Lolidrobe Reassessment Post 2023.02

Summer has been blessing us with lots of warmth and good times. Which was honestly a bit of a mixed bag for frills at times - but I have a feeling that in the end it all balanced out into a positive.

New additions

This second quarter of the year had kicked off strong and then fizzled away as I realised that I treated myself a little too hard and too often.

• 1 skirt (classic in green*)
• 3 cutsews (1 classic in ivory, 1 sweet in black, and 1 classic in wine)
• 1 pair of socks (sweet in white x red)
• 1 pair of shoes (classic in navy*)
• 1 bag (classic in beige gobelin)
• 3 pairs of gloves (classic in beige, classic in red, and classic in pink)
• and 14 sets of accessories (1 classic pair of bangles in sax, 1 classic cameo brooch in ivory, 1 classic bracelet in gold x pearl, 1 classic flower clip in blue x white, 1 classic flower clip in blue, 1 sweet-classic flower clip in lavender x red, 1 sweet flower clip in orange, 1 sweet flower clip in light pink, 1 sweet flower clip in magenta, 3 sweet-classic multi-colour pansy clips, 1 sweet necklace in mint x pink, 1 sweet necklace in blue x red)

The vast majority of these purchases were made at the Festival of Vintage back in late April, so whilst I have used them with lolita, they do serve a dual purpose within my wardrobe. The truly lolita-exclusive bits were few and far between. Partly because there wasn’t that much that I was really after and partly because sometime in early May I realised that the cost of living crisis was actually catching up with me and that I should be more responsible with my money. I didn’t quite place myself on a full-on no-buy, but I definitely became stricter when it came to what I purchased, from which fund, and whether I really did wait before I raced into a purchase. Plenty of the items listed and pictured above have already seen at least one wear, some more than that with non-lolita outfits, so I feel justified in my past self’s choices. For now.

Possible new looks

As already mentioned, those new purchases, especially the ones from the Festival of Vintage, got put to use straight away. Now, I’m not entirely sure whether that’s because they were genuine needs or because I was just that excited to use them, nonetheless they got to feature very quickly.

From May 2023.

From May 2023.

From June 2023.

Replacement and need list progress

I think that I may need to be a bit more proactive with trying to sell these because I am stuck in the limbo of not replacing these as a result of not having sufficient funds. Well, and also not finding the right thing, but at this point that feels secondary.

The need list has also not seen any movement. This time though it’s because of my own procrastination. I know that I could make some of these things (one of these is now my designated OnS project), but I’ve not had the will to. And there are some socks on AP’s website right now that with the yen being so weak I could get, but I am being greedy and hoping that they might go on sale later on. Or is that just being patient and savvy rather than greedy? Either way, things haven’t changed much here and there were only a handful of times when I noticed the impact of that.

Current wishlist

Not a single item was ticked off over here. Yes, the Cool Rose JSK from Innocent World popped up on Wunderwelt at one point - for a much higher price than I could justify. So once again that dress eludes me, though I am ok with that. One day.

Equally, not a single non-dress wishlist item was acquired. I really did get a pretty significant scare when checking my bank account once (nowhere near anything actually dire, just a big reality check for how my lifestyle exists within the context of our current economic position) and it curbed a lot of my spending, even if not quite curbed the habit of checking second hand sales. Also, with my collection of Millefeuille boleros I am starting to forget what I have and what the ones that I don’t yet have look like, so I’ve amended the collage to include closeups of the laces. For my own sake. And what happens? Of course, in the process of looking at it all extra closely I realise the mistakes I made in identifying what I have, so that now I had to update things. One day my collection will be complete, so help me God!

New Year’s goals: progress summary

There is progress being made. It’s not always linear progress, nonetheless it is progress.

• Did I take at least one coord photo outside this quarter: yes! I’m very proud of myself for getting better about that, including getting some outfit pictures at meets themselves, as well as some during solo ventures. This is such a small thing in the big scheme of things, but a big deal for me personally.
• Did I obtain any pieces of lolita art or home decor: yes. I actually threw in a Q-Pot biscuit tin into my last order from Japan. This is currently decorating my (already pretty well decorated) French dresser, though I am yet to decide what to keep in that little tin. At the same time, I also had an idea of adding some embroidery to my wall of pictures. It would be a neat project to do myself, if I can first decide on an image or text and then find a way to transfer that onto a fabric, but the more I think about this, the more I like the idea.
• Did I make at least one item from Otome no Sewing: I decided on a project! I even ordered the fabric. Was any real progress made? Hahaha, you’re funny!
• Have I transferred my entire wardrobe to Whering: no. I’m managing to add the new additions pretty soon after getting them, but adding the rest of my entire clothes collection is something that’s all too easy to procrastinate on. I tried to adopt the 3 items a day approach, which works generally, but not so much when work eats up all my time. So I’m moving this goal somewhat to get it done by the start of September. That might work, especially if I use my time off work wisely, because I’ve found that I am using Whering a lot more now that I am tracking non-lolita outfits too.

Ok, to be honest by the time that this post actually goes up I hope to have at least made a start on that beret. As a side note, I did start a different sewing project (from a GLB pattern), but had to stop as soon as I cut the pieces out because the instructions stopped making sense to me. One day I'll get a friend on call to help me figure it out, because I would really like it done.

Also, happy Barbie Month! I had ambitious plans of dressing in ways inspired by Barbie, which very quickly fell through as I don't own as many pink things as I thought I do and had little to no motivation to do a deep dive on all of Barbie's past outfits. It's the thought that counts. Barbie can be anything and so can I. If you feel a little lost at this past halway point in the year, may these words offer you some peace.