Tag: lifestylelolita

lolita fashion

How to enjoy Lolita Fashion even if you can’t afford the clothing right now.

A screenshot from Alice Closet! It’s free and really fun to play

For my last YouTube video I read an article from the Princess Portal “Undefining the Lolita Lifestyle” and it was filled with examples of how lolitas participated in the culture of the fashion even if they weren’t able to purchase or wear the clothing. I also have been seeing a ton of debate on replicas on Tiktok. This inspired me to write this article for aspiring Lolita’s to be for ways they can participate without supporting things that harm the creatives and artists we depend on for our fashion.

6 Free or Very Low Budget Ways to Participate in EGL culture

1.) Decorate your space to match your desired aesthetic!

Often there can be ways to make your room or your home cuter! Take inspiration from lifestyle Lolita’s and “lolify” your space! You can add lace trim, put fake skulls, or put up temporary floral wallpaper, whatever matches your desired aesthetic.

2.) Check out the music associated with your desired substyle, and Visual Kei!

Learn about the musical inspirations behind our styles. Visual Kei helped kick it off for us all but especially for gothic lolitas. If you’re into the gothic substyle, try listening to goth bands. If you’re into the Classic substyle take a look into classical music. If you’re into sweet Lolita take a look at 90s and early 2000s jpop!

3.) Follow Lolitas on social media and on their blogs!

It will go a long way once you get in the position to be able to participate in the fashion portion! You can get different perspectives, fashion inspiration, ideas and opinions all around you. You can check out older blogs to learn about the history of the fashion and look to newer ones to see what’s going on now!

4.) Decorate your electronics!

I’m a big fan of using Picsart to make cute mobile backgrounds for my phone. You can also decorate the outside too! Whatever your aesthetic is, with electronics it can be easy to create and change with your whims.

5.) Start a Fashion Journal or Inspiration Board

This can be physical or digital, take whatever inspires you and put it in a place where you can look at it all together. It can help you plan what you’ll actually want to wear and buy once you get into being in a place where you can participate in the fashion

6.) Check out cute fashion video games!

My absolute favorite for this is Alice Closet, it’s free and the fashion is clearly lolita inspired. It’s a lot of fun and even if you can’t collect physical clothing it’s really fun to collect the digital outfit sets.

I hope this gives you some ideas on how to participate in the community and the culture of lolita fashion even if you are on a completely bare bones shoestring budget. Remember you need to take care of yourself first. This fashion is a luxury hobby and I have gotten myself into too much stress overextending myself. I hope you take these ideas and have lots of fun!

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The Continued Importance of Blogging In Lolita Fashion

Photo by Anthony Shkraba on Pexels.com

In the year 2020 traditional blogging like this isn’t as popular as it once was, back when I first joined lolita fashion even 5 years ago. I was never truly a part of the livejournal days but blogging like this seems like it has always been an important and key part of lolita fashion. My favorites back in the day were ParfaitDoll, FYeahLolita, Lace A La Mode, and Vanilla Bear. It seems like once upon a time almost everyone was running a blog of some kind. Nowadays a lot of those blogs are full of broken links and images, and some entire websites are now only to be found on the wayback machine. In many ways it feels like an era is over, and I suppose in some ways it is. However I don’t think it may be entirely in the way one would think.

This community, at least in the west has always been very online. It’s how I met a lot of my current friends and how I continue to meet new people. Lolita Fashion’s online presence means a lot to me and I love being a part of it. I know I am not the only one who feels that way, I see egl blossoming in popularity online nowadays that I could have only dreamed of when I first started. In many ways it’s more accessible than ever to become a lolita and it shows. I love the influx of new people and it being a very different tune than the obligatory lolita fashion is dying posts that were popular when I first joined, my comm is the largest it has ever been.

I think lolita blogs didn’t die but more transformed into their own versions across all sorts of different websites, namely on YouTube, Instagram and Tiktok. The internet is a far more visual place than it used to be so I think content creators have simply adapted with the times. I mainly run this blog cause I’m nostalgic for the days before I had a single piece to my wardrobe scouring blogs for every scrap of info on the fashion I so desperately longed to a part of and I think that this blog is in some ways my way of reliving that. I think as long as lolita fashion exists as a subculture we will continue to create online to connect and share our experiences with each other. That’s a truly beautiful thing.

lolita fashion

Practical Tips for Being a “24/7” Lifestyle Lolita

Photo by Jill Wellington on Pexels.com

1.) Accept that you won’t actually be able to wear it literally everyday and that that’s okay and makes you no less of a lifestyle lolita, there’s a lot more to it than just the clothes for a lot of lifestylers!

2.) Get in the habit of planning coordinates the day before! I have Stylebook on my phone so I will often plan out the outfit on there instead of rifling through my closet. Then I put it all into a cute little box on my bureau for the next day so I’m not scrambling looking for a headpiece 20 minutes before I need to be out of the house for work

3.) Get really familiar with your office’s dress code if you work in an environment where you don’t have to wear a uniform. That way you can be sure that even if your outfit may offend a coworkers tastes you know that you are in the clear and you don’t have to stress about whether or not your coords are work appropriate.

4.) Develop a makeup routine that will work with most of your coords, I personally love experimental makeup with egl but in the morning you aren’t always going to have time for that. I like doing a simple soft girly makeup the majority of the time, I have toned down dolly eye makeup down pat. Japanese magazine scans that you can find on pinterest are great for daily inspiration

5.) Make a laundry system and do your best to stick to it! I actually got a smaller basket so it would be the size of what I could feasibly handwash and not feel overwhelmed and it is also coincidentally the same size as a single load in my apartment buildings washer and dryer. I have only recently gotten this down and I have had many pieces that could have been saved and had their life prolonged if I had only figured this one out sooner

6.) Keep your closet organized! Find a way that works for you to quickly locate the items you need particularly accessories, they can accrue much faster than you think and can add 20 minutes to your time getting ready if you can’t find them

7.) Make a budget. Lolita’s joke a lot about their spending habits and although it is fun to joke about it’s important to make sure that you’re able to enjoy your lifestyle and hobby worry free. Being super stressed about money isn’t kawaii. ( I am honestly still working on this one so it is coming from a place of personal experience and love to you all.)

8.) In the same vein as the makeup get some go to hairstyles down pat as well that are under 10 minutes, anything heat free with a little bit of practice can often end up falling in this category. I personally love twin tails at all heights and a half up hairstyle with a bun or braids on the side. I also like braids plopped on the top of my head into an updo.

9.) Let yourself romanticize your life, this subculture in a lot of ways is based on escapism but don’t drift so far you leave reality, let that princess mindset allow you to see the bright side of life and give you extra motivation where their might not normally be any. Don’t feel like going to work? Remind yourself that you need more gold and silver to fund your kingdom. It sounds silly but it helps a lot for me and I’m hoping it might help some of you too.

10.) Don’t isolate yourself entirely in this world, allow yourself to have other interests! Be a broad and dynamic person. I personally do things like karate and going to the gym and although those aren’t always associated with the lolita style I am made happy by those things. Let lolita fashion add to your life not take away from it

lolita fashion, Personal

Summer Moodboard!

I made a moodboard like I suggested in my lifestyle lolita tips blog post! I decided to go with images that made me think of romantic adventures and fun times with my friends! I’m very lucky to live in an area that it’s possible to start seeing people again and going out to do things. I want to live my summer to the fullest this year! I also have a lot of new interests this year I didn’t have last year like swimming and mermaiding! Water is going to be a big part of my summer this year as well as egl meetups. I am so excited.

lolita fashion

Lifestyle Lolita Ideas May!

🌻 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!

Fashion Tutorials, lolita fashion

Tips on How to Wear EGL to Work

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!

Fashion Tutorials, lolita fashion

Phone Decoden!

I tried decodening for the first time on my phone case and I LOVE it!! It’s so cute and although somewhat intimidating incredibly easy to do as long as you have somewhat of a roll with it kind of attitude, I did my phone entirely with my collection of broken jewelry pieces and gems from the dollar store and it came out incredibly cute! Here’s the supplies I used to do mine

1.) Silicone Caulk

2.) dessert piping bag and star tip

3.) Phone Case

4.) Broken jewelry for cabochons

5.)Dollar store gems

I first used the silicone in the piping bag to make “frosting” dots all over the case after sanding it to rough it up enough for it to stick, then simply stuck my desired pieces in! I will say that with how thick I laid the silicone on it took about 2 days to dry so if you’re going for a similar look keep that in mind

lolita fashion

Liliana Rowena’s Princess Code

Liliana’s Princess Code

💖 A Princess lives their life the way they’d like to see others live

💖 A Princess strives to be her truest self and inspire others to be more comfortable being theirselves

💖A Princess does not allow hatred to be harbored in her heart and does her best to help herself and her community be safe and cared for

💖 A Princess indulges in beautiful things that make me her happy regardless of what others think

💖 A Princess allows herself time to be dressed and groomed exactly as she would like to be

💖 A Princess gives a present to herself everyday, be it a cup of tea or something grand

💖 A Princess does not allow herself to be limited by the box she thinks others would like to have her in, or the box she may have made for herself.

💖 A Princess is responsible to herself and others in deeds, errands and funds, but not at the expense of her health

💖 A Princess shares her love and her smile with the world but not at the cost of her boundaries or her health

💖 A Princess strives to be the best she can be, beauty not perfection

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

I was inspired to write this by the original code done by Princess Skye on the Princess Portal! Sadly it can only be accessed on the way back machine now, here I’ll share the original copied from the Lolita Princess blog, I’ll credit with the link below

The Princess Code

“[A] list of values and ideals we aspire to as Princesses… a collaborative effort between many other girls who have sent in their sentences. It belongs to all of us, and while we may not agree with every item on the list (and that’s okay!), it creates a picture of what being a Princess means.”

  • A Princess inspires others to follow their hopes and dreams through pursuing her own.
  • A Princess greets everyone with a welcoming smile, melting the hearts of friends and disarming her enemies.
  • A Princess has dignity, which protects her from the opinions and spite of ignorant people.
  • A Princess always looks beautiful, even when she is asleep.
  • A Princess aims for perfection in every step.
  • A Princess should be given fresh flowers everyday, even if she has to give them to herself.
  • A Princess grows in recognition and stature in proportion to how much she treats others as royalty.
  • A Princess reflect’s her inner beauty in her aesthetic choices.
  • A Princess goes to war against the violence of incivility with the weapons of etiquette and prodigal generosity.
  • A Princess lives each day from the heart, expressing herself freely and treasuring every moment.
  • A Princess has the right to spend her funds on beautiful things she does not need because beauty in itself is priceless.
  • A Princess should follow her heart and believe in her dreams, even if the whole world seems to be against her.
  • A Princess respects her environment and nurtures the beauty of nature.
  • A Princess is never too busy to give a kind word or smile where it is needed.
  • A Princess’s most precious jewel is Hope, which lights her darkest days and shows her the beauty in every soul she meets.”

https://thelolitaprincess.wordpress.com/the-princess-code/

I really like the original code quite a bit and took a lot of inspiration from it! I updated it and tried not to take anything word for word, in some ways I find the original too specific and too unattainable but I love how charming it is! Also in the blog post that I referenced it said that Princess Skye emphasized that every princess should have their own code, I encourage any lifestyle Lolita or jfashion that relates to being a princess write one of their own! It was really fun and let me reflect once again on what being a lifestyle Lolita means to me for more than just the clothes