2018 Wishlist

As someone who enjoys being organised and organising things, I like periodically looking through my wishlist and see if anything has changed. You’d be surprised how often you find that a bit of wait has turned an item from “OMG, NEED!” to “meh, don’t want it anymore”. The start of a new year is as good a time as any for this and this time I decided to split my wishlist into two parts: things that aim to fill the gaps in my wardrobe and things that I simply fancy and decided to actively pursue.

Filling in the gaps

As I was thinking about these, I’ve been using the past Lolidrobe Reassessment and 1 Dress 4 Look posts to help me identify my gaps. I probably still missed something, but then I can always try to identify it later.

Over the knee socks

You’d think that for the OTK addict that I am I wouldn’t need any more. I wish that were true, but unfortunately, my sock collection is very big in ‘this is white/off-white/ivory with a gold pattern, so will be versatile for everything’ or things that go, but not with that substyle/theme. And so it turns out that I do need some more socks after all. However, all efforts were made to identify exactly what I need and what will it go with (and the socks have to match at least three main pieces before I buy them), so that I don’t just grab the next thing that might work at a push, but oh isn’t it cute! I mean, this list still shows how careful and scared I am of getting something in a colour that doesn’t match, but with good coording these should still enhance my wardrobe. These are:

• White/off-white/ivory x sax Sweet OTKs: subtle or versatile pattern like bows or dots;
• White/off-white/ivory x sax Classic OTKs: preferably floral and preferably muted;
• White/off-white/ivory x green Classic OTKs: preferably floral and preferably muted tones like olive or dusty mint – will consider fully green with a very subtle, versatile pattern if they’re the right shade;
• White/off-white/ivory x pink Sweet OTKs: subtle or versatile pattern like bows or dots, may consider smaller sweets-themed designs e.g. macarons;
• Red Sweet OTKs: subtle or versatile pattern like bows or lace, will look at Christmas-themed ones too;
• Dark brown Sweet OTKs: sweets-themed would be best, but bears or subtler patterns will work too;
• Dark brown Classic OTKs: subtle pattern like lace or florals, but will consider other ones as long as they’re not too busy;
• Dusty pink Classic OTKs: subtle pattern like lace or florals.

Click to enlarge. These are just examples, not set on these exact designs.

A wine bonnet

Bonnets are my favourite, even if I don’t wear them as often as I’d like. Now that I have three of them – one in navy and two in ivory – I feel like a wine is what I’m missing for all those OTT Classic coordinates using wine main pieces. Other than my Triple Fortune bonnet, I don’t own any from Japanese brands and I don’t particularly feel the need to as they seem to be quite pricey to begin with and hardly ever are really discounted or sold for very cheap second hand. But I am looking for quality, class and elegance, so I will be picky with regard to fabric and finishing, as I don’t want it too plain, but also not too embellished so that it will only go with one or two things. I also like my bonnets tall and proud, so nothing floppy, soft or small either. And half-bonnets only. If only I could pinpoint what I want, I’d probably get it commissioned from Jeshii Doll, I totally adore the bonnet I have from her, but until then I will simply search through second hand things.

Not even after this particular one, it's just
so hard to find an example image that'd
represent what I like.

A red and/or wine brooch

It may seem oddly specific, but isn’t that what wishlists are for? Having gotten quite into brooches, I acquired a fair few this year, yet none in red or wine. Given that my wardrobe is predominantly red, white and blue in various shades, I find this a definitive lack that there isn’t a single red-tone brooch amongst them. I’m not particularly set on any shape or theme, at least not for now, I simply want it to be either a true red or a rich shade of wine that I could use (Sweet and Classic/Military style respectively).

I'm honestly not fussy and will patiently browse charity shops,
eBay and vintage fairs for a nice one.

One or two main pieces I could wear daily

Now, this isn’t as specific as it could’ve been, so let me explain. As my style outside of Lolita evolves, I would like one or two extra pieces that are still Lolita, but subtle enough for me to be able to wear to work without a petticoat. There is no brand preference and no preference as to what kind of item it’d be, but I’m aiming for pieces that are on the plain side. Innocent World’s non-printed pieces are my main inspiration here: definitely keep things like ruffles and lace to a subtle minimum, although textural details such as pintucks or pleats or even small details like a bow or subtle embroidery are more than welcome. I’ve a strong preference for single-colour, non-printed fabrics and they have to be machine washable. I’m definitely looking for a simple black JSK (I think every wardrobe needs a LBD and, as horrible as it is to think, one needs at least one black dress in case of a funeral), but the colours I’m mainly thinking about are reds and blues, with a slight preference for true or jewel tones. However, since this isn’t a strictly Lolita thing and these pieces would be worn more daily than for Lolita meets, I’m not even getting hung up over them being from Lolita makers – if I find something that ticks that box from a non-Lolita brand, such as Axes Femme, then I’ll be happy to take that. It’s just that I know that going for something from, let’s say, Innocent World comes with a degree of certainty regarding quality and durability, which I would like to invest a little bit in.

Some examples I like. Think I'll be looking for the first one
a bit more actively.

Light pink princess sleeve blouse

As I’m expanding my wardrobe a little more, I realised how many pastel/light Classic or Hime looks I could do if only I had a lighter pink blouse. The pink blouses I currently own are either definitely Sweet or definitely Classic, but nothing that treads that line. I feel like a ¾ sleeve one would be best for what I’m after and I definitely would like a chiffon one. As much as I like BtSSB’s designs in this area, I’m not willing to spend BtSSB prices on this, so will be mainly scouring through Taobao and second hand sales for that.

That aesthetic for a smaller price, please.

Classic jewellery

Again, this isn’t particularly specific, but it’s because I don’t have any particular criteria or specific things that I’m after. When loooking at my jewellery collection, I have plenty of Sweet pieces, some Classic jewellery that’s mostly leaning towards OTT and that’s it. This makes me feel like my simpler Classic coords end up a bit bare, so let’s add some padding in this department. Maybe a simple, vintage/antique looking pearl ring or a small necklace, something that would be versatile and non-specific, but would add a nice bit of depth and detail. This is definitely a job for offbrand stuff, so charity shops, eBay, AliExpress, Taobao and whatever I can find that’s cheap and nice looking will do here.

Something like this. If I can find it for under £5 that's an insta-sale!

A blonde wig

This is a minor one, but I thought it’s still worth adding. The last blonde wig I owned I had to throw away as I just didn’t have the patience to untangle it. It was a cheap thing from eBay which I got before I really got into Lolita, so while it was decent for what it was, it wasn’t worth saving. And although I don’t wear wigs that often, for the times that I do I would like to have at least one option in blonde that has some curls and a soft Lolita kind of look. Sometimes blonde is the way to go, especially if your whole coord is on the darker side – a lighter hairstyle can emphasize or tie in with the colour scheme. However, blonde has always been a struggle for me, I have no clue what shade of blonde would suit me and I haven’t yet seen a design that I feel is what I’m after. So this will probably stay here for a while – but then again, I may not actually need it as much as I think I do, so maybe I should move it to the other section of the wishlist…?

Reliable Taobao wig shop recommendations welcome!

Wishlist items to actively pursue

The heart wants what the heart wants. Sometimes you just love something so much that it doesn’t matter whether you realistically need it or not – you need it because it’s that beautiful. While my wishlist is full of many other dresses, it’s unrealistic to pursue them all, so here are the ones that I want most.

Mary Magdalene Paulina JSK

This has been on the wishlist for such a long time now, but I am not losing hope. It has appeared for sale once, although I wasn’t able to get a shopping service to travel to that branch of Closet Child (it was outside of Tokyo and it doesn’t even exist anymore), but if it popped up for sale once, it will pop up again. Size is still an issue, as nowhere lists the measurements with the shirring stretched, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.

Maybe this year will be the year...

Angelic Pretty Royal Unicorn Switching Gobelin JSK

As I obtained all of my dream dresses except the above, I started looking at other people’s coords. What I realised from that is that all the dresses I liked most were past releases and Royal Unicorn kept growing on me most strongly. The more detail of this dress I saw, the more I wanted it and I hope that I’ll be able to obtain it. It’s a perfect Sweet-Classic piece for my mostly Sweet-Classic wardrobe and I would absolutely love to own it and wear for the ultimate unicorn princess feel!

Perfect Sweet-Classic piece.

Angelic Pretty Jewelry Snow JSK

This one was originally on the list at the bottom, to casually search for, but it has very quickly become one of the pieces I would really like to own. I’ve loved the design since the first previews, but the OP would be a gamble in terms of fit and I’m still not completely sold on the high waist cut of the JSK. However, the JSK at least will fit (and will probably be very comfortable with all that back shirring) and ever since learning that all the bows are detachable, I’ve fallen in love. I know that there was an MTO in both Japan and the US, but with the current exchange rate this dress would’ve been just over £200 plus shipping and shopping/forwarding service fees, which is dearer than I’d like to pay. So I said to myself: the MTO won’t be released until August, in that time this dress might still pop up second hand – and if it doesn’t, then it might after the MTO when people have grown tired of waiting. Let the search, stalking and saving commence then!

The stock photos genuinely do not do this lovely justice!

Marchen die Prinzessin The Nutcracker JSK

Although I am yet to find a specifically Christmas-themed print that I would like, I won’t lie: I’d love to own something a bit more festive. This JSK is one I fell in love with fairly early on, but that was already after its release and after Marchen die Prinzessin had closed. I know that I am in for a looong ride with this one as indie brand pieces are a nightmare to track down second hand, especially if one is after specific colourways. Nonetheless, I will give it my best because it would be worth it. If not for my love of The Nutcracker, then at least for the fact that I could wear it outside of December too since it’s not that obnoxiously Christmassy. (Side note: I feel like AP’s Queen Chocolate JSK in red would also be a good one that could be dressed for Christmas and outside, but somehow I don’t feel as strongly about it as I do about the Marchen die Prinzessin one. Maybe it’s because as a new release from a major brand I know that I could get if I waited long enough, whereas this has more of that out-of-reach exotic flavour?)

Sometimes I doubt whether anyone actually
owns that...

A red-based floral JSK

I’ve had my eye on a red-based floral dress for quite a while now, but despite that I still managed to end up with two other floral dresses: one blue-based and one ivory-based, both with pink florals on them. Don’t get me wrong, I love them both, but they don’t satisfy that need for a red-based floral. So let’s make it happen in 2018! Now, I’m not particularly fussed about which floral dress I’d like other than I’d prefer it to feature no additional theme, if possible. But whether it’s actually a white/off-white/ivory dress with red flowers or a wine one with florals in another colour, that doesn’t matter to me much. I’ll just as happily take something a little plainer in design, like Innocent World’s Cool Rose, or something fancier and more princess, like AP’s Fairy Rose Princess. Although having said that, if possible I would rather the dress be cotton or a cotton blend rather than chiffon or polyester, as I feel that it’d be a little easier to wear throughout the year and take care of, but I’ll take this one on a case by case basis. Again, I’d like to get this quite cheaply, if possible, so I’ll be mainly looking at sales, second hand items and Taobao.

If not this one, another, similar one will do.

And that’s it, really. There are a few prints that I genuinely am keeping my eyes on, but am happy to wait for them to go down in price or appear for a good price second hand. The ones above are closer to what I’d call a dream dress and so not only will I be actively looking for them, but also am willing to spend a bit more on and will be keeping some money aside for them to make sure that I don’t miss out. But for my own record, these are the prints that I’m happy to catch at sale prices at some later time:

• AP’s Queen Chocolate JSK in red;
• AP’s Princess Cat Tiered JSK in wine;
• AP’s Classical Whip Dot JSK in sax or navy (this also comes under the ‘dresses I could wear daily’ category)
• Meta’s Gold Braid Tuck Pinafore JSK in wine (don’t care about the cape)

Click to enlarge.

I know that regardless of how much I’m trying, I will succumb to impulse purchases during 2018 and I may be surprised by the upcoming releases (brand, indie and Taobao) to the point that I’d be more willing to part with my money. Still, I hope that I’ll be able to remain more focused this year on what my wardrobe actually needs and on the things that I am sure I want, especially with the help of my 2018 resolutions including a mandatory wait for things outside of my wishlist.

What would you like to add to your Lolidrobe in 2018? Are you after specific pieces or do you have a vague wishlist? Maybe a combination of both? Will this be the year when you go all out and spend or the one when you will buckle up and save?