Things I wish I knew, when I was new and green

[vatalanta]

One thing I wish I knew back then was: Yes, you can mix & match themes. If it only bag/shoes, you have, you don't have to leave the house on bare feet or without a bag, but I was told by rather strict lolitas I couldn't. Especially it is relevant to heart shaped bag, because at least by my opinion is pretty much the ultimative lolita bag,

Comments

[vatalanta]

I have said for myself to only wear black or brown shoes, If worked for victorians, everyone after/before and in oldschool lolita, it just works as well for me. The only exeption is other dark colours. White shoes are not white for very long by my experience. But I prefer solid main pieces, which makes a bit easier to do it(except my white dresses).
-But another weird thing is I actually like my shoes being another colour than my bag, so long the colours is in the print somehow, or at least match the base colour. Some will might think I have a bad taste...

[silveretoile]

- pointy collared blouses do NOT work for lolita, even if they have puffy sleeves
- 20 dresses with 3 blouses is NOT a good start for a daily lolita
- printed socks do NOT last if you wear them daily
- a long white coat is NOT a good idea for daily wear

I could go on for a little while, but I'll stop here, lol. Most of my mistakes didn't come from actual coording but from wearing it daily and making dumb mistakes for it.

[ultrapancake]

I've seen a few gothic coords before that used pointy collared blouses that I though worked just fine. For sweet though, I'd agree you probably couldn't do pointy.

[silveretoile]

That's true, probably should've mentioned I wear oldschool and sweet, lol.

[vatalanta]

20 dresses to three blouses? Unless 19 of them are OPs, it is not gonna work...
When I started out I got a blouse for every JSK I got, but I am not a daily lolita.

- by my experience any socks wouldn't last, if you wear them daily.

[punkfairyprince]

I had this idea that I had to buy a wig to wear lolita because I have an undercut, and undercuts aren't "elegant" so I couldn't wear my lolita without a wig or it would look "bad." One year later and I'm thinking of selling my wig because I can totally rock lolita with an undercut!

[punkfairyprince]

The upkeep isn't too bad! I have to get it shaved back down every two months or so to keep it short, although that depends on how short you want to keep it. My rule is that if it's long enough for me to comfortably pinch between two fingers, it's time for a cut.

[ccanin]

I wish that when I'd started I'd have know to...

-Get a few neutral and versatile shoes:
Right now I've been wearing the same white golfer Rocking Horse shoes for three coords straight. This is because when I started I took the "con Lolita" approach and bought full unrelated coords, not versatile pieces for a daily Lolita's wardrobe.

-Take your time:
When I started, I thought OTT would be my Lolita path, and that Bodyline was the best thing since sliced bread. However, now I find that Old School and simple IW are the ones I really enjoy wearing. I dove in too fast, and have an oddly shaped pink dress haunting my wardrobe.

-Relax on the trends:
Gyaru makeup, wigs and circle lenses will never suit me.

[vatalanta]

I was told the same about Bodyline. Maybe is just because I'm really picky about collecting stuff, but I was really confused about the quality. Good quality bodyline seems not the same expectations as good quality brand pieces.
And even there is obvious flaws on piece of Bodyline everyone gonna point it out, but if it is AP or something nobody seems want to do it.

[cupcakekamisama]

I wish that I had been explained the different petticoats better, so that I could invest in a good one straight away rather than start with a cheap, awful one. The other bits I sort of figured out just in time to avoid major embarrassment, but I think a petti should be an investment to last you as long as possible.