A lolita capsule wardrobe from only Western indie brands

Yep, you're seeing things right - it's yet another capsule wardrobe. I actually put this suggestion up on CGL myself - a capsule only from Western indie brands - and then ended up making it when no-one else did!

It was quite challenging, but also not as hard as I thought it would be. Part of the challenge did come from needing to use clear stock images - there were some lovely printed tights that I would have loved to included, but they were all pictured on models who were sitting down, wearing shoes, and all that fun stuff. In the end, for legwear and headwear I did stretch a bit with some offbrand pieces...but it's my capsule so I make the rules and I say it's okay ^__^

But enough of what I didn't get to use, here's what I did use!

Since this is indie brands and not so quickly recognisable, here's a quick rundown of where the pieces come from.

Main pieces: Sweet Mildred, The Black Ribbon, Lady Sloth

Tops: Lady Sloth, The Black Ribbon x2, Lady Sloth

Headwear: eBay, Sweet Mildred, Me Likes Tea, Imperial Fiddlesticks x2

Legwear: Offbrand x2, Enchanted Dream Wear, eBay x2

Bag: Cotton Candy Feet

Shoes: Cotton Candy Feet, Fluffy Tori

And now, naturally, please enjoy four outfits with each main piece.

This JSK is really gorgeous, I utterly fell in love. And I just realised I didn't coord it with the bolero at all...ooops! My favourite outfit from this lot if the bottom right, it's just the right mix of simple and elegant for my tastes.

The Black Ribbon has released a whole lot of pretty and comfortable looking skirts over the years, so I just had to include one! I also included their Jillian cutsew in ivory because I own it in both colours and think it's an excellent piece.

And lastly, an opulent Lady Sloth OP to finish things off. As usual with OPs, it's not the most versatile, but I think you can do enough with it that it still works for the capsule.

Like I said at the start, I really enjoyed this as a challenge. Working with a much more limited pool of items to choose from really made me think hard about it all. However, those same limitations means that it's not the best capsule overall. But it's still definitely good, and I kind of like it's imperfections because to me they illustrate perfectly how important buying from a range of sources can be for lolita!

It also illustrated that we need more indie brands making socks. Just saying ^__^

Review #57: Metamorphose Camellia ~ Cat Hide and Seek ~

 Did I completely forget to post about this dress here?! Apparently yes...ooops.

So back in March I posted about pre-ordering the OP from Meta's new series Camellia ~cat hide and seek~. Sometime in late June I got an email saying they'd be shipping early July, and I got my shipping notification in 5 July with an ETA of 12 July. But the postal gods smiled on me and I got it on the 7th! So all in all I was very, very happy with the pre-order process. Meta never disappoints.

As for the dress itself...well, I wanted to film an unboxing (my first unboxing) so it actually sat around in its box, tempting me, for a while. But when I opened it up...well, you'll see ^__^

Yeah, I'm pretty damn happy with it. I've only don'e one proper coord with it, though I have thrown it on for another YouTube video as well. But it really is a lovely, gorgeous, comfortable dress and I'm very happy I bought it.

Sweet candy capsule

Apparently I'm really getting into making capsules again, which has been a lot of fun! Who knows how long this enthusiasm will last so let's enjoy it while it lasts ^__^

After my last limited capsule I realised I'm really getting a lot out of trying to to really restrict the numbers, so I tackled another request from CGL (sweet capsule based around Sugar Hearts JSK in pink) and tried to keep things small. In the end, this is a 19 piece capsule and I feel like those few extra pieces (mostly headwear and legwear) really multiplied the versatility of the wardrobe. Which is quite validating, because I've always been of the opinion that they're very important!

So without any further ado, here is the capsule.

And, of course, four sample outfits with each main piece. These were so much fun and there were still plenty of avenues I didn't explore, so I'm very happy with how the whole thing turned out.

Sugar Hearts is actually a print that I love, but none of the cuts would ever look good on me, so my love is from a distance. So it was super fun to do these outfits, and the capsule in general! I included a couple of other pieces from the series - namely the cutsew and OTKS in white - because there is just something unbeatable about matching pieces in sweet lolita.

For my second main piece I wanted to run with the candy theme, and also wanted the whole capsule to turn more "pastel rainbow" in terms of colour scheme. And I think it was a very solid choice!

Lastly I did want to include a solid coloured piece to tone things down and landed on this Meta OP. Obviously, due to both the colour choice and the fact that it's an OP it is the least versatile thing in the capsule, but I think you can still wear it in a bunch of different ways. And besides, it's always nice to have an easy to wear piece even in a tiny capsule!

I've been having a lot of fun with capsules lately, so if you have any suggestions of a theme or style or whatever you'd like to see please leave me a comment! No guarantees I'll actually do it, but it's always good to have other peoples ideas to use as a starting point ^__^

Coordinates from September 2021

September was all over the place. The weather, my brain, everything lol. But I wore lolita a few times so as per usual please enjoy this coord roundup.

I first wore lolita to WFH, mostly because I had a quick YouTube video I wanted to film in my lunchbreak! But it felt really nice to dress up for work again.

JSK: Metamorphose temps de fille Rose Stripe Shirring

Blouse: Glitter Tale

Haori: Vintage

Socks & Shoes: Bodyline

Everything else: Offbrand/Taobao

I tend to take most of my accessories off after my outfit photo, and James happened to come into our computer room as I did so, told me I looked adorable, and got me to pose for the below. Hiding my work shame!

By accident, my next outfit with Jurassic Party came exactly one year after I last wore the skirt! Such as cool and unexpected coincidence!

Anyway, I only dressed up because I needed to go to the post office after work, and decided that I'd be cute for the afternoon's work Zoom meetings. Though I did have my accessories off for work ^__^

Skirt: Wonderpunk Jurassic Party

Blouse: Glitter Tale

Socks & Bag: Angelic Pretty

Everything else: Offbrand/Taobao/Handmade

I actually really like how this outfit turned out, even though the colour balance is all over the place. And I got three compliments while I was out, and I was only at the shops for all of fifteen minutes. And the husband liked it too, and took lots of cute pictures for me ^__^

Then I wore lolita to WFH again, just because it was a Friday and I was not very motivated. Nothing particularly noteworthy about this outfit, but it did help with the motivation issue somewhat.

OP: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright Tartan Check

Shoes & Socks: Bodyline

Wristcuffs: Angelic Pretty

Everything else: Offbrand

This outfit was originally put together with a pink bolero, but it got really hot, so I subbed it out for wristcuffs. Though, like all WFH coords, the accessories are kind of a lie, because they just go on for the photo! There is also no petticoat, the shame ^__^

My last outfit for the month was on the last day of the month. It came into existence for two reasons. Firstly, I realised when putting my previous coord into my spreadsheet (yes, I have a spreadsheet) that I had worn every main piece that fits me this year...except for Patisserie Dream. And second, James fixed my pretty rainbow necklace. Since both those elements fit together well, I figured I had to do it...and got it in my head I should do it by the end of the month, lol.

Skirt: Metamorphose temps de fille Patisserie Dream

Cutsew: The Black Ribbon

Bolero & Socks: Angelic Pretty

Headbow: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright

Everything else: Offbrand/Taobao/The Decora Factory

I had a lot of fun doing a massive colourful look. Well, as colourful as you can get with a lot of black! It's a very "me" kind of vibe and I think it was a great way to end off the month. I particularly enjoyed my accessory choices, so have a selfie ^__^

And that's all for September! I'm in denial about another month being over, but at least I looked cute doing it.