Updated Lolita Level Up Quiz - version 3.0!
The Lolita Level Up Quiz is pretty much a classic now. But
ever since doing it on camera, I wanted to give it an update. I used the spare
time I had, making this a project, and I took the quiz from FYeahLolita and the
Parfait Doll one that it’s based upon, and worked my way from there to create
this. I present to you the Lolita Level Up Quiz version 3.0!
What was wrong with the Lolita Level Up Quiz 2.0?
That’s a fair question. I wouldn’t say that it necessarily had things wrong with it – but between 2014, when it was originally posted, and now a lot has changed. The 2.0 quiz contains some questions that are now outdated – either were outdated already for some time or became so over the course of last year – and it also doesn’t include anything that became a thing since its conception. Lolita fashion and its community constantly evolve so what was current in 2014 is fairly old by today’s standard. I wanted the updated quiz to reflect what life in Lolita fashion is like in the latter half of the 2010s. Or at the very least what it was like as of 2017/2018 – no doubt in a few years it will need another update!
Moreover, when doing the quiz on camera last year, I thought
it was a little bit chaotic. Putting things into neat groups bound by some sort
of category wasn’t easy, but I feel like it made the whole quiz flow in a more
logical way. It’s almost like a
journey through Lolita and its most common experiences, even if not everyone
does things in quite that order. What I originally had hoped to do was to have
each little sub-group go from things that are easiest to most difficult to achieve, as
well as the whole quiz to be ascending in difficulty, but that wasn’t always
possible and retaining the more logical sequencing of statements was a
priority.
Finally, I had some issues with the end results or the
grading, if you wish. The original quiz tried to stick to a more or less equal
point boundaries between categories. However, I don’t feel like this is a fair
representation of what our community is like, especially not these days. The
original distribution of points per result band assumed a linear progression path: it assumed that being a beginner
was as long as being an intermediate or an advanced Lolita. Which, in my opinion, isn’t true.
Especially with certain things being easier now compared to the early days of
the fashion, some becoming nigh impossible nowadays and some crossing over
to/from things like cosplay or other J-fashion (which are common routes to
becoming a Lolita), the 2.0 version made it very easy to amass a lot of points
and boost the final score, even if one still didn’t have a solid grasp of the
fashion and made plenty of newbie mistakes. I would argue that these days it’s
easier for beginners to learn, that the experienced phase is the longest one
and that it takes an extra push to break beyond the plateau and reach the next level, so the ratio of
points per category needed to reflect that. Additionally, six categories seemed
a bit unnecessary. The differences between the original upper-middle ones
(Experienced Lolita and Top of Your Game) were quite subtle and as I assumed
that we are experienced Lolitas for longer before we advance, narrowing the
final categories down to five felt like a good thing to do.
That’s all as far as the explanations go, which I hope make
sense to you and you agree with my way of thinking. As you can guess, the 3.0
version of the quiz has gotten longer with plenty of new additions, as well as revisions
to prior questions, so make yourself a hot drink and a snack because you're in
for a long ride. Long but fun. Think of it more like a road trip.
If you would like to view and download the quiz as an Excel Spreadsheet which will automatically calculate your result, click here!
If you would like to view the quiz as a blog page, click here!
If you would like to view the quiz as a blog page, click here!
Once you’re done and have found out your result, let me know
how you did. What did you think of the updates? And do you feel like your
result is accurate? I’d love some feedback and I hope that you have enjoyed
yourself doing this quiz!
I love that you did this...but I only go 79! Lolita newbie!
ReplyDeleteOverall I loved the questions, but I think that scores may be a bit skewed due to several things being quite unattainable. I don't know if excel would let you balance the score of certain items, or perhaps minimise the amount of "impossible" questions?
That feedback aside I love that you updated this!
Thank you for the feedback! I'm not skilled enough in Excel (or statistics, for that matter) to make some questions be worth more than others. This is based on the previous two versions and uses the same Yes/No binary for the most common experiences in Lolita fashion, which I tried to list as accurately as I could have. Technically, since there are more questions in the 3.0 version, your results should be similar to what you'd get in the 2.0 version, but for any kind of data accuracy I'd need a lot more data/feedback on people's results. And given that some of these statements could be interpreted freely and subjectively (e.g. 13 and 15: a person living in a 2-season climate will need fewer outfits than someone living in a 4-season climate, and a week of outfits could be 7 different outfits for one main piece or 7 main pieces), it'd be really hard to get an accurate, unbiased measurement and include that in any kind of algorithm. But the few things that are unattainable are to distinguish those at the absolute top of their game, as well as a nod to the previous versions. For example, just because we can no longer buy pyjamas or swimsuits from Japanese brands doesn't mean that there aren't Lolitas who own those, and I think it's important to acknowledgge that over the years some things have become impossible, but there may still be people around who have been able to do them. Some things might even change in the coming years, either for individuals (e.g. being able to attend an international event) or collectively (maybe Taobao Lolita brands will start releasing nightwear/swimwear that will become a thing), in which case people's answers may change. The 'impossible' questions still aren't numerous enough to massively skew the results in favour of those who have done it, there are a lot of things that many newbies should be able to get even if they've not been into the fashion for long. :)
DeleteMy score is somewhere between a Lolita Princess and a Mana Sama, depending on how some questions are meant to be answered. I agree that some of the questions are either undesirable (known for drama) or unattainable in the future (being in a printed brand magazine) but I think that this quiz will remain slightly dated in some ways until the newest generations comes into their own to update it.
ReplyDeleteI think that for the most part the quiz is still very well balanced, because it should make sense that you are able to get points for the things that take many years to accomplish, or are no longer attainable since at one point they were. I've been wearing the fashion actively for 12 years, so it would make sense to score for forgotten knowledge or activities related to a specific time (knowing who Mr. Yan is, Meeting Novala Takemoto, Being in the GLB printed editions), while replacements for those experiences haven't really come into their own just yet. I think the next update of this quiz will take that into account, but as it is for the time we're in now (with massive changes happening to the lolita communities and markets that we've never seen before), I think it is a pretty fair reflection.
- Rosie
Thank you for taking the time to give me such thoughtful feedback. I fully realise that this version will be out of date sooner than we all realise - just like the previous 2.0 version became very outdated very quickly (it was posted only 4 years ago and during 2017 alone so many things changed!). While I tried to make the questions as clear as possible by specifying what the question asks (e.g. learning Japanese *because* of Lolita or being to a tea party *organised* by a brand rather than with brand representatives in attendance), with some you just can't avoid it (again, is a week worth of outfits 7 very different coords with one or two pieces or 7 main pieces worn in pretty much the same way - both work). And because this fashion has been around for such a long time, it'd be selfish to exclude experiences that were more common for those in its early days purely because they may be unattainable now. The fact that only few people in our already niche community can say "I met Novala Takemoto at a Lolita event" etc. make their experiences all the more special in comparison to the rest of us, so even if they're not representative of the fashion anymore, denying that they're part of Lolita fashion scene is very short-sighted.
DeleteHopefully though when it comes to updating this version it'll be someone else - there's a reason why it took me a while to do this one and it's because that was a big task, all the more mammoth-like because I wanted to do it well. :)
I had 'only' 112 while I've been an active lolita for almost 4 years T_T (okay, 4 years might not sound long really). I think it's quite hard, because, well things like 'befriending a brand shop girl' and haha well I've never taken a photo back of people making a photo of me but for example staring them right back in the eyes when they stared. I'm not sure how having a seperate FB profile for you as a lolita is a thing that gives you more lolita points, I'd rather see people their personal profiles really ^^; but that might be subjective. But yeah it was fun to do.
ReplyDeleteFrom the comments I've seen on Rufflechat, time is the most subjective thing. Some people seem to go from zero to hero in one year and others, e.g. those who chose not to engage with a local comm, stay at around a beginner level for years, even though they're probably not in terms of coords and wardrobe. The separate profile one I've taken directly from the previous version without changing - I think the original intent behind it was that as someone becomes more popular/recogniseable through their Lolita work, they create a separate profile, so that they don't share their most private stuff with complete strangers and keep their personal profile for friends and family (I'm not sure how many people would be interested in seeing someone like Lovely Lor post rants about her family or something :P). But you're right, it is all very subjective and at the end of the day this is just a daft quiz, there's no point taking it too seriously because then you end up taking yourself and/or Lolita fashion too seriously and can forget to just have fun. :)
DeleteI love the updated version and how it incorporates a lot of other elements like social media and decor. It actually gave me so many more goals now. I plan on using it on my blog as a way for my readers to get to know me a little more and linking them here if that's ok?
ReplyDeleteThanks again :)
I'm glad you like it. With both Lolita and people's general use of Internet changing so much in just those few years, there was a lot to add. And of course, I'm more than happy for you to use it and link it here :D
DeleteI got 76, not bad, so i'm a newbie but close to lolita! once covid ends and I get a few more meets under my belt I will get 'a lolita' :-D this was very fun so thankyou. I think some of the questions are difficult, especially if you don't have a brand shop in your country or don't travel regularly, i'd also love to know how to get on japanese TV but hey... we can't all be mana :-P
ReplyDeleteits Gemma from the Manchester (now Northern Ireland com) it won't show my name for some reason when I reply
Delete76 is really good, you've had a pretty intense start to the fashion then :D And you're not that far from the next one up either. I know that in the past people have been on Japanese TV just by being in Japan and out-and-about whilst TV crews were on the streets specifically looking for people to ask some questions. That's the easiest way, other than being invited. And fun fact - I recently did this quiz as if I were Mana, just to see how he'd do. Granted, I don't know everything he's done and made lots of assumtpions, but he only just about managed to scrape being Lolita Princess if I was generous with a handful of wuestions. Without them he only got enough to be just A Lolita :P
DeleteThanks so much for the new version of the test! I think I made some of the old ones but totally forgot about it <3 happy to find it again! I'm on 156, hope to level up soon :D
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you managed to find it and enjoyed it! :)
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