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.
 |
| 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.
This post, once again, is brought to you by Bibliotheca, aka the only thing that gets me to write when I'm under the weather. It's been a rough month in tourism and in my life, so I'm glad to have an excuse to write! This month's theme is growth, so it's a perfect chance to tackle a sensitive topic: /cgl/ on 4chan and why I (and most lolitas I know) outgrew it and the illusion of anonymity it offered.
It's the time of month when I actually blog, that is, Bibliotheca time! This month's theme is March Madness, and to celebrate, several bloggers are doing polls to create a tournament for their favorite lolita items. My theme is Marching Madness, as in marching bands, because I love music. The winner was Angelic Pretty's Fancy Melody JSK.
I lobbied semi-viciously for this month's Bibliotheca topic of romance, with this post already drafted in the grimiest crevices of my mind. The word "Romantic" means many things to many people: obviously, love is the foremost thought in mid-February, but Romance languages might have their place as well. However, as a recovering musician, Romantic brings to mind the excesses of 19th century European and Anglo-American art music.
It's the most wonderful time of the year: January, when all the lolitas (and Bibliotheca writers)reenact a LiveJournal theme and post our updated wardrobes. I, however, am a grade-A lazybones, and I have a burning lack of desire to put forth my abysmal photography skills once again, so here's an update comprised of listing images from the items I bought this year, arranged by item type. Most of them have dubious or nonexistent release dates and official names, so I simply won't bother listing a year.