My EGL Evolution - Part 2

After a couple years of hodge-podging together random goth pieces and handmade stuff and calling it 'lolita fashion' and 99.99999999% of the time completely missing the mark... okay, 100% of the time missing the mark. I finally started to get serious and learned what ACTUAL lolita fashion is and started to collect ACTUAL lolita pieces to wear properly curated and fully thought out ACTUAL lolita fashion coordinates. So I took the time to build up a wardrobe with some cohesive pieces and then finally had some full coords and I could start wearing fashion for realz.

I started wearing it out and about for any and every opportunity I had. Enjoying my new threads thoroughly, I may add... And of course disaster struck and the great memeflu of 2020 rolls in and seemingly all of my fashion fun is abruptly cut to a halt since there wasn't much 'going out' that could be done. Now normally this would be devastating, however, I'm pretty resourceful and decided to use my newfound free time as an opportunity to do some experimenting... and also to keep myself entertained while the rest of the world was driven to madness from boredom. 

Here we usher in the era of my OTT experimentation that seems to be my most notable mark on the fashion. Ah yes, the era of uggo makeup and stupid shoes kek. Now I was just having some fun and getting creative for the heck of it and sharing my quirky fashion in online EGL spaces. And in the typical manic, hysteria of the average EGL fan, these looks ended up causing quite a stir XD. Not quite the reaction I was expecting and not that I was expecting an ego stroke or anything either. But I guess it's my own fault because why didn't I expect totally unhinged lunacy?? I mean, we are talking about groups of of 98% women and 2% effeminate men. One should always anticipate madness in such a high-estrogen demographic. Needless to say these looks ended up being quite divisive, they were either very loved or very hated. There was no in-between. Hahaha. The western lolita community is honestly pretty wild.

       

I started by collecting Taobao or Chinese indie brands from Xianyu, which is the 2nd hand Chinese market because CHEAP AND AVAILABLE. Now I was under the impression that Japanese brands where unattainable and waaaaay out of my price range. But that's what I get from not doing thorough research and listening to lolitas-at-heart complaining about how expensive, classist and elitist Japanese burando is... Which it turns out I very quickly realized I was actually quite wrong on. Japanese brands are not that expensive at all when you know where to look and have the patience to go on a bit of a hunt.

So these were some of my first OTT coords of the memeflu era. Most of the coords are comprised of Taobao pieces minus a few Japanese brand headpieces and socks sprinkled in. It was at this point where I was dubbed with the label of 'Taobao Ita' that still sticks with me to this day. Hahaha. NO REGERTS. TackyTaobaoChan phase unlocked. Honestly, most girls go through a Taobao phase when they first start in the fashion because they are deterred from buying Japanese brands since they hear how expensive and hard to get it is, even though it's actually not... At some point I'll put together a newb resource on this.

Even though many of my looks from this era are notoriously hated for being so out-of-the-box, I still enjoy them. I have fun experimenting and I know not every execution is going to be 10/10, stellar, best coord ever, but it's the learning, trying new things, failing and trying again that I find enjoyable. Fashion is such an art to me. And while these looks are definitely experimental they still remain in the 'sweet-spot' of being distinctly lolita without veering too far from being unrecognizably lolita. The silhouette is unmistakable, all of the proper components are present; dress, blouse, socks, headwear, accessories etc. Overall the rules mostly adhered to. Of course, the unforgivable abominations that are my shoes stray quite far from the egl guidelines, but eh, I think shoes are an area that can be played around with when the rest of the coord reads completely and evidently EGL.    

Ah, here we go, my first Japanese burando piece. Princess Cat by Angelic Pretty. Friendship with Taobao ended, AP is new BFF. Pweeze no call Taobao ita?? Pweeeeeeze :') Hahaha. Once I realized brand is actually affordable, especially on the Japanese 2nd hand markets, I quickly fell in love with AP. And especially AP's cat prints :3 My wardrobe definitely took on an entire cat aesthetic! And I really loved cat prints in gray colorways because they reminded me of my gray senior cat Bonezy who passed away a bit before this time. Gray cat themes became a bit of a staple in style. I absolutely not get enough of AP cat prints! I made a YouTube video about Bonezy and my love for cat prints that I will include at the bottom of the page.

OTT sweet was my absolute go-to! But I really was enjoying anything pastel or vibrantly colored. After wearing goth and mostly black for over a decade I had come to the conclusion that I was more open to experimenting with colors. It was an entire uncharted territory for me. A new world that I had no idea even existed. It was rather delightful to experiment with colored makeup and all of the cheerful motifs with all sorts of different themes; fruit, food, sweets, bears, wa/qi (Chinese/Japanese style), holidays, spooky, monochromatic. With EGL the possibilities are literally endless when it comes to themes. There is honestly something for everyone, no matter what you like. 

Eventually once we stopped plague larping and the new normal and went back to the ol' normal my coords started to tone down and become more practical and wearable for everyday situations. Unfortunately, I don't have as much time to do these ultra OTT looks as often due to the ample amount of time and effort it takes planning, getting ready, doing making and perfecting every little bit of detail with these outfits. But it was a lot of fun and I still occasionally bust out an OTT lewk for funsies when I have the time <3 

Here's the video I made regarding Bonzey and some of my other beloved kittys who've passed on... And hay! How topical it just happens to be Thanksgiving themed with Thanksgiving being right around the corner. Not even intentional, but funny how that worked out! Hahaha.