Now that 2014 is over, I’m taking a moment to look back at my coordinates over the last year. We had a full year of events in our local community so that gave me the opportunity to wear it more often and I’m really proud with the results.
In January we had our annual Strawberry meet and I wore my Angelic Pretty Freshly Picked Strawberries Shirring JSK. I put it together with a Metamorphose chiffon short sleeve blouse ( a staple for summer) an Angelic Pretty headbow, ankle socks and teaparties. For accessories I wore an Angelic Pretty berry bracelet and bangle, red heart sunnies and a cute felt strawberry brooch that I found and bought at the strawberry patch.
It was a really simple coordinate which was comfortable to wear in the Australian heat. I am fairly happy how it looked, though if I had a chance to rewear it I would either change the hairstyle or add bows or accessories to the ends of the plaits. If the weather had been a little cooler I would have tried to add in a cardigan and longer socks to introduce another colour so it wasn’t so red.
In February we had our Valentines meet. To honor Valentines day I wore another red coordinate. Angelic Prettys Fantastic Dolly JSK always reminds me of Minnie Mouse, I even got to wear it in a Minnie themed coordinate to Disneyland! To this event I wanted the colour to take the lead so it is a another simple outfit. I wore the matching JSK and headbow together with a offbrand cutsew, ivory lace tights, Angelic Pretty teaparties and a Baby the Stars Shine Bright ribbon heart bag. For accessories I wore a pearl bracelet, Angelic Pretty ribbon bangle, ribbon ring and a black rose ring. The wig I am wearing is a Gothic Lolita Rhapsody in brown.
This was another outfit that was choosen due to the hot Australian summer. It is very matchy, matchy, but I am happy with how it looks.
In March we had our St Patricks Day picnic. In celebration I wanted to pick out a mostly green inspired outfit and ended up choosing my Alice and the Pirates Royal Crown’s Tea Package JSK. It was worn with the matching tights and beret, so to offset the print I wore it with a burgandy Alice and the Pirates chiffon blouse and rocking horse shoes. As the print is very busy and I was wearing long sleeves I didn’t wear any accessories. It was my third event in a row wearing my Rhapsody wig.
I’m starting to see a trend here of sets with a blouse and accessories, though in truth JSKS do make it a little harder to mix up and be creative with coordinates. So despite looking like a walking Alice and the pirates catalogue I do like how everything looks together (not that there was much that could go wrong)
In April we had our Mori Pop High Tea, which was a chance for everyone to dress up. From Top to bottom, I wore an Alice and the Pirates Coppelia bonnet, Alice and the Pirates Angels Whisper chiffon blouse, Atelier Pierrot Corset OP, JetJ overbust corset, Mary Magdelene underskirt, offbrand black lace tights, JetJ heels and an Alice and the Pirates Birdcage bag. For accessories I wore Alice and the Pirates lace handcuffs and pearl bracelets. I handmade the mask to match my outfit for the event.
Finally something that was not just matching prints. It did help that everything was black, but I am really proud of how the combination of pieces turned out. I am actually wearing 4 petticoats and floated at the event, I felt like a princess the entire time. It is one of my favorite put together coodinates to date.
Another April event was an Easter photoshoot I did with a friend as we missed the main Easter meet up. It was a bunny photoshoot so I got to wear my newly acquired Ergi bunnyhood with my Angelic Pretty Marshmallow bunny JSK with collar. I wore it with a Milk confetti cutsew and sax teaparties. I had allllll the matching accessories. For the last two pictures I am wearing a Cyperous wig that is very similar to my own hair colour.
Back to my matchy, matchy best with allllll the matching pieces hahahaha! Still I couldn’t help but feel adorable wearing that fluffy bunny hood! The only things that are not part of the set are the dokidoki pink bow on the hood, the milk cutsew, the pastel AP wrist cuffs and the bunny hood. The milk cutsew colours match so well that it almost looks like an OP. I love this outfit and wouldn’t change a thing.
In May we had a Royal Melty Creamy Chocolate Bar and Ribbon Meet. To combine all the Angelic Pretty chocolate print names into a meet as an excuse to go to a chocolate bar. As it was a chocolate meet, I wore my favourite chocolate print, Angelic Pretty Melty Chocolate short sleeve JSK. This print was on my wishlist for years till I finally found the JSK version I wanted and all of the matching (yes there I go again) pieces. The only piece that is not part of the set is the Angelic Pretty Sealing stamp garter socks.
I was proud to wear this set, it was a real achievement to find everything as the set was released before I was wearing lolita, so it felt good to wear it all. I also love the cut, its really flattering. Third meet in a row wearing this wig, I noticed (is that an unconscious trend?)
In August we had a Picnic Twin meet, or triplet in our case. Lief had recently re-released the Gardenberries JSK in a new cut and three of us in the community picked them up, each in a different colourway. I wore the JSK with a Baby the Stars Shine Bright chiffon black blouse, black anklet socks and queen bee patent shoes. Although you can’t see it in this picture, I added lace and ribbon on the hat to match the dress. For accessories I have a gold key necklace, Baby the Stars Shine bright Pearl bracelet and Angelic Pretty Sealing Stamp ring. This is the first coordinate I am using my own hair.
I”m happy that I finally convinced myself to use my own hair for once and happy with how it looks. This is a pretty black coordinate, so I think next time it would be nice to try and pick out another colour to style it with.
In October we held our Halloween party and it was just the event I needed to break out my Alice and the Pirates Guilty Meltin’ Sweets Town JSK which was waiting for Halloween to be worn. I put it together with Alice and the Pirates chiffon blouse, Candy Cat headbow, black lace tights and TUK boots. Earlier in the evening I was wearing a witches hat, though it was quite floppy and annoying so I switched it out. For accessories I have the Angelic Pretty Magical Trick bat set.
The bummer of the event was my witches hat, it was an Alice and the Pirates one, expensive and huge and really disappointing. I really love headwear and this one just wouldn’t stay put, it kept flopping into my eyes so I ditched it for cat ears (though I insisted they were bat ears) Surprisingly when I bought this JSK from Baby the stars shine bright, I did not buy any matching pieces ( a shock, I know) also back to wearing a wig…
Our November meet up was a sailor inspired one, where we visited our local maritime museum. I wore a Lief Logo sailor ribbon OP, Alice and the Pirates sailor hat, Innocent world ankle socks and queen bee patent shoes. My buddy Usakumya is wearing a duffy sailor outfit that I picked up in Disney Japan. Now that my hair is getting so long I’m starting to struggle fitting it in a wig, so this event was my natural hair.
Though very simple, I am happy that nothing in this coordinate is from the same series or brand, yet still goes together really well. I’m also happy that I’m using my own hair.
Another November meet was a local cafe, Hello Kitty opening. I wore an Angelic Pretty Honeycake switching JSK with matching headbow, together with an Baby the Stars Shine Bright sax blouse, Angelic Pretty chocolate bag, chocolate teaparties and sax ankle socks. Usakumya is wearing a Rilakuma bee outfit to match my print theme.
Instead of reaching for a default white or ivory blouse, I picked out the blue in the print to coordinate it with and I like how it turned out. Next time, a bit more of another colour, perhaps red would make it pop a little more. I am back to wearing a wig, though I do not remember how I fit all my hair back up in there.
December hailed out International Lolita Day meet up which we had in a local cafe. I wore my Alice and the Pirates Tea Time Nostalgia JSK and matching bonnet, with an offbrand ivory blouse, ivory lace tights and Vivienne Westwood three strap heels. For accessories I am wearing a Baby the Stars Shine Bright pearl bracelet and rose rings.
What I like about both the style of the JSK and the coordinate it that it is bit more of a mature look. As I get older and more into wearing lolita I am tending towards this (with the occasional cute print here and there) Both the blouse and the tights are not lolita centric which I also like, its not always about wearing lolita brands and styles. Lastly, I have noticed that I am back to wearing wigs again (despite the length of my hair and the heat)
Last December meet of the year is our Christmas picnic. To go with the theme, I wore a Baby the Stars Shine Bright Love ring Love ribbon JSK and matching headbow, Metmorphose chiffon blouse, ankle socks and Baby the Stars Shine Bright heels. Usakumya is wearing a Disney Duffy christmas oufit.
The thing about summer in Australia is that it is really hot and its hard to wear lolita. I braved it in a Christmas weight print (heavy) but kept everything else to a minimum. I choose wisely by styling my own hair for only the third time.
So, if you made it here, well done! Mostly this post is me just musing over what I wore for the last year and wondering how I went. I discovered that I am good at buying sets (all the hunting online can get addictive) and then putting together a fairly simply coordinate, generally in black and white. A couple of time I experimented with colour and I think I really should do more of this, though I can see my wardrobe blowing out even further to accommodate this. I really like the coordinates where I handmade matching items or found random offbrand or non lolita specific items to put together, it feels more like you own the style more when you do this. So to sum up these findings, my lolita new year resolutions are to experiment with colour and non lolita items more, do more crafting, oh and use my own hair more often!
♥ Alyssium♥
Leave a Reply