One dress, three substyles

Something that's ideal for a lolita with a wide taste but a small budget is a dress that can be styled for several different substyles. Some BTSSB dresses can be styled classic or sweet, AP has released several pieces that could easily fit in a gothic wardrobe etcetera. However I wanted to see if I could find a dress that would work for all three main substyles: sweet, classic and gothic. I originally thought such a dress would be black, but in the end I stumbled upon this guy:

Angelic Pretty's Dolly Damask jumperskirt in red. I feel this dress is extremely versatile! The brocade fabric is super opulent and perfect for classic, the pattern itself is quite sweet, however it isn't too much. The colour and brocade finish and the subtle details make it suitable for gothic too, even if it has hearts and ribbons in the print. The pearls on the bodice and straps are neutral too, pearls fit with everything! Naturally I wanted to coord this dress all three ways, and these are the outfits I made.

Classic

I really wanted to pull in some gold/cream tones for this coord to really add to the opulent vibe this dress has. Originally I wanted to do a high necked blouse + bolero combination, but then I found this choker! It's super detailed and I love the crystals on the bottom. I wanted to keep the luxury going even in the details, so I picked some gloves and a massive fancy ring as statement piece. You likely won't be able to wear this exact one for lolita as it's an original Victorian piece that costs millions of dollars, but I absolutely loved the moonstone in it! I think a big cameo ring or pearl ring would also look gorgeous, and for a much, much more afforable price.

Gothic

For the gothic coord I wanted to go for a Victorian "night out"-vibe, so I added delicate little gloves, a fancy veiled hat and a pair of awesome statement shoes. To tone down the coord a little I went with dull silver instead of gold for the jewelry. The simple neckline of the dress made for a very elegant square neckline, topped with a matching necklace. I also went with a rose theme to add to the elegant vibe and to really pull everything together, from the roses on the hat to the red dress to the jewelry.

Sweet

For the last coord I went with a solid hime theme! A mini sleeved frilly blouse, long gloves and lots and lots of jewelry, with as statement piece a big pearl Jesus Diamante bracelet. I couldn't fit too many rings on because these gloves have little ribbons on the ring fingers already, but two fingers taken means there are still eight left! I'd pair this coord with a big teased head of curls and maybe one of those little BTSSB scepters. Initially I really didn't want to pair this dress with white for sweet because I felt like red + a base colour for all three coords was kind of a cop out, but I really liked the feel the white gives to the dark red. It feels very princessy to me, so I kept it anyway.

I quite like how these turned out! I tried to have all the coords very differently looking and I do feel like I succeeded. I'm not super happy with how all three turned out to be red + base colour, and if I'd add a fourth outfit I'd love to do some red X navy or red X forest green! This little challenge was super fun so I might try it again sometime, maybe even with a "no base colour" rule to up the ante.