Tuesday, January 4, 2022

The Wear Everything Challenge!

This blog is starting, as many ambitious ideas do, as a new year’s resolution. Not just any new year’s resolution though, but my resolution from 2020 that got derailed. This resolution, which I will attempt again, is to wear every single thing in my wardrobe! The focus of this blog will be documenting my coordinates as I attempt the ambitious task of wearing everything that I own (at present I have almost 80 main pieces). Most will be my lolita fashion wardrobe but I will probably sneak in a few more ‘normal clothes’ as we go on. My reasoning for this in the past was that I had so many clothes in my wardrobe but there were a few things I hardly wore or never wore for whatever reason and I wanted to give them some love. If you stumble across this blog no matter what your style, consider following along with me and challenge yourself to wear some things in your closet you haven't worn in years! I’ve never made a blog before so this may turn out terrible, but it also may turn out to be exactly what I need to stay on track for my goal. This blog may not always stay only this challenge but I appreciate any readers I may get, I'm going to try my best with this!


As the updated resolution for 2022 this idea of wanting to give my clothes some love remains a key factor in my thoughts but with a hint of sustainability journey as well as trying to be more mindful of my consumer habits in general- which I admit I have not done as good a job on in the past! I will be on a ‘low buy’ all of this year which means while I won’t completely stop buying clothes but I will make sure that a few criteria are met before I buy. 

  1. Is this item on my wishlist?

  2. Does this item fill a gap in my wardrobe I’ve identified before I saw this item?

  3. If I buy this item can I wear it at least 3 different ways with what I already have?

  4. Does this item fit in my budget?

  5. Can I find this kind of item second hand or from a small business first? 

  6. Is this an item I want for a large themed meet-up or event? (Buy 1-2 items for this category only, try to make sure it still fits #3 - #5 if possible)

To hold myself accountable at least a little here are my current specific wishlist items:
  • Angelic Pretty Marchen Ribbon JSK in black (any cut)
  • Angelic Pretty Lovely Girl Skirt in black
  • Angelic Pretty Wonder Story Round JSK in black
  • Angelic Pretty Triple Tiered Frill Princess JSK in "grey x pink"
  • Angelic Pretty Candy-Chan on a Walk JSK in grey x black (maybe, I still have the skirt depends on the price)
  • Angelic Pretty Fancy Candy JSK in black (to then sell the OP)
  • BtSSB Unico in Bloomland headbow in navy
  • BtSSB navy classic Heart bag
  • AATP Forest Where the Angels Live Skirt in navy
Current identified holes in my wardrobe I'd like to fill (non specific items):
  • 3-way black square bag (NO chocolate embossing, ears, or rosettes, should be quite plain and a sort of medium size not too large but can still fit stuff)
  • A white peter pan collar blouse (long sleeved, cotton, collar can't be too huge)
  • Silver blouse
  • Pink shoes (suitable for casual and sweet outfits. Looking at the classic ETC flats with bows as a strong possibility)
  • Red shoes 
  • Long black lolita coat with decent sized pockets and hood (preference to coats with a bit of faux fur and ears of some sort but at this point I'm willing to settle if it has both pockets large enough for my phone and a hood)
  • Pink choker
  • Black x Pink macaroon necklace (brand possibilities: BB&B, Q-pot, etc.)
  • Caplet (black, maybe pink)

These past years I'm really grateful for all the virtual events I was able to attend through my local comm, Bay Area Kei, Rose Foret, and Pretty Princess Club. However armed with full vaccination status (including booster!) I’d been slowly venturing out more and therefore actually wearing my favorite clothes. I'd even like to try hosting a few meets in the future! Unfortunately omicron put another damper on the venturing out and in person meet part for a little while but even if I wear stuff to pick-up to-go orders or make my own tea spread to snack on at home at my kitchen table I will wear and document my outfits!


Stay tuned for the annual wardrobe post where I document my current wardrobe! I’ve done this most years since 2012 and it’s been a great way to see how my wardrobe has evolved over the years!


Saturday, January 1, 2022

Introduction

Hello dear readers! My name is Shannon but you may know me around the internet or lolita fashion spaces as artemiscangee. I’ve been wearing lolita fashion since I got my first dresses in 2007 and almost 15 years later have amassed quite the collection of clothes! During the day I am a librarian in California and on the weekend I am an introverted nerd who also happens to dress in frilly things. I dabble in a lot of other hobbies including cosplay, video games, board games, anime, reading, and seeking out cute desserts. I’m not always actually good at these things but they are fun for me and I try my best so I think that’s usually good enough! I don’t really consider myself a writer right now but as the year progresses and I practice maybe I will by the end!


I’m starting this blog as a way to keep track of my 2022 resolution; hopefully by blogging my experience I will avoid spamming my other social media with ramblings people aren’t particularly interested in. The main focus here in the beginning will be to do as the title suggests and wear my bows! The goal of 2022 for me is to wear every item of clothing I own and at the end figure out what I want to keep, what I want to sell and figure out if there are any holes in my wardrobe that I have not thought of yet. Hopefully I will also be more able to find happiness in wearing what I already have. Accessories are somewhat exempt from this ‘wear everything’ challenge though I am going to try my best to wear them all as well! 


Hopefully you can come on this journey with me and maybe be inspired to find joy in wearing the things that make you happy too! 


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