Valentines 2023: Self-Love Celebration

Valentine's Day Sweet Lolita at my Local Library

I actually love Valentines Day. I think it's the romantic in me, or the chocoholic, but I love the carefree expression of love between friends, little kids, strangers and lovers alike. February 2023 I was as single as they come. I was on a self-love journey like no other. I woke up everyday with a spring in my step while listening to Darren Hayes new single, "Let's Try Being in Love". 

My social calendar was packed. The first weekend I went to the Stupid Cupid Steampunk Convention with a few friends [see my last post]. Then the following weekend I went to a free program about aphrodisiac foods that my local library put on with my bestie. We had to register in advance, but we got to try apricots dipped in dark chocolate, a pomegranate raspberry spritzer, and other delicious chocolate treats while learning about the origins of Valentines Day and famous romantic duos. A week before the event, I had this feeling that I really wanted to dress in a pink love themed sweet lolita outfit. 

I had purchased the skirt in the spring of 2022 (if you remember seeing this as part of my first meetup outfit-YOU'RE CORRECT!), but everything else was acquired later. The perfectly matching white shirt with the strawberry buttons was not even something you could purchase until summer 2022. By then it was way too hot to wear a long sleeve polyester shirt. I had bought the pink platform shoes with the metal hearts and bat wings from Amazon in the spring of 2022, but when I went to wear them in the summer my feet were swollen and they were too small. I purchased the cardigan sweater in July 2022 through Devil Inspired and I could not believe how incredibly warm this thing was...way too warm in fact for May-October in my climate. The beret I purchased from Amazon in the first week of January of 2023 and it took...a long time...maybe like 3-4 weeks to arrive, but it arrived just in time for the library program! The tights are from SNAG tights. You can get almost any fun or boring color you can think of. They have a pretty size inclusive platform and white tights are always available. [But if you do order from SNAG, order 3-6 pairs at once because not only will you get a discount, but also it takes 2-3 weeks to ship to you because they're coming directly from Scotland.]  The Meowichi was originally a stuffed toy that I thought was a miniature size that could fit in an ita bag...but when it arrived it was obviously bigger than my hand. [This friendly and perfectly matching stuffed cat stayed home, but was used as a prop for these photos]. 

I actually only wore this outfit (without a coat) out to the program. Believe me, I was just as shocked as you are that it was the middle of February and warm enough (unless you stood still in the wind) to wear just this, without any snow or ice on the ground to slip on in pink platform shoes. My feet fit these shoes quite fine--there was no humidity to make them swell up. The polyester shirt was great insulation next to that super soft warm cardigan and the beret did keep my head warm. Casual and comfortable Valentines Coordinate achieved!

Here's the Valentines Day Card I shared on my social media accounts. I wanted to showcase both my love of sweet and gothic fashion. The photo on the right is credited to A Thousand Words Photography.