Allow me to continue my monologue!
While trying to solve an unrelated LookAndFeel timing issue, one which could not be solved by sendLookAndFeelChange, I stumbled upon a better approach that allows me to call setDefaultLookAndFeel before my other components’ constructors have run, eliminating the need for sendLookAndFeelChange altogether. You can find details in this post: Best place for custom look instantiation in a plugin?