Starting off 2026 with my usual lolita wardrobe post! While I did wear lolita in 2025, I really didn't wear it as much as I thought I would (for reasons explained later). I guess I was mainly reaching for more wearable things and I was buying more cute/casual outfits from non-lolita indie brands instead, like Cherriette, Vina of the Valley and MyViolet. I bought some things also from Etsy and local vintage markets and it really made me appreciate shopping small. I hope to do more of that in 2026!
Compared to 2024, I did even less buying this year, which I guess is a good thing because I've been wanting to stop buying and start wearing. Not only that, but the prices these days have been insane in terms of lolita. I can't justify it anymore, and everything is super limited so sometimes it's not even about the money. Either there's scalpers or lolita is just becoming super trendy or something (or people are just hoarding post pandemic and these new lolitas just don't understand that it's supposed to take time to build a wardrobe... but I guess with how accessible everything is these days, it's easy to have everything instantly. Which makes me wonder how sustainable it becomes because some people cycle through styles really quickly, which is kind of the opposite of the intention of oldschool lolita fashion...). The markup that the major well known Japanese lolita brands have been at least 20-40% within the past few years and the prices on the secondhand market are wild. Which makes me want to hold onto my older pieces even more despite not wearing them much (and I just don't have the time or energy to deal with mailing things out right now considering I was mailing the majority of my things to the US and I just couldn't keep up with the tariff situation).
I guess the biggest jump for me was from 2015-2019 where I went from 14 dresses to 27 (with a few pieces sold in between). I ended up not blogging any of this regularly until 2019. It still pains me to see the dresses I sold since 2015 and present day me is still having seller's remorse... so all the more reason to not sell anything anymore. So that being said, I haven't sold anything for the past 4 years and I've only purchased 3 main pieces in 2025 (2 of which are still in the mail or with my shopping service).
In the past I've purchased about 4-6 main pieces per year? (I'm seeing some lolitas I follow on instagram purchase 20+ main pieces per year??! That's bonkers to me. I'd need a whole new closet space!) Definitely having less time to browse online (I swear being on my phone at odd hours so much due to the baby in 2024 definitely did not help lol) and having limited resources and time to spend on my own hobbies definitely was a factor. And last but not least, I'm finding myself pretty happy and content with the main dresses that I already have.
So starting off, I pre-ordered the Sugar Bunnies Rose Garden Tea Time JSK set in pink and matching brooch from Indie lolita brand Sleepyland earlier in 2025. It arrived in June and I have yet to wear it. I was looking to add more pink and red to my closet and I liked the print and the cut/design details (it has back ruffles!!). This was my first time ordering clothing from them (I ordered their fluffy star toy bag a couple years back and have used it many times since). I ordered the matching brooch too but for $22... it was kind of flimsy and had no backing, it was just embroidery on a very thin layer of felt and the back looks unfinished/messy. Also, the removable ribbon brooch pin left some chemical rust stains that I could not entirely remove from my dress. Luckily it's not too visible and they gave me a 15% off coupon to use next time or the option to return the entire dress set back to them in the US. I was pretty upset but since I already replaced the rusted pin with spares I had at home myself, I ended up using that coupon to pre-order their long sleeve printed chiffon blouse (which also came with snaps that don't work - both sides have the same hardware - but it didn't affect the functionality of the blouse so I let it go). Definitely some questionable QC from their manufacturer but I mean... what can I say. They're a small brand and the prices are pretty decent in today's market. They were really understanding about the whole situation and apologized so I give them kudos for that. And Millenia personally helped me buy one of my dream dresses on xianyu once so I truly believe she's a kind soul... so I really don't mind supporting her more in the future.
Next up I've been wanting more Halloween themed dresses since I really only have 2 (3 if you push it cause it's a Harry Potter themed one lol) and so I thought I was being smart by trying to get one secondhand right after Halloween since I figure people are done with them and also the print and cut that I wanted (AP's Happy Treat Party) had been released many times so it should be relatively easy to get... and it was! I managed to get it with the matching headbow too. I've been wanting something lavender x black colorway for the longest time since I have so many things to match with that color scheme already so I'm excited to get it. And lastly I ended up getting another Taobao brand dress that was rereleased after I first saw it a couple years ago. I hope it fits... but to me it's a nicer version of Ista Mori's Nameless Poem OP which I ended up selling because I never wore it and the multitude of crosses on it bothered me to some extent. But I've always loved the nun lolita aesthetic.
One dress (skirt, rather) that I really was tempted to get was Violet Fane's new Grotesque Melancholia and Otome Nostalgia rerelease. I've always admired this Spanish indie brand and did buy something from them a long time ago (but since sold - also regret, because it was some unique looking tights that they don't sell anymore) but since they're located in Europe... with all the potential tax/import fees involved, I couldn't justify the price at the time. But maaaybe since skirts are indeed more wearable than dresses so I'll get more mileage out of the pieces? (Clearly trying to talk myself into it. haha). Anyway that's all for this post! Really not sure how the future of me wearing lolita is gonna turn out, to be honest. It's the middle of winter now and usually I don't feel like dressing up at all during these months - however I did get a new lolita style puffer coat (maybe I'll do a separate post on that later!) so no excuses for me!
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