10 Things About My Lolita Bubble

Another 30 Day Lolita Challenge!

What is a Lolita bubble, anyway? That's such an interesting term, one that was hard to define cohesively for the dozens of blogs that have written for this exact topic. I just started writing about my Lolita world, and a lot of them turned out to be kind of personal and heavy (please be advised, I do talk a little bit about depression).

1. Bloomers are a must.

There's no question for me about whether I should or shouldn't wear bloomers. I went to college in a windy-ass town (we always questioned why Chicago was "The Windy City" and we weren't) that commonly had temperatures below freezing during winter. I always wear bloomers. Even in the summer, out of pure habit.

2. I love skirt + blouse combos

The skirt+blouse coordinate is oddly enough my favorite (as opposed to JSKs or OPs). They look cute, comfortable, and, most importantly, they make Lolita fashion look like street fashion, or everyday wear. That's the kind of Lolita that I love, because that's the kind of Lolita I want to be. I'd really like to have half of my main pieces be skirts, someday.

3. My family hates Lolita

I started keeping my Lolita clothes in a large trunk just so I wouldn't have to deal with the flak I'd catch. My grandmother hates the price tag, and my mother desperately wanted (and still wants) me to be "normal," which Lolita definitely is not. She's also one of those people who has to insult choices that she doesn't agree with, so hearing "You look fat" and "I'm surprised your boyfriend said you looked nice in that" got very tiring very quickly. I altogether stopped wearing it around them, though I recently ended up wearing a coord to Easter dinner because I had a convention that day. Luckily...

4. My boyfriend encourages my Lolita habit

He's a big believer of having off-beat interests, and dressing as you wish to dress, and he entirely supports this for me. In fact, he's the one who gave me my trunk, as a birthday gift. Now that we live together, he's often urging me to RSVP to meet-ups and getting dressed to hang out with my "frilly friends," as he calls my fellow comm members, and if he sees that I'm wearing even half a coordinate, he makes sure to tell me that I look nice because he knows how much that means to me.

5. My Lolita superpower is finding great-condition brand skirts for less than $60

And they almost never fit me, so I don't end up buying them. The stars aligned for me only once, and I ended up snatching up a "heavily damaged" (there wasn't even a stray thread) Bunny Milk and Snow Strawberry skirt for $40. Seriously, though, if I had more friends in my comms, I'd be the one they go to if they needed a cheap-ass skirt.

6. I don't wear Lolita a lot anymore because of my depression

I know, this might sound weird at first. So many people talk about how Lolita helps their mental illness so much. I wish I knew their secrets, because it often makes mine worse. Even if I fit into all my clothing, I usually feel too fat or not put together enough, so I'll angrily take it off and silently stew for a week, not even wanting to look in the closet. There was a time when I wore Lolita twice a week. Now, I only wear it once every few months.

7. I might not wear Lolita much anymore, but it still takes up most of my free time

If I'm not working or sleeping, I'm probably either reading Lolita blogs, browsing Tumblr for Lolita, perusing the secondhand sales, flipping through a Gothic & Lolita Bible, scanning Lolita forums, or rearranging my closet. I still love Lolita, I just can't seem to find a right time to wear it.

8. I'm a part of two comms...

...and I'm not really involved with either of them. I tried, halfheartedly, last year, and managed to attend more meetups than I've ever gone to in my three or four years of doing this. I seem to clam up when confronted with speaking to other Lolitas in person-- they're all so beautiful, and I never feel quite up to snuff. Someone even offered to just hang out with me on weekends once they found out that I was moving close by, and I haven't taken them up on that offer. They seem like a sweet person, I'm just shy and flaky as a pie crust.

9. I have a folder on my computer labelled "Pictures of Lolitas who give me that weird tingly stomach-in-throat i-want-my-life-to-look-like-this feeling"

That's the whole name, and I wish I was joking. It's not really an inspiration folder? It's more like... pictures of people who make me really sure that Lolita is what I want to do. I might never wear that dress in a million years, but damn it all if that picture doesn't make me fall in love with Lolita all over again. Flipping through it (and the three images just above are, indeed, from this folder), you notice that the coordinates aren't super fancy, but they still look special. Incidentally, this is a subfolder in a main folder entitled "Damn Lolita Fashion."

10. I "design" (draw) Lolita dresses for fun.

This was part of a tea party game: there were three
lists of words that you had to put together to make
the latest hot brand print. I went with "Fancy Poodle
Parade" or something like that, and it features velvet
bows and pompom trim.

I think a lot of us do this: we like to daydream about being Lolita designers, or being able to make our own things, but alas, the most we can achieve is drawing them. I used to do this all the time, and my favorite thing to do was use Princess Peachie's Lolita Fashion Generator as a sort of art prompt. I came up with some interesting things, too! It's a fun design exercise, and can help you keep drawing if you're in a bit of a slump or an art block. If I ever dig up that sketchbook, I'll see if I can make a post with some of my designs.

What are some things about your Lolita bubble? Let me know or link me to your own post in the comments below!