Although I’ve seen another questionnaire with a whopping 100 questions for lolitas floating around, I opted for a shorter one since I don’t have the expertise or wardrobe to fill out a longer Q&A (；´∀｀)
This was inspired by Allyrat’s blog post of the same lolita questionnaire, I recommend checking it out!

45 Questions for Lolitas:

1. Please tell us your Hand Name (name that’s used ONLY in internet.) and hometown.
VelvetLori or simply just Lori, my hometown is a secret.

2. About how long is your history as a Lolita?
Around 4 years, I’m pretty much still a newbie haha

3. What first motivated you to do Lolita fashion?
I always loved wearing princess dresses as a kid and would even insist on wearing one to the supermarket whenever my mom went out to get errands.
Suffice to say, I was elated to discover a subculture of fashion that allows you to wear elegant and frilly dresses on a day-to-day basis!

4. After knowing Lolita fashion, have you had any time-gap or resistance till you actually started to be Lolita?
Not really? Although I’ve only got 4 years under my belt as a Lolita, I pretty much got my first dress as soon as I had the disposable income to afford it.

5. Please define your Lolita style as much as possible. (eg. gothic Lolita, sweet Lolita, white Lolita…. Etc).
Classic, sweet-classic, aristo, and casual.
I’d really like to find a shiro lolita dress to coordinate with a homemade headpiece I bought from a comm member.

6. About how many Lolita friends do you have?
Zero………..
( I don’t have much friends irl in the first place ;_; )

7. What is the best thing about doing Lolita?
Dressing pretty and elegant!

8. Conversely, what’s the worst thing?
The sizing…. I don’t even have that large of a bust and yet I struggle to find a blouse that doesn’t pop open when I take a single breath.
Don’t even get me started on Asian sizing measurements….

9. Which Lolita Brands do you like?
Getting anything from Mary Magdalene would be my holy grail (pun intended)
Some other brands I like are BtssB, Innocent World, Atelier Pierrot, Victorian Maiden, Forest Wardrobe, and Dear Celine

10. What was the first Lolita item that you’ve owned?
Reshie’s Garden, Vintage OP in Wine is my first lolita main piece. The first lolita item I ever owned would be an Aurora and Ariel A-line petticoat.

She no longer fits me RIP </3

11. What is the “must have!” Lolita item?
A petticoat!! Please, please, please, prioritize in getting a petticoat!!!!!!!!!

12. Do you wear drawers?
Recently I bought some bloomers so I’ve yet to comment on how it feels to wear a coord with them on.
Usually I just wear some very un-kawaii generic boxer shorts under my dresses.

13. Do you have any favourite Japanese music?
Yes! A majority of my playlists are compromised of Japanese music from varying genres.
Some of my favourite musicians would be Sheena Ringo, Mass of the fermenting dregs, Eve, DJ Okawari, Nunjabes, Ichiko Aoba, and soooo much more! This isn’t even including the multitude of voca-p artists I like.

14. Where do you particularly visit as Lolita?
My goal is to wear lolita casually in my everyday life, which includes mundane activities such as grocery shopping or going to the bank, however lately I’ve been only wearing lolita for comm meet-ups or special events.

15. About how many times per week do you dress as Lolita?
Like….. once in a bi-monthly basis…..
I do happen to use a lot of my lolita pieces in non-lolita outfits such as my blouses and shoes.

16. Please tell us about one embarrassing episode from the time when you were just beginning Lolita.
None that I can think of. The only embarrassing moment that happened wasn’t really related to me wearing lolita; it was when my phone kept ringing in the middle of my comm’s EGL panel at an anime convention and I ended up forgetting to pick up my shoes from another member who disgruntledly mentioned that her friend had to lug around the shoes for the entirety of the con. I still feel bad about it to this day.

17. What’s hairstyle and color that you think Lolita would suite the most?
I think any hair colour can suit lolita given you coord your outfit accordingly. I certainly have a bias for bangs!

18. Have you ever thought of stopping Lolita? The reason?
It would probably be out of laziness or lack of budget. I’d probably never fully quit lolita, though I can see myself toning down my coords or utilizing a majority of the pieces for non-lolita outfits.

19. Please tell us your heart’s bible as a Lolita. (anything like a book, magazine, CD, idol…)
Kamikaze girls, I truly resonate with the quote:
“So what if I was deceitful? My happiness was at stake. It’s not wrong to feel good. That’s what Rococo taught me. But actually my soul is rotten.”
I’ve only watched the movie so far, but I eagerly look forward to reading the light novel and manga.

20. Do you own a doll? Tell us your feelings about her intensely!
I do not but it would be a dream to own one.

21. What kind of make-up do you wear when you wear Lolita clothes?
Either a light eyeshadow with some mascara and lip gloss or nothing at all, sacrilegious I know.

22. Have you ever secretly changed clothes in a train station bathroom on Lolita day-out?
Nope, don’t have trains in my area first of all, second of all I don’t have the storage or space to store a whole-ass petticoat in a bag.

23. Are you composed when doing Lolita all by yourself?
Pretty much, I’m used to being on my own, though it’s more fun to drag my sister along with me and make her dress ouji so we’re both elegant and dressed up.

24. How much do you spend in your Lolita clothes & accessary monthly?
Zero, because as of writing this post I am very much unemployed and broke, but give me a stable income and 50% of my budget will be going towards mercari or lacemarket.

25. What is the most expensive Lolita thing you’ve bought so far? How much was it?
Embarrassingly it would be Antaina shoes that I overpaid way too much by purchasing them off a taobao reseller.
Despite my dislike for heart motiffs, they’re my favourite shoes of all time and I’ve worn them down to the point of having both the heels pop out. I plan to repair them eventually since I still continue to wear them despite the sole of the heel being missing. It makes me sound like a horse when I walk around with them on XD

My pride and joy, she has gone through so, so, much…….

26. So far about how much has the expense been for Lolita goods?
I don’t want to think about it……

27. Lolita outfit really costs money. How do you raise money to cover the cost of Lolita?
By not having any material desires aside from wearing lolita.

28. Have you ever bought from an online store? If so, please tell us its good and bad points and some advice for the future. If not, please tell us why not.
A majority of my wardrobe is from taobao, which can be only bought exclusively online.
My biggest mistakes would be buying most of my lolita pieces from taobao in the first place since most resellers upcharge the products way too much and a majority of proxy services don’t provide CAD as a currency which results in a higher price point converting from CNY ➜ USD ➜ CAD instead of just CNY ➜ CAD directly.
Also quality is a hit or miss considering you get what you pay for and it’s definitely wiser to save up for quality pieces second-hand rather than compromising for cheaper products that don’t feel good or last at all in the long run.
I’ve certainly felt this when I bought my first ever burando dress. Despite the fabric being polyester, it feels so much nicer in comparison to my cheaper pieces also made of the same material and the lace quality is a massive step-up.

I will say that as long as you’re careful and you check product reviews with images, taobao brands are really good for accessories such as petticoats, headpieces, jewellery, and bags on a budget. I don’t think I would ever willingly spend money on pleather products with a burando price tag.

29. Even if you sort of want to keep it a secret, please clandestinely tell us
about a private manufacturer that is the best.
Not sure if it counts as a “private manufacturer” but Sosic shoes proved to be very durable so far. I don’t wear heels often so I can’t vouch for its comfort, but I walked through the entire ~1.6km of Butchart Garden’s walking loop and a trek up Hatley Castle with little to no major scuffs or damage to my shoes. Although I certainly wouldn’t recommend walking a long distance with 6cm high heels, I’m impressed with how well the sosic shoes stood up against various rough terrains, stairs, and elevation gains.
The manufacturers were also kind enough to replace the heart shape buckles with generic square ones.

not quite lolita but I had fun dressing very elegantly for my visit to Buchart Gardens.

30. Is there a brand and/or an item that you think, “I could never get it! But I unreasonably want it!”?
Anything from Mary Magdalene hands down.

31. What do you think about people who only do Lolita at music-lives or cosplay?
If they’re respectful about it and dress well I don’t mind, but if they’re obnoxious and buy their shit from amazon to wear as a one-off gag because “haha lolita fashion weird” I hate you and will rightfully call you out for being an ita poser.

32. From what age to what age is it acceptable to do Lolita? Do you think that there’s a state in which someone must graduate from Lolita? (you can answer as ‘never graduate’)
Lolita is forever. Be free.

33. Is there a Lolita fashion or behavior that you think “I don’t want Lolitas to do this!” about?
Lolitas that tolerate red flags from potential fetishists. Its disgusting and I hate how lolitas have to walk on eggshells in an attempt to be tolerant when people used to rightfully chastise and kick out fetishizers in the past.
Seriously, how hard is it to separate your fetish account from your fashion account (unless dressing up as a lolita is a part of your fetish hmm much to think about)

Fuck inclusivity and trying to be nice, I do not want people who sexualize my attire anywhere near my proximity, especially in a comm where minors are present, are you fucking insane??

34. Is there something you think “Lolita has to be this way!” about?
Wear a petticoat and stay modest, put those tatas away.

35. While doing Lolita, has something changed from earlier than you did Lolita?
My everyday clothing has certainly gotten cuter ever since I started to utilize pieces such as blouses, cardigans, and shoes in my non-lolita outfits.

36. Do you go to school/work as Lolita?
Nope, though it would be a dream to work in a job that allows lolita.
Apparently Misako Aoki worked as a nurse so it would be interesting if there was ever a health care line for lifestyle lolitas. Maybe they could add prints to scrubs and add some frills made of scrub material on it?
An usakumya/kumya retractable keychain charm would also be incredibly cute.

37. Do you wear Lolita clothes as casual wear?
Yup! All the time!

38. Do you have a boyfriend (or husband)? Do you understand each other? (I think she meant “Does he understand you (as lolita)?”)
No.

39. What do the people around you think of your doing Lolita? Do they accept it?
So far it has been very lovely! A lot of sweet women would come up to me and ask me what the special ocassion is or compliment my outfit. My mom finds it funny and recounts the time I’d dress up as a princess to the grocery store as a child; she’s very supportive.

40. What kind of Lolita is who has impressed you the most up until now?
Misako Aoki is my queen and I’ve especially looked up to her when I found out she worked in healthcare!
In a general sense, I am very impressed by Lolitas who have a large collection of Mary Magdalene pieces (and slightly jealous, grr share some with the rest of us)

41. Have you ever made your own Lolita clothing or/and accessories? If so, what was the best item that you’ve made?
Not yet but I would really like to try my hand at making something from Otome no Sewing some day!

42. If you have an ideal Lolita outfit or coordination, please tell us.
A simple OP with heeled shoes, stockings, and a sun hat, mostly because it’s the easiest to dress up in haha.

43. Is there a motif that you think “this is a simple of Lolita”?
Ruffles and lace with patterns in it. I’m really weak for rose patterned lace, so elegant and gorgeous!

44. Would you want to dress your children as Lolita?
Does a usakumya count as a child? If so, of course duh.

45. What’s your image of the ideal Lolita?
Someone who is elegant and cute, but a little rotten inside ♥

CREDITS
Inspiration: Allyratworld on neocities
Original Questionnaire: lolita_q45 on Livejournal

Currently Listening to:
SUI UZI – Cinderella

Feeling:
A bit sleepy