2017 goals

09:00:00

Happy New Year, everyone! Let’s hope that 2017 will be a lot more pleasant and kind to us all, and I wish you that brand gods are kind to you and your wallets.



Just like last year I set myself some goals to enable me to engage with Lolita fashion more, my 2017 SMART targets will focus on continuing that engagement as well as curbing my spending a little bit since I don’t need as many builder pieces as I did before. Having said that, as I plan on going to Japan this year I’d like to take that opportunity to set myself some goals specific to that. Therefore I will divide my 2017 goals into general and Japan-specific ones.

Edits made to the post (8.01).







For those not familiar with the acronym, SMART targets are ones which are: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound, and it’s a technique used to foster success by encouraging setting goals which embody all of these qualities. For example, “I’d like to wear Lolita more often” is very vague, not particularly forceful and doesn’t really tell you when that goal will be met. On the other hand, “I will wear Lolita at least once a month” is more specific, shows more determination in how it’s worded and specifies exactly how often to wear Lolita to determine if one was successful.
EDIT: It has turned out that I won’t be able to go to Japan this year after all. I’m still really gutted over it. I won’t delete the original Japan-related goals as these might still be applicable for when I do eventually go back and as you have taken the time to leave a relevant comment, but for obvious reasons these are no longer my 2017 goals, leaving me just with the general ones.



Sorry for the pretty long intro, let’s get to it already!


General 2017 Lolita goals


1. Always have at least £300 in my bank account available to purchase a dream dress

This is a repeat from last year, but I think it’s a good habit to have. Even if I don't spend that money on a dream dress, it's still an emergency fund should I need it. Despite the weaker pound since Brexit, £300 remains a decent chunk of money, especially considering how the dream dresses I have left now aren't quite as popular to warrant this much money, but keeping that sum the same allows for adding shipping costs and/or tax/customs into that equation.



2. Save money and limit spending for my trip to Japan.

Between now and April I have four months which, with careful saving and a bit of a spending ban, could provide a very decent chunk of money for that trip. I don’t have a particular sum in mind that I’d like to reach, as I don’t know what I could anticipate buying, so the more I have the better. To achieve this I decided to not buy any new items of clothing, Lolita or otherwise, or cosmetics unless:

  • it costs under £10;
  • it is to replace something that's damaged and is urgently needed;
  • it is a dream dress, in which case it falls under goal no 1;
  • it is part of winter sales or is a wishlisted item that I need (see here).



3. Try a Wa-Lolita outfit

I've been thinking about that for a while now, it's even on my Lolita Life Goals list. But it took Sanakanin's Kimonogatari post series to make me realise that this may be a lot more doable than I thought. I already own a yukata, as does my Mum, so although neither is in a colour that I tend to wear with Lolita, I'd like to try coording these somehow at home first. Then, if it turns out that I like it, I could maybe get myself some cheap used yukatas or kimonos whilst in Japan and potentially expand my Lolita wardrobe (as well as get some wear out of the yukatas I have now because let's face it, you don't really get to wear these things outside of Japan). I have some reservations about how a while girl would look and be perceive in Wa-Lolita, but hopefully I'll manage not to be thought of as culturally appropriating Japanese clothing – and if it doesn’t work out, I don’t have to wear it outside of my house!



4. Whatever happens, do not miss Summer ILD

I was silly enough to have made other plans last year, I won't let this happen again this year. I'm making sure I have that day free, no matter what! Winter ILD was so much fun, I’m sure the summer one would be just as great, if not better.



5. Apply to model at a Lolita fashion show

There’s no guarantee that I’d get picked, however, applying gives me a better chance. With the next Tea Party Club anniversary event celebrating their 10th year going and having Angelic Pretty as their special guest, it would be a bit of a dream come true to model for them, but I’m more focused on the experience of modelling than who would I model for. Should I be able to go to a Lolita event outside of the UK, I’ll certainly apply to model there too, but TPC is the one I know I’ll be going to this year.

Photo by Luis Orellana on Flickr




Japan-specific 2017 Lolita goals


1. Try on a sack dress

As much as I doubt that they'd suit me, I'm a total believer in trying something that's not my usual thing. Who knows, maybe I'll surprise myself? That way, should an adorable print I fall in love with come out in only this kind of style, I'd know whether there's any point in getting it.



2. Try on an unshirred Angelic Pretty OP

Measurements on OPs tend to be out of my range. However, many of them are out of my measurements by only a little bit, and they almost never take into account things like fabric movement or stretch. So, if possible, I'd like to try on a couple of Angelic Pretty OPs that maybe I could just about fit in and see what happens. If it turns out that I could fit into one of them and won’t look like a sausage, I’d have a reference point for the future, should I ever find an OP I like which would have similar measurements.



3. If possible, try on AatP's Sleepless Masquerade in the Twilight JSK I (and buy if it fits)

I've fallen in love with this JSK since it came out, I consider it a dream dress. At the time, when I was in Japan, I never dared to even try it on, not wanting to be faced with disappointment when ultimately it didn't fit (or worse: when it did fit and I didn't have the money to buy it). Now that I could indulge a little, should it come up somewhere second hand, it'd just be the size that's an issue, so hopefully I'll find it somewhere and can solve this conundrum once and for all!



4. Try on an Angelic Pretty cutsew (if possible)

There’s quite a lot of praise being given to AP cutsews: that they’re pretty comfortable and relatively accommodating whilst remaining cute. I’d love to get one, for those days when you either can’t be bothered or need something easy to wash afterwards, however, the measurements have always made me stop and not risk buying one – because what if it doesn’t stretch that much? I realise that cutsews may be one of those things which brands simply won’t let you try on in shops, but if that’s the case then I could at least stretch them in my hands to get an estimate of whether it would be worth that risk or not. And I’m really hoping to be positively surprised here…



5. Wear Lolita at least twice in Japan

We are actually yet to book our trip as we’re waiting for my boyfriend to get his annual leave confirmed, but either way it won’t be much longer than about two weeks total. I don’t want to pack a lot of Lolita stuff, but I would love to wear it whilst in Japan and this seems like a reasonable number. It should cover all Lolita shopping (securing non-touristy insider treatment in stores), yet at the same time I don't have to pack a million things for it and could use pieces that could be worn casually and/or with my non-Lolita clothes. When I get closer to actually planning what Lolita to take with me, I'll probably do a separate post, maybe even a YouTube video about it.



6. Get boyfriend to try on some ouji stuff

It's been on this list as more of a challenge last year – this year, as we're going to Japan together, I'll actually be able to make him try some things on (and maybe purchase something if we find a good buy that suits him?). I won't force him to get into the fashion and be my ouji accessory. If he doesn’t like it, I won't push. The goal is simply to get him to try some stuff on. Well, and maybe to take a commemorative photo, in case he decides it’s not for him.





I was going to add some other goals as well, however, I need to stay realistic. It’s easy to want to get into the fashion all at once, do everything, but that’s simply not possible and it’s better to do things little by little and then possibly be pleasantly surprised than to set yourself a goal that you’re not likely to meet and then be disappointed.



Also, just because these are my goals for 2017 doesn’t mean that this is all of it! I’d still love to attend as many meets as possible, wear Lolita as often as possible, keep expanding my wardrobe to be more versatile and cohesive, but compared to the above these aren’t as centre stage as they’re more about continuing what I’ve done so far.



What are your goals for 2017? Any specifically related to Lolita? I’d love to hear about your plans for this coming year and how you usually go about ensuring that you’re doing what you told yourself you’ll do.


20 comments:

  1. Even sackdress does not suit you, you can take inspiration from Excentrique and use a wide belt or even a corset/bustier(if I ever get a sackdress, this is way I would wear it). My current goal is make a 2017 wardrobe post!

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    1. I know that, but I wouldn't want to buy a sack dress without knowing if it'd look good on me, with or without a belt or a bustier. The fashion is too expensive for such risks.
      I have all my wardrobe photos taken, still need to edit them and then put into a wardrobe post. Good luck with yours, I'd love to see it!

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    2. I finnished it in hurry, I know I would just forget it, when the holidays is over.

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    3. Or not find the time. I'm already struggling for time, but I really can't put the photos up the way they are. I've seen a couple of wardrobe posts already though and the quality of photographs there makes me really self conscious though...

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    4. I know I am not a good photographer, which does not hold me back from making a post.

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    5. I'm trying not to let this get to me, but when so many people have really beautiful posts you just want to keep staring at it's hard not to want to do something as beautiful.

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    6. The beautiful ones gets a lot of comments, but it is not same thing as people don't have seen the medicine ones. However I think it is rather rude when people just like the post and just leave it. Or someone don't get a comment at all.
      My new goal is to comment on every wardrobe post, so far it work. I don't hope out of suddenly explodes with the ammount of posts.

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    7. I wouldn't say it's rude not to comment, but I think that with wardrobe posts the comments should be only positive. I wouldn't know what to say to someone who wears a style that I'm not very much into or which I don't know much about (e.g. Gothic or Ouji), so unless there's something else about their post that I find nice I'd rather not comment than leave something brief like "nice wardrobe/post", that could come across as even ruder.

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  2. When I started to wear Lolita and attending Japan-related events, I also always had a weird feeling of wearing Yukatas / Kimonos as a white person, but I figured that if you respect the "rules" of wearing traditional clothes, there is no reason to not wear it.
    Also it became quite popular in Japan to incorporate japanese traditional fabrics / clothes into your normal wardrobe, so it's not that weird (anymore). I don't know if you follow Kawaii.international, but on their blog they presented a few stores which such items.
    However I have to say I have never worn a Yukata / Kimono until now because I never came around to buy one, so I don't know what it *really* feels, but I would feel more confident to wear it first here in Germany and practise wearing it, so I wouldn't embarass myself in Japan haha. Local conventions are always a good occasion to try out such things.
    Also I want to add that most Wa Lolita outfits you can buy look really horrible and cheap, I think Metamorphose is the only japanese brand who did some Yukata-inspired dresses, most of the other stuff I have seen (Bodyline etc.) doesn't look that good. But if you find a dress that has decent quality, and your outfit doesn't look like a costume, then you shouldn't worry at all!
    (Sorry for this wall of text >_<)

    I also want to answer your question about how to ensure reaching my goals. I always choose only a small selection of goals, goals which I already have thought about several times, and when it comes to more difficult goals (like loosing weight, learn a knew language) I only add the to my list when I already started to work on them at least a little bit, so I know I can actually reach them and it's not just me daydreaming of a "perfect me".

    I wish you a happy new year as well and I hope you will reach all your goals, I'm especially looking forward to your posts about Japan, Sakura season sounds like a wonderful time to travel!

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    1. That probably is the key: do your research on the rules of wearing a kimono before trying to mix it with another fashion. I've already worn a yukata in Japan and since even the Japanese treat them a little less seriously than kimono, it's usually a fairly safe thing to try if you want to know what it feels and looks like on you. I don't think I'd ever go for a ready-made kimono-style Wa Lolita outfit, not after seeing Sanakanin's assembled pieces. Also because as much as I like some of Meta's Wa prints, at the end of the day I don't see myself wearing them, so it'd be more practical to create a look from separate pieces that I could mix and match as I feel.

      It's a smart way of doing things. I subconsciously do something similar and don't consider big things goals unless I already started doing something towards that. That ensures that you'll go through with it because you've already tried and know how much you like or how well you're doing with that and if you're likely to quit before you're done. Any goals this year?

      I'm not sure how much non-Lolita Japan related posts I'll do. I've already lived in and blogged about Japan twice and I have intended this blog to be for Lolita content only. But we'll see how things will run out once I've been this year and came back. :)

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  3. I only clicked the link to Sanakanin's outfits after I published my comment, this approach is very different from what I have seen before and what I had in mind when writing my comment but I really love it! I think her outfits are actual "real" Wa outfits! But I like the approach of Metamorphose as well.

    My goals are (besides the Lolita goals I wrote on my blog) to cook more myself, in order to eat more healthy and to reduce ready-to-eat meals. And my other goal is to start sewing more in order to get better at sewing.

    I can totally understand this, I think when I visited Japan the first time, everything was new and interesting for me, so I made detailed blogposts about my trip, but if it is already your third (or more) time, then I can understand this. I was actually thinking about Lolita-related stuff anyway haha but of course I can totally understand if you don't post anything at all!

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    1. I think what appealed to me initially in her posts was how well she understands the rules of wearing traditional Japanese clothing. Even though I quite like Meta's approach too, it doesn't allow for much dressing down, which sort of means that unless Wa Lolita or generally more vibrant/OTT prints is what you wear then you won't get that much wear out of a Meta Wa dress. And that seems a bit too sad.

      I really like cooking, I'd love to do more, but because I live with my parents there isn't any room to store the food that I want to make. Are you thinking of challenging yourself a little and trying something new or would you stick with what you usually make? I used to watch SortedFood YouTube channel A LOT, their ideas are very inspiring and they do aim to show everyone that cooking is fun and that everyone can do it.

      Oh yeah, definitely loads of Lolita-related content being planned! Because I'm still waiting for my boyfriend to see if he can get the time off, I don't know whic part of Japan I'll end up in, but regardless of that there will be los of thingss to write about as last time I was in Japan I didn't understand Lolita as well as I do now.

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    2. My kitchen is super small (student apartment), so it is also hard to cook. And since I live alone I often have too much food left over (I actually recently bought an extra freezer just to have better storage options and not to have to throw away food D:)

      I want(ed) to cook new things, because my usual stuff is basically instant ramen or noodles with cheese, so I have a lot to improve xD. I'm very interested in Japanese food so I'm cooking a lot of this recently. Thank you for the suggestion, I actually get most of my recipes from Youtube but I didn't knew this channel!

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  4. Gosh, I forgot about this year's TPC event! I expect it will be tricky simply scoring a ticket but I'm going to try! Good luck in your model applications, and hopefully I will get to meet you at that event ^_^

    Lately it seems like I'm the only one in lolita circles who has never been to Japan or isn't in the middle of planning a trip there XD That's a pretty exciting adventure to look forward to and I hope you will be able to make those goals happen!
    Is your boyfriend someone who is interested in fashion or alt subculture already? I think he'll be more likely to enjoy it if that's the case!

    I don't have specific goals planned out. I just want to get my life together a bit more, and where fashion is concerned, do a lot more experimentation!

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    1. It'd be great if we could meet there! Have you ever eped out at ay of the TPC's events? Past volunteers get early access tickets, they've recently been testing out the emails to make sure that nobody's been missed out.

      Honestly, I noticed that as well, that almost every other Lolita I meet is either going to, planning to go or just been to Japan. Which is odd, because the tickets aren't that cheap, especially if you can't be very flexible with when you're going. Or maybe that's just something that's always been happening, but I haven't noticed until now.
      I wouldn't say he's interested in fashion, but he likes being well dressed. He told me once before that he likes the sort of elegant gentleman/Victorian/vintage look and he wanted to try something in that direction (although nothing really happened), so I think he'd like the artistocrat/ouji vibes. And if not then at least one photo to keep as background on my phone would be nice. ;P

      Oh yeah, life... I should get mine in order, but that's not a particularly Lolita-related New Year's resolution. It would help a lot though. But I'd definitely love to see your experiments with fashion. :D

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    2. I've donated raffle prizes but never volunteered so no early access perks for me, sadly! I'll just have to make sure I'm positioned in the best wifi hotspot and be rearing to go when the tickets go up! I've got this XD

      I'm glad it's definitely not just me who's noticed this, haha! Maybe it's a bit of a domino effect and people seeing others going off to Japan then motivates them to set the wheels of their own travel plans in motion. I love how disciplined your budget/saving plan is, and I wish you luck in sticking to it ^_^

      Hm, maybe he would indeed enjoy an EGA outfit, even if it were something he only wore on special occasions. A nice keepsake photo would be lovely at any rate, no matter what happens!

      It depends how you look at it and what your personal idea of getting your life in order means. For someone it might mean getting a new job where they will have more disposable income with which to buy lolita items! Everything's connected, really :P Haha, thank you! That reminds me of a goal I probably should have made sooner, which is to take better, more regular pictures of my outfits!

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  5. I love this post. Really smart to use SMART goals ;D especially since lolita resolutions are much less likely to be followed because they're often so vague. If I make a similar post, I'm definitely going to follow the same planning!

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    1. I'm glad to have shared something valuable. The whole SMART goals/targets is really big in the education sector in the UK, especially if you work there, you literally cannot escape it and will sooner or later be faced with the inevitable question of "but are your students being set/setting themselves SMART targets to make sure they're achieving?". :P But I must admit, they work quite well when yuou need a bit of focus or to plan for something you' really like to accomplish.

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  6. Great stuff, I am keeping my thumbs up for You!

    Wearing Wa-loli~~ tried it twice but failed miserably. I felt like in costume ;_; It just does not suit me but I would LOVE to see Your aproach of that topic!

    As for Japan- it's amazing place, worth saving every money <3

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    1. That's what I think Wa would feel like for me, like a costume rather than clothes. Even though the outfits that inspire me most are very wearable, but again, since I'm not actually Japanese and I'm not used to wearing more traditional Japanese clothing, it could still feel like a costume.

      I'm not saving for the trip itself, I'm saving for all the clothes and makeup, and cute stuff that I wannaa bring back! *.*

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