August Coords Roundup

The last full month of summer has been more like a letter to the upcoming season, with a few small exceptions. Then again, it looks like this because on days when it was hot, more often than not I opted for something that isn’t frills.

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Coord 1: Sporty Casual

| BtSSB Dreaming Sherbet skirt | Axes Femme cutsew | offbrand socks, shoes, hair clips, and earrings | handmade choker and bracelets | Madillustration Dream On brooch |

Of course I had to be seen by one of my bf's friends in the roller and then the fringe didn't fully set...

A big part of this month was spent working on making dreams come true, actually, thank yew.

Or as sporty as frills can go. We spent the day with my bf’s friends playing disc golf, so something more appropriate was needed. This meant coording around the shoes first and since I already had to buy these as an emergency at the last meetup, then they might as well come out more. The light and dark blue monochrome worked well, although I’m very annoyed that in all that time that I’ve had a fringe, this is the first time that the curling totally failed me and I had to pin it back. We had a very fun day, if quite draining, so I tied it off with a relaxing bath at the end.

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Coord 2: A Hint of Spice

| Victorian Maiden Shirring Frill JSK | offbrand top, cardigan, earrings, necklace, and ring | Angelic Pretty Cinema Doll OTKs | Hush Puppies boots | handmade headbow | Tea and Paintwater brooch | Lady Sloth Winter Spices necklace |

It's somehow wild to me that this was in August, it feels like I wore this coord in another lifetime.

Can you smell the cinnamon yet?

Cool weather with rains and winds, as well as ceaseless capitalist advertising of the seasons ahead? Oh yeah, get me into that autumnal mood! I’ve yearned to wear this cardigan again and been feeling more cottagecore vibes again, which is what brought you this coord. That and me unexpectedly having to be social, after only 3 days since the previous social interaction (see coord above), so I sought a compromise between being dressed up and still toned down. Gods, it felt good to rep those early autumn vibes!

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Coord 3: In Charge

| Mary Magdalene Paulina JSK | offbrand top | Angelic Pretty Crown Ribbon OTKs | Hush Puppies boots | handmade hat and belt | Ebony and Ivory clip | Melty Wish earrings | Angelic Pretty Royal Unicorn necklace | AatP The Mouse King★Gualtiero Medal Pin II | 4Aces ring |

Please, disregard the unfortunate amounts of fluff this hat attracts.

This medal was awarded for Most Nonsense Worn During Work Hours.

It started with wanting to wear this dress. Then I remembered the tricorn that I hadn’t worn in aaaages. This morphed into a ‘Can I make a somewhat military themed coord without any additional outerwear’. Throw in a sprinkle of ‘Oooh, I should add wine red accents because I really want to wear this brooch’ – and here we are. Of course, the internet isn’t real life, so the hat, belt, and boots got yeeted the moment the photos were done, but other than that, this coord saw me through the whole work day. I’m very pleased with how it all came together, the vibes were just as I pictured and it is always a joy to wear my namesake dress.

Enjoy Captain Chris, who is in charge whenever I'm away.

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Coord 4: Bristol Summer

| Metamorphose Lovely Forest skirt | Axes Femme cutsew | offbrand bolero, brooch, and bracelets | memery shoes | Cutie Creator hat | Crafty Witch by Nix earrings | Q-Pot Teabag necklace |

Sun, wind, and humidity killed most of my fringe by then, but I still like how joyful this selfie looks.

A creature in its natural habitat.

For a weekend trip to Bristol spent in the good company of a friend, I needed something that was packing-proof, walking-proof, and summer-proof. And whilst I would’ve cooked in this had the weather stayed true to the original forecast of 30°C sunshine (for once, thank you, winds), this coord fulfilled all three of those criteria excellently. 25k steps later my legs were killing me, but way more from exertion than actual discomfort. And I can confidently say that Bristol is a great place to visit and very frill-friendly in that at no point have I felt gawked at and the locals were nothing but lovely about the frills.

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Coord 5: Brunch and Drive

| Violet Fane Otome Nostalgia skirt | offbrand T-shirt, barrette, badge, and pin | Angelic Pretty Airy Dot socks | memery shoes | Glitter from Wonderland earrings | Mademoiselle Boutique necklace | handmade bracelets |

Sometimes I'm a One Take Selfie Master. This was one of those times.

Don't worry, I warned my friend that the T-shirt and pin weren't meant as a passive aggressive message at her.

We met up the day after, now joined by our partners, for some souffle pancakes at Fluffy Fluffy before we had to get on the long road back home. The T-shirt was more for comfort, though it pretty accurately reflected my energy levels after trekking the entire city back and forth the day before. Comfort was everything and this coord too has delivered. 

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Coord 6: Green Monochrome

| After Midnight The First Semester JSK | offbrand blouse | Snag tights | Elf Armorie Cupid's Heart shoes | Cutie Creator headbow | Vivienne Westwood Lorelei studs | Vivienne Westwood Mini Bas-Relief Orb pendant | vintage brooch |

I caved in to get another e.l.f. blush, this time a coral one, bringing my collection up to four shades now.

This brooch was part of a friends' grandma's place clearout, so we've no clue how this bit of damage happened or anything else about the brooch, really.

It's been another day that allowed for a long sleeve and I couldn't say no to that. It's fun how both my light and dark greens are all from different sources, yet in their respective groupings they are far better colour matches than any of the other colours in my collection. Makes it extremely easy to put something with minimum effort.

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Coord 7: Don’t Overthink It

| Summer Fairy Limited Menu JSK | offbrand blouse and beret | BtSSB Secret AIR MAIL from Sweet Kitty OTKs | Elf Armorie Cupid’s Heart shoes | Imperial Fiddlesticks headbow | handmade bracelets |

It was dark with rainclouds and I've had to turn the light on in my office, so please, ignore any weird shadows.

The only bit of jewellery on this coord.

As the name suggests, the whole point of this was to not overthink it. In the spirit of just wearing stuff without the pressure of it needing to be good, I pulled this out for working from home. Nothing more, just the clothes, most things got taken off post-pictures, job’s a good ‘un.

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Coord 8: Kawaii Saturday

| Angelic Pretty Diner Doll JSK and OTKs | offbrand top, shoes, and earrings | BtSSB Princess Drop combs | Folk and Fortune Late Night Diner necklace | Star Glazed Delights Brandwhore ring | Candy Kitsch ring | Fluffy Tori Kawaii AF pin |

Once again, if anyone knows of a good, pigmented, cruelty-free light blue eyeshadow, please, send me some links, this one really needs replacing.

Defiantly kawaii (and only a little bit self-conscious about that).

Was there a reason to dress up? Absolutely not. But it was a Saturday and I could, so I did. Felt like this was a good balance between a fun idea and staying comfy (obviously the shoes were just for the photos). I finally watched K-Pop Demon Hunters, so I can get even more obsessed with the songs than I had been already. It’s nice to have finally joined a popular bandwagon again, in a way. Although it also made me want to look cool and badass, which I feel like I extremely rarely do, so then seeing this pastel kawaii reflection was extra jarring.

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Coord 9: Elegant Blue

| BtSSB Dreaming Sherbet skirt | Axes Femme cutsew | offbrand socks and hair tie | Irregular Choice Flickety Kiss shoes | Cutie Creator Maiden’s Prayer headbow | Pypah’s Art earrings | Tiny Passerine Creations necklace | Le Petit Four bracelet | Japanese indie ring |

So, so glad that I kept these silly gemstone bow hair ties I bought in Korea back in like 2014 for peanuts. Occasionally they are exactly the right tough of cuteness.

We love unexpected matches from different brands.

Or rather what you wear when you’re at home and things aren’t quite laundry-ready yet. The mish-mash of the various shades of blue ended up working together well enough, though I feel like that’s only just tipped over the right side of the balance. Still, I was comfy, I felt good about myself, and the look came together well. A winner on all accounts.

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Coord 9: Sweet-Classic

| Innocent World Revival Sweets Teddybear JSK | Axes Femme cutsew | Innocent World Shell Lace Milefeuille bolero | Red Maria tights | Hush Puppies boots | handmade (not by me) headbow | Pypah’s Art earrings | Latte Galaxy brooch | Slightly Ghosts pin | Tiny Passerine Creations ring |

It's amazing how big a difference simple makeup can still make.

Axes Femme is such a great brand, forever thankful that their tops go for only a couple of quid on the second hand market.

Freshly back from alterations, this JSK is comfier than ever thanks to Naddine Atelier. For the first coord post-alterations I pulled out some of the newer items in my wardrobe, wanting to use this actually sleeveless cutsew that I bought specifically for this kind of layering. Is this very classic styling jarring with the print? I don’t think so. To me Innocent World has always done best when styled with other Innocent World items and even their sweet releases have that classic, nostalgic, slightly vintage feel to them, which to me translates as making this coord work. So the coord worked and so did I since I actually did have to put my head down and get stuff done during work hours.

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I say goodbye to August with a sense of eagerness for autumn and a readiness to wind down. I know that I’ve been saying that for a while, the wanting to wind down was something I think I either mentioned or alluded to in every post this year, but one simply has to continue to manifest those things. This is the first year when I feel like decorating for autumn and Halloween, which has me scrolling through Vinted and TKMaxx’s website for decorations that I could easily place around the flat. And all the time, in the background, subtle yet steadily growing louder, is a sound of jingling bells…

Keep Calm and Carry On

Interestingly (though maybe not), I’ve found myself in or witnessing a discussion on effectively burnout with lolita fashion in a few different groups now. Some have called it ‘lack of inspiration’, others phrased it as ‘lolita doesn’t feel fun for me anymore’, but the end result of people feeling uninspired and unmotivated with the fashion is the same. And although I understand these sentiments, even relate to them on some level, I find myself relatively unaffected by those. I’ve adopted a similar mindset as I have with my fiction writing where I don’t accept such a thing as a ‘writer’s block’ – if I persist and carry on writing, then the writing will happen. Doing the same with lolita, dressing up even if I don’t always feel like the coord is that good, has had a similarly positive effect on my creativity.

Or has it?

Picture by Anna Tarazevich from Pexels.com.

There is a touch of sadness in the “the horrors persist, but so do I” sentiment. It’s great that we persist — but we shouldn’t have to. The world is all flavours of messed up right now. That fact is as inescapable as the news and no matter how hard we may try to reach for that sweet escapism, the knowledge that we’re still escaping something remains at the back of our minds. Being creative takes energy, which is why so many adults are worn out by full-time jobs and household responsibilities. And even your rules textbook following lolitas need that creative energy in order to put together a coord, to even feel like putting one together. When all of their energy gets sucked up by basic survival and trying to avoid the existential dread, of course that people aren’t feeling like there’s any left for frilly fashion. The number of times recently when I too made that choice, prioritised comfort because I did not have the physical resources to deal with thinking up an outfit and then wearing it, are proof enough that those who are experiencing it worse are very valid in that.

But then we shrink things down to a smaller scale and I too seem to have fallen victim to some of that apathy, even if it manifests itself differently. There have been quite a few outfits recently that I didn’t like. I’ve talked about defending bad coords before, arguing that they are just as important as the good ones, and I stand by that. It’s possible to acknowledge that bad coords are important for growth and still not like the specific example. As I progressively sell more of my wardrobe, I find that whilst I am getting happier with what I own, this doesn’t immediately translate to some magic burst of inspiration or creativity for wearing things. And as anyone who’s actively and visibly online in creative spaces like EGL social media will know, it takes conscious work to overcome the dread of “having to” post stuff. I know that I don’t have to and I know that I decide what gets shared. That doesn’t shut up the monkey brain demanding the positive hormonal responses associated with meeting arbitrary targets (post something every day on Instagram) or getting the validation for it (likes, reactions, and comments). 

Over the course of this year I’ve stepped back from meetups. Not just organising, as per my own goal for 2025, but attending too. Most of that is circumstantial, as my nearest comm is also low on people willing to host meetups compared to some other ones, and I don’t blame people for prioritising their energy elsewhere. Some of that is cost: having moved now means that a casual meetup just to grab some food or drink is often not worth the return travel price or a 6am wakeup to make it to a 12 noon start time. But I still miss meetups. The community spirit at those is like nothing else and as great as smaller, private gatherings with friends are, sometimes those are even more of a faff to organise as now it’s a matter of matching schedules instead of just throwing down a date/time/place and seeing who turns up. The motivation to dress up simply feels different with an external factor like someone else doing the work and you only needing to turn up on time. Is this a strong enough pull to make me break my 2025 goal? No, I don’t think so. I’m getting by with the early planning stages of the annual Christmas lunch. Because ultimately, it’s quality over quantity.

If anything, whilst the motivations can run low and we go through the natural fluctuations with whatever hobbies/special interests we have (all perfectly normal stuff that happens to everyone), it brings something else into perspective: that these are. just. clothes. Keep wearing them, even if you’re not wowed by everything and miss more often than you hit, and you’ll keep that creative muscle in shape for when the mood lifts enough for your creativity to flourish or for the occasion to demand something more. Keep at it, even if only a little bit here or there, ride that low out, and when things start moving back to a high, you’ll be ready for whenever the missing piece clicks back into place. Once you achieve that mindset, then does it matter if you’re not wearing a petticoat to sit at home and stuff your face with crisps? What’s the big deal in pulling out a cutsew to wear with your jeans? And who will tell you off for skipping every single accessory and even brushing your hair if all you want is the comfort of that cutsew sack OP that may as well be pyjamas? They’re just clothes and they’re your clothes. You’re not obliged to wear them in any particular way. You’re not even obliged to wear them at all if you don’t want to right now.

What you are obliged to do is to drop the guilt about all of that. If times are tough, for you or for the whole world, then sure, your “persisting” and continuous joyful self-expression may lift others up, as well as yourself. But if it’s tiring you out and you decide that “persisting” can wait, then it can wait. Your interest in this fashion and its world is no less valid for it. You should simply keep calm and carry on doing whatever helps in the moment. The fun and energy for the fashion will return when the time is right.  

1 Dress 4 Looks Take 75

You know that a release is limited when you stop talking to your boyfriend for five minutes in the middle of waiting for a table at a restaurant on his birthday weekend to buy it. Yup, true story of how I acquired this dress. A few months of production time later The Black Ribbon’s Rococo Rose is with me in all its classic glory. Just in case Meta’s Charlotte JSK wasn’t enough classic florals to add to my wardrobe.

Look 1: Delicate Pink

| offbrand top and earrings | Angelic Pretty Romantic Angel OTKs | Elf Armorie Cupid’s Heart shoes | Cutie Creator Maiden’s Prayer headbow | Enchantlic Enchantilly necklace | vintage bag |

First is an attempt at getting close to a monochrome. Not easy given the base shade of this fabric. I thankfully have enough of similar things to put something together and this is definitely a coord that’d be easy to throw on for a last minute meetup or something. Or even for a solo potter around a museum (haven't done that in a wihle).

Look 2: Tea Rose

| Axes Femme cutsew | Angelic Pretty Cinema Doll OTKs | Laura Ashley shoes | handmade (not by me) headbow | Q-Pot Teabag necklace | offbrand necklace | Risu Rose ring |

Named so not because of the colour of the flower, but because I wanted to infuse the coord with a tea theme. Tbh, just thinking about it makes me want to put the kettle on and brew something nice to go with this. Still keeping it simple and trying to maintain the focus more on the necklaces, but it’s just that little bit more interesting than merely an ivory-based coord.

Look 3: Softly Blue

| Millefleurs blouse | Innocent World OTKs | Modo Prayer Poem shoes | Triple Fortune bonnet | Tiny Passerine Creations The Duches’ Tea parure |

Despite getting rid of a lot of my blue pieces, I am still keeping some and therefore can pull out the soft blue accents from the print. Hopefully. The bonnet is taking this into quite OTT territory, which may be a bit of an overkill. The picture doesn’t seem to do those blue flowers in the print the kind of justice that I was hoping for though and the whole thing looks like it needs a bit more blue, as well as some interest, across the skirt or torso. Maybe the morun x muuna stoik overskirt would’ve fixed that?

Look 4: Fresh Spring

| Axes Femme cutsew | Innocent World Rose Lace Milefeuille bolero | Angelic Pretty Salon de The Rose OTKs | offbrand shoes and ring | Imogen’s Imagination beret | belt from Physical Drop’s Shirring 3-Tier OP | vintage brooch | Wax Poetic necklace |

I see green in the fabric and I add green to the outfit, simple as that. I tried to vary it up a little from the many previous variations by not going for the same OTKs or headbow as I usually do. And let me tell you, I’m very glad that I got that beret, even if it took me a while to realise the Imogen’s Imagination’s beret supremacy.


This soft shade of pink is pretty close to my Victorian Maiden dress, so I will also be trying ideas similar to what I’ve done with that. I can’t necessarily replicate the coords that I put together for that dress because I no longer own a big bunch of those pieces, plus by virtue of being a pattern, this one’s less versatile than a solid coloured main piece. Still, Rococo Rose will find a good home in my wardrobe and I may even (gasp) wear it as a sundress during the next round of heatwaves. It’s not like anyone can stop me.

July Coords Roundup

It seems that we’ve had nearly every possible weather in July and I frilled through practically all of it. 

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Coord 1: Pop Gig

| BtSSB Snow Dot skirt | Sweet Fragrance apron | Eat Me x tulle hair clip | Vivienne Westwood Lorelei studs | Vivienne Westwood Mini Bas Relief pendant | everything else is offbrand |

This is very much how pleased I was with the separate layers working seamlessly as one.

It's funny to think of my VW jewellery as the most normie jewellery I have.

I wasn’t even going to put on any frills. The weather was still warm and the gig venue would get even warmer, so I wanted maximum comfort. But as I played around with the bottom part of this apron in normie settings and it wasn’t working, my mind naturally went to this skirt – and the rest sort of just happened. It’s fun how despite being two different pieces, the mesh top and the apron skirt look like one. Everything else was kept relatively simple (one could say even quite normie), so that I didn’t have to interact too much at the gig. The gig itself was amazing, I went to see Matt Hansen after it was rescheduled from March and had the time of my life, singing every song along with the crowd. It was the epitome of the performer giving his best and standing in that crowd highlighted for me how girl gigs hit very different from boy gigs (better imho).

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Coord 2: Homely Charlotte

| Metamorphose Charlotte JSK | offbrand top, tights, and earrings | Laura Ashley shoes | headbow handmade by Jule | necklace handmade by me | Amadea Kingdom The Adventurer D4 brooch | Cutie Creator wrist cuffs |

Entering my floral dress era (finally).

Love that cute lil' charm.

I've owned this dress for too long without wearing it, to the point where it became a point on my weekly to-do list. I deliberately kept the coord simple, prioritising ease of wearing and comfort since all I did was stay at home, catch up on Bake Off: The Professionals, and play DnD in the evening. The DnD session was the reason for this brooch over one of the other more floral ones. And it was a lucky charm of sorts as not only we finished the campaign that we started… oh boy, I think 3 years ago now? – but we also managed to get the happy ending for everyone. Emotional times ensued and as a reward for completing my first DnD campaign, I finally bought the set of rose quartz dice that has been on my mind since at least the end of last year.

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Coord 3: Meta Weekend

| Metamorphose Airline JSK | offbrand top, shoes, beret, and earrings | Snag tights | Rose Marie Seoir choker | Swimmer badge | Donguri Kyouwakoku badge | Twinkle Kitty Boutique ring |

Always, always, always happy to wear this silly dress!

showing off the earrings, kawaii tootache edition.

Taking advantage of the weather being cooler, I brought out the orange. In a really simple way since, again, all I did was stay at home and do little bits. Including cooking up a bolognese sauce, which I’m not sure is the definition of courage or hubris when done in your most expensive, white dress, but I am happy to report that nothing happened to it. There is something interesting about the fact that some people associate me with the red/white/blue tricolour and others associate me with orange because of this dress. The duality of woman means that both are true, yet somehow, with how everything else has been going, the orange may be a little bit more me now than the tricolour?

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Coord 4: Dark Retro

| Grove Deer Moon of Eternal Day OP | offbrand tights, shoes, and scarf | Cutie Creator headdress | Three Little Pirates earrings | AatP Tulle wrist cuffs | 4Aces ring |

I've been really enjoying eyeliner-free looks recently.

Potentially using this coord as an excuse to get more neckerchiefs...

This coord is an exercise in “you can’t always plan everything”. I wanted to wear this OP. Looked through past coords and realised that I like it most when it’s styled in a fairly simple, classic, almost normie way, with an A-line silhouette. Decided to go darker with black, maybe lean a touch more gothic. And on the day, once the hair did its thing, as I was thinking what to put on my neck, I tried the scarf – and voila! I’m pretty happy with the result. Not like, ecstatic, but pretty happy. In a good way. It’s what I wanted, I felt good, considered whether I now need this OP in other colours, then went back to just enjoying a quiet working day.

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Coord 5: Too Hot – And Yet

| Violet Fane Ginza Kissaten skirt | Axes Femme cutsew | memery sandals | Cutie Creator headdress and wrist cuffs | Cosy Kawaii Mood earrings | Milkribbon Butterkeks brooch |

That colour changing blush from Barry M has been a real blessing during the hot days.

I will always hate coffee, but will also always love these earrings.

Otherwise known as the summer heatwave coord. Inspired by coord pics from people in the actual hot and tropical countries like Brazil, who still rock their frills, just in a much less by-the-rulebook way, I decided to have a go myself. And I see where they’re coming from, they are onto something. Because like I said back at the Geek Fayre, I would’ve been hot in anything, so might as well wear something cute – and this was actually pretty cool and served my needs well.

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Coord 6: Book Date

| The Black Ribbon Rococo Rose JSK | memery sandals | handmade earrings | vintage bracelet | everything else is offbrand |

I've gotten quite into French-braiding my hair around the mid-month point. I'm awful at it, but have found it oddly easier than regular braids? And these all came out way better than when I had long hair.

These Primark rings, I swear... Part of me thinks that if I ever find proper equivalents, I won't like them as much as I do these cheap ones.

I wasn’t planning on getting dressed up that day. But then my boyfriend asked me if I’d like to go with him to Waterstones and I immediately turned this into a lil’ adventure. Heathenous frilling continues with blouseless, bare-legged, sandal looks, but it was still very warm. I’m very pleased with how it came together, it’s exactly the sort of faux vintage, quite relaxed look that I wanted dresses like this in my wardrobe for. I ended up buying two books (we imposed a limit on ourselves so as to not go overboard) and then bought frozen pizzas to enjoy for dinner. A great date, all that could’ve improved it would be a fun drink, but the queues were too long to deal with.

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Coord 7: Blessed Rains

| Physical Drop Long Sleeve Shirring Dress | Innocent World Tulle Lace Millefeuille bolero | Violet Fane Antiquite tights | Elf Armorie Cupid’s Heart shoes | Cutie Creator Maiden Prayer headbow | vintage brooch | offbrand jewellery |

Ah yes, this is some point when I've fucked up my fringe with a way too careless trim, so please, don't look too closely at that.

Honestly, little beats a good cameo.

It’s been so warm and finally crashed with some rains, which thankfully coincided with me working from home. And it was finally cool enough for a long sleeve OP, so I wasted no time. The coord is basically a hatless version of the one from the 1 Dress 4 Looks Take 69 post – I tried the hat, but this style doesn’t work with a fringe and I had already curled it. Still, it made me feel elegant and like I should be going out to a soiree instead of hanging up laundry in between sitting at my desk. At least the Romantic Novelists’ Association meeting was that evening, so it wasn’t totally wasted.

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Coord 8: Folklore Summer

| Metamorphose Gold Braid Tuck Pinafore JSK | offbrand blouse and socks | morun x muuna stoic overskirt | belt from Physical Drops Long Sleeve Shirring Dress | Elf Armorie Cupid’s Heart shoes | AatP Sheherazade ~ A Thousand and One Nights ~ headdress | vintage necklace | Mademoiselle Boutique necklace | handmade bracelets | Star Glazed Delights Brand Whore ring |

Fringe makes wearing rectangle headdresses soooo much easier. I see why people love them. But I'm not sure if I'll stick with the fringe for long enough to make getting more worth it.

Forever folklore.

Capitalising on another cooler day, I decided to try something more folk-leaning with this JSK, since I wasn’t feeling anything black and I like how this dress can lean almost dirndl-looking. Although the discrepancy between the hemlines bothers me a little, overall I’m pretty pleased with this coord. Again, not wildly into it, but liking the result and how I felt. Maybe once I finally get my act together and get that wine underskirt, it will even itself out for future attempts.

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Coord 9: Blind Boxes and Bevs + DnD

| The Black Ribbon Konbini Market JSK | offbrand T-shirt, hair clips, and earrings | Angelic Pretty Airy Dot socks | Bodyline shoes | Angelic Pretty Fancy Crepe necklace | handmade choker and bracelets | Madillustration brooch | Bibelot Rose badge | Chocomint ring | Angelic Pretty Fancy Sods ring | Banned Retro Bella belt |

I tried a baby blue and pink makeup, which may not have quite worked out, but it still looked really fun. I also went for a more aegyo sal accentuating makeup, but I don't have a selfie that showcases both.

Sipping on my petty fun drink.

Me? Overstretching myself socially? Whatever gave that away? The meetup to exchange blind boxes over some food and drinks was in my calendar for a while, whereas the first session of the new DnD campaign got added to the day considerably later. I had this vision of an outfit that was cool, matching the market we ate at, looking like it'd fit against the backdrop of vintage film posters and neon signs. And thus this coord was born, after a few initial early attempts. It felt great to wear it, I love styling Konbini Market in such ways, the print lending itself well to more street fashion looks. It's a little sad then that the meet venue was too loud to comfortably converse. Even worse, my shoe literally disintegrated as I got off the train in Leeds and I had to make an emergency stop at Shoezone. But all in all, it was a good day. Long – but good.

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Coord 10: Gig Night

| Violet Fane Otome Nostalgia skirt | Lazy Oaf top | Cutie Creator tights | offbrand shoes and belt | Ruby Rose hair clip | Big Pink Boutique earrings | Lockhart Mansion 2 pendant | Strike a Pose pin | Six: The Musical pin | Lullabellz hair extensions |

Feeling like that bitch with my winged eyeliner and long braid.

RIP Ruby Rose, I still think about all the things I didn't get from you.

Boyfriend took me to the Billy Eilish gig and I tried my best to dress in something cool. I still wanted it to be lolita, which sadly meant not being able to wear my big fluffy NieR Clothing jacket, as that is just too long. But pink and black feel cool, so with a little bit of faffing here and there, I was able to put this together accompanied by “How It’s Done” from Kpop Demon Hunters (which I am still yet to see, but the tune is banging). I’m indifferent to Billie Eilish, but it’s nothing new for me now to go to gigs of artists that I only sort of like as a plus one. It was more like date night where we went out for food first and had the gig after. Shame it was a Wednesday, because I really would’ve loved to sleep off the gig before having to go to work. It was great, the biggest one I’d ever attended, literally never been in a queue that long – and once again, girl gigs are way better than boy gigs, nuff said.

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Coord 11: Love Stories etc. Day 1

| The Black Ribbon Rococo Rose JSK | offbrand top, tights, shoes, and brooch | Cutie Creator headbow |  Fantastic Grim Jewelry necklace | Crafty Witch by Nix earrings | vintage bracelet |

The fringe was wild in the morning! It settled later in the day with the humidity, but I didn't take any selfies later, so we're going to immortalise this instead.

Obviously I was going to wear a book necklace to a book event.

Love Stories etc. is a 2-day festival all about romance books – and the moment I saw it, I knew that I had to go. A chance to learn more about the inner works of the romance publishing industry, meet fellow writers/readers and industry professionals, talk kissing books for two days straight, and potentially make exactly the right connection? Erm, hell yeah! Although in my books, I opened the weekend with a toned down and simple coord, it still got plenty of compliments (and rightfully so, this dress is gorgeous). I even got recognised as a lolita by one of the invited authors who told me that her daughter wears lolita too, so in the nicest possible way, I’m not determined to see how many levels of separation we’ve crossed because lolita comms in the UK are so niche that we probably have plenty of mutuals somewhere. The day was great, I got the most generous goodie bag with my VIP ticket, and even though I was knackered by the end of it (a 10am to 8pm plus commuting is no joke), I left intellectually enriched and with my heart filled with positive energy. Not unlike from lolita events, really.

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Coord 12: Love Stories etc. Day 2

| Metamorphose Shirring Tiered Ribbon JSK | Axes Femme cutsew | Banned Retro cardigan and belt | Angelic Pretty Loving Ribbon OTKs | offbrand shoes | Cutie Creator Maiden’s Prayer headbow | Melty Wish earrings | Folk and Fortune Typewriter necklace | Bows and Crossbones bangles |

I almost didn't wear these glasses - but they were too perfect for a romance event to resist!

Also got to rep and advertise Folk and Fortune to so many people there (understandably), I hope she gets lots of sales when she reopens.

By Day 2, despite my energy levels dropping due to physical tiredness, I was even more determined to wear a fun outfit, despite initial intentions to keep things toned down. Again, for lolita, this is relatively chill, but obviously in a normie crowd it wildly stands out. The pops of red were mainly a result of me needing to stick to practical, comfortable shoes (once again, RIP Bodyline tea parties), but they really lift this coord into that realm of fun and a little quirky by normie standards. Not pictured is the Big Bow Backpack that I carried with me alongside the tote because a girl needs her stuff, but also some cushioning for her back. Another long, yet eventful and upbeat day, finished off with a great afterparty (though a far more adult one than the lolita ones like TQiD’s!) have left me feeling like my communities have expanded with another wonderful place filled with inspiring, supportive people, and I cannot wait to dive into that world more.

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Coord 13: Recycled Pile

| Haenuli Whipped Cream Kitty JSK | offbrand top, jacket, and ring | Innocent World Anchor OTKs | Elf Armorie Cupid’s Heart shoes | handmade (not by me) beret | Glitter from Wonderland necklace and earrings | Sweet Dolly House Cookie Bon Bon ring |

Placed the beret differently because of my hairdo and wanting the decoration to be visible, and somehow I look even more continental?

Dotty bows everywhere!

Recycled as in I had this outfit planned and assigned forever ago in Whering and didn’t wear it for various reasons, then totally forgot about it. But I remembered now. It’s more of a classic Paulina look, been a while since I’ve done one of those and it still feels good to wear. Although it was definitely too warm to wear that jacket beyond the photos, even though it had cooled down.

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Some of these coords had not come without a sacrifice of comfort. There were plenty of moments that highlighted for me (once again) how summer NOT ready my wardrobe at large is and that I need to accept that global warming hasn’t left my corner of the world unaffected. I am also finding myself already longing for the cooler autumn days and knitwear, that is clearly where I thrive. But I try not to wish my life away and let’s have a fun August before those warmer days disappear for another six to nine months.