Skills Every Lolita Should Have
Nobody said that being a Lolita will
be easy. Just putting on an elaborate coord can get you out of breath! However,
it’s not like you can’t ever learn a few tricks and here are the skills that I
believe every Lolita should have.
1. Basic sewing
And I mean very basic – if you can
sew on a button and do a backstitch, that’s basic enough. Let’s face it,
accidents happen, so when that button pops off you want to be able to put it
back on yourself. And hopefully you won’t need the backstitch or anything else
for more complicated damages. But being able to repair them yourself,
especially on items that you won’t want to part with, allows you to keep and
take care of them that little bit longer.
2. Washing your items
Whether it’s something to be washed
by hand or something really better left to the dry cleaners, just knowing what
to do and how to go about it is a massive help. Fortunately, many Lolita items,
including brand dresses, can be washed by hand at home (some you may even be
able to throw in the washing machine), which will save you loads of money if
you know how to do it. There are lists like this one online and tricks you can employ to see if a print would run. I also keep
records of washing instructions for all my main pieces and blouses on this
handy Android app called Labels – that way I have all the information I need at
my fingertips.
3. Budgeting
Budgeting is a lifesaving skill,
pretty much regardless of how much disposable income you have. Maybe one month
you’ll go that little bit too crazy. Or you’ll find that dream dress that’s
super rare and super expensive (Cat’s Tea Party, anyone?). At the end of the
day you need to be able to afford your daily necessities first and budgeting
will ensure that you can do both those and Lolita, be it shopping sprees or
going away for an event.
4. Simple hairstyles
Whilst not quite as necessary as the
other ones, I still think it’s good to have a couple of styles you could do
with your natural hair to keep in the bank – for bad wig days or those too hot
to wear one, for example. It doesn’t have to be extravagant or elaborate! Two well
done plaits and suddenly you have a whole bunch of options: wear them as they
are, leave overnight for lovely waves, pin up in a crown or loops… Experiment
what works on you and with your face, and then rock it when you need it.
5. Packing
Whether you’re going away to Japan
and want to take some Lolita with you or just need to fit a lot of stuff in
your bag for a meet, if you know how to Tetris the shit out of this situation,
you’ll never have to worry. There are some great tips out there on packing
Lolita clothes when going away, but even generic tips on
efficient and effective packing could help out loads! Just don’t expect them to
magically turn your Usakumya backpack into Hermione Granger’s bottomless bag,
you have to keep it reasonable.
These are the skills which I
frequently rely on to save myself in most Lolita situations. You could
definitely keep naming more, but I fear that this would turn the post into a
lengthy monster which I’d rather avoid.
What do you think are some of the
skills that every Lolita should have? And hopefully this time there will be
other bloggers participating, so that we could check what they’ve written:
Packing can be used in other situation too. If you have too little closet filled with clothes.
ReplyDeleteI don't even have closet, I just happens to have 4 shelves and a few hangers.
I just clean a single room in my desk's drawer to have space for socks.
True. I don't have a lot of room either, but I own a lot of stuff. If you're good at packing, it usually translates to being good at organising your storage elsewhere. :)
DeleteIf you can keep the order you make. I am good making organizing system, but not good at keep it.
DeleteOther skills lolita should have:
Replace zippers or repair them in hand.
Sewing zippers in on machine are kind of a expert move and are not useful to repair a bag.
I'm good at keeping things in order and tidy - if I didn't, I'd go mad, I need to have things in order.
DeleteI haven't had any problems with Lolita zippers yet. Though I guess sometimes they do stop at the waist seam before I can zip them back up, but I'm not experienced enough to tell whether that's a fault with the zipper or just something that happens around that seam.
I do need a order, but keep it tidy, not always.
Delete-I have bad experiecences with zippers in general. I have broken a few over the years. On clothes, but very often on bags.