Lolita Ladies: Building a Personal Brand of Strange Through Prints

Loli enthusiasts, let's face it: prints get a bit weird.

No, really. If you actually think about some of the things we wear, without the cuteness-induced madness that is the Lolita mindset, it's pretty odd. We wear food. We wear florals. We wear art. We wear all sorts of things that confuse people.

Here's just a sampling of rather odd things that have been put on dresses:

 Hard to believe this is Angelic Pretty, isn't it?

Angelic Pretty's Honey Cake print. I love ya, AP, but this is... a mite odd... when I actually think about it...

Typewriting squirrels. I can't even... what is this, Meta?

But I think this is a good thing. Lolita is pretty tolerant to the weird. There isn't really a limit to what you can wear, and if you think it's cute, you can go for it. I've seen girls make skirts with cats eating sushi running along the bottom. Geek prints are beautifully made and rather popular from certain sellers on Etsy. You can take almost any idea and make it into a Lolita outfit if you're willing to put in the work to coordinate it.

We've got the freedom to get creative.

And I'm no exception to this, although most of my dream prints are concepts not yet actualized (I cannot thank my mother enough for the sewing skills she taught me). Currently, my dream prints are as follows:

• Handwriting
• Scarab beetles
• Arthur Rackham illustrations
• William Waterhouse paintings
• Deep blue batik
• Antique Maps
• Weeping Angels (yes, those Weeping Angels)
• Gears
• Rouge Aerie's carouskel print
• Antique book covers
• Dulac illustrations 
• Deer

 And yes, I'm rather insane. I'm proud of it. All of these things are items that I want on a skirt or dress (mostly skirts). Not that my crazy dream prints are for everyone. But they're for me, and, for better or for worse, Lolita is insane enough to let me pursue them.

Go forth, Lolis, and embrace the insanity!