Baby Steps: Little Ways to Get You Back to Yourself

I’ve already talked at acceptable length in my recovery frills post about the ways that clothing can be a challenge when you’ve got other things going on. Instead of going on more about that, I wanted to talk about some of the alternatives that I’ve been using.

These probably fit under the category of “lifestyle Lolita tips,” but since I’m far from a lifestyler I can hardly think of them as such. They’re really just things that I do when I can’t dress up to give me the same feeling that my frills usually do. 



Sweet Treats

This doesn’t have to be sweet, really. Just pick a food that makes you feel like yourself again. This could be a favorite meal, an adorable cookie, or even your favorite beverage. I am lucky that the holidays are a time for some of my favorite foods.

Even better, for the holidays, Rommily acted as a sort of shopping service for me and sent me German sweets (which I will be writing more about soon, I promise!), and that arrived just in time to make me feel human again when I was sick. It doesn’t take much – for me, nibbling on a couple of cinnamon stars was enough – but having something tasty can make you feel great on the inside even if you’re not dressed up on the outside.

Surround Yourself with Favorite Scents

I don’t know about you, but the right scents can really help me feel like myself. For me, the best possible scents are lavender, cinnamon, vanilla, and black tea. I have a warming rice bag with dried lavender in it that I use in my bed, and drink a good deal of tea with the other scents.

If scents make you feel more like yourself, I highly recommend making yourself a rice bag. Here’s a tutorial that is very similar to what I use, except that I make mine out of old towels and add handfuls of dried herbs or flowers to the rice to make it smell nice.

Read a Book

 I’m a reading girl, so reading a book or listening to an audiobook is a gift to me. I listen to a lot of audiobooks these days, and it’s been helping me get into the right mood for all sorts of adventures, fashion or otherwise.

Most recently, I’ve been listening to Marie Brennan’s Lady Trent series. It’s fantasy of a delightfully unsentimental sort, a bit like if Jane Austen and Charles Darwin had a dragon-studying baby. I’ve read them previously and loved them so much that I purchased them in hardcover, but I cannot recommend the audiobooks highly enough if you are inclined to listen rather than read.

 Make Something

Crafting might not be your thing, but it definitely works for me when I’m feeling off. I love making stuffed animals, dolls, accessories, and food, and every one of them is a way to express my aesthetic without needing to wear it at the moment.

Over the holidays, I made a number of gifts, and they made me feel wonderful. Because I'm quite proud of them, here is a picture of the whole crowd of plushies that I put together for the holiday season.

What about you? What do you do to keep yourself up when frills aren't an option?