A little while ago I signed up for FormSpring when I heard people talking about it. I never used it and had forgotten about it, but then it occurred to me to link it from the blog as a way to have a “drop-box” for questions without worrying about spam email. (I’m working on an “email me” option, just in case anyone would like to, but I want to keep myself from piles and piles of junk.) I liked that FormSpring allows people to ask questions anonymously, and I can delete or choose not to enter questions that are rude or insulting–they aren’t posted until I respond. (Thankfully that has not been a serious problem, but I try to be prepared.)
For a while there wasn’t much activity, but recently I’ve been receiving a few questions about lolita fashion. I decided to compile them here in the event that anyone else was curious.
Please note that I am not a magically all-seeing, all-knowing judgment-casting princess of the style. n_~ These answers are my opinions. Please feel free to disagree with me!
1. Would you dress lolita in school? Or is it perfectly ok to hang out with friends and dress lolita at home and with them?
Whether or not I would dress lolita in school depends on the class. I would certainly have worn it in high school if the opportunity had been there. I have worn it to university courses on occasion, but because I am enrolled in a school of business it is usually inappropriate. My professors and classmates could be potential business contacts, and I don’t want to alienate them by being known only as “the girl who dresses weird.”
And it is absolutely positively okay to hang out with friends and wear lolita fashion at home or with friends! You might as well wear it while you enjoy it. ♥
2. Do you keep a number of how many lolita items you have? If so how many?
I don’t really count my lolita items, but I have quite a few! I’ve been wearing the fashion for several years, and I very rarely resell anything–plus my little sister loves to pass off clothing to me. But there’s definitely a lot!
I have a picture of my closet here (which would give you an idea), but it’s not up-to-date.
3. How do you get your hair in those lovely curls/spins?
My hair is very curly, and it easily forms spirals with little coaxing. When my hair is wet I twist it in the direction I’d like the curl to turn, and occasionally repeat the procedure until my hair is dry. Sometimes I use a bit of gloss to help with fly-aways.
I get asked this a lot, and I wish I could do a tutorial on it, but my method won’t really work for anyone with a different hair type.
4. Is it strange for a sweet Lolita to wear black?
Not at all! My little sister wears sweet lolita almost exclusively in black~ ♥ A print of cookies and candy is still cookies and candy whether it’s on a pink or black background–it really doesn’t look any more “gothic” that way.
5. What did you dress like before you discovered lolita?
Boring! Even now, when I don’t wear lolita fashion my clothes are duuuuuuuull. XD My typical outfit involves a tshirt or camisole under a sweater with jeans. I wear sweaters even in the summer, although then over casual sundresses instead of jeans + shirt.
6. Have you seen the movie Kamikaze Girls?
Yes, I have seen it. (I also own it.) :3 It’s a cute movie!
7. Do you wear bloomers beneath your Lolita clothes?
Yes; I think bloomers are very important. I don’t want to accidentally flash my undergarments at friends or strangers!
8. How do you sit with a petticoat? Do you sit on it?
Yes, you sit on it. It’s like wearing a very cushioned or thick skirt.
9. How do you clean your Lolita clothes?
I dry-clean my blouses, delicate cutsews, jumperskirts, one-pieces, skirts, and coat. Even if they could be handwashed, I trust my dry-cleaner (they are very careful) more than myself. They also do a much better job ironing than I ever could.
I machine-wash bloomers, petticoats, socks, cardigans, and some cutsews. However, I hang my socks, cardigans, and cutsews up to dry. I only run my bloomers and petticoats through the dryer.
10. Did you promote your blog? How?
My promotion is very minimal–I just write for fun, so if no-one reads it that’s a-okay. I’ll never try to make money off of it, and I don’t need “fame.”
My blog is linked on my LiveJournal, and linked as my website on any account elsewhere (Flickr, Poupee Girl, Den of Angels, Twitter, WeHeartIt, and Formspring). I also have a feed so that updates are posted on my Twitter account.
I think I actually get a lot of traffic from other lolita-related blogs. They often have lists of the blogs they read or updates on those blogs; I think that’s where most of my visitors come from.
I hope that was helpful!
11. How can you make sure your bloomers don’t peek out from underneath your skirt?
The easiest way is to make sure your skirt is longer than your bloomers~
If your bloomers -are- longer than your skirt, you’ll want to position the elastic higher up on your legs. This scrunches up the legs of the bloomers to make them functionally shorter in length.
Although bloomers peeking from underneath a skirt is not really a problem or tragedy, especially if the lace or finished edge is particularly pretty.
If you have a question, feel free to drop one off, anonymous or otherwise! If you don’t want me to answer it publicly, include your email address as part of your question and I’ll email you~ ♥ Questions don’t have to be related to lolita fashion–I’ll answer any question that isn’t obscene or rude. ★
One thought on “On Being Lolita: Questions and Answers”