Lolidrobe Reassessment Post 2020.01

Wow, first reassessment of 2020, is it that time already? This year certainly kicked off with being eventful.

New additions

If I’m completely honest, one or two of these have happened just before or just after the end of 2019 (read: one before and one after). And then a lot of purchasing opportunities happened…

• 1 dress (Classic in wine)
• 1 ouji set (vest and shorts in black*)
• 4 blouses (1 Classic in white, 1 Classic in pink*, 1 Classic in wine and 1 Classic in white x red)
• 1 bag (Sweet-Classic in navy)
• and 11 accessories (2 navy berets, 1 Classic necklace in navy, 1 Classic ring in navy, 1 Classic custom headdress*, 2 Sweet navy x white bracelets, 1 Sweet navy x pearl choker, 1 Sweet necklace in sax x pink, 1 Sweet bubble headdress and 1 Classic headbow in pink)

 

Considering how my goals for 2020 are very much about curbing my spending and keeping it focused, this has not been a bad quarter. Pretty much every item here falls into my wish, need or replace category, these are items that make my collection more rounded and cohesive or ones that I have been after. The only exception is the white x red blouse, which is a special order for a dream coordinate I will debut in Brussels, and even then I’m sure I’ll find other uses for it. Bills before frills mentality combined with my resolution of spending on lolita from a very specific and strictly dedicated source has been quite psychologically challenging, as previously I could afford to be a lot less strict with myself about purchases. However, I’m hoping that this is more like the withdrawal phase for addicts (not that I ever was a shopaholic) and that if I persevere, a new habit will be born and I won’t feel like I’m denying myself something. This was a pretty roundabout metaphor, hopefully not too much so and I meant no offence by it – if you find yourself struggling with addictions of any sort, please, seek professional help.

Possible new looks

With new blouses come new possible looks. Granted, one of these is a replacement rather than an addition, so it means more comfortable versions of previous looks, but still. A versatile navy bag has been on my need list for like forever (to the point where I gave up on the idea and didn’t include it in this year’s list), but now that I have it I feel like it will make some of my outfits more complete. Though again, what makes the biggest difference here are the smallest pieces, those that are the hardest to see in a flatlay. Accessories can truly make or break an outfit, so finally having more jewellery options in navy, both sweet and classic, feels like I won’t be stuck with very samey-looking coordinates.

Gothic coord
| Haenuli Just One Bite JSK | Sentaro blouse | Innocent World Union Flag LameOTKs | Vivienne Westwood x Melissa Anglomania shoes | Pauline Rose headband |

Classic coord
| AatP Side Frill JSK | regional costume from Eastern Kraków blouse | Mufish tights |
Hush Puppies boots | After Midnight headbow | offbrand flower clips |

Sweet coord
| Song and Temple Fairytale Library skirt | offbrand cardigan | Angelic Pretty Twinkle
Star socks | offbrand shoes | offbrand beret | Chocomint star clip | handmade necklace
and bracelets | Innocent World Star Charm Bow pochette |

Replacement and need list progress

As you can see from my purchase list above, only one of the original four pieces is being replaced. So to avoid keeping this section too bare, I’m adding a review of my need list progress, since the two tie together fairly neatly, as well as a note on other wardrobe changes.

I am very happy to say that I was able to not only replace the pink headbow, but do so with a handmade item. It’s far from perfect, but it does the job and considering how it cost me about £2 in materials, roughly 40 minutes of time andvery careful looking at a Cutie Creator headbow I have to copy the design, I am more than please both with the result and with myself. This is absolutely reason to be proud of oneself and now that I see how simple this is, I may end up making more headbows like this? We’ll see.

Coincidentally, I also made an unexpected replacement. When buying the snowflake lace blouse from Lady Sloth, I couldn’t justify buying that whilst having that Soufflesong one and the Bodyline one in my collection. There isn’t any need for three very similar blouses in my wardrobe. However, as I wasn’t entirely happy with the Soufflesong blouse and had someone ready to grab it, it was an easy sale which allowed me to indulge in getting that snowflake lace. By the way, I used to think that once I got over carousels there were no motifs in lolita that I’d be a sucker for, but I’m realising now that I am, in fact, a complete sucker for snowflakes. Should I indulge in that more or, excuse the overused reference, let it go?

The state of the original 2020 replacement listas of April.

With replacements, things are quite simple: you either find a piece you like in place of a previous one or you don’t. Whereas with needs, as proven by my finding supposedly impossible to find navy blouses, you just have to look a bit more proactively. In the same order as my crafting supplies, after remembering that I have some pretty generic things, I also grabbed those berets (one to keep plain and one to decorate), a necklace, a ring (two actually, as they were cheap enough for me to indulge in getting two sizes in case one didn’t fit) and the red blouse (which I only caved in after seeing it in Lovely Lor’s video, where the colour looked like what I wanted). So now that I have this, I will try to get rid of the other blue necklace I bought which flopped, though that may do better at a bring and buy type of setting rather than online sales.

Unexpectedly, I was also able to purchase that navy bag, which is exactly what I was searching for: navy and neutral enough to work with both sweet and classic coordinates. It has genuinely been so long that I lost hope of ever finding a suitable bag and took it off my need list. Luckly, this one survived the 48 hour waiting period, so I was still able to grab it. Honestly, now that I look at that picture, I didn’t realise that I’d done quite so well with hunting those needs down. I guess that I will have to get less picky about bonnets, if I am to both find a wine one I like and replace that navy one.

The state of the original 2020 need list as of April.

Once I made the decision to sell that Soufflesong blouse, I also realised that it was time to let some other pieces go. The BtSSB Antique Ribbon shoes are cute, but they are too big for me. I wore them once and while it wasn’t too bad, that’s really not sensible and there will be other shoes I could get if I decide I still need something like them. So I sold those. And I also decided to sell my Sugar Bouquet JSK after all. We’ve had a good run, I got some cute coords out of it and it is very comfortable, but I don’t think the oldschool vibe to this floral is quite me. Someone else will love it more and I have plenty of other pieces that I’d rather focus on. There may be other things landing in the sale pile, as I gradually hone in on my style shifts and what I want from my wardrobe. Again though, these will be more ad hoc rather than pre-planned. 

Current wishlist

Minor changes, though nonetheless notable.

Wishlist up-to-date as of April 2020.
That green, navy and orange stick out like sore thumbs in this mostly red lineup.

 

Firstly, most importantly, I was able to buy my dream dress, Gold Braid Tuck Pinafore JSK. It was so elusive, I thought I’d never own it and then discovered like 6 different listings for it on Xianyu. It took all my willpower to wait until I got paid for a translation task I did, so that I could purchase it with that money instead, but it was worth every second of waiting and every penny spent on it. Xianyu has some amazing deals on it, they’re worth the effort spent familiarising yourself with the app and flicking between devices to Google Translate stuff. But I’ll talk more about the buying process another time.

Next is the removal of that Millefleurs blouse. Although it’s still gorgeous, the one I purchased from L’Esprit de la Noblesse is basically that but made out of mesh rather than georgette and lace. My heart might indulge the Millefleur one should I ever find it second hand at a reasonable price, but my practical side is not keen on the idea.

Thirdly, after much toing and froing, by complete chance I discovered that BtSSB’s Bless from Michael JSK had a special release in rich emerald green. This had to go on my wishlist, as it not only solves the dilemma I’ve had for years (wine or navy?), but also goes very well with my resolve to include more green in my wardrobe. It’s the perfect shade and if I can, I’d love to add it to my collection

And lastly, I once again removed Princess Cat from my wishlist – this time for good, I think. What tipped the scales for me was seeing a print closeup of it on social media, where I discovered that the cats have human manga eyes? Not only did it look slightly creepy for my taste, I’m not a particular fan of manga drawing style, to me it works best in context of stories and it’s not an art style I’d want on prints I wear. So it’s goodbye Princess Cat, I shall admire you from afar (as far as I’ll need to not see those eyes).

Now, if any of you who read Chinese might know what Meta’s Airline series was called in Chinese, maybe I can hunt this one down on Xianyu as well...

New Year’s goals: progress summary

With only four this year things should be much easier, right? This is the first moment of truth! 

1. Did I set up my PayPal for lolita and only make lolita purchases using cash stored in it: so far, mostly yes. There have been some challenges and temptations, as well as purchases that I simply had to make via other means. Mostly, however, I was able to avoid major slip ups and even when I had to pay with something else, I ensured that I could cover that with the cash in my PayPal. It was very difficult at times, as old habits die hard, but this feels like the right way forward and it’s getting easier as time goes on. Of course, I learnt the hard way that I didn’t really think about this goal in terms of lolita events, where I often buy with cash rather than PayPal, but then events got postponed, so I still have some time to figure that out.
2. Did I wait at least 48 hours before buying something from outside of my wishlist: Yes. The tracker sheet I set myself up was a good idea and I felt like it worked really well. I’ve not always been able to input everything there, such as items that aren’t strictly lolita (like Axes Femme). I will have to be better about adding things to that tracker, as otherwise there will be too many loopholes. Still, it’s been a big help in holding me accountable to my own goals,seeing how many things I’ve actually said no to is quite motivating and I want to keep using it as best as I can.
3. Have I prioritised events over purchases: I believe that I have, yes. Most of my purchases were either filling in wardrobe gaps or items for coords for specific events. Granted, then COVID-19 struck and 2/3 of my events were postponed,while meetups had to be cancelled. But since the intention to prioritise them was still fully there, I haven’t gone into a full-on shopping frenzy as soon as I heard about my events being postponed, I will still count that goal as a yes. I’m still looking into both organising meetups and attending some events when I can, keeping tabs on wat might be happening later in the year, so fingers crossed those will be allowed to happen!
4. Did I organise another Man Meet and OT-Tea Party: not yet. For practical reasons, I moved OT-Tea to December 5th, this year’s Winter ILD, so now it can be a bigger event. As that is more involved, I’ve dedicated it much more attention than I have to Man Meet. Although the event is set up and activity decided, we’re only waiting on confirmation if we’ll be allowed to play outside by then. It’s mid-May, so it could still happen – and if it does, lads on tour will take on a whole new meaning, especially as Man Meet was planned to be a pub meet

Looking at the goals above and how I did with them, there definitely is a difference between the spending-related goals and the non-spending ones, even without lockdown interfering with everything. Getting used to my new self-imposed rules was tough. Though I say ‘was’ – it still is and I’m fully aware that this will be something to continuously work on. While on a logical level I do feel that this will be a change for the better and will lead to truly meaningful purchases rather than the impulse buys, it is hard to stop myself from buying every little thing. On the other hand, the non-spending goals, whilst simple, have kept me excited about the fashion and actually helps me realise what I want to keep. Since the beginning of the year I have sold a few more items as I realised that they no longer spark joy or that I put off wearing them due to poor fit. This not only provided me with a bit of extra spending money, but also kept up the spark of excitement about what I own. Together with my ‘last worn’ spreadsheet helping me cycle through everything fairly, I have been excited by the outfits I’ve worn. This is what the fashion is about for me: wearing the clothes that make you happy and doing so with other people who feel the same.

How has winter treated you so far? We’re firmly in spring now, even the British Isles seem to have gotten the memo about weather. But of course, now we’re in lockdown. I want to dress in lighter layers and go to picnics, dammit!