building a pastel AP capsule wardrobe

So: I wore decolita to an event in August and it was all downhill from there.

Until now, my wardrobe has been primarily focused around a pretty limited color palette (white/offwhite/black/red), which made it straightforward for me to build coords. Most of the late 2000s/early 2010s AP prints I like don't come in that color scheme. I bravely answered Wonder Cookie's siren call and found myself in the situation I am now documenting for you…

A few things have led me to building a capsule wardrobe for AP sweet:

• I've been clearing out my wardrobe and selling main pieces I don't really wear, and only keeping stuff I love… but I don't really necessarily have a ton of different ways to wear those main pieces. I want main pieces I will wear more often and style in a more versatile way.
• I was scared of coording too many non-neutral colors in the past. However. I've been wearing lolita for six years now… I am stronger.
• I have broad shoulders. I'm tired of being uncomfortable in brand blouses and I want more cutsews and opportunities to wear them. 

Shocking many (including my friends who've made fun of my main piece to blouse ratio…), I decided to keep to just a few main pieces for now and focus on building a wardrobe that's heavier on tops, socks, and accessories. I haven't built a wardrobe with so few starting components since I was a baby lolita with big eyes when it came to main pieces. Since I know a lot of people who are building their very first lolita wardrobes, I thought my process might be helpful to share! 

 Main Pieces

- [Angelic Pretty] Wonder Cookie Bustier Style JSK

- [Angelic Pretty] Jewelry Jelly Switching JSK

- [Angelic Pretty] Whip Collection Skirt

When I was planning this wardrobe (...after I bought Wonder Cookie…), I knew I was very picky about prints, so it was more important to get the right main pieces than a lot of them. I also wanted my main pieces to be easy to coord in lots of ways–I am a JSK and skirt fan, so it's no wonder that I gravitated to both. Shout out to my gf for getting me my beloved Jewelry Jelly for Christmas.

Hair Accessories (Selected)

- [handmade by me] Pearl Headbow
- [handmade by me] Flower Lace Headbow
- [Angelic Pretty] Pearl Bows

I will probably buy some more brand hair accessories at some point, but I already own so many that they're not my main focus. I've had these pearl bows for years and they work well with so many coords! I'd like to make a canotier and a mini hat soon to round out my larger hair accessory options.

Tops

- [Angelic Pretty] Secret Fairy Long Sleeve Cutsew
- [Angelic Pretty] Secret Fairy Cutsew
- [Angelic Pretty] Whip Fall Cutsew
- [Liz Lisa] sweater
- [Offbrand] cropped hoodie

I want to be comfortable!!! My first purchase was an inexpensive offbrand cropped lavender hoodie. I've since found some great deals on AP cutsews, as well as this Liz Lisa sweater for 1600 yen. I'm always down to incorporate offbrand items that work with a coord, especially when it comes to tops.

Jewelry (Selected)

- [Angelic Pretty] Polka Dot Love Heart Ring
- [Cat's Tea Party] Bow Necklace

This ring is at my ss right now and it's so perfect to me!! I'm so excited for it. As for the necklace,
I bought it years and years ago, and… I think it's a replica. I'd like to replace it it with something similar soon.

Socks

- [Angelic Pretty] Assorted Cookie OTKs

- [Angelic Pretty] Twinkle Carnival OTKs
- [Angelic Pretty] Trump Argyle OTKs

- [Angelic Pretty] Candy Sprinkle OTKs

- [Angelic Pretty] Lucky Pack UTKs

- [Baby the Stars Shine Bright] Princess Drop Embroidery Border OTKs - [Offbrand] Rainbow Heart OTKs

It is super important to me to have lots of legwear options! Thank you to my bestie for giving me three pairs of AP socks lol. But for real… why do they have the best socks? Deep questions. I'm on the hunt for Jewelry Jelly OTKs now.

Shoes

- [Vivienne Westwood] Rocking Horse Shoes
- [Angelic Imprint] Boots
- [Fluevog] Freight sneakers
- [New Balance] sneakers

Because of my shoe size and sensitivity to polyurethane/faux leather, I don't have that many sweet shoe options available to me. I already owned the boots, rhs, and sneakers; the metallic lavender Freight sneakers (bottom right corner) from Fluevog were a perfect fit for my wardrobe, style and size-wise. This led me to decide that lavender, pink, white, and sax would be the main colors to focus on incorporating in my capsule wardrobe for now.

Other Accessories

Rings:
Top: [Txarra Otsoa] rabbit, teacups 
Middle: [Starcrossed Lovelies] Stay Lovely Heart
Bottom: [Offbrand] bows

Txarra Otsoa makes such great rings, Starcrossed Lovelies too! 

Necklaces (Left to Right):
[Claires] teapot
[Cat's Tea Party] bow
[handmade by me] heart cookie, eat me cookie

I'm super happy with how these fimo clay cookie necklaces came out! You can see my yearning for the luxury Wonder Cookie plastic. 

Earrings:
[handmade by me] teapots

I also have a lot of normie earrings I work in, but these ones I made specifically to go with Wonder Cookie!

Wrist Cuffs:
[Baby the Stars Shine Bright] Lace Wristcuffs

I've had these for ages and they're just like. Around. I had Dearest Victoria wristcuffs (THE BEST) and stupidly sold them along with Comic Toys when I decided that pastels weren't working for me (it was a lie) (I just don't like lyrical bunny…). I will be getting more of those and I recommend them! 

Hair Accessories, clockwise from upper left:
[handmade] puffy star clips
[Txarra Otsoa] cloud clip
[Claire's] star clips, stacked heart clips, single heart clips 

Rosettes:
[handmade] puffy stars

I bought a lot of these handmade puffy star accessories off LM recently and they're so cute! Also love this Txarra Otsoa cloud clip. Claire's cannot be beat for pastel sweet accessory deals, I think these sets of clips were 3 for $10 and the price was right!

 

Conclusion

Overall, leaning into sporty kaju has worked well for me given my shoe options and my yearning for cutsews. For my next main piece, I'd like to get another OP with full-back shirring like my Freshly Picked Strawberries OP, but I'm not in a hurry!