#arbokzee

[royalsealy]

for your newest lolita ask game! 5, 11, 16 💕

5. What’s something you do to feel more confident in lolita?

I think for the most part, it's picking pieces I feel good in! I know enough about my personal tastes now that even if I think a pink main piece is really cute, I won't feel as comfortable in it since I prefer the way I look in other colors. I feel most confident in greens, blues, and blacks! :)

11. Have you or would you ever own multiple cuts/colorways of a main piece?

Absolutely! I own two cuts/colors of Rabbit Cafe by Meta, a skirt in yellow and the OP in mint, and 2 releases of Meta's Card Playing Kitty/Wonder Card, the Ivory apron JSK and the more recent sax tuxedo front JSK! I would probably get other colorways/releases of either of these tbh.

Another piece I wouldn't mind owning in two colors is Baby's Kuma Kumya's Marine Island probably in mint, I have the navy right now and love it :)

16. Have you read any good books lately? Or are there any books on your to-read list?

I'm in between books right now and the last book I read I did not enjoy LOL, but it was for a book club. Blood at the Root is one I'm going to pick up soon, it's been on my to read list for a little now!

Thank you for asking!!

[arbokzee]

☥♥

[lovecraftian-lolita]

For the lolita fashion ask: 1, 2, 4, 5

1. What is your dream piece?

I have several but for right now it is probably the Antique Chocolaterie switching in navy! I love love love chocolate prints and this is definitely one of my favs!

2. What was your first piece?

It was actually a sailor set that I got years and years ago

It is called The Brave Navigator by Fantastic Wind! Funnily enough, while I was looking for an image I saw my listing of when I sold this LOL

4. What lolita staple do you love or consider completely necessary?

That's a bit hard... but I cannot live without my little strawberry bag. It just fits with so much and goes with a ton in my wardrobe! I'm still working on adding to my wardrobe so it may change later on. But over all, I love any type of themed bag. I think that without a fun bag, your coords are just missing something! Everyone needs a fun iconic bag! Bags in general are super necessary for going out and having a good sturdy bag makes life easier.

5. What lolita staple do you hate?

short sleeved cardigans- Idk I never really liked them- idk if they're really a "staple" but it falls under the cardigan category so I guess I'll include it. But I suppose I never had use for them because I live somewhere pretty warm most of the year so ya know

[angel-bruises]

For the lolita fashion ask: 2, 3, 7, 14, 16

Since there's quite a few to answer here I'm gonna put them under a read more

2. What was your first piece?

My first ever pieces were this awful Gothic Lolita & Punk JSK and head bow, blouse with weird wristcuff things, and these Antaina(>) shoes which were pretty cute tbh. I was 14 so. thats my excuse lol..

3. What is your most recent piece?

My most recent piece was this awesome Marble faux leather skirt. I just wore it recently in an ero coord but I haven't posted the pics yet

7. What inspired you to join the fashion?

So when I was around 6-8 I got the FRUiTS book. I was already into fashion and stuff and I was obsessed with the book, J-fashion pretty much became a special interest. I used to like google lolita dresses on the google shopping tab and like open loads of links to dresses (which looking back were almost certainly milanoo) and wish I could buy them, I also found Sweet Rococo and used it like a game and just never checking out. I sort of just thought I'd never be able to wear lolita though because it was sooo expensive (I guarantee you those milanoo dresses were like £50 lmao). Tbf I didn't know much about the brands or where to buy. When I was 13 I made a friend who was also into lolita and Jfashion, and together we discovered the online Live Journal community, which we lurked. When I was 14, I spotted a sweet lolita walking down the street in my city while I was on the bus, I texted my friend immediately lol. The last thing that happened was I took a trip down to london and discovered Sai Sai and Gothic Lolita & Punk in Camden market, and begged my mum to help me buy a "full" outfit, which is the one above. Sorry for the blog post lmao

14. What is something about previous eras of lolita fashion that you'd like to come back?

The quality of well made cotton pieces in oldschool and even late 00s/early 2010s. I hear so many newbies say that taobao is equal or better quality than brand but I think that's just because the quality of the big brands has declined so much. It's such a shame. I also miss the unity of the Live Journal era. Maybe i'm viewing in rose tinted glasses because I started in the fashion just towards the end of the LJ community being active, but I miss the community having one main spot to congregate y'know?

16. What common misconception about lolita fashion bothers you the most?

Just one? I feel like they all bother me lmao. I guess any non lolitas saying that we're all elitist bitches and evil gatekeepers for having a basic criteria for what makes something lolita. Like okay it's kind of true but not in the way non-lolitas think it is. Another is that we dress like this for attention or that it's okay to photograph us without asking

[beetlebrownleaf]

Top 5 xiv npcs

oh you gotta be kitten me. okay!

Urianger (duh)

Zenos

Emet-Selch

Varis

Thancred

this was so cruel because I love SO MANY of the NPCs there was no way to fit even most of them here

put “top 5” anything in my ask and I will answer!

[alwaysmanages]

Figuring out the old codger

[rosemaryslullaby]

♡ oldschool velveteen casual coord ♡

headbow: btssb

cutsew blouse: btssb

jsk: jane marple

necklace: vivienne

socks: meta

shoes: pink house

just going to put brands bc i can’t find half these items’ names or years ajdjfkf lmao also this may be my laziest edit yet but i couldn’t find another background i liked with this dress that didn’t totally nerf the quality

thank u @arbokzee for encouraging me to still post my coords even when they feel unfinished to me (bc i haven’t identified the items) ♡

[vvitchella]

From this question list: https://www.tumblr.com/arbokzee/722719887289729024

Could you answer 2, 5, 13, and 14? Thanks in advance.

ahhh I didn't know this existed!!

2: if you could only pick one: prints or solids?

I guess it would have to be prints... that being said, I would miss my solids so much T_T

I'm trying to wear more solids in general!

5: what does your wardrobe mostly consist of?

Red, pink, and white! I like mostly sweet pieces, with just a hint of classical. Tea, rose, heart, and castle motifs <3

13: first ever purchase?

It was a taobao dress... I don't have a picture handy but it was NOT the best quality....

14: most recent purchase?

I bought a pink parasol from AP recently. I wanted to use it at a picnic meet the other day but I wasn't able to go sadly.

Thanks for sending these asks!! I do love ask games!

[onedullybunny]

@arbokzee Sorry for the late replay, I was busy IRL. Unfortunately 42lolita does not ship to my country :( do you know any other lolita service that ships worldwide?

[suzdoinco]

(via arbokzee, strawberrytelle)

[royalsealy]

For your lolita fashion ask (thank you for putting it together btw!): 6, 7, 8, 11

Ofc!! Thank you for sharing + asking!

6. How has the way you wear lolita changed since you've been in the fashion?

Coording wise, now I'm pulling from major colors within prints instead of minor colors present! I used to pull from obscure minor accents in the prints which while fun was not always so successful, especially starting out with limited wardrobe and knowledge.

(Pic from my first meet/second coord! I also finally trimmed the bangs in this wig LOL)

Unfortunately, last year I also got into the habit of not making as many accessories. I'm hoping to correct that and make more hair pieces like fascinators or canotiers, clips, and wrist cuffs

8. What are some details you wish to see more of?

Aside from more variations in cuts/construction and for my own selfish reasons, I would love to see some brown tabby cat representation! I often see black, white, tuxedo, and orange tabby but rarely a fully brown tabby, no white on the underside

11. What is your lolita pet peeve?

Seeing people give concrit that don't post any of their own lolita coords tbh! It's hard to know where they're coming from and how knowledgeable on the subject matter they really are. I notice this is even worse when someone is sharing an old school inspired coord and the concrit given is that those specific elements dont fit the rest of the look (striped socks or brown/black shoes for example, or going for a smaller petticoat and being told to get a 5-6 layer petti)

[lovecraftian-lolita]

for the ask game: 1, 6, 19 💕

1. how and when did you first get introduced to the fashion?

I was online one day and I saw the cutest sailor dress for sale on an ad to a website called “lolita wardrobe” I spent HOURS on that site almost sobbing cause I never know you could just… dress like this???? Be a princess irl?? Like all of the anime + Disney princess movies I watched for hours on end??? This was back in 2013 I think. I was still in middle school. I was so so happy, I ended up doing a ton of research over the next year and my Nana even bought me a blouse/skirt set. (I was obsessed with sailor styles at the time) and yeah, the rest is history.

6.do you have a favorite lolita/does anyone inspire you?

Hm, I don’t think I have a particular person that inspires me. Instead, I usually just find pictures of “perfect coords” I wanna emulate and save them to my Pinterest to be studied extensively.

A couple of my favs that I think are peak:

19. do you remember the first dress you ever saw? do you still like it?

I think it’s ok :/ kinda happy I sold it? It’s not really my style anymore, still cute tho! It’s a sailor set. Idk if I can find the pic but I know it’s somewhere in the asks on my blog.

[angel-bruises]

hi! i saw your post re: looking for a new sax main piece, and it made me think about this AP jsk on jp mercari (idk if i can send you the full link; it's item m67853209951) i don't know if it's quite what you're looking for, but i thought i'd send it to you anyway <3

Thank you! Unfortunately it's not quite what I'm looking for (like I mentioned I'm wayyy too picky when it comes to sweet), but luckily I jus bought the perfect sax piece from a friend! Thought I'd post anyway in case anyone else wants it though ^u^

[alwaysmanages]

No ship in this fandom makes my heart go thumpity-thump as much as arbokzee's joxmym art does.

[lovecraftian-lolita]

For the dress rating ask game: Unico in Bloomland Scallop JSK (BTSSB), François Rose JSK (IW), and Country of Sweets Shirring JSK (AP, 2011)

Ah, got some older pieces!

Unico in Bloomland Scallop JSK (BTSSB)

Hm, I give this one a 6/10. The pictures don't do it justice but as much as I love cute fairytale stuff and unicorns this one isn't hitting. I would definitely pick this dress up at a discount on lace market, though! That dark navy one is my favorite of the four. I think BTSSB does a great job with dark colorways and light-colored patterns on the borders.

François Rose JSK (IW)

8/10 specifically because it looks like my dog Buster and I need a poodle/dog print that looks like him. (Though the bodice is a bit boring...) I love the pink/white/sax combo of this particular colorway too.

Country of Sweets Shirring JSK (AP, 2011)

I think I'll give it a 7/10. Oh what a darling little dress! Love the shirring in the back and it would be hard for me to pick a particular colorway... Anything that goes with brown automatically gives it extra points!

[alwaysmanages]

Strange to me that the joxter study is causing all this, especially when I’ve seen quite a bit of your art, and it HAS a lot of body diversity!!! The fact that you made joxter skeletony, when you clearly have a wide range, reads to me as a viewer that… You know… You have an Intentional Meaning to that Design! And I take that meaning to be: he doesn’t take good enough care of himself and is constantly on the move!

THAT'S EXACTLY IT THOUGH

My main inspiration comes from arbokzee's Joxter design and they designed him with the idea that he's an old man who takes very little care of himself. I like the spindly skeleton-y, raggedy look on him because I feel like he doesn't have a lot of self-preservation what with sleeping everywhere and anywhere regardless of convenience, and I like the idea that he moves around a lot with the Mymble being a sort of "home" to laze about with so to speak. I also like the visual contrast between him and the Mymble, it's adorable and very intentional.

But I say all of this as a personal preference though. I love seeing him in different styles and body types that make sense to the creator, I love the diversity that's bloomed in the fandom that branches out from some more common ideas, it's inspiring to see the new and different takes! But it's hard for me to get behind the attitude of "this design is wrong and stale you should feel bad until you abide by my ideals" when we're all just out here to enjoy the same source material in our own ways. It's bonkers to me.