Lolita 52 Challenge: My Wardrobe Turnover

Hello everyone! Today I'm back with another Lolita 52 Challenge post: My wardrobe turnover. I was a little confused about this topic at first and thought it might be referring to how one's wardrobe changed after Lolita, but after finding another post on this challenge topic I saw it meant how fast you get new items and get old, basically at what rate your wardrobe changes. So, now that I understand what this topic means, let's get started.


 So, rather than just focusing on the turnover of my Lolita wardrobe, I want to go over how my wardrobe turnover has changed over the years, starting with my pre-Lolita days when I still dressed in "normal" clothing. When I was a young teen, about 12, my parents were buying my clothing for me still, so I didn't really have a very high wardrobe turnover. I pretty much only got new clothing when the old ones wore out or I grew out of it. I didn't get much hand-me-down clothing from my sister because she was a stingy little booger. (I love you, Sis. XD) My outfits mostly consisted of a T-shirt and jeans. When I was 14 or so I started adding some more variety to my wardrobe and started layering tees and camisoles or camisoles and jackets with my tees and jeans. I pretty much never wore skirts or dresses except to church on Sundays. My wardrobe turnover stayed about the same, though I did add pieces a little more frequently. (Wardrobe additions at the rate of every 6-8 months and losses at about every 1-2 years.) When I was 16, I got my first job and had a bit more disposable income and thus discovered the wonders of thrift stores. My wardrobe turnover went up a bit more around the time I was 16-18 as I had started to develop my style more and was somewhat regularly bringing new pieces in and getting rid of pieces I didn't like (about once every 5-10 months). Then, everything changed when I moved out.


 At about 19, I moved out on my own thanks to my full-time job and education and had even more disposable income than I'd ever had before since I didn't have to worry about bills or rent yet. My wardrobe turnover was about the same as before at first, then changed to me getting new pieces every few weekends. My addition rate went down after a few months and I learned the joys of online selling, so I started getting rid of pieces somewhat frequently by donating or selling them. For about two years, I had a fairly high turnover rate (new pieces coming in/old pieces going out every 2-5 months) while I experimented with different fashions and looked like a hot mess in the process (a kinda cute hot mess sometimes). In the last 6 or so months, I've settled down on a set of styles I liked and have a slower turnover rate. I got rid of pretty much everything that doesn't suit my style except for a few pieces I'm unsure about or trying to sell, so I was able to focus more on building my wardrobe as opposed to just adding random things to it. My current turnover rate is somewhat low again with items coming in to my wardrobe maybe two to five times a year in smaller purchases and maybe one large order from Bodyline a year. I don't have a lot of items leaving my wardrobe right now since I did a massive closet cleanout several months ago.


What's your guys's closet turnover like? Are you constantly adding pieces, getting rid of everything, buying things as you wear them out? Let me know!


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I Have Nothing To Wear!

Hello everyone! Today I'm going to be talking to something that happens to many of us all too frequently: Looking at all the clothing strewn about one's room after trying on a bunch of different items and going: "I HAVE NOTHING TO WEAR!" This is a bit of a follow-up to my wardrobe building series of posts (Part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4) since I've had plenty of time to build a new wardrobe. I recommend you read them first if you haven't already, since they're the foundation for this post. Otherwise, let's go!

 So I said I had plenty of time to build a wardrobe, right? So why am I saying I have nothing to wear now? Well ya see, there's this thing called changing seasons and not planning ahead because who wants to buy a sweater when it's so hot and humid you don't want to even think about leaving your nice, air conditioned room? So, thanks to my planning, I was able to build a very nice Spring and Summer wardrobe, but now the weather is turning and I have no idea what to wear anymore. So what's a fashionista to do?

#1: Re-evaluate your style preferences.
 Alright, so maybe you had the perfect, pastel Fairy Kei wardrobe for warmer weather. Do you want to keep wearing pastels in Fall and Winter though? Or do you want to indulge your inner Goth or rockstar and switch things up completely? It's time to go visit the mall or thrift store and try on everything you can again. I would suggest avoiding buying anything the first few times or keep purchases small and limited to things you already wanted for your wardrobe. If you want to try wearing a different style from what you already own, try to limit your purchases to main pieces that aren't too expensive so you aren't impacting your budget too heavily. *cough*totally did that*cough* Try wearing the new style you're trying for a few days in a row using what you have and any additions you got to see if it's really something you want to wear that'll make you happy.

Here's what happened for me: I have a very cute, pastel versatile wardrobe based around Fairy Kei for the Spring and Summer. When the weather started getting colder, I decided to start wearing Goth fashion more to go with the changing colors of fashion. However, I found myself still wanting to wear my Fairy Kei outfits more than Goth or jewel toned items. I've decided I want to start wearing Lolita more often due to its built in layers as well as ease of layering underneath as well as some warmer Fairy Kei based outfits with some off-white pieces mixed in.

#2: Decide what additions your wardrobe needs.
 Now's the time to go through your wardrobe and pull out all the out-of-season clothing you've been hiding away. Can you make your new style plans work with what you already have, or are you going to have to sell off all your sweaters or shorts and buy new ones? This is a good time to evaluate condition as well as if it fits your wardrobe, so if you have an item that's got a ton of holes and snags that aren't supposed to be there, now is the time to throw it away or fix it. (If you have a sweater that's just shrunk in the dryer, you can stretch it back out with some work. I found this tutorial extremely helpful when recovering a cashmere sweater.) Make a list of any items you feel you need to make your wardrobe more complete and wearable during the changing seasons.

 Since I'm keeping my wardrobe mainly pastel, but still need to stay warm, I decided to talk to some of my fashion friends in the area and see what they do to stay warm as well as re-watch Lovely Lor's Lolita Fashion in Extreme Weather video for ideas. I decided I needed some layering pieces as well as some patterned statement pieces (my wardrobe's mostly solid color), a long sleeved blouse, and some comfy, yet cute shoes that will survive snow.

#3: Go forth and buy.
 Now's the time to start buying the additions your wardrobe needs. Try and get more basic or generic pieces from places like Target, Walmart, or thrift stores (or your country's equivalent) in order to have more money to spend on the main pieces. Probably most of us don't have the money to go buying 1000 bucks worth of Angelic Pretty dresses new, so look into less expensive alternatives. There's a lot of US and international sales groups on Facebook, you just have to search for the type of fashion you're interested in along with sales. (In addition, if you're already in a few sales groups, Facebook will suggest some similar groups in the side bar while you're browsing that group.) Lace Market, eBay, and Storenvy are some good places to look for used or less expensive pieces and there's always Bodyline for inexpensive pieces.

 I want a couple statement pieces with prints, but I very much do NOT have $400 to drop on used Angelic Pretty or Baby the Stars Shine Bright dresses, so I'm considering a couple Bodyline JSKs as well as searching through Lace Market for some less expensive pieces. I also want a long sleeved blouse and colorful socks which can also be found on those sites. I've already got one short sleeved blouse on the way which, even though it's not great for Winter, is something I've been wanting to add to my wardrobe since my current short sleeved blouse is a bit big on me.

 I hope you all have fun with dressing for the changing seasons and that I've given you some ideas to help avoid over-spending!

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Building a Wardrobe: Part one

Hello everyone! So despite my rather extensive research into many different alternative styles, I've recently come to terms with the fact that I'm not really happy with my wardrobe. I have a lot of pieces, but not a lot of things that I wear or that work well together to build outfits in a particular style. So because of that, I'm going to go over some things I'm doing to rebuild my wardrobe to be more how I want it to be. This will be a multiple part series due to the amount of (hopefully) helpful rambling I tend to do as well as the number of points I wish to cover on each topic. Enjoy and feel free to let me know how you get your wardrobe to be more what you wear!


Step 1: Clear out the old
 As with any good wardrobe revamp, it's best to start by getting rid of what you don't like, don't wear, and don't need. Take it in pieces so you don't get overwhelmed. I started by going through my dresses a drawer at a time, then through my armoire (I don't have a built in closet) and the drawers on my armoire. If you have a bunch of accessories or jewelry, go through these too. It's a good idea to try on clothing you aren't sure about and decide if you like how it looks on you. Sometimes we all buy things that we like the look of, but that don't look good on us. If you just aren't liking it, get rid of it. It might be a good time to mention that it's best not to do this if you're having a really bad day as you might just get rid of everything you own because it all makes you look fat. This can be a good thing if done properly though (re-evaluate things on a better day). This part of your closet revamp is not the time to get all sentimental and clingy. if you really do have a sentimental attachment to something, such as an old high school tee that all your buddies signed, put it aside somewhere or turn that ish into a quilt. I'm serious. Make your memory tees into a quilt that you can hang on your wall, use in winter when your heater isn't cutting it, or shove unceremoniously into a box. If you have heirloom pieces of jewelry that don't go with your style, put them in a box somewhere where it won't be taking up space that you could be using for things you DO use. This is what attics are good for as well as hidden corners in your room.


 While going through clothing, you should take into account four main things: Fit, style, compatibility, and quality. Fit is essentially just does it fit and does it look good on your particular figure. If it's too small or makes your hips look ten times bigger than they really are, get rid of it. Style is whether it works with the style or styles you wear. Does that super pastel shirt really work with the Gothic wardrobe you want? Are you really going to be wearing a chartreuse tube top with a mostly faded pastel wardrobe? Things like that. Compatability is similar to style, but more "does this work with what I have" than "Does this work with my style." Are you really going to wear a floral mini skirt even if you have a Classic Lolita themed wardrobe? Do you really want those studded belts, or are they just going to hang around unused all the time? Last of all: quality. If you have an item in disrepair or that's just really poorly made (for Lolita this could be a Lace Monster or "ita" dress), get rid of it. Unless you have a grunge sort of style where all of your clothes are intentionally shredded or faded, you shouldn't be hanging on to shirts with holes in them. I have a hard time remembering that a lot of clothing isn't made to last and eventually has to be replaced, sometimes sooner rather than later. If you can't fix it or make it work, scrap it. Turn it into something new, donate it if it's still useable, or just chuck it. While there are places where one can donate old clothing to be repurposed, not everyone has them locally available. If you can, find a new use for something before throwing it away though.


 Once you've decided what to keep, neatly fold, hang, and organize the pieces so you can easily see what you have. Anything you aren't keeping should be sorted into one of the following categories: Store, repurpose, donate, sell, trash. First up, store. If you have items of sentimental value that you don't use for your style, find a way to store them that will prevent them from taking up space that could be used for items you'll actually be wearing. Put that necklace from Great Grandma's aunt into a box with other such items, use vacuum bags to minimize space taken by sentimental clothes. Next up, repurpose. If you can find a new use for old clothes, do it. Turn your old jeans into a bag, make potholders out of that worn out sweater, turn useable pieces into scraps of useable cloth for that one friend who got into quilting, etc. This is more for clothing that is damaged to the point of not being useful anymore. You could also give fixable items to a crafty friend to fix for their own use if you know someone like that. Donate and sell are both somewhat close for me. If you want to try selling your clothes online or in a commission store, do it. But set a limit for yourself. If they aren't gone soon, donate them. The last thing you need is ghosts of clothing past crowding up your room and being useless. Alternatively, you can shove everything in paper bags and take them straight to the thrift store or a clothing donation box. Lastly, trash. If something's worn to the point of being unfixable or unwearable, just throw it away. If you want to be conscientious and have them recycled, go for it. Just don't throw them at the thrift store because then they have to throw it away after sorting through all the donations they receive.


 Stay tuned next week for the next step in remaking your wardrobe!


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