It's really bumming me out because the annual Midwest Megameet (or Chicago mega meet) is coming up in less than two weeks, and I've had a lot of plans that I was hoping to put in forth this year such as putting together goodie bags, buying lots of raffle prizes (really wanted to collect a bunch of brand novelty items), and search around auctions for the right pieces to coordinate.
Hopefully, I can feel satisfied putting together a coordinate with pieces I already own, still have fun at the meet, and that next year my financial situation improves greatly.
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A few days ago, someone on Rufflechat asked:
What was your biggest realization when you finally started getting more involved in the fashion?
I originally thought of replying on the thread, but saw that my response was going to be too long. Here are a couple of things that I realized when I got more involved in the fashion:
1) Quality over Quantity:
I'm not going to go through this much since it's been said many times when the topic periodically pops up, but like a lot of lolitas, I've come to be a more conscious consumer. I used to never care about garments so long as they fit and was cheap.
2) It's more than just clothes: It can change lives:
I don't know why, but this fashion does tend to attract people who suffer from mental illness, and I've read a number of stories about how people have found solace through it by finding others like themselves to talk to and feeling happier in frills for a day.
Fortunately, I don't quite belong in that camp, but while it looks like silly clothes, I've found that it has changed my life considerably as well. I was always a pretty shy kid and growing up, I only had a few friends I can easily relate to (I guess that's still true), but getting into lolita helped me reach out to people rather than waiting for them to reach me.
I've done a lot of event planning for the local park district and have gone to big events like festivals, but being involved in lolita fashion continues to fuel one of my dreams of being a professional event planner. I really love seeing people come together over a common interest.
3) I can makeup and dress better now
This is another common realization that comes with the fashion. I was a tomboy for many years and it wasn't until I got into lolita that I started caring about how I present myself, put practice, and understand how clothes are supposed to fit.
4) Being a lolita is tough
This goes without saying for other street youth fashions, but I feel like this is especially true with lolita fashion because it's less familiar in the mainstream. I know a lot of people who are mere admirers of the fashion and so I hear a lot of, "It's so cute, but I could never wear it", and I notice that while there are many lurkers in online communities, only a handful actually make the effort to obtain the fashion and wear it.
The next step is learning how to deal with curious on-lookers and people who approach with questions and comments (good or bad). I've heard of people leaving the fashion because it was hard to enjoy the fashion without having to deal with such people.
I've also heard of and know people who've left lolita because of the communities. It can be really discouraging to have to put up with trolls, drama pages, vendettas, and even just facing criticism. One really must be able to handle all of this and find many rewarding factors to be able to get into and stay in the fashion.
And last, but not least, we've come to the point of in the fashion that people question how long one would be willing to continue to wear lolita as they age. Fortunately, we've got people like Yumi Fujiwara of Innocent World who still do, and it's my hope that there will be plenty of us old-timers getting together for a break outside of our otherwise boring adult lives for tea in frills.
What are some things you realized when you got into lolita?
