sword_logic | year in egl: 2021 (Reply)

egl fashion year in review time! tl;dr i bought a lot of things. among them, honey cake. this is all that matters. thank you for your time.

main piece acquisitions:

AP Wonder Party skirt, brown
AP British Crown JSK, mint
IW Icing Cookie JSK, ivory
AP Lovely Tartan JSK, red
AP British Bear OP, ivory
Mossbadger Chiropteran Garden JSK, short, black
BTSSB Velveteen Royal Antique JSK
AP Honey Cake Switching JSK, ivory

...and wow, that's a lot more than i thought i bought this year. oops. in my defense, some of these i'd actually purchased in 2020, and shipping/production times meant that i got them in hand this year. i feel like i also sold a lot of main pieces this year, so i don't think my closet size actually grew by as much as it seems, lol.

main piece farewells:

IW Apron Cookie apron skirt, ivory (sizing, bought JSK instead)
Jack & Roses JSK, black/gold (time to move on)
BTSSB Salon de thé Minette skirt, ivory (sizing)
Bodyline Charlotta/L348 JSK, black/white (time to move on)
Peppermint Fox Gentle Fox JSK, brown (sizing/not sold yet)

i bought a lot of things this year, and i'm really excited about, like, all of them. lol. i feel like i purchased very intentionally this year, and i did less "i will find a way to make this work or so help me" kinds of purchases.

the biggest shocker of a purchase this year was honey cake; that was its own whole entire ordeal. i've been idly wanting honey cake for a while now, and before i moved i was entertaining biting the bullet on one of the slightly less expensive sales on LM, but then never did it because life from may onwards has been a total whirlwind. this is relevant because i stopped checking instagram, my main source of release info, around may (ish) because of general stresses and i just... forgot about ig as a whole. but i get AP's emails! so imagine my FUCKING SHOCK when i get an email on a random tuesday or whenever in august that honey cake is being rereleased again, that coming friday. i was like... ok. here's my chance. i've never bought a main piece directly from a Brand™ before. i had AP's site pulled up on my phone, i was refreshing madly from 11:55am onwards, i committed to being late to my desk shift at work, i was screaming inside, i hit buy now as soon as i could, my hands were literally shaking through putting in my info, and then the purchase went through. it occurred to me SECONDS LATER that it would be shipped to my parents' house (still my billing address) even though. EVEN THOUGH. i live like 20-30min from the city. i could have just done pick-up. so i just kept maniacally checking my bank account to see if i got charged for the dress! my brain was so fucking fried the entire day, too - i'd gotten very little sleep, i had to fix myself a jug of tar coffee at work bc i ran out at home, i had a multi-day migraine, i was on my period, there was a heatwave, i was in total hell.

i got home. i saw the charge for the dress. i called the AP store, frantic and trying SO hard to be polite and not sound like a raving lunatic, and i asked the employee a) if the purchase had actually gone through, and b) if i could change from shipping to pick-up. YES. THE ANSWER WAS YES. TO BOTH. about two hours later, my family arrived, because this was also the weekend they drove up for a mini-vacation and to visit me. and we had planned, all along, to go to the city that saturday. so we went to union square, i sprinted to the AP store while they parked, i was on so many levels of anxiety and overheatedness and [SCREAMING INTERNALLY] that literally all i managed was to run into the store, pick up the dress, try not to sob out of sheer hysteria, and sprint back out the door. in any case: i am so happy i have this dress. it's so lovely and the cut is so flattering on me. i didn't get the OTKs because i don't like them (lol) and i didn't get the headbow because... i have a plain ivory headbow that matches, and light-colored headwear blends into my hair color so it doesn't look super great anyways. i would really love a brown x ivory headbow in general, it'd match a ton of what i have in my closet. i do also totally regret not picking up the matching ring. god knows i'm gonna have to pay shit prices if i decide to buy it secondhand.

the british bear OP was kind of a surprise purchase, too. i swore off OPs after twinkle sky (rip) but i did a lot of digging, looked at a lot (a lot) of coords with the OP, talked with the seller before buying, and yeah - this OP totally fits like a sackdress when you remove the waist ties. the bustier i got this year also looks super cute with it, and i've been meaning to do some OPxJSK looks. this dress almost makes me want the holy lantern sackdress, but alas, i'm too uncomfortable with crosses in a print to buy it. AP pls release other prints in that cut...

anyways, other acquisitions!

blouses/tops:

Axes Femme long-sleeve blouse, forest green
AATP Romeo Blouse, ivory (pale/crisp)
BTSSB Ribbon Party blouse, ivory (buttery)
Meta long-sleeved blouse, brown
AP Crescent Knit cardigan, wine

accessories:

2x MLT Aquillah headbow, black x black and ivory x ivory
AP British Bear tights, wine (converted to OTKs)
AP British Stripe ankle socks, green
AP Campus Girl headbow
BTSSB Royal Kingdom Velveteen Bustier
AP British Stripe headbow, navy
Antique Beast Black Cat headdress, Georgette (!!!!!!!!!)
Enchanted Dream Wear Choco Ribbon OTKs, ivory
2x Peacockalorum wristcuffs, wine and brown

good lord, i shelled out like mad for AP this year. not intentionally or anything, most of these things just fell into my lap for super cheap. the converted OTKs, though! that's a highlight of the year for sure. i've been wanting to convert tights to OTKs for a while; i bought the tights damaged for i think $16 or something and i figured that at least if i fuck them up, it's not like i ruined NWT tights or something. and it went totally fine! however, now that i've worn them to an event, i think i need to invest in sock glue. they were scooting down like nobody's fucking business. the ankle socks were a bit of a leap too - i hadn't owned ruffly ankle socks before the british stripe pair, and i LOVE them. i recently bought a black pair at the BAK event, too.

serious legit wishlist for next year:

high collar tuxedo-style cutsew. please. god. please. PLEASE.
AP Wonder Party Shirring JSK, brown

i've wanted a tuxedo cutsew for a while, i'm still so mad at myself for hemming and hawing too long when someone was selling one on LM for $30 in 2019. (hello! i am a grudge-holder! even when i myself am the grudge-ee!) the wonder party JSK is something i want so that i can sell the skirt. it's not that i don't like the skirt as a cut - i actually really like it, especially in combination with the amazing bustier i got this year - but as i finally return to a healthy weight (!!!!!!!), the skirt isn't very comfortable to wear. wonder party is, i think, the most indisputably sweet print i own (that or honey cake but for the sake of my own sanity i'm going to keep pretending that honey cake is classic), but brown is just one of those colors i really keep getting drawn to. and it's tea-themed! and there's gold foil!

the "i'll keep an eye out and see how my finances are doing" list:

any of meta's cat-adjacent prints (secret laboratory, magical artefact, matryoshka)
one of those military-style bustiers with the gold braiding - or even a lolita-able normie jacket or vest, honestly
black x white oldschool JSK
royal crown's tea package accessories (hat/rosette)

eternal "i will shell out for this immediately" list:

AP Astro Regimen JSK, ivory

in any case, i don't anticipate many main piece purchases next year, given that my financial situation has changed a lot and also that i am really, really happy with my wardrobe right now. i have a bunch of tartans, i have a bunch of prints i've loved forever (british bear! british crown! antique cutlery! honey cake!) and every time i look at my wardrobe, it makes me so happy.

i went to my first-ever community event this year! that was a huge and cool milestone for me, as a person who is horrendously shy. unfortunately, i was having a tremendously rough day for multiple totally unrelated reasons, and that ended up completely overshadowing my grand plans of, like, actually socializing at the event. next time :(

as far as coords go... i'm not really sure what to say, actually? i experimented a lot and there are a lot of things i tried that super didn't work - but i tried them! and i definitely learned from being like, okay, this ain't it. i think what i really want to try playing with next year is silhouette. i only have two petticoats and i don't really feel the need to invest in another, but this year i definitely chose my poofier petticoat over my A-line for every dress except the ones that physically do not fit the poofier one. in the coming year, i'd like to play a bit more with the A-line. looking back at old photos, i like that silhouette more with some dresses that do fit the poofier one.

i also want to try more unusual combinations this coming year, and to make them actually work. this might require more accessories (legwear...) than i have, but. well. we shall see.

year in egl: 2021

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