What made you want to pursue Lolita/EGA and at what age did you start?
>>8972120
But what if my grapes are on a diet
>>8972120
I was a 14 year old overweight weeb who dreamed of being kawaii. I stumbled upon lolita while browsing jrock artists. My first inspiration was Kana. I started to look for clothes on ebay, like a fool, and purchased some hideous milk maid outfits and some milanoo tiered replicas. It wasn't until I found egl that I realized there was more than raschel lace and Anna Miller looking dresses. 13 years later, I'm still wearing lolita but for different reasons. I like feeling *uguu kawaii* but my main reason for wearing the fashion is that I love feeling feminine. I'm not very ladylike outside of lolita, and have a reputation of being a tom boy. So when I dress up, I feel like I can satisfy the other part of me that wants to be dainty, delicate, and ladylike.
>>8972120
My obsession with Count Cain and Godchild was definitely where I started. I went through phases where I'd google translate Moitie's website and fawn over Mana when I was in junior high. I didn't end up actually buying anything until I was probably 19.
>>8972140
I think ebay must be where most new Lolita's start. I bought overpriced secondhand bodyline and a DoL replica on there as my first pieces.
>>8972133
Well, I hear the new model can feed your chocolate cake rolls instead.
>>8972120
Found out about lolita in high school through visual kei bands and anime. Didn't start wearing lolita until college because I just "didn't have the money." Meaning, in high school, I spent my hard earned dollars on manga, merch, and stupid Hot Topic maul gawth shit.
I actually had less money to spend in college since I was no longer working as much as I had in high school, but I was a lot more careful in saving and spending and became a lot more particular. So I guess I was 20 when I bought my first piece of brand?
>>8972120
I started two years ago. I admired OTT sweet in middle school and high school especially, but I had no self-esteem and a reputation as a tomboy that I didn't want to sully. I remember especially falling in love with the BTSSB Sweet Fawn coat and being sad that it couldn't be bought anymore from the website (the reservation was years ago at that point).
College comes, I start drooling over lolita again. The turning point was 1) when I discovered Fanny Rosie on Tumblr, as her really toned down classic style seemed perfect for me, and 2) when I found Lacemarket and realized there was secondhand lolita. These two things made lolita seem possible for me. I didn't want to stand out TOO much with OTT sweet, and I was cheap.
Now I have a sweet/classic wardrobe that mostly can't be toned down but idgaf, and I've spent a pretty lump of money. Still glad I got into it. And I have that fawn coat.
>>8972217
>And I have that fawn coat.
made me smile anon, glad you were able to get it in the end.
Found out about it in late middle school, there was an ask in Shojo Beat asking where to buy Momoko's clothes in Kamikaze girls, so I spent all my birthday money on it and fell in love. I was horrendously ita until about 2013 when I could afford proper lolita.
>>8972120
31. Tired of cosplay. Still wanted to dress up at conventions and felt out of place in normal clothes. Find someone selling a dress. It was a replica, didn't really know better as I hadn't researched ahead of time, I just thought it was cute. Started getting more into it, and really enjoyed it. Went quickly beyond cosplay replacement to a fashion as it should be, but I don't wear it as much as I'd like to.
Known about lolita since early 00's, and even lurked a little here mid to late 00's, but I didn't get into it until then. I also couldn't afford it back then anyway.
>>8972120
Service me -anyway- I want?
I didn't get into lolita when I first found it back in 2004-5ish, and that's a good thing for everyone.
I made little gaia figures in lolita outfits and learned a bit about the fashion, but I never did anything with that information.
Six years later, my boyfriend is browsing /cgl/ and I fall in love with pic related. He got me interested in the fashion again, lured by dresses and salt.
I was maddened with a sense of urgency to relearn what I knew about the fashion and hunt the dress down.
I started voraciously reading about the fashion. I identified with the origins of it and accepting it into my life as a new long term hobby that I could make my own. I started following releases, and saving pictures of all the dresses that I liked something about as a way to build my style from nothing.
I am not sorry that I used the dream dress thread as a way to advance my taste (by leaps and bounds).
I was still poor when I became active in the online community, and my living situation was horrible, so it was a pipe dream for what seemed like forever.
Do to a change in my quality of life, I can actually pursue the dream dress list I've built, and since I started making purchases in February, I've already crossed off three. Pintuck tiered is still on the list, but it's now much farther down on my priorities. I'm working my way down from the top, but it or something very much like it will be mine one day.
too much desposible income and nothing to spend it on
>>8972120
I think when I was young (like 12-14) I sorta kinda knew what the fashion was, I had a (shitty) idea of it from anime and whatnot but I mostly kinda thought of it as a general, kawaii ~harajookoo~ fashun. I don't think it was until when I was a sophomore in high school where I started to get really interested in it, in part because I was a cosplayer and I had found cgl. I had seen some of it at cons, and a little bit of it on tumblr, but I think cgl really exposed to me to real lolita. I also have an online friend who, at the time, dabbled in lolita. That was probably around 2011/12 I think. At first I just admired the fashion - I wasn't a tomboy but I felt like the fashion was too feminine and cutesy for me to pull off and that I would look or feel silly in it. I had a change of heart somehow I guess because I think I decided to just buy a BL jsk and see if I liked it. I got their cinderella bunny JSK which I still like - I think it's one of their better prints. Later on I bought some brand off the secondhand groups and started buying pieces here and there. I made my first BL purchase in 2012 but I didn't wear any real coordinates out until last year in 2015. I'm almost 21 now.
While towards the later end of high school I became comfortable in myself and pretty fashion forward, I think what drew me to lolita and still draws me to lolita is the feminine aspect of it, plus the "out there"-ness of the fashion - in middle school and my early HS years I fucking LOVED Lady Gaga. So I think in lolita I saw a chance to explore an elegant, feminine aspect of fashion that I didn't normally partake in, but also a way to express the kinda OTT fashion I grew up admiring. When I dress in lolita I really do feel like a princess and I think it's kinda helped me with my own confidence. (Nothing helps build up your confidence like going out in public dressed like a crazy person, right?)
>>8972133
underrated post
I've liked lolita since I was 14 (thanks to Gaia and Paradise Kiss) but always thought I was too fat and broke to join. I didn't seriously look into buying anything until I was 22 (3 years ago). I finally had the money and lurked cgl constantly so said fuck it and put together a taobao haul.
Thank god I didn't try to get into lolita when I was a teenager or I 100% believe I would have been a hot topic ita. I was already a weird wannabe scene kid back then. I would have tried to make some shitty PATD coord or something.
I found lolita when I was 13-14-ish. I got Pokemon Black and it came with a set of cards, and one of them had Gothitelle on it and talked about her design being inspired by Lolita fashion. I had no idea anything about the fashion but I remember spending all day at school imagining pretty black dresses with white bows. Later I looked it up and fell in love.
I tried my best to learn everything I could about it and downloaded tons of pictures and read every blog I could find. My obsession never faded and recently I got an actual job so I started buying stuff.
15-16ish watched Rozen Maiden, one of my better friends in high school was a brolita that passed really well; wouldn't have known about lolita/ouji if it wasn't for him.
I really liked souseiseki and had a poster of her on my wall, wanted to dress like her one day
Fast forward to 20's and now I that I can actually afford brand I'm actually wearing it now
I first saw it in 2002 off of some obscure website about two American's traveling in Japan. It was just some street snaps and they were talking about the weird street fashions. I rediscovered it two years later when all of the KiSS dolls artists were getting into it, starting with Sakura Fairy and then Punky. I used to be friends with Punky and I loved all of her old dresses, especially her Meta velveteen dress. I was broke as fuck at the time, but I started watching EGL anyway. I just really liked how elegant it was.
I started purchasing in 2009 once I had a steady income. I bought a little bit of Bodyline because it was cheap and hated it. Then I decided to check out 2nd hand sales on EGL and I really started to dedicate time and money to it.
>>8972352
You are me, but less wordy.
ilu anon.
Found it and became obsessed somewhere around 2005, but since I was a poor insecure teen I just stuck to 'loliables' and bad handmade skirts. Bought my first brand at 16 with birthday money, but only started really building a wardrobe when I was 21. I'm 24 now and wear it at least weekly.
I don't even remember how I discovered it but it was actually before I got into Gaiaonline, since I remember thinking their G-lol stuff was ita as hell. It was probably through anime or googling "cute Japanese girl" or something.
The reason I got into it was/is because I think it's beautiful. There's not really anything more to it than that.
I was a 12-year-old obsessed with hime gyaru, but I didn't like how short it was. I had a very vague understanding of what lolita was, since Violet LeBeaux was my idol, but it wasn't until I found hime lolita that I fell in love with the fashion. Of course, I couldn't buy anything until much, much, MUCH later.
Early 00s, teenage weeaboo me saw photos of Japanese street fashion snaps of lolitas. Fell in love and wanted to be one too. However I was 13, greasy, nearly 300lbs and had massive 36RR titties. So I bought some Gothic & Lolita bibles on ebay to admire and just got into BJDs to dress up instead. 12 years later at age 25 I lost 160lbs and got a total breast reduction (there was no saving any of that) and I can fit into my favorite two brands, VM and MM who are known for being on the small side. I love lolita but I also love ouji as well, my body type is probably more suited for ouji being tall and completely flat chested though.
>>8972120
>I liked the clothes. I decided to buy and wear them.
>17-ish
>>8972332
There are worse ways to spend too much money on.
>>8972120
Found the handbook while I was looking for anime shit right after my 16th birthday. Went through the stages of thinking lolita was ridiculous to thinking it was weird but cool to deciding I wanted to wear it and joining EGL pretty fast. Ended up making my first Taobao order after my 17th, joined a comm and got into cgl after my 18th, closet was mostly brand by my 19th. I'm 20 now.
In hindsight, it's bizarre how quickly I went from thinking lolita was weird and stupid to spending all my money on it and being obsessed with the aesthetic.
I guess the first time I encountered lolita was as a teenager in the early to mid 2000s. I had a really unrefined sense of style. I dressed like one of the Ramones. Skinny jeans before they caught on, and tight band shirts that I altered myself. I also dabbled in goth but looking back... Yuck. I came across scans of Fruits magazine online in the early days of street fashion blogs and I fell in love with Japanese street fashion. I love weird and outlandish clothing. I was on a trip for school and we went to a giant Barnes & Noble store. I hunted down their copies of Fruits and flipped through them. The gothic lolitas were amazing. I wanted to be like them, but I had nothing girly and I just assumed I could never find clothing like that anyway. It seemed like something I could never do. Over the years, I still liked punk and gothic music and style, but I became more refined and elegant in my choices. However, my long term boyfriend discouraged me from dressing too "weird," and was ashamed to be seem with me when I wore anything too flashy. It was a bad relationship and I suppressed a lot of myself to make it work and keep the peace.
I finally broke up with him about two years ago, and since then I have doing things I wanted to do but couldn't. I am 27 now and a few months ago, I decided to finally just try the lolita fashion. I am going to Otakon with my sister in August and I want to be able to wear some Jfashion since I don't cosplay.
It's a great hobby for me. I put together my first coord and attended my first comm meet in March. I am a shy person, but I felt totally comfortable. I only have off brand, handmade, and Bodyline pieces but I am saving up for some brand. I didn't know how much more there was to lolita than the classic gothic lolita.
>>8975244
Congrats anon!
I first encountered lolita in 2011 through anime and Venus Angelic. I was in weeaboo phase 2 at the start of college. I didn't wear it because I was broke, a super Tom boy, and fat.
I decided to start collecting stuff to wear it in early 2014 when I saw a picture of that Pegasus bodyline print that had all the teasers out for over a year. I wanted it really bad, so I started searching the website every couple of days to see if itd been posted. I ended up buying some dresses and accessories,i thought were cute. I was dumb and bought things too,small for me. I started lurking everywhere. I learned about Taobao and other cheap alternatives that catered to plus size.
Finally last year I got up the courage to get something custom sized from F+F and put together an okay coord. Still a fatty Chan but I've been working on it.
I was in the J-fash scans communities around 2003 and found lolita that way. Fell in love with some very old Meta ads/catalogues and the feeling just stayed with me ever since.
I didn't properly start buying anything until 2010, but did foray into it at 16 with some indie skirt from 'In the Starlight', a hello kitty top and stockings with hearts printed all over. I was so ita.
>>8977959
I'm a testament to this. I remember genuinely trying to dress cute as a child for my mom, but I couldn't do it, it wasn't me. Now I'm in love with more lace and frills than ever.
>>8977959
Yup.
I still don't like mainstream Western fashion at all. Individual pieces can be quite nice sometimes but the way people style them is just fugly.
>walking past big clothing store
>mannequin in the window is wearing nice ruffly chiffon blouse that could work well with lolita
>rest of outfit is cheap canvas trilby, low rise jeggings (exposing most of the lower abdomen) and flipflops
>scream internally and rush into store to rescue nice blouse from this abuse
My normie friends keep trying to get me to coord my lolita pieces with jeans. It's terrible. I'm fine with jeans in general but no they don't go with frilly princess sleeve blouses and tea party shoes pls stop
>>8978140
I've slowly started to hate my jeans and all other 'basic' normie clothing elements, mostly because of how fugly it makes me look at feel.
I can understand some people digging the han solo thing, but it's really just not for me.
>>8978140
>>8978484
NOOOOO
>>8978191
Same here, I love yoga pants but they just look so...eugh to me now. At this point I'm in a "give me jfash or give me death" phase. And I'm glad.
>>8978140
My mom does this. Wear this fancy ass blouse with jeans she says, it won't look like a hot mess of formal and informal wear clashing she says.
>>8978544
Yoga pants are eugh
No self-respecting human being wears them outside without something to cover their ass
when i was 15 i was really into ancafe. i wanted to be ancafe, still do kinda. went to school looking like i was vomited on by a goth decora rave. it was 2005 and nobody knew any better. around this time i found a copy of fruits with pictures of lolitas and i fell in love. i didn't have the funds for it but i started spending hours poring over BBTSSB and metamorphose and sewed little lacy hearts and bow things on everything to make my outfits cuter.
my mom and dad commented that they hoped i would dress more like the websites i was perusing because it would make me look like a cute little girl again when things were happy and i wasn't a shitty rebellious carpetmuncher. creepy.jpg, things were not so good at home and i left the day after graduation, no money/no life trajectory, got a job, wore terribad thrifted stoner clothes until a couple of years ago when i came across tim gunn's guide to fashion at the local library. from that came a complete fashion 180, it inspired me to take pride in my appearance and i gave away most of my wardrobe to start from scratch. now i'm older and happier with my body and have the funds and the balls to dress cute for my own pleasure and no one else's. came full circle back to lolita.
i always feel like i gave up lolita unwillingly, there was so much brokenness from that time in my life, and when i look back i get very sad for the most part. it was too many feels for me to even look at lolita things for a long time - but now it makes me so happy, i feel like my life is healing itself starting with lolita
I knew about it since I was about 15, strangely enough on tumblr as I (shamefully) had a roleplay blog for a vocaloid character, I saw some pictures of Mary Magdalene reblogged by some rin roleplayed saying 'rin would soooo wear this!' And so I searched that image all over Google (of course the original post didn't include the source) until I found lolita fashion. This was during a time when sugary carnival was everyone's dream dress, so I pretty much ruled out sweet lolita for me. I thought old school was frumpy, classic was boring, and the only thing I liked was Gothic.
Obviously I couldn't buy anything, but slowly I realised that Gothic wasn't for me, and the style of sweet I liked was more 'subdued' things such as cinema doll and holy lantern (which were released juuust before I got into lolita, not that I'd have been able to buy them anyway)
Fast forward and now I'm a student with a part time job which I use to buy lolita. I never really told anyone about what fashion I liked (I told my best friend and she said it was dumb, so basically nope) until recently (I had to have some packages sent to my parents house so I kind of had to tell them, and bf knows as well, he's given me a push to wear it even though it's not what he likes on a girl)
I have a few dresses now which I will wear but I'm a bit of a coward and I haven't finished a full coord yet, I think it's because then I wouldn't have an excuse to not wear it out (right now my excuse is that my coords aren't finished). I guess that's my own fault because I just don't want to embarrass anyone. I plan on joining a comm but the local one consists of four 30 yr old itas, and the closest one is about an hour train journey away. Personally I think I need a lolita friend to help me get comfortable with wearing the fashion out so I'm not just letting the dresses collect dust in my closet.
Anyway tl;dr, I wear non ott sweet but I don't really /wear/ it because I'm a wuss
>>8977959
I like mainstream boyish fashion, I just don't like mainstream girly or sexy fashion. If you wanted to psychoanalyse it you could say I'm not comfortable with sexy looks, which is why I go for either jeans or lolita.
>>8978629
>I thought old school was frumpy, classic was boring, and the only thing I liked was Gothic.
I had the same experience getting into lolita around the OTT sweet era. I hated the sweet style of the time, and I thought classic was boring, not so much because it wasn't as OTT as now but because the style had looked the same for years. I liked some oldschool but thought a lot of it looked like shit, and Taobao brands weren't doing much really interesting or original yet.
Back then I was all about gothic, but nowadays I really adore sweet-classic stuff, like a lot of Innocent World's output.
I was introduced on a family trip to Atlanta, GA many moons ago, around 2008. My aunt took me to Little five Points and we went into Junkyard Sisters on the wall was a lot of GLBs, I bought volume 19 because it's also my birthdate. That was my first true adventure and exposure while in middle school.
Started out wanting replicas, but my first dress is the one pictured. I actually started collecting in 2011 after high school, but wanted to go sweet, sold off almost all my wardrobe now in 2016 and am gothic with only Halloween prints. It's been a wild ride, but now I know my preferred styles and color choices.
>>8978581
Thankfully I cover my butt anyway when I wear tight pants, but I've decided they're going to be lazy clothes from now on. I have better, classier pants now.
>>8978542
