Lolidrobe Reassessment Post 2019.01

Well, the timing of this first reassessment post is conveniently right after I came back from Japan. On the one hand this means a certain degree of excuse if I had gone overboard (we shall see if I have or not), while on the other – that means that we can already check if I succeeded with some of the Japan-specific goals! I’m actually a little scared…

New additions

For the duration of my being in Japan, I have given myself a free pass on having to wait before buying something. This was both to allow myself to truly indulge, as well as to see how well ingrained my principles of having a cohesive, versatile wardrobe really are. There were a few purchases done before that, but the bulk of this list below was bought between March 19^th and 30^th.

• 2 OPs (1 Classic in navy* and 1 Gothic/Classic in wine)
• 3 JSKs (1 Classic in wine, 1 Classic in green and 1 Classic in grey*)
• 1 skirt (Sweet in red)
• 4 tops (1 Classic blouse in gold, 1 Sailor cutsew in white, 1 Sweet cutsew in red and 1 Classic/Gothic blouse in wine*)
• 2 cardigan (1 Sweet cutsew cardigan in sax and 1 Classic bolero in brown)
• 5 pairs of socks (1 Sweet/Classic in white x pink, 1 Gothic/Classic in black, 1 Classic in ivory x green, 1 Sweet/Classic in white x gold and 1 Sweet/Classic in white x red)
• 1 pair of shoes (Classic in green*)
• and 6 sets of accessories (1 Classic necklace in white x red, 2 Classic brooches in gold [that annoyingly I can’t find right now], 1 novelty brooch, 1 pair of Sweet/Classic wrist cuffs in wine and 1 Sweet ring in pink).

All the January to March loot.

Click to enlarge.

Click to enlarge.

Click to enlarge.

That gives us 11 items bought before Japan, 8 bought during the trip and 5 sort of bought during my trip, but online and from other places. Or a grand total of 24 things. Somehow it felt like a lot more in my head – must be because I know that I wasn’t supposed to be spending much before Japan and then caved in anyway. As well as that many of my purchases are brand new direct purchases, so they might’ve felt like more because I spent bigger sums at once. But then in the grand scheme of things, with a few exceptions these fit into my wish/need/replace list parameters and I love every item I bought, so all is good in the end.

Possible new looks

Oh trust me, that gold blouse has been sooo needed! I absolutely cannot wait to wear it with Crystal Dream Carnival. Or with Royal Unicorn. Or with Sheherazade. Or with Bright Starry Night. Or Sugar Plum Fairy Princess. Or maybe even with Repose of Queen. Do you see what I mean? We use so much gold in lolita as accents that a gold blouse is such a welcome way to balance that colour out in a coordinate – and I don’t have to resort to my gold cardigan, which sometimes is a bit too warm for the occasion. Because of that, this reassessment post’s new looks segment will be exclusively about Lady Sloth’s gold mesh blouse – just to prove how awesome it is!

This one is a WIP at this point in time, but I'd like to one day fully realise this idea!

Also featuring one of the new pairs of socks I got.

The nicest one of these three. I now need a reason to wear this.

How to make my lolidrobe go even further?

Am I repeating myself when I say that I don’t really, actually need anything? Probably. Truth is, I can make perfectly varied coordinates with everything that I have right now. Anything I might be missing is either a small piece (potentially one that would only go with one dress) or is something I’ve been getting by without for long enough. My heart wants more shoes, but that’s not a viable option until I have more storage space.

As it stands I guess the most important thing that could make my lolidrobe go further would be to complete all the replacements I identified in my wish/need/replace list. Having access to better versions of the pieces I already have/had would mean that I’d actually wear and use them, opening up actual cording possibilities.

Other than that, the list remains mostly unchanged from before, so to recap:

• A classic/gothic hair accessory in navy
• A gothic appropriate hair accessory
• A neutral sax bag
• A neutral navy bag

Current wishlist

While the bulk of it remains largely unchanged, I have managed to make a few dents in it. On the other hand, before my trip I started making a list of pieces that I wouldn’t mind owning if I found them at a reasonable price whilst in Japan. These aren’t necessarily strict wishlist additions, many probably won’t stick around for long and I don’t necessarily intend to search for these (certainly not in the same way as I search for the other pieces). But for the sake of honesty I will include what was on that list here as a separate photo.

Some slightly less expected additions, as well as some much needed ticked off items.

New Year’s goals: progress summary

The big question is: did I or did I not manage to stick to my goals? Let’s find out!

1. Did I wait a minimum of 48 hours before purchasing something outside of my wishlist (not including Japan): Yes.
2. Did I buy anything outside of my wish/need/replace list prior to going to Japan: Yes. See below for details.
3. Did I do a wardrobe cull: Yes and no. I have put things up for sale and managed to get rid of some bits, but not everything. So I am still doing the wardrobe cull. If you’re interested, check out my Lacemarket listings.
4. Did I learn how to crop cardigans: No, not yet. Life’s been too busy before Japan, I need to make some down time.
5. Did I wear lolita at least once while in Japan: Yes, three times actually. Check out the outfits here, if you haven’t already.
6. Did I take part in 1 outfit prompt challenge: No, not yet.

Fewer goals mean fewer things to review. That was nice and breezy!

Now, as for goal no 2: it all started with that gold Lady Sloth blouse. I have actually been looking for a gold blouse for maybe 2-3 years, however, as I didn’t anticipate to find one, I never put it on this blog’s wishlist. And then that pre-Japan haul happened (combined with the ‘no-one knows what will happen with Brexit, let’s just have nice things now before that gets screwed up too!’). I think that overall the no-buy outside my list idea was good. Combined with the 48-hour wait before buying it meant that I stuck to meaningful spending and purchased things I felt I had genuine need and/or want for. However, the second hand lolita market can be a fickle creature and it’s not always possible to predict what will come up for sale or what will be around long enough to get it later. Had I known that some things I thought were easy-buys wouldn’t be there (like the white long sleeve Peter Pan collar blouse) and some would totally be a thing despite me losing hope on them (like a gold blouse), I probably would’ve adjusted that list accordingly. Overall: I have failed at that goal, yet don’t feel like I’d done too badly and it was a great learning experience.

And on that note let’s end this review. I hope that you haven’t abandoned your 2019 lolita goals/resolutions yet and that you’ve had a good first quarter of the year!