This is a blog entry of my lolita-related thoughts on this year, along with new items purchased/made. To view photos 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. I've also been on tumblr a lot more lately so you can find me there as well!
2023 was a difficult year personally but with my lolita/other fashion stuff everything was great- I think I'm finding my style more each year. I'm really getting more into oldschool lolita, and I've been doing a lot more with historical fashion too which has been super fun. I went on a Europe trip and wore lolita again this year, and I got to go to the Ren Faire a ton and had a lot of picnics and interesting photoshoots with my friends!
I feel like my style is still changing but I'm getting more sure of what I want. Since I wear lolita more as my daily fashion now, I prefer more wearable styles like classic and oldschool- you just can't really exist in public in an OTT sweet coord without everyone bothering you, and it's just not a style conducive to casual coords or trips (I travel with lolita as well, and I also tend to go out of town about once a month to visit my family so I live out of a suitcase a lot more than most people I think). My key for my wardrobe this year was versatility; I want to have pieces that I can wear in many different coords, that harmonize with a lot of other pieces in my wardrobe, and can be worn in different styles, casually or dressed up, etc. I love items with detachable pieces and JSKs for this reason (and plain colored OP's that I can wear under a lot of dresses as well as on their own). I think that's why I've gravitated more towards Baby as well- they tend to make more classic, versatile pieces, and have a lot of detachable parts that I love. Oldschool I feel like has an emphasis on quality and wearability rather than just looking fancy. A lot of older pieces tend to be cotton as well- I prefer the feel of cotton and the breathability. The summers can get really hot and humid where I live (and getting hotter every year...), so anything poly is unwearable for a big chunk of the year for me so I try to just not buy it at all.
The motifs that are found the most in my wardrobe are bunnies, strawberries, and ideally both in the same piece... 6 out of 17 main pieces and 11 out of 23 other items I bought this year have bunnies or strawberries on them (or both!) That's 42.5% of everything I bought! 0.0
I'm also participating more in different online spaces- I'm really not on instagram as much anymore, and instead I've been posting a lot more to tumblr and trying to work on this site more. I've been editing my wardrobe photos to be transparent, and I'm working on adding more blog posts and some other stuff that I'm hoping to learn how to code this coming year! (This is also why it took me so long to make this post...)
I've acquired a lot more oldschool and classic items I'm really happy with; while AP still makes up a majority of my main pieces, I bought mostly Baby items this year- 7 Baby dresses, a skirt, and a bunch of accessories/bags/novelties. Innocent World makes up most of the rest, with one dress, three skirts, and a lot of accessories/novelties. I also got my first Victorian Maiden pieces! I really like them, I feel like the open-front dresses are super versatile. I didn't sew as many new things this year as last year, but I still did a lot of crafting and I was focused a lot on historical fashion stuff as well- I joined my local SCA chapter and went to a couple meetings/events with them, and went to the Rennaissance Faire a bunch with my friends this summer too.
I feel overall like I've been a lot more creative in my coordinates this year, and while I've been doing a lot more casual coords I generally feel more comfortable with lolita as my daily wear. I got to take a lot of interesting photos this year I'm really happy with too!
Lots of bunnies and strawberry items here! I was looking too for more neutral colors, and generally Baby/Innocent World stuff, especially from pre-2010. It's really hard to pick a favorite- Ribbon Berry Bunny and Peter Rabbit were two long-time dream pieces I finally checked off my wishlist, while Snow Strawberry, Snow White, Alice in Sleep Kingdom, and Gingham Rose Ribbon are pieces I hadn't really seen much before but I really love them. I also got the Chelsea skirt in pink since I have the JSK in Mint- it's such a gorgeous print I'd be happy to collect it in more colors. The JSK is one of my favorite dresses and I can see the skirt being a favorite too! A lot of these are more spring/summer pieces that I bought after the weather had cooled down already, so I'm looking forward to wearing them more in the coming year.
BTSSB Milk-Chan and Snow Strawberry Babydoll JSK (2010) in Red 
AP Ribbon Berry Bunny OP (2017) in Yellow
BTSSB Classical Rose Bouquet JSK (2010) in Off-White IW Fairy Tale Square Neck JSK (2015) in
Green x Chocolat
Meta Floral Print Open Front JSK (2011) in Pink BTSSB Milk-Chan and Snow Strawberry Ribbon JSK (2010)
BTSSB Alice in Sleep Kingdom JSK (2006) in Pink VM Henrietta Blouse OP (2011) in Navy
VM Ophelia Ribbon OP (2005) in Rose BTSSB Rosine Garden OP (2017) in Green
BTSSB Innocent Berry’s JSK (2011) in White BTSSB Gingham Rose Ribbon OP
(2007) in Red
IW The Tale of Peter Rabbit Skirt (2014) in Sax AP Twinkle Ornament Skirt (2010) in Pink
BTSSB Snow White Print Skirt (2004) in Red IW Rose Embroidered Skirt (2005) in Pink
IW Chelsea Skirt in Pink (2009)
Both of my Milk-chan dresses and Sleeping Alice came with the matching headbow, and I picked up a couple others I found for a decent price. I actually don't have a lot that matches Cherry Ribbon, but I really like the print and want to get the skirt eventually too to complete the set. The other red rectangle headdress was a free gift when I bought a pair of socks, so I don't know where it's from. I love rectangle headdresses though and there's a lot of red in my wardrobe so I'm happy to keep it :)
BTSSB Milk-Chan and Snow Strawberry Head Bow (2010) in Red BTSSB Cherry Ribbon Print Headband (2008) in Sax
BTSSB Milk-Chan and Snow Strawberry Head Bow (2010) in Pink BTSSB Love Love Berries Ribbon Headbow (2013) in Pink
Red Rectangle Headdress (unknown) BTSSB Alice in Sleep Kingdom Headbow (2006) in Pink
I bought most of my socks new this year- finally got the oldschool staple raschel lace knee socks, and I checked on the IW website a ton as well to see what socks they had for sale a lot. I was super happy to find the Strawberry Fields socks- I'm trying collect all items/colorways for this print so this was a great find (especially as old socks are harder to find than main pieces!) I was initially super excited for the Innocent World Peter Rabbit release towards the end of the year but ended up only buying the socks, since the dresses were polyester :(
IW Innocent Red Riding Hood OTKs (2017) Meta Raschel Lace Knee Socks (Ivory)
Meta Raschel Lace Knee Socks (Black) IW Strawberry Field Animals Knee Socks (2008) in Offwhite
IW Osmanthus OTK’s (2023) in Yellow IW Royal Strawberry OTK’s (2022) in Beige x Chocolat
AP Glitter Snow OTKs (2007) in Black BTSSB Lace Up Ribbon OTK’s (2022) in WhitexRed
IW Lily of the Valley OTK’s (2023) in Green IW Peter Rabbit socks (not delivered yet)
I've always really admired bunny-eared cardigans/blouses/cutsews so finding two of them this year was super lucky! Same with the bunny apron. It's so cute and very oldschool (one of those designs Baby keeps re-releasing). It's not a heart apron, but I think with how bunny-themed my wardobe is it kinda fits better.I also picked up some new novelties, and a couple Sugar Bouquet things- I really want the JSK or OP, but they're always too expensive for me when I see them up for sale... the bag was a great find though, the size/shape is really convenient so I think I'll be using it a lot. The bloomers were a nice find to add to all the other green things I've been acquiring, and I love peeking bloomers in my coords so another color adds more coordination possibilities!
MAM Rabbit Parka (2003) in Black BTSSB Cherry Lace Bunny Ears Cardigan
(2004) in Pink
BTSSB Bunny Apron (2011) in Pink Meta Dolly Cotton Drawers (2018) in Green
BTSSB Heart Marguerite Pouch (Pink) BTSSB Sugar Bouquet Boston Bag (2005) in Pink
BTSSB Sugar Bouquet Letter Set IW Classical Cat Handkerchief (2008) in Navy and IW Antique Pansy Handkerchief (2010) in Green
I didn't get a chance to complete nearly as many projects as I had planned this year, but I do think I learned a lot when it comes to sewing my own clothes- I started a lot of ambitious projects that I didn't quite have the time/skill/materials to complete, but I'm hoping this time next year I'll have a lot of currently unfinished stuff done and will be able to show it off in next year's post :) I'm the most proud of the blackwork embroidery on the headdress and the apron, I'd love to make a matching black velvet embroidered dress someday and I really want to make more aprons!
I also want to use more official patterns from GLB's; my collection has grown a lot so I could definitely use those if I figure out how to read Japanese patterns (from what I've seen they're not too difficult to figure out). I mostly draft my own patterns right now from items I already own, but learning to use commercial patterns is a skill I want to develop.
Christmas print Tiered OP (patterned off an IW OP) Black Velvet Rectangle Headdress with Tudor Blackwork Embroidery
Blue Bunny Bustier (patterened off a different bustier I own) Blue Bunny Bloomers (self drafted)
Rainy Days Skirt (patterned off Meta frill skirt) Rainy Days Bloomers (self drafted)
Plaid Apron (patterned off BTSSB apron)
Last year, I wanted to get more blouses, new shoes, and I was wanting to sell or trade my Salon de The Rose OP. One out of three isn't too bad I guess? I did acquire more shoes- I got a new pink pair and a red pair of tea parties that I'm really happy with. I'm still thinking for sure about selling the OP but I just can't quite let go yet, although I did start selling more of my sweet pieces.
This year's goals;
1. Sell more things. I started selling off some of my OTT sweet wardrobe this year but I want to keep that energy going. There's some pieces that I don't think I'll ever sell even if I don't wear them much, but as my style changes I want to make room in my closet and let pieces move on to people that will actually wear them.
2. Photos! I don't really need to set a goal to take more photos, since that's just something I enjoy doing anyway, but I do want to challenge myself to actually share my photos online, whether on instagram or tumblr or wherever. I just don't like having them languish on my phone, and I like sharing the things I create with other people. I always want to try and push myself to take more creative photos too, not just the 'hold skirt out cross legs' pose we all default to (myself included!). I think I did pretty well with this last year and I want to keep going. I also have photo traditions I want to keep up- ice skating, the apple orchard, etc.
3. Blouses. I've put this on my list for like three years running now because I never buy blouses but I want more blouses. I have a lot of offbrand/vintage blouses but I want more brand blouses, more cotton blouses, more different colored blouses, more detachable sleeves- I haven't bought a brand blouse in 2 years. (I almost broke that streak but then the seller for an auction I won refused to work with shipping services so no dice).
4. Fabrics! I really want to get more different fabrics and textures in my wardrobe- more wool, velvet, gobelin, etc. They're hard to find but so beautiful and wonderful to wear that it's worth the effort.
5. More community stuff; I really want to contribute more to the lolita fashion community next year, even if in small ways; I've been uploading a lot of photos and some items to lolibrary this year, I organized a penpal exchange, and I've made some small photo/drawing edits (transparent stickers, templates, etc). I really don't know how useful or helpful any of this is, but I think if we all contribute in small ways we can grow the lolita archives, community, and resources available. This community has brought me so much joy that I want to try and give back even if it's through something small.
6. Neocities: I really want to try and do more with this website next year! I've been posting a lot more on tumblr last year and I love the lolita community I've found on there, and I think that being able to be even more creative on neocities will be really nice. I've started making a dress-up/coord builder game, although I'm struggling with the code I think it would be really cool to make. I just want to make this site something more than just a page I update once a year, with actual blog posts and such. As I'm getting more sick of regular social media I want to build a new 'online home'.
