Welcome to Gaia! ::

thankies i try 4laugh i like yours too *applaudes dreamersprit back

i find it rather cute. i have an anime where the main girl is a lolita and she wears pink striped stockings. and btssb sells striped socks.... but to each his own i guess.

Just a few things...

Do:

Invest in a bolero or nice cardigan of the appropriate color and style. You don't see a large number of boleros modeled because they're not expensive coats, nor are they dresses or one of the more "important" pieces of a Lolita wardrobe. But I think they're important. It wouldn't be pretty to have a borderline day in the autumm where it's warm but breezy enough to chill... and you want to wear your short-sleeved blouse, but are afraid of being cold. Then, finding yourself searching for a jacket and being left with a functional, yet completely uncoordinated polarfleece thing. You wear light jackets more than you think, and they're great to layer over blouses in the winter under your coat, too.

Do:

Wear a short sleeved bolero or such if you do decide to wear your jumperskirt as a sundress. I'm assuming you'd do this in the summer, and as long as your jumperskirt is suitable to be worn on its own, a short sleeved bolero over top of it is fine, in my opinion. (Might as well layer the jumper skirt over a short sleeved blouse, though, unless you like the bolero look better.)

Do:

Use off-white. Not many people look good in pure white. Some Lolita brands don't even use pure white... at all. (Metamorphose's white is nearly blinding, however. Just note.
^-^) Sure, they say white goes with everything.... but in a lot of cases, it doesn't go with you. Therefore, off-white, ivory, and antique white are your friends. xp

Do:

Diversify your color choices. This is easiest for a Classic Lolita, but an Elegant Gothic Lolita may find themselves able to incorporate a few dark hues here and there. Bordeaux is interesting.... it's always different depending on brand, and sometimes the color changes within brand, too. Sometimes, it's the color of blood, and sometimes it's nearly purple. For a Classic Lolita, dark green is an interesting choice as well, especially in a lush or patterned fabric. Sweet Lolitas, don't stick yourselves with just pink and blue! Occasionally, you'll see that pastel mint color pop up, which is not often seen, but very cute! Try using colors on the warm side of white, perhaps even a little deeper than the off-whites. This keeps you out of Shirololita, but allows you to wear beige or a shade of yellow, even, that you probably didn't expect to see before. Periwinkle blue and lavender are also beautiful choices, but I don't see them too often.

Don't:

Wear sequins, heavily beaded garments, glittering fabrics, feathers (a bit of maribou fluff might be okay in a few select cases), or anything that glows under blacklight (wow, that'd be interesting).

Don't:

Wear the wrong colors for you. It helps to know your season and corresponding color palette. Most Asian girls are in the winter palette. So, if you see an outfit in a Gothic and Lolita Bible that you absolutely HAVE to make.... be sure that the color you end up with is the best shade and the best hue for you. You could very well be an autumm and look absolutely horrid in the same outfit, while the model looked like an angel. One of the many perks of self-made clothing. (: Note: Periwinkle looks good on everyone. ^^

Don't:

Be a jerk. Sorry, I know it's already been said... I know we do a lot of work, research, and spend a lot of time, money, and resources in our way to become good Lolitas. It's a lot of effort... much more than in any other fashion. But don't assume that this means you can be a snob to beginner Lolitas or misdirected ones.. It'd be much more helpful to explain to them as best you can what Lolita really is and what they can do to become a proper one. If they know which of the substyles they want to dress like, help them out by giving them websites and store names where they can get clothes, fashion tips, etc.. ^-^ Plus, you'll feel even better yourself knowing that you've helped someone out rather than treat them badly and done nothing to help them. And even if they're wearing the "dreaded Hot Topic mini dress", there are even ways to fix that up to look nice... which I will take pictures of and post. One day.

possibly stupid question: how DO you know your color pallate/season? x__x!

I'm sorry if you find this question idiotic, but I can't afford to wear gothic lolita as much as i'd like to. If I could i'd wear it every minute of every day. Since i'm not always dressed that way does that make me a poser?

yes. Poseur = posing = only doing it for show, not because it's something you believe in or actually like yourself.