Marionette Cemetery: °˖✧✝ Create a List for Lolita New Years Resolutions ✝✧˖°

I made it through one more year in Lolita fashion, and thankfully, every year becomes better than the last. I've grown so much, in regards to defining my style and expanding my wardrobe. Hopefully, I can continue to create an even better experience for myself in this new year. And to keep me on track, I decided to use Lolita Blog Carnival's event, creating a list of New Years resolutions for Lolita. I wasn't actually able to participate in this event in the week it was originally posted, but I thought it would still be a great topic to write about on my own time.

Honestly, I'm usually bad with New Years resolutions, but I'm determined to stick to this specific set. I've come to realize that the reason why I have had a bit of a difficult time with New Years resolutions in the past is because I tend to set high expectations for myself that are a bit demanding. So in the end, I wind up falling short for many of them. In an effort to rectify that this year, I've decided to make a list that's more realistic for me. Because of that, this list may appear to be a bit minimum and exiguous. But anything else would be overwhelming for me, so it's best to start off small.

◊ Create Coordinates That Are More "Dolly" Looking

There's a certain stigma I've notice in the Western Community about the more "dolly" aspect of our fashion, as of late, which is understandable, seeing as many Lolitas have interests in things that are perceived to be youthful and childish, and we don't want outsiders to the fashion to conflate our interests as some sort of fetish or weird obsession. Also, with the current set of trends, the "look" that's now being pushed for Lolita is one that's more mature and regal looking, and many people in the fashion have taken this shift of trends as some sort of amelioration from, in their words, "mistakes" of the past. But instead of being apart of those who condemn part our fashion's history, I praise it unconditionally.

I guess in the end, though, it really comes down to a person's taste. Some people love the dolly appearance, and others hate. I, for one, am one of those people who take the former view, especially since getting more into Old School Lolita. And it was one that came very naturally for me. On their own, I already loved frilly peter pan collars, princess sleeves and peeking bloomers. When pieced together, I noticed how outfits like these looked very similar to the styling of an antique porcelain doll, which is where I got the term "dolly" from to describe this certain look. I've also always loved the more whimsical and fantastical aspect of our fashion, so going forward this year, I really want to continue making more of these sort of extreme looks.

And since the new year started, I've all ready purchased some frillier, dolly styled pieces, one of which being Metamorphose's Gobelin Teddy Bear Trumpet Sleeve OP (this has been on my wishlist for years)! And the other, a pair of frilly, long, black bloomers.

I plan on buying one of those ridiculously large teddy bears to accessorize with this OP.
It's going to be so cute!

It's so hard finding longer bloomers now a days since the peaking bloomers
tread is over. So I was very happy to have found these!

◊ Wear More Items With Old School Imagery

Photo from Rococo volume 2
Scanned by rainedragon.

Ever since I've been identifying more with the Old School aesthetic in our fashion, I've been increasingly studying any type of Lolita photos and illustrations from this era, which is from the late 1990s to 2006. And from what I've seen, there are certain images that were regularly used that are still conflated with our fashion today, even with the passing of trends. So in a way to improve my Old School wardrobe, so it won't just have the same plain, solid color pieces, I want to explore using more of these images in my wardrobe going forward. However, I don't really have much interest in incorporating all of them, though, so I've come up with the three that appeals to me the most.

Roses

Florals have always been popular in our fashion, but there's something about roses that feel more romantic and ornate. And after much observation, roses seem to be the primary flower used when embellishing more of the Gothic pieces in Lolita.

Crucifixes

Here's another Gothic element I want to wear more of this year. And although crucifixes aren't just specifically Old School, they're still very often used today, I would have to admit that they're popularity did began during Old School's era, thanks to the emergence of the Goth sub-culture in pop culture. I thing I've noticed in Old school Lolita, when it comes to crucifixes, is the placement. Instead of being hidden or sporadically placed on a print, they become the main focus, like a center piece.

Crowns

It wasn't until recently did I realize how pertinent crowns were to Old School's aesthetic, and now I can't help but to see them everywhere in old Lolita street snaps and illustrations! At first, when I started noticing the recurring crown image in Old School Lolita, it struck me as being more of a Classical concept more than anything, which is why I shied away from it a bit, but I've come to realize that it's still capable of being used to give off a Gothic theme, too.

◊ Create and Participate in Lolita Photo Shoots

Re-ri, Old School Lolita icon.

I've been in this fashion for a while now, but even when I did decide to actively become apart of the sub-culture, the olden days of Old School and it's aesthetic had, unfortunately, already started dwindling out. However, one aspect from this era that had somehow remained was the armature Lolita photo shoot. Just as the name suggests, this activity involves Lolitas who partake in photo shoots that are usually directed by themselves just for the sake of fun or for furthering different Lolita aesthetics through photography.

Apart from taking outfit shots or being in pictures taken from when I'm at meetups, I've never actually partook in a Lolita photo shoot, not even one of those "'round about town" ones, where it's mostly candid shots of Lolitas doing the most mundane things in different neighborhoods and settings. Now, all I want to do is take cheesy photos with my other Lolita friends in secluded cemeteries and stuffy antique shops. I want to be able to tell a story and continue to create certain themes with pictures.

Like I said in the beginning, this is a Lolita Blog Carnival topic, but I didn't get a chance to write and submit my post during the week it was created. So I decided not to put the Lolita Blog Carnival header in my post's title, but I did want to at least link the blogs that participated, even if I didn't get a chance to. I read through all of them, and they were really inspiring, so I knew I had to share them with my readers!

Make sure to check out Lolita Blog Carnival!

Lolita Blog Carnival is an online Lolita community of Lolita bloggers who come together to blog about certain topics each week to stimulate further ideas for great blog posts!

If you want to find out what are some other Lolitas' New Years resolutions, take a look at these other Lolita blogs:

°˖✧ 'Till next time