I really love how elegant and practical her coords are while still capturing the sweetlolita spirit! She posts pretty frequently on instagram.
2.) Princess Peachie
She was the first egl youtuber I watched and I still love to go back and visit her content. It’s still very influential to my more OTT styles.
3.) Momoko
I honestly don’t think there is a sweet lifestyle lolita who isn’t influenced by Momoko at least a little. I take a lot of inspiration from her on how to coord my more solid pieces without prints.
4.) Admittedly Anime
Long before I knew what lolita fashion was I was exposed to the aesthetics of it through anime, and it quite honestly still influences my style, I know lots of lolitas like to distance the style from that but for me it is still heavily influenced by anime aesthetics.
For me the meaning behind lolita fashion is the ability to express myself however I want and participate in a community of like minded people who love the same things that I do. It’s a great way to experience life and adds a touch of whimsy and escapism that a lot of people seem to lack in their adult lives. I have finally settled in with a 9-5 job in my early 20s and I love everything about the stability it brings. However it can sometimes be hard to romanticize such a mundane life. For me lolita fashion allows me to continue to live out my dreams of being a long lost princess I had as a little girl all grown up. It also allows me to connect with other members of the community in a really fun way.
For Others
I collected some statements from around the web and got a direct quote answering the above question
“♥What is Lolita?♥ Lolita is a very hard style to define, but in my opinion what really defines it is it’s childlike innocence and old-fashioned elegance. It’s distinctive style is most obviously from the Victorian and Rococo eras, but you will see a lot of influence from the Edwardian period and even some 40s and 50s American clothing styles – any time period in which fashion was elegant and beautiful. The bell-shaped skirt provides the typical silhouette, but it is neither what makes something lolita nor is it required of all lolitas. There is no one item of clothing or a color or trim that embodies all that is lolita – it is a unique aesthetic that’s hard to perfect. To some there’s a lifestyle attached – not only wearing the clothes as often as possible but also taking part in lolita activities and following a certain code of etiquette – but to others it is merely a clothing style. Lolita can be an escape from the mundane, or an attempt to return to a more innocent time in life. It’s something a little bit different to everyone, but what lolitas have in common is a shared desire to wear really awesome clothes.” – Lolita Fashion Handbook, 2006
« Lolita fashion for me is the ability to be the real me. When I am wearing full OTT sweet I feel like this is my true form. I am 39 now and I hope I keep this feel for many more years. » FluffyKawaiiJo – 2021 Email Correspondence
“I am quite a colorful person. I have a wide range of interests and various ways that I express myself. Lolita Fashion has been a part of my identity for quite some time, but I have not thought about how integral lolita fashion is in my life until now! To say lolita fashion is just an aspect of my life would be a bit of an understatement. Lolita fashion is a huge part of my life. Much of my spare time involves lolita fashion in some capacity. In addition to this blog and my YouTube channel, many of my other activities center around lolita. I draw it, dress my dolls in it, and create my own jewelry and charm pieces to compliment my wardrobe. When I have a few free minutes, I often check on the latest items being sold on ClosetChild, LaceMarket and brand name online Lolita shops. My most used smartphone application in addition to Twitter and YouTube is Amino, as I am very involved with multiple lolita groups there!” MagicalGirlMe – 2017
Being a lolita or wearing ouji, is it part of your identity? “Yeah, it really can be. I found that there are some people in my community who are genderfluid as well… They are dressing how they identify, and some people even may identify as male, but they dress in the feminine style of lolita. We all accept them no matter what. We’re all a family, we’re all here to help each other out. We’re not here to bitch at each other and brag to each other, we’re here as friends.
I lived in Burlington, Ontario from when I was like one to when I was 18. When I moved out of my parents’ place, I said like, “Screw it, you guys aren’t respecting who I am and how I want to present myself.” So I went over to Toronto, and I’ve been here for like a year and a bit… It’s been the most thrilling experience to be here. You get to be a part of different communities, and you find your family in Toronto. That’s the best part.” – Alex, Vice Interview 2017
Cassie Dai: “I first got into Lolita fashion around eighth and ninth grade. Although I’ve been exposed to the culture when I was in China, I didn’t look into it. What made it my passion now is because two large Lolita fashion companies, Angelic Pretty and BABY, the Stars Shine Bright all have stores in San Francisco. There are other Angelic Pretty stores in America, but the San Francisco BABY is the only one that is still open. So every time I went to Japantown in San Francisco, I had more contact with the culture and eventually fell in love with it.
Lolita culture is a subculture that originated in Japan around the 70s. I really enjoy getting to know other cultures, mainly the subcultures because I’m not a huge fan of mainstream pop culture. It is also a way for me to cope with Bipolar Disorder. If I’m depressed, I can dress myself up and treat myself well. It makes me feel better about myself.” Cassie Dai. 2020 The Wildcat Tribune
“For me, lolita is about the culture. The friends you can make who you would never have met. This fashion acts as an ice-breaker, a common interest to tie together complete strangers. I will cherish forever the relationships I’ve made because of lolita” – Vanilla Bear, 2016
“Lolita fashion is a youth street style originating from Japan that draws on Victorian-era children’s clothing, Rococo aesthetics, and Western Punk and Gothic subculture. It is worn by teenage girls and women of a wide range of ages, and through the flow of related media and clothing aided by the Internet, Lolita style has become a global phenomenon. Wearers of the style are known as Lolitas, and local, national, and global communities can be found around the world outside Japan from North American to Europe. This study is a cross-cultural comparison of Lolita fashion wearers in Japan and North America, examining how differences in constructions of place and space; conceptualizations about girlhood and womanhood; perceptions of beauty and aesthetics; and formation of social groups and actor-networks have bearing on how an individual experiences the fashion. This work deconstructs Lolita style by using Japanese cultural concepts like shōjo (‘girl’ as a genderless being), otome (maiden), kawaii (cuteness) to explore the underlying framework that informs Japanese Lolita’s use of the fashion as a form of subversive rebellion, creating personal spaces to celebrate their individuality and revive the affects and memories of girlhood that are distanced from gendered social expectations. English-speakers, not having the same social and cultural knowledge, attempt to recontexualize Lolita fashion along the lines of feminism, sisterhood, personal style, and escape from the ‘modern’ to give meaning and purpose to their involvement with the fashion. Lolita fashion allows wearers to travel in between the lines of becoming-girl and becoming-women by offering a way to access girl-feeling and its associated happiness object” – The abstract of a study by An Nguyen.
Nguyen, An, “Maiden’s Fashion As Eternal Becomings: Victorian Maidens and Sugar Sweet Cuties Donning Japanese Street Fashion in Japan and North America” (2012). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 1042. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/1042
I am still working on the basic reconstruction of my Tardis skirt in January. In january I did complete the deconstruction and my first draft reconstruction. I hated it and took it apart again. I currently fixed the shirring panels and am currently working on adding a blanket stitch edge finishing to the raw edge that will be hidden in the top of the skirt so that if I choose to realter my skirt in the future the moss crepe will not unravel, as it had already started to fray after being deconstructed twice for this project. I also plain on replacing the bronze buttons with steam punk gears
Plans for this Month
Me getting through this pile has been an incredible slow process so I think I need to start prioritizing some faster fixes in order to make more space on my craft table. So I am making a list to hopefully get through this month while I work on that big time project
1.) Reattach the bow to my gold tea parties cause I keep thinking I lost them
2.) Repair the button on my wine colored blouse since Valentine’s day is coming up and the red blouse would be ideal for those coords
3.) Repair the lace on my strawberry skirt as it requires no alterations and is a simple repair.
The little strawberry is for sharpening pins and needles!! I have been sewing for years but just recently learned this. It’s very simple to use you just stab the strawberry repeatedly until your needle or pin is to your desired sharpness. This helps with sewing thicker things like ruffles or multiple layers of fabric
2.) Finish Off Edges
I find you can create a finished raw edge by doing a blanket stitch to prevent fraying it has been a godsend when altering clothing by hand.
It works similarly to crochet to finish the edge.
3.) Skip Using Pins for more complicated projects
Well, you’ll still need to use pins at first but I hate accidentally stabbing myself or having slipping pins so one thing you can do especially if you know you’re sewing project will take some time is to set the pins and take the time to tack the fabric together with a different colored thread where the pins are, then remove the pins. Then sew as normal and remove the colored thread.
4.) Use a Kitchen Knife Honing Tool to Save Fabric Scissors
If you’re like me and use your fabric scissors for things better left for a box cutter your scissors might need some TLC but not all is lost. You can use a honing rod to bring your scissors back. This does require a lot of patience though. You will need to take the scissors apart and sharpen each blade individually.
I use the Finfun bag that came with my first tail, I really like the design and it is great to have the panel to clip my monofin into.
2.) My tails
Right now I only have the two tails above and I really enjoy them! They are really easy to take care of and fit well in my budget. I will probably hold off on collecting anymore for awhile since the athletic part of mermaiding has always been the greatest interest to me.
3.) My bathing suit
Right now the above tankini is my only mermaiding specific swimsuit but it gets the job done. I have considered making some additions and alterations to make it fancier though
4.) My GoPro
I use a Gopro Hero8 to film all of the underwater videos that I film with my friends! It’s a really sturdy camera but sometimes the video quality will get crushed when I upload to my computer. Still working on figuring out what does that
5.) My Water bottle
When I remember I pack a 32oz water bottle because if I don’t I become very dehydrated and exhausted the rest of the day after swimming
Things I Want to Remember to Bring More Often
1.) A towel
I constantly forget to pack towels to go swimming
2.) Shampoo, Conditioner and Bodywash
Now that indoor pools have their showers reopening I really want to remember these so I’m not hanging out in chlorine all day
This is a questionnaire from an older egl livejournal post from a teacupcracked!
Answer all Seven questions below in word or photo-form; 1. What is the oldest item in your wardrobe/closet?
The above FanplusFriend Tardis Skirt was the first piece of lolita fashion I ever bought, it has a really deep significance to me as I spent months saving for it. Right now I am very nervous with it because it is going through a massive alteration and repair. 2. What is the newest item?
3. What is the most expensive item?
By far the most expensive item was my Haenuli Angel of Music OP, it was 100% worth it though. Hopefully I’ll be able to wear it to Paradiso this year! That was the original intention of that purpose and I loved the phantom of the opera when I was younger 4. What is the cheapest/most affordable item?
I just bought this pass case to hold my vaccine card about a week ago, I got it for a dollar 5. What was the biggest bargain?
I got this skirt for 4$ back in college, it had some pretty minor staining and was missin the bow but it was a great deal. 6. What was the biggest waste of money?!
A aliexpress monstrosity I no longer own, I thought it was going to be a cute plain dress with a very basic design. Instead it was literally made of tent fabric. It was worse quality than some cheap cosplays I have bought.
7. What are your three favorite items right now?
Baby the Stars Shine Bright Shirring Princess JSK
It is such a high quality fabric and super comfy, due to how simple the design is I can coord it hundreds of ways
Bodyline Sweets Tea Party in Red
Also extremely comfortable and versatile, very appropriate for winter
A perpetual favorite of mine is my Bodyline Bunny Cinderella skirt
January is over and the time for wardrobe posts are done. Now for me it is tine for a closet cleanout. I generally like to wait until after my wardrobe post has been completed before I clean out my closet. Here is my post for this year
I wanted to share a Checklist I am using to clean out my wardrobe this year
1.) Try on all of the dresses, skirts and shoes to see if they fit or need repair
2.) Place aside all clothing that doesn’t fit or needs to be repaired as well as clothing that doesn’t match your style.
3.) While the clothing is out of your closet wipe it down and clean out any cobwebs
4.) Go through the clothing you placed aside and make a game plan for it, decide what you want to repair yourself, what you want to have altered and what you want to sell. Put those into designated storage areas for that.
5.) Time to tackle accessories, these take way longer in my opinion. Go through your accessories and check for any damage or if they match your style. Repeat steps 3-4
6.) Now that your wardrobe is cleaned out and you know what you want to keep it’s time to assess your storage system. Is it still working for you? If it is, great! Don’t make any changes to it. If not, it’s time to see what you can do to make it work better for you. This may include getting more storage bins, rearranging your clothing or getting something like a rolling rack. Whatever you need in order to make your wardrobe functional and organized
7.) Once you have gotten any supplies you need and made a game plan, it’s time to put the clothes and accessories away.
8.) You may want to decorate your wardrobe if you are able to, I plan on installing some closet lights this year.
9.) Enjoy your freshly organized closet, and hope that it doesn’t fall apart too quickly
Back when I played hockey there was an infamously cold rink we would play at sometimes and my mom always got me these motion activated heat packs. They were usually pretty thin and if you knew you were going to be outside for a meetups you could put those packs into your boots and pockets pretty comfortably
2.) Fingerless Gloves
This is less about keeping warm and more about what’s practical for a Lolita meetup, lolitas love pictures and most devices nowadays need to have the pads of your fingers touch the screen to work. This way you won’t be having to take your gloves on and off when you’re helping out your friends with their pictures
3.) Fuzzy Bloomers
I think they’re adorable for loungewear and it’s good to get all the layers you can get to stay warm outside! Where I live right now it’s in the single digits (Fahrenheit) I think those paired with fleece lined tights or leggings and you’ll be all set
4.) Carry a Warm Drink or Soup With You
If you have a thermos it will double as a warmer for your hands and warm you up inside. If it’s not too inconvenient for your meet I think it would be a great way to be able to keep ensuring the cold.
Even though it’s February I am still getting my goals prepared for the year! For me personally I feel like my goals I really kicked off when I get into February since I take January to recover from the holidays
1.) To finally get through my repairs pile
2.) To make it to Paradiso and have a really fun time
3.) To decorate and organize my wardrobe
4.) For the world to settle enough to have regular meetups again
5.) To sell everything I feel I’ve outgrown or doesn’t match my wardrobe
Luna By The Lake With Cake 