Dressing up my friend in lolita fashion

On Sunday, my neighbor hosted a garden party for the Queen’s platinum jubliee. My friend Yani was in town for the weekend but she didn’t have anything to wear. Naturally, I volunteered my closet.

Yani knows what lolita fashion is, so she knew what to expect. Her normal style is a sort of gothy or dark mori, so my wardrobe full of florals was new territory. The other limiting factor was that she only brought a pair of black boots and her feet are larger than mine. She couldn’t borrow any shoes, so we had to work with black.

Mainpiece and blouse

I pulled out a few dark colored floral pieces, but she immediately fell in love with Mulberry Chronicles’ A Woodland Path JSK in navy. The mushroom and dark colored print really spoke to her normal style, even if the dress wasn’t something she would normally pick.

Yani is also much taller than I am and I didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable if my dresses were short on her. We chose the Ghost Girl Goods under/overdress as a blouse and underskirt combo. Not only did the colors go together well, the underskirt added several inches of length to the bottom of the dress. Though I do have a pair of matching mushroom tights, Yani reminded me that she’s got about 5 inches on me and didn’t want to rip my tights. We went with a pair of off white crochet socks instead.

Petti party

The most magical part was when she put on the petticoat. While she was very game to play dress up, I could see some apprehension as I pulled out clothes that were not part of her normal wardrobe. That totally changed when she put on the petticoat. I could see her bouncing and twirling while we were putting on accessories. It was transformational!

Accessories

Since the occasion was a garden party, we went a little fancy with the accessories, adding pearls in addition to some mushroom themed accessories. The mushroom earrings are one of my favorite pieces to go with this dress since they match perfectly! We then topped it off with a simple floral headband from Marchen Maiden.

Pulling together accessories for this coordinate was interesting. Though I’m comfortable with gloves and wrist cuffs, Yani thought they looked a little goofy so we opted for bracelets instead. She also liked looking through my hats, but the headband felt like the most comfortable option. This was a good lesson in how to create beginner coordiates or help someone else with their wardrobe. Lolita fashion introduces lots of weird elements we don’t see in Western fashion, so it’s always good to introduce those elements slowly until you’re comfortable with all of it.

Lastly, I added a touch of “kawaii” make-up to soften Yani’s high cheek bones. I added some blush across her nose and cheeks to give her a sunkissed look that looked a little different than her normal makeup.

Yani agreed that while she probably won’t be purchasing brand anytime soon, putting on the petticoat and feeling cute (even at 5’9″) was a worthwhile experience.

Do you have a friend you’ve given a lolita make over too? How did it turn out?

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