3.10.2014

Lolita Blog Carnival: How My Style Has Evolved

Hello, everyone!

Today's Lolita Blog Carnival theme is as the title says. I first got interested in lolita in 2005, and the year 2006 saw my first attempts in this tricky fashion. My blog, however, only goes back to 2009, and that's where this post will begin from. Actually I'm just glad I don't have any proof of my early "lolita" outfits, because to be honest they were Awful with a capital A. Those were different times; not many brands shipped abroad, and thus we had to make do with whatever almost-but-not-quite-lolita clothes that we could lay our hands on, and even those sad items were such treasures! Oh, all the memories! But, anyway, the purpose of this long babbling was to warn you that yes, this post will be as long as a year of famine (as the Finnish saying goes). So be warned! And here we go...

2009

I started my lolita career as a gothic lolita - and so did everyone else. Back in 2006, gothic lolita was all the rage and I still occasionally dressed in it in 2009. I guess it also fitted my dark teen years very well. This h.NAOTO Frill dress was my very first brand dress ever, and how I loved it! I also wore dark lipstick, a big mistake. Don't get me wrong; I still adore dark lipsticks but I just can't wear them myself, because my lips are so tiny. But in 2009, I am yet to learn this.


 In 2009 I also got my very first dress from Baby, the Stars Shine Bright. I still own this dress and wear it every now and then. My style was not that polished back then, as you can see.


2010

In 2010 I started to like some of Innocent World's sweeter designs, as well. I was getting more into sweet lolita and the dramatic gothic days were finally behind me. I got my bunny bear bags and though I never used them much in daily wear, I sometimes dared to. I also wore over the knees with prints - a thing that I don't really do anymore, but then it seemed like a good idea.


I also fell in love with Angelic Pretty. During those times, sweet lolita was The Thing and I kind of went with the flow. I think it also had much to do with the fact that I was just bored after so many years in black and white, and sweet lolita seemed so fresh, so full of colour options!



But I never lost my love for Baby (still haven't, after all these years!) and sometimes I even wore black, mostly with lighter colours though.


2011

During the year 2011, my favourite brands were still the same: Baby, AP and IW. For some time, I was very loyal towards these brands and didn't even consider buying a dress from any other brand. 2011 was also the year I finally got Minna Parikka's Raquel shoes - shoes that I had long lusted for and shoes that I still have, and still love. Later I got more Minna Parikka shoes and liked to wear them with lolita a lot.



I also started to get interested in classic lolita. My first attempts were not so good.


I also bought these winter boots from Baby; they were and still are my only lolita brand shoes. Usually the price and quality just aren't a match, I've always thought it's ridiculous to spend that much on fake leather shoes. But I had long wanted proper lolita winter boots, something that isn't so easy to find from regular shoe stores, and so I got these and wore them a lot during that year.


Sugary Carnival was once my dream dress, and 2011 was the last time I wore it. I just recently sold it away and it did hurt to part from it, even though it no longer fits my style at all.


2012

But in 2012, I got another dream dress - Baby's Marie Antoinette OP, a dress I had admired from the very beginning of my lolita hobby. This dress, when I first laid eyes upon it, seemed to be everything I loved in lolita, the ultimate lolita dress. And now it was mine!


 I would still wear Angelic Pretty occasionally, but in 2012 I wore mostly Baby and IW. My style was going more towards sweet-classic and pure classic. My outfits were also getting more delicate; I would wear airy lace thights instead of printed socks. Actually, somewhere during this year I made the decision to never wear over the knees with lolita again, and never again I did. I decided that I was officially too old for them, and that outfits were more elegant without.





In 2012 I also added two new brands to my wardrobe: Victorian Maiden and Juliette & Justine. 

 

2013

The more time passes, the less I care about the fact if my outfits are matching or not. If the coulours work together, I wear them and that's that. This has made lolita a lot more fun to me.




This unicorn print dress is made by Mimi and has been one of my absolute favourites ever since I've had it. During this year I also started to like nude coloured lace or print stockings the most, often choosing them over the white ones I had worn a lot during the previous year. I hate the attention I get while wearing lolita, and I somehow feel more "invisible" with nude stockings.


During winter, I tended to wear dark, solid coloured stockings, to be (or at least feel) less noticiable and also to keep warm.



I was also - and still am - trying to find new, more classical ways of wearing my old sweet dresses.


2014

In 2014, I still prefer dark or nude thights. To be honest, my lolita style is pretty boring during the Winter times - I hate that, but I just want to be warm, and draw as little attention as possible, and also Winter is really dark and uninspiring time in Finland.


Well, what else? This year I wore my latte coloured killer heels. A Lot. I liked to combine them with sweet pastel coulours, to get more mature yet still cute looks.



I learned that these shoes go with everything.


I also tried to find new ways to wear my beloved Marie Antoinette OP. It's very hard to coordinate, but here I tried a little bit more modern approach and liked the outcome a lot.


I also like to coordinate a little bit of black into my outfits - it makes them seem more elegant and fresh.


And of course I added yet another (indie) brand to my wardrobe, when I finally bought this beautiful dress from Finnish Cloudberry Lady.


When it comes to accessorizing, I have always preferred to use offbrand, second hand, vintage and regular store finds also to get a more unique style. This is something that has not changed during all these years.

***

Phew. That took me forever. Hopefully some of you, my dear readers, could make it all the way to the end! If you enjoyed it, even better, if you suffered trough it, well I am sorry but still glad that you made it. :D

P.S. Don't forget to check the other Lolita Blog Carnival participants:

14 kommenttia:

  1. Aww, tuo eka kuva. :D

    Oot kyl aina toteuttanu tyyliäsi sellaisella tietyllä elegantilla vivahteella, jopa kaikki sweeteimmät asut, mikä tekee asusta just Marin tyylisen. :D

    En muistanutkaan että sinulla on myös magical etoile panta! Se on kyl tosi söpö.

    VastaaPoista
    Vastaukset
    1. :D

      Kiitos!

      Juu, on, mutta en ihan kamalasti sitä viitsi käyttää, koska liian mätsyt asusteet (ainakin liian usein käytettyinä) tekee asusta vähän tylsän. Panta on mulla vain siksi, että se tuli mekon kylkiäisinä ostaessani sen. :D

      Poista
  2. I just realized something scary. I remember you from your early goth phase, I just somehow have never realized it's you! It's like - there's this wild Gothamea pokemon which will eventually hatch into a Caramea. I mean hi. :D

    I love how you blur the line between sweet and classic. Tbh I don't much like the fact that lolita should be segmented into this-lolita and that-lolita to begin with (though having those terms can be helpful, not saying it's useless). I also agree that adding a colour that's not in the coord as is but works with the other colours is an awesome way of making a nicely balanced look. If the colour is black, a right amount of it will make the other colours really stand out and look - well, fresh is a good word indeed.

    VastaaPoista
    Vastaukset
    1. Gothamea! XDDD I guess Caramea is devolving back towards the wild & possibly dangerous Gothamea, because I'm really starting to like black again! After wearing so much beige and brown black seems very new and fresh again. Quick, everyone, hide - Gothamea is comiiing... :')

      The sub-categories are good in describing to what look one was aiming at - sweet for cute, classic for more elegant and gothic for dramatic coordinations. These lines are getting really blurred, though, because nowadays you can do sweet in black, gothic in colours and classic in pastels. All in all, what does it matter what sub-categorie the outfit falls into, as long as it looks good? I don't even care if my outfits are pure lolita or not (except in those situations where I really have to care, like when creating an outfit to a _lolita_ fashion show... :D) Thank you for your compliments, I do like it here, somewhere between sweet and classic! I think this might be where I'll stay and maybe the world doesn't have to encounter Gothamea again. x)

      Poista
  3. I love your style so much, and I love this post! I've been trying to think of ways to make my own style more mature (cause it is so easy to look infantile in AP), and this offers so much good advice!! I never even thought beige shoes would or could be so useful! So much inspiration~ I'm going to try to put it all to good use and dress as mature as I can in my silly prints like melty cream doughnut.

    VastaaPoista
    Vastaukset
    1. Wow, thank you very much for your comment! I never thought this post could be that useful to someone, and it makes me glad to hear that it actually is. Keep on rocking your silly prints! ;D

      Poista
  4. I really love your post! Maybe I should do one too, is this "meme" from Lolita Blog Carnival open to everyone?

    Your evolution is really great, you got comfortable with the years and you tend to a classic (but still sweet) style. I really love the "you" of now even if you already had wonderful tastes as a full sweet lolita!

    I somehow feel the same as you at the moment, I want my lolita to be warm and confortable, I feel I am wearing the same thing all the time and plain stocking to be discret for any place.

    VastaaPoista
    Vastaukset
    1. Well, I guess no one can stop you if you want to participate, so go ahead! I really recommend you join Lolita Blog Carnival, though; it gives new ideas to posts (like this one) and also you can find new lolita bloggers easily from there. :)

      Thank you very much! ^^

      I feel you, girl! When it gets cold and dark, I just want to blend in with the rest of the world, even while wearing lolita (quite impossible but one can try). When I'm wearing "normal" clothes in every day life, I love it how I am so invisible, no one pays attention or asks silly questions and I can just go about my business. x)

      Poista
  5. I loved that timeline, thank you for sharing. I can't compile one of my style over the years so it's nice to see others

    VastaaPoista
    Vastaukset
    1. You're welcome! I'm glad to hear you liked it. :3

      Poista
  6. Olipas kattava ja mielenkiintoinen tyylipostaus, hienoja asuja ja vaatteita! Ihania Parikan kenkiä siulla on ja kieltämättä sopivat hyvin loliin. :)

    VastaaPoista
  7. I loooooved this post so much ! Seeing your evolution, your different coords is so inspiring ! You are beautiful, a real lady ! *___*

    VastaaPoista