All That Glitters is not Gold

The Bibliotheca bloggers have picked Glitter as our theme for this round of posts and I admit, I too considered writing something around the sparkly tights I have from Snag that remain unworn or the pretty trinkets that my magpie instincts have accumulated over the years. I am not immune to the enthralling sparkliness of glitter and I too could spend an eternity staring at the way it reflects light. Yet the saying is true: all that glitters is not gold. Shiny, brand new items are not all that lolita fashion is about. Some of the most worthwhile aspects of this fashion are some of the least glitzy ones and I’d like to dedicate this post to giving them a bit of spotlight.

Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com

The Togetherness During Challenges

It sounds really grand and like lolitas are out there doing disaster relief (some might, but I sincerely doubt they do it in frills!). But for every person out there who went to a big meet, a tea party, a con or a big event, there are dozens of unsung heroes behind the scenes. At TQiD, my friends staying over or just dropping by to say hello didn’t have to do any of the work, they were attendees like everyone else who bought a ticket – but they chose to join me for the setup and made the work lighter by extension. At the Big Northern Bring and Buy the people who weren’t volunteers didn’t have to stay behind to help with the cleanup – but they did so anyway. Whenever a challenge comes up for our comm, be it another wannabe intruder or just someone at risk of not making it home because of public transport delays, lolitas will band together and do the right thing, unprompted. The lolita community isn’t just a bunch of folks in frilly dresses having a nice time. They are a literal gold acting for the betterment of the whole community and not just its individual members. 

The goodie bags do not assemble themselves and many hands make light work.

The Quiet Between Occasions

Meetups are great to attend. I love going to them and I love organising them. But people who don’t interact with the fashion and/or the community at all in between the organised activities… well, I’m not even sure if they exist, to be honest. Because whether we chat with others in the lolita community through the various social means or on our own, browsing Instagram, YouTube, sales listings or magazines, we all do something in between the meetups, even if we can’t (or don’t want to) dress up. And there’s a real sense of connection in those quiet times, at least to me. Our love for the fashion has time to deepen as we discuss the latest release with others on Discord or do a deep dive into wardrobe posts or magazine archives. This can be as slow and ceremonious or as intense and rapid as suits the individual, and it can really fire up those creative juices that get coord ideas going or the anticipation of an upcoming meetup. It’s not a very metaphorically glittering time, since so many of us, when we’re not in lolita, are dressed in whatever is comfortable or required of us, but without that downtime we wouldn’t have had the time to reflect on our coords to make the next one better.

Browsing through media whilst in your pyjamas still makes you feel connected to the fashion.

The Tenderness In Care

One of the aspects that we not only love about lolita fashion, but that draws many people towards it for the long haul. Quality clothing is durable, but not indestructible and taking care of it doesn’t have to be a chore. We can choose to view the caring and mending as a way to appreciate the garments we own and find new details, as well as extend their lifespan. Sure, it is annoying when a waist tie button pops off because it was held together by a prayer, but how nice is it knowing that now it will stay securely on for years? And how good does the fabric feel between your fingers, the sound of thread going through it a satisfying murmur? You can practically feel yourself becoming Momoko as she’s in the midst of an embroidery frenzy. Even beyond maintenance that supports garment longevity, a simple bit of ironing or steaming can get you so familiar with a piece that you thought you knew inside out. I sure as hell have had my share of discovering pockets in dresses I owned for years because I finally bothered to iron them properly. And being up and personal with a garment steamer means that small details that disappear in the big picture come into focus. Sometimes those details might even be literal glitter on the print. But more often than not, they’re elements that don’t sparkle bright unless you know where to shine the light.

To fix a hole you have to get very up close and personal with the garment. And that allows you to appreciate more details about it. Photo by Eduard Kalesnik on Pexels.com

This post got a touch metaphorical at times and turned towards the meditative, but the point of it is that even something as loud and gaudy (affectionate) as lolita fashion is still full of loveliness that isn’t immediately obvious, that has to be experienced in order to be appreciated. All that glitters is not gold, after all.

If you’ve enjoyed my somewhat loose interpretation of the theme, but hope for something actually glittery, then make sure to subscribe to the Bibliotheca mailing list. There are plenty of J-fashion bloggers whose content will arrive straight into your inbox about once a month or two, and someone else is bound to get all sparkly for the holiday season – right in time to enjoy during that end of year downtime that I hope we will all get to enjoy this year.