It’s the end of the year and I’m looking back on what my resolutions were! Like most people, I actually forgot some of them so let’s see what progress I have made!
1.) Post more consistently to my socials without sacrificing my health
I actually moved towards this goal quite a bit! I don’t think that I did it consistently through the year but I have improved my abilities quite a bit and have been using the mantra of consistency over intensity for the past few months and I think it has been serving me well
2.) Finish repairing and altering my lolita fashion wardrobe
I was so close! I have just two projects that I need to finish, altering my FanplusFriend Tardis Skirt and turning my Love Nadia Skirt into a tote bag
3.) Improve my financial literacy
I have made leaps and bounds on this one! I actually think I achieved this goal and have made strides in paying down my debts and choosing methods that work well for me. I have been on time with all of my bills, have a separate rainy day and emergency fund going as well as learning more about retirement.
4.) Pay off my credit card debt
This was an entirely unrealistic goal, but I did pay it down aggressively. I paid down 3,000$ of my credit which is nothing to sneeze at. I have since moved my attention over to a snowball method with all of my debt since I don’t anticipate my income increasing too much anytime soon. I will keep working on lowering that balance.
6.) Work on improving my physical health
I spent much of 2022 getting to know my body and trying and restarting and doing all sorts of things to see what works for me. In the past 3 months I think I finally developed a system that works for me. I try to work out at least 150 minutes a week and eat 4-5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. I try to get enough sleep. Honestly the USDA guidelines work really well. I really struggled coming to terms with that since literally everything else is more exciting but hey I really love the extra energy I have and it’s pretty easy to do. It just requires planning.
7.) Use a physical planner again
I didn’t really do this quite frankly. The only thing I have are dry erase calendar habit trackers in my Youtube studio. I need to have a pretty planner for me to want to use it. I plan on getting the Blogilates planner for 2023 as I used one in 2020 and loved it.
Thank you guys for a wonderful year! Goodbye 2022, Hello 2023!
The December theme for Biblioteca is favorite things!! I have gotten a lot of new favorites this year, I discovered a lot of them right at the end!
I found a lot of ways to help improve my coords in the past year
1.) The Youtube Channel Dear Peachie, she is not a lolita fashion youtuber and seems to have a heavy focus on korean beauty but her mathematical approach to fashion and beauty is extremely helpful. I get the vibes that anyone can make anything they want to work, she just gives tips on how to make that thing work for your face shape and body type.
2.) Fashion Journaling
I have been keeping a digital fashion journal in both Pinterest and in Stylebook on my phone, the way I have done it is whenever I see a post on instagram or a magazine snap that sparks joy I save it. At first I just saved it, but then after a month I started to look for patterns in the outfits I saved. For example I seem to like simpler socks or tights and light colors or jewel tones.
3.) Taking Inventory of my Wardrobe
I tried really hard to be a spreadsheet lolita but I just do not have the brainpower to maintain that level of tracking, however I have been taking looser inventory of my wardrobe. For example I had next to no wristwear so I did a taobao order of pretty much only wristwear to improve my coords. For the longest time I would hit my wrists off of things because I am clumsy so I broke all of my bracelets I had when I first started lolita fashion. In order to adapt it to me, I decided to focus on now collecting wrist cuffs and fabric wrist wear.
4.) Rehearsal Runs
I started doing this the night before meetups or a day or two before I plan filming in a coord. I have been laying out my coord and accessories as completely as possible ahead of time and then I put everything on (usually minus makeup) to see how it looks on my body. Flatlays almost always look amazing to me but sometimes when the fabric has to contend with a 3D human body don’t always look great. This gives me a chance to use accessories to arrange things better change what I’m wearing underneath or switch out blouses while I still have time instead of settling for something I don’t love since I don’t have time to change
5.) Shapewear
First off, you absolutely do not need to wear shapewear if you don’t want to. I just have been really enjoying it! I personally have a binder, corset, mesh waist trainer and a pushup bra I use to help things look a bit better under my coords. I have a very large chest so wearing lolita can be difficult and these items help me maintain the silhouette that I want for the fashion. I plan on making a video on my youtube channel on how exactly I use these items in January.
Thank you for reading my post! Drink some water, eat good food, and get some rest. Have a great day!
December is a busy time for everyone! Lolitas included! If you are someone who are an active participant in your community there are quite a lot of things to do in December! Here is a fun little checklist of things you could do for yourself or in your comm for the month of December
1.) Prepare your coordinate for International Lolita Day
It only comes twice a year! Bust out a fun coord showing off your love for lolita fashion! You could wear it to a meetup, post it on Instagram or keep it all to yourself!
2.) See if there are any coordinate challenges going around social media you want to participate in!
If you are someone who is on Instagram you may see coordinate challenges going around from time to time! A person in my comm made one and it is super cute
3.) Help to plan/Host the International Lolita Day meetup! (First Saturday in December)
Speaking of ILD if you are a member of a comm you could host the ILD meetup! If that’s not in the cards for you at least be sure to RSVP early and offer to bring some snacks.
4.) Confirm whether or not you’re participating in your comm’s secret Santa!
My comm does secret santa every year and it will help your admin if you let them know as soon as you can if you’re participating!
5.) Buy and wrap secret santa present!
If you are participating don’t forget the present and to wrap it up! (I still need to wrap mine….)
6.) Help to plan/Host the Holiday meetup for your comm!
December is a busy time for lolitas too! My comm does both ILD and a holiday meetup, so give your comm a hand by either hosting or being proactive to responding to the meetups host.
7.) Check out the Lucky/Happy packs for this year and decide if you want to purchase any!
I have yet to have the chance to buy a lucky pack myself but I love looking at them this time of year, I’ll get one eventually
8.) Send a thank you note or card to whoever hosted your meetups this month
Do you have a mer friend you’re doing secret Santa with? A family member of someone who does mermaiding and somehow wound up on my blog? Here’s some ideas!
1.) Eye Drops/Eye Gel
Chlorine is very drying but lots of mermaids like to film or take pictures in pools and like the illusion of making it look like they naturally can see underwater eye drops can help clean eyes afterwords and eye gel can protect eyes going in
2.) Goggles
Sometimes your eyes just need a break and that’s what goggles are for! You can get simple goggles or look for decorated mermaid specific goggles either will be appreciated
3.) Sinus Saver
Sinus savers help keep water from getting up your nose which is very helpful for tricks under the water
4.) Ocean/Water Themed Jewelry
Jewelry that matches the mermaid theme that is for the land or swimmable jewelry will be appreciated
5.) Swimwear
This one requires you knowing their clothing size so this might be best reserved for a best friend or family member. Mermaids can never have enough swimwear and there is a plethora of options to choose from, you could get them a regular bathing suit or find a mer themed one.
6.) A new tail or monofin
This will be the most expensive but the most exciting thing you could get a mermaid. You can buy them ranging from 80-500$ for a fabric tail.
7.) Hair Care/Skin Care
Swimming frequently can really dry out the skin and hair so if you know their favorite scents and that they’d appreciate it things like hair oils and lotions may be much appreciated
8.) Scuba Socks
For mermaids who like to swim outside in warm weather may benefit from scuba socks! They’re like water shoes but they fit in lots of mono fins meaning they won’t need to take water shoes on and off to avoid rocks
9.) Donation to Conservation in their Name
Most mermaids care a lot about water conservation of both their local waterways and the ocean. Making a donation in their name is likely to be appreciated
10.) Gift Card to their favorite Mermaid Store
There are many different stores that sell mermaid things such as Finfun Mermaid, Mertailor, Finfolk productions, Vancouver mermaid and much more if you aren’t sure what to get them this is sure to be a safe bet
Happy Belated ILD! I was mostly focused on editing this week’s YouTube video of my get ready with me so I was delayed in my blog post! My comm went out to an amazing Italian place for lunch and had an amazing time, it had been awhile since we had a sit down meet and I missed them a lot from the last time we talked. However I talked so much I was the last to finish my food! Which hardly ever happens since I usually have a bad habit of inhaling my meals sometimes. The company was just too good.
I really love how my makeup and curls came out! It’s a shame I didn’t take coord shots before the meet though since the wind pretty much destroyed my curls for the outdoor coord shots
I ordered the big Italian omelet which was absolutely delicious! It was a huge fluffy omelet on top of hash browns and a baguette which you can’t see in this photo. It has sausage, pepper, onion, mushroom, tomato and mozerella with pesto sauce on top! It was so good
The lighting in the restaurant was amazing but it was way too crowded for us to have taken coord shots inside. It was so cute and cozy in there!
It’s a bit windswept but I really loved my coord for the day
I finally did it! I have the lifestyle lolita closet of my dreams! Well, my daydreams at least due to living in an apartment I am pretty limited in what I can do but I really like how it came out from just a couple of small tweaks
I have a hook on the inside of my closet door that is perfect for planning coords! I’m working on a Christmas coord there.
I have rechargeable closet lights I put on with some Velcro strips so I can see what’s in my closet better!
I also added a cute cherry blossom garland to the edge of the shelf
Also my closet doubles as a voice acting booth so I’m happy for the lights since it means I won’t have to audition and record in the dark! I was working on a tight turnaround on a podcast once and I was in my little closet for four hours in the dark which wasn’t great so I think I’ll be happy for the lights
Honestly this closet upgrade was just minor things since I already had the pink velvet hangers but these little details went a long way to helping me feel a little more put together and closer to my ideal lolita lifestyle.
Thank you so much for reading! Drink some water, eat good food, get some rest. Have a wonderful rest of your day!
Hello everybody I decided to round up and review some of the releases of my three favorite brands in lolita fashion. I am really excited for these releases and although I’ll most likely have to wait for things to show up secondhand I definitely want some of these.
Metamorphose De Temps de Fille
36,080Yen
This is super cute! I have been really into red lately and want more red dresses. The only thing I wish is that they had a standard length option as well ad not everyone is into long lolita dresses. It looks like it is going to be awesome.
32,780Yen
I really like the idea of this dress and the overall construction but something in the print just looks a little off to me. I think it’s due to it being an all over print but the pint is a bit big I think it would have looked bettter with either a more intricate all over print or a border print.
This set is sold in pieces
Black Zipper JSK 30,580Yen
Lace Up Sleeve Blouse 20,680 Yen
Layered Frill Skirt 18,480 Yen
This is actually 3 different pieces that when put together make the illusion of an op. I like the idea a lot and it’s a cute design but with them being sold in separate pieces it gets too expensive for me as well as it reminding me a little bit of some older gothic bodyline pieces.
30,800Yen
This dress is so cute, I love all the different colors even though it’s a standard sailor dress it looks great and is a staple in a lot of lolita wardrobes.
37,180Yen
I love the colors and the print on this dress the only issue I have with it is that the corset ribbon on the bodice is jarringly light especially on the blue colorway.
48,180 Yen Cat & Bunny Cloak
I love this so much!! It’s adorable and I am a big fan of when brands release outerwear, the only thing is I wish there was more colorways to choose from as this beige color really wouldn’t fit my wardrobe well
42,680 Yen Sailor Cloak
Cute and I think it would work great for people who have wardrobes that have a lot of military lolita
42, 680 Yen Wish Upon a Star A- Line Cloak
I like the idea of this jacket, I just think that the A-Line may ruin the silhouette of a lot of the coords that would be underneath the cloak as I see lolita coats as a replacement for a blouse (visually, not literally if it’s that cold your blouse will help keep you warm) for outdoor meets or depending on the coat even the replacement of the main piece. I don’t think this would work for that
Baby The Stars Shine Bright
38,800Yen
I am so psyched about this one!! I actually plan on buying it once I’m able and praying it ends up on the secondhand market when I’m able to afford it. I adore brocade and it’s so rare to see it in lolita fashion these days. I just adore the fairytake and magical feel of this dress and I can imagine so many ways I could coordinate this with my current wardrobe
37,800Yen
I think this is my second favorite, the bodice is just so cute and reminds me in a very tangential way of some of the Mary Magdalene dresses that originally made me fall in love with the fashion.
29,800Yen
Pretty cute, I saw this falls in the middle for me. I don’t think I’d go out of my way to purchase this but if I received it as a gift I’d be happy. There’s nothing wrong with these I’m just not a huge fan of sax plaid, I like plaid, I like sax. Kind of meh on them together.
40,800Yen
This makes me think of bodyline maid costumes so I can’t take this one seriously.
Kyudo Paris Jumperskirt 33,800Yen
The design of the dress is realy cute but something about the way the dress fits and hangs on the model makes me worried that it could have poor construction as well as the stock photos of this dress being wrinkled. I personally would skip this one
28.300Yen
Very cute and standatd design it reminds me a bit of the shirring princess JSK that I own and love
This is the same as above but you can purchase a matching usakumya and head dress, I’d probably get the usakumya but skip the headress if I were to buy this
Angelic Pretty
Happy Humming Bunny Dress Set ¥50,380
I am not a huge fan if the tulle extending so far over the underskirt but otherwise it looks great! Unfortunately that length is a dealbreaker for me especially at that price
Bunny College Classical Dress Set ¥50,600
I am entirely in love with this especially in this colorway. Angelic pretty rocked the reds this season and I want so many of these. I’ll be trying to hunt this down on the second hand.
Dreamy Chocolatier Skirt Set ¥40,480
I love this one! I really enjoy red chocolate prints it feels festive and perfect for winter and reminds me of delicious cherry lindt truffles. I loke that all of the ribbons on the dress look like the wrappings on a chocolate gift box. I want to buy this at some point.
Rose Tassel Dress ¥ 50,800
This is adorable and perfect for hime lolita, the sleeves look amazing and the little pearls on the bows are fantastic.
library one piece ¥ 36,080
This is cute and simple, it reminds me of a plaid christmas dress I had for years when I was a child
The corset bodice on this one is amazing I adore this neo oldschoolish contrstruction it looks like it would be pretty comfortable to wear and the plaid seems like it would be very versatile out of all the plaids this is the one I would want to purchase.
Tabekake Biscuit Jumper Skirt Set ¥39,380
This feels like it’s in a weird in the middle of simple and intricate and it doesn’t really work for me. There is already such a solid chocolate print being released so this feels a bit redundant to me.
Dramatic Coat ¥58,080
This coat is amazing I love it so much and if it came in my size I would want it. I don’t mind doing alterations on JSKs but I do not have the skills for a coat. I wouldn’t change anything about this.
Fluffy Heart Coat ¥ 51,480
This is not really a lolita coat but it is flipping adorable!!! I can imagine a lot of sweet lolitas, himakaji and jirai kei girls enjoying this so I think this coat was made for a more broad appeal and I think it works.
I am genuinely so excited for winter this year all of these brands made awesome stuff and I can’t wait to see the coords people make. I had a ton of fun making this. Let me know what you think of these designs? Do you agree or disagree with me?
Thank you for reading! Eat good food, drink some water, get some rest. Have a wonderful day!
Luna By The Lake With Cake 