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.

A very tiny capsule wardrobe

 As per usual, this capsule wardrobe post has its genesis on the capsule thread on CGL. The thread got massively derailed, so I posted some questions to get things back on track (which mostly failed, but oh well). One of the questions was "When does it stop being a capsule and start just being a small wardrobe? On the flip side, what makes it start being a capsule and not just a couple of coords?"

I still don't have a final answer for my own question, but it made me want to explore much smaller capsules than I normally do. My usual capsule is around 5 main pieces, 4 blouses, a couple pieces of outerwear, 3 pairs of shoes and about 7 pairs of socks and 7 items of headwear. If I include bags there's usually 2. I don't tend to do jewellery, as to me that more supplementary than the core of a coord

So I got to thinking - how small can I go while still having ti be a good capsule? In the end, I picked twelves items because I really enjoy Mariah Pattie's capsule wardrobe videos and she normally has twelve pieces. He wardrobes aren't lolita, so twelve goes a lot further for her, but still! It's what I somewhat arbitrarily decided to do ^__^

And here we have it!

I rather like this wardrobe! I tried to be less "boring" and ran with a wine shoes and bag (and bolero) rather than brown, which is a more standard colour choice. I'm not 100% convinced it was the right call, but I liked trying it out. The brown OP I am also aware is not the more versatile item, nor the most cohesive with the rest of the wardrobe but I felt it was a much-needed point of difference. 

If I did my maths right, this wardrobe can yield exactly 32 unique outfit combinations (without going into blouse-less or sock-less territory, or wearing a JSK over the OP which I really don't think would work). Obviously there would be a lot of similarities in them so you could alternatively think that you're going to get three main outfits with each JSK and two with the OP, with minor differences. 

Because I'm me, examples below of what I mean ^__^

Love that middle outfit!

Genuinely digging the right coord.

Left outfit is so cute with all the pink!

All in all I'm quite pleased with this. Things are quite same-y, but I think it's still pretty versatile! I found I really chafed at the limited headwear and legwear most of all, even more than having just one pair of shoes! However, if doing a capsule IRL and without arbitrary rules about the number of items, if I could add a bunch more socks, hair things and other accessories but no more main pieces, tops, or outerwear I'd be pretty happy with this as a wardrobe. 

I really enjoyed the challenge of putting this together, and think I'm going to give a twelve-item capsule another try with a different ratio of items.

Get necklace, make coord

Earlier this year an online friend sent me a necklace that she made for me, and it is absolutely stunning! It's really beautiful and wonderfully made and of course, my first impulse was to start building outfits around it. It took me a very long time to actually do it, but I finally put together a flatlay worthy of this gorgeous piece.

I ran with my wedding dress as the main piece and pulled together a pretty floral look, which I absolutely adore. I can't wait to wear this sometime!

And, because it's super gorgeous, please admire this close-up of the necklace itself.

I also tried to take a close-up of the necklace in situ but my camera decided to focus on the brooch apparently...oh well, it's still a pretty photo, just a tad blurry!

I'm so happy to have finally done this necklace justice! I also decided to use putting this flatlay together as an opportunity to film a little YouTube video about how I build a coordinate, so please check that out below if you're interested. 

Coordinates from July - August 2021

The title is kind of a lie - I didn't wear lolita in July. But I felt so uncomfortable just posting for every other month and pretending it didn't exist, so I'm lumping it in here even though nothing happened.

I mean, I could have just posted and not said that and I'm sure no-one would have cared...but I care!

And, on the top of me justifying things...my first outfit of August is only really quasi-lolita. Or, more correctly, quasi-ouji. But I'm counting it!

Overalls: Punyus

Blouse: Glitter Tale

Shoes: Bodyline

Everything else: Offbrand

I wore this outfit for no reason other than I had to leave the house and was struggling to find comfy pants. So I decided to wear my overalls, but my only matching shoes are my lolita ones, and one thing lead to another which lead to this outfit. It's cute and I felt good in it, nuff said.

Then I started the next week off determined to get back into the working from home lolita habit. At this stage, it was looking likely that lockdown will be continuing until end of October at least so I thought it would be good to get some positive habits going. And for this, I wore my newest dress!

OP: Metamorphose temps de fille Camellia Cat Hide and Seek

Capelet & Headbow: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright
OTKS: Angelic Pretty
Shoes: Bodyline

Everything else: Offbrand/Taobao

I love this dress so much! It's so different from anything else I own that it makes me really happy to wear. This outfit isn't like my "ideal coord" or anything, I just needed a warm layer, hence the capelet, and just built from there. I do like how it turned out though!

As is usual with me, my "wear lolita every day!" intentions didn't result in well, results, but I did doll up to WFH again on Friday.

JSK: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright Shirring Princess

Blouse: Glitter Tale

Everything else: Offbrand/Taobao

Aaaaand...that was it for August. I had some time off at the end of the month for our wedding anniversary (we basically cuddled and played video games for five days) and didn't do much of anything. But as the weather continues to warm up and I've gotten my lolita room 100% clean for the first time in far too long, I feel cautiously optimistic that there may be more lolita in my near future. 

Orange flowers, purple dress

 Recently (and by recently I mean in April lol...it's just one of those years) I did a lolita photoshoot with my talented husband James for the first time in I don't know how long!

I talked a little about the outfit in my April coord roundup so I won't repeat myself but will instead just share the final photos, because I absolutely love them!

What style of lolita photoshoot should I do next?