This Bibliotheca theme of royalty has dwelled in my mind since it was decided. Royalty and accompanying imagery (like crowns and orbs) have a strong place in lolita fashion, which apparently goes against the rebellious tendencies of the fashion. But there's much more to the place of royal motifs in lolita (punk lolita especially) than there might initially appear.
Bibliotheca's month of florals is almost over, and I am personally 100% on board with this theme for April. Although I try to keep my posts relatable to people outside of my geographical area, I've lived my entire life (except for undergrad) in the D.C. metro area, and so April + florals = cherry blossoms. Cherry blossoms shape the local culture and provide a D.C.-Japan connection, so I'm excited to explore this topic.
For the second half of my Bibliotheca headwear themed posts this month, I'm trotting out an even hotter take than usual.
I love headdresses, hats mini and huge, stupid little clips and cakes and bows that make people look like the most conspicuous shoplifter in Clair's. But with all that affection for headwear, I still don't think headwear is required.
It's headwear time at Bibliotheca, and that means it's time for me to cart out the hottest of opinions.
I am a serial mini-hat apologist. This will never change, because I am unashamed of my tackiness. But there's so much more behind the strength of my commitment to kitsch.
My main convention, as many people are aware, is Katsucon. This year's Katsucon, held the weekend of February 17-19, was my busiest yet; with attendance over 25,000, it was also the busiest Katsucon in general. Since my first convention (Katsucon 2011), a lot has changed. This post exists to help break down some of the major happenings of the event.
I've been experiencing post-con crash after Katsucon (more on that in another post), but I still wanted to squeeze in a Bibliotheca post for the prompt "living spaces", because the spaces in which I live are an important and difficult-to-navigate topic. This gets very personal and touches on mental health, so it may not be worth reading for everyone.
One of the more common prompts for lolita bloggers and video creators is starting over: what would you do if you magically lost your whole wardrobe and had to start again? After 8+ years in lolita (and how did that number get so high anyhow?), I think I'm past due to answer this question.
My answer is complicated by my gender, the current economic situation, and the proliferation of indie brands with variable sizing. In simple terms, if I were starting my lolita wardrobe from scratch today, I probably wouldn't wear lolita at all.
This month's Bibliotheca theme, unless I messed up, is challenges. Not Big Challenges (the unlaunched Sanrio mascot) specifically, just challenges in general. However, if there's ever a Big Challenges print, sign me the heck up.
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| the man himself |
This post is inspired by being done with grad school and a request from a pal on a certain discord server.
Today, I'd like to talk about my favorite inexpensive resources for secondhand brand: Mercari.jp and Fril/Rakuma. These are both direct secondhand sales options for buying from other people (instead of whole companies like Wunderwelt). However, they are only available in Japanese and require a shopping service, so they can be a little intimidating to new lolitas. Once you get the hang of them, Rakuma and Mercari are great additions to your lolita shopping roster!
It's the Bibliotheca post, the first one since August. Sorry for dropping off the map-- I finish (this round of) grad school in two weeks, so all my writing motivation was directed either towards that or to writing materials for historic interpretation at work. Luckily, food is one of the things I best relate to, so the theme came as a relief.
This month's Bibliotheca prompt, in honor of Obon and summer camp, is about scary stories in the summer heat.
This month I'm skipping out on my tutorial themed Bibliotheca post. I've been hella busy, so I won't be teaching much of anything. Instead, I'll talk purely about myself.
Bibliotheca's theme for May, apropos of nearly nothing, is shoes. Shoes are a must for any public place. However, unlike with fully shirred dresses and stretchy socks, even lolita brands recognize that with shoes, one size cannot fit most. Additionally, shoes have nearly no size alteration capacity and require additional adjustment with insoles and orthotics for various foot issues. Because of these factors, even seasoned lolitas might not rely solely on brand for shoes. Keeping in mind that it's the same shoddy plastic, brand name shoes seem like less of an investment and more of a waste.