First of all, it’s so pretty! I love big puffy skirts and elegant blouses, detailed prints and dramatic shoes, lovely hair accessories and gorgeous socks. I’ve always had a weakness for alternative fashions in general, and have worn everything from mis-matched rainbows to dapper Victorian to patchwork skirts to wannabe emo. Clothes have always been my thing. In a way, lolita is actually the most mainstream alternative fashion I’ve ever worn! I also love the coordination aspect of the clothes, of balancing colours and themes and coming up with new combinations rather than just buying a new outfit or wearing the same look over and over. I mean, I do tend to wear the same outfits repeatedly, but I also experiment a lot more in flatlay form.
Everything is just so lovely!
Segueing from that mention of flatlays, I love that lolita for me, is a solo hobby. Much as I love wearing it, I don’t have to get dressed up in order to enjoy the fashion. I really enjoy just playing with the clothes, daydreaming about my wardrobe, and of course…keeping up this blog! I also enjoy looking at new releases and even doing some sewing and crafting of my own. For me it’s a very unique hobby that I can engage in entirely on my own terms, for my own enjoyment, and do not need any involvement from anyone else. I am in to a whole bunch of different things, but lolita is the one that’s the most “me”.
One of the many hypothetical wardrobes I've put together for this blog.
However, much as I love the just me on my own aspects of lolita, I also enjoy the community, online and in real life. I only realised recently that the lolita community is the only one I’m really involved in online. That’s not a bad thing, but I was more active in different online circles in my teens and early twenties and no longer am. I mean, if I’m honest I’m not even all that active in lolita outside of this blog. But the community is there, even if I’m mostly a lurker. Similarly, I don’t go to many meet ups, but the community is there for me to participate in, and that’s good. Especially for a socially anxious dweeb like myself, hobbies with pre-made communities are a godsend. Going new places! Meeting new people! It’s a good thing.
From my first meet with the Newcastle community.
But to circle back to the actual prompt, what “keeps” me in this fashion is basically that I love it. I enjoy all the aspects of it and it brings me a lot of pleasure. I like seeing the style change, and I like experiencing that same growth in my own personal style. If I ever fall out of love, I’ll leave, but for now it’s a relationship I fully intend to continue.
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The point about it being a hobby that you can do on your own resonated with me quite a bit. As much as I love my community and the overall community aspect of the fashion (total agreement with your next point), I love the fact that I don't *have to* have other people there to take part in and enjoy it. For example, as much as I know that I'd enjoy D&D, I don't know anyone local enough to me who'd want to play with me, so it ends up being kind of a null hobby. But with lolita fashion whether I have a community there or not, whether I choose to engage with other people or not, I can still do so much just on my own, dressing up, putting together coordinates and reading other blogs or magazines. That definitely sits well with me as an introvert. :)
ReplyDeleteSolo hobbies are the best! It's also why I like blogging so much, I get to engage and contribute to the community but entirely on my own timetable.
DeleteBut you should totally try and find some D&D friends, I recently started playing and it's a lot of fun!