Important Foundation Pieces In A Lolita Wardrobe

Undergarments are a very important part of a Lolita's wardrobe, as they literally form the foundations for the whole wardrobe and each individual outfit. I've made a number of different posts about how to build various types of wardrobes, but I've often neglected talking about what sort of undergarments wardrobes might have. Lolita wardrobes usually need more than just a petticoat when it comes to undergarments! Keep in mind that basic good fitting, neutral colored, bras and underwear should be included as well! But hopefully those are things everyone has anyways.

Camisoles and Undershirts

Camisoles are an important part of a Lolita's underwear drawer because they're handy for wearing under chiffon blouses that you might want to pair with a skirt, or for layering under blouses that are only slightly too sheer. While cute and lacy camisoles are perfect to have, you might want to consider adding a couple very plain, breathable, undershirts as well to this collection, for when you simply need an opaque layer under your clothes. While frills and bows may be tempting for this layer, try to avoid any unnecessary decorations that might show through in an obvious way under a blouse.

A well-rounded Lolita wardrobe is going to at least 1 camisole in a matching color for every sheer or semi-sheer blouses you might have, as well as a couple plainer undershirt in at least a neutral color close to your skintone and whatever base colors your wardrobe has (black, white, or offwhite generally). Generally,  you're going to want to have enough camisoles and undershirts to be able to wear a fresh one every time you wear Lolita.

Corsets or Shapewear

Corsets are not exactly a vital item that every Lolita must have, but they're definitely something you might want to consider if you wear Lolita on a regular basis, especially a more Classic or Gothic style. Corsets are a good item for slimming down the extra bulk all the layers of Lolita might add to your silhouette, making sure you can fit into that last half an inch of a particular skirt, and for layering over coordinates for an extra luxurious look. One of the first entries I ever wrote on this blog was about how great I think corsets are in a Lolita wardrobe and features some advice (that is still relevant!) for any Lolita looking to add one to their wardrobe. You can check that post out here!

A Lolita wardrobe could easily benefit from having two different corsets, a plain one you can wear under clothes, and a fancier one you can layer on top of your clothes. If you're not really looking to spend a lot on a corset, but are still interested in smoothing out your silhouette, there are a lot of shapewear out there, that even has the added benefit of looking cute and lacy, that you can pick up for a relatively cheap price.

Socks and Tights

Does anyone get more excited to receive socks as a gift than a Lolita? While socks and tights are such a major feature of the Lolita fashion that it's hard to designate them to the underwear drawer (myself, like many Lolitas, actually have a whole drawer dedicated to just socks and tights!) I feel as if I should cover them in this post anyways. First of all, any Lolita is probably going to have an assortment of knee highs and over-the-knees and tights that they like to match with their favorite dresses, and this is fantastic, seriously, you should have as many of those as you can get your hands on, but what about the less exciting legwear? As easy as it is to overlook, you should probably have a good amount of "boring" legwear to go with your Lolita wardrobe, and honestly, most of you are probably going to have these things as part of your non-Lolita wardrobe, but they make a very useful crossover into your Lolita wardrobe as well.

One of the more important types of boring sock a Lolita can add to their closet is a few very basic pairs of  low-cut or "invisible" socks. Ideally, you should have a few pairs of these in whatever base color your socks are! They're perfect for wearing over your more expensive Lolita socks to help keep them from getting dingy or from getting holes worn in them. If you're wearing a shoe that doesn't allow you to hide an extra sock, you can always wear them under your fancy Lolita socks for some added cushioning and protection against wearing holes in them.

Plain colored opaque tights, particular in either black, white, or cream, are also a great basic addition to a Lolita's underwear drawer. Besides making an easy addition to pretty much any coordinate, they're also useful for layering under something like lace tights or sheer tights in the cooler months.

Petticoats

A petticoat is often considered the most important part of a Lolita's underwear drawer, and it's undeniable that they're a very important part of the Lolita aesthetic. Depending on your own Lolita style, different types of petticoats might be more suited for your wardrobe. If you tend to wear styles that have a lot of poof then a mega-fluffy chiffon petticoat might be your best bet, if you have a lot of tea length skirts an appropriately long petticoat would be required, etc.

Generally the most well-rounded Lolita wardrobe is going to have a number of different petticoats to choose from, or to layer as needed. If you're just starting a Lolita wardrobe a puffier petticoat and a more toned down petticoat, both in neutral colors that compliment your wardrobe, are good additions to your wardrobe. If you're curious what sort of minimal hassle petticoat I would suggest, check out this post!

Bloomers

Bloomers are sometimes considered a non-necessity for a Lolita wardrobe, but personally I think they're a very important part of a Lolita wardrobe. Their most important purpose is to prevent any up-skirt flashes that are all-too common when you're wearing a relatively short and poofy skirt. In addition to preserving your modesty, bloomers also provide warmth in the winter and an extra bit of cuteness and lace to outfit year-round.

A full Lolita wardrobe is going to have enough pairs of bloomers to wear every time you wear Lolita. Ideally they should be in a color that compliments your outfit, but as they're generally not meant to be seen (although they do end up showing most of the time anyways!) you can get away with pretty much any neutral colored pair of bloomers. Bloomers are relatively easy to make yourself if you need to add a significant number to your wardrobe, check out the tutorial section to find some bloomer how-tos!

In a pinch, or in hot weather, shorts in a breathable material are a good substitute.

Underskirts

An underskirt in the perfect length is another item, like the corset, that's not exactly necessary but is a good idea anyways. An underskirt's main thing is to add is a few extra inches to any skirt that might be slightly too short. They also can help even out any lumps and bumps in a petticoat or provide a solid base under a thin and slightly-sheer skirt so your petticoat's color doesn't show through.

Ideally a Lolita wardrobe should have a couple underskirts in complimentary or neutral colors so they don't look out of place peeking out under skirts.

These are the types of clothes that I consider to be foundation pieces in any well developed Lolita wardrobe, things that you can literally build great Lolita coordinates upon! Of course though, everyone wears Lolita in their own unique way and some people might have different types of foundation garments in their wardrobe. What sort of things do you consider necessary Lolita undergarments? What sort of pieces would you consider optional and which would you consider the most important?

Being a Lolita at an Anime Convention

Since this post is all about conventions, I want to start this post out with an announcement about The Tea Party Club UK's upcoming Lolita convention: Frock On! Frock On is a UK Lolita convention happening in late August. I've been incredibly excited to see so many Lolita conventions pop up in the past few years! Unfortunately they're all pretty far from me, but I've been trying to participate in whatever ways I can! For Frock On, I'll be remotely answering Ask Miss Caro-chan questions. So if you have you're in the UK and have any Lolita questions that have been eating away at you, check out this page to see where to send your questions!

Since this post is all about conventions, this is a post I've been blogging because so many other people have written their own view on this topic that I felt the loliblogosphere maybe didn't need yet another post about it. But, I think it's finally time to add in my own two cents on the topic of being a Lolita at an anime convention.

I've been, more and more frequently as the years go on, regularly attending anime conventions since about 2006. I'm a late starter among my friends, who can sit around and talk about going to the very first of a few of the local area's largest conventions. My first convention happened very shortly after I got my first real pieces of Lolita clothes (thanks to a very large order from Fan Plus Friend) and I was really excited to get the chance to wear my new clothes in an all-out sort of way in a place where other people knew what it actually was I was wearing. Unfortunately for me I sort of looked like a hot mess, fortunately for me and everyone else it was a 2006 anime convention and it was pretty much on par with the times and the only other Lolitas at the con were 2 girls I very briefly saw all the way across the convention floor and then couldn't find again.

Packing for anime conventions

 As a Lolita, packing for an anime con can either be a nightmare, or a total breeze. But before deciding what way the Loli-pendulum sways, you need to decide on outfits!

Most Lolitas who attend conventions in their Lolita finery will use the chance to go completely all out in their outfits. This might mean that extreme OTT outfit that they haven't had the chance to wear yet, a style that they feel is inappropriate for their daily lives, or a themed coordinate or even a Lolitafied cosplay. Plan ahead on what you want to wear on all 3 days, lay out all your clothes and shoes and purses out to decide what you think looks best, if you have a giant suitcase that you don't mind carrying around, then great! Toss that all in there and you're pretty much set! If you don't have unlimited space, you're going to have to be a little trickier with what you decide to pack.

Personally, as someone who is often at conventions to peddle my wares in the artist alley, I have a ton of bags and almost no space for my clothes. I actually plan to fit everything I need for Lolita in a single backpack. This isn't always easy, but I have found a few shortcuts for fitting 3 frilly dresses and a ton of accessories into one little space!

• Plan your outfits around a single pair of matching shoes- Shoes are so annoying to pack! So plan on wearing one pair and wear them to the convention. Be creative with your outfits and see what you can do with just the one pair of shoes.
• Wear whatever you can up to the convention-  Petticoats are probably even more annoying to pack than shoes, so if you can, wear it to the con. With this pointer, I've gone one of two ways, I've either worn my "base" clothes to the convention (petti, solid underskirt, cami with a cardigan thrown over it), or worn a long flared jacket to hide my outfit under, I found an amazing flared trenchcoat at Wet Seal years ago that's my "Lolita in disguise" coat. I've actually secretly worn Maid Lolita as well as Guro Lolita on several hours of train rides under this jacket!
• Avoid fragile accessories- If you can't cram it into your bag without breaking it, consider just not bringing it. There are a ton of different accessory options, if you have very limited space, just try wearing something else. If you absolutely must, limit it to whatever can be easily and safely transported in your purse.
• Hang it all up when you get there- Your clothes are probably going to be very wrinkly from all that cramming, so as soon as you get the chance, take them out and hang them up. Most every hotel room comes with an iron, take the opportunity to blast your newly wrinkled Lolita pieces with some steam. 

A Lolita's convention checklist

Never been to a con, or any other weekend long Lolita excursion and not exactly sure what to pack besides just your outfits and the usual traveling items? Afraid you're going to be forgetting something you take for granted and are totally going to be missing out on later? This is what I try to remember to pack when I get ready for conventions:

• Comfortable shoes- You're going to be doing so much more walking or standing than you ever thought you would. Tea Parties are sort of amazing for this. If you want to wear a particular pair for photoshoots, consider bringing a comfortable pair of flats you can carry in your purse!
• Bloomers or shorts to wear under skirts- I wish everyone wore something under their skirts at conventions, Lolita or not.
• Bandaids- not just for booboos, but because you might need a few to put on the back of your heels to prevent blisters. Because your comfortable walking shoes are sometimes never comfortable enough.
• A sewing kit, including safety pins- Honestly, the safety pins are going to be your savior if something needs a quick fix. Safety pins save floppy bows, quickly replace missing buttons, keep straps up, and quickly fix torn tiers of petticoats.
• Bobby pins, hair ties, and a portable brush- To do any quick fixes for hair. Even if you're planning on wearing a wig all weekend, plan for the very likely event that you realize it's too hot and crowded and awful to wear a wig and you don't realize this until halfway through Friday.
• Emergency makeup and mirror- Whatever you can fit in a tiny pouch or ziplock in your purse, not your whole makeup bag. I would suggest lipgloss, mascara, and a portable amount of concealer, and some eyelash glue if you're wearing falsies or gluing anything to your face.
• Calling cards or mini notebook and pen- You're most likely going to meet someone interesting or need to make note of something! If you get stopped for pictures, be sure to give your card to the person taking the picture and ask them to let you know if they upload them somewhere.
  
• Pick-me-up food you can keep in your purse- I recently discovered how amazing Cliff Bars are for preventing you from dying right there on the convention floor. Packets of nuts or granola are also pretty great! But whatever your pick-me-up food of choice is, bring at least one for every day you'll be at the convention.

 What to do as a Lolita at an anime convention

Anime conventions are rarely just about anime anymore and usually run the whole spectrum of Japanese pop culture, as well as general nerd culture, so you don't have to be into just anime to find something you're going to be interested in at an anime convention, even if you are just there for Lolita.

Panels Most anime conventions are bound to have what is commonly known as a Lolita 101 panel, even though it's rarely called that. It's just a basic introduction to Lolita for the con-going audience. I know, I can hear you groaning now "But that sounds so boring! I know what Lolita is already! Why would I want to go to that?!" here's the thing though, many Lolita panels, even if they are aimed at the complete newbie, are secret code for "Hey Lolitas! Go to this room to meet other Lolitas!". If the convention area has a local Lolita community, there's a pretty good chance they're running this panel and hanging out in the audience. Lolita 101 panels are often where any swap meets, meetups, or other unscheduled Lolita events are usually announced.

In addition to the classic Lolita 101 panel, if the local area that the convention is in has a large and active Lolita community, there's a good chance there are a few other Lolita or related J Fashion panels happening as well.

Fashion shows

Lolita, or general J Fashion fashion shows can often be a main event at anime conventions and they can range from a more elaborate style of Lolita 101 panel featuring examples of the different styles to opportunities for local designers to show off their looks. Larger conventions also commonly feature actual brand fashion shows!

If you're interested in participating in convention fashion shows, you can usually find model, or even designer, call-outs before the con either in the local Lolita community, or in the convention's forums.

Tea parties or meetups

A Lolita tea party or a smaller meetup is common at conventions that have a large Lolita attendance and they can range from an off-premise tea party or restaurant meetup, to a quick and casual "Hey, let's meet at this location in the con at this time!" gatherings to get the chance to meet the local Lolitas. Usually these are held after a Lolita meetup or fashion show.

Lolita meetups at conventions aren't going to be something advertised in the programming (although it will frequently be mentioned at any panels), but is generally more word-of-mouth. If the area the convention is in has a local Lolita community, as them if there's going to be one. Alternatively, you can usually just ask a few Lolitas you happen to see at the convention if there's going to be one, one of them is bound to know!

Swap meets

Swap meets are another informal get together that's sometimes, but not always, advertised in the convention's programming, and they're incredibly fun if you have the space in your luggage to bring up some clothes you'd like to swap! If you've never been to one, it's pretty much exactly what it sounds like, you meet up with some other Lolitas and see who has any clothes they're willing to trade. Most conventions do not allow back-alley buying and selling, so most swap meets are strictly swap, rather than buy.

What to expect at an anime convention

If you've never been to an anime convention before you might be in for a surprise! Conventions can range from being massive, overwhelming affairs, to much smaller laid back weekends hanging out with cool people and taking in some neat panels. Do a little bit of research for what sort of convention you're headed to, check the local area's Lolita communities and maybe get to know some of the local Lolitas online beforehand.

As a Lolita, there are two interactions with the average con-goer that you are almost guaranteed to have: People will ask for your picture, and people will ask you who you're cosplaying as.

Conventions are often a chance for many people to show off and taking pictures and posing for pictures is often a big part of the con going experience, if it's something you feel very uncomfortable with, you're welcome to decline having your picture taken, don't feel like you're required to pose for a photo just because someone asks. If you wish to wear Lolita but remain a little more inconspicuous, consider toning down your outfit. Personally, I've found that if I wear relatively uneventful Gothic Lolita, I get very few, if any, photos taken of me. If I wear pretty much any other style, I will get a bunch. Black sort of blends in in large crowds and your average con goer might not really be able to spot the difference between your immaculately put together Baby the Stars Shine Bright kuro Lolita outfit and the dozen black-based Visual Kei Lolita inspired outfits they already filled up their memory card taking pictures of. If you're camera shy, unfortunately photos are a very big part of the larger event. Even if you're not currently posing for a photo, many people take photos and videos candidly, and it's almost impossible to stay out of the backgrounds of photos.

If you do get asked who you're cosplaying as, try not to take it as an insult. About 90% of the people at the convention who are dressed in anything other than jeans and tees (and about 25% of the people wearing jeans and tees) are going to be cosplaying a particular character. Just respond simply by saying that you're not actually cosplaying as anyone, you usually won't be pressed further on the matter.

Avoiding drama: Don't cause it and you probably won't be getting any in return.

There is always a bit of background talk about Lolita drama at conventions, and most of these center around "rude Lolitas" who were sitting in silent judgement on someone else, usually from all the way across a convention hall. Generally, I feel like a lot of these stories are over dramatizations by some people who are either wildly overestimating how friendly strangers are going to be to you just because you're wearing similar clothes or who are completely misinterpreting a situation, if not so completely bizarre as to be outright fibs. After all, if you say "Hi" to someone in a room crowded with several hundred (if not thousand) other people at a convention and they don't respond to you, it honestly probably doesn't mean anything at all.

The truth of the matter is: not everyone is going to be nice to you, and that's life, regardless of what everyone is wearing. Even if you met someone who was outright rude to you, so what? Conventions typically have between a few hundred to several thousand attendants, if one of them didn't say "Hi" to you, or was even outright mean to you, just find one of the other myriad of people to talk to instead. I've been to many different conventions over the years and honestly have never run into this fabled "rude convention Lolita" even in my days of looking like a hot mess.

Generally, if you don't assume the worst out of people, and ignore those who's worst does show, you'll manage pretty much avoid any sort of convention Lolita drama.

What do the rest of you do to prepare for wearing Lolita at anime conventions? Do you have any special packing tips you've learned? How do you feel in general about wearing Lolita to anime conventions? I know some people feel like it's inappropriate, considering Lolita fashion isn't exactly an anime, but the majority of anime conventions are more general Japanese pop culture conventions, and tend to be filled with a large number of different panels and events that are not necessarily anime related. Plus, for many people who wear outlandish clothes, anime conventions are generally a safe space to dress up without being hassled by people who don't agree with their fashion choices. It's pretty much a guarantee that at an anime convention, a Lolita is not going to be the strangest dressed person in the room!

Dreaming of a Summer 2013 Lolita Wardrobe

Just like that, here in Connecticut, it's summer. Last week it was 40 degrees and today it's 79*! With the exception of about 3 days scattered through the last 2 weeks, we really don't see a whole lot of spring around these parts, there are still snow piles in parking lots that haven't had time to melt! Planning a spring wardrobe around here, where you maybe plan on pairing some paler colors with a nice cardigan to fight off the chill, is pretty much a pipe dream for me, and now, all of the sudden, it's time to think about what sort of wardrobe I want to wear this summer. So let's take a peek at the sort of wardrobe I'm dreaming of this summer!

The theme for this summer is a sort of lazy decadence with a touch of old school. It's a little bit Metamorphose and a little bit Juliette et Justine inspired, and probably a whole lot of rule breaking and style blending. It's not so much Rococo as previous seasons have been but rather more Romantic. 

Top row, left to right: Surface Spell, R Series, Elpress L, Classical Puppets, Baby the Stars Shine Bright (x2), Angelic Pretty, Ebay, Bodyline (x2)

Middle row, left to right: Classical Puppets, Offbrand, Bodyline, Moi Meme Moitie, Baby the Stars Shine Bright, Atelier Pierrot, Haenuli, Metamorphose, Surface Spell, R Series

Bottom row, left to right, offbrand, Antique Beast, Metamorphose, Putumayo, Surface Spell, Akane & Alois, Surface Spell, Baby the Stars Shine Bright, Antique Beast, Bodyline.

I've been really inspired lately by a lot of empire waisted, and even no-waisted A-line dresses that don't really require a ton of poof. This more carefree and less structured style of Lolita, that is frequently explored by the more "eccentric" Lolita brands, is really perfect for days that are just too damned hot to really feel like going the whole 9 yards, but you still want to feel like a princess. Hey, princesses can be lazy too.

As I mentioned a couple summers ago, I still am totally loving the idea of OPs in the summer, and would like to fancy them up a bit with some breezy chiffon, elegant accessories, and opulent prints this year. I feel like that definitely reflects the current year's crazy decadent styles, but is also evened out a bit by some simplier antique styled pieces. This past year as seen a huge increase in the popularity of smaller indie brands, and many times the current release that everyone is talking about is not so much one of the big brands as it is a small indie lolita brand! This has been absolutely fantastic and such a refreshing thing to see in the world of Lolita, and this summer wardrobe reflects that a bit with some of my favorite indie brand pieces. Good bye deco pastel cake bunnies and 3-pettis-at-once, and hello gold framed cats printed on chiffon and lacy underskirts!

Finishing Touches

An outfit is really made something special with a few finishing touches, and in the heat of summer, where you can't really keep adding layers of clothes to your coordinate, accessories and finishing touches really help make the look feel complete. So what sort of finishing touches will I be frantically hunting down for summer 2013?

Hats

There's currently a huge chiffon and organza trend that's been popping up within Lolita and other girly Jfashions, and Angelic Pretty recently released a very popular chiffon bonnet to go with an extremely popular print. The soft girly shades and antique styling of a bonnet like this would be perfect with a floaty pastel dress. A bonnet like this can look extremely childish, but with a loose wavy hairstyle, the bow tied behind the neck or to one side, and paired with a less poofy dress I think a bonnet like this can look more antique and less kawaii.

Boater hats are so 2010, we might as well toss them out in the garbage with all our fawn-fur accessories (Just kidding! Haven't I ever mentioned how trends in Lolita tend to stick around forever?), this summer I'd like to try a straw bowler hat instead! It has the same retro charm that made boater hats so popular, but it's something a little bit different, and a little less frequently seen. It's perfect for the Classic Lolita and even the Sweet Lolita who likes a little bit of Classic in their wardrobe. The boring black band can easily be replaced with a complimenting ribbon and tied in a cute bow, and further decorated with a faux flower or even a cute brooch.

For the more Gothically inclined section of my imaginary summer wardrobe, I'd like to pair my coordinates with a large black sun hat. Not a floppy straw hat (Hate them! They always remind me of 1970's pool parties, which is maybe the exact opposite of the look I'm going for), but a black straw hat with a nice wide brim that stays up. These are a bit of a pain to find online, because they tend to be of the trendier floppy variety, but black wide brimmed sun hats are something of an old lady garden party staple and can usually be found at places like Sears for about $25. I have a hat like this that I tied a big tulle bow onto and then managed to lose for a couple years that I hope to get the chance to wear this summer! Just like any hat, these can be dressed up with some ribbon and faux flowers to easily match any coordinate and be as casual or as extravagant as you need them to be! 

Jewelry

Rose bracelet on Etsy. Alice in Wonderland pocket watch necklace on Etsy.

With such elegant looking outfits, I feel like jewelry can be kept to a minimum, or at least, significantly less than a lot of post-deco trends. A long pendant necklace and a bracelet for bare arms are perfect summer accessories. Too much jewelry just means more gross places to get sweaty anyways.

Hair and Makeup

Can we make this summer the season we finally hang up our rainbow split wigs for good? There was a time when they were new that I found them novel, but after the millionth time of seeing them haphazardly coordinated with every possible Lolita dress in existence, I sort of never want to see one again. As Lolitas, we might still be pretty far away from giving up wigs (they're just so easy!), but it's pretty nice to see us slowly headed towards more natural looking wigs. I've been loving this trend in the past year or so of these frizzy "Mori Girl" wigs that basically look like you slept in several braids and you can get a pretty good au naturel hair style like this by doing just that!

From Bodyline

It would be fantastic to see makeup go the way of the wig this summer and look a big more natural than what has been popular for so long. I'd love to see less Gyaru inspired full face makeup in Lolita, and more softly made up faces. A little bit of a call to the antique doll inspired makeup of the angelic Old School Lolita. After all, I don't think anyone likes sweating under all that makeup.

Etude House nail polish.

Nail polish is a pretty great way to add some sparkle and color to a coordinate, without having to pack on the extra jewelry. I'm sure everyone with an internet connection in recent months has seen these gorgeous ice cream styled Etude House nail polishes! Luckily for everyone who can't get their hands on Korean nail polish, these are currently a pretty popular nail polish trend and can be found under a few different names, ranging from creamy glitter, jelly glittery, or chelly glitter. These creamy pastel polishes with a bit of a sparkle to them are great finishing touches to a dreamy pastel coordinate, even if it's not saccharine sweet.

The Count nail polish on Etsy.

If your wardrobe is more black-based, check out this absolutely gorgeous black polish from Literary Lacquers! It's a little something different from basic black and is a glittery shimmery black jelly polish. I just got this in the mail a few days ago and I can't wait to give it a whirl!

If you're prone to switching up your style on a frequent basis and can't really commit to either pastels or darker colors for more than a few days, try some fake nails! I recently got a pair of gorgeous fake nails for review from Bonita Bon Bon that I hope to get a full review of up sometime next week!

What sort of direction do you want your Lolita wardrobe to go this summer? Does the summer heat reflect how you wear Lolita, or do you just suffer for the fashion?

*I wrote this last week! It's since been back to 40 degrees or so. Thanks, New England!

Holiday Touches For Lolita Outfits

 The holidays are just around the corner and some of us are probably already heading to holiday parties, if not just trying to add some festivity to their outfits to get into the holiday spirit.

• Pick a print with a holiday motif. This is a surefire way to add some holiday touches to your outfit, but it's also the most expensive, and the least practical if you want a very versatile closet. Many brands will have, at one point or another, released either a Christmas themed print, or a winter-themed printed.  
• Go with jewel tones. Deep red and deep green are the iconic holiday colors, but other rich jewel tones can really set the mood for the holidays too! Jewel tones are rich, warm, colors that are perfect for this cold time of year.
• Choose velvets, satins, or brocades. Lustrous and luxurious fabrics are a great way to add some festivity to your outfit because they often have a "party dress" feel to them. If you can't justify getting a whole dress out of a lustrous fabric, try something like a high quality satin blouse or a velvet bolero to add a bit of luster to your outfit!
• Add some gold! This is probably the quickest and easiest way to add some holiday touches to your outfit. The best part about gold is that it can go well with most any color or style, and as a bonus, a few gold colored accessories can be picked up for a very cheap price! Try painting your nails gold to finish off the look!
• Compliment your outfit with fur. Faux or not, fur adds a cozy wintertime look to any outfit. Anything from a fur stole, to a fur collar, to fur trim can add a little bit of winter warmth to an outfit!
• DIY something! Head out to the craft store and pick up some holiday craft supplies! Anything from faux poinsettia, to plastic glitter snowflakes even, to cute Christmas ornaments to turn into brooches or to perch in a hairstyle can be picked up relatively cheaply and turned into something cute! 

If you're looking for some last minute touches to some holiday outfits, or even just some inspiration for something to DIY, check out this treasury!

Speaking of the holidays! The other weekend I got the chance to celebrate International Lolita Day with Ramble Rori and a ton of other great people! I got to see some familiar faces and meet some new people.

Awkward me and my fabulous bonnet. I stole this picture from Ramble Rori.

This was actually the first year I have ever gone to an ILD meetup! I usually manage to miss them, so this year was extra exciting to me. Unfortunately, I decided to leave my camera at home and the event was very dimly lit so cell phone pictures were pretty useless. Ramble Rori got a few fantastic pictures with her camera that I don't want to steal from her in case she wants to save them for a future post. We were actually adjacent to the party Victoria of Parfait Doll went to!

Ask Miss Caro-chan: What Exactly is Casual Lolita?

Today we have an Ask Miss Caro-chan that I've been meaning to write about for a while! I've been putting this off for so long that I've actually gotten several questions about it, here are just a couple of them!

What do you think is considered casual loli? I'm still failing that balance between lolita aesthetics and casual/mainstream fashion (at least the skirt is loli; the coordination just fails miserably).

 We also have...

Hey! I'm 13 years old now,an i really love Lolita. But sweet is a little to much for me. Can you make a blog about casual lolita? And how to wear it at school? i have totally no guts. So please help me!! -XoXo- p.s. sorry for my bad english

That's right, today's topic is Casual Lolita! I've actually put off writing about this for so long because I feel that Casual Lolita is definitely a misnomer and and generally often misunderstood branch of Lolita. A lot of what people consider Casual Lolita is actually most likely either just part of, or inspired by, the Otome Kei fashion.The rest, is honestly just plain old Lolita!

There is also a lot of differences in opinion on what makes something Casual Lolita, are we talking about a regular Lolita coordinate that just so happens to include tee shirts, "toned down" Lolita, or Otome Kei coordinates? All of these things are often considered "Casual Lolita", but tend to be a bit different from each other!

The classic (With a little "c" here! Not the sort of Classic that involves Victorian Maiden & Inncent World!) idea of what constitutes a Casual Lolita coordinate looks a bit like this:

To me, these are one Gothic Lolita coordinates and 3 Sweet Lolita coordinates, the last of which sways more towards Otome. I don't really feel that the addition of a tee shirt, or slightly less amounts of poof (in some of the cases, not even all of them!) are really enough for a whole new sub-category of Lolita!

If you're looking to simply tone town your Lolita a bit, consider the following:

• Don't go heavy on the poof! Wear a very minimal poof petticoat. Very few dresses are meant to be petticoat optional, so if your skirt is very gathered, you really shouldn't skip the petti completely. However, there are some cuts of Lolita dresses that can be OK without
• Wear a cutsew or cardigan. They generally have a less stuffy, and more casual feel to them than button-up blouses or boleros.
• Go light on the accessories. Wear a simple headbow and a piece or two of jewelry. Leave giant wigs and matching everything for another day.

These three simple tips tend to be enough to make your preferred Lolita style more casual, for when you still want to wear Lolita, but you don't want to constantly be knocking stuff over with your petticoat or feeling like you're overdressed! These are also things that I tend to do when wearing Lolita on an everyday basis. They're simple and easy, as they should be if you want to tone it down a bit!

I don't really feel that Casual Lolita has enough different style elements from other Lolita sub-styles that it really stands on it's own as a distinct sub-style. Instead I feel that almost any style of Lolita can be worn in a more casual manner just by toning down the outfits a bit.

Within the Lolita fashion outside of Japan, Otome Kei brands who happen to make Lolita appropriate pieces are very often considered Casual Lolita. Of course, these brands do make the perfect dresses for wearing Lolita on a more casual basis, but to me it always seems a bit wrong to take an already well developed fashion, such as Otome Kei (which has been around just as long, if not longer than Lolita!), and to sort of diminish it's importance as a fashion by referring to it as casual wear of a different fashion.

If you are interested about pairing up Otome with Lolita (and that is the post that I've been meaning to make forever! Hopefully one day...), consider some pieces by Milk, Jane Marple, or Emily Temple Cute, as they tend to be the classic examples of Otome brands that also make Lolita appropriate piece.

These are just some of the dresses that Emily Temple Cute makes that often get lumped in with Casual Lolita!

 What do you, personally, think about Casual Lolita? Do you feel that it's a subcategory all it's own? Or do you just tend to wear Lolita on a more casual basis and just consider it part of the regular Lolita style? How do you wear Lolita when you need to tone it down a bit?

Building a Complete Lolita Wardrobe

I've been asked several times, over on my formspring, about what I would consider a complete Lolita wardrobe. As many Lolitas will tell you, you pretty much never have a complete Lolita wardrobe any more than you have a complete wardrobe of anything! You're always adding new pieces to any wardrobe as new pieces come out, seasons change, and trends pop in and out of fashion. However, if you're looking to start a Lolita wardrobe, and want the most bang for your buck, it's a good idea to build a wardrobe with completeness in mind. So that way you can get the maximum outfits out of a minimum of pieces.

I think that if you can wear a new, different looking, outfit every day for a week, you've managed to to build yourself a very workable Lolita outfit. I've been asked before what I think kind of items would be in a wardrobe like this, and while I think there are several ways you could compile a wardrobe that would do the job, my ideal way would be:

• 1 good petticoat in a color that works with your wardrobe. Unless you like a very minimal poof, I'd advise against tulle petticoats and go for a chiffon, as tulle petticoats tend to deflate very quickly, so you're constantly buying new ones and are often forced to wear multiple ones at once.
• 1 piece of "special wear", this means something that might be a little too fancy to wear everyday and is best saved for special meetups or might be a very obvious piece, like a bold print, so it would be best if it wasn't worn too frequently. If you have a limited budget, and can only really afford to spurge on one piece, you might as well make it this piece!
• 2 easy to coordinate dresses, JSKs are the best option, due to the fact that they are a little easier to mix and match because you can pair them with different blouses for different looks, and if you plan on wearing something over them, you can wear them without a blouse so you don't have to deal with cramming puffy sleeves under not-so-puffy sleeves.
• 2 skirts in 2 different designs. For example, one could be a relatively plain skirt, while the other could have a bustle, a high waist, multi-tiered, etc.
• 5 tops of various designs, some of which are cutsews, and one of which is a "statement" top in either a contrasting color or of a fancier design. Having cutsews in your wardrobe is vital if you plan on wearing Lolita on a regular basis, because Lolita blouses tend to be fussy and might not be appropriate for all weather and occasions, and sometimes it's nice to wear something a little more comfortable.
• Headwear that matches each of your skirts or dresses. This doesn't necessarily mean one piece of headwear for each skirt or dress, if you have multiples pieces in one color, you can get away with sharing a headpiece between them.
• 2 pieces of outerwear, such as boleros, cardigans, or light jackets.
• 1 pair of shoes that matches everything.
• 1 purse that matches everything.
• As many different pieces of legwear as you can accumulate. These can be picked up offbrand cheaply, and in the beginning you can get away with one of each type of legwear at first, for example: 1 pair of plain socks, 1 pair of print socks, 1 pair of opaque tights, and 1 pair of crochet or lace tights.
• Lots of different accessories. This is also something that can be picked up offbrand cheaply, or even come from your current accessory supplies, and includes not only jewelery but also wrist cuffs, gloves, collars, corsages, and any other small accessories that can be added to make individual outfits unique. If you're even slightly handy with a needle and thread and a glue gun, you can probably whip up a fair amount of these!

Different ways you can color coordinate your wardrobe

The most important part of working on color coordinating a wardrobe is knowing your base color! In Lolita, base colors are an important part of Lolita coordinates that often go overlooked. Think of the lace color on your Lolita dresses, and the fact that, more often than not, you match your socks, shoes, and blouse with the lace, that's your base color! The usual base colors in Lolita are neutral colors, such as offwhite, white, or black. You can use other colors as a base in individual outfits (some Sweet Lolita coordinates use a pastel color as a base and Gothic Lolita coordinates sometimes use a bold color as a base!), but these three neutral colors are the easiest to work into a whole wardrobe, both because they are the most versatile colors, and they are also pretty easy to hunt down pieces in. A wardrobe that has been built upon for a while tends to have several different base colors, but when first building a Lolita wardrobe, it makes things a heck of a lot easier to pick one and stick with it for a while.

Typically, Gothic Lolita's base color is black, Classic Lolita's base color is offwhite, and Sweet Lolita's base color is white. This isn't always the case, and it can be changed around a lot, but these are the "traditional" colors, and it makes shopping much easier since so many clothes from these sub-styles are made with this in mind. So if you're on a budget, sticking with the "traditional" makes it easier to find good deals!

Single Colors

In the Lolita fashion, many people like to pick one color and stick with it. These kinds of wardrobes will still have a base color but everything else might be all one color or a mix of that particular color and the base color. Examples might be the all pink and white outfit, all red and white outfit, or even an all black and white outfit.

The Accent Color

An accent color is often used in Gothic Lolita coordinates, think of Moitie's classic black and blue combo! Generally a wardrobe is all one color (not to be confused with the single color, which is paired with a base color, I'm talking Kuro or Shiro levels of all one color!). If you're not into very colorful wardrobes this is a great way to add a little bit of interest to your outfits because it can almost all be done with just small accessories, rather than actual pieces of clothes. Because it's largely accessory based, you can easily have multiple accent colors to pick from in even a very small wardrobe. The accent color can also be part of the print, or some other detail on a dress, but you tend to have to commit a bit more to the accent color that way.

Mix and Match Colors

Mix and Match colors are a good idea if you're trying to build up a Sweet Lolita wardrobe but what a little bit more variety than a single color wardrobe will give. Instead of just one color, you have two colors that work very well together and can be mixed together nicely. You can either make half of your wardrobe one color, and half the other, or have a few pieces in one color to add a bit of variety and options to what is practically a single color wardrobe.

Color Palettes

I think that this kind of color coordination works best with Classic Lolita and the more Fairy Kei inspired Sweet Lolita. You don't have to worry so much about individual pieces matching each other, because you'll be basing most of your coordinates around a base color, and pairing them together with several colors from a similar color palette. If all of your colors are from the same type of color palette: jewel tones, pastels, dusty colors, earth tones, etc. you can usually mix and match them a bit and end up not looking like a hot mess. Just think of the sorts of Classic Lolita coordinates that are often featured on the Flasco blog, or the Dolly Kei fashion, these kinds of coordinates can get away with not necessarily "matching" because they pair similar colors, in this case jewel tones, with a neutral base color, so you can, more often than not, get away with it. If you are into prints, be they brand border prints or all-over floral prints, this is a good option because the different colors in prints can be pulled out and coordinated with.

Sample Wardrobes

There are lots of different ways you can put together small and compact wardrobes but I've come up with a few different sample wardrobes for some of the basic Lolita sub-styles. These were built with budget in mind, so while there are several brand pieces in them, they are relatively basic brand pieces, and very similar looking pieces can be picked up from Taobao, Bodyline, and indie shops, or even found for a reasonable price on the second-hand community. The might not even be terribly difficult to sew up something similar if you're handy with a sewing machine! Please also keep in mind that these wardrobe mock-ups were made with stock photos, so colors might look a little different due to lighting, it should go without saying that, in your own wardrobe, if you're adding a lot of pieces of the same color, you're probably going to want to make sure that the colors actually are the same hue!

First up, let's do a Sweet Lolita basic wardrobe! This one is done with the mix & match color combo in mind, in an easy-to-match pink and blue combo, but it can very easily be done in a single color as well. Click the image for a larger version!

Here's a brief rundown of some of the individual pieces in it:

1 special piece- Angelic Pretty's Vanilla Chan JSK. This piece has both pink and blue in it, you can wear it with almost any combination of pieces in the wardrobe. 

2 easy-to-coordinate JSKs- blue JSK by Baby the Stars Shine Bright, pink Bodyline JSK. These are both a bit similar in design, but because they're two different colors, and the pink one even has polkadots, they aren't so samey. If you were building a single color wardrobe, you might want to make sure your 2 JSKs aren't so similar.

2 skirts- both from Baby. One is a pretty "traditional" Sweet Lolita skirt, and one is a more style-versatile tired skirt.

3 blouses- all from Bodyline. The pink one with the big bow on it is the "statement" blouse, it might not go with absolutely anything, but it can add a lot of extra fanciness to an all-pink coordinate, or some very interesting contrast to a blue and pink one.

2 cutsews- also all from Bodyline. These are pretty easy pieces, the more casual one features a print that's mostly in pink and blue, so it can be paired with anything, the button-up one is very comfy for casual wear, but still looks fancy.
2 outerwear pieces- again, all from Bodyline. I've picked a more casual pink cardigan, and a fancier white bolero. Personally, I think cardigans and boleros are the best bet for a Sweet Lolita wardrobe. It's usually a good bet to pick one that's more casual and one that's fancier when it comes to the outerwear pieces.

Headwear- both bows from Baby, beret is from Angelic Pretty. I went with a headbow in blue, a headbow in pink, and a beret that would match anything in the wardrobe for extra options.
1 pair of match-everything shoes and 1 match-everything purse- shoes from Bodyline, purse from Baby. Pretty self explanatory! A relatively simple pair of Lolita shoes and a cute purse to match the base color in the outfit are sure to go with any outfit you might make! In Sweet Lolita especially, it's very tempting to choose a small novelty purse, because they're pretty trendy right now, but when you're beginning to build a wardrobe, it's best to choose practicality over a not-so-practical statement purse. After all, as awesome and fluffy as that unicorn shaped purse might be, it's going to get really old, really fast, carrying it every day and trying to cram all your daily stuff into it.
Lots of legwear- Offbrand tights, Baby knee socks, Bodyline print socks and OTKs. For this wardrobe I picked a pair of lace tights, OTKs, knee socks, and a pair of printed socks. If you're going for printed socks, it's safest to pick a pair in your base color with details that have colors that coordinate with your wardrobe, rather than the sock's main color being one of the colors in your wardrobe.
Lots of accessories- Q-pot necklace, Chocomint star, Angelic Pretty ring and cuffs, offbrand pearl necklace. These are all pretty basic accessories that can be paired with most any coordinate you might make. In a Sweet Lolita wardrobe, I think a pair of wrist cuffs are a very versatile accessory to have! They can add a little something extra to a lot of different outfits. I also think that pearl necklaces are a very cute addition to almost any Sweet Lolita outfit, they can be retro, elegant, cute, or princessly!

I think a wardrobe like this can make for a lot of different looking outfits: the cardigan and beret can add some retro chic outfits, the cutsew and accessories can cute Fair-Kei inspired outfits, the lace tights and the white bolero can make Hime inspired outfits, and really so much more! Here are just a few sample outfits that you can make with these pieces, click for a larger picture:

Gothic Lolita wardrobes are probably the easiest wardrobes to do some accent color coordination with. The solid color nature of the Gothic Lolita wardrobe, which is very rarely found in other styles of Lolita, makes it an obvious choice to add an accent color to. In a wardrobe like this, outfits could be easily made that exclude the accent color completely, or they could be made to have large blocks of the accent color, for days when you're feeling a little less monochromatic!

1 special piece- Surface Spell. For this special piece, I chose an OP. It's cheaper than choosing a must-have print as a special piece, but it's very fancy, and it has a lot less ways you can be coordinating it, so it's probably best saved for special occasions.

2 easy-to-coordinate JSKs- gauzy one from Moitie, cotton one from Baby. With the Sweet Lolita wardrobe I chose 2 rather similar JSKs in different colors, but 2 similar JSKs in all black would be pretty boring, so for a wardrobe in mostly a single color, it's a good option to choose dresses in different materials, or of a vastly different design. For these 2 particular dresses, the Moitie one is very flowy and fancy looking, while the Baby one is more structured and "traditionally" Lolita looking.

2 skirts- tiered one from Baby, corset skirt from Bodyline. Again, when working with one color, it's best to choose 2 very different designs. I've chosen a simpler tired skirt from Baby, and a very fancy looking skirt from Bodyline.

3 blouses- short sleeved from Meta, long sleeved from Surface Spell, red chiffon from Dear Celine. I've gone with the basic short sleeve, long sleeve pair of blouses, in a more mature and Victorian inspired cut, as well as a chiffon blouse in the accent color as the statement blouse in this wardrobe. You could easily go with a very fancy black blouse, but I think the addition of a blouse in the accent color can really stretch the possibilities for unique outfits in a small wardrobe, especially a wardrobe that's almost entirely 1 color!

2 cutsews- long sleeved from h.Naoto, short sleeved from Moitie. Just a couple simple black cutsews, with short and long sleeves. If you're building a Gothic Lolita wardrobe, and need some cutsews for cheap, you can very often find appropriate tops in mainstream stores, many "business" or otherwise fancy wear blouses are made out of a stretchy, comfy fabric. Or, you can do what I do, and hit up the second hand sales comm for some second hand h.Naoto. Despite the fact that Naoto cutsews are between $70 and $150 new, you can easily pink up second hand ones for $25 or cheaper. I have a lot of Naoto tops I spent less than $25 dollars on!

2 outerwear pieces- cardigan from h.Naoto, jacket from Fan + Friend. Jackets are an awesome addition to a Gothic Lolita wardrobe, and you can find so many amazing designs that are exactly what you need to make an outfit a little extra fancy. Bolero's and ruffly cardigans are also a very useful addition to a Gothic Lolita wardrobe! Keep in mind that with a mostly single color wardrobe, you are going to rely a lot on texture to keep your outfits looking interesting and different from each other. Layering pieces is a very handy way to add texture to an outfit if you don't have a lot of brocades and chiffons in your wardrobe, and easy-to-wear cardigans and boleros are the perfect way to add some layers!

Headwear- headdresses from Baby, rose headband from Victorian Maiden. Since we don't have to worry about each headdress matching the colors in the wardrobe, I went with 3 different styled headdresses, but with Gothic Lolita, you can honestly get away with just one if you need to, but since Gothic Lolita doesn't really rely on bows for headwear, you can usually make appropriate hair accessories with some black craft supplies and a glue gun for pretty cheap.

1 pair of match-everything shoes and 1 match-everything purse- both offbrand. A pair of more grownup styled shoes is a versatile choice with Gothic Lolita, and while I said to avoid novelty purses with Sweet Lolita, you can usually get away with a coffin or bat-shaped purse in Gothic Lolita, if just because you're not really relying on a motif that may or may not match the print on your dress.

Lots of legwear- OTKs from Bodyline, the rest is offbrand. Almost any kind of black tights or stockings should do pretty well in a Gothic Lolita wardrobe and a pair of OTKs are a good addition too.

Lots of accessories- both the red rhinestone ring and rhinestone heart necklace from Alchemy Gothic, the rest is offbrand. The accessories is really the place you're going to be wanting to adding your accent color to in this kind of wardrobe!

While most black-centric wardrobes are bound to look a little samey, the differences in texture, materials, and details are what make the individual outfits stand out, and a mix of more traditionally Lolita items, with more extravagant Gothic pieces means you can create different oufits all along the Lolita to Gothic spectrum, from cute Kuro Lolita outfits, to flowing chiffon Gothic Lolita ones! And having the one boystyled coat can add a little something different to any outfit it's paired with. Once more, here are just a few coordinates you can make with the above wardrobe, click for larger pictures:

If you're more inclined towards Classic Lolita, and not particularly fond of having a matchy-matchy wardrobe, you can really easily put together a very workable wardrobe with a similar color palette. So long as you stick with one base color, and one color palette, you can very successfully create a budding wardrobe that still allows most everything to be mixed and matched without having to stick to any one, or two, colors.

1 special piece- Fan + Friend. This special pieces is neither expensive, or an OP that would limit coordinate possibilities, instead, it's a bit fancier than anything in the wardrobe.

2 easy-to-coordinate JSKs- floral from Juliette et Justine, red from Fan + Friend. These two pieces are quite different from each other, but they each can make some very differently styled coordinates using the same accessories and accent pieces.

2 skirts- floral from Baby, high-waisted from Innocent World. Once again, when choosing 2 pieces, I went with one print piece, and one solid piece. It's not mandatory, you can get away with two solid, or two print pieces just fine, but having both types adds some versatility to your wardrobe.

3 blouses- Alice & the Pirates, Metamorphose, and Innocent World. The blouse on the far left is actually the statement blouse in this trio, because it's made with sheer chiffon, making it both a fancier piece, and one that has a bit more limited wearablity, because wearing it with any of the skirts might be tricky since you're going to need a nice undershirt to wear with it.

2 cutsews- Alice & the Pirates, F+F. Just a shorter sleeved and a longer sleeved pair of cutsews.

2 outerwear pieces-bolero from Bodyline, cardigan from Innocent World. The fancier Bodyline bolero is nice for fancying-up most any coordinate, and the cardigan is great for lending a more casual look. The cardigan is not in a base color, but rather a complementing color to the main pieces in the wardrobe, in this case brown, because it matches the accessories nicely, but it could be pretty much any other color that goes well with most of the main pieces.

Headwear- bowler hat from F+F, corsage from Alice & the Pirates, bow from Baby. I stuck to a base color for the two headdresses, one a fancier corsage, the other a more casual bow, and chose a full-sized hat for an extra headwear option. Like the cardigan, I chose a complementing color that matches the accessories, for a bit of variety.

1 pair of match-everything shoes and 1 match-everything purse- purse from Baby, shoes from Bodyline. I chose a pair of shoes that were the same base color, as it's a safer option if you can only afford one pair of shoes at the moment in a wardrobe based around a color palette. However, the purse is in a complementary color, again, because it matches the accessories, and nearly all of the pieces in the wardrobe. Personally, I don't think that purses have to 100% match an outfit, so long as they aren't too out there and are of the same style as the outfit. A pastel pink star purse would look completely out of place in this wardrobe, even paired with the special piece with the pink bows, but a Classic styled brown purse isn't going to not match, even if the coordinate has no brown in it.

Lots of legwear- socks from Innocent World, tights are offbrand. A couple pairs of OTKs with a match-everything print on them, and a couple pairs of different lacy or crochet tights in a base color are good choices.

Lots of accessories-all offbrand. A few pieces of Victorian inspired jewelry, as well as a nice pair of lacy gloves and a faux fur collar in brown (see a theme here with the accessory color? Take a piece of advice from the accent color wardrobe in this case!) are a few accessories that can add a unique finishing touch to many different outfits.

Just like with all the other wardrobes before this, the different accessory and secondary pieces can create a lot of different looks with just the limited number of main pieces. The chiffon blouse or ruffle bolero can be paired with lace gloves and the more delicate jewelry to create a very fancy look, while the cardigan can be paired up with the bowler hat for casual and cute look, and the fur collar can be added to anything for a more opulent look. Click the images below for larger pictures.

Some style variations

Lolita has a lot of different styles an sub-styles, and it would take a lot of time and effort to make wardrobe examples for all of them! Luckily, they all mostly follow the same idea as the ones above. 

Punk Lolita- Your average Punk Lolita outfit is black with an accent color, and quite often, that accent color is in the form of tartan. Consider the tartan part of your accent color, and include more your chosen accent color than you normally would in a Gothic Lolita coordinate. Skip the blouses almost completely (although it is always handy to have at least one) and instead go for some cutsews from various Jpunk brands such as Hellcatpunks, Sex Pot Revenge, or even Putumayo.

Country Lolita- Country Lolita is a bit of a middle ground between Sweet Lolita and Classic Lolita, so if you're building a Country Lolita wardrobe, either a mix and match, single color, or color palette wardrobe would be a good choice. Just try to include some iconic gingham and paler floral prints in with your wardrobe and consider making your purse a straw purse, including a straw hat, and adding a pair of dainty crochet lace gloves to your accessory supply.

Hime Lolita- Hime Lolita is just a more princessly way of wearing Lolita, with a little bit of Gyaru thrown in for good measure. Look for more princess inspired pieces: lower square necks, lace overlays, chiffon ruffles, sparkles, etc. You can tailor any one of the above wardrobe examples towards Hime Lolita easily by keeping that in mind, making your pair of shoes a pair of Gyaru inspired heels, adding a pair of long white gloves to your accessories for special occasions, and perhaps saving up for a big teased Hime wig.

OTT Lolita- Over-the-top Lolita, as the name implies, is probably not the best wardrobe to start out with if you plan on wearing Lolita on a regular basis, as you're probably going to get sick of all the prep-work OTT requires if you're wearing it regularly. But if you just plan on making a wardrobe that mostly gets worn to meetups, or on occasion, it's not hard to OTT it up a bit, regardless of what your style is, by making most all of your dresses bold prints, adding a whole heck of a lot more accessories, and getting yourself an appropriate wig. Be warned that an OTT wardrobe is probably going to quickly break your budget, so if you're determined, but don't have much room in your budget for one, consider simply making your special piece be the focal piece in an OTT outfit and all the accessories that might go with that outfit be able to be worn only a few at a time with any other outfits you might make with your wardrobe.

Of course, there are other Lolita styles than these! But I tried to focus on the ones that people tend to wear on a daily basis, and therefore would have a whole wardrobe full of, or aren't simply themes that could fit into a style (for example: Pirate or Sailor Lolita is probably not something most Lolitas wear every single day, as it's main defining feature might be a certain style of collar or whether or not you're wearing a tricorn hat, but is rather a theme that easily be applied to any Lolita style). 

Some final advice on wardrobe building

 I am a firm non-believer in "beginner" pieces. Sometimes you will see people trying to offload questionable quality goods by claiming that they are good for beginners simply because they are cheap, and from far away, if you squint your eyes, they sort of look OK. Seriously, don't fall for this. Unless you have absolutely no idea whether you want to wear Lolita or not, with Lolita there's really no reason to buy a cheapo "tester" dress, especially because a) if you're a smart second-hand shopper, you can usually get back all of the price you paid for the item and b) good quality Lolita is seriously cheap these days, you can pretty easily pick up a good quality, good looking dress for under $40 second hand.

There is also a lot of talk about quantity over quality when it comes to building wardrobes, and personally, I think the choices are not really as black and white as some people make it seem. If you're building a wardrobe, you don't have to choose between straight-from-the-shop brand pieces or picking up the cheapest pieces Bodyline has to offer, there's actually a pretty easy middle ground if you do a bit of research on your options! I feel like the options you have are actually Quantity, Quality, or Effort! I would definitely suggest browsing the second hand sales communities and getting a good idea of how certain things are priced and learn to know when to spot a good deal. It's not uncommon to pick up like-new brand JSKs and OPs for $80-$100, and blouses for $40-$50, this still might be out of your budget for every single piece in your wardrobe, but it's a very far cry from the $400 dresses and $200 blouses that many people like to claim are the norm for Lolita clothes. You can also easily pad your wardrobe with nice quality, but cheaper priced, pieces from places like various Taobao shops and Bodyline. Take some time to read reviews from various places you might not be too familiar with, such as reviews of the multitude of Taobao shops out there, to learn which shops produce the best quality items, and which shops you should probably not be tempted by.

Don't feel like you need to be constantly adding new pieces to your wardrobe either, or that a starter wardrobe is something you should buy all at once! If it takes time, then it takes time! My own wardrobe actually took a couple years before I was able to wear Lolita more than once every other week or so. Consider starting your wardrobe by putting together one complete outfit, dress first, then petticoat, then any finishing touches, and then start assembling the rest of the wardrobe one piece at a time. Or, if you want a little bit of instant gratification, you can always make your first piece an accessory in your favorite style or by your favorite brand. Sometimes having just a single head bow can motivate you to start saving up for the rest of the pieces you want!

It should also go without saying that this is not the only way you can build a Lolita wardrobe! I'm certainly not saying it is, I have just been asked multiple times about what I would consider a good complete starter wardrobe, and I've thought long and hard about it. Is this what I did when I started to build my Lolita wardrobe? Gosh no, but it's what I seriously wish I did! When I first started building my Lolita wardrobe, there were very little options outside of Japan, so I sort of took the opportunity whenever I could to pick up whatever pieces I could, and it lead to a wardrobe full of very basic looking pieces that sort of all looked the same (a black blouse, a white blouse, and about half a dozen simple black skirts isn't a very exciting wardrobe!).

You're welcome to build your wardrobe however you want, but if you have a tangible goal in mind, it makes things a whole lot easier when it comes time to actually start buying the pieces. Feel free to change these wardrobes around in whatever way it would suit you and your own Lolita style and budget! Write up a list, if you have to, of all the things you want your Lolita wardrobe to be able to do, create a budget, set aside a small amount of money every week, make a list of pieces you feel are essential to your wardrobe, start learning a new craft so you can start adding handmade pieces to your budding wardrobe.

How did you start building your own Lolita wardrobe? What kind of advice would you give to your newbie Lolita self? Or perhaps you're still building the beginnings of a Lolita wardrobe, what have you found makes it easiest? Feel free to share your own wardrobe building stories and tips! Like I mentioned before in this monster of a post, my own early Lolita wardrobe was nowhere near this organized! It's something I really do regret too, because, despite the fact I have many pieces in my wardrobe now that are a decade old (or older!), and I'm still hunting down pieces I wished for when I first got into the style, I no longer wear any of the pieces that I actually bought when I started building my wardrobe because I had no concrete idea in my head of what I wanted! It amounted to bit of wasted money that, in retrospect, I really, really wish I would have spent on better quality pieces.