52 Week: THE END

Have I mentioned that I'm bad at challenges? I'm bad at challenges. This is exactly why I've never done Nano (well, this and the fact that I'm always ridiculously busy during the month of November.)

Parasols: Vital or frivolous? (Week 46)

Once again I'm going to skip along the top of the fence and say: it depends on the lolita. It depends on if they're a lifestyler or not, what kind of climate they live in, where they typically wear lolita, etc. If you're a lifestyler, I'm going to assume that a parasol is relatively vital, since no matter the weather you're going to be in lolita layers and shade of any kind can be the difference between heatstroke and safety. If you're not... eh, it kinda depends on what your "too hot for lolita" cutoff is, or where you typically wear it. Even if you live in warmer climates, if you're only wearing it to indoor meetups and so the most sun you'll be getting is on the walk from the car/bus/train station to the building... eh, I think you could forgo it. But if you're the type to do outdoor festivals and such, I think it would be a wise purchase.

My favorite Lolita print (Week 49)

This should come as a surprise to absolutely no one:

Delft Lotta!

How Lolita has changed me (Week 52)

Honestly? I don't think it has. I'm still me, I'm still a practical person. I still don't like spending large amounts of money on singular items. Yes, there are hobbies that I've picked up since I've started wearing lolita, like baking, that fit the cliche, but I would have started doing those hobbies anyway, it's not like I picked up baking/cake decorating because of it. Yes my style outside of lolita has become more feminine, but I like feminine things anyway, and I've been trying to help my wardrobe recover from my pseudo-emo high school days for years, while simultaneously getting annoyed with wearing pants.

I think that's the mark of a healthy relationship with any hobby or interest: one's ability to keep it from consuming their life. I'm not saying anything about lifestylers, I think that a lot of lifestylers liked those sorts of things in the first place, and found an aesthetic that they liked in lolita. But that's the thing, if you like something, you don't let it consume your life and change you into someone your past self wouldn't recognize. So yes, I have changed since I've started wearing lolita, but I don't think those changes are because of lolita. So I don't think that lolita has changed me. Helped me? Yes. But not changed me.