Choose your main piece
This will be the first building block for your coord. With your dress you can sort out matching accessories that go well with the colors of your dress. Don't be afraid to make odd color combinations because as long as they are in the same color scheme it could work out in the end. Think about matching all dusty tones with each other, they have the same color tone so they work well with each other. This way you can find new coords with the items you already have.
Giving your main pieces a closer look seems a bit weird but I tend to overlook details in print. After many years of owning a print I forgot about some small details. Like for example I found a unicorn in my Milky Planet JSK when I wore it the last time for the twin meet. I was completely in shock about this since I was 100% sure that there wasn't a unicorn in this print. Since I only remembered ice creams and bunnies. So this gave me a new boost to make a new coord with this print.
Think about accessories
Accessories make a coord really pop out from the rest. I always pick my accessories according to the color theme of my base coord *main piece and blouse*
This is where I get the most inspiration, playing with different bows, florals clips, hats, bonnets or even necklaces and bracelets.
If I'm not working with a theme I go for what feels most like me and what makes me smile when I look at it.
Get something new
My biggest inspiration comes from either combining things in an odd way or by getting new items. Those are my two main inspiration sources. Even if it is just as small as some floral clips, a new necklace or brooch. Having something new gives you the opportunity to work with your new item and see how it matches everything in your wardrobe.
I love coording my dresses and accessories together on my free days to see how many combinations I can make. If you don't have the money to buy something maybe you can try making your own things? It is definitely not always cheaper but that way inspiration might come to you even faster.
Still no inspiration?
If I'm really stuck with a coord I tend to visit online shops looking for items that cheer me up without buying them. Getting my mind of a coord helps a lot for me. In the past three weeks I was in a lolita-inspiration-block, feeling down about everything I put together nothing fitted like I wanted and it felt all the same. So I ended up getting my mind onto something else.
In the end I found my inspiration back after talking to my friends about it and telling about the coords that I planned out.
Talking to friends about having no inspiration or sharing your coords with them when you feel stuck gives you a new view on things. For me this helps a lot!
Currently I'm having so much inspiration that I need to write them down and draw things out for the future.
So what inspires you when making a coord?
Please let me know!
This post is in collaboration with Lolita Blog Carnival.
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I never would've guessed that you might sometimes struggle with inspiration for your coords, you always struck me as a person who was very confident in that area. But the advice you wrote here is all very useful, especially in terms of how to build a good coord, which newbies might find particularly useful. It's very important to make sure that the accessories you pick are "very you" - no-one would be happy wearing the most well put together coord if they didn't feel comfortable with something, e.g. a headpiece or the amount of jewellery.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenAlso. I never would've thought of online window shopping as a way to get inspiration. I feel it's a dangerous thing to do for me, as I could so easily just end up buying something, even though I might not necessarily need it, instead of just browsing and looking for inspiration. I'd sooner start watching videos on YouTube or browsing through Instagram or CoF to find that spark again. Just looking at Lolita content, even if it's not directly about creating coords or the dress I'm trying to coord, helps me take my mind off being stuck in a creative rut and enjoy the fashion again.
I think we all struggle with it sometimes but in the end it always works for me. My inspiration never leaves me alone to long at a time ^_^ Most of the time I get my inspiration break down after a period of working for several days. But it goes by in about two days most of the time.
VerwijderenI've heard that many people are indeed looking for inspiration on CoF, instagram and youtube those are great sources too! Luckily we all have our own tricks to get out of our creative slumb.