Gothed Up

So far I’ve only dressed in gothic lolita once – and while it was an ok coord given the little I had, I can’t say that I’m entirely happy with it. That’s why when my boyfriend asked if I could goth up for our date night, I happily indulged him.

| Alice and the Pirates Sugar Plum Fairy Princess JSK | I Do Declare blouse | Ruha Garden headpiece | Voodoodolly ring |
Enchanted Dream Wear necklace | Sweet Dreamer tights | offbrand shoes |

I am so doing that makeup look again - and hopefully I won't have to redo my entire eyeliner!

Unfortunately, this mirror selfie is the only outfit shot I managed. I kinda wish the mirror was wider, because other than that I don’t actually have a problem with the picture either. This blouse literally makes every outfit it’s part of and this time I unleashed the sleeves. And it works especially well with the neckline of this JSK. What you can sort of see is the ribbons at the back of my tights – they were the mesh ones with corset lacing-style ribbons at the back, that have rose to prominence in lolita through larme-kei. And despite having to redo one eye completely, I really enjoyed the makeup too. It’s not exactly that different from what I normally do, but still darker and bolder enough to make a difference.

I actually couldn't decide between which version of this outfit to wear, so I asked for help on my IG stories. No 3 (bottom right) was what I had in between places, as it was evening and the blouse is all mesh.

Closeup of my headpiece, since it's not the most visible on the pictures above.

Our date night was pretty simple: we went to see Alita: Battle Angel and then to a Tex-Mex chain restaurant, Chiquito. When we got out of the car, I said that I felt thoroughly overdressed for cinema, but hey – goths wanna watch new films too, right? It was quiet anyway, I was able to go straight to ordering some snacks and drinks, no queue whatsoever. And the cinema attendant checking out our tickets even recognised my style as gothic lolita (and said he’s actually done a presentation about the fashion at college), so big props to him for that!

Let me have this again, please! Even the jalapeno jelly on top (which wasn't really spicy).

When your food is not aesthetic, but you still take a picture of it for the sake if being That Bitch.

From last time I wore gothic I still remembered how much more comfortable (i.e. less sticky-outy) I felt in that style. Not only is gothic fashion recognisable enough for people to mostly leave you alone, but it’s normal to see people dressed all in black (even if my all-black version was way fancier than anyone else around me). However, this time I seemed to have turned into this ‘ugh, mainstream people’ kind of goth. All in a very tongue in cheek kind of way, but it was fun to sit in a bright chain restaurant, full of families with kids, and put on this ‘ugh’ act about it. The food was nice and stuff, I just got some enchiladas and a sweet potato and chorizo croquette starter (so good, I’d have that again).

This outfit deserves more closeups. As does this ring, it's absolutely everything!

I kinda wish I'd taken this picture with one of those glitter apps because the heart at the bottom
sparkles soooo much, it's actually criminal how that's not coming across here!

You know how one of the lolita answers to ‘why are you dressed like that’ is ‘it’s just clothes’ or ‘it’s just my clothes’ (and variations thereof)? I feel like the more I wear lolita, the more this answer is true. Yes, I’m not a daily lolita, there are other styles I enjoy and wear. However, the fact that at this point it’s not unusual for me to frill up for ‘lesser’ occasions – like a date or just going out – speaks volumes. This time two years ago I probably wouldn’t have done that so readily or it would’ve made me feel a lot more self-conscious about sticking out from the crowd. Now I’m like ‘pfft, I won’t let that stop me from having fun’. It’s a very satisfying place to be at emotionally and even though I want to change jobs so that I can finally move out, part of me is dreading the possibility that I may end up in a place with an actual *dramatic pause* dress code.

When was the last time you wore lolita for an occasion that wasn’t a meetup or anything related to the fashion? How did you feel about that? Do you think like you’ll be doing more of that or not so much?