October Coords Roundup

Happy Halloween! It was truly great to finally have a year when instead of indifference to this holiday, I felt genuine excitement. Our flat is full of ghost friends that bring me tonnes of joy and I am really pleased with how many appropriately spoopy looks I wore.

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Coord 1: Leeds Comm’s 15th Anniversary

| Baroque Repose of Queen Teatime Dress | Innocent World Gilder bolero | Miss Point corset | Resailan Jewelry Box tights | Elf Armorie Cupid’s Heart shoes | vintage hat and necklace | Folk and Fortune Fleur de Lys earrings | Folk and Fortune Ruby Hilt Dagger brooch | offbrand brooch and ring | 

I cannot tell you how hard it is to take a good selfie with a net veil.

The earrings may be the feature of this detail post, but this ring is such an MVP of my wardrobe.

In retrospect, I wish that I’d looked up what the 15th anniversary was (crystal, as it turns out), as then I might’ve done something different with accessories. That doesn’t change my feelings on the coord though and likely wouldn’t change the vision, especially given that it took me a while to even settle on this. And I’m very happy with everything, it’s very classic me with the vintage styling and nods, and it was very comfortable for a whole day of travelling, eating, and standing around. The afternoon tea we had was very nice, I liked how the subtle updates compared to what we had back in May kept the spirit of the meal (mini street foods for the savouries) whilst doing something new and seasonal (all the sweets being something spiced). A great time was had all around and here’s to another 15 years of the best, most drama-free comm out there!

Obligatory food picture.

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Coord 2: Lost Textures

| AatP Sugar Plum Fairy Princess JSK | Axes Femme cutsew | Innocent World Cross Lace bolero | Resailan Jewelry Box tights | offbrand shoes and brooch | Cutie Creator headdress | AmaStacia earrings | Le Petit Four necklace | voodoodolly ring |

These glasses are my lesson in not skimping on the anti-reflective coating next time. They reflect everything!

Here you can see some of those lost textures.

Embracing the Spooky Month with an all black and almost definitely goth coord. And, as all black coords tend to do, all the textural details got lost because who heard of even, bright, and consistent natural lighting in October? Still, it was simple for working from home and I felt very elegant in this. One could say that I felt like a very elegant gothic lolita. I’ll see myself out.

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Coord 3: Cosy Months

| Innocent World White Double Braid Tartan skirt | Axes Femme cutsew | vintage cardigan | Snag tights | Hush Puppies boots | Cutie Creator headbow | beret and brooch handmade by Kerry | offbrand studs |

Hope you enjoyed the Spooky Boy interlude ^_^

One of the best tenners I ever spent in my life.

Because a Sunday at home, spent on book editing and playing Stardew Valley is very much the kind of cosy months energy that we need. Having bought this cardigan at the onset of summer and right before moving, it promptly went into storage, so it’s nice to finally give it an outing. I contemplated using patterned legwear, but let’s face it, it’s not like there was that much need for going that extra mile when comfort was far more important.

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Coord 4: Extra Witchy

| Haenuli Just One Bite JSK | offbrand dress as blouse, socks, boots, belt, brooch, and rings | Shinku Rose Tulle overdress | Rose Thorn hat | Eulalia earrings | Puvithel Crystal Heart  necklace | Le Petit Four necklace |

Weird selfie, but I really wanted to show off my makeup.

To date this colourway of the Crystal Heart necklace is my most striking one.

Dressing up for not other reason than: 1) it’s Halloween month; 2) I felt like it; 3) I was left unsupervised so there was no-one to stop me; 4) I forgot that I no longer have the stamina for at-home overdressing that I did back in the pandemic. Still, the coord came out just as I imagined it in my head. Fun and witchy, yet not too dark or spooky. The overstimulation got to me pretty fast, though, and I promptly yeeted it all off once I took the photos. If I could’ve just lounged around all day, it would’ve been a different story, but let’s face it, this isn’t an outfit for someone who has laundry to do and a dinner to cook.

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Coord 5: Perfectly Pastoral

| Wonderland Ukiyoe Lilith’s Collection skirt | offbrand top, corset, tights, socks, and necklace | Sweet Fragrance apron | Hush Puppies boots | Cutie Creator Maiden’s Prayer headbow | handmade earrings | Violet Fane brooch | Cutie Creator wrist cuffs |

Growing out my fringe means a lot of this deep side part swoopy things going on.

This somehow has big Oktoberfest vibes lol

Now that’s much more comfortable for a day of chores and working from home. Far less Halloweeny, but I can only push myself so far for the season. It’s really nice to know that this extremely offbrand corset top I got off Vinted works as well with lolita as I hoped it would, makes the tenner spent on it even more worth it. Originally my plan didn’t involve the sheer apron skirt over it, but the coord was missing that extra layer of ivory and it does look so much better with it. I forgot how much I adore this skirt, it makes me feel like a proper historical heroine. And styled like this? About 75% more so. So there, that’s this month’s edition of barely-lolita-but-my-blog-my-rules coords.

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Coord 6: Spooky Meet

| BtSSB Snow Dot skirt | vintage vest | Snag tights | bow brooch from Lady Sloth's Winter Spices skirt | After Midnight necklace | everything else is offbrand |

Always joy and happiness at autumn leaves.

And I went at just the right time too because the trees are now all bare and the leaves on the ground are more wet than rustling.

For our comm Halloween meet we gathered round for a super chill afternoon of painting ghosts. This was obviously the prime time for this vest and why I bought it in the first place, so I'm extra pleased that I had the time to take my coord shots outside with the leaves. It is, if I may say so, peak October coord from me. I had lots of fun painting the little ghost friend, I surprised myself with how great mine turned out given that it was one reference picture and a lot of winging it. I did have to leave early to make it home in time for DnD that same night, but it was a time really well spent.

Bonus lil' guy

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Coord 7: Romantic Break

| Metamorphose Polka Dots Shirring skirt | Axes Femme cutsew | Snag tights | Elf Armorie Cupid’s Heart shoes | handmade beret and bracelet | Folk and Fortune Typewriter necklace | Folk and Fortune Diamond of the First Water brooch | offbrand ring | Son de Flor belt |

I only now noticed that my purple mascara left a little bit of a shadow on the bottom lash line and it actually looks quite nice. I might try to recreate that sometime in the future.

Repping the romance references between the Bridgerton-inspired brooch and my Romance Weriters' Club necklace.

The day after the meet my local RNA chapter was meeting, so I temporarily put aside the spooks for your classic romantic red x pink combo. Whilst I'm not exactly thrilled by the cutsew being so noticeably more muted pink, the beret and brooch hopefully do enough to keep the tights matching the rest. And, of course, I have a knack for wearing this super floaty skirt on the windiest of days. But it was a great morning, lots of compliments from strangers all around, and then it was comfy enough for when I got back home to just chill in.

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Coord 8: Cosy Chores

| Angelic Pretty Royal Unicorn Switching JSK | DreamV cutsew | Thunda Thighs OTKs | Cutie Creator Maiden's Prayer headbow | handmade earrings | Summer Tales Boutique necklace | Angelic Pretty Melty Ribbon Chocolate ring |

Another pair of glasses that's reflective AF.

Ridiculously pleased with how the cutsew and the JSK's necklines layered together.

The day before this I came down with some sort of a cold. Whilst I wasn't back at a 100% then and still took the day off work, I felt better enough to put on some super casual, comfy coord with my softest knit layers. It was perfect for a day spent on laundry, Stardew Valley, and having mostly liquid foods (made a chicken bone broth the day before that came out oh so lovely). And, of course, Bake Off in the evening to wrap it all up. Not bad for a day of still having a sore throat and being a couch potato.

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Coord 9: Fiddler on the Roof

| The Black Ribbon Rococo Rose JSK | Axes Femme cutsew | Violet Fane Antiquite tights | Elf Armorie Cupid’s Heart shoes | Cutie Creator headbow | vintage brooch | offbrand jewellery |

I too am wondering about the passage of time, of the sunrises and sunsets.

Very pleased with this belt that I got off Vinted, it proved itself over the course of October.

Thanks to my shoes order arriving the day before, I could finally start assembling some more dressed up yet still comfy coords. To see Fiddler on the Roof at the theatre I wanted to lean in to something really classic and what better for it than The Black Ribbon's Rococo Rose JSK? As classic as classic lolita gets, super theatre-appropriate, as well as very comfy thanks to the indie brands and offbrand items. 

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Coord 10: Birmingham Bring and Buy

| Grove Deer Moon of Eternal Day OP | Angelic Pretty Twinkle Glitter Knit cardigan | Snag tights | offbrand socks, belt, and necklace | Modo Prayer Poem shoes | Physical Drop headbow | My Inspiration brooch and necklace | 4 Aces ring |

Way too early to be this cheerful in photos, but it was for a worthy cause.

This bow normally droops like mad under its own weight, but I managed to pin it up pretty well.

Just short of an exact year from the last bring and buy that I co-organised, this time it was the Midlands comm that hosted one and I decided that this could be a prime time for some much needed sales. Not many sales ended up happening for me, though I did sell a few bits and scored an incredible bargain on an accessory bundle from Neant Glass, so all was good. The coord is very simple, but doesn’t look like it is? That’s what the right pieces in the right places will do. I had a really early start to the day, so needed an outfit that was super quick to throw on, yet because every item adds the right level of detail, it just looks like a well put-together outfit.

Peep my absolute steal of a haul - £10 for all of this!

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Coord 11: The Usual Disclaimer

| Axes Femme Kawaii Coca-Cola JSK | offbrand cutsew, earrings, and rosette | Innocent World Pure Smooth bolero | Innocent World Lauretta OTKs | Elf Armorie Cupid’s Heart shoes | Imperial Fiddlesticks Emporium headbow | vintage necklace | Twinkle Kitty Boutique ring |

Wondering how to angle my head so that the bow sticks out ever so slightly less...

The real drink that I cannot live without.

Called as such because of the usual disclaimer that I have to make about wearing the dress for the kitschy aesthetic, not for any actual support of the Coca-Cola Company. Truth be told, I don’t remember what I put this outfit together for? I knew that I wanted to wear this JSK for a working from home day and was browsing through past outfits in Whering and found this one, which I never wore. It must’ve been for some other day of working from home that ended up not happening. I really like how between the patterns and textures this coord looks quite cohesively stripey. The only thing that I’m not so keen on is how, despite best efforts, this headbow ended up sticking out so much. I did decide to just embrace it rather than swap it out for something else, but it still irks me.

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Coord 12: Pre-Spooks Comfort

| Metamorphose Shirring Tiered Ribbon JSK | Axes Femme cutsew | offbrand cardigan and socks | Modo Prayer Poem shoes | BtSSB Princess Drop combs | Tiny Passerine Creations Lily of the Valley necklace | Slightly Ghosts brooch | Toadstool House Art brooch |

Been very into minimal, natural makeup lately and this might be the most natural-looking one of all of this month's looks.

Give me ALL the floral and vegetal motifs!

For the remaining two days of October I wasn’t going to wear any frills, even if I planned on bringing out my Halloween vest some more. So a comfortable day of working from home called for my most comfortable dress with the appropriate accoutrements. Cosy vibes at absolute peak here.

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It has been a very good October this time round. However, as much as I enjoyed participating in the spoops, it is now time to settle down with something warm and fluffy, hibernate throughout November, so that I can then emerge as the Christmas enjoyer that I really am. Not that my social calendar supports the idea of burrowing myself in blankets, there are a fair few outings already booked in, but in between them all I will do my best to conserve energy. Stay warm and cosy - or cool and chill if you’re in the Southern Hemisphere and things are getting uncomfortable.

Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice

Between this and spicy, crunchy leaf season, those are my preferred things about autumn. Yet this year, for whatever reason, is the first one when I feel a twinge of genuine excitement for Halloween itself. Am I prepared for that? Absolutely not. There’s no time to shell out money on Halloween prints, most of which I’m not really that keen on anyway, and the décor that UK shops are trying to present me with is not my level of tacky (more kids’ party and less adult who likes cute stuff with a hint of spoop). So what’s a girl to do to indulge in this slightly more Halloween-y spirit? Well, brainstorm a couple of ideas out loud in blog post format, that’s what.

Photo by Mónika Erdei on Pexels.com

Vintage knitwear

When it doubt – vintage knitwear. I love tacky vintage knitwear of the holiday and seasonal varieties. Again, it’s not always that easy to find the good stuff because for all of Britain’s love of knitting and tat, it’s the Americans that excel at that stuff, but the trend’s catching on. I was lucky to nab a vest for an acceptable price of £30 off Vinted (and for free in girl math money because I sold some bits and had money in my Vinted account), which will serve me throughout the month. There’s already been one coord to prove how well it works with frills, one more is on the cards soon, and I’ll see if I can squeeze one more for Halloween itself on top of some non-lolita work outfits. This is the only thing that I’ve purchased specifically for Halloween this year and may it serve me for many years to come.

Expect to see more of this vest in October's coords roundup post.

Wear all black

The easy way out for anyone in a similar predicament who also owns some limited black items. It doesn’t have to be elaborate coords, it doesn’t have to be super goth styling, and it doesn’t have to be anything new. But since I now own three black JSKs, wearing them with black is the fastest way to look – and feel – seasonally appropriate. I can play around with trying to keep my styling more goth, but even if I do the usual swerve towards the classic and the elegant, it’s not the end of the world. It’s still an all-black outfit, that passes for Halloween-y enough. There is just something about that stark monochrome in a coord that really resonates with the spooky season. Must be all of that groundwork that the goths have laid for us casual enjoyers of their favourite holiday.

Shh, I know that's not quite an all-black coord, but I didn't want to dig out anything too old.

Witch hat

As basic as basic gets, but not every witch has to immediately be evil or spooky. The benefit of having both a white and a black hat is that I can then indulge in all kinds of witchy looks. I’ve enjoyed coording my white one in as many ways as I could, I find that it has a lot more whimsy than the black one. If it’s already there – use it! Plus, sometimes a witch hat really is doing Halloween on easy mode. It takes a regular outfit, especially when it looks a little bit more studious or fantasy-like, and instantly makes it spoopy. As much as I’m contemplating also getting a brown witch hat, I can’t justify that, so let’s make do with what I currently have first. And focus on trying to keep them on my head. Nobody tells you that a big hat wants nothing more than to slide off your noggin’!

Still one of the best coords with this hat and this dress that I've done in my humble opinion.

Orange

Halloween equals pumpkins and pumpkins equals orange. Yes, I know that there are pumpkins in other colours, but those ones don’t come across as the inspiration without the pumpkin shape to boot. I’m definitely a pumpkin enjoyer: they taste great, they look cute, they’re fun to carve, and they make for adorable accessories. I keep wanting to buy more of the latter, but sadly the ones that I want most aren’t the cheapest (curse you, following amazing indie jewellery makers and my preferred lifestyle not being priced for the current state of the UK economy). So in the meantime I honour the pumpkin by throwing every bit of orange that I’ve amassed as a result of owning the easyJet colourway of the Dumb Airline Dress and pretend like the spooky season usage was all entirely part of the plan.

This dress is so dumb that it's in the queue for the communal brain cell shared by all of the orange cats out there.

October has only just passed its halfway mark and I’ve already realised the many gaps in my wardrobe from just following the above threads of inspiration in my coords. Such as not having an easy to wear black goth headdress (yes, I technically have the Antique Beast’s Hecate one, but by easy to wear I mean as easy as putting on a headbow). Or an orange headdress (I’ve been making do with that one hair clip from Lady Sloth’s Winter Spices skirt). Or some more horizontal striped tights (missed my opportunities during Snag’s previous Halloween releases and this year’s isn’t giving me the colours that I want). Or a few more proper goth black and/or silver brooches (although don’t get me started on the brooches that I think I’m missing, I know that’s all imaginary).

Still, the fact that I am managing to create enough undoubtedly Halloween looks with the limited resources available to me, is credit to the hoarding that I’ve done over the years. And it has been all kinds of sugar, spice, and everything nice to feel the joy that others must have been feeling all those years when I was a Halloween ignorer. If you are craving more content from Halloween enjoyers, then I suggest you subscribe to the Bibliotheca newsletter, so that when the Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice edition goes out, you will have all of that at your fingertips, lovingly collected into one entry.

Lolidrobe Reassessment Post 2025.03

The crunchy, spicy leaf season is upon us! I am rejoicing very hard as the end of the year looms on the horizon.

New additions

A modest showing, but mostly because so much is still either in production or in a storage warehouse.

• 1 JSK (sweet in black*)
• 3 tops (2 classic cutsews in brown and 1 classic cutsew in pink)
• 1 overlayer (1 sweet in black*)
• 3 pairs of shoes (1 classic in brown*, 1 classic in black*, and 1 classic in pink*)
• and 1 accessory (1 classic beret in green)

All that's actually here so far

Yes, I gave in to Meta’s Cyber Neon Girl. No, I’m not going to turn bittersweet. It’s on the 2nd round, so it won’t physically be with me until February/March next year, which gives me time to try to prepare for it somehow. Because gods know that this will be an outlier in my wardrobe lol. I’m hoping that the brown cutsews will fill in a gap as I found myself repeatedly needing a brown top layer that wasn’t long sleeves. One of these is the exact same one as I have in ivory, so at least that’s a guaranteed style fit. And the shoes are mostly replacements and one (the pink pair) a commitment to try to find a pink that won’t be so stark in my wardrobe. I hope that they will arrive soon because I could *really* use those Modos right about now…

Possible new looks

Most of those new looks possibilities are on hold for whenever the shoes arrive. Though I guess I’ve also made relatively good use of those cutsews over the last three months (even if mostly in non-lolita coords).

From September 2025.

From August 2025.

From September 2025.

Need list progress

The only progress here are the brown Modos. Everything else – a big no. Even the universe has conspired against me on that because the last time that I actively tried to find a wine underskirt, the one that I wanted was no longer in the shop (the Little Dipper one). But I definitely, definitely need one. There’s a bring and buy later this month that I’m planning on going to, maybe someone will have the exact thing that I need then? As for the boots – I keep going back and forth on those. Do I actually need them or do I just want them? Sheep’s Puff released some cute short boots recently that I considered, but again, it’s not like I need a pair that badly. I feel like I should hold off on buying any more shoes.

Current wishlist

Nothing more on the dresses side. My priority is still (trying to be) on skirts, but I’m having a real hard time with that? Like, since when has getting simple skirts for lolita with fully shirred waists been so difficult? I don’t think that I’m asking for much, yet no-one seems to be delivering. Maybe I really am too picky for my own good… I've also been shown very sneaky previews of Baby’s Christmas release for this year and I may need to girdle my loins.

As for non-dresses, I’m prioritising finding a pink Millefeuille bolero to complete the collection, but with no luck. I did, however, manage to find a corset top on Vinted that should fill some of that side of things. I am yet to actually try it on with lolita, hence why it’s not in the roundup here, but I am optimistic that it will do the trick. I’m hoping, again, that the bring and buy might have a few of these gems hidden, like the overskirt, but I realise that this is a big ask of an event like that. Let’s see though.

New Year’s goals: progress summary

This year felt like quite the journey with these goals, but at this point things look extremely a-okay!

• Did I get my pieces altered? We’re almost there! Naddine Atelier’s alteration of Revival Sweet Teddybear is, as expected, exquisite and that dress is so comfy now. I have sent off Haenuli’s Lovely Memories JSK and AP’s Cinema Doll JSK to two different seamstresses within the UK to alter. Fingers very tightly crossed that I will get them both back this year and that I will be able to kickstart 2026 the right way. But short of them arriving, I think we can consider this goal smashed!
• Have I bought more classic and casual main pieces? Errrm… Let’s pretend that Cyber Neon Girl doesn’t exist (because it won’t until I have it in my hands next year). I’ve not been buying as many main pieces and generally have been buying more non-lolita clothes. But the feelings I’ve had recently about my sweeter items have really cemented that I should put the energy into the more classic ones. I’d still like a couple more skirts, but as I already said, no-one seems to be delivering on that front in a style that appeals to me. I might end up doing some sort of a custom order with an indie brand if this carries on like that (and if I make some ok money at the bring and buy from my own sales).
• Have I gotten roped into organising anything? Given my generally low attendance at meets and the fact that the work on the Christmas Lunch has officially begun (though in its usual, non-ILD form for reasons), I think that I can safely say that I’ve done very well on this front. And with how much is happening generally, around, organised by other comms, I feel confident that I won’t fall into the trap of trying to make anything happen beyond that. Goal met and only waiting for the passage of time to be formally ticked off.

For the first time in maybe ever I am feeling… Halloweeny? Gothy even? Maybe it’s just the effect of October, maybe it’s more than just a temporary seasonal shift. Suffice to say that I am so looking forward to some actual spooky fun this month before I fully reveal myself as the Lil’ Miss Christmas in a Halloween costume appropriating goth culture like some modern day Jack Skellington that I actually am. Also, for the first time in a while, with my seasonal pieces moved around, I feel less daunted by my own legacy of so much sweet lolita stuff since they’re physically packed up. The connection that I feel to sweet lolita is weakening day by day and although I still struggle to envision myself fully breaking away from it, embracing the classic side more tightly helps create enough of a distraction. Even if the various sales mean that what actually went out of winter storage and into my wardrobe is limited to only a couple of pieces. Anyway, enough with the rambling. May you also enjoy the last quarter of 2025 and may we all get through it just having a jolly ol’ time, not bogged down by existential dread of… well, living in 2025.