How I Metamorphosed from a misguided Romantic Goth into a Newbie Lolita

Hello, again!  Welcome back to the lawn of a crotchety old school lolita. Sorry for the delay in the follow up post, I couldn't pick which topic I wanted to do for my first "real post". Originally, I had decided to  start blogging entries from FyeahLolita's 52 Challenge. I love her blog, because Caro-chan shares my nostalgia for all things gradma-ish and covered in lace.    With that being said, I figured that I'd start from the very beginning. I've been told it is a very good place to start. Also, to reiterate I HAVE NO SHAME about my progression from "not so hot" lolita to "not quite so bad" lolita, here is a picture of me wearing it at the second weekend long meetup the Chicago lolitas organized in Galena, Illinios in 2008. I'm very excited because I was spending the weekend some of the most kick-ass lolitas in the fashion at the time (or any time, to be honest!)  Hence the derp face. This picure is relevant because this is the dress that got me interested in gothic lolita. 

LOLITA IS SO AWESOME, GUYS.  IT IS THE BEST, ABSOLUTELY!

 How I first found out about Lolita

The stage opens as a dyed in the wool "Romantic Goth" trawls Ebay on the dial-up up from her parent's house on a trip back home for the Holidays.  It is 2004 and she wants some new digs.  Apparently her 250 other black lacy skirts weren't lacy enough? As she goes through the dozens of pages of Hot Topic castoffs something catches her eye.*  A beautiful dress with a cutout for her boobs and a border of scroll-work and gravestones loads in her window, and it is love at first sight.  However, for some odd reason, this "goth dress" has been bid up to OVER $60.00.  FOR ONE DRESS. Who in their sane mind spends that money on one piece of clothes when you could buy TEN black skirts and tops at Goodwill? Not this girl, she's far too wise for such shenanigans.

However, the dress is soooo pretty she remembers it 2 years later when a friend introduces her to the style known as "gothic lolita". It is 2005, and Meta has just released their New Year luckypacks upon the international lolita community. People are unloading their castoffs on EGL**, and one item in particular catches her eye. It is THE VERY SAME DRESS.  The one she dreamed of, the unattainable one made from jewels, that was the only conceivable reason a dress would cost that much.  Also, the design wasn't coffins, but rather arched windows.  Still to rich for her blood at a whopping 120USD, it would be a year later before laila-astri/Lauran/kaoru-ai would sell her this dress and destiny was fulfilled.  The dress I'm wearing above is the underbust version of this dress. I still own it and wear it proudly.
















*Yes, in that day Hot Topic actually sold gothic clothes.  Much in the way modern lolitas are told of the horrors of Milanoo, new lolitas were warned NEVER TO SHOP AT HOT TOPIC. With the exception of the Infamous Hot Topic Dress, which is deserving of an entry all to itself.

** Did you know that EGL once had so few sales posts they were both on THE SAME COMMUNITY?  And we liked it because it made it easier to snap up the rare piece of brand that someone brought back with them from a trip to Japan.

Welcome to my lawn. Now get off it!

Hello everyone,
Welcome to Frills Old, Man.  Welcome to the lolita equivalent of that old woman who is always yelling at you to get off her lawn, and stop telling her that striped socks are ita. Striped socks are our heritage, damn it! . . . . . . Anyways, I've always wanted to talk about all the changes lolita culture has gone through over the years, as well as what it is like to be a 30-something mother of two in a fashion designed for teens and young adults. So in a respect, this is both a "lolita blog" and a "mommy blog", but combined into some sort of hideous Frankenstein's monster. You're welcome.   I had my topic picked out from Caro-chan's wonderful post last week on Fuck Yeah, Lolita, and had it written up and everything, but it was eaten by blogger, so for the time being I'll just do a short introduction.
I'm hoping to have my first actual content next week.


My name is Erin, I live in the geographic center of nowhere, and have been wearing gothic lolita fashion since 2005.  I "discovered" Gothic Lolita in early 2004, but didn't realize it at the time.  I was a Romantic Goth* at the time, I didn't know any better! To show I will have no shame about getting down in the nitty gritty of the good and bad of both old school lolita, (as well as my transformation for a "not so great" lolita to a "slightly less bad" lolita), here is the first ever documented photo of me wearing gothic lolita, summer of 2006:

One more thing to share, just to show you how VERY SERIOUS ABOUT THIS BLOG I AM. I've already started doing some heavy, in depth research:

* For those not in the know, Romantic Goth is a sub-style with lots of velvet of the stretch variety, corsets, and about as much lace as you can stand.  And yes, I wore it to the mall.