energy for frills. But rest assured that the moment December hits (i.e. this Sunday) I will be at it once more with my relentless festive cheer. Up until I run out of that, of course. Maybe in my 40s I will learn to balance myself out better, that seems far more achievable than doing that in my 30s.

31 Dec 2024

December Coords Roundup

*~*~*~*Coord 1: Finishing the Decorating

*~*~*~*Coord 2: Festive Work

*~*~*~*Coord 3: Travelling to York

*~*~*~*Coord 4: Winter ILD

*~*~*~*Coord 5: A Packed Day

*~*~*~*Coord 6: Cosy Snowflake

*~*~*~*Coord 7: CLAM Christmas Lunch

*~*~*~*Coord 8: Subtle Golds

*~*~*~*Coord 9: Work Festive

*~*~*~*Coord 10: Winter Beast

*~*~*~*Coord 11: Fun and Games

*~*~*~*Coord 12: Baking Day

*~*~*~*Coord 12: Christmas Eve

*~*~*~*Coord 13: No Photo

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