March Coords Roundup

Wrapping up the first quarter of this year with another 12 coords. March has got me back on a roll, even despite the odd crisis of confidence here or there. And it feels good to release some of those creative juices.

*~*~*~*

Coord 1: Double Duty

| Metamorphose Gold Braid Tuck Pinafore JSK | offbrand top, shoes, and hair clip | Axes Femme cardigan | Sweet Mildred hair clip | Kreation Studio earrings | Melty Wish necklace | Folk and Fortune Romance Stack brooch | Felfira Moon Design pin |

Experimentation with glass skin continues.

Proof of hair accessories.

It’s so normified lolita that it almost doesn’t count – but it counts to me. For the first ever HEA Bookshop event followed by Operation Mincemeat at the theatre, i.e. a long day almost entirely on my feet, I opted for comfort. Really enjoyed how this JSK and the cardigan layered together, the effect was very elegant and classy. I probably shouldn’t be surprised, but I bought more books than I have budgeted for. That buying directly from the author high hit pretty strong. But it’s books and indie authors, so really there are far worse things to be spending money on. And Operation Mincemeat was fantastic, really loved it, it lived up to the hype, and I’m so very glad that I was able to finally see it.

*~*~*~*

Coord 2: Coord Me Colour Challenge

| Violet Fane Ginza Kissaten skirt | Axes Femme cutsew | Innocent World Shell Lace Millefeuille bolero | Innocent World Fleurs Chequered OTks | Modo Prayer Poem shoes | offbrand headband, earrings, pendant, and ring | Risu Rose ring |

I know that this looks ok in photos, but is there a trick that I'm missing with these wire headbands? Mine always slide too far back unless I pin them, they're not long enough to properly tie off, and then you get weird bits sticking out where you have tied them. Is it user error or just poor design of something that we got gaslit into believing is meant to be this way?

Lace and kitschy trinkets = best vibes.

For March the Tea Rose Garden Discord server’s event was putting together a coord using a randomly selected colour from the Lolita Colour Theory palette. Mine landed on something that was actually such a deep purple that it straddled the line between very deep charcoal, almost black, and (to me, my eyes, and on my screen) a very cool dark brown. Which is what I ran with since I don’t own purple and my selection of greys and blacks is very limited. The colour reminded me of the shade of the Shell Lace Millefeuille, which is why I picked that. And although warm and cool toned browns are a nightmare when wardrobe building, I think I managed to throw enough of the different shades at the coord for it to somehow still come together in the end. Getting your browns to work together is arguably the hardest part of being into classic, that’s the truth that no-one tells you…

*~*~*~*

Coord 3: Powerwolf 

| Haenuli Joan of Arc JSK | Haenuli x I Do Declare blouse | Resailan Jewelry Box tights | offbrand boots, earrings, choker, and brooch | Antique Beast Hecate headdress | Neant Glass necklace | Summer Tales Boutique Strike a Pose pin |

Winking so that people know it's still me. Moody goth selfies are apparently too hard for me.

Some Joan of Arc with my Joan of Arc.

The day had finally come, after nearly a year of waiting for this gig. I got to see Powerwolf on the last day of their tour in London, supported by Wind Rose and Hammerfall. Many ideas were mulled over for what to wear, but ultimately I kept going back to this print, since Powerwolf have a song about Joan of Arc as well, so I leaned into that. Boots for being practical, mesh blouse to keep me cool in a packed arena, and the sturdy Hecate that won't budge no matter the amount of headbanging. I even got a Joan of Arc design of the merch T-shirt, which one day I will coord with this JSK. Big dream come true.

*~*~*~*

Coord 4: The Play That Goes Wrong

| Haenuli Just One Bite JSK | Axes Femme cutsew | Amavel cardigan | Teja Jamilla Crown tights | offbrand boots and earrings | Cutie Creator headbow | Metamorphose Grande Couronne necklace | Lady Sloth brooch |

The disappearing headwear act now on tour, apparently.

The quickest detail shot ever taken has the audacity of being kind of good.

Since we were already in London, we capitalised on that by going to see The Play That Goes Wrong. And in trying to be strategic about my packing, I stuck to a black x wine colour scheme to cover the Docs and the hoop skirt – which meant wearing more Haenuli. I hadn't expected to like this pretty casual styling as much as I did, it is a pretty dressy print, yet it ended up working quite well. And the show was fantastic! Wholly recommend everyone to see it if you get the chance. Since we went to a “relaxed” viewing, we had the chance to go on a brief tour of the set before the show, which wasn't really aimed at us, but which we enjoyed nonetheless.

*~*~*~*

Coord 5: Probably the Last Chance

| Angelic Pretty Royal Unicorn Switching JSK | Axes femme cutsew and cardigan | Angelic Pretty Odekake Ribbon OTKs | Modoo Prayer Poem shoes | Cutie Creator headbow | Pypah’s Art earrings | unknown necklace and ring | Angelic Pretty Crystal Dream Carnival ring |

Ah, in retrospect, a touch of blue eyeshadow in the inner corner might've been a nice touch.

I really don't wear this necklace as much as I thought I would, but it still feels weird to consider selling it.

As in probably the last chance to wear such a heavy dress before it’s time to pack the winter layers up. Even though the forecasts have been threatening a return to colder weather, I’m in a perfect place where my autumn/winter pieces got their second wear of this time being out of storage and I’m ready to embrace the spring/summer ones. This cardigan is an awkward shade of brown, because it’s tinged with like a coral-like shade of pink, yet somehow I think it worked here quite well. Kept me comfy and cosy whilst working from home.

*~*~*~*

Coord 6: Casual Sando

| The Black Ribbon Konbini Market JSK | Axes Femme cutsew | offbrand cardigan, shoes, and barrette | Angelic Pretty Sugar Ribbon OTKs | Rorobun Fruit Sando brooch | handmade choker |

The point where my skin got too glassy (i.e. discovering that my sunscreen doesn't gel well with that look).

Confession: I don't think I ever had a fruit sando. But I really bloody crave a fruit sando right now.

The compromise between wanting to dress up again and being too lazy to do too much. My main gripe with this coord is that when I was putting the outfit together in Whering, I used a different cardigan (one of my retro-looking cropped mid-sleeve ones), but I forgot that those were still in storage. In the end it worked out fine because that one would’ve been too light, it was still quite cold, but it would’ve looked better. And we all know that in reality this is all about that fruit sando brooch. I’ve been feeling very Japan-nostalgic recently, which might have played some part in the coord.

*~*~*~*

Coord 7: Home Creature

| BtSSB Snow Dot skirt | offbrand cardigan and shoes | Snag tights | 

Not even pretending like there was anything more to this. I wanted comfort x cuteness + my new merch T-shirt, so a casual T-shirt lolita for a Sunday at home was what emerged. It was great, ticked all of the boxes above, ’nuff said.

*~*~*~*

Coord 8: Cyber Neon Girl

| Metamorphose Cyber Neon Girl JSK | Lazy Oaf cutsew | Angelic Pretty Sealing Border OTKs | offbrand shoes, studs, and badge | Ruby Rose hair clip | Promised Land Creations pendant | Fluffy Tori pin | Pandasan Shop ring | Star Glazed Delights Brandwhore ring |

I even did my makeup properly for this. Really wanted this debut dress look to be good.

The perfect colourway of Cyber Neon Girl for coording with rainbow coloured items. Of which I have exactly one.

Finally, a debut wearing. I specifically saved this cutsew away from the 1 Dress 4 Looks post so that I could wear it for working from home. This was a very chill coord, this dress is incredibly comfy, and as the weather had turned more spring-like too, my weeb vibes got truly amped up that day. A good time was had. Although I could’ve sworn that this dress had pockets, which it very much does not and was never advertised to have.

*~*~*~*

Coord 9: Golden Sunshine

| Metamorphose Lovely Forest skirt | Axes Femme cutsew | Angelic Pretty Twinkle Glitter Knit cardigan | Roji Roji OTKs | Modo Prayer Poem shoes | Physical Drop headbow | Latte Galaxy brooch | offbrand brooch | BtSSB Kumakumya pochette |

Been picking up that old gloss from Two faced more recently because it photographs a really nice neutral colour.

I know he looks so dapper in his jumper, but look into his golden lashed eyes and tell him that he can't have spring just yet. This boy is yearning for spring and warmth. 

A slightly simplified version of a coord from the 1 Dress 4 Looks post for this skirt for working from home. The sunshine was golden and so were we (meaning Kinnosuke the Kumakumya and myself). Comfy, radiant, enjoying the incoming spring like a pair of weebs that we are.

*~*~*~*

Coord 10: Small Outing

| Innocent World Revival Sweet Teddybear JSK | Axes Femme cutsew | ARW bolero | Innocent World OTKs | Modo Prayer Poem shoes | Cutie Creator Maiden’s Prayer headbow | Pypah’s Art earrings | Slightly Ghosts Forget-me-not pin | Latte Galaxy brooch |

I think nearly every one of my Cutie Creator ribbon headbows has unglued itself on at least one side and I really need to spend some time on fixing them.

Instagram got the Librarian Bear brooch detail shot, so you shall get the Forget-me-not one.

Ahead of visiting my BF’s friends, who have a two-year-old daughter, I made it a mission of mine to get the child a book that made as many noises as possible. This, of course, meant a little outing and little outings require a suitable attire. In search for some inspiration on how to style this dress I once again reached for the Tea Rose Garden Discord server’s random colour picker, which landed me on a slightly peachy ivory – exactly the colour of this bolero. I’m surprised that I’ve not done something like this before (well, I have, but I then leaned more into country lolita rather than just classic) and it was a very lovely day to be out in frills. The bookshop staff even recognised that the dress was from Japan – always great to see educated people out in the wild.

*~*~*~*

Coord 11: Lavender Days

| Angelic Pretty Diner Doll JSK and headbow | offbrand cutsew, hair clips, and earrings | Angelic Pretty Salon de The Rose OTKs | Sosic Shop shoes | Folk and Fortune Late Night Diner necklace | Sweet Dolly House ring | Pandasan Shop ring | handmade bracelets |

My makeup turned out darker than I had planned on it because I forgot how deep (and warm-toned) my purple eyeshadow palette is.

Ah yes, the main lavender accessories I own.

Ever since February, when I almost put a lolita coord with this cutsew and socks combo, but had a bit of an outfit meltdown, I was keen to try again. And I haven’t worn Diner Doll with lavender yet (understandably, since I don’t own a lot of it). So I had a go for staying at home and doing very little. I really want a new faux fringe that’s a bit lighter, but other than that, considering the limitations I was working with, I quite like how this came out. Also, the Friday before this I hurt my feet pretty badly (by wearing those chunky black sneakers to work – turns out, they’re not that comfy after all) and I asked my BF to bring me a change of shoes for when we did our weekly shop, and rather than bring me a pair of his Crocs he’d bought me a pair of my own. And I’m annoyed with myself that I didn’t notice that the dress had flicked in the proper coord pics and now the Crocs photos are the better pics. Karma truly out there to get me.

*~*~*~*

Coord 12: Folk gig

| Forest Girl Clothing Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary skirt | Peacockalorum underskirt | Sweet Fragrance overskirt | offbrand top, stays, and rings | Violet Fane Antiquite tights | Modo Prayer Poem shoes | Cutie Creator Maiden’s Prayer headbow | handmade earrings | Summer Tales Boutique necklace | Risu Rose necklace |

I took my hair out too soon and it wasn't fully dry, so it fell out by the time I even left the house, but at least I got the photos.

If only they laid so aesthetically all the time and not just for photos.

Undeterred by the sore throat that I woke up with that day, I was not going to miss going to the Nathan Evans gig that night. Getting dressed helped me feel better emotionally and I really like the layering here. This skirt is very white, but the overskirt tones that down into an overall warmer toned look. It’s both quite intricate and pretty simple at the same time – exactly what I needed. As much as it was sad to not be able to sing along at the gig for the sake of my health, it was a very good gig, excellent time was had, and I’m glad that I didn’t give in to feeling sorry for myself and stayed at home as I would’ve missed out on a wonderful experience.

*~*~*~*

Even though the weather has been really toying with us, I am going to use the upcoming Easter break to swap my autumn/winter wardrobe around for the spring/summer pieces. I’ve missed them dearly and am willing to risk having to still layer a little bit more creatively just to wear those pieces again. Looking at all the March coords at a glance, it’s such a neat progression from darker to lighter coloured looks, as if in direct response to the longer, warmer days. Can’t wait for it to get warm and sunny, and to have some spring meetups, there have been a few too many coord pics taken indoors instead of outside.