This is a blog entry of my lolita-related thoughts on this year. To view the photo post of my full wardrobe please click here:
If you'd like to see all of my coord photos over the past year(s), check out my instagram
2022 was a really good year for me!
I was able to get back into a lot of my hobbies and made a lot of amazing friends (both in and out of the fashion), and while unrelated to lolita the best thing that happened this year was, I got a bunny! Her name is Strawberry Oatmeal, I love her so so much and she makes me so happy. We've been bonding over the past half year, she's a bit shy but both sweet and sassy once she warms up to you (depending on how many treats you give her lol). Bunnies are my absolute favorite animals, so being able to care for my own and have her hopping around the apartment is a dream come true!
BTSSB My Friend Usakumya Judy JSK (2009) in Pink 
BTSSB Unico in Bloomland Scallop JSK (2011) in Ivory
AP Candy Sprinkle Special Set JSK+KC (2013) in Pink IW Strawberry Field Animals JSK (2008) in Red
BTSSB Heart Marguerite JSK I (2017) in Pink IW Chelsea JSK in Mint (2009)
AP Dramatic Rose special set JSK (2015) in Ivory BTSSB Sweet Cherry and Berry JSK and Head Bow Set (2013) in Pink
IW London Bear High Waist JSK (2012) in Brown BTSSB Maryne Sailor OP (2012) in Sax
IW Standing Collar Tartan Check OP (2011) in Brown
Metamorphose Sweet Shooting Star Frill Skirt (2015) BTSSB Kitty Kitty Rhapsody Apron Skirt (2012) in ‘Ragdoll’
IW Classic Angels Tiered Skirt (2007) in WhitexNavy AP Floral Shantung Back Frill Skirt (2006) in Pink
BTSSB Be My Valentine Princess Blouse (2016) in Sax Lucky Dipper Strawberry Blouse
IW Classical Angels Headdress (2007) in WhitexNavy AP Lovely Ladder Lace Headdress (2022) in Red
K3S Pink Rectangle Headdress (2022) K3S Black Rectangle Headdress (2022)
Pink Bunny Ears (2022) AP Lovely Marguerite Combs (2016) in Mint
AP Strawberry Strawberry Socks (2005) in White Metamorphose Lucky Pack Socks (Summer 2017) in Pink
Metamorphose Tyrolean Ribbon OTKs (2016) in Beige AP Whip Cherry Berry OTKs (2010) in Mint
Pink Gingham Wristcuffs (2022)
K3S Blue Pocket
AP Fancy Lyrical Bunny Ring (2013) in Pink
Plaid Scottie Skirt (patterned off Meta frill skirt) Christmas Scottie Bloomers (self drafted)
Yellow Tiered Button-Up JSK (patterned off a Meta JSK)
I made up for not really buying lolita the last two years I guess, haha. There's a couple factors to this- the yen was really low for a few months, I'm not a college student and have a full time job, and I got a couple things as gifts. But overall, the average I paid for a dress was $68 this year. We love budget lolita :)
I got a ton of BTSSB pieces- all of my Baby dresses are actually ones I bought this year! I think it's a sign my style is moving more oldschool-classic sweet than ott sweet, as Baby tends to lend itself to more casual coordinates easily. AP prints tend to be a very 'kawaii' art style, while Baby has more of a 'storybook' style in my opinion. And while my favorite prints are all AP (the bunny prints lol) I haven't really been liking their newer prints as much, so I find myself more drawn to the gentler art style Baby has.
Also, I really appreciate all the detachable/adjustable details on Baby pieces. collars, bows, waist ties, and neck ribbons all tend to be removable and it helps so much in making pieces more versatile and letting you make more coords from one piece. It's why I've started preferring JSK's lately, and I've also started cutting off the huge waist bows on my other dresses and making them into clips- it makes it possible to layer pieces, which is something I've been wanting to do more lately.
One of the coolest things this year (in my opinion)- I actually made my own lolita pieces for the first time!
I'm super proud of myself for finally making my own clothes that aren't costumes, I have a ton of plans now for things I want to make and I'm building up my cute vintage fabric stash, can't wait to see what my handmade section looks like next year.
I think my favorite new pieces are the IW Chelsea JSK, Heart Marguerite, and Sweet Shooting Star skirt, and also the Tyrolean Ribbon socks haha. I've had the Sweet Shooting Star OTK's for a few years now so being able to finally get the skirt in the colorway I wanted was amazing, I really love cute pastel moon/star/cloud type sky prints so I've been wearing this a ton in daily casual wear (although I don't think I have a ton of coord photos of it?)
The Chelsea JSK and Tyrolean Ribbon OTKs are just great classic wardrobe staples. I've been leaning a lot more classic/oldschool with my wardrobe over the past year, since I just find it a lot more comfortable and easy to style for daily wear. OTT sweet is still a style I really love, and I like to wear that for meet-ups with my friends and photoshoots and such, but it just gets so much more attention when you're out and about and I'm usually too anxious to deal with that.
I've gotten so many rectangle headdresses over this year, I was definitely not expecting to like them this much but they're my absolute favorite now. I picked the red one up in Paris this summer and I think it's the one headdress I've been wearing the most this year, it just goes with so many things!! The pink and black ones were made for me by my friend Chizukekihime, she owns her own lolita accessory shop called KiraKiraKawaii Shoppe (or K3S) and I love them so much- I got to pick out all the lace and ribbon with her and I love the small floral details.
Also, fun fact: the Meta kimono hair bow combs on my headwear page- I didn't add them here, but last year when I did my wardrobe photos I only had one comb, because I tragically lost the other one out in the apple orchard. This year, I found one comb for sale on Wunderwelt. The exact same print. It's a two-comb set, yet they were only selling the one... either my lost comb fell through a wormhole, or some other lolita also happened to lose the same comb I did and sold the remainder to WW. Bizarre. I'm so happy to have a matching set though again!
Paradiso actually happened!! And then they announced it was the last Paradiso... oof.
Overall, I really loved the experience. I got to attend with a couple of my friends, and I think that being able to hang out with them and share a room was a huge part of what made the experience so enjoyable. Being able to shop so many lolita vendors in person was also really great (I seriously expanded my pin collection and got a couple neant glass pieces!), and I absolutely loved the performance by 3F.
I think compared to the other convention I usually go to- TeslaCon- you could tell it wasn't the best planned, but overall I think it was fine. If they ever bring it back I'd like to go again. I want to make a longer blog post about it, so I won't add too many details here though.
I went to the Ren Faire in lolita again, I wore my new IW Forest Animals JSK. I really love this coord, I did a lot of similar 'country' style coords this summer/fall and there's just something about it I love. I'm also really inspired by traditional Russian/Slavic clothing, it's what I grew up seeing in storybooks and movies so it gives me that nostalgic, fairytale feeling. The bright reds and braids are mostly how I was able to bring it out this year, but I'd love to do more headscarves and stuff next summer, and someday I'd love to make my own blouse with traditional Slavic embroidery- I find it so beautiful but embroidery is really time consuming so we'll see.
I took a couple trips this summer- both in July, actually. I went with my family and some of our family friends to Mt Olympus National Park, and then my dad and I took a trip to Europe (France, Germany, and Austria).
Lolita has been pretty much my daily wear this past year so I naturally brought it with me on my trips.
I had a blast wearing lolita in the woods and around different castles! (No, I didn't hike the mountain in lolita, but I did wear my dresses in some of the forests for cool fairytale-like photos). It wasn't too hot actually while I was in Europe which was a relief- I'm used to a very humid heat where I live, so the dry heat was actually much more manageable for me. Lots of sunscreen, water, and trying to stay in the shade helped. (Also, I didn't wear a petticoat- it's too much to pack on a trip for me lol so that helps with heat!)
In Paris, I got to go to an Angelic Pretty event! They were showing an early preview of their autumn collection, and had desserts and drinks and party favors as well for us. There was actually a kind of embarassing moment when I was going to enter... I was wearing an oldschool AP non-print dress, because it's what matched best with the rest of my vacation wardrobe, and the girl at the door stopped me because she thought I wasn't wearing AP lol. Anyway I was really nervous after that so all my photos turned out super awkward... hopefully I get to come back and have a smoother experience! But the event itself was pretty cool, the new collection was really cute. I loved the bunny set and new bunny game controller jewelry, and the plaid dresses with heart cut-outs in the skirt. I feel like the laundry series is kinda cute (I want the bunny detergent as a real thing...) but tbh it's too out there of a theme for me- there aren't really any events I can think to wear it at, or any of my jewelry that matches it. I do think the laundromat or laundry aisle photoshoots are really cute, but I wouldn't buy a dress just for that. I'm glad they're doing something different though!
I had an awesome time chatting with the lolitas at the event however, and ended up hanging out with a couple girls for the rest of the day after. That was one of my favorite memories from the trip, getting to meet other lolitas!
A few of my favorite coord photos from this year:
I love the lighting in the photos with sunbeams or the neon photos at night, and I've been trying to do more different poses that are more interesting. I want to do more dedicated photoshoots, though- one of my favorite photos I've ever taken is when I recreated the 'Ophelia' painting by Millais, and I would love to do more projects like that. I love taking photos out in nature either way, it's one of my favorite things.
Last year I was wanting to go to more events, wear lolita as a daily fashion, travel- and also get more pieces in yellow, blouses, and hopefully wear my museum dress again. I'm really happy to be able to say that I was able to do all that and more! I'm so happy with the lolita pieces I'm sewing too, and I wear lolita way more often now so I feel I'm really able to get a lot more creative with my coordinates.
For my wardrobe- I am, still, in need of more blouses. And new shoes... my pink tea parties are really worn out! I have a lot of things I want to make for myself though, so that's something I'm really looking forward to. I've been thinking a lot too and I think I want to sell my Salon de The Rose OP, honestly it's just not versatile enough to keep it around. I've been really way more into JSK's than OP's for the versatility (for the most part) and a hime-sleeve OP especially only lends itself to coordinating one way. Ideally I want to trade it for the same color JSK, because I do really love the print- but I just can't really come up with a new way to wear it. I think I'll do a nice photoshoot this summer as a last send off for it, I want to wear it one last time, and then I'll be putting it up for sale/trade. There are some dresses like the Pompadour OP I feel are worth owning with the hime sleeves but this just isn't quite there for me.
I really want to do more interesting photography, I feel like I've been able to do that a litte bit this year but still not as much as I'd like. I have ideas for photoshoots, I just haven't been implementing them as much, I think. I'm also awful about actually posting photos I take to instagram, but I really enjoy taking them and getting more creative with poses and such. I just want to be able to do something more 'artistic' I guess than the basic lolita poses and coord pics. I've been trying to push myself in that way and I do think I'm able to take more interesting photos now, even if sometimes they don't work out and I end up posting the more basic kind instead haha.
