/cgl/ - Cosplay & EGL

>>10298168
>Were you into lolita/jfashion 10 years ago?
Yes

>What sites did you use then vs now?
Back then I used livejournal, crunchyroll, asiajam, and the vivcore forums.

>How has your wardrobe and style changed?
I used to own mostly bodyline and a few brand pieces, and I would buy anything if it was cheap. Now I own mostly brand and try to think if a piece suits my wardrobe before I buy it. I also like old school and solid pieces now, back in the day I only wanted prints.

>How do you think the community has changed?
I think the average age of the lolita community is a lot lower now than it was back then, but my perception might be twisted because I was so young back then. I think the community is overall, nicer and more accepting of rule bending now.

>Best/worst thing thats happened to the community over the last decade?
Best: I love Lacemarket, it's much better for buying things than the comm sales, I do not miss it.
Worst: Girls lookin for efame via tumblr/instagram/facebook popularity. Gothic lolita wigs.

>Favorite/least favorite trend?
Favorite: OTT Deco sweet
Least favorite: Peignoirs and OTT classic.

>What are your goals for the next 10 years? Will you still be wearing the fashion?
I want my wardrobe to become more wearable, I want more skirts, cutsews and boleros so I can finally reach daily lolita status.

>What will happen to the lolita community over the next 10 years?
I think CGL will die off completely, and I think lolita will eventually transform into a style that is hardly recognizable from the old school days. The two communities might split off completely. I also think eventually China will tire of lolita and the community there will slow down a lot.

>>10298168

i know this is not at all representative of her current everyday style, but wow she looks way worse in the 2019 photo than 2009.

>>10298171
I had a hard time finding a good 2019 photo that wasn't filtered to heck. I also wanted to avoid causing agewank. I think she looks fine if you ignore the washout filter.

>>10298174

Not a huge fan of the shiny dress quality though, it's wrinkling so easily in the photo. The way she coorded it is all right though, if you ignore the awful dress quality.

>>10298179
I think it's a disney-exclusive dress since it has Duffy on it. Not surprised it's bad quality.

>>10298179
I’ve seen this dress in person and it looks even worse, I don’t know why OP didn’t use a photo of her wearing literally any other dress.

>>10298183
It was clear, showed her face, and she was doing a similar head tilt pose as the other photo.

Comparisons of old hime vs the new 3000 dollar hime dresses would be interesting

>>Were you into lolita/jfashion 10 years ago?
Nope
>>What sites did you use then vs now?
Livejournal all the way, now I use IG and I mourn the death of livejournal everyday.
>>How has your wardrobe and style changed?
Shitty tastes to slightly less shitty tastes. I didn't really care about fashion and wore oversized skirts because for some reason I hated high waists. Now i'm in lolita I guess.
>>How do you think the community has changed?
It definitely used to be openly meaner. I am not sure if it is nicer nowadays like everyone says, but I think it is more PC in line with general cultural trends. A lot of drama is kept more hidden now since it's so much easier to trace back to the person and get backlash, but every time I go to meets it's a lot of trash talking that doesn't pop up online anymore.
>>Best/worst thing thats happened to the community over the last decade?
Best: people just going up to each other and starting conversations online. I found tumblr a little impenetrable when I started, but now on IG I converse with a ton of people from a ton of places and have even visited them. I love my little part of the community.
Least favorite: Like what everyone else will say, people scrabbling for efame and literally just sidling with efamous lolitas for the clout. But if I avoid that, it's pretty ok.
>>Favorite/least favorite trend?
Favorite trend: I still love OTT classic despite all its flaws.
Least favorite trend: the awful chiffon and poly disasters that AP and BTSSB keep pumping out, taobao fast fashion esque lolita.
TBC...

>>10298186
Unfortunately, the dress looks so shite that your eyes go right to the hideous dress before even looking at her face. I didn’t even see it was Misako at first.

>>10298188
>>What are your goals for the next 10 years? Will you still be wearing the fashion?
I'm not sure, all I know is that I love the fashion and I'll keep exploring ways to grow in it. Right now I'm experimenting with color, and hopefully later on with more like going into Aristo, but I feel very comfortable in the style and I'm not sure how I want to change yet. My dream is to be a daily lolita but due to my job situation that's not realistic right now unfortunately.
I can't imagine quitting lolita right now, I'd imagine if I were to fall out of love with lolita it would be tied to life changes that are not happening for me right now. I'll take it as it comes, and we'll see.
>>What will happen to the lolita community over the next 10 years?
Like other anon said, cgl is dying, communities will be fractured more as we move to discord, and lolita will change again. I imagine we might move to accepting floor length ballgowns as lolita the way we're going, and more mature and historical cuts will also be accepted. As Chinese girls grow up, they may or may not grow out of it, but since women in Asia are very reluctant to marry I don't imagine we'll see such a drop off in interest in lolita in China for a while. Japan will get even less interested, and in the West, lolita will still maintain its niche status, probably stay about the same if not get a little smaller.

>>10298168
>Were you into lolita/jfashion 10 years ago?
Yes but afraid to wear it and intimidated by international online shopping
>What sites did you use then vs now?
LJ, Baby and Meta websites, mbok, y!j
>How has your wardrobe and style changed?
Once I started wearing it went from sweet to gothic
>How do you think the community has changed?
So much bigger and more accessible internationally/ in the West
>Best/worst thing thats happened to the community over the last decade?
Westerners trying to either keep things completely static or wear weird hodgepodges of styles that don't go with lolita.
>Favorite/least favorite trend?
Favorite- oldschool renaissance
Least favorite- kebob skewer crowns and half naked costume shop ero
>What are your goals for the next 10 years? Will you still be wearing the fashion?
More oldschool and casual pieces-yes!
>What will happen to the lolita community over the next 10 years?
Become integrated with other alt fashions and be more mainstream

>>10298187
Like this? I think ribbon cream is from 2008 though.

What brands have we lost over the last 10 years? I wanna make a lolita graveyard to commemorate the dearly departed brands.

>>10298168
>Were you into lolita/jfashion 10 years ago?
Nope just a bit less

>What sites did you use then vs now?
LJ (I sort of wish egl had moved on to dreamwidth with a lot of other spaces, but it makes sense that it moved to more social media spaces.)

>How has your wardrobe and style changed?
I started out doing a lot of gothic and sort of kuro sweet stuff; I liked h.naoto, AATP and BPN aesthetic a lot, but I was also interested in classic brands like VM that leaned into gothic aesthetic on occasion. As time went on, I leaned harder into that classic aesthetic and these days I wear mostly classic in dark colors- majority IW- with only a small smattering of gothic.

>How do you think the community has changed?
I think on a whole people are probably a little better educated about the different brands and options available as well as the basics of the fashion, since there are more sources that write about it or portray it. Even misguided sources generally have more right than they used to.

I think there's undeniably more of a focus on personal attention than there was in the egl days, it was harder to stand out or have truly standout coords back then I think, nowadays with myriad social media and more places to buy from it's so much easier for your coords to be seen and so there's more of an effort to grab attention.

>Best/worst thing thats happened to the community over the last decade?
I'm going to agree with Lacemarket for best. but also add the general much broader ease of shopping for lolita- JP brands and secondhand shops opening up their overseas options, more SS options, etc.
Worst, see above. Such a focus on efame.

>>10298210
>Favorite/least favorite trend?
Favorite: VW x Melissa shoes, if that counts
Least: Underskirts

>What are your goals for the next 10 years? Will you still be wearing the fashion?
I think I'll still be wearing classic in a more toned down way at least, but even now I feel myself slowly growing more into normie fashion/less cumbersome to wear outfits. I think it's something I'm not likely to consider for another couple years though.

>What will happen to the lolita community over the next 10 years?
Honestly, it will probably die out by then. I think the local customer base is barely hanging on and I don't see interest sticking in China or the west long enough to actually sustain the brands. At the very least, the brands themselves may continue by switching to toned down styles similar to their current aesthetics, but I think lolita itself will likely fade away.

It makes me sad how many of you think lolita's going to die out within the next ten years. That being said, it has changed quite a lot since its creation, and I don't like this new direction many brands have been taking with their releases.

>>10298233
It's such a tenacious fashion and fills such a particularly beloved niche (historical/feminine clothing) that, like goth, I have a hard time seeing it ever going away completely.

>>10298193
>since women in Asia are very reluctant to marry
Is this a joke? Chinese women (and most of their men too) are expected to be married by mid twenties or else are ostracized as failures

>>10298243
Nayrt but uh they're definitely not ostracized as failures for not getting married. But parents will give them shit for sure

>>10298249
okay you're definitely joking. men don't want a woman over 25 along with their families being ashamed. they're labeled as "sheng nu" (leftover women), go look it up

>>10298270
it's just my experience working with women that age in China. They were worried about it but not ostracized

>>10298243

https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201903/21/WS5c92ee53a3104842260b1c11.html

>>10298297
Yep. Some decades ago it would have been considered a sign of failure (in Japan as well) but times change.

>>10298297

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/332975

>>10298307

And yet the marriage rate is still falling so that was a flop. Anyways, lots of Chinese women with husbands who will also follow them and take pictures for them, so I doubt it's dying soon.

Right now taobao is defining the trends but it’s still not super accessible, a lot of people are still afraid to order from it. If taobao starts offering a functional, English companion site then maybe the fashion will grow more, like the big boost it got when Bodyline started overseas shipping.

>>10298352
I'm surprised Taobao brands don't have shops on Aliexpress. They would do very well.

>>10298358
I think a very tiny handful do, just not the lolita ones. Maybe that will change soon, Aliexpress is getting more popular.

>Were you into lolita/jfashion 10 years ago?
Yes, I'd just gotten into lolita
>What sites did you use then vs now?
LJ but I was a egl/daily_lolita lurker for a year or so before I actually got my own LJ. I was on cgl probably from about 10 years ago but it's changed a lot, I think if it was still the same as it was that long ago I wouldn't still be coming here. I stopped using facebook for lolita as much because I don't really do the community/meetup stuff except if I'm travelling.
I only bought from comm_sales and bodyline initially before branching out to Japanese second hand (alice fururun, maidenclothing, closet child, usagiyouhinten, tokyoalice) and taobao through group orders/SS. Now I would say I use instagram, lacemarket and closet child the most.
>How has your wardrobe and style changed?
Sweet - particularly OTT was the Big Thing when I first got into lolita so it was easy to find and buy compared to decent gothic - most gothic lolita stuff looked like sad costumey leftovers (think Marble) or was relatively expensive. My wardrobe still has remnants of those days but is mostly gothic and classic.
>How do you think the community has changed?
It's a lot more fragmented because of all the different platforms and although we are overall 'nicer' (in the post-SJW era) we're more scared to call out people's bullshit so there are more creeps and weirdos getting into comms. Back in the day, EVERYONE was on livejournal. I think a lot of the people who got into lolita when they were younger/teenagers have quietly kept wearing it, but they aren't as active or efamous.
>Best/worst thing that's happened to the community over the last decade?
Best (and someitmes worst?): instagram. I think it's easier to connect and make friends on there, but also sucks because posting for likes and efame.
Worst: birth of youtube lolitas and efamous cringe. Also, the death of hellolace. I liked it far more than lolibrary.

>>10298386
>Favorite/least favorite trend?
Favorite: rebirth of gothic and old school
Least favorite: fucking art print new school JetJ, tea length and longer length dresses being popular (I'm short and look shit in tea length dresses), skewer crowns, underskirts, every sameprint high-waisted chiffon dress.
>What are your goals for the next 10 years? Will you still be wearing the fashion?
No fucking clue. I didn't think I'd last 10 years in lolita so who knows...
>What will happen to the lolita community over the next 10 years?
I think the community will continue to evolve, it may well die in the way that other altfashions have. cgl has been dying a slow death for a while, lolita itself may go the way of gyaru (merge into other trends, get watered down, etc), Chinese comm will dictate a lot of what brands do...

>>10298233
Old school revival means that you don't have to let what you love about the fashion die. Even if that's peignoirs and gold tea parties

>Were you into lolita/jfashion 10 years ago?
Yes
>What sites did you use then vs now?
back then I used the lj communities, avantgauche
today: FB and cgl.
>How has your wardrobe and style changed?
I started with gothic, changed to sweet classic and now I'm settled with regular classic.
>How do you think the community has changed?
The community is a lot more decentralized now. There are more lonelitas and more "older" lolitas now. The standard for the fashion are higher, the average wardrobe is larger.
>Best/worst thing thats happened to the community over the last decade?
Worst thing was probably the widespread of smart phones. The text-based communities like lj died out and first tumblr and then IG became a thing, which I both despise with a passion.
>Favorite/least favorite trend?
I hated the madonna crown/tudor trend and OTT classic trend in general. I liked the sligh popularity rise of otome in 2011/2012.
>What are your goals for the next 10 years? Will you still be wearing the fashion?
I want to become a lolita mom and still be rocking the fashion. Sapphira Doll is my inspiration.
>What will happen to the lolita community over the next 10 years?
As the internet is becoming more toxic and regulated we are probably going to lose our current interaction platforms and it's become much more decentralized, probably similar to what lolita is like in Japan today. A few people will remain, but not a whole lot. Also let's not forget world demographics and economics. The west is in decline, the Asian and African continent are stepping up. We might see a popularity in lolita where we were not expecting it.

>>10298205
>putumayo
>heart e (not exactly sure when they closed but I swear their site was still up last year)
>haenuli
there’s probably some indie brands I’m missing too

>>10298233
at least I personally can’t imagine lolita going away. My comms had a rush of new members this year. Brands have always come and gone and people have always been speculating about the end, but as another anon mention with goth, it’s never truly gone away, but has evolved to a point where it’s rather different to its roots. If lolita has stuck around and grown at a steady pace over the last 30 years I don’t see why it would die so quickly. On the very unlikely chance it ever does actually die, there will at least be remnant of the aesthetics and the odd nostalgic revival.

>>10298422
oops I meant more like 25 years, since the starting date debated so often and the fashion probably would’ve been in major baby mode in the early 90s

>>10298422
oops I kinda mean 25 years cause that’s more like when the documentation started. But still a long time, quarter of a century (I feel old now lol)

>Were you into lolita/jfashion 10 years ago?
yes, I'd just started wearing it and had like 3 main pieces
>What sites did you use then vs now?
bodyline, f+f, avant gauche, hello lace, lurking brand websites, da, various blogs
>How has your wardrobe and style changed?
a lot less ita, moved away from mallgoth and 'punk lolita' now more gothic/classic
>How do you think the community has changed?
I didn't have much to do with the online community until 2012/13 as I was still (deep) in my ita phase, it does seem like everyone's much more materialistic now and handmade (even accessories) is looked down on unless you've made a business out of it, whereas 10 years ago it was the only option for a lot of us.
>Best/worst thing thats happened to the community over the last decade?
the worst: death of deerstalker pictures, mary magdalene, archives like lolibrary and hello lace; not to mention the living doll/ddlg bullshit. the best: wunderwelt rescuing brands, increased ease of access to brand and jfash in general
>Favorite/least favorite trend? favorite: chiffon becoming more acceptable, varying skit lengths
least favorite: fucking flower crowns and deer makeup.
>What are your goals for the next 10 years?
To find the self-confidence to wear it daily instead of just when I go out with friends or to events and to finally join my local comm.
>Will you still be wearing the fashion?
not sure if I'll last the next 10 years but I fully intend to keep going for at least the next 5.
>What will happen to the lolita community over the next 10 years?
NFI, but if brands keep dying like they are atm unless pandering to the chinese, and with the rise of taobao, I expect we'll start to lose the japanese origins, and moreso the meaning of the fashion, until its just wealthy kids in pretty dresses flaunting their parents' money on not-so-expensive clothes

>>10298205
Not all strictly lolita, but Black Peace Now/Peace Now, Putumayo, Algonquins, Excentrique, Heart E. VM and Moitie barely survived, and arguably new Moitie is a whole different kettle of fish...

>>10298454
I miss bpn every single day :(

>>10298395
>The west is in decline
Wrong.

>>10298168
>Were you into lolita/jfashion 10 years ago?
Not really, but I did try to poorly emulate anime "lolita" outfits.
>What sites did you use then vs now?
I lurked on livejournal communities and read blogs. I did browse 4chan but different boards.
>How has your wardrobe and style changed?
My first sort-of-lolita dresses were mediocre. I loved all things with lace on them and bought them all without any eye for quality and what would fit the aesthetic. Nowadays I wear a lot less bright colours, way more black in general, and I've discovered that simplicity can also be tasteful, even in an extravagant fashion.
>How do you think the community has changed?
It definitely used to be more of a dedicated subculture. With lolita clothes becoming more attainable and the fashion being more well-known it's become easier to just try it out. That also means comms have a bigger variety of people, for better or worse.
>Best/worst thing thats happened to the community over the last decade?
Depending on how you look at it, burando becoming easy to obtain could be the best or worst thing. I like it, even though it makes the community more scattered. That being said I was never very active in the community so I can't really make any judgments.
>Favorite/least favorite trend?
Favorite: old school coming back, even though the market value has skyrocketed because of it. There's a lot of uninspired old school trendhoppers, sure, but I like how people are embracing the frumpyness and unflattering cuts of lolita again.
Least: OTT classic. To me it represents everything lolita shouldn't be about, which is looking like you're playing princess in an uncomfortable costume.
>What are your goals for the next 10 years? Will you still be wearing the fashion?
I hope so! My goals are to make my wardrobe more wearable and consistent and to slowly get rid of all polyester pieces to replace them with natural fibers.

>>10298168
>>Were you into lolita/jfashion 10 years ago?
No. Only 5.

>>What sites did you use then vs now?
Livejournal - CGL -blogs , now Facebook - CGL

>>How has your wardrobe and style changed?
At first it was a bit more colorful, "cute" and garish, now still gothic but more solid and elegant.

>>How do you think the community has changed?
It is more mature now. The ones who wear Lolita years ago are pretty grown women now.

>>Best/worst thing thats happened to the community over the last decade?
Best, Facebook and Lacemarket. 1st it's really easy to make events and almost every lolita has one, and 2nd the easines to sell.

>>Favorite/least favorite trend?
Favorite: incorporate "non lolita stuff" BUT that works (the last part it's pretty rare)
Least: that nasty kawaii uwu makeup

>>What are your goals for the next 10 years? Will you still be wearing the fashion?
Improve the quality of my wardrobe more than quantity. I think so.

>>What will happen to the lolita community over the next 10 years?
I think it will be slowly diying

>>10298270
I waTcHed A docuMentAry OnCe aNd NoW I KnoW eveRythIng abOut cHinA

>>10298428
>I expect we'll start to lose the japanese origins, and moreso the meaning of the fashion, until its just wealthy kids in pretty dresses flaunting their parents' money on not-so-expensive clothes

That kinda was the point of the fashion in Japan too. Many lolitas were rich and had huge wardrobes and flaunt it. I don't think the fashion has had much deep meaning in over 10 years, since the old school days.

>>10298862
The early wearers of the fashion wore a lot of thrifted and DIY stuff though

pour one out, gulls

>>10298876
Good riddance to Haenuli and GLW.

>>10298428
>>10298862
I think rich lolitas with huge wardrobes might just be overrepresented on the internet.
The small minority of those rich lolitas are going to 1) tend to post more online to show off and 2) generally post more aesthetic or "goals" pictures that in turn get shared around a lot. Obviously you're going to remember the rich lolita with the coveted wardrobe more than the middle class lolita with 12 main pieces, and that is if the latter puts in the effort to post at all.

Speaking as a median income daily lolita with a wardrobe of about 25 cheaper brand dresses, I have never once posted a coord or a picture of my dresses online. Neither have I ever been a member of a comm. I really think the lolitas that are most active in comms and online are skewing the image of the "average" lolita.

>>10298544
yeah no, you can find thousands of articles about it online. i only linked one. it's been a big deal for years now.

>>10298428
>and moreso the meaning of the fashion
the fashion hasn't held its original meaning for a couple decades now. it's pretty much the opposite of what the message was at the beginning

>>10298880
I’m median income too and I have a large wardrobe, you don’t have to be rich to have a coveted closet. If you budget well and know what’s most important to you, you don’t need to be rolling in dough to have a lot of lolita.

>>10298885
And that is?

>>10298924
nta but lolita used to be way more "punk" and about looking weird for the sake of being weird.

>>10298876
didn't mary magdalene also close down? or am i remembering incorrectly

>>10298924
>original lolita message: express yourself, be unique, rebel

>current lolita message: do exactly what everyone else does or you're doing it wrong

>>10298938
also old lolita: don’t look conventionally atttactive, don’t need heavy makeup, it’s ok to look a little scary or a little ugly

current lolita: if you aren’t extremely pretty and super skinny gtfo

>>10298930
They’re semi closed/on hiatus but technically they still exist. Their last release unfortunately fell apart though, so no one really knows what’s going to happen next.

It's interesting that trends aside, AP is probably the brand that has changed the most from what it was offering in 2010. BTSSB does cater to trends but their overall aesthetic is the same. Meta has hardly changed at all. I don't follow gothic or classic brands so I can't speak for them.

>>10298983
Meta changes aesthetics so often that it's easy to miss how their style has changed, but it really has.

>>10298479
>Wrong.
Great reason you are giving here. Just look up some statistics about house price inflation or demographics for starters. There lays an enormous stain on the middle class to retain their standard of living. And if you've read through the census thread you'd know that most lolitas are middle class or lower middle class.

>>10299000
CGL is a small sample size of the community. Most of the rich ones aren’t using this site.

>>10298233
I think it will die as a fashion, loose its remain of a culture and will become mostly a collector's hobby with so much focus on the second hand market that brands die out after China doesn't support them anymore. But then again, my view is pretty pessimistic in general and I feel frustrated about the route things go.

>>10298938
>>10298949
That's true, at least on social media/cgl. I want to believe that the original concept stands on a meet or lolita con.

>>10298876
>Princess Skye
>Cult-party kei
DELET THIS

>>10299192
Accept that they’re dead anon. It’s okay. Acceptance is the first step

>>10299214
Actually it's the last step of grieving. Denial is the first.
Anon has a long way to go.

>>10298243
currently in asia and theyre very active on tinder for military men to get them a free boat to america no joke. several women have attempted to crawl all over my husband

>>10299506

why is your husband on tinder

>>10298983
Boz consistently releases the exact same things over and over. Moitie is largely rereleases also. AtPie has some different stuff but it hasn't changed that much over the years

>>10299508
women are on tinder there and in bars in pubic they tried to get him to go home with them. theyre poorfag cockroaches who live with their moms. one cut a whole in their condom and his friend had to marry her because he knocked her up

>>10299515

stop going to shitty bars then jfc

>>10299512
Boz has actually hired a new designer, and she's currently working on new designs so we should expect some new stuff from them the coming year.

>>10299516
i dont anymore some lesbians tried getting me too theyre freaks

>>10299516
NAYRT Most bars in Japan are like this towards american men

>Were you into lolita/jfashion 10 years ago?

Nope. I started 7 years ago.

>What sites did you use then vs now?

I used livejournal and stuff like HelloLace for research.

>How has your wardrobe and style changed?

I don't think my style changed much, but I started thinking about getting more gothic prints.

>How do you think the community has changed?

People seem way more focused on the salt than actually making friends.

>Best/worst thing thats happened to the community over the last decade?

Best thing was the Baby NYC store, worst part was when it closed last year. RIP.

>Favorite/least favorite trend?

I kinda like the vaporwave-y looking prints, dislike the rockabilly stuff. Looking at you AP.

>What are your goals for the next 10 years? Will you still be wearing the fashion?

My goal is to get my priorities straight and get more accessories rather than buying every cute main piece I like. I'll probably wear lolita until I die. It makes me happy.

>What will happen to the lolita community over the next 10 years?

I dunno. I'm content with how things are now honestly. I owe my friends my gratitude. They supported me and helped me regain my confidence.

>>10299545

It really depends on the place. Many women in developed Asian countries like Japan are wary of random military white dudes because there is a history of them having families and marrying and then abandoning them and moving back to the US. In Japan specifically, I never noticed woken at clubs wantinf to interact with foreign men. It was litwrally the opposite. Foreign men wanting to talk to women and them not being interested.

Once one of my female Japanese friends told me that some Japanese women who meet foreign guys through normal methods like via school or something rather than just at a club or on tje street tend to end up dating them because so many of the Japanese guys around them can be sexist and immature. She hinted that part of the declining birthrate and inceeased presence of half Japanese people has more to do with Japanese women thinking their men aren't good enough (for a lot of good reasons) and looking elsewhere for partners.

>>10298168
>>Were you into lolita/jfashion 10 years ago?
No, I discovered it in 2012 and got my first main piece in 2017
>>What sites did you use then vs now?
Then: Lj, hellolace, browsed meta's online shop, cgl every once in a while
Now: Instagram, Facebook, lacemarket, fril, mercari and I still browse cgl every now and then
>>How has your wardrobe and style changed?
At first I thought I was going to get into ott sweet, then sailor because I loved meta's releases at that time, then classic, but now that I'm wearing lolita on the regular it's classic-sweet and casual
>>How do you think the community has changed?
With btb on its death bed I think it became less catty, but that doesn't stop the salt here. I also agree with other anons that e-fame has had its toll on the community. Also it's really cringey when noobs try to make themselves out as veterans for clout when their whole wardrobe only consists of cheap taobao. It's easier than ever to get affordable brand, there's no excuse.
>>Best/worst thing thats happened to the community over the last decade?
Best: brands being more easily attained than ever before
Worst: clout chases and the whole attitude that comes with e-fame
>>Favorite/least favorite trend?
Favorite: I think bird motifs are on the rise and I'm all here for it, they're very cute
Least favorite: those stupid skewer crowns, slapping crosses on prints everywhere and woolly viella or whatever that trash polyester fabric AP uses too damn often is spelled like
>>What are your goals for the next 10 years? Will you still be wearing the fashion?
That's the plan yeah, I want to focus on making my wardrobe more versatile
>>What will happen to the lolita community over the next 10 years?
I think some comms and events will crumble and new ones will emerge. All must serve the cycle.

>>10299565
>>10299545
>>10299516
>>10299515
>>10299508
>>10299506
>>10298243
oh my god who cares, this is a 10 lolita year challenge thread

>>10299565
theres bars around bases and theres Japanese women who go there specifically to stay on the bases. They like most people know what when they get married they get a big house and the military man gets paid way more. So many of my friends have japanese wives and they blow their money on crap and physically abuse the husbands. Sometimes they bring their parents to the bars for some weird ass reason and thats what happened to that friend too. Her parents were there and then she purposely got herself pregnant with the condoms because her parents were tired of her living there. do you live in japan or do you just have a friend there?

>>10299545
There’s a ton of bars where foreign men aren’t allowed in because Japanese women are sick of their fetishizing.0

>>10299584

I lived there for work (non military) for a while up until year or two ago. My friend who told me about this is half Japanese (also not military) and has moved back and forth between the US and Japan all her life.

>>10299584

You're also making an incorrect assumption that greedy or lazy women targeting military men are an accurate representation of all women in Japan or in general when they are not.

Anyway I hope the old school revival trend gets adopted by brands and we see more interesting takes on older ideas in the future. One of APs lucky pack dresses is getting there and BABY still sells their classical series and all. Prints have dominated sweet for so long and while they often look nice it just gets sort of overwhelming.

>>Were you into lolita/jfashion 10 years ago?
Yes

>>What sites did you use then vs now?
LJ was still alive and well, I was all over that shit. I hadn’t heard of cgl at the time, though I did lurk getoffegl. A lot off the offshoot communities were thriving. My local comm was on LJ and didn’t have a fb yet. I really miss Hello Lace. I always had preferred it to Lolibrary and I miss it even more that it is not around and Lolibrary is more or less useless.

>>How has your wardrobe and style changed?
I use to do a lot of sweet in black colorway, wacky meta prints. I’m sad I let them go because they are harder to find now and more expensive. I still do sweet occasionally but in sax or white. My wardrobe is large enough to allow me to wear gothic and classic as well so I switch around depending on what I feel like wearing each day. I still have a ton of black but they are mostly solids or classic/gothic prints.

>>How do you think the community has changed?
We’ve had a hard few years of drama so the comm is quiet now, but it’s allowed for a lot of the noobs to feel more comfortable coming out. A lot of the older crowd has moved along, but there are still a few of us oldfags sticking around, sort of like the silent overlords, only stopping in to give concrit and words of encouragement.

Pic is a sample of some of the things I owned back in the day.
(1/2)

>>10299804
>>Best/worst thing thats happened to the community over the last decade?
The banning of some major cows. Some made a big stink about leaving, others went without much notice. We’ve had some really great fancy meets, but with the older crowd moving away we don’t currently have the numbers to support the cost of such events. But we’ve also had some great smaller meets since then too. My comm also had a road trip to another comm once. It was a lot of fun.

>>Favorite/least favorite trend?
Old school. I love that I have more people to get excited with about old school now than 10 years ago, but it sucks its harder and more expensive to find now too.

>>What are your goals for the next 10 years? Will you still be wearing the fashion?
My wardrobe is pretty big so I don’t see it growing too much in the next few years. I thought I was too old/grew out of my sweet phase, but here I am buying up all the Sugary Carnivals I can find. I’m sure I’ll still be wearing it in 10 years from now, but I won’t be surprised if they styles I wear changes a bit. I’ve been favoring longer length stuff recently too. Maybe I’ll go more ega than egl?

>>What will happen to the lolita community over the next 10 years?
I’m expecting another ott sweet boom. We’ve seen an old school renaissance, so I’m sure 2008-2012 sweet resurgence isn’t far behind. I also don’t think the Moitie resurgence won’t last long. Too many accessory releases, not enough main pieces. It’s good for padding my wardrobe, but there’s not enough to offer the young blood or trend hoppers for it to last imo.

Pic is some of my favorite pieces I currently own. I don’t have any of the items I use to own 10 years ago anymore.
(2/2)

>>10299806
Forgot to add, I really miss poupee girl. I much preferred having my wardrobe album on there opposed to it being in my fb albums. Plus I liked dressing up my little doll and browsing other people’s wardrobes.

>>10299806
Sauce/name of 3rd dress up top? It's very pretty, is it older IW?

>>10298876
Are there anyone who still actually wear cult party-kei?
if so, does anyone know of any instagramers that do wear it?

>>10298876
>>10298876
Is there anyone who still actually wear cult party-Kei?

if so, does anyone know of any Instagrammers that do wear it?

>>10300101
She’s not really CPK but @tadamini has CPK elements in her coordinates

>>10299929
Nayrt but it’s from IW 2002. Heart Lace jsk, also came as an OP, which is pic related on the right.

>>10300144

Is that young Misako on the right or is it just another girl who smiles like Misako?

>>10300149
It’s misako and the other model is Chikage (what happened to her?)

>>10298168
>>Were you into lolita/jfashion 10 years ago?
I knew about it but and wanted to wear it I was just very young, barely used internet and when I did I only visited sites that I already knew about because ~internet is full of horrible things and people who want to hurt children~. Ordered my first dress off of cosmates in 2011.
>>What sites did you use then vs now?
Cosmates, a bit later on tumblr, F+F and clobbaonline. Now tumblr, fb, ig, lm, JP secondhand sites.
>>How has your wardrobe and style changed?
I went from ita goth, to trying to do all styles handmade/ita/offbrand, to Mana clone, to boystyle.
>>How do you think the community has changed?
I entered the community in 2014 at first, I watched lj die when I finally understood what a gift it was. How I wished I've gotten an account in 2012 already. My local comm used to do a lot of meets, bigger meets could have 30+ people. Drama happened, people lost interest with hanging with the comm to instead hang with friends and go to international events. I just to host a lot of meets, but I currently have job and uni up to my ears and most meets I've hosted over the last two years have had 1-3 people showing up for a comm with 200+ members. I don't see the point anymore.
>>Best/worst thing thats happened to the community over the last decade?
Efame/"influencers", communitywise. The complete loss of "high" quality-standard. Lolita used to be mid-tier, with the quality of fabrics, lace and trims having to hold up to a standard, today accessibility/sizes/prices is considered more important than the garment not looking like a plastic bag (and I include brand in this). The taobao I bought off clobba in 2012 is miles better than the shit churned out today.

>>10299811
god damn it anon my poupee girl memories are flooding back, I miss it so much. every cute game ends up shutting down and it's depressing

>>10300230
Got stuck in a call, here's the rest.
>>Favorite/least favorite trend?
Doe makeup, skewers, clown makeup.
It never truly went away, but I like that the antique doll-look is comming back. What I dislike with the "oldschool-revivial" is people believing that no one wore "oldschool" in the years between 2005 and 2015. Lolitas have always dressed like lolita looked in 2002, just because you didn't wear it then doesn't mean that no one did.
>>What are your goals for the next 10 years? Will you still be wearing the fashion?
I may go the dandy way, but I have a hard time seeing me completely drop my vk gosu rori styling roots when choosing fabrics and draping cuts. My SO wears lolita, I think she will still like the frills and details, but more towards the old JetJ opulence rather than Sugary Carnival.
>>What will happen to the lolita community over the next 10 years?
I think China will move on the next trend, some smaller JP brands will die and the market will plummet with nothing being sold because no one wants to take a loss but there just isn't people around to buy it up. Western lolita comm will go the way like say western goth "comm". AP will water down to a more expensive LL. Physical stores will disappear more and more. Hoarders will hoard, those that's been here for 15 years will continue on till they die.

>>10300151
Wow, the lack of makeup and botox

>>10300249
>What I dislike with the "oldschool-revivial" is people believing that no one wore "oldschool" in the years between 2005 and 2015. Lolitas have always dressed like lolita looked in 2002, just because you didn't wear it then doesn't mean that no one did.
Literally nobody has said this

>>10300268
Nayrt but the word revival implies it. Plenty of lolitas wore oldschool before, it's just that they were shit on for buying lace monsters and posted in ita threads instead.

>>10300272
People consider the Moitie trend a Moitie revival because of its resurgence in popularity, not because no one was wearing it up till now. Of course people wore old school...they just weren’t “cool” like how people see old school now.

>>10298876
gothic lolita wigs was horrible, I remember everyone recommended them to me so I bought two wigs from them. They were both super thin and shiny. terrible. glad wigs are less popular now. RIP putumayo tho

>>10300414
They had some wigs that were okay, they probably had different manufacturers. But I stopped supporting them after one of their wigs gave me an allergic reaction. I was itchy where it touched my face and my eyes swelled up.

>>10299567
>It's easier than ever to get affordable brand, there's no excuse.
Cute brand is always expensive though. Only unpopular prints and solids go for cheap. Whereas you can get cute taobao with prints for cheap all the time. That's the "excuse"

>>10300493
There are so many cute IW and Baby skirts that go for about 3-5k yen. I picked up Queen of Snow (the snowglobes one) and a Cinderella Jewelry jsk in that price range. Maybe I have unpopular taste I dunno?

>>10300497
That's skirts, not jsks. Pretty sure most people prefer jsks.

>>10300499
fair enough. The JSK I mentioned I think was 6k.

>>10300493
You can still get cute brand for a really good price, but it does take more patience and effort. Are you the same anon from the general who keeps insisting that poverty is the reason why people buy taobao and it's impossible to buy brand on a tight budget? And as much as I like some taobao prints, the quality can't keep up with brand no matter how many "AP is now taobao-tier" memes float around. I'd much rather get me a nice 2nd hand haul from Japan than buy taobao main pieces.

>>10300514
>a really good price
This is subjective. You might think $150 is a "really good price" for a used jsk but some of us disagree.

>Are you the same anon...
No, and I don't think you have to be poor to enjoy the benefits of buying from taobao. For example, just not everyone likes wearing used stuff.

>>10300514
I've updated my theory, being poor plus a mix of not knowing better or not wanting to buy second hand

yeah, offcourse the quality SHOULD be there in brand, but I've seen hints in even that fading

>>10300525
Nayrt but I've purchased coveted brand prints for <$100. Impossible to find now given how many people caught on to mercari

>>10298461
I don't because I keep buying blouses second-hand from Closet Child.

>Were you into lolita/jfashion 10 years ago?
Yes

>What sites did you use then vs now?
LJ, Gaia (lmao, but there was an active lolita discussion board then), hello lace, photobucket, various blogs. Now, fb, cgl, discord, instagram. I use J-auction sites more now too.

>How has your wardrobe and style changed?
I believe I was starting my brand ita stage in 09, but still had a lot of bodyline, off-brand, and indie. Went from sweet to kuro, sailor and country, and now I mostly wear classic and moving into otome-kei so I can be kawaii in my 30s.

>How do you think the community has changed?
It has definitely splintered with the slow death of lj, the rise of mobile app sites, and social media giants.

>Best/worst thing thats happened to the community over the last decade?
Agonizing death of lj/egl.

>Favorite/least favorite trend?
Least: long underskirts. I like the idea, but it was just really hard finding coords with a seamless looking skirt. Flower crowns and long peignoirs.

Favorite: I miss embroidered main pieces and scalloped hems that were common ages ago.
I used to hate these, but in retrospect, I love and miss the decoden jewelry craze, big hair and makeup thanks to hime-gyaru

>What are your goals for the next 10 years?
Will you still be wearing the fashion?

I fkn hope so.

I'm hoping to grow my otome wardrobe, afford to go to more out of state/country lolita events (including more trips to Japan), maybe fulfill my dream of owning a home with a spare room solely for all my lolita and kawaii shit.

I don't know what my future holds job wise, but I hope I'm able to at least pass down the torch to a good mod if I must physically leave my comm.

>What will happen to the lolita community over the next 10 years?

I don't know, but I sure hope the fashion will continue to gain new followers, and that I'll still be around with the same fanaticism I had 13 years ago.

>>10304404
I forgot about gaia, that was forever ago

>>10300493

She's not talking about just owning taobao, though, seems to be about those girls making themselves out to be "veterans" when they only own taobao. Gotta admit, something about this combination: "poor/new, has an unimpressive closet, wants to give you advice" smacks more of power trip than "just a poorfag lolita tryna be cute".

Besides, while I could see someone like that being an expert on "buying lolita off taobao", but if they're trying to give coording advice -- something as basic as ivory can trip them up. Brand ivory and taobao ivory actually mismatch pretty badly, something a taobao-only lolita is likely to miss.

>>10314077
So if a person has been wearing lolita for many years but it happens to be Taobao, they're not a veteran just because they don't wear brand? That's such an odd view. I think being a veteran has more to do with how long and how often they've worn lolita.

Brand itas are a thing, and people who coord Taobao well are also a thing. I don't think it's mutually exclusive.

>>10314086
Not the person you're replying to, but I think what they're implying is that very few oldfag lolitas (like 8-10 years+ in the fashion) have closets that are exclusively Taobao. Taobao brands were not always as popular as they are nowadays, and it used to also be a lot harder and more expensive to buy from them. Taobao brands did not have frequent releases or unique/new prints as they do now, and some brands that are reputable nowadays used to work mostly with design/print replicas in the early days. Aliexpress didn't exist until like 2010, so before that you essentially HAD to buy either from expensive resellers like Clobbao or use a shopping service. Of course, if you were already going to use a shopping service, then why wouldn't you use it to buy some brand stuff you liked too? Because less western girls bought Taobao frequently, it also meant there was less Taobao for sale on the egl_comm_sales, so that was also not always a failproof way to get some Taobao. This is probably why the person you're responding to is suspicious of people who claim to have been in the fashion for 10+ years but only own Taobao...I've seen quite a few of these people on Rufflechat claiming to have been "in the fashion" since the early or mid-2000s, and I have to admit I am suspicious of them.

>>10314086

It's not even the whole "taobao used to be rare and uphill both ways" kinda thing. People like to try new things all the time -- whether it's hair/nails/makeup, new coords, new brand. Most girls who start out taobao do eventually figure out shopping service/closet child/lacemarket enough to wind up with at least some brand pieces or two, with the high regard brand has most girls end up buying at least a few things after a few years. Even the chubby ones eventually figure out that fully shirred Meta exists (and some of the LP skirts are both usually cheap and useful for daily lolita).

It's possible someone started out homemade and doesn't have brand because it's what they set out to do. But someone already spending money on taobao and solely stick to taobao for ten long years? Rare, very rare.

Especially with lolita trends -- what you consider a "cute dress" that's too expensive to buy today tends to drastically drop in price after just a couple of years, and then it's an "ugly" dress because it was trendy 5 years ago. For most girls that's when nostalgia kicks in and they finally buy "that brand" dress that they wanted when they were a newbie.

>>10314086
No, it's because Taobao was actually a fuckton harder to buy from, had less variety, and was more expensive than getting second-hand brand from comm_sales or closetchild back in 2010. So it would be weird af for a supposed 'veteran' to be taobao-only.

>>10298168
>Were you into lolita/jfashion 10 years ago?
Yes. I sucked though.

>What sites did you use then vs now?
LJ. A forum for Euro lolitas. Flickr.

>How has your wardrobe and style changed?
It hasn't actually changed much, I've just gotten better at coording.

>How do you think the community has changed?
Oof. Here goes:
>the general community has gotten more insular. Even though there is more info out there and buying the clothes is easier, I think the community aspect is harder to get into.
>the population of lolitas is older now, most of the lolitas I follow on IG are in their mid-20's at least
>people have much higher standards and not just for coords but for things like image quality.
>visual is all that matters now, you can't be popular for being nice and sensible like you could on LJ. For example, duplica doesn't do that well on IG but was an actual star and a mentor to many on LJ.
>lolita media has become so impermanent. Tutorials and event reports are often in stories, which get lost. And even IG posts are worthless because no one caps them. This is why I was in favor of IG threads despite the bullying potential, as an archive of who and what is relevant in the community. Even Tumblr was better for this than IG is.

>Best/worst thing thats happened to the community over the last decade?
The switch to being almost completely visually focused rather than having a more well-rounded subculture feel.

>Favorite/least favorite trend?
I love sheer sleeves.
I don't love OTT styles even though I wear them sometimes.

>What are your goals for the next 10 years? Will you still be wearing the fashion?
I don't really have goals. I just want to keep wearing it.

>What will happen to the lolita community over the next 10 years?
It will probably still be around. I'd like to see us migrate to a platform that can foster a community feel better than our current ones. Text-based discussion on an open forum is the only reason I'm here on cgl.

So many people have mentioned that we lack some text-based platform. Isn't FB a substitute then?

>>10314326
Fb's algorithms make things kinda janky, and I wouldn't say it was entirely text-based...

>>10314326
Facebook is terrible for actual deep discussions and chain comments.

>>10314086
I started out with taobao 11 years ago. Taobao was already widely acessible back then but it was a hassle to deal with agents so most people opted for large group orders. Taobao definitely wasn't the place to go for regular purchases, you participated in GO's 2-3 times until you had enough of it and finally moved on to Japanese brands and the 2nd hand market.

A lot of things I bought back then also only lasted a few seasons before they were worn down. I've owned a few decent taobao blouses and outer wear items which lasted me much longer, but I've sold everything when my style changed. I think it's very unlikey to retain the same wardrobe for 10+ years for anyone, regardless if taobao or not.

>>10314326
Facebook is a serious downgrade from livejournal.