Lolita Tips

 Thank you all for the support that you’ve given me over the years, and I thank you in advance for supporting me in making this decision.

Also, thank you! 

That’s true I hadn’t even thought of that! The scale pattern could definitely be interpreted as flower petals. That makes me think it would be great for a fairy themed coord! 

This makes me really happy to hear! I want everyone who loves lolita to be able to see themselves wearing it!

I feel like I’m always recommending them, but I’ve always had great luck with FanPlusFriend. They have a lot of great coats and have been pretty consistent in their quality. A lot of their coats are wool which makes them very warm, and they’re all quite reasonably priced.  Alternatively, some of my favorite jackets are actually from vintage brands rather than lolita brands. I have two jackets from Collectif which I originally got for my vintage looks, but they both work well with lolita because the short one is short enough to not compete with the volume of my skirts and the long one is meant to be worn with a petticoat so it has the extra space.

Your first coord can be whatever style you want it to be. There’s no rule that says your first coord has to be simple, that’s just a bit of advice that I might normally suggest just to make getting starting a little bit easier. If you feel confident in your ability to make an OTT sweet or hime coord that you’ll love and feel cute in right out of the gate, that’s awesome and you should go ahead and do that. 

I’ve been getting my bloomers on etsy for years. As important as I find them, I don’t think they’re somewhere that it’s worth dropping a ton of money, I just want them to be comfortable, cute, and simple. Nemeth Wild has comfy, handmade bloomers in a lot of sizing options and theirs are probably my favorites.  The petticoat is where I would recommend spending a little more because it’s so crucial to getting the proper skirt shape for the lolita look. Getting a good petticoat up front means you won’t have to buy another one for a long long time (unless you need a different shape at some point of course.) My favorite petticoat is from Me Likes Tea. It’s very comfortable and the one I ordered has the perfect amount of poof for all my coords. I’ve also heard great things about the petticoats from Cream and Sugar but their petticoat orders are closed at the moment. 

Elpress L just constantly makes such gorgeous pieces! I really love how unique that JSK is in particular. I’ve also found that they tend to use really beautiful, good quality lace and from what I can tell this JSK is no exception. I feel like with the purple there are a lot of creative ways you can coord it. You can use primarily white for a princessy mermaid kind of look, you could use primarily darker colors for a more goth-leaning sea witch look. It isn’t exactly a standard style of JSK which honestly I think gives you more of an opportunity to put together a really unique coord. If I were to coord it for myself I think I would skip a blouse and fill in the open neck space with a big, elaborate necklace, maybe lace gloves or wristcuffs, and pearl accessories throughout to play up the white details as well as the sealife theme. . 

Aw, you’re very welcome! I’m so happy to hear that!

Wear what you want! Wear whatever makes you happy! If it’s not lolita, just don’t call it lolita and there’s no problem. It doesn’t sound to me like you’re ripping anything off, it sounds like you have a specific look in mind and you’re going for that. If anyone aske if it’s lolita or if you’re trying to wear lolita you just say no and it should be left at that. Lolita isn’t the only doll-like fashion around either so I don’t think you have to worry too much about what anyone thinks about it.

There are a few guides that I like for choosing good poses like MIlkbox’s video and this slightly older guide by Mint Kismet. Choosing a pose is just the first step though and the most important thing is to practice. Take a lot of photos of yourself that you don’t necessarily intend to post anywhere but just to get familiar with what angles work well for you, the best ways for you to turn, the best place to set up your camera, the best place in your house for lighting, etc.

Most of my wristcuffs are from etsy shops. Peacockalorum and LuminescenTea are the first two shops that come to mind that have really cute ones. 

My biggest tip is to choose makeup that suits you and that you feel enhances your features as opposed to just wearing something because it’s “lolita makeup.” In the past lolita makeup was somewhat minimal and natural but as the fashion has evolved, so has the makeup so there’s not really one right way to wear “lolita makeup. Personally I just wear my usual daily makeup with lolita which consists of my base, eyeshadow that coordinates with the colors I’m wearing, lots of mascara, and basic winged eyeliner. I might add lipstick or false eyelashes if I’m feeling like I want to doll it up a little more. There are no hard and fast rules to makeup for lolita, just wear makeup that you feel looks good on you and suits your coord just like you would with any accessory.