June Coords Roundup

What a progression of looks to showcase what June is like weather-wise in the UK. 

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Coord 1: Not Quite ILD

| Metamorphose Charlotte JSK | offbrand dress as blouse, hair clips, and earrings | Baroque Repose of Queen tights | Elf Armorie Cupid’s Heart shoes | handmade cape | Violet Fane Le Portrait De La Reine necklace | handmade ring (not by me) |

At the start of the month I got very into trying to do thin eyeliner. which is hard as is, but even more so when it's magnetic eyeliner.

A little bit of everything kind of a detail shot.

On the very last day of May our comm went to The Rex (formerly Gotham Hotel) for afternoon tea – a perfect occasion to get fancy! Since my floral cape has seen literally zero wear since The Great Lace that it was made for, I instantly knew that that’s what I wanted to wear and once I landed on the Charlotte JSK to go with it, everything else fell into place naturally. This coord fully reminded me why I love classic lolita and how this is what I feel my most beautiful in. I was literally getting emotional when I changed out of it in the evening and was looking at the dress just hanging on the back of my door and marvelling at it in all its glory. The afternoon tea was delicious, as always, though this time round the food took quite a long time to arrive. It meant that we all ate everything, barely anyone took anything home with them – but I also made myself a little sick with all these sweets. Clearly I don’t have the stomach for this much sugar anymore lol.

Did you even go for afternoon tea if you didn't photograph it?

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Coord 2: WFH

| Metamorphose Shirring Tiered Ribbon JSK | Axes Femme cutsew | Innocent World Ribbon Lace Millefeuille bolero | Red Maria tights | American Duchess Bernadette shoes | vintage hat | Tiny Passerine Creations necklace |

Every time I wear a hat I think to myself that I want to be more of a hat person, but the wide brims I like do not gel well with big overhead headphones.

Wanting more Tiny Passerine Creations jewellery, it's so good.

The theme was maximum comfort because I was being lazy and needed less pressure around my torso. And gods, this JSK is so damn comfy! I’m not sure if I have anything else that could compare, it’s just that good. The coord itself is vaguely a re-wear/reinterpretation of one I wore way back in 2018 that annoyingly I can’t find a post link for now. It’s fine, just imagine this, but with more offbrand pieces and a chain brooch across the bolero. But yeah, if anyone ever wants to sell this dress in wine (either the early [] or the later release), hit me up, please.

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Coord 3: Pre-Trip Errands

| The Black Ribbon Rococo Rose JSK | Axes Femme cutsew | Innocent World Rose Lace Millefeuille bolero | Metamorphose Little Squirrel OTKs | offbrand shoes and hair clips | Sour Cherry earrings | Mademoiselle Boutique necklace | handmade (not by me) brooch |

Very much into hair accessories that do not photograph well because they are so much easier to wear.

Considering that this brooch is going to be I think 9 years old this year and that I wear it pretty frequently, it's holding exceptionally well. Whoever made it, you did a grand job, applause!

I was going to Poland for a literal 36 hours and had to go to town for a few last minute bits. This warranted getting dressed, but still necessitated something more practical, as achieved here by the lower poof and comfortable shoes. I’m a little surprised that I hadn’t tried to coord this dress with wine red yet, but then I guess I got it right at the onset of last year’s heatwave and it is a fab sundress too. But now that I’ve realised the error of my ways, I shall amend this accordingly and more wine-based coords will (eventually) follow, I really liked this. The trip was also ultra-efficient, I was quite literally in and out of every shop I stopped at and lucked out with my buses being at the stops right as I arrived. Perfect.

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Coord 4: Business Lunch

| Mary Magdalene Paulina JSK | Infanta Swan Lake blouse | Innocent World Ribbon Lace Millefeuille bolero | Innocent World Union Flag Lame OTKs | American Duchess Bernadette shoes | Cutie Creator Maiden’s Prayer headbow | offbrand earrings and ring | Rose Marie Seoir necklace |

This was towards the peak of my June makeup experimentations. Sometimes the algorithm really brings you the stuff that you need to see right now.

This is actually quite nostalgic as so many of these pieces here have been with me since like 2017/2018.

Sometimes you gotta get the gang together and go somewhere cute for a business lunch to plan out some details of a future event. And when that hits right after a big international travel, then you pick out pieces that are easy and comfortable to wear. The match of those navies is so good that even the camera seems to pick it up a little, which is a rare treat. Our planning jaunt was extremely successful and I am excited for things to come.

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Coord 5: Go on then

| Grove Deer Moon of Eternal Day OP | Axes Femme cutsew | Axes Femme Kawaii Bear Brooch Knit bolero | Metamorphose Heart Ladder Lace OTKs | Elf Armorie Cupid’s Heart shoes | Haruhi Clover headbow | Big Pink Boutique earrings | After Midnight necklace | Wicked and Whimsy ring | Star Glazed Delights Brandwhore ring | Folk and Fortune Diamond of the First Water brooch |

I think the bow on one of those earrings got caught in my hair and I didn't bother to retake the photos.

A feisty detail shot.

I wasn’t going to dress up. But then I needed to throw something on myself to start the working day, landing on this OP. And once it was already on and I started thinking of how I could wear it, the coord just sort of materialised. So I said “Go on then” and put it all on, even if most of the accessories (traditionally) went off after the photos. 

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Coord 6: Romantic Assistance

| Violet Fane Otome Nostalgia skirt | Axes Femme cutsew | Innocent World Wendy OTKs | Elf Armorie Cupid’s Heart shoes | handmade headbow and necklace | Big Pink Boutique earrings | handmade (not by me) brooch | BtSSB Merry Sweet Cake ring | Banned Retro Bella belt |

Iirc, ironically, I tried to do a lighter makeup there and ended up with a heavier one? Unsure how. I need to keep practicing, I guess.

This ring gets so little wear that I literally was thinking of selling it days before this coord happened.

It's been way too long since I went to a meetup with my local RNA chapter and this one couldn't have been better timed as I had a slightly rough week specifically about writing. Nothing like some time with people who just get it, you know? I kept my coord casual and as I was in the middle of picking out accessories, my boyfriend walked into my room and then asked if he could pick those out. So basically all the jewellery is his choice. And if I may say so myself, he's done pretty well, he went with bits that I likely wouldn't have chosen myself, but that ended up working quite well. Further proof of how versatile this print is, it can carry so many different and potentially contradicting themes with ease. Otome Nostalgia is a literal workhorse and staple.

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Coord 7: Sundress Central

| Lady Sloth Slavic Bestiary JSK | Axes Femme hat | memery sandals | Vivienne Westwood Lorelei studs | Vivienne Westwood Mini Bas Relief pendant | offbrand bracelets |

Lemme tell you, the brim of this hat wants to flop so badly that it felt like trying to take a selfie in between it falling down.

It's such a normie fashion move to have nothing but a (here: relatively) small pendant on a chain for accessories that it feels extremely foreign to my body, even when this is all arguably not lolita and just fancier normie.

I was going to wear a more proper lolita coord (by that point I’d been meaning to wear my Atelier Pierrot blouse for so long). But I looked at this dress and realised that I struggle so much with according it as a lolita JSK – whereas it is the perfect shape and fabric for being a sundress. So I think with this I may officially relegate it to the other side of my wardrobe. Ahead of the heatwave with all these natural fibres was as good a time as any.

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Coord 8: Chill Green

| Wonderland Ukiyoe Lilith’s Collection skirt | Axes Femme cutsew | Tutuanna ankle socks | offbrand shoes and bracelets | indie hair clip | Violet Fane Violet’s Tea Room brooch |

Once again getting slightly weird angles to capture those hair clips.

Another wardrobe staple. Violet Fane, man, I'm telling you, they have some proper bangers that will work hard for your wardrobe and style if you only let them.

I almost didn’t include this one in this post. I was still dressed up (minus accessories), but couldn’t be bothered to take photos and tried to remind myself that I am not obliged to photograph every single time I wear anything that involves my EGL pieces, that these are my clothes and I can wear them without the world knowing about it. But then I wanted to play around with blush, by which point I thought “Oh heck it, the accessories will take two minutes” – and so I threw the bits on and took the photos. I still want to work on not putting as much pressure on myself with regards to dressing up and documenting it, but this was a good step towards that.

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The heatwave cut my outfit plans short. Yes, I understand the logic that if you’re going to be hot and sweaty, you might as well be cute, but screw that, it was too hot to exist in my own skin, let alone in any kind of fabric. Although God bless Kato-san for Physical Drop and the cotton dress, that was a saviour for the hot weather. Here’s to hoping that July will cool down because dressing up aside, I was not enjoying my energy being drained by the heat and humidity.