End of 2019 Lolidrobe Reassessment Post

This year has been quite eventful. I’ve gone from one lifestyle to another, had to readjust my life accordingly and frilled intensely basically every chance in between that I got. And despite some genuinely ugh bits, it was a very positive experience overall. At least as far as lolita fashion is concerned.

Overview of Purchases

2019 somehow ended up being the year when I couldn’t resist impulse purchases as well as in the past, whilst also going from ‘I have basically all my wage to spend on frills’ to ‘bills before frills’. As always, I list everything that I’ve purchased this year and items bought between now and the previous reassessment post are listed in brackets.

• 10 main pieces (1 Classic JSK in green*)
• 11 tops (1 Classic princess sleeve in navy, 1 Classic high neck in navy)
• 4 cardigans/boleros
• 1 jacket
• 13 pairs of socks/tights (1 pair of Classic tights in sax, 1 pair of Gothic tights in navy, 1 pair of Classic tights in lavender*, 1 pair of Classic tights in ivory x red*)
• 4 pairs of shoes
• 1 underskirt
• 5 wigs
• and 36 sets of accessories (1 Classic necklace in blue, 1 Classic brooch in gold, 1 Sweet brooch in deep pink)

As I already mentioned, this year I haven’t been so good at avoiding impulse purchases as in the years before. Having said this, majority of my impulse buys were with smaller things rather than with main pieces, which always helps, however little. Moreover, this year I’ve also sold more things than I have in the past, having both replaced certain items and decided that others weren’t for me anymore. In the grand scheme of things it probably hasn’t alleviated the above spending as much, though hopefully made it that little bit more meaningful.  And looking at the list of bits I’ve replaced or wish and need lists items I was able to obtain does make me feel a bit better. But more on that as we go on. The above is a total of 85 pieces bought over the course of 2019, which is just one more than last year. Considering that this year included a trip to Japan, as well as my sudden impulse buying, this ain’t that bad, actually. It could’ve been much worse.

The Year of Moving

Whilst this isn’t strictly lolita related, it has had an undeniable impact on that part of my life. I have moved out of my parents’ place and into my own, after what feels like an incredibly long time. When it comes to lolita fashion, this means that I have much more storage space for my frills – not as much as I’d love in an ideal world, but enough. I’m also able to frill casually, such as around the house, a lot more often as I no longer have to worry about my parents’ smoking affecting my clothes. On the other hand, my move has put me in an interesting position as a Leeds comm admin who’s not that near Leeds anymore. I have no plans of becoming a mod for CLAM, although I will happily host meets for both comms. My heart is unquestionably in Yorkshire and with the Yorkshire comms, so I guess my commuting to meets hasn’t really changed that much from what it was previously. Although I’m also much nearer to a much better connected airport, as well as in a city with better rail connections, which opens up a whole lot of possibilities for travelling further for events and just to see friends. And you can be sure that my 2020 social calendar is already filling up with both of those!

The Year of Lookbooks

Doing the Around Your Wardrobe in 30 Coordinates challenge the way I had envisioned from the beginning has been super fun, even if heavily involved. And I am immensely enjoying doing those short videos! They allow me to channel my creativity in a different way than I had before and show off complete looks, not just the clothes. Truth be told, I have more ideas for those videos than I’m currently able or have the courage to channel and it’d be great if in 2020 I could expand on that at least a tny bit. If it wasn’t for a full-time job, I’d probably be done with all 30 prompts way sooner, but alas, the sacrifices demanded by adult life are cruel. One video a month, some of which require basically as much getting ready as attending a fancy event, is a lot already, so I’ll take my one video a month as a success and won’t complain.

So far I have done 8 prompts. And it's nice how on this collage they managed to split evenly between those I did in my old room and those at my new place.

The Year of Hosting Meetups

Only after stopping to think about it I realised that in 2019 I organised 6 meetups – that’s a personal record. And of those six, half were on the bigger side: co-hosting Summer ILD, hosting Winter ILD and the OT-Tea Party. If I were to add hosting the Doki Doki panel and fashion show to this, even though I can’t claim full credit for organising those, that pushes it to some truly astonishing personal achievement. Every time people thank me for the meetups, I respond with “It’s my pleasure” – because that’s the most honest response for me, it’s only convenient that it’s also pretty humble. I enjoy putting together meetups and providing something fun for my comms to do. So although my plans for next year already involve attending a lot of things, I will also make sure to host some too.

The Year of Style Expansion

This year I have tried (and documented) more new looks. From expanding on my gothic side and giving ouji a more proper outing to exploring the world of wa and joining #teamroland, it’s been quite a ride. You could even add a tentative trying of longer length dresses thanks to the beautiful Triple Fortune gown I modelled in (which prompted my buying a longer JSK, welp!). Hats are aother thing that is really growing on me and I’d love to expand my collection of them (berets as well as vintage hats). And green! I am loving the green pieces in my wardrobe so effing much and wish I had more, though I am very picky about shades and that’s simply not being delivered by the lolita fashion designers. Even when we think we know what we like, it’s good to try something new. Worst case scenario is that it won’t work and you’ll know not to get it again. It’s important to keep your mind open and no doubts that next year I’ll continue trying new things when an opportunity arises. I’m excited to see what things to try life will throw my way.

Would I ever have dared to buy a long lolita dress if I hadn't modelled this?
Probably not. Thank you, Triple Fortune, for the wonderful opportunity to
expand my horizons.
Photo by Stephan de Swart.

The Year of Style Confusion

On the one hand I know that I’ve been gradually (if unconsciously) distancing myself from sweet lolita and going more classic. On the other – I enjoy having the variety that I currently have way too much to want to give it up entirely. Sometimes I look at my past outfits and find myself most drawn to the tricolour retro-inspired ones and the classic ones. And then something comes across that either reminds me of why I love sweet or that makes me want to expand my collection with yet another different thing. So I keep toing and froing between wanting to streamline my wardrobe and wanting to keep it the inclusive ‘bits of everything’ treasure trove that it is. And believe you me, the toing and froing has been quite active and pretty intense! My wardrobe cull and the replacements/additions from the need list have been instrumental in ensuring that even with so many different themes and colours I still have a variety of coord options. Though will I ever settle on one or the other? We might never know, so let’s enjoy the ride for now.

Review of 2019 Goals

This was certainly an interesting year for goals, to say the least.

1. Did I wait a minimum of 48 hours before purchasing something outside of my wishlist: This one was a no on 2 out of 4 of these reassessment posts. Which probably is not the worst track record, but compared to previous years when I’ve been much better at controlling those impulses, it does feel like a shortfall. It certainly gives me something to think about and you’ll learn more about the how in my 2020 goals post soon.
2. Did I buy anything outside of my wish/need/replace list prior to going to Japan: Yes. See post 2019.1 for more details.
3. Did I do a wardrobe cull: Yes. It may have taken a bit of time and patience to sell all the things that I wanted to get rid of, but it was worth it. Moreover, I was able to let go of a few pieces that weren’t part of that original cull list, which is not a bad achievement.
4. Did I learn how to crop cardigans: No and halfway through the year I decided to not pursue this goal any longer. Part of this was due to just pure laziness on my part, whilst part was more to do with my needs shifting a little bit.
5. Did I wear lolita at least once while in Japan: Yes, more in the 2019.1 post.
6. Did I take part in 1 outfit prompt challenge: Yes. This challenge is still ongoing and though at times it was hard to keep up with the demands I set myself, I’m very proud to say that so far I’ve managed to keep up with it and do one post a month for it. If I manage to keep this schedule up, then we’ll get to the last prompt in October 2021. That seems like a long time away, so let’s make it worth the wait! You can see all of my posts in that challenge by clicking here.

This year the final reassessment post falls exactly on New Year’s Eve. I have thought very carefully about what could I possibly wish you that would be meaningful and not just simple pleasantries. And I think that regardless of what 2020 may bring to us all or what we may want to do with that time, I wish you that lolita fashion continues to spark some joy for you. And if it so happens that it doesn’t anymore – that you find something else that does. Let’s start the New Roaring Twenties (the Rawring Twenties?) with things that spark joy for us.

Happy New Year, everyone!

2nd Half Year in Coords

As I’ve done a review of the first half of 2019 through my lolita outfits, it’s only fair to look at the second half too. I remember it being very fun to do last time, so let’s do it again!

Coords from July to September.

Coords from September to November.

Coords from November to December.

Last two coords from December 2019.

These are all the outfits I’ve documented between July and now, excluding most of those from the Around Your Wardrobe in 30 Coordinates challenge (since those were taken off as soon as I was done filming/photographing). There were bound to be some outfits that were so casual they didn’t even get a crappy mirror selfie, though those were probably straddling the line of what is and isn’t lolita.

The first thing that comes to my mind is that it’s more than what I had in the first half of the year. I have 29 documented outfits here compared to 24 then, which is noticeable. Whilst to an extent this is more to do with me being better at photographing what I wear, I think there is a grain of truth in that I have worn lolita more. On the one hand, the second half of the year is usually when I wear lolita more. Maybe it’s the cooler weather working with my style, maybe it’s that I do a lot more during that time, or maybe it’s because I suddenly realise that there are only six months of the year left and I barely wore what I own. Probably a combination of all of the above. On the other half, since moving to my own place I definitely have worn lolita out more than I did when living with my parents. My frills aren’t in anyone’s way now, I live in a (way) bigger city where I don’t feel so self-conscious for sticking out like a sore thumb and I can chill in my frills without worrying that they’ll stink of cigarette smoke. An all-round win.

I think there’s also an element here of the more I wear lolita, the less tiring it becomes. Wearing so many layers and generally putting more effort into my look than I would have on an average day will never cease to be tiring. However, both physically and emotionally I am more used to that sensation and it wears me out less. Lolita fashion is becoming my go-to look for most activities I do, from work to cinema trips, and my confidence and comfort level in it are only growing.

Now, speaking purely of the clothes that I wore in the last six months, the reds have finally had their time. My challenge to wear the Winter Spices skirt to work five times has significantly skewed this and I’m not mad at that. A whopping 11 coordinates from the second half of the year feature a main piece in some shade of red, while a further 3 have a prominent red coloured accent. Blues were relegated down to 6, whites/creams were at 9 and other colours at 3, with black, grey and green being worn once each. It’s a nice flip compared to the first half of the year. Whilst it certainly looks to be seasonally driven, as reds are great for both Christmas and for Halloween, I don’t think the season has much to do with my colour choices because whites and creams are a popular choice for me all year round. Have a fancy pie chart to illustrate that and compare it to the first half of the year.

I've added numbers to make this a little clearer.
Click to enlarge.

Though when it comes to substyles, seasons certainly seem to be having an influence there. Whilst in the first half of the year I have had plenty of sweeter coords, the second one feels more classic even despite all these festive outfits. The difference in actual numbers is much smaller than it was in the first half of the year, as boundaries between substyles (particularly sweet and classic) are sometimes quite blurred and outfits can feel more classic or more classic even when objectively they aren't. For the sake of clarity, I didn’t go into any further substyle breakdowns - wa lolita may be a substyle, but my wa looks are definitely more classic than sweet, so why complicate things? And I didn’t feel like making a whole ‘other’ category just for one ouji look, so I again shoved it into the wider style (since it was a classic ouji rather than a gothic or sweet one).

It's an interesting switch between the two halves of 2019.

 

Now, like I said, seasons likely play a part in this. Cooler months fit in with my outfit comfort zone as I like the look of outer layers like cardigans, boleros, jackets and, as I’ve now discovered, haori. Having said this, a lot of my sweeter looks in the first half of the year were worn in winter, in January and February. So weather probably isn’t as big a factor as colour and fabric choices may be. My red pieces are made out of heavier materials compared to the whites and the blues. And reds and darker colours are generally better suited to the latter half of the year when days become shorter.

Having said this, I’d like to break some of my pieces out of their seasonal rut. The good thing with my ‘last worn’ spreadsheet is that I can ensure that everything gets an outing. The downside to that is that, for example, if a piece is worn in January, it often won’t come back to the top of the spreadsheet until the following January. So unless something happens which calls for that specific piece at another time, it will get stuck in that season. This is something that I’d like to tackle a bit more consciously in the coming year. It can be good sometimes, for example, I’m quite glad that I was able to wear Diner Doll both in summer (DMC) and in winter (Stitch’n’Bitch), but I wouldn’t want it to be perpetually stuck to winter now. So I’ll have a look into how I could use my spreadsheet to tackle that.

Overall this year I managed to wear all of my main pieces bar two at least once. Whilst I expected myself to wear some of them more than once, like the skirts which I wear casually a lot, some pieces surprised me. Well, I say some pieces - the Meta Classical Sister OP in particular. When I was buying it, I knew that it would be comfortable and easy to wear, but I did not expect to wear it basically three times now (because despite taking the AYWi30C coord off pretty quickly, I actually managed to go out to the shop whilst still in it, so that counts as being worn, right?). For a collection of 42 pieces, to wear 40 in one year, with some getting several outings, is very good! It’d be great if in 2020 this could be a full circle, everything worn at least once, which doesn’t seem like so much of a stretch right now. Especially as the reasons why the last two dresses (Mary Magdalene’s Paulina JSK and Resailan’s Jewelry Box JSK) didn’t get worn are down to occasion - if I can simply create the occasion for them, the problem should be sorted. Although I realise that I’m throwing that out very lightly and no doubt reality will hit me in the face come next year.

There will be an official 2020 goals post coming in the New Year, so I won’t make any more resolutions now. What I said about wanting to break some dresses out of season-bound spots and to wear everything at least once during the year are more like things to aim for. If I can accomplish them, that’s great. If not - that’s alright too. Based on how things have been going so far, I am confident that next year I’ll do at least as well as I have this year. And as I’m toying with the idea of selling one or two more pieces, if it comes to that, the overall goal might become more manageable. So we’ll see how that goes.

In other words: 2019 was a great year for wearing lolita and many fab outfits were worn. Three of these have been absolute winners in my eyes, so I will leave you with my personal top 3 favourite coords from this year. Were they predictable or has any of these surprised you?

They're ordered like this for aesthetic reasons, although they may just about actually reflect the ranking, if there was one.

Stay tuned for one more reassessment post this year, as well as all the usual New Year’s extravaganza of posts.

5 Work Outfits for Christmas

When you work somewhere that’s pretty lenient on dress code, it’d be a shame to not at least try wearing lolita. Whilst I’m still pretty new to my office, everyone’s been very accepting and positive about my more casual otome and vintage-inspired looks. So how far could I take it? I decided to use December as an excuse to push things a little bit and experiment. On top of my challenge of wearing festive themed or inspired looks to work I decided to wear five lolita looks with Lady Sloth’s Winter Spices skirt.

Look 1: December 12th

| ARROW blouse | Angelic Pretty Twinkle Glitter Knit cardigan | Angelic Pretty Lovely Ribbon OTKs | Hush Puppies boots | offbrand boot toppers | Haruhi Clover headbow | Beckies Kawaii Charms ring | Sweet Dolly House ring | Claire’s earrings |

This was the first look that I did. By that point I had already worn these boots and toppers (and gotten lots of Miss Christmas comments from my co-workers), as well as been wearing that cardigan that week. It’s probably a little on the dressy side, yet somehow still seemed pretty chill. From this I learnt two things: that I love this headband for casual looks and that OTKs are ok for office jobs if I put them on upon arriving and over tights. Truth be told, I was a little hesitant about the headbow because I’d never worn such an obvious lolita accessory to work before. However, no-one even mentioned it, so my previous looks either desensitised the office to this or it was a minute enough detail in comparison. As for the OTKs, my usual problem is that they slide or roll down, which is awful when you’re walking to/from/at the meet. But even though these particular ones only just go over my knees, as I spend most of my day sitting, it really didn’t matter. Plus, this skirt is long enough to reach just a touch below my knees, so even if the socks slid down, it was hardly noticeable. Overall, I enjoyed this coord a lot, more than I anticipated. The lighter colours lifted this otherwise dark shade of red and the golds highlighted the honey bits of the print without making that orangey yellow too prominent. I feel like this is something I would absolutely re-wear.

Look 2: December 13th

| Angelic Pretty Logo Embroidered Turtleneck cutsew | Haenuli Secret Garden tights | Innocent World shoes | Lady Sloth Winter Spices necklace | Beckies Kawaii charms ring | Two Days Slow hair clips | offbrand beret | Claire’s earrings |

Damn, I knew I’d forget something! This coord was supposed to be the same as what I put together in the last reassessment post, but of course I forgot the Butterkeks brooch. And I kept thinking that something was missing. Oh well… Although I did wear the beret on my way to work, I wasn’t going to sit with it on inside the office, so for most of the day I only had the two bow clips that kept it attached to my head. I really wish that I had a nicer cardigan and some less themed shoes with this. They’re not major issues, but I feel like they’d make the coord more polished and a bit more me. Certainly compared to the previous outfit this was very much a laid back, casual territory. And that’s fine, that was a Friday, the week was long and I was very much just on a final countdown to breaking up for Christmas. It was nice to wear something less involved for a change. That day was also when the results of the UK General Election were announced. Whilst I can’t vote in those and my outfit idea was focused on being festive and working with the print, I’m not going to complain about accidentally showing off my political allegiance.

Look 3: December 16th

| Axes Femme blouse | Innocent World Origa OTKs | Sosic Shop heels | Mojiangxiaopu hair clip | Claire’s hair clip | Innocent World wrist cuffs | Twinkle Kitty Boutique rings | Beckie’s Kawaii Charms ring | Milkribbon Butterkeks brooch | vintage brooch | Claire’s ear stud | Axes Femme ear clips | offbrand necklace |

For this coordinate I wanted to play up all the browns in the print and it ended up a sort of chocolate look? My original idea for this look was brown socks and red shoes, but to be honest, I wasn’t feeling any of my red shoes for this. So I went with brown shoes instead and rather than try to match any of my red socks or tights, I opted for these socks with little pops of red in them. (Which, btw, Innocent World has in stock right now, so if you’ve been meaning to get something like this, now’s your chance!) I really like how this skirt looks with brown, there’s something quite comforting about this colour combination. The blouse cut is more on the classic side, although all the accessories managed to sweeten it up enough so as to not clash with the sweet print motifs. In the beginning I was a little self-conscious as I accessorised pretty sweetly and generously, even going for wrist cuffs (which help elongate the sleeves, as they hit just a touch short), but it’s actually been alright. Last week was the last week of teaching, so this week there were no students on campus and even the office has gradually gotten quieter and quieter. And no-one mentioned anything to me, so I assume it was fine. The bonus pic is to show that I was, in fact, wearing hair accessories. Clips over buns are great for casual wear, but less so for outfit pictures that showcase everything.

Look 4: December 17th

| Axes Femme cutsew | Cutie Creator headbow | Claire’s hair clip | Once Upon a Cookie Treat necklace | vintage brooch | Claire’s earrings | offbrand tights and shoes |

After going a bit more on Monday, I decided to keep Tuesday’s outfit more lowkey. And to save my energy, as the last week of work looked to be long and I had to choose my battles carefully. So whilst I could’ve easily spiced this outfit up with patterned legwear or my other Christmas jumper, or I could’ve tried something more outside the box with this skirt, there’s nothing wrong with a very casual outfit. Sometimes that’s just the one that you need. The gold collar on the cutsew is a nice little detail, which can pop a bit more when the rest of the outfit is kept simple. These velvet headbows from Cutie Creator are not only super cute, but also super unassuming, which makes them perfect for adding just a touch of cuteness to your day-to-day look. I could’ve easily worn that with a normie outfit and it wouldn’t draw much attention, but still added a spark of cute. What more can I say - this coord was primarily meant to be comfy and warm, and it delivered just that.

Look 5: December 18th

| offbrand cutsew | vintage cardigan | MuFish tights | Bodyline heels | Haruhi Clover headbow | After Midnight necklace | Twinkle Kitty Boutique rings | Claire’s earrings |

Our office-exclusive Christmas party fell on this day, so of course I had to amp up the festive vibes with this new-to-me vintage ugly Christmas jumper! I had actually been itching to wear it together with this skirt and must say that I’m pretty pleased with the result. Red and white is a classic Christmas colour combination, so there was little room to go wrong with it. Whilst I pondered whether to go a bit more out, since I was already wearing such a loud jumper, or whether to let that tacky jumper take centre stage, in the end I think I went with something in-between. I definitely could’ve played this up, for example by going with the red boots with fur toppers and a bigger headpiece. But I also could’ve completely downplayed it with just solid tights and a barette at the back of my head or something. This was enough to be a bit more festive and still office-appropriate. The jumper was certainly the star of the show and received some lovely compliments, which was really the point of this coord. If I were to wear this to an actual lolita meet rather than to the office, I’d use my Cutie Creator red x white headbow instead, done something fancier with my hair (or worn my short wig from Dalao Home) and put on more makeup than just blush and lipstick (at least an eyeliner too). But the fact that this outfit isn’t in fact that far away from what I’d do for a different occasion just goes to show that I have been wearing lolita to work, not just lolita-adjacent or inspired looks.

Final thoughts

Firstly, having done this mini-challenge I definitely will break the mold with my work outfits a bit more. Not very regularly, as this is still a bit more effort than I have energy for over extended periods of time, but certainly more so than I have now. With a little bit of advance planning it’s definitely possible, especially when you stick to the same main piece and don’t pressure yourself to always be original. Lolita fashion is something I do for myself, so while it was great that my colleagues appreciated and accepted my fashion choices, their validation isn’t why I do it. My main concern was being told that I don’t look professional enough for the office and to tone it down, but nothing like this happened, not even from those higher up. Whilst some of that may be due to people being more lenient at Christmas, it has encouraged me to try again at another time and see what happens.

Secondly, this mini-challenge will make the 1 Dress 4 Looks post with this skirt a Big Challenge. I feel like almost all the outfits that I already had in mind with it have been worn and showcased. Can I really create four more looks that are that different from what I’ve already done over that week? It won’t really affect how I actually wear the skirt because repeating outfits is both fun and practical (no having to think of what to wear). But for a blog I’d prefer to show something you may not have seen from me. This will certainly exercise my coordinating muscles and I am equally excited and scared.

Last but not least is a simple realisation that taking outfit shots after getting home was less of a hassle than I thought it would be, though it was still a minor disruption to my routine. For that week I kept my tripod out all the time, ready to be moved into position, attach my phone to it and snap away. However, having it out in the first place made me feel like my living room was messy. I prefer to keep my surroundings much more organised and clutter free than that, so it was not ideal. When I move again, I would love to have a space where the tripod could be permanently set up, just waiting to snap pictures, somewhere away from middle-of-the-room chillout areas. If I could have that then even though changing from my walking boots into the coordinate shoes felt like an extra thing to do, most of the times I managed it in between something else (e.g. while waiting for rice or pasta to cook). Knowing this might encourage me to take outfit photos of more casual looks more often. Might. First I do need some rest from working all that creative energy whilst also managing daily routine. That was as big an ask as I had anticipated it to be, so for most of the times I will probably stick to my crappy mirror selfies, if I do decide to document my outfits.

These are not the only times I’ve worn lolita to work during December, as you’ll know if you’ve followed my Instagram stories. However, those are the ones I made more effort to plan and photograph, as the others were put together the night before and snapped in one of the mirrors I now have available. If you missed them on the IG stories, then look out for the next blog post where they will be included in a big ol’ review of coords.

And as it’s Christmas Eve, let me take this opportunity to wish you all a fabulous Christmas, if you’re celebrating, and a peaceful time full of love and happiness if you’re not.