I clearly don't know the meaning of the word "shame"...

...so let's break out the ita bingo cards and get ready to play:

2004

So. Right. I don't remember how my friends and I learned about lolita in the first place, but I think it had a lot to do with one of my friends, who got really into the J-Pop/J-Rock scene and started getting a hold of fashion magazines including KERA and FRUiTs. We decided to make our own outfits, but knowing nothing about pattern drafting or silhouettes, I opted to shorted the skirt on a dress intended for Civil War reenactments. This outfit is a trainwreck. It's a 300 on the bowling alley of ita misfortune. See if you can find all of the hilarious mistakes.

Emboldened by having leaned to apply lace I made this awful "pirate" outfit, complete with stenciled pirate logos. And an eyepatch. I think I was really in to eyepatches. (Halloween 2004?)

CHRISTMAS MEETUP! This was at the Galleria in Dallas. I decided to make a "Country" outfit, with a cape? I was really in to capes. I'm pretty sure I said "I WILL HAVE ONE CAPE IN EVERY COLOR." I also had a little headdress that looked like the lid of a jam jar. Someone at the ice rink wanted to know if we were Amish. Yikes. (Christmas 2004?)

2005

Time for some good old fashioned cosplay lolita! We saw some photos online of some Japanese women in Alice in Wonderland outfits that we thought were really good (they were). They definitely borrowed lolita and aristocrat fashion elements, but yeah, in retrospect, they were costumes. We decided to give it a shot on our own. The main thing I remember doing was trying to pick out interesting fabrics, so my white rabbit vest had some interesting gold threads. The mad hatter's clothing was sort of a green, slightly shiny suit material that I stenciled "wires" onto and then sewed on button and sequin computer chips. The buttons were actually pieces of motherboard. I'm sure there was some kind of concept going on here

It's hard for me to know exactly when this picture was taken, but it was probably '05, This is a Dallas meetup of mostly gothic/lolita types, but I think some "Fruits" types were there as well. (Does anyone else remember people FREAKING OUT when people called it that- because "OMG, that's the name of the magazine, not the style!!! Get it right!") This was at an outdoor mall somewhere in a very suburban conservative neighborhood. Yikes. Oh yeah, that's me in the little red riding hood outfit. A CAPE IN EVERY COLOR, I SAY!

2006 (Maybe)

Those of you who have been around a while may remember these photos from a J-Fashion (emphasis on cosplay lolita) "Wizard of Oz" photoshoot that got posted on EGL years ago. I was the lion, so my idea was to go for a "royal" look, although more princess than king of the jungle, but also to have punk elements, since he was so punchy. Hence the boots, the stenciled tights and, oh yes, the fingerless gloves.

Also from '06 it seems- this is my "Wa Loli" outfit. (Oh yes, of course I made a Wa-Loli outfit. I told you this was going to be fun!) Basically a shortened kimono top I made with a white underskirt. The only good thing about this outfit (well, aside from the colors I guess, which are pleasingly pastel) is the hairbow I made which was kinda cute. Oh, and open-mouth-picture-chan is born!

This appears to be Christmas '06. This dress is my "Maria Von Trapp" dress because it is literally made out of curtains. The fact that the velvet was actually nice quality hides some of the awful construction, but not much. See also halloween wigs and lack of makeup. I call this my "Pansy Parkinson" dress

And then there was a period of time where I was focusing on school, work, being poor and cheaper hobbies like budget cosplay and the like. Eventually, I got married, got a real job, moved to a new state and then realized "Holy crap, I have expendable income!" Commence my first Lolita purchases!

2010-2011

This photo is from 2010/11, I had just moved to southern Indiana where the frills were somewhat sparse. However, I met up with a nice young lady in my town and we went to a Chicago meetup. Here I am wearing one of my first purchased dresses ever from F+F

I moved again! This was one of the first meets I attended in Austin, my new hometown. The city actually boasts a pretty healthy comm and has meets fairly regularly, so I definitely had a lot of encouragement to improve my wardrobe and my look.

Experimenting with a gothic look! This was part of a Kuro-Shiro shoot I did with a buddy!

2012-2013

I'd started buying more secondhand brand and figuring out that it didn't have to be so intimidating. Here I am with some faces that might be familiar to you. :D

I figured out that the super long wigs aren't for me on a regular basis and started wearing shorter hairstyles. Also, I got some chiffon blouses that I will NEVER STOP WEARING EVER. This look is actually a pretty standard example for me: tights, shoes that are sweet but not overly so, and a headband rather than a large headbow.

Dear Diary, I have learned how to shop on Taobao. I now have a badass treasure chest bag. Never looking back!

Christmas 2013. Somewhere along the line, I fell in love with Metamorphose, hard. This is one of my favorite pieces from them and I paired it with a flower crown I made and a mask for a Christmas masquerade. Fancy.

2014