how did you make the jump into wearing lolita? so much social anxiety...
ive been into lolita ever since i was 10-ish. i started wearing it a little bit in 2018, but only owned 2 coords because i was in undergrad and couldn't afford more + didn't want to stand out on campus + body image issues. i began to collect and wear lolita more regularly in 2020 when i was out of undergrad living with my parents and making more money than i needed. i had nowhere to wear coords out to bc pandemic, so that helped me get comfortable wearing lolita as daily clothing. moving to a city with an active comm helped me make irl lolita friends through meet ups! nowadays, if im not in class/conducting research/at a conference, i am wearing lolita. even my "normie" professional wear is still mostly made up of axes femme, f.i.nt, or vintage pieces.
i honestly don't have much advice for the social anxiety component without knowing more about your specific situation. personally, somewhere around age 22 my brain finished cooking and decided that i just don't care what strangers think of me and that standing out as a weirdo was a good thing ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ many lolitas prefer the safety of meets due to sheer numbers, but i've found that greater numbers of lolitas together = more attention (both positive and negative) + more photo requests. i get approached the least when i have a male friend with me who is dressed normally.
pls pls pls dm me bc i would love to talk about this further!!! i am so passionate about being a lolita bc it has changed my life for the better and i would love to share that with you. 🥰