I'm a huge advocate of goals for anything in life: they keep you focused and cut away a lot of bullshit. When I first started in lolita, I didn't have a clear vision of where I saw in wardrobe in X years and I really paid the price. For the first 3-4 years I was in the fashion, I didn't have a cohesive wardrobe at all. I didn't have any main wardrobe colors so I had accessories that matched only one dress...I couldn't make varied coords with any of my pieces...it was a mess. Eventually, I dropped an entire substyle (sweet) and basically started fresh.
These days I'm careful about what I add to my wardrobe to make sure I can make lots of coords out of any new dress I get. I make sure I get enough filler like cardigans and socks to keep things fresh, and so on. (I definitely have my friend Stefen to thank for inspiring me with her organizational skills.)
Last year my goal was to make my wardrobe 50/50 classic and gothic because I didn't have much gothic at the time. I definitely achieved that goal! Looking ahead, I wanted to list out some of my lolita goals for 2022. They're not necessarily purchase-related but many are haha.
1. Get more hair accessories
I could probably also write "and blouses, and socks" but really where I'm crucially lacking is in hair accessories — especially for gothic lolita. I choose not to wear wigs so my options are narrow when it comes to accessories that actually stay on my head and look good. I feel like a lot of gothic hair accessories are really OTT and dramatic so that's another hurdle. In 2022 I want to get more from Antique Beast (when they open) and other indie shops like Hoshibako.
2. Only get dresses on my wishlist
Left to right: Moitie's Divine Cross JSK, MM Tweed OP, MM Elodie Doll JSK
This one is so tough but I do genuinely want to follow it. I feel like every impulse main piece purchase I've ever made, I've eventually sold. It's only the pieces I truly wanted that I've kept, so going forward I want to only invest in pieces I really, really want. Unfortunately that means a lot of rare Mary Magdalene and Moitie which I doubt I'll find easily — so 2022 might be an uneventful year for dresses. That said, I did just find a wishlist item recently: Moitie's Rose Tulle OP!
3. Wear the fashion 2x a week
Last year I wore lolita about once a week and I'd like to do even better this year! I don't know about others but for me personally, the biggest hurdle to wearing lolita is just...putting it on. Once I have it on I feel amazing and get a real serotonin boost. But when I'm low or lazy, it can seem unappealing to pile layers on. I think wearing it more regularly will shake that laziness! I invest so much money and emotional energy into lolita so I want to make the most of it.
4. Support Victorian Maiden, Sheglit, and Atelier Pierrot
This one kind of speaks for itself. I like these brands but don't often get anything new from them. Of course, brands don't survive from lolitas getting them secondhand on Lace Market — so I want to make a point of supporting them directly. This may sound like it contradicts Goal #2 but all of these brands make great filler pieces, so I don't necessarily need to get dresses to support them!
5. Let go of perfection
The hardest one. As lolita becomes more popular, it feels like it's most present on Instagram and Tiktok…and with that comes this pressure to be perfect, to look perfect, to have the perfect edits, the perfect wardrobe, the perfect curated image of yourself. It's a lot. I want my relationship to lolita to be about me and not how I'm perceived by others so in 2022 I'd like to wear more half-assed coords, more no-makeup coords, and take fewer photos in general.
That's it for my 2022 goals! I hope I can achieve most if not all of them. If you have any lolita goals I wish you the best of luck with them!
