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!
Sugary Carnival MTO
BTSSB My Friend Usakumya Judy JSK (2009) in Pink
BTSSB Unico in Bloomland Scallop JSK (2011) in Ivory (missing waist bow)
AP Candy Sprinkle Special Set JSK+KC (2013) in Pink
IW Strawberry Field Animals JSK (2008-2010?) in Red (not on lolibrary)
BTSSB Heart Marguerite JSK I (2017) in Pink
IW Chelsea JSK in Mint (2009)
BTSSB Sweet Cherry and Berry JSK and Head Bow Set (2013) in Pink
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 Lovely Marguerite Combs (2016) in Mint
IW Classical Angels Headdress (2007) in WhitexNavy
AP Strawberry Strawberry Socks (2005) in White
Metamorphose Tyrolean Ribbon OTKs (2016) in Beige
AP Fancy Lyrical Bunny Ring (2013) in Pink
I made up for not really buying lolita the last two years I guess, haha. The yen was also really low compared to the dollar for a while this past year, and I was able to find a lot of really great deals on fril (along with receiving a few things as gifts). (Also, not being a college student and having a full time job really helps haha)
And even cooler (in my opinion)- I actually made my own lolita pieces for the first time this year!
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 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 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.
Paradiso actually happened!! And then they announced it was the last Paradiso... oof.
Overall, I really loved the experience. I got to attend with my friends Cheesie and Adrienne, and I think that being able to hang out with them (and we also met up with another friend from our comm, Himani, at the con!) 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 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 think this is what kinda cemented for me that... gasp... I don't really wear a petticoat anymore! :O
A lot of the dresses I wear daily are more classic/oldschool style now, so that doesn't really require the massive cupcake silhouette of sweet lolita, and have some volume naturally on their own (or even a small built in petti). Plus, it's just too much for everyday wear, and packing a petticoat on vacation when I didn't have much suitcase space seemed unnecessary. I think being forced to go without made me realise how much more comfortable lolita can be when you're not dealing with it, haha. Some of my dresses definitely require it to have any volume, and obviously it needs to have the proper silhouette to be lolita, so I'm not advocating for everyone to stop wearing petticoats... But I do think that they're not always necessary, especially when you're doing casual daily looks.
anyway, 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)
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. I'm glad they're doing something different though!
I had an awesome time chatting with the lolitas there though, and ended up hanging out with a couple girls for the rest of the day after the event. That was one of my favorite memories from the trip, getting to meet other lolitas from around the world!
A few of my favorite shots from this year:
I was able to do a lot more cool things this year, and expand my wardrobe a bit. I'm so happy with the lolita pieces I'm sewing, 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, once again, 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.
