#but idk if there are any other lolita items of that same color

[nuzzle]

breakfast at tiffany's, along with afternoon tea. had the pleasure of indulging in the most delicious finger sandwiches ever! the pastries were so soft and buttery smooth, they made for a perfect snack. i would have much preferred to wear a tiffany blue coord for the occasion, but all of my sax items were quite a few shades too light in comparison.. maybe next time!

[daughterdooley]

[ID: a photo of the toy soldier from the mechanisms, next to it are a variety of different clothing and accessory items that fall under the j-fashion style lolita.]

styling lolita coords* based on fictional characters i like part 1 of idk i'll be making these until all the pieces of my first coord get here so it'll probably be a lot.

full image description + piece names + notes under the cut.

*coordinate, or coord for short, means lolita outfit

[extended ID: a photo of the toy soldier, a white person wearing a cartoony black and red military uniform with a handlebar moustache drawn on, editted next to a bunch of clothing and accessory items, from top to bottom, they are a black beret with a red tartan bow on it, a light brown wig with strawberry streaks that falls just below shoulder length and has bangs, a military-esque tartan jacket with black lapels and gold buttons, a short-sleeved white frilly bib front blouse with gold fringe hanging from the sleeve hems, and a red bow lined with the same gold at the collar, a black dress with a waist tie and strap sleeves that has a white lace border depicting teapots and teacups, a bag shaped like a white and gold striped teacup with "angelic pretty" "tea" written on it, a pair of red and black harlequin print tights, and a pair of black heeled lace-up ankle-boots. END]

ok so. going to drop item names and then my notes on them going from top to bottom.

lief - 2017 tartan school series tartan school ribbon beret, notes: i hate lolita piece names so much it's unreal, at least baby*'s names actually make sense when put together. i have a lot of bitterness towards this piece bc i couldn't find a single other stock photo of this colorway even though i know they're out there

gothic lolita bible x angelic pretty - melty doll wig set, notes: ap uses this wig to model every single headpiece they've ever made and i think it causes a pavlovian response in me to glance around for a price tag to avoid looking directly at

excentrique - check napoleon jacket, notes: i mean for this to be worn open around the shoulders the way military lolitas tend to wear jackets, so the sleeves aren't covering the arms and the cuffs are on their own

angelic pretty - fantasy theater blouse, notes: oh angelic pretty bad stock photo era my beloathed

angelic pretty - napoleon cuffs

jane marple - tea party lace jsk, notes: i don't like the silhouette shown in the stock photo very much, if i were to actually coord this i think i'd pair it with a much bigger petticoat

angelic pretty - tea time bag

alice and the pirates - diamond tights (2012), notes: yeah the red is a lot darker in Literally Any Other Photo of these tights and is closer to the colors shown in the tartans, the exposure is just really turned up in the stock photos ig

alice and the pirates - clara short boots (2021)

ok so. for the ts i was thinking of finding the middle ground between classic and military styles, now, as someone whose personal style can only be described as "hime or bust" (hime: japanese for princess, hime lolita is a style i like to say is based around looking like you stepped out of a roccoco painting), which makes things hard because while classic and hime are comparable styles, hime has the styling conventions of ott sweet which is. very drastically different, and military lolita is more than a bit rare in the west, has nothing in common with the hime substyle, and something i personally steer clear of bc a lot? of military lolita stuff? is filled with red flags?, also i am nothing if not anti war i do not want to look at things fashioned after military uniforms. but i think i did manage to strike a balance with the classic mainpiece, military style jacket, cuffs, and boots, and lack of accessories which physically pained me.

*nickname for brand baby the stars shine bright, every piece has the same naming conventions as a fallout boy song

[beedalee]

Heyy! Greetings bee! I remember when you made the magical girls chart but I'm still having huge issues creating my own designs, powers, when creating my own magical girl story. Can you give me some advice? I've been so creatively stumped especially when it comes to clothes design. I was wondering if you could give me advice

Humm, well… My advice here will be essentially rehashed from my Magical Girl Uniform Crash Course, but I’ll try? to simplify it for those who get executive dysfunction about the process. I ramble so easily though so I don’t know how successful I’ll be compared to my crash course. Y///Y;;

I still highly recommend re-reading my crash course a few times and slowly, as it all may not click into place at once!

The hands down most important part about starting a team is the themes/motifs. That’s what you base all other parts of the story around- from powers, to plot, to fashion- so take time to pick out something you enjoy. Basically, pick a group of themes you want to make a team around. Something you want to write about. I loooove space, stars, rainbows, fairies, witches, candy, fruit, rodents, weather… so I made teams based on those things. sometimes in combinations, sometimes by themselves. 

Make lists of things you like, or would like to see in a magical girl story. Do you love sleeping? There’s a whole mythology surrounding sleep; mr. sandman, the hourglass, nightmares and dreams, daydreams, and night themes like stars, moons, and clouds. Do you love Halloween? There’s all kinds of spooky creatures and lore you could base a team off of (Maybe they only work at night when monsters come out!) Do you like gardening? How about a team based on succulents, living in a dusty desert town? Maybe they have cowboy inspiration? Or a group with various flower themes and plant/water/sun powers fighting against a “poison ivy” style villain?

Pay attention to the way I branched out from a single idea or theme (plants > succulents), then jumped off that (dusty desert town) to other things associated with those things. (cowboys) You can change up this stuff later, it’s just to start generating ideas. I like my themes to make sense to the whole story. (IE space magical girls fighting aliens) but you don’t have to if you don’t want to.

Oh, and make sure the themes you pick are not problematic or offensive to any minority. Please do your research. (Problematic themes that come to mind are Native American caricatures and Genies)

Find your influences, collect them. Make a Moodboard. This is concept art, my friends! Don’t be shy about what inspires you! Movies, cartoons, fashion, comics- anything you can get your hands on. Some of my magical girl teams were inspired off things like the Jetsons, Retro astronauts, Disney’s Hercules and greek goddess fashion, Powerpuff girls and Teen Titans, etc. It’s ok to be inspired by stuff that already exists. You know those aesthetic posts everyone does now? Do that for your story.

Color-schemes are anything you want! Typically I find out how many colors I can use on my team after I pick a theme! I like rainbows so I usually want a team that has all of the color wheel- but you can do anything! If you like warm hues most, go for it! Maybe they’re all fire/light/energy powered. Maybe they have an autumn theme. A cool colored team could all have water to wind powers because, idk, they’re all mermaid themed fighting monsters out of the ocean. If you don’t want to justify it you don’t have to, but it will make your story feel more cohesive and polished. If you like neons, do that. CMYK. Pastels. Black and White. Dark colors. Classic 4player Red-Yellow-Green-Blue, etc etc. If it fits your theme, go for it. Sometimes you can choose unexpected color palettes for a theme too.

Team size is also decided by your theme(s). A team can range from a solo magical girl (with multiple forms maybe) to as many as 13 or more if your theme calls for it (ex: There’s 10 senshi for each planet and then a few extra) but try not to spread yourself too thin or you’ll have a hard time fleshing everyone out.

Fashion can do a lot to set your designs apart, so do the research. It can be tricky because it’s harder to grasp for people who have no interest in it. There’s no easy way around this except to do the research. I’m not saying you have to become a fashionista overnight a la Devil Wears Prada- just familiarize yourself with the fashion you want to incorporate in your story. Gothic lolita? Military uniforms? Nurse outfits? Scuba diving outfits? (which I specifically researched for my Alola Gijinkas btw) “learning fashion” can be overwhelming, just pick what you want to focus on and it’ll be much easier.

(ALSO very important– Don’t neglect the details/henshin items/fascinators that make the outfit look overall more cute and costume-y. I’ve seen a lot of MG designs that have a good base but don’t have any details so they look incomplete or more like RPG characters. Precure is very good about these details.)

Starting with one character is OK. You can design one character, then make a team around them using their outfit as a guide and inspiration. As an example of this, I highly recommend reading my crash course again for the ‘example magical girl’ part, and the team that comes afterwards. 

Sigh, in the end I was still rambly!!! …and it was all rehashed info, and my ultimate point is to go read my crash course again. It’s much simpler AND has visual examples! And honestly when it comes down to it, you just gotta do the work- You gotta scribble out concepts, do iterations, test stuff, mess up. None of my magical girl teams stay the same from first draft to final version, so don’t be afraid to get started.