The Lone Lolita

The topic of the lone Lolita is a rather nostalgic topic for me, because for a long time mine were the only frills in town. Well, technically they still are, my frilly friends are scattered pretty far, but my own reflection in the mirror and a few well loved Bibles is certainly no longer the only glimpse of frills I have ever seen. It was a year and a half between when I started wearing real Lolita and when I actually got to meet another Lolita! For me, this lack of other Lolitas in my life was the perfect time to indulge in the Lifestyle Lolita attitude. After all, if there aren't any other Lolitas in my life, I could certainly make my life a little more Lolita.

I have found that this is often the way it is with new Lolitas, they are very gung-ho about the lifestyle often associated with the style simply because there is no one else to share their passion for the style with. Most of them mellow out about having to lolify everything once they meet more Lolitas, or just become more comfortable with their place in the fashion, and there is certainly nothing wrong with this! I've always found that kind of dedication to the fashion rather charming, probably, because like I said, I was the same way so long ago.

If you get into the wide and frilly world of Lolita fashion and find yourself the only one around who even knows what it is, don't despair, because there are lots of ways to add a little more Lolita to your life. These are a few of the ways that I did it, back when I was The Lone Lolita.

• Add a little more Lolita to your life than just the clothes. Redecorate with your favorite style of Lolita in mind. Check out this super old post on my blog on the subject if you need some ideas!
• Take up a hobby fit for a Lolita. It can be pretty much anything, from embroidery, to knitting, to sewing, to even just drawing. It's going to be good for your wardrobe, as well as you, if it can add a few extra pieces like knitting or sewing can, or make a few current pieces really unique, like embroidery can.
• Consume more media! Of the Lolita kind at least. I used to be so thrilled to take home a new Kera or Gothic & Lolita Bible and flip through it looking for new clothes to dream about. Sure, you can find scans of every bible for free online, but it's so much more satisfying to hold a great big tome filled with inspiring coordinates in your hands, and even more satisfying to see them all lined up on a shelf. As well as magazines hunt down some Lolita-centric movies, manga, and even music.
• Participate in the online community. Sure, the online communities are a little... wanky at the moment, but I still stand by my opinion that EGL, and other online Lolita communities, is not as bad as people make it out to be. It's always great to participate in online discussions about the fashion, it really lets you get it all out sometimes! I know that I occasionally have the urge to hop on AIM, and IM all my Lolita friends to lament about Meta's newest print, or ramble away about how I feel about some new trend. Hehe, that's pretty much why I started this blog. It's really great to be able to talk about the fashion to people who understand it well.
  
• Convert a friend. Don't force your frills on the unwilling, but if a friend is genuinely interested in Lolita, this is the perfect opportunity! There's hardly anything more fun in the world of Lolita than having someone to share frilly clothes with.
• Add a little bit of Lolita to every outfit. On days you can't wear your frills, add something from your Lolita wardrobe. It can be a cute necklace, your favorite color of tea party shoes, or even a small Alice bow.
  
• Spend a Loliday out on the town. Dress up in your finest frills and go somewhere loliappropriate! A cute diner, an antique shop, a quiet cafe, or even spend an afternoon in a library. Try to get out there in your frills, you may even meet someone local who knows about the fashion.
• Get a pen pal. If you really want to find a fellow Lolita to talk to, consider, instead of lurking forums and LJ communities, a real snail-mail pen pal. It's so much more rewarding to talk to one person through letters than it is to exchange internet meme's with thousands on an internet community.
  
• Finally, plan to go to a meetup! There is likely a LJ community for Lolitas in your area, scroll down to "area specific" on this great big list of Lolita communities and look for one near you. If your local community is a bit dead, try to revive it and plan your own meetup.

So, dear readers, how many of you are lone Lolitas? Are you a lone Lolita because you haven't had the chance yet to make Lolita friends, or have you been the only Lolita in the area for all the long years you've been a Lolita? What do you do to add a little more Lolita to your life if you're the only one? Or are you perfectly content with just wearing and enjoying the clothes by yourself?