Working for the Frills

I'm currently unemployed and all of my available funds are going to college. (Hurray for the economy!) My most recent splurge was only possible with the aid of Christmas and Birthday money. While I know I'm better off than a lot of people out there, but there are also a lot of people who are more well-off than I am. This past Christmas there was a discussion on the EGL livejournal community where people got to list what they received for gifts. I was floored by the amount of money some people's family spent on frills alone. There are genuine lolitas out there whose mommy and/or daddy buy them anything they want. And I can be jealous of these people until I'm green in the face.

But when you think about it, these are the people most likely to buy the most popular print. And then once its not popular anymore they buy the next big thing. They keep moving on from piece to piece, possibly selling their old ones.

And then there are the people like me. Like a lot of us lolitas out there. We work hard and save up for what we really like. Maybe a piece from a lesser-known indie-brand. Or an older piece that we've wanted forever that someone is selling second hand. Or a custom-made piece that only you have, and no one else. We can appreciate the clothes we buy. Love them.

I can't say that I have my first lolita garment, since I started out as an ita like the best of them. But I do still have one of my earliest jumperskirts. It is an original piece made just for me and I still get asked constantly what brand it is.

So you can be jealous of all those girls better off than you who get the whole world handed to them one day and throw it out the next. Or you can be proud of the frills you bought with your own hard work and love them like no other lolita could.