Lolita Fashion wardrobes are often made out of expensive investment pieces meant to last a long time! Here are some ways to keep those pieces lasting longer
1.) As soon as you receive your pieces reinforce any of the buttons, taobao pieces often have somewhat flimsy sewn on buttons. There is special thread specifically made for buttons you can get at seeing shops
2.) If you’re someone like me who sweats and needs to wear deodorant you may be familiar with yellow stains, getting cheap undershirts can help your especially light colored garments from staining
3.) Treat any stains you see upon purchasing or having an accident happen immediately, the sooner you act on it the higher chance you have of getting it out
4.) Keep up with regular repairs if your see a hole forming in a piece of clothing take the time to repair it as soon as you see if before it develops into something bigger
5.) Once every season take the time to go through your clothes and see what you want to keep, it’s much easier to take care of a wardrobe you love
🎃 Go looking for the perfect sweater to pair with coords through the cold months, eliminating the choice between being cold or fashionable
🎃 Find cute halloween themed accessories at the store! If your fashion is on the sweet or spooky cute side I have found some surprisingly wonderful accessories at the dollar store and pharmacy this time of year.
🎃 Give orange a chance! It’s the most underrated color in egl in my opinion and instantly gives a spooky but festive vibe to any coord
🎃 Carve pumpkins to get into the Halloween spirit! Maybe carve a cute cat or an elegant design!
🎃 Try making your own pumpkin spice mix and use it to bake or make your lattes at home!
🎃 Wear as many gothic or gothic inspired coords as you can this month!
🎃 Watch Creepy Cute Movies like Coraline or anything done by Tim Burton, the Nightmare Before Christmas is my personal favorite
🎀 Raid the store for early Halloween Candy and save some for props to take pics for October ahead of time
🎀 Try a new fragrance in your home depending on where you live and your mood you could go with a nice coconut or start moving towards cinnamons and spices
🎀 Give foraging a chance and look for edible plants in your neighborhood, it’ll help you feel like a frolicking maiden
🎀 If it’s safe to do so in your area look to see if there’s places you can give back to or volunteer if time or money allows
🎀 Find a new cute game you can play on your nights in be it a board game or video game to save some money on going out
🎀 As the changes of the seasons are coming upon us soon, go through your closet and sell or donate any pieces that you don’t see yourself wearing next summer, anything else that won’t work going into fall or winter can go into storage
🎀 Invite a friend over and have tea together and chat
🎀 Take advantage of any back to school sales of dorm decor to find cute decorations for your home at a good price. I find target is great to find pastel organizers if your aesthetic is on the sweet side
I decided I wanted to have little calling cards for once I’m able to go to events again! It was super fun to make and I hope I get to use these next time I go to a big event! I ordered some of these off of snapfish
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
☀️Get a kawaii swimsuit, and enjoy a trip with a friend
☀️Get outside! Go for a hike, swim or bike ride
☀️Watch the sunset one night
☀️Enjoy some ice cream! Try making one of those over the top harajuku ice cream shop style sundaes
☀️Try mixing in chiffon blouses and lighter fabrics into your coords to deal with the warm weather
☀️Create road trip mixtapes for when you’re able to road trip again
☀️Update your travel bags for when you can vacation again add bows and lace!
☀️Try a blouse less coord on a really hot day and take advice on how to coordinate that from much more experienced lolitas from warmer climates, I plan on trying one myself this month!
☀️Make a moodboard for how you want your summer to be and make it a
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.
Luna By The Lake With Cake 