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.

*~*~*~*

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.

*~*~*~*

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!

*~*~*~*

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.

*~*~*~*

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.

*~*~*~*

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. 

*~*~*~*

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.

*~*~*~*

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.

*~*~*~*

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.

*~*~*~*

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.

*~*~*~*

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.

*~*~*~*

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…