Why I love Lolita Fashion.

There isn't just one reason for me to say why exactly I love this fashion that's so far from the mainstream and the everyday. I can't just say, "I love it because it's so ___".

This may sound completely ridiculous to some of you, but I love it because, well... I feel like it's a part of me that I was missing before. Yes, that's crazy, Lolita has no magical powers or anything like that, it's just clothes. I know. But I really feel that way.

After discovering Lolita, if I can't wear Lolita out when I go somewhere for any reason, I have a hard time deciding what to wear. I just don't feel like myself in anything else.  I'll be completely honest, I want to always be wearing Lolita. Of course that's not always practical and I won't always be wearing Lolita, but it's definitely a goal of mine to go at least one week wearing only Lolita fashion.

A lot of girls see Lolita as a sort of escapism, some girls just wear it because they like it, some girls have a Lolita lifestyle, there's nothing wrong with any of those things. Personally, I like it for a lot of reasons.

The Freedom

Living in the modern day society where anything out of the norm is basically shunned and the people who aren't ordinary are "freaks", the freedom of being able to wear a dress featuring teddy bears or unicorns or basically anything you want is very refreshing. Honestly, I feel like - "Yes, I'm dressed like a doll and wearing a giant bow on my head. So what, I'm a Lolita!" Isn't that just an amazing feeling? To know that you are dressed out of the ordinary and that people are probably staring... but not to care?

The Self Expression

I consider this a bit different from just the freedom of wearing Lolita, the freedom to me is basically how good it feels to be able to wear something you know is outrageous without caring, the self expression part is actually wearing what expresses your unique personality. Which, yeah, is pretty different than just wearing clothes different from the mainstream just for the sake of being "different". If we all did that, we wouldn't be very different, now would we? ;)
Anyways, I am a girl who loves...well...everything cute! I want to express that, I want to express my love of teddy bears and unicorns and Alice in Wonderland, ect. ect. Lolita gives me a chance to do that! When I'm in a different mood, I can dress Country, Gothic, Punk, you name it. I love all the different types of Lolita and the fact that you can put your love of just about anything into a Lolita outfit and therefore, express yourself!

The Modesty

Lolita is inherently modest, and you know what? I love that about it! Some people seem to think that you could never get a date while wearing a fashion like Lolita. I for one wouldn't want to date a guy who only likes me based on how I dress. You don't have to wear revealing clothes to be attractive, and it certainly doesn't show much respect for your own body not to have any privacy. I'm not advocating the harassment of women who do dress that way, not at all, regardless of how someone is dressed you shouldn't harass them. I'm just saying that beauty is not measured by how little clothing you are wearing, and I think Lolita fashion proves that!

Dressing up

Sometimes I don't like to take the time to put the clothes on, fix my hair, put on makeup, do my nails, ect. but on the other hand, it can be really fun just taking some time to pamper yourself. In a society that makes loving yourself seem selfish, it's fun just to get away from all of that and just to have fun dressing up like a princess or a doll or whatever you want to be! Which leads me to...

The Fantasy

A lot of girls feel like princesses while wearing Lolita, or they just feel powerful. Or both! I've heard it said that Lolita clothing is a Lolita's armor, with it she can go out into the world and conquer anything! That's how I feel about it. When I wear it, I feel strong. I feel like nothing can hurt me. Lolita is a form of escapism for many girls, or a shield of armor. It takes strength to be a Lolita, to overcome the fear that people will laugh at your or not take you seriously. Lolita pretty much is a strength, and for some girls, it's a fantasy and a means of escaping reality for awhile, a sanctuary. I guess there is a bit of "magic" in Lolita after all!


Well I guess that pretty much covers it. Aside from the obvious of course - I like how it looks. That right there is a good enough reason to wear it. lol But that's not the only reason I wear it so I thought I'd list all of them.
Why do you like Lolita fashion?

Dress up!

We all know that Lolita fashion resembles the look of a porcelain doll ( usually ), right? And how fun is it to dress up an adorable little doll in frills and lace? Unfortunately, BJDs are very expensive and not every Lolita can afford one. Myself, for example.

So I go to the next best thing, dress up games! 

Here are some Lolita dress up games that I like to play!

Goth Loli dress up game - This is the game the above image is taken from. I love all of the options you can choose from and the music is lovely.

Lolita dress up game by Queen of Dorks - I found this game through Parfaitdoll ( Formerly known as Lolita Charm. ) and I love it, the music is adorable as is the cute chibi character you get to dress up! This creative little game also has a lot of different clothing to choose from, which makes it one of my favorite dress up games.

Sweet Lolita dress up - This one is so adorable!

Lolita friends dress up game - Very cute, you get to dress up a Gothic Lolita and a Sweet Lolita. Nice music, too!

Decololi dress up game - In this game you get to choose the color and pattern of your clothes.

Sweet Lolita dress up game - This is also one of my favorites! Not a lot of options, but the clothes are so cute!

Gothic Lolita maker - Very elegant, one of the first Lolita dress up games I came across.

So, what's your favorite dress up game?

P.S. Sorry I haven't posted anything in awhile, I've been sick and otherwise just not feeling very well so I decided to take a small break from blogging. I'm feeling better now though so I'll be writing on a regular basis again!

Nails!

I love painting and decorating my nails ( I'm not very good at it, but that's beside the point! ), what Lolita doesn't? But my nails aren't nearly as strong as I want them to be, and the cuticles? They can be a pain. So in my search for something to help with both problems, I discovered something I honestly didn't think would work at first, a cheap cuticle pen by E.L.F.

I was amazed at how well it worked on my cuticles, in just one use they looked far better than they had before! A plus was that it didn't smell bad, in fact I couldn't even smell it at all. Using this pen, you'll probably still need to push your cuticles back, but it definitely helps with dry cuticles. I've been using it on my whole nail and with the actual nail itself, I honestly haven't noticed any difference, but it's definitely working well on my cuticles, pretty good for something that's only a dollar!

Staying Inside the Lines

When you are young, you are taught that you can be whoever you want to be. Follow your dreams! Don't be afraid to be who you really are! As you grow older however, you are expected to be just like everyone else.

Where does this change come? At what point is it decided that since you are no longer young enough, you can't dress a certain way, think a certain way, or have fun like you used to? No more dressing in cute clothes, you have to dress sexy. No more playing, daydreaming or pretending, imagination is to childish for you now. When you turn eighteen, do your interests magically change into something more "mature" and socially acceptable? No. And it sounds ridiculous to think they do, doesn't it?

Of course your tastes will probably change as you grow older. You will lose interest in certain things and gain interest in others, that's only natural. But what if someone still likes a lot of the things they used to as a little girl? Is that so bad? Does it really make them immature to still have their collection of stuffed animals, or enjoy climbing trees, or playing with dolls, or dressing like one? In my opinion, maturity is being able to take responsibility for yourself and having respect for others, not having interests that are considered mature by the rest of society. You can be a perfectly mature adult, and still love the things you did when you were a child. It does not mean you are living in a fantasy world, it means you are exactly who you want to be. Who says you have to lose the imagination you had when you were a kid? Who says you have to give up on having fun, or following your dreams, or even just dressing the way you want to?

I don't care if you are one hundred years old, there is no reason you shouldn't be able to follow your dreams and do what you want to. Anyone who says otherwise is probably just bitter that they themselves don't have the courage to do what they want. It's easy to give into what society wants you to be, to fit into that little cookie cutter mold that they want you to fit into, it's hard to be who you are in a society that shuns anything and anyone who is different from them. It takes real courage to not give up and to stand up for yourself and what you believe. Could you truly be happy living a lie by not being who you really are? It may be the easier way... but it will never make you happy.

No one has the right to tell you who to be, how to dress, or what to think. In the end, that's up to you.


Love, Amelia Jane.

For the Everyday Lolita

Who doesn't want to look like a doll or a princess or even just dress up a bit every day?
But sometimes, it's just not practical to go OTT. So I thought I'd put together a few tips on how to go a bit more casual for the everyday Lolita.

Since school is starting again, I thought I'd mention that if you are in school and want to wear Lolita to school, these tips might be helpful to you, however you should always check with your school rules to make sure Lolita is appropriate before wearing it to school! If it isn't appropriate or you simply don't want to wear full out Lolita, you might like to simply add a bit of Lolita to your everyday look. Some good ways to do this would just be to wear a cutsew with some jeans, or just wear a Lolita skirt with no petticoat and a nice shirt or blouse. An example of a good cutsew appropriate for school -

Shoes are also something you may want to think about. Heels probably wouldn't be preferable to wear to school, but some nice, simple flats would look very cute. Socks can be anything you would normally wear that would go with your outfit. As for accessories, any Lolita jewelry will probably do, but the giant head eating bows probably won't, so you might want to opt for smaller ones or just some cute hair clips.

Moving on, now for my tips on a somewhat more casual Lolita.

The Shoes

It's not really the most comfortable thing in the world to walk around in high heels all day. Trust me, I've tried. And as cute as they can be, they aren't always the shoes you want. There are lots of cute flats out there or shoes with less of a heel and sometimes they can even be found at normal stores. Make sure they fit you correctly though, or they won't be more comfortable than heels after all. I also have a pair of boots that are extremely comfortable from a normal store, so that might be something you want to try too, if it suits you.

Petticoats

Sometimes one petticoat is actually all you may need or want, perhaps two at the most, but multiple petticoats are just not very comfortable some days. If you plan on wearing Lolita every day, only one or two petticoats might be preferable.

Tops

This includes blouses, cardigans cutsews and coats. Blouses are beautiful, but you might want to save the more expensive ones for special occasions to ensure that they remain as nice and pretty as when you bought them, other blouses you can just wear everyday, or even just wear cutsews or sometimes even nice shirts you can find at normal stores. Cardigans come in handy during cooler but not winter weather, plus you can wear them with a normal shirt to give it a more elegant touch. I'm not talking about ratty old t-shirts however, so just use your judgement on what tops will go with Lolita or not. Hint - not the ones with holes in them. 

On the subject of coats, they tend to be rather expensive when it comes to Lolita, even some from Bodyline can be over your budget, it might be worth the investment however, and there are some cute hoodies from normal stores that can work well with Lolita and are more casual than Lolita coats. Here is a hoodie from Alice and the Pirates, for example -

Socks

Knee-high socks are adorable, but sometimes not always practical, and especially in warm weather. It's usually pretty easy to find Lolita appropriate socks or tights from normal stores, ankle socks are sometimes the best choice for warm weather.

Hair Accessories

The giant bow is not necessary. It's absolutely fine if you like it, but it might not be very good to wear everyday for some people, such as myself. In fact, I don't even own a giant bow. Bows are very easy to make, in fact I am considering making a tutorial on how I myself make the bows I wear, so I find they are the perfect everyday accessory. Mini top hats might also be good for everyday if you like them, or headdresses and even bonnets. Giant bonnets might not be so good for everyday use, half bonnets however might be your thing. Sometimes though, I don't even feel like wearing a bow, just a simple, cute hair clip is enough for those days, and they are easy to find anywhere. In fact, you can find any nice hair accessory basically anywhere. 

Hairstyles

Curling your hair everyday is just going to damage it. You can just wear your hair down with a cute accessory or put it up in something simple, like pigtails. A ponytail is generally frowned upon though.

Purses

Purses are another easy to find item, and you may even be able to make them. I've seen many adorable purses that can go well with Lolita, Claires is a good place to look. I wouldn't recommend carrying around expensive brand purses everywhere, unless you want to of course, because they are probably going to get beat up and damaged and not look nearly as nice as when you first purchased them. Purses are probably going to take a heavy beating if you use them everyday, so pick something cheap but nice and durable. 

Accessories

One of my favorite things about Lolita, the accessories! Basically you can choose any Lolita accessory as long as it isn't going to start to annoy you after awhile. To much jewelry might however, so I would keep it limited to a few, nice items.

So there are the tips I have for you on wearing Lolita everyday, I hope they were helpful! 

Also, since school is starting I am more busy lately, but I will definitely still try and post frequently.

Love, Amelia Jane.