College Dorm Wardrobe Tips

It's August, which means many college students are heading (back) to the dorms. Not-so-coincidentally, Bay Area Kei is running a college-themed event (J-Fashion University) in just a couple weeks.  Although I successfully swam through the disease-ridden creek to graduate from my swamp college two years ago (it was an unofficial graduation requirement), college is still fresh in my memory. Like many lolitas, I really started building my wardrobe and wearing lolita regularly in college. With my plentiful mistakes in mind, I'm now able to offer advice on how to semi-successfully build a wardrobe in the rarefied environment that a campus full of insecure young adults provides. 

Surprisingly roomy, but not enough

This wardrobe/closet/furniture article is generally what you have to work with in a college dorm. It's more than it looks like, but not much. The layout varies: my dorm had an interior shelf in the upper portion along with the two drawers. The height of the rack was perfect for most of my lolita dresses, but longer IW dresses tended to drag on the bottom. On to the tips!

Keep it appropriate

By appropriate, I don't just mean not showing up with a horse saying "fuck!" on your cutsew, but also keeping your coursework and professors in mind. Don't wear poofy petticoats around expensive lab glassware, don't go mountain climbing for your geology fieldwork in lace tights, don't wear tea parties to collect pond scum samples, and definitely leave your headbow off when you put on your safety goggles and respirator. Not only can the wrong coord at the wrong time damage your clothing, it can be actively endanger you as well: for example, billowy polyester sleeves will melt and burn your skin when exposed to a gas burner. 

 

El Dorado Print T-Shirt, AatP, 2008, or how to get kicked out of business school

Now that the lab safety is done, onto the social ramifications. Even if you enjoy standing out, there are some situations in which this is not advisable. This really depends on your major and your professors; music, natural sciences, and arts professors will generally appreciate your sense of style and courage, but business and social science professors will be unimpressed. Additionally, certain cultural aspects are in play as well: your professor for Japanese 101(which you're taking to help navigate Mercari JP) will definitely call your coord "cosplay" at the very least. In general, play it safe your first few classes to get a feel of the expectations, then slowly work in whatever lolita aspects you can. There's no shame in defaulting to jeans and a tee: make the clothes work for you.

Comfort comes first

Lolita will never be a comfort fashion: the complexity of the layers just isn't suited for it. However, there are better and worse pieces for comfort in lolita. College students walk a ton, so only wear shoes that you feel comfortable dealing with the terrain challenges of your campus with. I swapped between flat Mary Janes and short boots with a moderate heel depending on the coord. Tea party shoes are a ruse: even though they look comfortable, they're so flat that you need inserts if you want to wear them for longer than it takes for a photo. Cute sneakers are fine too! I kept a pair of 'special occasion' shoes around (Mana-sama height platform heels), but I never wore them to class for fear of falling. 

KOI Footwear Atomic Mary Jane Trail Shoes look to be usable

Antaina shoes that you need a spotter for

Fit is also an important issue with lolita. If a piece doesn't fit with plenty of ease, it will be uncomfortable to wear to the point that it just won't get reached for. Tight fitting garments can also effect air flow on hot days and layering ability on cold ones. Plus, the infamous boob-loaf (when the bodice is so tight that it appears to be a fresh-baked banana bread) is always a threat. When space is such an issue, every piece in a wardrobe needs to be comfortable, breathable, and appropriate for the climate.

Invest in staple pieces

By "investing", I don't mean that every piece has to be a $1000 MTO wedding dress, or even that it has to be brand. Investing means selecting pieces with a reasonable price point, that fit comfortably, and that can be used for a while. Take petticoats, for example. A cheap petticoat from Bodyline or eBay will run about $10 shipped, not fill a skirt properly, and deflate within months. A moderately priced hoop skirt or a petticoat from Aurora and Ariel, with a base price of $15 (not including shipping and fees) will last for years, fill skirts up, and save money in the long run. 

The need for investment isn't always pricy. For example, a simple chiffon crop blouse can get tons of wardrobe mileage in a way that an expensive princess sleeved blouse, with lace that will totally dip into the dining hall marinara sauce, just won't. Additionally, sometimes materials are a sore point here. Some polyester materials, especially low-cost shiny ones and chiffons, will run and tear like an old pair of tights, while heavier poly and cotton will be unaffected. Ornate prints often fade or wear unevenly, but solids will stay relatively stable. Thin lace tights are versatile and cheap, but thicker ones will last longer before pilling and running. There's no golden rule to what the best price point for an item is, especially with the variety of styles in lolita fashion; just keep in mind that these clothes aren't a cheap costume to be worn once, but real clothing that should be wearable over and over again.

Build wardrobes, not outfits

Building wardrobes doesn't mean everything has to go together, it just means that there should be options for coordinating every item to maximize versatility. Although capsule wardrobes are totally viable for this, they rely on a complete interchangeability of each and every item, which frankly requires too much planning for my delicately chaotic sentiments. Forward planning each coordinate before even pressing buy just seems like work. Instead, what I recommend for fresh newbies is to pick up basics: white blouses, lace tights or lace-topped socks, shoes in the basic color of choice (usually black, though pink, brown, and white are not unheard of), and some simple jewelry (like resin rings, a dangly necklace, and fake-pearl or beaded bracelets). For over all color coherence, I started off with only black and white items to maximize my options in punk, gothic, classic, and old-school sweet, but, depending on the substyle, pink and white or a variety of dusty-toned colors may be the way to go. Don't over-focus on color matching exactly-- find things that either look good enough, contrast nicely, or have such different textures that color doesn't matter. Themes may also be a way to ensure coherence without actually having to plan out each coordinate ahead of time: florals and ribbons are my default themes, but Alice themes, crosses, sweets, or even rabbits can help create cohesion in a budding wardrobe. 

 

The most important thing about wardrobe-oriented planning is to not feel trapped in a certain coordinate every time a given main piece is worn. Keeping versatility in mind by not buying clashing pieces or hyper-fixating on exact color matches between individual items is essential. It also helps with events: there are certain pieces I own that I picked specifically because they could be dressed up for tea parties, down for shelving library books, or just worn in a not-too-exciting coordinate for fabric shopping. Every piece doesn't have to be perfect for every occasion, but they all need to work for something.

Hem Scallop JSK, BTSSB, 2006

Storage

Limited storage space is yet another reason to focus on versatile pieces. Storage spots for certain pieces that parallel normie clothes are obvious: main pieces and blouses need to be hung up in the closet, cutsews can be kept with tee shirts, and socks should stay paired. I kept my shoes under my bed, which is also pretty standard. Things like headbows, though, don't have an expected place, and hat boxes and wig heads are expensive, so I recommend sturdy storage bins that can be kept on top of or inside the wardrobe until the time comes. I also use plastic pencil cases to keep my jewelry organized within the box.

I have like six of these suckers

Not just for colored pencils!

 

A big utilitarian bin may not be as kawaii as some decadent confection involving cake stands and glitter, but it's easy to take from high up without spilling, and it's much easier to move out with at the end of the year. These things can be cutified with stickers from brands and independent artists if adorableness is an emotional necessity. Storage, though, is not where I focus my aesthetic efforts: that's what the coordinates are for.

Keep laundry in mind

I hate ironing, so I usually don't. As a primarily old school lolita who has contracted 40% of my soul out to cotton, this is a tough act. The way I get around ironing is by hang- or flat-drying my pieces and using wrinkle releaser. In suite settings, wrinkled pieces can be hung outside a hot shower, but traditional dorms are infested with normies, so don't do that.

This has saved my life

For washing, very few things need the care that the tags allege. Most things can just be stuffed into the washer in a delicates bag with like colors on warm or cold (not hot) settings. Clothing doesn't actually need to be washed every time, especially if it doesn't touch the skin like many JSKs. Instead, airing things out is perfectly respectable, and will help with the longevity of prints. Please, though, wash socks and anything that comes in contact with naked armpits. Costume spray (mix 1:1 water to vodka [or rubbing alcohol if you're underage]) can help with smells. Steaming also helps: a portable steamer is a great investment, and can reduce the chances of ironing further. Don't be obsessive, but don't be gross either.

Keep these laundry needs in mind when packing: having a single good pair of lolita socks means you can only wear those socks once every wash cycle. A good, steady supply of cutsews or blouses and legwear can be an immense help to lolitas wanting to wear the fashion regularly without doing laundry every other night. When wearing lolita to risky events like parties, screaming sessions, and hurricane puddle jumping, I recommend dark (even polyester) solids that can take serious punishment without staining or needing too much additional attention.

That's about all I have for college students on their lolita journey! No matter what happens, just know that you don't owe anybody either conformity or uniqueness. Lolita is a choice made every time the clothes are worn: it is up to the wearer to decide what they want to do. College is about learning, both about the outside world and about your own identity, and hopefully these tips will help that learning process. Thanks for reading!