September Coords roundup

Happy October! Time to kick it off with a look back at September before I succumb to the crunchy spicy leaf season.

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Coord 1: Sangam Afternoon Tea

| AatP Persian Rug ~ Medallion Design That Weaves Wishes ~ JSK | l’Esprit de la Noblesse Le Nuage blouse | Peacockalorum underskirt | AatP Arabesque OTKs | Elf Armorie Cupid’s Heart shoes | AatP Sheherazade headdress | Tiny Passerine Creations The Duchess’ Tea earrings | offbrand necklace and ring | vintage brooch | Le Petit Four Emerald Palace ring | handmade bracelets |

It feels like so long since I've done a winged eyeliner and now I'm questioning myself why.

The (almost) perfectly square neckline.

So I bought this dress when it came on sale. And I have zero regrets. The stock photos do not do it justice and it has managed to convince me that maybe a high waisted cut is not my enemy after all. Having stumbled upon an Indian restaurant offering Indian afternoon tea, I rallied the willing comm members up to try it out, so this was the perfect first outing for this dress. I like how it feels very effortless like this and all the various carpet-like details make for super nice touches. The afternoon tea, whilst delicious and very filling, left a bit of a sour taste in our mouths because the restaurant didn’t deliver so well for the gluten free member of our party (and the desserts weren’t to my taste either, the savouries were much better). Which is a shame, since otherwise this would’ve been a really nice, unique spot for future meets. I might go back with like my Mum or something, but definitely wouldn’t risk it again for a meet.

It looked so good too! So why the sudden drop in effort with something that Indian cuisine is perfectly capable of delivering?

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Coord 2: Monochrome Crown

| Metamorphose Polka Dots Shirring Pinafore JSK | Pinky Girls cardigan | Angelic Pretty Crown Ribbon OTKs | Elf Armorie Cupid’s Heart shoes | Cutie Creator headbow | offbrand necklace, ring, and belt | Metamorphose Grande Couronne necklace | voodoodolly ring |

Originally I planned a different headdress, but it was too much for what is a pretty casual look.

Even if the crown motifs beg to differ about the casual accusations.

These socks need wearing, you say? It’s September now and most of my summer pieces only got worn once this year, you say? I gochu, time to combine the two. Although maybe don’t look if mixed metals offend you as to pull in more of the crown motif, I mixed my metals very freely. Not much to say about this coord, it was cute and comfy, like how it came out, next.

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Coord 3: Makers Market

| Chrysanthemum’s Concerto Lost in the Garden of Eden JSK | offbrand blouse and shoes | BtSSB Secret AIR MAIL from Sweet Kitty OTKs | Cutie Creator Maiden’s Prayer headbow | Melty Wish earrings and necklace | 4Aces ring |

There was no point in going too hard with the makeup since it was a rainy day.

Yes to all the wax seal motifs.

Realising that the time for my annual wardrobe swap is going to arrive sooner rather than later has lit a bit of a fire under me to wear as many of my summer pieces at least one more time as possible. Since we were going out to check out the local makers market, I coorded around comfortable shoes and some still unworn socks, landing on this coord. It’s not overthought at all, it’s super simple and comfy, but still got plenty of compliments from the sellers, making me feel cute.

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Coord 4: Transitional Seasons

| Metamorphose Vintage Fruit OP | Amavel cardigan | BtSSB Polonaise Brillante OTKs | Elf Armorie Cupid’s Heart shoes | beret handmade by Kerry | Pastel Paca earrings | offbrand choker | vintage brooch | 4Aces ring |

ALL the autumnal colours!

A boss move on my part, moving the bows from the OP to the cardigan, if I may say so myself.

Early September is such a wild time: it can be warm or cold, the leaves can still be green or they can start turning, it can be sunny or miserable. The perfect inspiration for styling this OP in a less summery way. To be fair, it all started with adding green and then with these OTKs, but once it was all on, I knew that I wanted that look of early autumn that’s mostly green, but starting to turn. Mission accomplished in my books, this may be one of my favourite coords with this main piece. Although wearing a petti for packing may not have been the most practical choice I ever made.

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Coord 5: Hometown Reminiscing

| Wonderland Ukiyoe Lilith’s Collection skirt | Axes Femme cutsew | Innocent World Lauretta OTKs | Elf Armorie Cupid’s Heart shoes | Imogen’s Imagination beret | Pastel Paca earrings | Summer Tales Boutique necklace | vintage brooch and bracelet | offbrand brooch |

The joys of finding coord-taking spots in other people's houses...

This pin was a gift from our DnD DM, since I play a tree-man character, and this felt like the right time to bring it with me.

For a nearly one week-long trip to Poland I took precisely one frilly outfit and it was this one. We spent the majority of the trip in the countryside, so frills weren’t practical (for wearing or packing), but since I was already taking my long A-line petti, I could whip something up with this skirt with no problems. We spent one day wandering around my home city and barring the shoe change for something better suited to cobblestones and lots of steps, this was perfect for mooching around the old haunts. Even the weather was so much on my side that despite bringing a cardigan with me, I didn’t need one and spent the whole day like this.

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Coord 6: Something Mixed

| Metamorphose Sailor Tiered skirt | Axes Femme cutsew | Amavel cardigan | Angelic Pretty Toy March OTKs | Elf Armorie Cupid’s Heart shoes | Physical Drop headbow | offbrand earrings and ring | Folk and Fortune Ruby Hilt Dagger brooch | Violet Fane Apothecary brooch | 4Aces ring |

This ring was getting a lot of wear in September, I just noticed.

Love me some fantasy-leaning brooches. You can take a gal out of being a nerd and all that...

Although my plans had changed for the Saturday, since I already wanted to dress up in frills, I decided to stick with that. The coord was entirely thought up on the spot, having started with just the socks and skirt. Originally my ideas wandered around using more brown, but another look at these socks confirmed that a wine red would be a much better accent colour. The only thing I’d change in retrospect would be the headbow. I actually didn’t pick a headpiece straight away and just grabbed the first viable option that I could think of. But also, I think I’m generally growing into smaller headpieces as time goes on, so maybe next year my challenge should be to wear every single headbow I own and do some spring cleaning with those. Because the legwear challenge so far has really revealed which of my OTKs I have no more use for (and tbf, these ones are probably one of them too, I’m just unsure how well they’d do on the second hand market because they are a bit more worn than some of the other ones I was selling).

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Coord 7: Board Games

| Metamorphose Cyber Neon Girl JSK | NiuNiu Shop blouse | Haenuli Secret Garden tights | offbrand shoes, hair tie, earrings, and pin | Angelic Pretty Fancy Crepe necklace | Magical Mews Swan Hoe pin | Fluffy Tori Everybody Can Be Kawaii pin | handmade bracelets | Candy Kitsch Creations ring | Twinkle Kitty Boutique ring |

Normally with this JSK I think I would've gone with a bright pink lipstick, but I was tying all those reds in from the organza overlays and the bows on the tights.

Look at all those sax and minty blues. Actually, there is literally every primary colour under the sun in this print, I should try harder with it.

The following day we were going out to play board games at a café with friends and I wanted something that was both fun and casual. The legwear list is currently at the stage of being mostly quite specific socks and tights, so after initially trying to style Cyber Neon Girl with a different pair of tights, I pivoted to these because they just worked better with the light blue neons in the print – plus the red on the tights allowed me to tie in the red organza overlays a bit better. I wish that I had some sort of a black choker to both fill in that space and add a slightly more prominent touch of black into that part of the coord, but other than that, I think it came out okay. This is the first proper lolita coords I’ve done with this print, which considering that I got it with permission to wear in non-lolita ways, I’m pretty proud of. We had a good time trying out a bunch of different board games and thankfully this JSK cut is super comfy because Mother Nature demanded sacrifices at the altar, so it was nice to have one fewer waistbands eating at me.

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Coord 8: Briefly Elegant

| Grove Deer Moon of Eternal Day OP | Vallee Lys Nocturne tulle cardigan | Axes Femme underskirt | Enchantlic Enchantilly Crown of the Rose Princess tights | Elf Armorie Cupid’s Heart shoes | Kaneko headdress | Tiny Passerine Creations The Duchess’ Tea earrings | offbrand necklace and ring | enchanted Dream Wear necklace | Star Glazed Delights Brandwhore ring |

The great part about not going out and just having a look for the photos is that no-one sees how lazy I get with my up-do's (long live the claw clip).

Damn, if the textures of this necklace don't bring me insane amounts of joy.

Briefly because most of this coord went straight off the moment that I was done with pictures. I wanted to be comfy and the tulle cardigan proved surprisingly warm. And since I anticipated being in meetings, I didn’t want all this jewellery. Still, I like how the coord came out. It was put together just to get another piece of legwear ticked off the list for this year and because this OP is very comfy, but it kept morphing as I put things on because for once I hadn’t pre-planned anything. I started out with the shorter Nocturne overdress, but the lengths were a little off, especially with the underskirt, which I wanted to keep. The long cardigan also solved my ‘issue’ of bare wrists, which now got some very elegant sleeve cuffs. Also yes, there were too many shades of wine that the camera blew out of proportion, irl they blended ever so slightly better, but this cardigan always trips cameras up with what colour it is.

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Coord 9: Visiting Hokusai

| Metamorphose Shirring Tiered Ribbon Pinafore JSK | Axes Femme cutsew | Innocent World Cross Lace bolero | Innocent World Pearl Ribbon OTKs | American Duchess Bernadette shoes | Cutie Creator Maiden’s Prayer headbow | Tiny Passerine Creations The Duchess’ Tea earrings and ring | vintage necklace and brooches |

Using the bubble machine for photos was a genius idea. The gloss over this lipstick a little less so, though the pictures at least have the decency to hide that a little.

Because what's more evocative of water than pearl drops?

For a day off to hang out with a friend, we went to the Whitworth Gallery with the intention of seeing the woodblock exhibition that includes Hokusai’s The Great Wave of Kanagawa. That was my inspiration behind this shades-of-blue-and-pearls coord, though I had a minor outfit mishap in the morning and needed to change my blouse. In the end, we didn’t even get to see The Great Wave of Kanagawa itself because we were distracted by other exhibits and then wanted a break, but the outfit inspiration remains. Also, since only a week earlier my boyfriend got me a bubbles machine (toy), I decided to try taking pictures with that, which seems to have worked very well, so I am certain that more will come.

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Coord 10: Chill and Cosy

| Violet Fane Otome Nostalgia skirt | vintage blouse | offbrand vest | BtSSB Border OTKs | Hot Chocolate Designs Dear Santa shoes | beret handmade by Kerry | Folk and Fortune Typewriter necklace | Little Rogue and Co pin |

Again, I am insanely pleased at all the textures in this coord.

Whilst I am looking further to the new instalments, I also am not holding my breath for anything majorly mind blowing from SJM.

The goal was to be comfy, cosy, and warm during my Sunday at home – and this achieved all three of those goals perfectly. With the added extra of ticking off another pair of socks for this year’s goal. Not much more to say about this look tbh. Otome Nostalgia always lends itself well to being paired with red, so this is far from revolutionary, though I like the textures and the visual interest that the stripes bring into it, worked out even better than I thought it might.

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Autumn is just about kicking in and still in the nice stage: cardigan weather with sunshine, leaves only just beginning to turn, evenings drawing nearer but without taking over the waking hours. October is already packed for me with various events and activities, most of which are (traditionally for me) not very spooky. Oh, and I cannot wait to swap my spring/summer clothes out for the autumn/winter ones, there’s a few pieces there that I wanted to wear recently and couldn’t because they’re in storage. Bring me back my beloved ones!