/cgl/ - Cosplay & EGL

>>7953510
you go girl!!

I'm a younger then you, but I'm about to have my first kid, and I feel the same way. Most of my closet is gothic and classic, but i still have a few sweet dresses that i love to death. There are a few prints like Cats Tea Party, Lady Rose, and Sugary Pansy that I can make look elegant really easily, but I still have some prints like Milky Planet and Twinkle Journey(in pink/bordeaux), and Whip Magic[and hopefully one day Sugary Carnival] that I adore, and can't see myself letting go of, but are a lot harder for me to try to coord in a more mature way.

I think delicate lace gloves work well as well, but the hard part(for me at least) is finding nice ones that aren't made of shitty cheap costume lace. And I don't have large hands or fat fingers, but regardless, I am so paranoid of buying gloves offline and wondering if they would be too small or not.

I imagine you'd want to use more borderline sweet/classic accessories such as flower clips and pearls, as well as more natural-colored wigs (although the pinkish one here works really well). Tights in plain matching colors or a very simple pattern instead of OTKs or knee highs will look more put together. Try to stick to blouses that are more fitted/tailored and have fewer big details (ie avoid big peter pan collars, super puffy sleeves, large or stiff lace, etc). Maybe even try to avoid blouses and go for boleros instead.

pic related, maybe try coording with muted versions of the colors in your OTT sweet dresses???

>>7953836
or if there are already muted colors in it, bring those out instead

>>7953510
Isn't this girl like 35, 40?

>>7953510
those toned calves

>>7953844
Afaik Shelby is pretty athletic outside of lolita

>>7953839
She's 31 or 32 at most.

>>7953836
The girl is lovely, but this coord is just awful.

>>7954022

Shoes are important if not THE most important thing IMO. When going for a more mature look drop the toddler shoes.

>>7953836
solid tights.. noo.... but other than that this is cute. love how she's using a darker purple

>>7953863
well I remember people saying this about her years ago. I'd guess 35

Often "mature" is about "closer to normalfag fashion that people around your age wear", so using more high street store items in outfits is the way to go.

-sheer overlay works because it covers up the print
-vintage inspired - think dita, who is fabulous - heels, stockings, and fantastic hair and hats/fascinators
-plain blazers, tights and cutsews work well to make outfits more sleek. Pastels are popular again this season, so your plain items can still be pastel
-nice boots do so much to make the tone of an outfit - rather than lace up sweet boots with a million bows, rounded toe and chunky heel a more elegant, semi pointed toe on plain ankle boots and detachable fur cuffs like a more grown up version of AP

>>7954127
What's wrong with the solid tights?

>>7954147
I never got the hate for solid tights. I think they look very lovely especially with prints, since prints tend to be very busy already.

>>7954153
I agree, sometimes it doesn't make sense to pair busy tights with an already busy dress.

Especially when most people don't even bother to make sure the theme of their tights match with the theme of the dress.

>>7954153
>>7954158
agree, i think printed tights with a busy dress look pretty silly.

>>7954147
>>7954153
>>7954158

Plain tights are cheaper and easier to find than burando legwear, or legwear with perfectly matching print. They're the staple legwear for girls trying to cut corners on their outfit, or those girls whose wardrobe only consist of "loliable" dresses from mainstream stores. Hence the negative asssociation.

Personally I wouldn't rule out legwear just because it's plain, but I have to admit this is only one of the very few times that I've seen them in a coord that doesn't look like it's trying to cut costs.

>>7954129
Well then I guess she's just lying on her profiles, dunno.

>>7954153
I love plain or simple tights they are easier to coord and you can use them in different styles.
I see the girls in these pics wear also lolita shoes with bows etc, i dont think you should use normalfag shoes or stuff that is too mainstream fashion, it could ruin the outfit and look you are an ita with no lolita appropriate stuff.

dang! check the beef on those calves

>>7954185
Wow, really?
So it's a choice between risking a clusterfuck coord or being branded a cheap person?

People need to take off their burando glasses, sometimes those busy leggings and kneesocks do not look good.

>>7954291
I completely agree! Most coords do not benefit from super busy print + OTT headdress + super busy tights/socks, it just makes them hard to look at. I've had people nitpick collages and coord suggestions I've made based solely on the fact that I suggested plain color or at most lace tights. I feel like crazy detailed legwear has a time and place, and that is with plain dresses.

So I found this as an example of coording Cat's Tea Part to be more mature/toned down and I think it's a really good example except you should probably swap those shoes out for some nice mature vintage inspired heels that match the cardigan, something like these: http://www.modcloth.com/shop/shoes-heels/dainty-dramatist-heel-in-mint
Anyway I love the idea for this board considering
I had a bit of a crisis yesterday thinking I was getting too old for my clothes or would be soon so this stuff is really what I needed! I'll try to inspodump with what I can find

>>7954299
Love this! Very otome looking with the blues being pulled in.

>>7954295
>I feel like crazy detailed legwear has a time and place, and that is with plain dresses.
100%. >>7953836 looks really nice with the solid tights, because the dress is already so busy. Printed dresses don't particularly need OTT socks because the dresses themselves are the statement- you don't really need to do much else to make them stand out, whereas it's basically the opposite with plain dresses.

One of the reasons I find it so hard to like sweet coords is because everyone tries to match head to toe with prints, so it just ends up looking like a massive clusterfuck of motifs.

>>7954291
>>7954295

When it comes to coords, these kinds of arguments are completely pointless. If you really want to break the association, go forth and post good coords with plain tights. That's what will change people's minds. Arguing with one random anon on 4chan doesn't do anything when a good deal of coords out there look bad.

Don't worry about lolitas being sheep or only caring about burando. Lolitas are still divided over rockinghorse shoes and coording your wig to your dress, Bodyline and taobao have a huge following and budget lolita is totally a thing. If your coord looks good, someone out there will like it and will support it.

In the same vein, if you've only ever received complaints about plain tights in your coord, with not a single person liking it, it may be time to realise that your plain tight coords do in fact look bad.

I didn't intend to start an argument. I thought I was just providing an explanation and a bit of caution. Even said that I wouldn't rule them out, just that my personal experience has very few good examples.

I feel like if you switched out the bag for an indisputably classic one, like a simple cream and brown satchel then this would be an even better example of a mature coord with a super sweet dress.

>>7954320
>Arguing with one random anon on 4chan doesn't do anything when a good deal of coords out there look bad.
Well there are a very good deal of ita coords with patterned tights as well.
>with not a single person liking it
I don't think they were saying that. I think they were referring to a poster on cgl complaining that non-patterned tights are always horrible with no exceptions, and well, that's just stupid.

>>7954305
oh dear, sugary carnival looks so out of place in this to me.

>>7954324

There are also tons of lolitas who look nice with patterned tights and socks.

There is only this one lolita in this thread who looks good with solid plain tights so far.


I wouldn't know what kind of reception plain-tights-coord anon received, so I gave her two scenarios -- if her coords are good there will be lolitas who like it. On the other hand, if she has only ever heard negative things, then her coords probably suck.

>>7954333
>There is only this one lolita in this thread who looks good with solid plain tights so far.
Because that's the only one that's been posted. No offense, but duh.

Not to mention I don't think many people are posting a lot of pictures because it's very hard to make OTT sweet prints look mature and toned down to begin with. People tend not to get it right patterned tights or not.

>>7954129
I think it's smarter to go by what she has always said herself. Which is.... 32 now, than by what you remember people saying about her years ago. She's always been straightforward about her age.

If you look up Fyeahlolita's blog post about sweet-classic lolita, I think you could get a few tips on how to accessorize a super sweet dress to make it straddle the border more. She does emphasize getting a sort of hybrid dress in the first place though, but you can just ignore that.

Not so much lolita as otome but I thought I'd include since it uses a rather sweet lolita dress in it.

>>7953510
Dang, OP! If there were more like this, I might actually get into sweet!

>>7954349
but the bollero doesn't match...

>>7954185
As someone who has no problem buying tons of OTKs and brand tights (or brand new lolita dresses on a regular basis for that matter), I actually like solid tights when going for certain looks. While I agree that may be the case for some, it's really presumptuous to label all plain tights as a staple legwear for girls trying to cut corners on expenses. I feel like anyone who does this is a fool because it can look elegant as fuck. Although I agree it really depends on the rest of the outfit, it has to fit the coord to look classy. But that goes for anything regardless of price.

>>7954408
Haha right? I really want to start shaping my wardrobe to be more in this vein because it suits me so much better (elegant > cutesy, which while I LOVE cutsey it just doesn't match me anymore).

Great examples so far everyone, thanks for the tips and pictures!

I feel like hardmode is black ott sweet dresses, sax, and lavender because they are so loud. The dress-overlay idea is kind of the only thing I can think of to tone it down completely (along with the other tips mentioned to mature it up) but I'd love to see more examples like >>7954305 using those louder colors/prints if anyone has some, or wants to polyvore some! (Although I agree that the colors clash a bit, I like the silhouette.)

Attached pic is what really inspired me to revamp how I wore my super sweet prints to be more mature, but ivory/less loud food prints are easymode.

>>7954339
>>7954420


I should probably have clarified that I'm not the one who posted >>7954127. I just posted >>7954320 as an explanation for why a number of lolitas out there hold this association. I'm also not the one who goes around complaining about plain tights in coords.

That's why arguing with me is pointless, I'm not the only one holding this opinion or making these comments. If you browse the nitpick threads you'll hear comments about plain tights frequently.

Also, if you want to convince any of us, like I said, you need to post good examples, not repeat a bunch of words over and over. You can make a "solid tights in lolita" thread if you want. The verbal argument without good coords to back up your arguments don't have much weight.

>>7954442
trying to think of a way to coord sugary carnival in black in a more subtle way, perhaps a beret/black jacket/dusky pink oxford heels? otome is probably the way to go with these things as there is a certain level of dress overlap

>>7954468
>I'm not the only one holding this opinion or making these comments.
No one is arguing with you; this is a pretty civil discussion. Chill.

Anyway, you can tell from this conversation that there are still plenty of people that do think solid tights are fine. You can agree to disagree.

I'm >>7954420

I wasn't arguing though? Or saying you agreed with that statement about solid tights? I was talking about this belief in general.

>>7954468

I'm >>7954420

I wasn't arguing though? Or saying you were the one who posted the statement about solid tights? I was talking about this belief in general.

>>7954489
>>7954506

I think I'm just more annoyed that people are replying to my comments with arguments advocating solid tights when I already said I'm not against them, just giving an explanation.

Also that there are a lot of opinions given, but not many taking note that the real debate is in the photos, not in words.

It's not an argument in a "screaming match" sense, an argument in a debate sense, as in an "argument for" or an "argument against".

>>7953510 is getting derailed.

Post good coords with solid tights. If you think solid coloured tights can never look good, tell us why.

>>7954521
Why do you need to keep having the last word?

You are drawing this out too much and are just repeating stuff now. If you are so annoyed then stop having a one-sided argument when no one said you were against them, they were stating their opinion based on what >>7954127 said and you clarified. It wasn't personal and they have a right to say it in response to it being brought up.

Let's get back to posting coords.

>olook solid tights

>olook more solid tights

Navy easymode tho but more mature.

Thoughts?

This was the most mature black OTT sweet coord I could find. Obviously taking out the wig is a must but yeah.

>>7954542
hella cute, gloves look odd to me for some reason?
>>7954546
without wig and jewellery, maybe a blazer, this would look lovely as a more mature coord (looks good as is but not fitting in with thread)

>>7954442
How's this? It's pretty simple but it should look toned down.

>>7954567
I'd have never thought of this but I love it

>>7954442
I love ETC outfits even if they aren't exactly lolita - I think some of them still have that pastel-but-mature feel that you're going for.

Fuck, I love every coord in this thread so much

>>7954574
Thank you! I was hoping it wasn't too boring, haha.

>>7954611
Oh, also to clarify, I'm aware this is probably otome. I just don't have any mature lolita coords in my folder. This is really helping me build it up

>>7954587
i have this dress and i love it more than anything on this planet, ETC are my all time favourite brand since i'm more otome than lolita these days

>>7954587
Oh gosh yes me too, have been building up part of my wardrobe to be ETC/Otome/Less sugary dresses (melty ribbon chocolate, melty donut, cream cookie collection are my new busiest dresses but I don't have trouble coording them to fit my age) and I love ETC's style. I just need more ideas about how to mature my sugary pastel dresses because I still love them to bits and don't want to have to sell them because I feel too old for them.

Also pic:

While I know a pengior can get mixed reviews at times, what about like this. (Pretend she is wearing a full dress instead of just a skirt.) One with a bit of lace at the top/around the sleeves, and also in white or black depending on the color of the dress. Would that with suggested accessories above seem acceptable?

>>7954621
What are some other dresses you have, anon? I'm sure some anons would love to coord them for you. I think the peignoir would look nice as long as it's defined at the waist like that and the exact length of the dress.

>>7954542
I like it.

>>7954629
Ah thank you, if anyone would like to take a stab at any I really appreciate it!

In order of what I feel is most difficult for me to coord in a more mature way listed first, I have:

Milky Planet (New Release) in Navy
Decoration Dream (Chest Switching) JSK in Black
Candy Sprinkle JSK in Lavender
Wonder Cookie (Regular) JSK in white

I have a few more but the colors repeat (lavender, black) so I'll just list these for now.

>>7954816
I took on Decoration Dream, hope I did ok

>>7955009
>>7954816
Another vintage kind of take, I think it's the best way to keep it mature while still using all pastels.

>>7954816
I'm on mobile rn so I can't mock anything up, but I feel like if you paired up some nice deep berry/borderline-wine tones with that navy Milky Planet it might look nice! I do framing for a living and I can't tell you how amazing the balance of adding a color that's not-quite in the print is. The way your eyes perceive colors practically adjusts the print to fit your color choice if its done right (ie the pinks and magenta-ish tones will seem more muted themselves in comparison). Tricky to get down but so worth it.

Can I also jump on this thread for help? I'm hoping to tone down the Marionette Girl OP in red and also the black JSK. I'm having trouble because it's such a bold motif rather than a print, and all the outfits I've seen with it incorporate the card suit theme. I feel like the balance between looking like the ita using all 'loliable' items and something that's very much sweet lolita is very difficult, as if I go too plain it doesn't even look like I bothered trying. Currently the best idea I had for it was something like this picture, but I'm not quite sure how far I can tone it down...

>>7955218
I feel like a subtle card theme is still pretty casual.

>>7955366
Ooh, thanks! I'm not really keen on buying yet another card-suit themed pair of socks since I already have three pairs of striped tights/socks with card suits and card suit tattoo tights, do you think it'd work with plain black tights?

>>7955366
>>7955218
I also tried a kind of punky military version, but I don't think it was that successful.

>>7955384
I feel like lighter tights would probably be better, but do you have pics of the card socks you already own?

I'm recently going through this change myself. For the most part I sold the really bold stuff and replaced it, but I can't give up Honey Cake. Any advice on how I can make a mature, toned down coordinate with this dress?

>>7955366
Could I get a sauce for those boleros?

>>7955395
Here's what I would do:
Bring out the red or brown, as they're more "mature" colors. The bodice is really sweet, so I'd cover it with a red or brown bolero or cardigan, and for legwear I'd use some sheer white tights with a subtle pattern. The shoes can be heels like the ones on the right in >>7955009, but things like oxfords are too classic and avoid TPs like the plague. The shoe color should match whatever color you choose for the bolero. For the head, I'd go with a pink beret with a bow in one of the accent colors. If you picked red for the bolero/ shoes, go with sax, gold, white, or brown. If you picked brown, use red or sax. The bag should be something in Innocent World style- classic in shape, but with sweet elements like >>7955366.

>>7955393
I have three pairs that are variations of the pair on the left - knee-high black and white striped socks with card suits along the back, the pictured leg avenue thigh-highs, and full length tights that are a longer, thicker version of the leg avenue ones. I also own the ones on the right but I don't think they really go with this dress...

>>7955401
Victorian Maiden

>>7955429
The striped ones could work, but it would probably look better with plain light colored tights instead.

>>7955395
Everyone gets a mediocre collage!

>>7955009
>>7955077
I love these! Thank you so much! I really love the navy with DD (and those shoes, I actually want to get them!) and the pink is really sweet as well! Also I like the idea of using yellow with Candy Sprinkle, it is still very pastel but is a good color combination. Thank you so much!

>>7955187
That's a great idea, I will keep that in mind! I think a deep berry magenta would look really nice too, the hardest part for me was picking out that main, more mature color to go with and I feel this would be very nice!

>>7955500
Yeah I'm unkeen on using the striped ones as the whole point is that I want to make it more mature/wearable, and striped socks usually scream costume to normal people in this city

>>7955414
I'd disagree, oxfords/brogues especially in brown with Honey Cake aren't too classic at all, and work really well to tone back an outfit.

>>7955429
Are the ones on the right sheer at all? I'd wear them over a pair of solid coloured tights in a lighter colour- it'll give it a subtle sort of pattern without going overboard.

>>7953863
She doesnt look like either of these ages?

the thing is with more older people is that some tend to get that really older look somehow, and some people keep looking young (well except for maybe some more wrinkles or something) so even when you put on sweet yet mature coords, when your face looks older it still might look bad somehow I think.
Black sweet prints do better on older people I think. Next to that, wearing cardigans and no flat shoes and not having like twin tails helps a lot as well? I also think short socks give off a younger look so wearing opaque/plain tights instead of super sweet otk's might help yes :)

>>7956270
They're semi sheer (like 15-20 denier), but over white tights they still look pretty beige

>>7956296
well how old does she look to you, anon?

>>7954442
>tfw i love black versions of sweet prints because they are easier to coord and tone down

>>7956296
iirc, shelbycloud is in her early 30s, so 35 max. She pulls it off.

>>7955579
sauce on that necklace?

Don't have any coords to post because I don't really follow sweet, but I like the theme of this thread.

I'm 25, and I'm starting to feel a little old to be into Japanese street fashion, like I only have a few years left before people think I'm a weirdo. I love seeing people my age and older who are still into alternative fashion.

>>7953836
I... I actually really like this a lot

>>7954305
i think the cream/white combination is what's bugging me so much with this coord, maybe? something feels off

>>7954536
this is great

>>7954536
Without the bolero it looks like a nightgown for children.

posting a few pictures that seem relevant

>>7955009
hey anon, might i ask for sauce on the ivory lace tights in the first decoration dream coord? they're lovely

>>7965081
mu-fish on Taobao, IIRC!

>>7963759
Late, but I searched "fork necklace" on etsy.

something else to consider doing with headbows instead of wearing them at the top of the head.

>>7968565
...that's not a headbow? It's a valletta/barette

>>7954299
>Shoes on dress
ALL OF DISGUST

>>7965019
Damn, her poof has the perfect shape.

>>7954415
I wish people would get over this mindset in lolita. Not everything has to match from head to toe, and in fact that makes the style look quite a bit younger which is what this thread is trying to move away from. The bolero matches the shoes and the hat. It looks fine.

>>7969591
Not all headbows come on headbands, anon. Some have combs and clips that make it so you can wear them anywhere in your hair.

>>7969769
DDC consists mainly of cool tones while the bolero is warm, and putting them together like this is a bit jarring. Also I feel like DDC's print clashes with the lace texture of the bolero if that makes any sense. If the JSK were a solid or even a plainer print this would definitely work though.

>>7969857
That's called a hair barrette anon, not a head bow. Lol.

>>7965019
My eyes keep tricking me into thinking the dress is prominade du paris, even though iknow that its not it. O.o. i think.. i think this coord would just be so purfect for prominade du paris.. or at least the colour matching is just so spot on.

>>7971531
I think your projecting a bit anon. You've got some serious lust for PdP don't you?

>>7971531
It's promenade anon, not prominade. It's mean walking around or taking a walk.

>>7965019
so jelly that black girls can pull off pastels and bright colours so well.

Uh yeah! Keep it going. Whatever works for you :-)

>>7971538
Eh, I think black girls look a lot better in cream and jewel tones like a nice navy or dustier colored pastels.
With pastels I feel the contrast is usually too much in a not so great way. Except for yellow. You either need a really particular skin tone if you're pale or dark skin to look nice in yellow.

>>7971150
It is a bow... on the head. Head bow.

>>7953838
yaaas she looks so good

>>7954321
if the goal is to look muted/mature why go sweet at all, any simple classic dress would go better with this coord imo

>>7954546
how does it feel to be so wrong

>>7975005
Depends on the yellow, but people with warm undertones can pull it off easy. Especially redheads and brunettes with warm undertones.
I think Leighton Meester wore yellow a few times in Gossip Girl and it suited her really well

>>7971531

>O.o

You need to leave.

>>7975015
Diff anon. Technically it is a head bow, but what they mean is that within the context of lolita, headbow is generally understood to only refer to the kind with a bow(s) on a vertical headband and barrette is understood to be the kind with a clip. You can wear both alternatively, but to wear the usually stiffer and clipless headbow in the back like a barrette, you'd have to remove the headband and alter it, so you might as well just use a barrette.

>>7976445
OP of the comment here
yes that is basically what i meant
HOWEVER it i should have implied that it only works for headbows with clips. I rarely wear headbows and mostly do oldschool or gothic so i really dont know how that shit works. But i do like to wear bigass velvet bows at the back of my head, as I do think they look more mature there.
Are brand headbows cardboard-stiff like those Bodyline ones? If not, it might look cuter as a hair-clip than a katyushka.
Just a suggestion.

>>7976564
Depends on the headbow, some yes, some no. I wear the honey cake headbow in the back just like that because it's big and soft and floppy, I just stick a barrette clip through the loop the headband was in, but stiff pert little musee headbow stays right where it is.

>>7956296
I know 30 seems old when you're in your late teens and early 20's but I promise you that most people don't age that quickly. You won't feel any different at 30 and likely won't look much different either, depending on how you care for yourself. People don't tend to look a lot older until they are mid 40's-50's.

>>7975131
Because sweet themes > classic themes

dont you die on me

>>7976671
Seconding this. Maybe some people feel the urge to look more mature after they reach their 30s due to society pressure or because dressing in a "youthful" way isn't suitable for a 30 year old person, mostly because she/he will get married, have kids, get a stable job and so on. But really, most people don't look that old when they reach 30s, except in some cases of fast aging or different genetics. I saw many lolitas into their 35s wearing sweet lolita (i saw someone rocking Toy Parade in black at age 36) without the need to mature or toning it down with dusty tones or stuff that match only with classic, you wouldn't never notice they were past 35.

>>7983534
right?
I'm just going to college THIS YEAR, I am not even 20 yet and my grumpy-ass mother is already pressuring me to give up sweet. It's just silly.