Your Most Worn Dress vs Your Least and Why
Once your wardrobe grows beyond a handful of pieces, you
inevitably end up with some pieces you wear significantly more than others. Especially
when you don’t wear these clothes daily, it can be a while before you circle
back to some pieces.
My most worn piece is not a dress, but a skirt. Despite all
the best intentions to wear it in lolita coords, since the day I got my Fairytale Library skirt from Song and
Temple it ended up being worn predominantly on a daily basis. In the year and a
bit that I’ve had it, it survived countless washes, hundreds of hours of wear
and several trips with only one pulled thread you can’t really see. It’s paid
for itself countless times over in wear and versatility. That’s why I wear it
so much: with or without a petti, casual or fancy, lolita or not, matching
pretty much every colour, this skirt provides me with countless options and I
only scratched the surface here. Although granted, it is having some serious
competition from the Innocent World White Double Braid skirt – it’s just that
as I’ve had Fairytale Library longer,
I had more opportunities to wear it.
 |
| I like travelling in this skirt because it means I can wear my petti instead of packing it. Saves space! This one is from my Welsh Easter trip. |
As for my least worn piece… I could cheat and go for
something that I bought and physically haven’t got yet. Or go the easy route
and pick something so new I just haven’t worn yet. But I feel like that would
be a bit too easy. So instead I tried to identify pieces I’ve only worn once so
far and pick from them. That left me with the following least worn pieces: Mary
Magdalene’s Paulina JSK, Angelic Pretty’s Royal Unicorn JSK, Alice and the
Pirates’ Sugar Plum Fairy JSK and Alice and the Pirates’ Rosier Fleur JSK.
The first of those is very special to me, as it’s my
ultimate dream dress. I’d like to be able to say that every coordinate I put
together with this dress is something I’m very proud of, which naturally means
the dress is saved for more special occasions. Besides, even though it’s not a
print, that style is a little bit too historical to be worn casually, so I can’t
exactly throw it on just to go buy some milk. This makes me think that it might
end up being my least worn dress in general, but you know what? As long as
every coordinate with it would truly be special, I’m ok with that.
I guess technically that disqualifies it, but I don't think 30mins
wear to shoot a video counts.
With Royal Unicorn the story is similar, but from a
different angle. Since I obtained it, it was being saved for Myths of Our Own and
because I was so hyped for debuting that coord and dress and that event, I
deliberately didn’t do anything else in between. Since then, this print has
joined my spreadsheet of ‘When did I last wear this’ and as Myths was only in
August, it sits towards the bottom. So while there’s nothing actually stopping
me from wearing it again, I want to give a chance to pieces that I’ve not worn
in a year or longer first. Unless a pang of inspiration hits, it might be a
short while before I wear it again. Although as the fabric is so heavy, it
might be a good idea to wear it before spring and warm weather.
 |
| Myths was an incredible event and this might be the longest I've worn a coord. It's very special, but looking at this dress gets me fired up and inspired to wear it, so maybe I'll break soon... |
However, that spreadsheet is the same reason why both AatP
dresses have only been worn once. I did very well by wearing them out pretty
shortly after obtaining them (Rosier Fleur much quicker than Sugar Plum Fairy
Princess). They’re now waiting for their turn in the bottom half of my
spreadsheet. Although Sugar Plum Fairy Princess has the additional obstacle of
being the only black piece I own and this Halloween I’ve had other ideas than
the generic ‘Oh look, a non-Gothic lolita is turning Goth for Halloween’. Its
time will come round though, I promise.
 |
| Still by far my most well received coord. 520 likes on CoF and 320 on IG, it feels unreal! Not sure if any other Rosier Fleur outfit will come this close, so I'm not even trying for now. |
Generally, when I look at my most and least worn pieces, the
pattern seems to be that what’s most worn is most versatile and blends easily
with normie clothes, whilst least worn pieces are either special or a bit
fancier and waiting for a fancier occasion. Which is a daft way of thinking
about it, you should wear whatever you want regardless of whether that makes
you over dressed. However, as I enjoy the additional challenge of matching
pieces that haven’t been worn in a while to meets, occasions, themes and seasons
that might not be so obvious (e.g. Diner Doll hasn’t been worn since DMC, it’d
be nice to make a coord with it in winter), it would really have to be a strong
pang of inspiration involving that one particular dress that would make me sway
from that spreadsheet.
What are your most and least worn dresses? Are there any
reasons for this or did it just happen? Did you anticipate that being the case?
I’m very curious to find out. Make sure to also read about the least and most
worn dresses from other participating bloggers!
Fairytale Library is so cute, and like you say it's ridiculously versatile. I also love that you have a spreadsheet of what you've worn and when, that's a great idea.
ReplyDeleteIt is super cute. When I got it, part of me regretted not going for the JSK, because it is so cute, but at the same time with it being a skirt it is getting SO much wear. And yeah, my lolita spreadsheets are a little mad ^^""" Partly it's because if I'm bored at work, doing something with a spreadsheet makes me look busy - but it's mostly because I just like spreadsheets ^^"""
DeleteI'm starting to fall in love with spreadsheets myself...it's kind of addictive!
DeleteThey can be so great to stay organised <3
DeleteI think it is my lady sloth lace series op, it looks like a bridedress and I can't take it on myself. It is super ott and my style is more casual, in contrast I like to Camp in my other white dresses, btssb and Excentrique, even they look like night growns.
ReplyDeleteTotally understandable. White dresses (and cream and ivory) tend to feel like a bit much already compared to regular clothes that when you're more into casual styles of lolita, cut is everything. Ones that look like a nightgown are still more wearable because they probably look a lot more Victorian (and I'm guessing they're machine washable?), but if it looks very OTT and fancy enough for a bride, it will only make you stand out more.
DeleteThe btssb jsk is not(it is flocked, so I would not try) but the Excentrique is by label. A thing I haven't seen in my other brand pieces, they promise nothing.
DeleteYou have a spreadsheet! That's genius (and also takes a certain level of focus and dedication...)
ReplyDeleteYour 'most-worn' skirt has such a lovely print! I'm in awe at the peacock blue and soft greens; I think this was a release I missed entirely (seriously, when did this come out?) Antique book prints have an air of whimsy to them, and the way this one was illustrated with the fancy lettering and gilt edging on each book, it's such a beautiful take on old and well-loved fairy tales. Aside from that, I totally agree with how a simple cut can get lots of mileage in your coordinates.
I can also relate to your issues with the 'least-worn' items; they are beautiful, but a little too much so for just getting coffee or the groceries. I feel the same way about my ultimate dream dress, the Krad Lanrete; I wouldn't be doing it proper justice in such a casual setting.
That said, I'm happy that your Rosier Fleur coord was so well-received! It still takes my breath away, with how ethereal it is.
Haha, yeah. I actually have a lot of lolita-related spreadsheets. I might write about them one day... :P
DeleteIt is absolutely beautiful! It arrived in May last year (and I had to take a double take because it feels like I've had it forever, it's shocking that that's not the case xO) and I think that brand did a re-release later on with an additional 'colourway' (it was more Gothic, there were cobwebs, spiders and generally a more creepy vibe - not sure if the book titles were different too). If you ever see it, I thoroughly recommend it, it's amazing quality and like you said, it fulfils every need you may have for an antique book print.
Right? I mean, it would be great if I had the time and energy to be that extra every day and just casually wear a Rococo coord to get some groceries - but I'm not :P Besides, if it was meant to be fancy, sometimes forcing it into a casual coordinate is just wrong, let fancy things be fancy.
And thank you so much! <3 *.*