Posted October 24,2023
I wanted to write this since there are a lot of guides/blog posts on how to start lolita fashion, but there are a variety of reasons why someone can’t start wearing lolita. I recently started wearing the fashion, but I had actually found out about the fashion about a decade ago. At the time, I just resigned to just leaving it as a dream for now. Looking back on it, I had so much more time & resources as a high schooler and partially as a college student that I could have or have done that would have made starting Lolita a bit easier. These tips are in no particular order.
Learn to sew: I wished I had spent more time learning how to sew, whether it’d be using a sewing machine or hand sewing. I can do small alterations (albeit not well) like sewing a button back on or a popped seam. Learning how to mend or do simple alterations like replacing buttons & elastic will go a long way on your Lolita journey. Being able to enjoy your wardrobe for a long time means that you should be able to mend it, when necessary, in order to keep wearing it. It’s also been easier for my wallet to buy damaged brand and fix it up myself.
Get a measuring tape: I bought one way before buying my first piece of lolita. The pandemic made me turn to online shopping and it’s made buying easier. I rely on each site’s size charts instead of whether I’m a S or M.
Learn about clothing quality, weaves, and care: I wished I had spent time learning about clothing. After following a couple of clothing accounts (OG Lakyn and Cora Harrington), I learned how clothes are manufactured, which gave me a better appreciation for lolita fashion. It also helped me to understand why it’s priced as such. I know that it’ll also help me more with bullet point 1 as well.
Subscribe and support Lolita content where possible: I subscribed to a lot of Lolita youtubers, twitters, and tumblrs. I also followed Lolita Updates to keep track of what brands were putting out. For brands that I really liked, I made sure to follow their social media pages.
Collect accessories & other items that you can wear in the fashion: This depends on what your Lolita style will be, but there are certain things that you can get that you can keep for whenever you eventually start to wear lolita. I personally accumulated some items over the years that could work with it. Over the years, I’ve bought several girly kei blouses from Japanese brands and offbrand tights, socks, bags, and shoes from American brands. Trends tend to cycle over and over so it’s possible loliable accessories are something that can be easy to get and keep. I really wished that I had spent more time buying cropped cardigans/boleros and jewelry.
Dress in a style similar to Lolita: This goes in hand with the above comment, but when I couldn’t wear lolita, I started to wear j-fashion and other feminine fashions. Miss Candyholic, Vina of the Valley, and Dreamily Apparel were where I got most of my clothes before starting to wear lolita. I prefer indie pieces since they usually have more unique designs and better quality compared to the mass-produced fashions. You can even use brands local to your area to dress in by looking for ruffles, pastels, pintucks, skirts and dress. It may be a bit difficult depending on trends but you can always keep an eye out for when things start to come in style.
This isn't a comprehensive list but it gives options for you while you wait to be able to get into lolita. It's really easy to rush into lolita, but the fashion can be very fulfilling especially if you take it slow in the beginning. By being patient, you'll be able to lessen the chance of you being scammed and can wait for good deals.
