Lolita Blog Carnival #8: Wardrobe Challenge

I was really thrilled to hear that a topic I suggested for the Lolita Blog Carnival to do was selected by popular vote this past week! This week, all the participants of the blog carnival will be getting together and picking out one lolita piece from their wardrobe, whether it is a skirt, jumperskirt, or one-piece, and challenging themselves with making five different coordinates with it.

As a quick detour, my outfit has nothing to do with the coming post because this Wednesday was the Hindu Festival of Lights: Diwali! I went for a slightly belated pooja (it's like a Catholic mass, for lack of a better way to describe it) yesterday, and just never had time to wear the outfit I was planning to introduce this post. I wore a traditional sari worn the North Indian way (despite me being South Indian--Diwali is celebrated as a New Year's celebration in North India, and I kind of felt like mixing things up), and had a great time. =)

Hope you enjoy the photos, they become progressively darker because the sun set as I worked through the challenge the day I took them.

Before I show you the pictures, I want to share a few tips on how to get the most for your money when looking for lolita items, and what kind of pieces you can look for to know that you have a dress you can wear many times in many different ways. It get's boring when you realise you can only wear a dress a certain way!

1. Ask yourself "can I layer things with this dress?" It's much easier to make a lot of different outfits if you buy a skirt or jumperskirt because you can wear a different blouse underneath it each time, or even wear something over it (or both)! Plus, you can even fold over a jumperskirt and use a waist belt to turn it into a beautiful skirt. No one will ever know the difference, trust me. ;D
2. Buy something in a solid colour that has a similar base tone to the rest of your wardrobe. If you tend to wear muted colours, buy pieces that are in that same realm because you can do colour combinations a lot easier this way. If you have lots of pastel yellow pieces, you probably don't want to buy something a cool blue because they are just on two different levels, and you'll realise you end up spending more money on new items to match the dress than the dress itself!
3. Detachable pieces, button-up fronts, removable collars: these are all FANTASTIC additions to a dress that makes it that much more worth it to buy. Simply purchasing a jumperskirt that has a couple of detachable bows is already begging to be coordinated in so many fresh new ways! Brands like Metamorphose and MAM Maxicimam sell dresses that often have detachable ruffles, so you can make a dress that had an OTT sweet feel suddenly look toned down and classy.
4. When buying prints, use this as an opportunity to add different colours to your wardrobe without straining your budget. This is a bit of a strange tip to explain, but basically, say your wardrobe already has a lot of mint in it. And then WHAM, Baby releases this gorgeous print in pink, that you really want! But that seems to be a bit painful on your wallet because you don't really have anything else that's pink. But ah! Look closer and you will see that the print actually has quite a bit of mint interspersed within. Suddenly it's a lot easier to coordinate with it and add a new colour to your wardrobe you don't have a lot of! Even though solid colours are great for coordination, prints can be even better sometimes. 

Finally, in terms of brands that I think are best for flexibility--I definitely think Metamorphose is great for this. All their bows are usually detachable, they release things with detachable ruffles all the time, and you can get a lot of wear out of it. I've also found Innocent World is pretty fantastic as well, especially since they make some gorgeous solid-coloured pieces. Now, onto the pictures!

For the first dress I used, I decided to whip out one of my favourite (and one of my first) dream dresses. It doesn't really have a super official name, but most people call it the Metamoprhose Pintucks Jumperskirt. This gorgeous piece is SUPER heavy because it's made out of thick fabric (and a lot of it too!), and has a super full skirt, which makes it great for a variety of styles. I decided to challenge myself and kind of go for a different sub-category of Japanese fashion with each coordinate (plus I have one bonus coordinate that I didn't like very much, but I photographed anyways).

The first look I went for is a kind of Old School lolita look. I pulled out an ancient Angelic Pretty replica I had (made by Fan+Friend), with the token bow sleeves and capelet. (Remember when capelets were the bees knees in lolita? Man, how times have changed.) I also provided two different options for headgear that I had tucked away, the typical maxi pad headdress (handmade by myself when I was just a wee 13 years old), or a large head-eating Alice bow by Baby, the Stars Shine Bright. Paired with plain white thigh-highs and dolly-like strappy shoes, it really gives off that vibe that you rolled out of one of the first Gothic & Lolita Bibles.

The next look I went for was a more Otome look. Toned-down, with more lady-like shoes and a delicate pink headdress and patterned tights. I used an old knit turtleneck from Angelic Pretty (it's got gorgeous rhinestones embedded in the front), and a cool hand-made piece I picked up at a vintage store. It uses all-vintage materials, a glove, lace, fabric, false flowers, and a beautiful pearl broach.

Next is a simple and super-comfortable Mori-Girl look. A big knit sweater (I believe it's vintage, I purchased it secondhand from a Facebook Sales community) layered over the jumperskirt really gives it a great vibe. Top it off with a cute beret, dark green (and super thick) tights, and a nice pair of comfortable brown shoes (from H&M), and you look like you're ready to live in a tree IN STYLE!

For people who have followed my outfits from three-four years ago, this coordinate may look a tad similar. I've just improved upon it a bit with newer additions to my wardrobe. I went for a Dolly-Kei vibe using an intricate embroidered purse handed down from my mum and sheepskin-lined vintage boots in a beautiful dark green (which isn't pictured too well here). This really reveals the best part of the jumperskirt--the buttons are fully functional so you can layer different skirts underneath it (here I used Baby, the Stars Shine Bright's Antique Bouquet high-waist skirt) and let them peek out, giving it a whole new vibe. Top it with a rosette-covered cardigan and simple accessories and you have this really gorgeous look.

Here I went for a darker, more Gothic Lolita vibe. Using a lovely dark blue top purchased from Yes Style's physical store in San Francisco and Vampire Requiem's corset skirt layered underneath, a seemingly classical-looking dress suddenly looks a whole lot more chic. This time I selected a pair of (Payless) shoes with a somewhat sexy look, and black thigh-highs (they have vertical bands of sheer and black that you can't see too well). Topping it off with a fun black crown from Claire's and a beautiful lavender and black rosette I purchased in Monki on my trip to Sweden years back, and voilà, you're a gothic princess!

You might be wondering--"Did she miscount?" right now, since this is the 6th coordinate and I was supposed to do 5, but this is one that I thought looked better in my minds' eye than in person, for much the same reason I'm not a huge fan of the gothic lolita coordinate. The prints I own are mostly lavender, and I think it blends in too much with the Metamorphose dress. This time I tried to go for a Sweet Lolita look that wasn't quite over-the-top but still wasn't simple enough to be otome-kei. I paired a blazer from H&M with Sugar Hearts by Angelic Pretty and went for a lighter, softer palette. I just really adore that pastel hand-crocheted scarf I thrifted from Rok-it London.

That's it for all the coordinates I made with my Metamorphose Pintucks Jumperskirt. =) Things I didn't really touch upon when planning these coordinates is that this JSK has FOUR detachable bows. You can add them anywhere! I've removed them to put onto shoes, my hair, on sweaters, and even on wristcuffs. Experiment with the detachable bows you have!

Check out what the other Lolita Blog Carnival cuties posted! Happy reading~

A Lace Jail ★ Swirly Purple and Green Crayons ★ Hello Batty
two teaspoons of sugar. ★ Let's Go! ★ Redtonic's Blog
Make Lovely ★ Melting Mind of Liz Juice