Mermaiding and Sweet Lolita Fashion!
🌻 Have a floral spa day!
🌻Try a floral coord!
🌻 Make a dandelion crown! there are many tutorials for different kinds online
🌻 Have a nature scavenger hunt!
🌻 Learn a new recipe!
🌻 Have a fashion show for yourself! Make some outfits you love and play some music
🌻Give yourself a small present! Like a new lipstick or chocolate bar
🌻 Give yellow a try with either makeup or an accessory
🌻 Doodle some sunflowers!
I have seen so many Lolitas join the fashion in quarantine! To welcome them all I thought I’d share some tips for your first IRL meet!
🎀 Research some recent releases from big brands there’s a good chance it will be a topic of discussion at some point during the meet and knowing what’s what will help you keep up!
🎀 Research upcoming events or what’s happening in the online comms, that may also be a topic of discussion and knowing a thing or two will help!
🎀 Don’t be afraid to discuss outside interest as well though! Sewing, gaming, baking and fashion history have a high chance of another member of your comm being into those things!
🎀 Participate in the online chat forum of your comm, be that Facebook messenger or discord. It will help you have specific interests and topics you can discuss when you finally meet in person, it will also help it feel less like it’s entirely brand new to you
🎀 Have an outfit you’re comfortable in, even if it’s not 100% finished if you’re a beginner make sure that you aren’t going to be constantly comparing yourself to the others in your comm and taking away from the social aspect
🎀 Look up the address of the meet ahead of time, and if you need a ride be sure to arrange transportation well before your meet
🎀 Don’t be intimidated by the chatting circles of long-standing members of your comm, they for the most part have just known each other for a few years. Don’t be afraid to jump in if a topic being spoken about interests you. Most comms love having new people! It’s what keeps the fashion going!
🎀 Enjoy yourself! And don’t pressure yourself too much, it’s pretty rare to have a social situation where a shared interest is built in! So have fun.
I just finished watching Revolutionary Girl Utena today and it is a great anime! Before I continue this I want to give major trigger warnings
TW/ Discussions of Incest, Pedophilia, Rape and Homophobia
All of these triggers honestly apply to the show as wells
This show was amazing but a really difficult watch, the themes it got into were extremely dark and difficult to handle emotionally at times, however the show was also hilarious at times. It explores themes of gender and violence in ways that I have never truly seen a show get into before. A lot of what I have seen has felt surface level and pandering whereas Utena using its abstract symbolism and fairytale deconstruction gets to the emotional core of a lot of these issues.
I relate a lot to Utena herself throughout this show, I too want to be a prince. This desire has complicated my relationship with gender in recent years and I have even questioned if I may be trans due to my desire to care for and protect others and be a hero. Getting to see that desire itself ruthlessly deconstructed in this show was an experience and helped me reaffirm that I do in fact feel like a woman and that those desires to do or be in society don’t have to be gendered.
I found it interesting that Utena is constrained with the potential princes throughout the show who on the surface look like they could fill that role but are shown to be horrible incestuous people in the end, leaving Utena the only one with a seemingly pure desire to be a prince but even that ends up being deconstructed by the end as a symptom of her hero complex and only once she overcomes those ideas entirely she can be free of them.
Another interesting aspect of this show is that all of the potential heterosexual partners are siblings with only the homosexual pairings being non incestuous which is something I find interesting. It shows the way that almost anything is preferred to queerness in society in this abstract over the top way. I have yet to fully unpack this part because to be honest Utena is the first anime I have ever seen that unflinchingly looks at and explores the repercussions of those actions with no glamour and pure disgust.
I have major respect for the writers for keeping something that is so often sensationalized in writing in the dark where it belongs. There are absolutely heartbreaking scenes and the cinematography of the shots always seems to show the victims as if they have been murdered.
I don’t think I’ve fully gotten all of my thoughts about this show out but it will definitely be on my mind for years to come. I think it is an unbelievably important part of queer history and so many shows take from and reference this show and it’s nice to see the compared and contrasted progress, I loved that once I released that the finale of She-ra takes almost shot for shot a scene from the finale of Utena but gives their girls a happy ending. I think it’s a sign of things slowly but surely getting better
I added lights to my closet! I’ve been slowly but surely working to make my dream closet! I’ve moved more than just my Lolita wardrobe in there but it’s a work in progress!! I’m just really happy with these lights!!
I have been mostly taking my Insta photos from home this winter but now that there’s warmer weather I’ve been going out to shoot on different locations recently! Here’s what to bring on a location based photoshoot
1.) A water bottle and some snacks
Having water and little bit of food will help you keep going if you need to do a longer shoot
2.) Appropriate weather clothing
Even if you’re shooting a dress in the winter you’ll be grateful for having a jacket you can throw on between shots
3.) Backup Batteries
The outdoors can do strange things to tech you’ll be happy you brought them
4.) Any of your on the go lighting
It can be hard to find the perfect light so if you have stuff that works well on the go bring it along
5.) Some music!
If you’re in a place that’s conducive for it having some music is a great way to relax and get into the groove!
🎀 Try using flat hairstyles underneath the wig like French braids instead of buns
🎀 Avoid using the elastic clasp in the back if you are going to be wearing your wig for a long time
🎀 Use wig glue instead of pins to secure your wig
🎀 Do a few test runs with your wig before the event you’re planning on using it for (meetup, convention, tea party, etc.)
🎀 Use a mesh wig cap, ( I tend to find that these have more give to them and don’t squeeze my head so tightly)
I seam ripped off the waist band (this is the love Nadia skirt from bodyline)
Since I had enough length in the skirt I cut one inch off the top and started making panels with them in order to not have to use a zipper anymore
This is still a work in progress I need to seam rip and align the final seam again but then I’ll update with a pic of me wearing the skirt!
After seeing the recent drama go down in the community it got me thinking about the differences between goths and lolitas. For context my mother is a 90s goth and I find it fascinating how the different groups interact with the world.
Lolita Fashion, at least in the US, is an Internet based subculture. We mostly find each other online and posting pictures and videos online is a major part of the subculture for many who participate. Most of us buy our clothes online and discovered Lolita Fashion through the Internet. I think it gives our fashion a certain perspective of the world sometimes for better or worse.
I think Lolita fashion being online makes it easier to connect quickly with our subculture and find others like ourselves if only virtually. However I think this can breed a rather harsh environment given the polish the modern Internet is known for. It isn’t in all spaces of course but it’s no secret within the community.
I think this can lead to some misunderstanding of our community when new people join as we take so much of our subculture for granted over time. One thing I can think of is concrit which has become integral to our community where outfits are seen as works of art and critiques the same way one might critique a painting in art class.
It’s important for us to keep in mind that when new people enter our spaces that they aren’t going to be familiar with our intrinsic rules and culture and although it can be exhausting I believe that patience can go such a long way to making our community a more accepting and inviting place.
Now your mileage may vary on this one but these are ways I have seen that have made it possible for me to wear Lolita to work with little issue
1.) Blouse and Skirt coords are your best friend
People seem to be a lot more accepting of blouse and skirt coords at work! I think it might be because it makes it a bit more casual and approachable
2.) Keep Headpieces small or opt to use hairstyles and small bows
This helps reign in how in your face the style can be while retaining the elegance
3.) Updo’s if you have long hair instantly make your coords look more professional
I find that updos are great and tend to keep better throughout the day anyways
4.) In more conservative office environments Classic Lolita is usually a safe bet
5.) Wear sensible shoes
Know what your job is and be sure to wear appropriate shoes, if you sit at a desk all day tea parties may be just fine, but if you have to get up a lot like I do you may want to stick to flats or well kept sneakers that match your outfit (my american is showing)
6.) Keep accessories minimal
Same idea as your hair in this instance your almost trying to find a cross between casual Lolita and office wear to wear to work, a bit more formal than wearing a cutsew and skirt but not OTT, earrings and a necklace are usually a safe bet
7.) Be grateful our fashion fits most dress codes!
So it depends on the taste in your office but thankfully a fashion that has you cover your shoulders and wear knee length skirts is not going to break any modesty codes it just may offend some sensibilities, obviously your work is more important than having to wear this fashion everyday but these are some tips that I’ve found that help!
I decided to customize my phone screen! I’ve been feeling really into sweet Lolita recently and I wanted my phone to reflect that, I already decodened the outside of my phone and wanted to reflect that on the inside!
I used fontsart and picsapp to make my background and change the icons!
Luna By The Lake With Cake 