Wardrobe post 2025: This is how much I spent on lolita in 2024

It is the season of wardrobe posts again. Let's talk about the elephant in the collective lolita room: money spent on my wardrobe and what I actually got for the money I spent.

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I know, we all know, that choosing lolita is a luxury. Lolitas spend Amounts Of Money but we rarely talk about what kind of amounts. Everyone has different levels of disposable income and the community has worked hard towards being inclusive regardless of level of disposable income (it has not always been that way). There are a lot of jokes about overspending and going in to debt. I have chimed in on those jokes over the years but I don't want to contribute to that anymore. I want to be clear and mindful going forward and for me it starts with taking accountability for my funds and spending.

Here is what I wrote for my 2024 lolita resolutions:

When I think about how much money I spend on my items I get scared. Partly because I don't know exactly what I spend. I could do a rough estimate but going forward I would like to feel more secure and hopefully as a following result also not feel scared. I want to be mindful of my resources, which I already am in all other aspects of my finances, so it is high time that I take this next step in being fully financially confident.

As usual it was more scary to think about the task than to actually follow through with the task. I dedicated a couple of minutes for documenting as soon as I had bought something. I knew if I didn't do it right away I would let it slide. 

I chose to document the amount I paid for an item converted to SEK (Swedish kronor) at the day of documentation.

I chose to not document shipping fees, taxes, customs fees or shopping service fees. I also chose not to document any alteration fees that were needed. This is however something I am aiming for in this year's resolutions which will be interesting to follow up on.

Some items I both bought and sold in 2024 because they didn't fit as anticipated or I didn't use them as much as I had hoped. I chose to remove those items from the documentation since I wanted to focus on items I actually kept. 

I have also sold a lot of things in my wardrobe that no longer served me but I chose to not document that amount either. 

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What did I spend during 2024?

I spent 57 426 SEK this past year, which is equivalent to 5004 EUR or 5206 USD.

How do I feel when I see this number? It is a big number and I thought I would feel bad but I am only relieved. I will gladly spend a certain amount when adding to my wardrobe as long as the items have a genuine purpose in my wardrobe. I always add with the intention of keeping items for many, many years to come. Now I have an actual number to refer to and I can be more aware of my spending going forward.

Since this is my first year fully documenting my spending I have nothing to compare it to other than my gut feeling. My gut feeling tells me that this is a higher number than usual for me because I went to Japan in the beginning of 2024. The majority of the amount I have spent this whole year was spent over those two weeks. I saved up over a long time for those two weeks so it was a planned and expected expense. I am also very aware that I am privileged for being able to save up that kind of money to spend on shopping.

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What did I get for the amount I spent? 

I added a total of 80 items to my wardrobe. 20 of these items were second hand, the rest were new. Out of the new items, 70 items were from Japanese brands and 10 items were indie brands regardless of origin. 

I bought a lot of newly produced items in 2024 so I would like to go back to buying more second hand again. When I was straight sized it was very easy to buy things second hand but my body has changed so I tend to buy more newly produced items nowadays. When buying second hand I also have to take alteration in to consideration. I have so many thoughts on buying newly produced items from a sustainable point of view but that is a whole other blog post.

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Tracking my spending per item is now a habit and I am looking forward to comparing future numbers. Just as I had anticipated I feel more in control and aware than before and I am therefore much more confident in curating my closet.

Resolving lolita resolutions for 2024 and looking forward to 2025

 

Wow, long time since last. But here I am! I have been thriving and leading a mostly quiet everyday life and I am quite happy with that. When it comes to my lolita resolutions from the past year, I once again set up attainable goals.

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2024 resolutions:

• Document the amount that I buy items for ✅ - I dedicated the time to write down the price of everything I bought in the past year but I chose to exclude the amount I paid for shipping, taxes and customs. I will write another blog post about it dedicated to this single resolution, please look forward to it.
  
• Get a sewing machine for minor fixes ✅ - In the last few weeks of the year I managed to act on buying myself a sewing machine. I procastrinated it so long because I got caught up in finding the "right" or "good" machine. I realised I just need to get one that is decent as a start, and if I use it more than I thought then it is a future task to upgrade the machine.
  
• Go to a Swedish event that is not in Sweden's two biggest cities ❌ - Unfortunately the events that were not in Stockholm or Gothenburg this year did not fit in to my schedule so I didn't fulfill this one.

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  2025 resolutions:

• Prioritize purchases from "the hole list" - I have a list of items that I am in search of that I have identified by what I call holes in my closet. These are items that would make my wardrobe more versatile that I find myself missing regularly. An example is a brown headbow - this is something that I bought in the beginning of 2024 but when I started wearing that brown headbow it wasn't comfortable. So I sold it and now I am again in search for one. This year I want to prioritize purchases to fill the holes and it would be amazing if I by the end of 2025 had an empty hole list. Some items I have yet to find after several years of being on the hole list (a short jacket, think like Baby´s school jacket or VW heart jacket) but I will keep trying.
  
• Document alteration costs, shipping, taxes and customs fees of what I buy - I didn't include the sums I paid for items in 2024 that was not the actual item. To make it more visible what things actually cost I want to level up my spending documentation by adding these amounts that are impossible to escape as a lolita who does not have access to physical store shopping. I will also start documenting the alteration costs because as a plus size lolita I want to make it visible in another layer what a garment can actually cost. This is all a part of gathering data to base future mindful choices on as I want to be responsible with my finances.
  
• Go to a Swedish event that is not in Sweden's two biggest cities - Since I didn't succeed in this in 2024, let's give it another try.

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  I look forward to 2025 - let's do our best.

Lolita New Years resolutions - looking back at 2023 and going in to 2024

Last year I made some resolutions for the new year and I set them at an attainable level. There is no need to be extreme, that would only make me demotivated to reach them.

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Last year's resolutions:

• Buy nothing new that needs to be altered until everything that is in line for altering is done ✅ - I noticed that the pile at my seamstress just kept growing and I lost track of what I had "in my wardrobe". I fulfilled this resolution some time after summer and I actually haven't added anything new to it since.
• Contribute to Lolibrary ✅ - I started sporadically in 2022 and I really upped my activity in 2023. I submitted around 20 images of missing colorways and corrections of information and I had 8 fully new entries published. I also started on a Swedish translation of Lolibrary (it still needs to be finished). The Lolibrary Discord members have been so helpful and very kind. Please consider contributing to Lolibrary if you see that you have something in your wardrobe that is missing from the listings.
  
• Get summer sandals that work with lolita and don't hurt my feet ✅ - This was crucial for me. I am too old to wear uncomfortable shoes and I wear lolita on a daily basis. I found a pair from an Swedish ergonomic footwear brand called Cinnamon. Granted they are very discreet but they work good enough with my style.
• Go to an international lolita event ✅ - At the beginning of the year I was out of a job so I was unsure if I would be able to go anywhere. But I secured a job and was accepted for vacation leave so I could go to Hellocon in Finland. 

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2024 resolutions:

• Document the amount that I buy items for - When I think about how much money I spend on my items I get scared. Partly because I don't know exactly what I spend. I could do a rough estimate but going forward I would like to feel more secure and hopefully as a following result also not feel scared. I want to be mindful of my resources, which I already am in all other aspects of my finances, so it is high time that I take this next step in being fully financially confident.
  
• Get a sewing machine for minor fixes - Even though I enjoy mending items by hand, some mending that I do would be faster and easier with a sewing machine.
• Go to a Swedish event that is not in Sweden's two biggest cities - It is natural that events happen in Stockholm and Gothenburg because that is where most people live. But there are other events in other parts of Sweden happening and I want to be a part of those too. 

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 I am excited to go in to 2024 with new resolutions and I look forward to being successful.

A breakdown of my wardrobe

I recently listened to Articles of Interest regarding wardrobe apps and I really took to heart that wardrobe apps make people appreciate what they have rather than making people buy more. This is something I have been working towards in my relationship with my wardrobe and I do a lot of things already like caring for and mending my items.

I have started to catalogue my wardrobe several times but never managed to complete which of course led to me not keeping the catalogue updated either. The biggest hurdle was to add photographs of my items - the biggest point of it all, the visualisation. I know, right? But when a few other lolitas in the Lolibrary Discord posted graphs of their wardrobes I felt like maybe the graphs would be visualisation enough for me. I was recommended the Wardrobe Tracker (originally by Kimbuucha, modified by babelglyph) which I was familiar with since before but never got around to using.

After five sittings (in total maybe 30 hours) my wardrobe catalogue is now complete and I have the graphs to show for it.

Main pieces 

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I thought the dress ratio would be higher. All my bottoms are skirts and I don't use skirts that often so I am fine with this ratio as well. Tops are the garments that are closest to my body so I change them more often than I change dresses and then it makes sense that they make up a third of my wardrobe.

The top three colors are a given, I am very fond of old school and gothic lolita. I was surprised to see the amount of green because I always had the feeling that I have very little green. I usually never reflect on the white and off-white items but I decided to separate them here. Some items may be more cream than off-white or the other way around but when I coord I never care about the shade.

I did not think I had this much Baby. I would have guessed a bigger chunk of Meta at the top and IW in second place but apparently not. I noticed I have as much AP as I have from my seamstress Naddine Atelier. Rosemunde is a Danish brand that isn't lolita but they make high quality tops from natural fibers that I wear every day, especially in the summer.

All categories

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This is my full wardrobe divided into types of items. I don't know what a reasonable amount of socks are and I knew I had many socks but - so many socks! Almost a fifth of my wardrobe is legwear. It is something that gets dirty quick just like tops so it makes sense after all.

Top three colors are still unchallenged even when the rest of the wardrobe is included. White is gaining over black x white because I have a lot of pearls in my jewelry and I have a lot of white socks. Overall it is very apparent that the jewelry and accessories are included since the metal tones are showing.

Thanks to the amount of socks, Baby is the biggest part of my wardrobe. Otherwise the top three brands are the same in comparison to only the main pieces. Some new brands pop up here as well. I am happy to see the vintage and second hand representation taking a leap forward, mostly thanks to my jewelry. I really like looking for those small unique pieces to put that extra flair in a coord.

I made my own chart from the motif columns in the spreadsheet. An item can have several motifs and the spreadsheet allows for up to three motifs to be noted. I was expecting the amount of flowers but I did not expect that animals would be the second biggest representation. My guess was that cherubs and Alice motifs would be more common but my guess was obviously wrong.

Summary

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Lolita fashion is my main style. I wearr it daily and I wear lolita at work. I have been a lolita since 2001 so many items have been with me for a long time. I have very few garments for when I need to pass as a normie. So keep all of this in mind when you look at the charts: my wardrobe is fitting for me and my way of lolita.

Even though it took a lot of time to finish I actually finished this time. I started filling in the items that I could remember straight away without looking in my closet. When I actually went to the closet I was surprised that I only had to add a few garments that I didn't remember straight away. I see it as a sign that I have a pretty good knowledge of my inventory and it is not a giant black hole of fabric. 

The charts are definitely a great visualisation tool for me just as I had hoped for. There were no huge surprises in the charts, more like pleasant discoveries and nice confirmations. Although I am still thinking about the amount of socks.

With help from my partner I took the opportunity to pack away things that are out of season and put some items in a sales pile as well. Now I have more overview of what is in my closet (thanks to the cataloging), I don't get as overwhelmed when I pick what to wear (thanks to the seasonal rotation) and I have items I know I truly want to keep and will use (thanks to the sales cleaning). This makes me feel so much lighter and more at ease.

Going through everything and making some rearrangements made me fall further in love with my wardrobe. Just as in the podcast episode I listened to, I not only feel like I have enough - I feel like I have an abundance. And I love all of it.

Wardrobe post 2022: Bouquet Print series from Metamorphose

It's that time of the year again: wardrobe post time! For this years theme I decided on showing the several cuts I have of the Bouquet series from Metamorphose. This is the only series that I have several pieces from since it is such a nostalgic print for me. 

Bouquet Print series has been rereleased in several waves and I have had to doublecheck the dating of them because I have only had Lolibrary to go after. I do however have two cuts in the blue colorway and I did a comparison between the two.

Left: Bustle OP (2010), right: Ladder Lace JSK (2004)

Since the Ladder Lace JSK is the older cut of the two, I concluded that the Bustle OP is probably a newer release because of the color difference of the print. As you can see the older cut is a bit more greyish in tone. If someone has other information, please feel free to let me know! 

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Ladder Lace Bouquet Print JSK with bow - 2004

This is a very underestimated cut. Highly versatile and easy to style with most other items. I wear this in more casual contexts as well as dress it up with accessories. According to Lolibrary there should be a bow, "large bow" even, with this JSK. I did not recieve a bow with this so I do not know if there is one missing or if there is a misunderstanding. I really do like the choice of a deeper blue sating ribbon for this dress.

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Bouquet Print High Waist JSK - 2004

I highlighted this cut last year as well. There are all these details that are so lovely when you see them up close, like the ribbons and bows on the shoulders. It would have been the most comfortable cut but the slight drop shoulders honestly annoy me when I wear it. That's why I do not reach for it as much nowadays but I still cherish it.

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Bouquet Print Corsage Headdress - 2004

When I recieved this headdress I was fascinated to find that it is actually padded! I believe this headdress is a prime example of Metamorphose from this era. It has everything you could ever want in a headdess (and life): roses, ribbon, pearls, you name it. Speaking of how to date the parts of this series - this release differs from the 2010 version by the lace on the edge. The loops on the lace are so dainty. 

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Bouquet Print High Waist JSK with Cape - 2004

This is such a dear colorway and cut for me. It really embraces the Pink House roots of lolita fashion. Flowy and romantic, this dress is something I like to lounge around in at home. It is easy to style it up and down as well: no cape/no blouse, no cape/blouse, cape/no blouse, cape/blouse. All variants have their own flair. For lounging around I do the no cape/no blouse combination.

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Bouquet Print High Waist JSK - 2008

I apologize for the stock photo but this dress is currently at my seamstress as I am writing this post. The 2008 release introduced the black colorway which is very striking in comparison to the earlier releases. This is my second time owning this dress in the exact same cut. The difference this time is that I now have only the matching headbow and not the matching bonnet. I do miss the bonnet and I hope I get a hold of it sometime in the future, both for this release and my other releases. 

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Bouquet Print Ribbon Headdress - 2008

Ah, the propeller headbows, how I appreciate them. Metamorphose really liked to style these headbows puffed up since they have wires in them to position as you please. The silhouette reminded of propellers so people wearing them in that style were lovingly called propeller heads. As you can see I have flattened mine to be a bit more discreet. 

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Bouquet Print Bustle OP - 2010

This OP is missing the satin ribbon for the waist but is otherwise in great condition. It is a really lovely piece with lots of details that you appreciate when you see them up close. For example the pleats in the bodice just resonate with me. I also like that the whites in the lace do not match exactly, this manic obsession with exact color shade matching is a modern invention.

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Bouquet Print Frill Ribbon JSK - 2010

Unfortunately one of the previous owners removed the cameo buttons that originally was on the bodice and on the bows. I have been meaning to replace them but I have had a hard time deciding on buttons that I like. The green colorway as well as the cut feels very opulent. This dress is really a child of it's time when the cuts and colors started to branch out a bit more. True to the brand all bows are removable but I decided to place them like this to maximize the Antoinette vibe.

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Thank you for reading this year's wardrobe post. I still miss a lot of the matching accessories in this series so the hunt continues for them. I would also love any piece from pre-2004 but that is a dream that will most probably never come true because it is so rare. Either way I am very happy with my little collection so far, I truly have a cut for every occasion.

Scans: Metamorphose newsletter volume 58, 2008

Scans: Sawada Tomoko & Baby the Stars Shine Bright event flyer 2009

Flyer, front

Flyer, inside

Scans: Baby the Stars Shine Bright Spring Summer 2009 brand catalog

Scans: Baby the Stars Shine Bright Autumn Winter 2008 brand catalog

Scans: Baby the Stars Shine Bright 2006 brand catalog