Lolidrobe Reassessment Post 2022.01

The first quarter of 2022 was surprisingly full of ‘treat yourself’ moments. Not all of them were lolita-related or even adjacent, but considering how much more expensive living got (especially living in winter), one would’ve thought that I’d curb them a bit more. But maybe let’s see first how bad things actually were.

New additions

Starting, as always, with a look at what I bought and how it fits into my wardrobe.

• 2 pieces of outerwear (1 sweet cardigan in yellow and 1 gothic bolero in black*)
• 2 pairs of shoes (classic in beige and wine*)
• 1 pair of legwear (sweet in white x yellow*)
• 1 corset (classic in black*)
• 11 pieces of accessories (1 classic barrette in green, 1 pair of sweet earrings in white x red x pink, 1 sweet brooch in black, 1 sweet pin in red*, 1 classic hat in navy, 1 classic necklace in gold x blue*, 1 classic brooch in gold x green*, 3 pairs of classic earrings in gold x green, gold x blue and gunmetal x white*, and 1 classic hat in black*)
• and 1 item of homeware (novelty mug*)
  

It's been a while since everything could comfortably and visibly fit in one photo. The black hat was bought after this photo was taken, hence why it's not here.

Were the shoes really necessary? No, they certainly weren’t. But ever since I upgraded my shoe storage, I felt enabled to get a few more. And in my defence, both of those were purchased with the outlook that if they turn out the way I want them to, they will replace some that I currently have, but am not that pleased with anymore.

The yellow cardigan, on the other hand, is just what it appears to be: an attempt at expanding my wardrobe with yet another colour. Because apparently I haven’t made life hard enough for myself. (And because my boyfriend is influencing me more than he realises.) I don’t plan on keeping yellow as anything more than an accent colour though, so I added the socks to it and that will hopefully be it. Keep your fingers crossed that these don’t turn out to be famous last words.

Possible new looks

With so few additions and even fewer that have actually arrived, I guess every worn instance counts. The earrings and the cardigan did get more wear than just this one coord each, but the other outfits were non-lolita ones.

Replacement and need list progress

No replacements were made so far. Things are pretty specific, but also not particularly pressing right now, so I imagine progress in this field will be painfully slow.

Similarly, there has been no movement on the needs list. There was a pair of socks that I almost got, but in the end, whilst the shade of lavender seemed appropriate, the theme wasn’t quite sweet-to-neutral enough. The earrings that I bought may fit the bill, but I won’t know for sure until they arrive, so I will confirm that then. The shoes may also end up being one of those things that I needed and not realised, that would be very nice. So I guess let’s wait and see.

Current wishlist

Once again, the moment my wishlist went up, I had some additions to make. At some point I decided that I actually do like Meta’s Vintage Fruit enough to want to own it, and as an OP no less, so I guess that goes in. It’s the one that I am currently the most keen on of the top row. If you spot it, please, let me know.

In the non-dress list I made a very unexpected addition. My browsing of Xianyu was very casual and it turned out that the cross lace IW bolero just waited there at a very reasonable price. How could I resist? Since that meant having an open order, I also added the black corset into it too. As of writing this neither has arrived yet, so keep your fingers crossed that I don’t have to untick anything. And both of the hats were very lucky and irresistibly priced charity shop finds. Not much to say beyond that, really.

New Year’s goals: progress summary

Three goals this time, even if one is a two-part one. And quite a mix of things too.

1. Did I create a themed lookbook video: not yet. My original plan involves a release date in May. I have a rough draft and a bunch of ideas, though as I sat down to do a bit more research, I realised that things will need reshuffling. I would also like to have an actual storyboard for it this time to make recording and editing easier, but since I’m not the storyboarding type, it’s hard to find the spoons for that.
   
2. Did I take more mirror selfies: well, in comparison to none last year, there are definitely more already, so yes. The whole point of this one was to take some pressure off myself and whilst this is very much still a big work in progress, I think that it’s not going too badly so far.
3. Wardrobe Overhaul
1. Have I done a wardrobe purge: not yet. I was hoping to do some during my week off, but the mood wasn’t there. 
   
2. Have I divided my wardrobe into seasonal parts: not yet. As above, the two were meant to go hand-in-hand. I have bought some vacuum storage bags ready to be used, but alas as the weather turned from warm to cold, putting some of those winter things away feels like a bad idea. Fingers crossed for an improvement on that front so that I can confidently shift some things around.
   

Winter was supposed to be just a memory now and allow us the space to focus on spring, but that hasn’t happened. My fashion moods continue to swing as wildly as the weather, so whilst on the one hand I keep flicking back and forth on what I want to look like, on the other there is a sense of being quite centred in my style and my wardrobe right now. Whilst I haven’t sat down to pinpoint anything in particular, when I do catch myself with those glimpses of "I want to look like that", I notice that it’s not so much about getting things I don’t currently own, but about styling and narrowing down on the look that I have. Fingers crossed in the next quarter I will get that wardrobe overhaul done, that would probably be the biggest help. I still remember how much sorting out my earrings helped, so there’s no doubt that doing the same in other sections of my wardrobe would do the same.

How has your first quarter of 2022 been? I know that things are tough and generally depressing, so we’re clinging on to whatever distractions we can. And that’s ok, as long as we don’t overdo it. If a bunch of frivolous frills is what it takes for us to still put one foot in front of the other, then Mana willing we will be in a position to do that.