Where Do You See Yourself in the Fashion in Five Years

This is an interesting prompt for Lolita Blog Carnival. We often ask prominent figures in our community, like the designers, models, magazine editors etc., about their thoughts on the future of lolita fashion. Having watched and read a couple of interviews and Q&A’s where this question is asked, the common response is to say either that the fashion will grow or that the person doesn’t know. Which now that I think about it in my own, individual context, feels so true.

I have dedicated a good deal of thought to what my life would be like without lolita fashion – quickly arriving at the conclusion that it’d be pretty lacking. Yet the question of the slightly more distant future, like five years, hasn’t crossed my mind at all, certainly not in the context of lolita. To be honest, I dread this question in general (and unfortunately it’s a common one in job interviews and appraisals), it’s causing me to have somewhat of an existential crisis, which is why I haven’t given it much thought with lolita fashion up until now.

In five years’ time, in the year 2023, I will be 31 years old and would have been in the fashion for 12 years. At the moment I certainly envision myself to continue being a part of it, still wear lolita and be a member of the communities, although I’m less sure as to how this would look like exactly. And life has certainly taught me that things have a way of working out differently to what we imagined, so these are my predictions based on what I know now.

And based on that, it seems very plausible that my style will evolve closer to Classic and casual styles. This is a shift that I’m observing in myself already and it's more than plausible that within five years I will follow this through with a wardrobe cull. While I’m still a sucker for a well-done Sweet print, I’m also painfully aware that I prefer myself in A-line cuts, which are most prominent in Classic. Moreover, my mindset is shifting towards wanting to get more wear out of my pieces, which is much easier to achieve with solids, patterns, simple cuts, fewer trimmings and less pastel colours. Although right now thinking about parting with my dream Sweet pieces like Fantasy Theatre or Crystal Dream Carnival is too painful to bear, by the time 2023 comes around, things might change a lot.

One of the reasons I love this dress so much is because it combines a more flattering A-line
cut with a vibrant, sugary Sweet print. And in a tricolour palette too – an all-round win!

At the same time, I don’t expect my style in lolita to change too much. While what I wear may be different, my gut tells me that how I wear it will mostly remain the same. Despite all of my experimenting ventures, I always eventually come back to the classic winged eyeliner, red lipstick and vintage-style curls combo with other pops of red throughout the outfit itself. It’s something I know well, something I can do fairly easily and something that hasn’t failed me yet. We’re all a bit reluctant to leave our comfort zones, so it’s natural to assume that I’ll stick with mine.

If it ain't broke, why fix it? It's a makeup and hair style that works well with Classic looks
and even with some Sweet ones in the right colours!

As far as the community is concerned, that’s both the biggest known and the biggest unknown. For as long as I wear lolita, I will continue to attend meetups where I can. The community has given me the social life I needed and the security that wherever I go, I won’t truly be alone and will have a group of friendly people to get me through the tough beginnings involved with moving places. It’s easier to wear lolita in a group, the attention you attract is distributed across more people, besides, meetups are also a great way of getting to know your local area and trying out new things and places. All of this is much nicer with a group of people who share at least one interest and who are also doing it willingly (rather than being dragged there, like boyfriends/non-lolita friends/families etc. can sometimes feel to be).

Let's be honest, most boyfriends aren't keen on the idea of afternoon teas. That's why we go
with our lolita comms and female friends/family members!

Having said this, I don’t know where exactly I’ll be in 2023 or what my role within that community may be. Recently I have become an admin for the Leeds comm, which is a big deal for me and I want to keep the comm going. At the same time, for a long time now I’ve known that I’ll be moving out and towards the North-West area rather than staying in Yorkshire in order to move in with my partner. Modding the Leeds comm and moving to another county are at odds with each other as goals, even if I value both pretty much equally. So I don’t know where I’ll physically be in five years’ time and consequently, what kind of part I’ll be playing within my local community or which might be my local community then.

This is the plan for now. I'm fully open to the possibility that I'd end up somewhere else, but
the general direction isn't going to change. As much as it breaks my Yorkshire heart...

At the same time, I can totally see myself becoming more involved with the wider, international lolita community. Already there are so many events outside of the UK which I’d love to attend and if I could, I would go to them all. Obviously, a brand tea party in Japan is massive goals, but I also really like the look of Paradiso in the United States (just such an awkward state to get to from outside the US) and it seems like every European community is welcoming guests from other European countries to their big events these days. There will definitely be more things attended in five years’ time and who knows, maybe I’ll even manage to help organise something somewhere? That’d be insanely cool!

Dublin may not be a whole world away, but it is another country. And it is a community that welcomed us with open arms.
How many more like this are out there? We won't know until we accept the invitation and go!

Lastly, in five years’ time I would like to have ticked some of my lolita goals off the list. Twinning is high on the priority list, as is attending a brand tea party (the AP ones in Paris keep evading me because they’re at a very inconvenient early July date). I’d also love to have learnt to sew by then, so that I could start both making and alternating pieces myself. And if I could even add meeting Yumi Fujihara to this list then I’d be absolutely ecstatic and call it a very successful five-year period indeed!

That’s all I can think of. Of course, I could let my imagination run wild, but I tried to keep this hypothetical outlook fairly grounded in reality. This is a future that I have little trouble envisioning and if things continue as they are now, the chances of it coming true are pretty high.

Do you ever think about your future in lolita fashion down the line, in five years’ time? Or are you more focused on the present? If you haven’t given it much thought, read posts from the other participating bloggers, they might shed light on things you weren’t even consciously aware of until then!

The Bloody Tea Party