52 Weeks of Lolita - Why don't I wear Lolita more often?

Hey everybody~

It's Keiko here!

I'm sorry that I'm late with this blogpost. I just got a new job and it's eating up all of my time orz. But enough of that, let's get to the meat of the post! Today's topic is:

Why don't you wear lolita more often?

The answer here varies a bit. To start with, I don't really have occasion to wear the fashion often. Meetups in my comm are spaced out and I cannot always go to all of  them, so I miss some opportunities to dress up once in a while.

Secondly, I've gained some weight after my wedding rather than losing it as I was trying to do. 

This unfortunately means that my bust measurement increased enough that I don't fit in a good number of my pieces. Oddly enough everywhere else fits fine :/... With this limitation has come a loss of confidence.

Real talk (depression trigger warning): I struggle with body image and suffer from depression and generalized anxiety so it's already a fight to convince myself of something positive. When I add this to the fact that something that used to bring me so much joy might no longer be for me no matter how much I try to lose weight, I can't help but feel discouraged.

I've thought of abandoning lolita altogether because sometimes I feel I can't do it justice at all and my dresses deserve a better owner. This train of thought has prevented me from wearing the fashion more than once and is currently my biggest obstacle to wearing it and documenting it. (Trigger warning over)

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I'm sure there are other lolitas who feel discouraged or uninspired once in a while. What kinds of things usually stump your lolita life? How do you deal with them? Do you have strategies to get a second wind?

52 Weeks of Lolita - Why I wear Lolita

Hey everyone!

It's Keiko here with another 52 weeks of lolita prompt~

This week's topic is to talk about why I wear lolita. The short answer? I want to be cute!

But there are other reasons why I'm attracted to this luxury kawaii fashion as opposed to dolly-kei, fairy-kei, mori-kei or any other style. Here are some of the other reasons why I wear lolita:

1. The aesthetic and the creativity in it: The lolita silhouette can range from cupcake-cute to extremely elegant or even mysterious depending on the style and coordinate. It has variability, even in its uniformity because people's creativity allow it to transform.

2. I can be hyper-feminine without being oversexualized: Being a hourglass shape in an sexist culture is quite annoying. Men whistled at me, and sometimes people nosily would bug me to 'dress my shape' so I'd 'look better' by exposing that body shape that made me uncomfortable. With lolita, I can dress femininely and not be whistled or jeered at as much. It's a great relief, even if lolitas still get other kinds of unwanted attention. At least it's about my clothes and not about my body.

3. Comfort and confidence: Since the clothes reflect my tastes and make me feel safer, I feel more comfortable and confident wearing them outside than other kinds of feminine clothes. While lolita is not necessarily comfortable to wear, I feel covered and cute--more than what I can say about fast fashion.

4. Prints are really interesting and fun to work with: Prior to wearing lolita I already liked the challenge and creativity that come with themed outfits, so the fashion fed into that tendency of mine.

5. Originally a form of protest: I really respect the Japanese young women that spearheaded resistance to stereotypes and expectations of femininity in their country. I think, in a sense, it is possible to also use lolita as a protest to the unfair expectations of what women 'should' look like in the West--even if our own pressures are less strict than in Asia.

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Why do you wear lolita? Do you just like the style or does it have more significance to you than simple clothing? Feel free to share in the comments ^^

Keiko out~!

52 Weeks of Lolita - My favorite Lolita brand (picture heavy!)

Hey there everyone,

This is Keiko hoping you are doing well and that your week has come to a good close. This week's topic involves revealing my favorite brand.

As you probably could infer from my wardrobe and sweet lolita tendencies, my preferred brand is

What a surprise, I know, I know.

Here's my favorite print JSKs from them for each year until 2016

2008

Dreaming Macaron

2009

Melty chocolate

Miracle Candy

Milky-chan the Fawn

2010

Little bear's Cafe

Merrymaking Party

Twinkle Ornament

Milky Planet

2011

Chess Chocolate

Honey Cake

Petit Patisserie

French Cafe

2012

Gloria Back Frill JSK

Cinema Doll

Sweet Cream House

Chocolate Rosette

2013

Melty Cream Doughnuts

Musee du Chocolat

Holy Lantern

Royal Unicorn

2014

Sugar Dream Dome

Mercator's Antique shop

Cream Cookie Collection

Melty Ribbon Chocolate

Royal Creamy Chocolate

2015

Horror Garden

2016

Charlotte's Bear

While I agree that the golden time for AP's sweet style was 2008-2012, I like AP's designs from around 2011-2014 the best. I have not really been a fan of the last two year's worth of releases, though. Where do you stand? Do you like AP, or do you have another preferred brand? How are their releases doing? Tell me all about it in the comments below :)

Keiko out~!

52 Weeks of Lolita - My wardrobe Turnover

Hey there, everyone!
This is Keiko hoping you are doing well.

This week's topic is wardrobe turnover -the rate at which things come into my wardrobe and then leave it.

I used to have a moderate wardrobe turnover when I first started out in lolita. I was trying to find myself and my style. I thought I wanted to be a 'bittersweet', creepy cute lolita at first, so I bought several prints in black colorways. I also wanted to do OTT sweet, so I looked for accessories in bulk to be able to pull it off before I realized it wasn't really my cup of tea. I would often impulse buy as well, to then decide I didn't like something and sell it later on.

Milky Planet was one of several black x pastel prints I wanted

Now that I've settled down into a style I like and I have acquired most of the dresses on my wishlist, I don't really sell much. About a year ago I started buying items for keeps when I was sure I wanted them and they went well with other things in my wardrobe. Additionally, since the lolita market has dramatically slowed down, I don't feel as safe buying to sell since I would make a net loss and it would take a long time to sell. I'm not a big risk taker, so I prefer not to dabble too much into quick turnovers if I can help it. I don't have specialty or themed  events I attend that need special outfits anyway, so I have little incentive to buy, wear, and immediately sell.

I'm pretty happy with my wardrobe as is, honestly

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Do you have a high wardrobe turnover? Or do you tend to buy for keeps? Feel free to share your experience in the comments below~

Keiko out~~!