Lolita Musings: Summer Wardrobe

I love lolita. I love getting dressed up in it, I love wearing it, I love foofing about with my fluffy skirts. But there are about four months out of the year where that isn't necessarily going to happen every morning.

Those four months are pretty much summer here.

In winter lolita is great because it is layering and helps to keep me warm. I can totally cover every inch of me except my head and be comfortable. But when things start getting hot towards the end of spring it gets a little harder and when we finally hit summer and it is stupid humid too? It gets rough. That's when I have to pack my socks in my purse and put them on when I get to the air conditioned tundra that is my place of employment. I stare at my blouses, all neatly hanging up in my closet and spend three minutes debating the virtues of being totally loli and protecting my jsks from me glistening by wearing a blouse and the fact that I will be cooler while walking to work if I don't wear one. Even my most summery of blouses still feels constricting and hot. And when the humidity is stupid high because we're clearly going to get thunderstorms a petticoat seems a ridiculous thing to wear.

So in summer The Rules are a bit fudged. I can't even say sometimes to that, in summer it is a special occasion to be in full lolita kit. My socks only get worn indoors or for short periods on days when it isn't too humid (high humidity plus socks equals very itchy legs). I actually am will to for-go a petticoat and just rock bloomers as my underpinnings because they don't itch. And I'm going to be making a pair of super full eyelet bloomers once I'm back from vacation to hopefully recapture some of that poof while still being cool and comfortable. I have two or three summery blouses which are loosely woven and 100% cotton to be as cool and breathable as possible and which also protect my pale arms from getting too tan when I go on outings.

Summer is almost a test for lolitas, at least if you live somewhere with extreme weather. But luckily The Rules aren't hard and fast. We can adapt them to a certain extent and still be poofy and loli and have fun. I would hate to get up in the morning and resent my lolita finery because I know I'm going to sunstroke from it.