Lolidrobe Reassessment Post 2

It’s been a while since the beginning of the year Lolidrobe Reassessment Post, but I did warn that they won’t be a regular thing. Having said that, many things and changes have happened during this time, which in turn makes the post all the more worthwhile. So let’s get right to it!

New additions

Oh yes, plenty of those here! I’d like to think that they were all rather smart purchases, with builder pieces dominating over main ones, but in all honesty, I’ll only really find out once I write it all out. Items marked with a star (*) signify that something’s been ordered, but hasn’t arrived yet.

• 2 JSKs (Classic red, and Sweet blue)
• 1 skirt (Sweet-Classic yellow x brown)
• 6 blouses (2 long princess sleeve in white and navy, 1 Classic in white, 1 Classic/Sweet in ivory, 1 Sweet in red, and 1 Classic/Sweet in sax)
• 5 cardigans (1 Sweet in mint, 1 Classic in navy, 2 Classic/Sweet in powder blue, 1 Classic/Sweet in navy – the last two were upcycled)
• 1 bolero (Classic in wine)
• 4 pairs of socks (Classic/Sweet OTKs in beige x pink, Classic OTKs in off-white x gold, and 2 pairs of Sweet short lace trim socks in white)
• 3 pairs of tights (cream, baby pink and purple-ish-wine)
• 2 pairs of shoes (1 Classic pair of heels in navy, and 1 pair of tea parties in wine)
• 15 sets of accessories (2 pairs of Sweet bow and cherry hair clips, 3 pairs of Sweet glitter star hair clips, 1 Sweet unicorn necklace; 1 set of Sweet-Classic teddy bear earrings and necklace; 1 Classic/OTT headdress in red x ivory x gold; 1 Classic bow barette in navy; 1 Sweet double bow hair clip in sax; 1 Sweet handmade bracelet; 1 Classic head bow in ivory; 1 Sweet cherry and whipped cream ring*; 1 Sweet/Classic/OTT head bow in navy*; and 1 Sweet head bow in red*)
• 1 handbag (gold) [which I forgot to include in the photo, but you’ll see it below]
• 1 pair of bloomers
• 2 wigs (1 long wavy one in “Toffee”, and 1 short curly bob in “Flaxen Yellow”)
• 1 pair of circle contact lenses (green)

All of this makes for a total of 44 new additions across three months from February until May. I knew it was a lot, but wow! In my defence, out of all these only 7 are brand (new and second hand), 7 are Taobao or indie, and 5 were handmade items from various Etsy stores – everything else is offbrand and hunted down cheaply, which partly explains why there are so many things here. And that isn’t too bad after all, especially when you consider all the…

Possible new looks

Simple summer Classic

Even though in the last post I said that I’d limit the number of blouses I’m buying, this hasn’t worked quite as planned. Having said that, I did want a navy blouse, which I got, and compared to all the other builder pieces, even if those were cheaper than the blouses, I feel like these additions are balanced and justifiable.

Navy OTT

Overall, looking at the last post and what was on the to-get list then, it seems like I’ve done pretty well. I got the tights, the outerwear, the shoes, the hair accessories, some jewellery, a pair of OTKs and the navy blouse – that’s more than half the original list, and we haven’t gone onto the rest of my acquisitions! Not only that, all the things that I got either went towards enabling me to get more wear out of my wardrobe or towards making wearing Lolita a bit more practically: the handbag allows me to look cute as well as carry all my stuff (I checked: it fits my wallet, iPad and phone, with room to spare); all them cardigans and the bolero keep me nice and warm; similarly with bloomers which also keep me that little bit more modest… Almost all of these proved to be on the sensible side, even with the few impulse buys there in the lot too.

Sweet spring cardi

Finally, I noticed that with these additions (maybe except for accessories) my Lolidrobe moved a bit closer to Classic Lolita. It’s not something that I anticipated or did consciously, but as it also allows me to do a bit more of Hime style and OTT coordinates, it’s a very much welcome move.
To show just how much more these purchases let me do with my wardrobe, I deliberately didn’t put any of the new main pieces in these example coords.

How to make my Lolidrobe go even further?

I think I’m now at a good stage with my outerwear; it couldn’t hurt to get maybe one more bolero and/or a jacket/coat, but I’m comfortable with what I have.

What I’m not comfortable with is the still kind of limited amount of hair accessories I own. It got better since the first reassessment post, but a few more big accessories, especially head bows, would make a lot of difference, especially since the Haenuli JSK added an extra shade of blue to play with. When doing the 1 Dress 4 Styles challenges I also thought about getting a boater straw hat for summer, it might add some variety, but although I’ve been thinking about it for a while now, I’m still not 100% sure. Overall, while I could always do with more accessories in general, headwear is the priority for now.

Finally, despite being rather lucky so far, I can’t forget that England, and especially Yorkshire, is rainy. I’d love a cute parasol that could double up as an umbrella during worse weather. Technically I have one like that already, but it’s sky blue with cherries on top, so would only work with my sax pieces and/or Sweet Lolita – white or ivory would cover pretty much every coordinate I could need it for. I’d also love that parasol to be ridiculously frilly, but that’s just personal taste, not an actual need. ^^” And speaking of rain, I considered wellies, to keep my lovely OTKs dry, but that needs some very serious research – how do you even coordinate things with wellies?

• A head bow in sax/pastel blue, possibly one in royal blue;
• More hairclips or combs (bows, bears, stars, cupcakes – have to come in pairs);
• More OTKs: one pair in royal blue (something like Candy Fun Fair with the red ribbon would work perfectly, but similar will be great too), a Classic pair in sax, a Classic pair in navy (something like Crystal Dream Carnival, but a tad less busy?), some Sweet/Classic ones in red or with red accents, possibly some simpler and neutral(ish) ones to match more items (e.g. white, ivory or beige);
• White or ivory frilly parasol;
• Wellies?
• Ivory bonnet?
• Boater straw hat?
• Short sleeve blouse in wine?
• Blouse in brown (short or long sleeve)?
• A square neck cutsew in white or ivory for warmer weather?
• More jewellery?

Feels quite short, especially compared to the last one, but at the same time I think I’ve been more specific about what I’m after. I’m also more honest with myself about the pieces that I might not need after all (those market with a question mark): the stuff which could add a little bit extra to my Lolidrobe, but which might be a bit of a “one dress only” kind of piece, so for now I’ll sit those and think about them.

Current wish list

It’s changed quite a bit since last time. Not only have I managed to get three pieces out of that last list – the Magic Tea Party bear skirt, AatP’s Sheherazade JSK and Haenuli’s Whipped Cream Kitty JSK – but I also realised that a lot of what I had there last time were things that, gorgeous though they are, I could get by without. As I managed to move my wishlist to my Lolibrary account, which you’ll find here, I divided them through notes into those I’d really love (they include a price as well as colourway), and those I wouldn’t get unless found an absolute, totally mind-blowing bargain (which only state the colour I like). You’ll also notice that the wishlist now includes things beyond the main pieces, like accessories, blouses or socks. The only downside is that a Lolibrary wishlist doesn’t let you track changes easily, e.g. by date stamping new additions, hence I’m adding a screenshot here to keep track of what’s on the wishlist now to make future compasirons easier.

New Year’s goals: progress summary

1. Number of times I wore Lolita to date: 6 (plus 2 from last post, so 8 total).
2. Number of meets attended to date: 2 (yass!).
3. Did I have the agreed amount of money in my account at all times: Yes. (Bonus: I didn't always need that amount for the dream dresses acquired, so might be worth re-evaluating that in the future.)
4. Have I paid more attention to seasons with Lolita: Definitely yes (see above for all the additions and comments).
5. Is my wardrobe more versatile than it was when last checked: Yes! (The 1 Dress 4 Styles posts will show that off better.)
6. Boyfriend Ouji-kei-fication status: I started looking at pieces and have shown him a few more things to get a better idea of what he’d like. I need his actual measurements now to start the hunt properly; a nice jacket is first on my list of items to try on him. I've also developed a back-up plan if this one fails: we’re planning to go to Japan, so I’ll get him to try something there, mwahaha!