A review of my 2017 lolita goals

Another year gone already. I have to say, even though it didn’t feel like it so much at the time, 2017 was a really good year for me. I set a lot of goals for myself, lolita related and otherwise, and did a pretty good job in achieving them. Finish the first draft of our novel? Check. Read 30 new books? Almost...23 ain't bad! Take a dance class? Adult ballet, check. Lose ten kilos? Ahhhh let's not talk about that, but I've made a good effort over my holiday from work so far. I also did so many super epic photoshoots and started a personal make-up challenge in August, which I’ve kept up. So all in all I feel pretty good about my 2017.

And then for the reason you’re reading this – the lolita side of things! You may recall I had two sets of goals; wearing lolita and my lolita wardrobe. Let’s start with how I did on the first one…

One of my favourite outfits from 2017.

Goal 1a: Wear lolita more often. Totally aced this one! 2017 was the year that saw me wear lolita more than I ever have before, or at least more than in the previous couple of years. September in particular was an epic month, with six outfits! And it made me so happy to wear every time. I hadn’t realised how badly I had gotten out of the habit of wearing things that made me happy and excited, so it was really good to rediscover that joy.

If you want to see what I wore, check out my Roli in lolita tag for all my outfits posts! I'm also going to post a bit of a summary about what I wore shortly so you can look forward to more of my ramblings about clothes then ^__^

Super simple work outfit.

Goal 1b: Wear lolita items in non-lolita outfits. I did wear some very borderline lolita outfits for work on casual Fridays (simple, low or no poof, incorporating plain offbrand items) and really enjoyed this, but outside of this I didn’t use my lolita things in non-lolita looks. But I am totally okay with that because last year I realised that I love lolita, but I want to do it properly when I do it. My regular style is jeans and a nerdy shirt, which doesn’t really lend itself to incorporating lolita elements, so I’m actually happier keeping to two separate and not forcing myself to cute-ify my normal look. I don’t mind that it means that depending on when you see me I may be frilly and pink, or super casual and showing of my geek pride. Both those things are me and that’s okay.

First meet of the Newcastle lolitas in 2017.

Goal 2: Attend at least one meetup. Another goal smashed! I went to three meets this year with both of the communities in my vicinity and it was really good to get involved. I’m super cliché and have social anxiety, so this was challenging for me, but really rewarding. I can turn into quite the antisocial mushroom if I don’t deliberately push myself, so this was a great way to push myself and enjoy this fabulous hobby at the same time. Like outfits, I have a tag for lolita meetups if you want to read a bit about what I got up to this year in that regard. And I've already bought a ticket for a big Sydney event coming up this month and the Newcastle community should be having it's first meet soon as well, so I'm still going strong here.

Modelling with Angeline Bubsy, photographed by The Enthusiast.

Goal 3: Do at least 4 lolita photoshoots. This didn't happen. I modelled in lolita twice and also got to photograph an epic guro lolita look, so I definitely did do some, just not as much as I wanted. But I don't really mind. I've come to realise I had really stopped modelling anywhere near as much as I like to, and also had stopped trying so hard on shoots, and I've worked towards getting my photoshoot mojo back. It just didn't take a very lolita form in 2017. However I have some cool ideas and we'll see what happens in the new year.

So on the actively being a lolita side of things I’m really pleased with myself in 2017. It was really good to wear it more and get out more.

Then, I had some goals regarding the actual contents of my wardrobe. I posted an update on this mid-year and at that point had six items remaining. Of those six, I have since completed the following:

• Get more wristcuffs in black and ivory 
• Get fawn fur boot-toppers to match my collars and beret (well, not a match but close enough!)

Which leaves me with the following still unfulfilled:

• Get an a-line petticoat
• Modify or replace brown short sleeved bolero
• Get brand lace topped OTKs in white, black, and ivory
• Get better lavender headwear

Most of that list will remain going into 2018, with a few alterations. But this posts is long enough as it is, so my 2018 goals will be the subject of another post soon.

Did you have any goals, lolita or otherwise, that you achieved in 2017?