Forums » Smalltalk » AMA: Lolita fashion and occasional con model

rahh someone did adhd first and other than that i'm pretty boring. im ngl if i started grad school then i could be all cool like 'ama, im a law student' but i havent started that yet so muehhh!!

Anyways! Hello, I'm Kamui, and I wear j-fashion, namely EGL (or lolita). Because of my introduction to it, I've also been very lucky to model at conventions as well at their fashion shows, namely ones on the west coast, including, but not limited to, Anime Expo, Fanime, and Anime Los Angeles. I've been lucky enough to model for a variety of j fashion brands, not just lolita, like Candy Trap, MyViolet, and Haenuli. (and maybe you might spot me on one of those sites, but i wont tell >)

Because I start grad school soon I don't really have time to explore cons outside of my state, but that's okay! I mainly go to cons if they have a fashion show at this point, since they'll be portraying brands that I'm interested in. I'm hoping that more JP lolita brands will come back to the states, as I joined the EGL community shortly after the pandemic, and around then, brands didn't come to cons around me very frequently lol.

What about Lolita fashion draws you so strongly to it? Do you have any Lolita models you look up to?

That fashion is often considered the counterpart or related to Ouji!
As stated in my own AMA, I dress in and am very interested in Ouji!

So, I guess the best question is, how do you feel about Ouji fashion?

I'm so so love the lolita fashions and Harajuku style what also grew up in me to choose dresses! lol the frills and ribbons! Kyaaah

I want to ask, do you have difficulties on shipping those clothes to state? Have you ever design your own lolita dress? ^^

tbh i primarily wear classic, so brands like Innocent World, and Mary Magdalene are some of my favorite sources of inspo. i dont have any models i look up to, but i do have a friend who primarily wears the second brand i mentioned, and she's one of my biggest inspirations, haha.

i think i like the prints and motifs a lot. i dont really remember how i found out about it, but my tastes changed quickly, going from anything alice in wonderland to anything brown, to refining down to specifically saxon blue dresses with aprons, and chocolate brown prints in specific.

personally, i dont care for it, but i love seeing other people do it. i'm more of an EGA enjoyer, and i really like seeing people wear Atelier Boz and Moi Meme Moitie. there are some items in ouji fashion that i do like and own, primarily longer blouses, and some detailed jackets look good with a petticoat under it as well.

i don't think i'd personally wear it unless a friend dressed me up in it, though. i like to just be a bystander n cheer on the ouji's in my comm

i've designed a few, but ive also learned making my own dresses is very difficult. despite the construction of many being the same, it's actually a lot more work than you'd think. mainly, a loooot of fabric gathering, and it's very easy to make it look nice and cohesive to sorta ill fitting and poorly made, even by choosing a bad type of lace lmao.

i do not, though! after the pandemic shipping got more expensive everywhere, and mainly china, which is a bummer because it's where i get a lot of accessories and shoes (my feet are big for my height). apparently ems from there used to be dirt cheap lol. now it can be hard to ship bulky things, like shoes and petticoats without shipping being high, but imo if you're committed to the wardrobe you kinda learn to accept that shipping is no longer ur fren lmao. i've dropped 200+ on shipping a near 15 pound package, which was just a dress set. it was very heavy though, and bulky, so lmao.

shipping from japan is a little nicer, thankfully, and bc the yen is weak it really takes a chunk out of it, but i've noticed my bulkier packages from japan isnt as high from my cn packages. oh well! in terms of like, customs or stuff like that, none! the US is kinda insane where if your package is under 800 (or 1k depending on where you buy it from and what you're buying), which i guess isn't high but also high? the average simple set from japan, assuming you're in the US for the dollar, is maybe 400 bucks (assuming you get a dress, matching headpiece, legwear and blouse, or jewelry if you get an OP). with shipping youd be under that. buuuuut if you ask your shopping service to hold onto it and get a few other things, then yes, you can hit that limit quickly. but rare are ppl buying that limit quickly unless it's a print they really like and would like multiple of it, then you'd have to deal with customs.

then there's the whole ordeal of marking packages down blah blah but imma be fr i know nothing ab that bc i've never come close to the limit. some shipping companies can be rude (fedex lol. im talking about you) and might flag ur pakige even if it's not the limit, and ask for a breakdown of your clothing material, which has happened to a friend of mine multiple, multiple times.

again, none of the really bad possible things have happened to me. worst ive dealt with is just...expensive shipping, and i try not to think about it kjhdfkhdfkh. this was a long answer tho, oops!

I love Lolita fashion and its history! I really wanted allll the dresses and wigs as a teenager.
Have you worn anything from devilinspired? I've been wanting to try them for a while now, but if I decide to spend that kind of money I want to make sure it's a reputable site first... If you've used them before, were the results good?

I'm curious if they are any good too!! They also sell Ouji, an interest of mine.

I love those ones they sell, too! ^^ I often thought of it as 'boy Lolita fashion', but I forget the name. I like Visual Kei stuff as well but I forget to keep up with it.

do not.

devilinspired is a taobao reseller, they are not an actual brand. in the lolita comm, we actively encourage newbies to not buy from them as their markups are the highest of all taobao resellers that are 'reputable'. their advertising is very aggressive which is why people see it. remember with any taobao reseller, it is not the site itself that dictates the quality, but the brand you buy from. the sites are just a middle man.

this is a decent blogpost about how poor DI's practices are. join a reddit, join a discord server, but do your research for everything and question everything. 42lolita is the most recommended taobao reseller on the market

Oh! That sucks.
I bookmarked that link to read some other time.