2020 Year in Review + Goals for 2021 and Beyond

I started off doing this in the context of my wardrobe post, but now that my wardrobe is ginormous and I have a lot more to say about it, I decided to make the year in review a separate thing. I also think it's a good warm-up exercise for photographing my entire collection and examining it with a more critical eye as I pull out each piece to take a picture of it.

WHAT I WORE

See above for a big collage of all the photo work I did this year. You can find individual links with item rundowns and detail photos for each outfit in the Coordinates section (I'm very behind but still adding the outfits from 2020) or browse them through the coordinate sorter on the side menu. You can also scroll through my Instagram feed (link opens in new tab).

I was fortunate enough to be stuck at home pretty much all day every day with my wardrobe, so I had a lot of time to interact with it, admire it, think about it. I really leaned into black this year -- black/red, black/blue, and black/purple combinations especially. I realized that I tend to gravitate toward dresses with simpler construction, particularly with printed dresses. I think it makes layering and coordinating a bit easier, and opens it to more styling options, and wearing a piece frequently is the #1 thing that makes a dress *really* good, in my opinion.

I think this is the year I finally gave up on sailor style. I love how it looks but every time I found something that would fit and tried it on, it just didn't seem quite right. The only sailor stuff I currently have and like is so subtle you might not even notice it's sailor themed, and that's as far as I will go, I think. There are plenty of other styles out there that suit me better and make me feel amazing.

WHAT I BOUGHT AND SOLD

I feel like I bought less in terms of the number of items but still ended up spending a decent chunk of money because shipping from Japan got significantly more expensive. Since April, Japan Post has suspended all package delivery services to the US except sea mail, so I've been stuck choosing between waiting 2-3 months for sea mail packages or paying slightly to way above what EMS would cost for DHL, FedEx, or Yamato/UPS. It's been really tricky because even from store to store, the price for these private shipping services varies greatly, and you usually have to commit to using them before you even know how much it will cost. I stopped shopping on certain sites because shipping is prohibitively expensive right now (looking at you Mandarake, $77 for a DHL package with two regular weight dresses). Unless it's something I really, really want I've been limiting myself to Closet Child (their DHL shipping prices are the most reasonable, about $23 for a package up to 2 lb/1 kg) and things on Rakuten and Mercari that the larger shopping services are able to get for me. Luckily for me, some of the stuff I really wanted popped up on Closet Child so I didn't have to agonize over whether to take the hit on shipping.

Despite the shipping price increases, I still managed to cross a number of things off my wish list (the Rose Castle set was a particularly happy find) and even found some old school gold for a reasonable price. This year was the year I familiarized myself with Atelier Pierrot -- I bought 4 main pieces, though I ultimately sold most of them. Once I can get just a little bit better handle on how their pieces fit me I'll get better at buying ones that fit, and they're actively trying to be more size inclusive so I will definitely keep their new releases in mind.

2020 releases I got excited about enough to buy new.

I bought a significant number of brand new releases, which I don't normally do: a purse from Alice and the Pirates, two Violet Fane releases (The Funeral and Otome Nostalgia), Lulu Lady and 3 Tier Frill series from Metamorphose, and a brand new Kumakumya. I *really* wanted the Sacred Night Chiffon OP from Lief but talked myself out of it, and now I regret that decision.

My preferences continue to change. I ended up selling mostly lighter colored and sweeter themed pieces, even ones I would have called dream dresses just a year ago. Dare I call myself a primarily classic lolita now? The label usually conjures up in the mind grandma-couch florals, a lot of subtler, more mature motifs, and more muted colors than I generally wear, though. And I still have a soft spot for candy prints and cuter motifs. But I wear barely any pastels.

FAVORITE EXPERIENCES AND MEMORIES

• Going to a convention with friends. This convention was in mid-February, right before coronavirus exploded in the US. I can't imagine how much I'd be hurting now if this hadn't happened. I feel so lucky that we were able to have a whole weekend together right before things got really bad.
  

• Remote twinning. I did one of these pre-pandemic, and then it became a really big trend in the community in the spring and summer when lockdown was still novel and cute. I think people are getting fatigued now and motivation is tanking, but you still see them pop up every now and again. I would still like to do more.

I got my skirt altered and it's an OP now!

• Committing to altering my dresses. I originally tried to convince myself that I'd do the sewing work but eventually came to terms with the fact that I don't feel skilled enough to do a good job on something so precious, so I decided to pay people with better skills to do it instead. This summer, Sweet Mildred altered my black Crown of the Violet Princess skirt into a fully shirred short sleeve OP with a solid black bodice (see above photo). Thistledown Emporium made the bodice and shoulder straps larger on my black Miracle Candy Going Out JSK using fabric from the waist ties. I also bought two brown Marguerite Wreath OPs (a print I have loved ever since starting to wear lolita in 2013, but none of the dress cuts would fit me as-is) to have altered into one larger dress, hopefully in 2021 sometime. It feels really good to make these prints and pieces I love so much into a form that works better for me so I can enjoy them more.

• Virtual fashion walks. I participated in 6 (!) virtual fashion walks this year. I had already been planning to apply to model in fashion shows I'm eligible for, and this felt like a good way to get some relevant experience with less stress than an in-person show. I think it helped immensely that my partner likes shooting videos and he invested in some really good equipment this year so he was excited to help me shoot.
  
• Virtual events. They gave me an excuse to talk to people I thought were cool but was too afraid to approach, mostly. I am in awe at the creativity of people in our community, and am just glad there are people with the technical skills and event planning experience to make something like this interesting. Maybe I would feel different if I had ever attended a big in-person event, but for now, these are a nice way to wade into that world, and keep up my motivation to do things I love.
  

THINGS I LEARNED

• How Atelier Pierrot dresses fit me. Like Physical Drop main pieces, they tend to be just the tiniest bit too short for me in the bodice unless they're specifically constructed with plus sized people in mind. The mid 2010s era fully shirred OPs tend to be short, even on me (but not uncomfortably so). I'm right at the maximum limit of the measurements for the ones I tried so the bodice tends to be stretched pretty far on me, and the sleeves sit at the edge of my shoulders, which I don't think I like the look of since I also have a short neck (makes me look really wide). It's really too bad because I like the quality and simpler style of their pieces. I am keeping the Amor OP though. As long as I take the front lacing out, it looks and fits great.
• Angelic Pretty's size S shoes are indeed just the tiniest bit too small. Stick with size M.
  
• How to edit video. I started helping my partner shoot his YouTube videos during the pandemic because he can't easily shoot good moving-camera shots of himself, and I am the only other household member. In return he helps me shoot fashion walk videos. For the first couple he would prepare all the footage and then I'd sit with him to edit it together, but I always felt really rushed, like I didn't get enough time to familiarize myself with all my options before picking one. There was a point in the year where he was really busy with his own stuff and he taught me how to edit the video myself, and I actually really enjoy it. I also like the end products more. It's VERY easy to spend hours and hours getting it just right, especially combing through the footage to find the best parts and adjusting colors. My Sea of Serenity video is only about 1m 20s long, but took me probably 8 hours to edit.
  
• Got significantly better or at least more comfortable with wearing bolder makeup. Don't get me wrong, I have plenty of room to improve, but I'm finally starting to feel like it *suits* me rather than looking in the mirror and thinking "WOW this makes my face look strange."
  

GOALS FROM LAST YEAR

• Reduce wardrobe size, or at least continue to keep my wardrobe at a size where I can store everything. Ahaha fail. It still got bigger, and it's getting harder to let go of things, especially really cute old pieces that you might never see again if you let them go. I have sold 10 pieces that were in my wardrobe post from last year, but I have something like 24 new ones (plus there were a few more that I bought but sold right away because they didn't fit). I think I need to turn this goal into something more sustainable/realistic, because there will always be something new that catches my eye. Being more picky about what I buy to begin with is probably a decent start? I have tried to do that, and think I was very very slightly more successful this year than last. I'll keep working at it.
  
• Attend at least one meetup or event in each community I am part of. I did manage this with virtual meetups.
  
• Long distance twinning! I ended up doing 4 this year because it just so happened to be a big trend what with the pandemic making in-person interactions next to impossible. The fact that so many people in general wanted to do remote twinning made me feel a lot less awkward about inviting people to twin with me.
  
• Go to a brand tea party for a brand I like (Metamorphose, Physical Drop, Atelier Pierrot, Baby, Triple Fortune) if funds and time allow. It didn't happen this year, but not for lack of trying. We'll see if conventions are operating again by the end of 2021. I still have my ticket to Paradiso 2021 in June and many of the guests originally booked for 2020 are planning to be there, but it's still unclear what the general state of the US will be by then.

• Take more photos with the fancy camera. I did a bunch of this because I had the time, and often turned to dressing up while I was stuck at home. I have found some favorite spots in my yard for taking photos. I feel like I've gotten slightly better at posing, or at least have a slightly better sense of what my body and face actually look like when I move a certain way. The biggest thing I think I've cemented in my mind is that even small and subtle movements and facial expressions can make a big difference. You can think you're making just a slightly silly face and then go to look at the photo and it's way more exaggerated than it seemed.
  
• Try false eyelashes to see if they're for me. I bought a pair but did not actually try putting them on. I have gathered a number of tips from friends who do wear them, though, so I feel better about trying them without assistance when I'm not furiously getting ready for a shoot trying not to miss good light/weather conditions outside.
  
• Read Rocking Horse Ballerina. I started reading it one day but lost steam because I wasn't in the right mood. I still want to read it, and now that we're definitely spending the winter in quarantine and I have been very hibernatey this go around, I should give it another chance.
  

NEW GOALS FOR THIS YEAR

It's a little tough to make goals for this coming year with the pandemic still pretty thoroughly halting in-person gatherings, but a vaccine is on the way and maybe by the autumn of 2021 we can safely be back to a somewhat normal level of social activity assuming most of the US population is vaccinated by then. With that in mind, here are some goals I think I can manage.

• Attend at least one meetup or event in each community I am part of. I like this goal because I want to be more social, and I finally feel like I'm starting to make friends because they've started to recognize my face from me dropping in often enough. Virtual meetups would make this particularly easy.
• Organize my accessories better. I have already done this a little bit with getting jewelry boxes and a proper dresser to store socks, hair accessories, and detachable dress pieces in, and a shelf for all my bags, but want to make some of them easier to access. This might also include being honest with myself about how much I actually use all the things I've accumulated, and clearing out things I've either never used or that don't match my style anymore (or the style I thought I had or thought I wanted).
• Do some on-location shooting for at least one photo set and/or fashion walk video. I think I just need to get better at planning things ahead of time to make this happen. I've been the one behind the camera for a couple of my partner's on-location video shoots and have given him the ideas for the locations, so I am sure he'd help me do some of my own.
• Get alterations done on the 2 pieces I bought for that purpose (2 Marguerite Wreath OPs into 1 larger one, Violet Fane Otome Nostalgia OP altered to be shorter overall and especially smaller in the bodice). My forays into alterations this year have made me very happy. I feel like with how easy it is to buy secondhand brand now, and the emergence of at least a few lolita-specific sewists in the US community who specifically take alteration work, it's far more accessible an option than in the early 2010s. The thought of finally being able to wear prints I've admired for years but were never going to fit as-is excites me.
  

BIG GOALS FOR ANYTIME THEY FIT IN

• Attend the Brilliant Star Decorations event in Japan. It usually happens in early February. There's no chance I will be going to this in 2021, though it looks like they ARE holding the event this year, which honestly seems like a bad idea given the coronavirus situation in Japan right now. I just saw tweets from the event staff that they held a walking rehearsal for models a few days ago. I do not feel good about that.
  
• Attend an ARTiSM Market in Japan and especially their gothic/lolita/kawaii specific event, Alice in Märchen, if they have another one. ARTiSM Market is not lolita specific but it's a giant art and craft market that lots of Japanese indie fashion brands attend. They happen about 2-3 times per year at irregular intervals, so I could possibly build a vacation around it. The issue is having enough advance notice, but I think if I actively watch for announcements of dates it shouldn't be too big of a problem. Depending on how the pandemic goes, I might finally be able to travel again in late 2021 or early 2022.
  
• Attend Tekko. This probably won't happen until at least 2022 but it looks like a really great time for people interested in J-fashion, and I could likely get my partner to go with me because he has friends in Pittsburgh that I bet he'd like to visit.
• Meet Kuniko Kato, owner of Physical Drop and founder of Metamorphose. Senpai noticed me once this year when I asked about the fashion show video she released on VHS in 2002 and she responded directly to me, and that felt pretty cool. (She said she still has the master copy and would LOVE to share it with us as a digital video but the law prohibits her from doing so. I'm guessing that means the rights to it belong to Metamorphose, and when she left the company she lost the legal right to distribute the video.)
  

PREVIOUS YEARS IN REVIEW

• 2019
• 2018
• 2017