Lolita Level Up Quiz 2.0

A few of you might remember an older Lolita quiz from Parfait Doll that gauged your Lolita Level. I recently discovered an old Livejournal entry in which I took the quiz and got to thinking about just how much Lolita has changed since the quiz was originally made over 4 years ago! Back in 2010, there really weren't a ton of opportunities for Lolitas outside of Japan. Sure, Baby and Angelic Pretty sometimes did fashion shows at anime conventions, and the second Baby shop outside of Japan was freshly opened, but beyond that the Lolita community was much the same as it had been for years. So I got to thinking, what sort of things are Lolitas in this day in age marking off as their rites of Lolita passage? What opportunities do Lolitas have now that were just frilly day dreams back in 2010? Soon enough, the Lolita Level Up 2.0 Quiz was born! 

The rules are simple, you get a point for every one of these things that you can say you've done, add the points up at the end, and you have your score! For the purpose of this quiz the term "brand" is open to your own consideration. If you consider Bodyline as a brand, or don't consider anything that wasn't designed by Mana himself as brand, that's up to you. Questions are broken up into groups of 16 to make counting your points easier!

• You have a favorite brand
• You own a petticoat
• You own multiple petticoats in different cuts and/or lengths
• You own a parasol
• You own an item from a brand
• You own a novelty item from a brand (plates, mugs, stuffed animals, home decor, and other "non-wearables")
• You own an item from Bodyline
• You own an item from a Taobao brand
• You own an item from a Western indie brand
• You own an item you bought of eBay, Amazon, or a shady website and it came out okay
• You've bought brand directly from their official store
• You've bought a lucky pack
• You bought an item in reserve
• You own a complete Lolita outfit
• You've worn a complete Lolita outfit in public
• You've worn a complete Lolita outfit in public and it wasn't even on Halloween or at a convention

• You've bought and sold on an online Lolita community
• You've paid retail price for a rare secondhand brand
• You've paid double the retail price for a rare secondhand brand
• You've paid less than 20% the retail price for secondhand brand (ex: you paid $40 for a piece that originally cost $200)
• You've bought from a Japanese auction
• You've ordered from a shopping service
• You wear clothes you've made for yourself
• You wear a print you've designed yourself
• You wear clothes you've had custom made for you
• Have had brand pieces altered to fit your size or style
• You've been wearing Lolita for over a year
• You've been wearing Lolita for over 5 years
• You've been wearing Lolita for over a decade
• You have enough Lolita outfits to wear a new one every day for a week
• You have enough Lolita outfits to wear a new one every day for a month
• You've converted an interested friend to Lolita

• You wear brand with your "normal" wardrobe
• You don't have a "normal" wardrobe because you only wear Lolita
• You know how to handwash your Lolita clothes
• You know how to wash a wig
• You've worn a wig, circle lenses, or false eyelashes
• You've worn a wig, circle lenses, and false eyelashes all at once
• You own a pair of rocking horse shoes
• You own a pair of tea party shoes
• You own a purse shaped like something ridiculous
• You own an old school rectangle headdress
• You own a bonnet
• You own Lolita roomwear or pajamas
• You own a Lolita item that was released this past year
• You own a Lolita item that was released over 6 years ago
• You own a Lolita item that was released over 10 years ago
• You own every item released in a favorite print/series

• You've worn something on your head that was never intended to be worn on a head
• You've worn a trendy accessory (deer horns, halos, peignoirs, eyeballs, etc)
• You've worn Sweet Lolita
• You've worn Classic Lolita
• You've worn Gothic Lolita
• You've worn Old School Lolita
• You've worn Boystyle
• You've worn one of the lesser worn Lolita substyles such as Punk, Ero, Wa, or Guro
• You know the difference between a JSK and an OP
• You can name at least 5 prints
• You can tell which items are from which brand just by looking at them
• You can tell which items are from which brand just by looking at them, even if they're not a print
• You can tell which year a brand piece came from just by looking at it
• You've taken Lolita outfit snaps
• You've traveled to visit a fancy looking place just to take outfit snaps
• You've started a trend that others have followed

• You own a Gothic & Lolita Bible
• You own every single Gothic & Lolita Bible
• Your picture is in a Gothic & Lolita Bible
• Your picture is in a Gothic & Lolita Bible because you're a model for a brand
• You own a Lolita sewing pattern book
• You've made something from a Lolita sewing pattern book
• You've seen Kamikaze Girls
• You've read Kamikaze Girls
• You've met Novala Takemoto
• You've met Misako Aoki
• Misako Aoki has made you an official Lolita ambassador
• You've met one of your favorite Lolita designers
• You've learned how to sew/craft just so you can make your own Lolita clothes/accessories
• You've decorated your house/bedroom to match your Lolita wardrobe
• Your Lolita wardrobe is part of your decor (ex: you display your hats on a shelf, keep a mannequin dressed up on display, etc)
• You've been interviewed for a newspaper/magazine article for wearing Lolita

• You've made friends through Lolita
• You've made friends in foreign countries through Lolita
• You've celebrated International Lolita Day
• You have a separate facebook profile just for Lolita
• You're known by a different name when you wear Lolita
• You've twinned with someone
• You've tripleted with people
• You've been part of a group of clones
• You've taken purikura in Lolita before
• You have a purikura app on your phone
• You've had to explain what you were wearing to a stranger
• You've been called a princess by small children
• Old ladies have complimented you and remarked how nice it is to see young people dressed so nicely
• You've been called Bo-Peep
• You've been asked if you were in a play
• You've been asked what you were cosplaying as, or compared to an anime character

• You're a member of online Lolita communities
• You're active in online Lolita communities
• You mod an online Lolita community
• You mod an online community of over 1,000 members
• You've attended a meetup
• You've attended a tea party meetup
• You've attended a brand sponsored tea party
• You've traveled multiple hours to attend a meetup
• You've hosted a meetup
• You've hosted over 6 meetups
• You've hosted a meetup with over 20 attendees
• You've been to a Lolita swap meet
• You've attended a large scale Lolita event or convention
• You've been on staff at a large scale Lolita event or convention
• You've been to a Lolita panel at a convention
• You've hosted your own panel at a convention

• You've seen a Lolita fashion show
• You've modeled in a Lolita fashion show
• You've seen a brand fashion show
• You've modeled in a brand fashion show
• You own your own Lolita clothes/accessory line
• You've hosted your own brand's fashion show
• You have visited a Lolita shop
• You've traveled to another country just to buy from Lolita shops
• You own and run your own Lolita shop
• You're friends with a brand shop girl
• You are a brand shop girl
• You run a Lolita blog (traditional, tumblr, vlog, etc)
• You run a Lolita blog with over 1,000 followers
• You have been called "e-famous"
• You have been called "e-infamous"
• You've been featured on TV for wearing Lolita

 1-15 points means you're familiar with the fashion and have taken an interest in all things frilly and Lolita. You've probably attended a few open events, maybe own a few pieces of Lolita, lurk the online communities, and you definitely are on your way to knowing your stuff! Your next step is probably buying the final piece for your first full outfit and finally headed to your first meetup!


16-40 points means you're just starting out in the world of Lolita. You may have been interested in the fashion for a few years but are just now getting involved in wearing the fashion on a regular basis and joining local communities. You probably have a couple full outfits but are still working on building a larger wardrobe. Alternatively, you have a larger wardrobe and definitely know your stuff, but you aren't very active in local or online Lolita communities and are perhaps more of a lone Lolita. Your next step is probably either finishing up adding a few more pieces to your wardrobe or to starting getting to know some other Lolitas.

 41-60 points means you're probably a very well-rounded Lolita. You have a fair sized wardrobe that allows a variety of outfits and some style experimentation, you have a few Lolita friends, and you've attended your fair share of meetups and even fashion shows. You probably have a few volumes of the Gothic & Lolita Bible hanging around your bookshelf and you've definitely taken an interest in Lolita hobbies. Your next step is probably to step out of your comfort bubble, try a new style you've always wanted to try, host your own meetups, or perhaps finally apply to be a model for a local Lolita fashion show.


61-80 points is the realm of an experienced Lolita! You've probably been active in the fashion for a number of years, have a fairly large and diverse wardrobe, and have attended (and hosted!) your fair share of Lolita events. You're most likely well-known within your local, and online, communities. You're probably practically an expert on the fashion and have probably introduced, or at least guided, a few friends along the right path in the fashion. Your next step is most likely to do a closet cleaning or some wardrobe organization because you probably have a few years of accumulated clothes.

 81-100 points is at the top of the Lolita game. You've definitely been active in the fashion for a number of years, or possibly you've had a very intense first few years. You've gone out there and had the chance to do some pretty cool things that you always dreamed of doing back when you first got started as a Lolita. There's a good chance you're a leader in both your local Lolita communities and the online Lolita-sphere. Your next step is probably to kick a few more things off your Lolita bucket list! 
 
101 points is within the ream of Lolita royalty. You probably have enough clothes to dress your own personal rufflebutt army, which you could very well easily raise with a wave of your very expensive burando scepter! You're well known by Lolitas both near and far, who are most likely green with envy at what you have in your closet, who you've met, and what you've had the chance to do. There are probably still a few items left on your Lolita bucket list that have been haunting you for a while now because you thought they've always been out of your reach for one reason or another (perhaps it's that long-distance shopping vacation, to complete your dream dress list, or to finally host the tea party of your dreams), but look how far you've come yet! Whatever it is you want to do, you can probably achieve it easily, or at the very least, you definitely have the patience within the fashion to stick with it for a while and work on getting it done.

Keep in mind, this is obviously just for fun. You probably can't walk into Angelic Pretty and demand a discount because you got over 100 on this quiz, and the burando police aren't going to sneak into your house at night and steal your petticoats if you got a low store! I'd also like to give out one final shout out to Victoria of Parfait Doll who made the original Lolita Level Up quiz all those years ago, if you want a big of nostalgia, go take her original quiz. If you took it long ago, take it again and see how you compare (I've gotten an extra 20 points in the 4 years since I last took her quiz!).

What's your Lolita level? How accurate is the descriptions for you? Are they spot on or way off for you? My final score is a whopping 98 points! Here's to hoping 2015 brings me those final few points to knock my score up to Lolita royalty!

Lolita52: How Lolita Has Changed Me

I've already managed to slide into laziness with the Lolita 52 meme and get my second question in on what is technically the last day of the 2nd week! However, I'm excited to see that the other bloggers that are participating in this meme aren't being as lazy as I am and I'm really enjoying seeing the topics pop up on blogs.

This week's prompt out of the jar-o-questions is "How Lolita has changed me". Questions similar to this end up on a lot of Lolita memes and questionnaires, but usually they're in the form of "How have you changed since you first discovered Lolita". Personally, it's been a long time since I discovered Lolita, so that's a pretty difficult question to answer. This way, I thought it was a little more direct. 

Lolita has changed me probably too many ways to count, and a lot of this probably does have to do with that whole "discovered Lolita back in the dawn of time" thing, and it is a bit hard to tell in which ways Lolita has changed me, and in which ways time has simply changed me. But let's take a look at some of the major ways that Lolita has changed me!

Shopping

The most major change Lolita has done to me is the way I shop! I no longer really feel the need to pick up random items for a cheap price just because. Since I got heavily into Lolita my major concern when adding items to my wardrobe is "Can I wear this with my Lolita wardrobe?" and "If I'm buying this now, is it going to prevent my from buying Lolita later?" If the answer is "No I can't wear this with my current Lolita wardrobe, and if I get it I wont be able to get Lolita later" there's a 95% chance I'll put it back. I make very few non-Lolita related "I want this just to have it" purchases now.

Does that mean Lolita saves me money? Haha, oh gosh no. That just means I save all those gotta have it, don't know what to do with it purchases for when I'm lurking the sales communities.

Crafting

I love doing various crafts and Lolita has definitely changed the way I craft. While I've obviously picked up a ton of new crafts because they help me add things to my Lolita wardrobe, there are adversely a number of crafts that I think are cool, but will most likely never end up bothering with because they're not Lolita crafts. Now, this isn't to say I have some sort of weird Lifestyle Lolita urge to only do Lolita appropriate historically accurate crafts, just that they're things that look neat to do, but I can't figure out any way to make them produce things for my Lolita wardrobe.

I recently discovered Random Tutorial Generator, a site that lets you press a button to get a new random craft tutorial. This is such a cool site and it shows you so many awesome tutorials you may have never found (and also a really obnoxious amount of baby related tutorials. I am pretty thankful that I don't need to know how to make cloth diapers or whatever a burpee is, but pretty annoyed that sometimes I have to press that big red button close to a dozen times before it decides to stop it's romp through babyland) and I love to spend a good chunk of time just clicking around to find new ones. However, every time something like, say, a spiked friendship bracelet pops up, I get super excited because it looks so fun to make and I have all the supplies, but oh, wait, when am I ever going to wear a spiked friendship bracelet? Never, because they totally clash with my grandma couch floral print dresses.

Friends-ing

Lolita has also definitely changed the friends I have and how I make them! I can't even imagine how weird getting together, and in some cases traveling pretty far, to hang out with people you have never met before to talk about clothes would be outside of Lolita. I was looking through my phone's contacts for something the other day and it struck me how many people I have in my phone that includes their internet handle because that's what I know them by most of all!

Through Lolita I have made a ton of great friends, and the social nature of Lolita often pushes me to go out and do something social when I would otherwise just be hanging around avoiding doing social things. Even just in online communities, where I am typically inclined to just lurk, I'm now more willing to actively participate because of the positive experiences I've had in online Lolita communities.

What about the rest of you? In what sort of specific ways has Lolita changed yourself? Do you find that Lolita just so happens to line up perfectly with your own personality and habits, or has it changed you for the better, or perhaps even the worse?

For those of you who want to check out the other topics in this weekly meme, check out the original post on it, or keep an eye on the Lolita 52 tag!

Lolita 52 Challenge: A Lolita Topic a Week!

There are tons of blogging challenges floating around out there, but very few Lolita specific ones! So to kick off the new year and a fresh set of 52 weeks I came up with my own list of 52 questions. These range from simple preference questions, to advice, to lists, to questions that might have a more in-depth answer.

  

If you feel like attempting to tackle this list with me, there are a few ways you can go about doing it. You can either just go down the list at one question every week until the end of the year, or you tackle in all at once like a survey, or you can do what I'm going to do! If I see a list like this I'll see questions on it that I might not feel like answering at the moment, for whatever lazy reason I have, so I will just dread doing it and give up, so what I'm going to do is write down these questions on little slips of paper then put them all in a jar. Every week I'll pull a new one out and answer it! For me it will be a physical reminder to complete this challenge.

1.  5 pieces that every Lolita wardrobe should have, regardless of style
2.  5 movies for Lolitas
3.  What my own Lolita lifestyle is like 
4.  Favorite thing to put on my head
5.  My wardrobe turnover
6.  My favorite Lolita brand
7.  Why I wear Lolita?
8.  Why don't I wear Lolita more often?
9.  5 keywords that describe my personal Lolita style
10.  How I first found out about Lolita
11.  3 trends I wish would come back
12.  Combining other fashions with Lolita
13.  Lolitas I have met in real life
14.  Lolitas I would love to meet
15.  3 things I wish I was told when I was a new Lolita
16.  10 facts about my Lolita wardrobe
17.  My first meetup
18.  Trends I thought I would never get into, but I now love
19.  Trends I thought I loved, but now I'm not too keen on
20.  How satisfied I am with my current wardrobe
21.  Plan for a trip! A week's worth of Lolita outfits I can fit in a small suitcase
22.  How I accessorize
23.  What influences my Lolita style
24.  What's in my makeup bag
25.  Best places to wear Lolita
26.  How I get out of a wardrobe slump
27.  Purses that I love
28.  Bloomers or no bloomers?
29.  Lolitafying things in my everyday life
30.  How long it took me to build a complete wardrobe
31.  Impulse buys that were totally worth it
32.  My best deal
33.  Something that I made
34.  Wardrobe blunders! Things I bought that I ended up regretting!
35.  What I thought when I got my first real piece of Lolita
36.  Nails to match my favorite looks
37.  Something that's not my style, but I love anyways
38.  Favorite hair style
39.  Most versatile Lolita item I own
40.  5 inspirational fictional characters
41.  Fondest meetup memory
42.  The ways in which I fit the cliche
43.  The ways in which I do not fit the cliche
44.  How strangers react to my clothes, and how I react to their reactions
45.  Something that was a gift
46.  Parasols: Vital or frivolous?
47.  The item in my wardrobe that was the hardest to get
48.  My "signature" outfit
49.  My favorite Lolita print
50.  What's in my closet, but I haven't worn yet!
51.  Predict the next Lolita trend!
52.  How Lolita has changed me

Considering it's a whole new year, now is as good as a time as any to start this. The first week's question that I pulled was:

Something that's not my style, but I love anyways

Over the years I've come to the realization that, despite how much I might love something, if it's not my style I'm probably not going to feel comfortable wearing it, and I'll eventually just start to dislike it. I've learned that it's okay to like a style without feeling the need to wear it.

One of my major "Oh my gosh I love that, but I'd totally never wear it!" items are Baby's Rococo styled dresses from about 2007-2008... in white.

I love everything about these dresses! I love the frilly open fronts, the giant bell sleeves, the massive amounts of ruffles and lace, and I think that in white, they're even prettier. They remind me of the even older Old School trend of "Angelic Lolita", only even more over the top.

However, as much as I love looking at these dresses, and seeing other people in them, I simply can't imagine myself ever wearing one! Besides the fact that they're usually a few hundred dollars out of my price rage, I would be too paranoid to ever wear an all white outfit for any extended amount of time, and I can't really imagine any of them would look very flattering on me. Most of all, they're probably the exact opposite of the styles that I feel comfortable wearing, so I can only imagine wearing one of these gorgeous dresses would probably be an incredibly awkward and uncomfortable experience!

What about the rest of you? Anything out there you love, but you just can't imagine every actually wearing it?

My Lolita Playlist

Art by Kira Imai

I haven't forgotten about the 30 day Lolita meme! I just took a break from it for a while, but I'd like to resume with day 8 (even though it's very much past 8 days!) with "10 songs that inspire you for Lolita" I've actually been meaning to make a real-life mix CD of Lolita songs for a long time now, but have never really gotten around to even making a play list on my computer until now. These aren't necessarily songs that seem to directly reference anything Lolita-like but are more like what I like to listen to when I am in the mood to lounge around in a frilly dress.


Rasputina- 1816, The Year Without A Summer. I am sure I have mentioned on this blog before that I'm a pretty big Rasputina fan, and I tend to like to associate them in my head with Lolita. This is a song off of one of their more recent albums about, you guessed it, 1816, also known as the year without a summer. Not necessarily Lolita, but the historical imagery, of a pretty gloomy nature at that, is fitting for my own ideal Lolita aesthetic.


Nine Inch Nails- The Perfect Drug. Okay, so maybe this song is on this playlist because the scenery is like my dream house and gardens and I have never been able to separate the song from the music video after seeing so long ago, I also like to pretend that this song is about vampires, which it probably isn't. Scary hedge mazes, vampires, mandolins, these things are Lolita to me.


Cinema Strange- Catacomb Kittens. Another band that I have mentioned on this blog before! Again, picked for it's gloomy lyrics that are reminiscent of times gone by. A song about orphans who run away to live in catacombs, definitely more on the Gothic side of the Lolita spectrum, but still very Lolita to me.


Tori Amos- Raspberry Swirl. Tori Amos is another musician that I have always just sort of put on when I am in a particularly Lolita mood, but no real one song in particular. I just so happen to like this one at the moment.


Sopor Aeternus- Hades Pluton. This is actually the first Sopor Aeternus song, which I actually heard when I was first starting to get into Lolita and trying to create (not always successful) coordinates with the goth clothes in my closet, so this particular song always sort of reminds me of that time in my Lolita timeline. Also, it's a great song, even if it took a little bit to grow on me, as I had honestly never heard anything like Sopor Aeternus before this song. I had absolutely no idea what to make of it!


Malice Mizer- Beast of Blood. Another song that I discovered when I was first getting into Lolita, so it instantly reminds me of the fashion. And how could it not? A Jrock song about vampires with Mana pretending to play a violin while twirling around in an Aristocrat dress, what's more Lolita than that?


Darren Hayes- Waking the Monster. A little different from some of the other songs on here, but really on here mostly because my friend Janet and I are both huge Savage Garden/Darren Hayes fans, and the soundtracks on the way to many a far away Lolita meetup has been Savage Garden. Plus, this song is about a mad professor building a time machine, that's sort of cool and fitting I think XD


Schwarz Stein- Release Me. I was never really big on Jrock, with the exception of the first summer I discovered it, which was the summer of 2003, and also the summer after I decided I wanted to be a Lolita for reals this time. So, the few Jrock songs I still listen to really make me feel all fuzzy and nostalgic inside towards Lolita.


Aqua- My Mamma Said. Aqua is such an ultra girly band, mostly known for Barbie Girl (quite possibly the girliest of all songs?), but they make a few really great songs along with all the goofy ones. This is one of their best I think. Not particularly Lolita, besides the fact that they are generally a girly band.

Unicorns? In My Lolita? Baby's Newest Print!

I was getting my much needed dose of Lolita news when I stumbled across a picture of Baby's newest print and was completed delighted to find that it featured my favorite animal in the magical animal kingdom, the Unicorn! I really don't understand why unicorns aren't a more common theme in Lolita prints, they are pretty much the perfect Lolita animal- they're magical, they're elegant, they're a princesses best friend, and they can come in rainbow pastel colors, what more can you ask for? But, for whatever reason, very few Lolita brands, indie or otherwise, have even ventured into the magical realm of unicorns. Metamorphose's Twinkle Journey is pretty much your only big brand unicorn release, and the indie brand Pink Macaroon has released a unicorn themed print, but that's really your only options when it comes to unicorn-centric Lolita prints. But now we can finally add another unicorn print to our closets since Baby has decided to finally bust out some unicorns with Unico in Bloomland.

 

Unico in Bloomland comes in a few choices, two different styles of JSK, a skirt, a pair of print socks, a headbow, and even a printless blouse meant to complete the set. Printwise, I think this is completely adorable, it includes Baby's typical flower swag garlands, bows, crowns, and other more elegantly styled motifs, as well as a liberal splashing of pastel pink baby unicorns. While this is sort of their trademark style (of the moment) it does get a bit boring sometimes, as the general print layout is very similar to a number of prints they have done in recent years, but really, the unicorns make up for that. So much so that the pink version is really tempting me as being one of my very few "fancy pink prints" for the rare occasion when I feel the need to go out in all pink. But, perhaps I'm letting myself get carried away with uniconlust.

What do you think of this print? Does the mere fact that it's covered in little pink unicorns make you want to bust out your wallets and throw money at your computer screen? Or maybe it's just not your style? It is awfully pink and adowabuwle, and I do think that unicorns can be so much more than just cute fuzzy animals.

More of the 30 day Lolita meme! I obviously haven't been doing of these every day, so I'll just be grouping a few of them together for missed days whenever I post. This way this meme wont drag on for half the year, and I wont have to bore you with daily posts about silly meme things!

Day 6- 10 things in your Lolita wardrobe you can't live without.

♥ A black chiffon petticoat, setting this day's unintentional theme of black Lolita clothes! ♥ Simple black underskirt because without it so many things would be too short! ♥ A comfy h.NAOTO cutsew to throw on over JSKs on lazy days ♥ A big black head eating bow ♥ My black and pink crown emblem Emily Temple Cute purse ♥ A pair of simple black Tea Party knockoffs that I can throw on and pretty much match everything, they're comfy and I don't have to worry too much about wearing them down to the soles ♥ Lacy tights, for extra fancification and when I can't find matching socks ♥ Bloomers! ♥ My Stained Glass print skirt, I just really really love that print! ♥ My very first brand dress, a black BtSSB shirred JSK, it's comfy, fancy, and can work it's way into just about every Lolita style out there! ♥

Day 7- 10  5 people who inspire your Lolita style

I think a lot of people are finding this day very difficult! It's so hard to pick out 10 people who you know inspire you, inspiration sort of comes from all over! So instead of 10 Lolitas, here are 5 Lolitas who's style I find very intriguing, I might not draw direct inspiration from them (that is, wear clothes because they do), but I certainly admire them and their styles!

♥  Sachi from Kokusyoku Sumire ♥ Maria of Paperlace ♥ Hitome of Grimoire fame ♥ Martha of Mossgarden ♥ Mana, by no means am I a Manatard, but the dude's got style ♥  

Etsy Treasuries Inspired By Fellow Lolita Bloggers

A few weeks ago I discovered the joy of making Etsy Treasuries. If you don't know what they are, an Etsy Treasury is simply a collection of cute things to be found on Etsy, arranged with some sort of theme in mind.

I decided to smash two of my favorite things together, blogging and Lolita, to create a few Etsy Treasuries inspired by a few fellow Lolita bloggers! Can you guess who these Treasuries are inspired by? Give them a glance over and then try to guess!










Do you give up? The first two should be pretty easy. Blue, White, & Bronze is inspired by Miss Lumpy, which should be evident by the copious amounts of blue, as well as all the vintage hats and flowers. Pink Kei is inspired by Victoria Suzanne of Lolita Charm, if all the pink, fairy kei, and cute dog accessories didn't make it obvious enough. Finally, Red Fox might be a bit of a head-scratcher to some, but it's inspired by my friend Erica's blog, Darkly Darling. These were all really fun to make, and maybe sometime in the future I'll try making a few more Lolita blog inspired Etsy Treasuries!

Day 5- 10 items from your wishlist.

My wishlist is hardly a static thing, it changes pretty much all the time, and I've really never been one for dream dresses that I pine away for years over. At the moment I'm actually not really looking for anything that I feel like my closet is missing, but instead I'm buying much older pieces that feel nostalgic, or represent, to me, the ideal old school aesthetic. That being said, a lot of the follow items would fall into that category!

Angelic Pretty Cross OP, I would loooove to own this in black! I think this is the archetypal Gothic Lolita dress, even though it's Angelic Pretty.

Metamorphose Antique Bouquet. Any color, and any of the various releases of this dress, although I would love the bonnet, capelet, skirt set,

I forget the name of this Baby dress! I love it in the red colorway, but black and pink is nice too. It's like the ultimate brand whore dress XD

OK, so I don't know the names of most prints I like! I usually have to look them up. I've always wanted this Baby dress, and I regret, years ago, not buying it when I had the chance.

Angelic Pretty Heart Cut-out. Oh God, it's so tacky! I can't help but love it.

Any of Angelic Pretty's older classic floral releases!

I love Metamorphose's swan logo, and, while it's a little plain, I've been dying to get my hands on one of their pieces featuring the embroidery of it around the hem.

I sort of love Lolita aprons, and I really like this Meta one because it says "METAMORPHOSE" in giant letters across the chest. I loved the fact that older brand releases often printed their name hugely across their pieces.

Baby's Marie Antoinette, in red. It seems like whenever I have the cash to spare for this I can never find it, and then as soon as I go broke, someone finds my super old WTB posts and offers it to me T_T

Baby's Afternoon Tea, or really, just like with Angelic Pretty, any of Baby's older classic floral prints.

What Goth Has Taught Me About Lolita. Plus: More Meme!

While it might not be apparent from this blog, it being a Lolita blog, but regular old Goth has always been my first love. It started growing up around movies such as Beetlejuice, The Addams Family, and Edward Scissorhands, and then finally manifested sometime around 8th grade when I got my first pair of black stompy boots and started wearing my younger sisters old witch Halloween costume as a blouse (to be fair, it was a black 1970's era silk dress with billowing sleeves, not an off-the-Walmart-rack kids costume). While I have been something of a poor Goth for the past 4 or so years, having pretty much given up a mostly Goth wardrobe for a strictly Lolita wardrobe, it still holds a special place in my heart. Nowadays, the closest I really get to actually looking like a Goth is Gothic Lolita but I still love to, I guess you could say, "Live the Gothic lifestyle", which is pretty apparent by my questionable tastes in decorating, a predilection towards gloomy music, and a general all-around enjoyment of the spooky and macabre.

The point of all of this is that I came into Lolita no stranger to standing out in a crowd but being part of an alternative subculture. By the time I got my first "Hey little Bo Peep!" shout from a stranger I was already an expert at dealing with "Hey Elvira!" calls. I feel that coming from a Gothic background, if you will, had really made me prepared for anything Lolita could throw at me, from cat calls, to internet drama. Some of these things should be common sense, or are things most Lolitas eventually figure out on their own, but these are all things that Goth taught me before I even donned my first petticoat.

• Trends aren't to be taken seriously and are best for adding to the ever-growing pot of cool stuff to wear. We Lolitas love our trends, I am not going to lie and say I don't usually love whatever silly new trend comes along, but I feel that all too often, once trends are over with many Lolitas are pretty much done and completely over them. I like to think that we should be able to just keep dipping into the great big well-o'-Lolita-trends without people feeling like they need to suggest ways in which they can update their outfit. While Goth has it's fair share of trends, I feel like they stick around for a much longer time than Lolita trends, and don't start getting labeled as "old school" 3 years down the road.
• Respect your elders. What gothling doesn't one day long to be an Eldergoth, or look back with admiration to the long ago days of Old School Goth? I feel that within Lolita the opposite often seems like it is the case, younger Lolita's always debate about how old "too old" is for Lolita, and giggle at how ugly things used to look. My feelings on the subject can pretty much be summed up in this Lolita Secret that popped up a few months ago. While you don't have to love what the Lolita fashion looked like in the 90's, and it's up to you to decide when you personally want to stop wearing Lolita, there's no reason to scoff at your own most-favorite-fashion-in-the-whole-wide-world's roots. 
• Some strangers are going to hate you and think you're ugly, stupid, and worthless just because of the way you dress. It's a sad fact, but it's really just something you're going to have to learn to live with. The best thing about this is that it is a pretty quick and dirty way of separating your real friends from people who are hardly worth your time, and especially not your friendship. 
• You don't like it when people judge you, so stop judging other people. This goes hand-in-hand with the above lesson. You don't like it when other people make assumptions about the way you dress, so why start making assumptions about other people based on how they dress?
• To "normal" people, we all look equally silly, so stop squabbling about who looks better than whom. A Vampire Goth and an Ethereal Goth are going to look like pretty much the exact same thing to the average person, so what's the point in pretending like one is better than the other if they're both going to face the same prejudices from outsiders? The same can be said of Sweet Lolitas and Classic Lolitas, or any of the other common Lolita verses. 
• Clichés are fun, but not something to base your life around. With Goth, sometimes it is fun to get excited about vampires, or to gloom around a cemetery, but it's certainly not mandatory, and if it's just not your thing, there's no reason to pretend it is. The same can be said of Lolita, a fair number of Lolitas feel like if one does not love tea, have manners that would put Emily Post to shame, and are fluent in Japanese, then, why, they are simply not a proper Lolita. Luckily though, these notions that the cliché is not only the norm but the only way are often newbie misconceptions that are frequently shattered by spending a few months in said subculture.

Despite some overlap in the aesthetics and interests, the Gothic subculture is pretty far removed from Lolita(Arguments of "Lolita is just frilly clothes!" vs. "There's more to Goth than just wearing black!" for starters) but I still think they can learn a lot from each other!

I had mistakenly credited one blog for coming up with the 30 day Lolita challenge, but it turns out it was actually posted on The Random Lolita, which is actually a blog I'm quite fond of (and this has nothing to do with the fact she's wearing one of my bonnets in her banner : 3), but I've been out of the blogging loop for the past month so the original post completely slipped past me!

I'm really loving this challenge, not just because it gives me an excuse to use some silly .gifs and super-kawaii lolita blog graphics, because it's a nice mix of personal and typical Lolita questions and it gives a little sneak peak of what the person is like without all their frills.

Day 4 – 10 different kinds of food you like.
Honey Moxie Cola Curry Rose flavored anything Guacamole/avocados Falafel  Sushi Salads French fries Cotton candy

30 Day Lolita Meme: Lolita Love & Hate

This post is going to be all meme! I'll be doing day two and day three combined, even though it's been a number of days since my last post, but these two questions sort of go together. It was actually really hard to come up with 10, or really any, things that I flat out hate about the fashion, so my 10 "hate list" is more of a 10   "pretty damned annoying" list! I sort of feel that if you can easily tick off 10 things you absolutely hate about any hobby/group/interest you are a part of you should probably reconsider being a part of it!

1. Detail overloads- pintucks and ruffles and lace and embroidery, all on one dress!
2. Crown motifs- they're just so cute, definitely one of my favorite motifs in the fashion.
3. Brand loyalty- not to an insane extent, but I love getting excited about new releases from my favorite brand and the warm fuzzy feeling you get just because you have something with their logo on it.
4. Platform shoes- I just can't resist a platform shoe! Never could. In middle school, even my gym sneakers were platform sneakers.
5. Fancy underclothes- ruffly petticoats, and fancy bloomers, even camisoles and corsets! It's fun to make everything you're wearing extra fancy.
6. Meetups and the community- I've met so many awesome people at meetups, and I love killing time browsing Lolita blogs, forums, and communities.
7. Japanese fashion magazines- when looking at pictures on blogs doesn't do it for me, I can always find a Bible at a comic book shop. So satisfying to flip through!
8. The rarity- even though it sucks I can't just walk into the mall and walk out with a perfect coordinate, that makes it all the more special, and even more exciting to come across someone else who loves Lolita.
9. The relative simplicity of putting together a good looking coordinate- petticoat, bell-shaped skirt, puffy sleeved blouse, knee socks, cute shoes, hair bow. In theory it's just that simple, and sometimes it really is! I think it's satisfying to basically be able to just buy everything you need to be the perfect Lolita.
10. High quality lace- It's just gorgeous! I never really saw good lace until I started wearing Lolita, and now I can't get enough of it.

1. The price- of course! It's not the most expensive fashion out there, especially with the emergence of Taobao and Bodyline, but it's still really pricey.
2. The drama- everywhere has drama, and I'm not going to be one of those people who says that Lolita drama is the worst drama, because it doesn't hold a candle to some of the other drama-o-rama places I've been, but it's still really annoying that it's there at all!
3. The fact that so much of the community is internet based- this sort of goes hand in hand with the above annoyance, I feel like the internet magnifies drama and announces it for the world to see. So a stupid squabble at a convention or meetup all the sudden turns into an international incident, and then Lolitas argue amongst themselves, and non-Lolita spectators tsk tsk them for doing so as they sit and watch on the sidelines. Haha, maybe this annoyance should just be "The internet. Period."
4. The mega trends- Lolitas love to get caught up in new trends, which is fun, but sometimes it goes a bit far, especially when not-currently-trendy things are pushed aside by the majority (or, more likely, a vocal minority) as no longer being Lolita.
5. The people who are too rigid with the rules- Lolita is a vast fashion, and not everything within it fits easily into the Lolita box, and it doesn't have to. Some people get way too caught up in what is, or isn't, Lolita.
6. Shopping services- I just hate paying extra fees on top of retail/second-hand prices! I pretty much avoid using a shopping service whenever possible.
7. Lack of brick and mortar shops- I'm not asking for a brand shop in every town, but it would be nice if there were more places to actually go and buy nice Lolita clothes.
8. Drawing your lower lash-line way too low- I don't think I've ever seen this done in a way that doesn't look like their makeup is melting off their face along with their eyeballs. It's a weird trend that I believe got carried all the way from Manba to Gal to Lolita that got a bit lost in translation on the way.
9. Knocking stuff over with your petticoat- it's so annoying! 
10. Shipping costs- even within the same country, some things are just so heavy that you have to spend much more on shipping than you normally would! When ordering things overseas I always have to remember to tack on about $50 to the price just to cover shipping.

Angelic Pretty: Re-releases and Reimaginings.

In the past few months, it seems like Angelic Pretty has been doing a bit of switching up their style, while at the same time, revisiting some old favorites. It started sometime in the last year, when they started to release prints that were a bit bolder in color, and simpler in print design instead of the pastel jumble of cuteness that made them so popular in recent years. Angelic Pretty also gave everyone quite a shock when they announced that they had decided to re-release Sugary Carnival, a print which is definitely one of their most sought after pieces and was recently made into a replica. With this, it almost seemed as if Angelic Pretty realized "hey, we made some awesome stuff in the past that people still love, let's do that again!" so shortly after Sugary Carnival was re-released they came out with Aqua Princess, a print that looks surprisingly like Twinkle Mermaid, a print that was, at one time, another one of Angelic Pretty's most popular prints.

Left, Aqua Princess; Right, Twinkle Mermaid

Aqua Princess is very different from anything Angelic Pretty has released in a long time simply because the print is a simple 2 color print, reminiscent of some of their first custom screen printings in the early 2000's.

Left, Toy Fantasy; Right, Toy Parade.

While Toy Fantasy isn't a direct re-release, it is very reminiscent of Toy Parade, which was one of Angelic Pretty's very first custom fabric prints, from 2007.

What does this mean for Angelic Pretty and even Lolita? Does it mean that Angelic Pretty has simply run out of different combinations of candy and cute animals to add to their dresses? I doubt it. Angelic Pretty has been on the cutting edge of Lolita fashion for the past 4 years, or at least, the cutting edge of Lolita has been Angelic Pretty. I, and many other Lolitas, feel that the trends in Lolita are beginning to shift away from the over-the-top-rainbow-explosion-glitter-extravaganza that Angelic Pretty has popularized, and, at least a little bit, has started focusing a bit on the nostalgia of Lolita trends gone by. To me, it seems like Angelic Pretty is, instead of trying to come up with The Next Big Thing, grabbing a hold of this new trend for the old and making it their own. "Remember this?! If you liked it you're going to love this!" they seem to be saying.

Will this trend of re-releases and reimaginings continue for very long? Will other brands start to take heed? Baby has already re-released a couple popular prints this year, Stained Glass and Vampire Requiem, but, while popular, neither of which are as iconic as the Angelic Pretty prints that are getting a second go. Many Lolitas have been practically begging Moi Meme Moitie to follow in Baby and AP's footsteps and re-release what is quite possibly Lolita's most sought after print, Iron Gate. Will MmM listen and give in? MmM is known for being one of Lolita's most "exclusive" brands, priding themselves on high prices, limited runs, and nearly impossible to get a hold of pieces, so it's highly unlikely that the old Iron Gate print will ever see new life, but perhaps Mana has heard these cries and listened because a recent print of theirs is a bit reminiscent to the Iron Gate styling.

This re-releasing of older prints is something of a double-edged sword and within the Lolita community there are people who feel very strongly about both sides of the argument. There are those who long to get their hands on a long ago released print and would prefer not to simply buy a replica, even if one were available; and there are others who enjoy the collecting aspect of the fashion and would be crushed to find that a print that they spent a lot of time and money to own could now be so easily, and cheaply, bought. Myself, I'm a bit torn. I have several older prints that cost me an arm and leg and I would be a bit annoyed to find out that if I had only waited I could have gotten them for retail price, but there are even more prints that I know I'll never be able to get my hands on because they are just too rare. I think that when it comes right down to it, I am more of a fan of the reimaginings of prints rather than the re-releases. I feel that this way there is always something new coming out, even if it's heavily inspired, or just a rearranged version of something old.

What about the rest of you? Do you like the direction backwards some brands seem to be going? Or are you always craving something new and exciting from your favorite brands?

I also would like to start doing the 30 day Lolita meme that has been going around in the community! I don't know how I'll go about doing it, maybe I'll actually do a post every day, or every couple of days, or just answer all the questions for any missed days between blog posts. However I decide to do it, today is the first day, so let's answer the first question!

Day 1 – 10 things about your Lolita bubble.

1. I fell in love with Gothic Lolita first, and consider myself a Gothic Lolita, but I really enjoy most all of the sub-styles and wear several of them pretty frequently.
2. That being said, I don't really worry too much about if what I am wearing doesn't exactly fall within one sub-style, or sometimes even completely within the usual Lolita definition.
3. I wear Lolita as much as possible, on a near daily basis. When I get home from work I typically change into a Lolita outfit even if I'm just planning on a night of playing on the computer and reading.
4. I love pink and black! I am a complete sucker for pink and black colorways and I have a ton of pink and black pieces.
5. I have a love/hate relationship with print replicas. I think they're great for people who can't otherwise get a hold of their dream print, but besides the couple of Bodyline ones that I already own and were the first print replicas to really make a splash, I can't really see myself buying any more. Even though I'm always just on the verge of jumping on some sort of group order to get some for cheap.
6. I don't have many Lolita purses. I usually just carry one of my h.NAOTO bags with me, regardless of how well it matches what I'm wearing.
7. I don't have many Lolita shoes either, at least compared to my clothing wardrobe. I usually match a pair of black tea parties with nearly everything, just because they are really easy to walk around in all day. Come to think of it, I really need to invest in a brown and a white pair!
8. Lolita has made me learn, and want to learn, a lot of things! From sewing, to hat making, to doll customizing, to a million more little mundane things. I really love being inspired by Lolita!
9. Baby the Stars Shine Bright is definitely my favorite Lolita brand. They were the first brand I feel in love with and one of the brands that continues to amaze me with their quality and designs. I also really love their little "B" logo.
10. My wardrobe turnover isn't very high. Some people are constantly buying and selling, but I tend to just buy. Even things I rarely wear I don't want to part with because I know they can be made into really cute outfits, even if they aren't really my style.
11. *Super Special Bonus Bubble* I love those completely tacky animated .gifs. Kitten that float up and down for no reason, winking bears, glittery flowers, random bobbing exclamations of "cute!", I love them all, but I never get a chance to use them in my blog!

If you want to join in on this meme along with everyone else, you can check out this post by Sweet Lolita On The Go to get all the questions!

A little note: I just got a new laptop (since my old was was on it's last leg!) and I decided to switch over to Chrome because everyone else is, and I, for whatever reason, can't figure how the heck to resize my images in blogger! So... until I figure that out (or just switch back to good old familiar Firefox) pictures are going to be a bit randomly sized around here!