8. The first thing I look for in another Lolita's outfit...

The general look. I like well-balanced outfits, elegance and originality. I don't car much whether all the colours are an exact match or whether the shape of the skirt is exactly right or whether all the items are brand, Bob forbid. The result simply needs to look pleasing, and that's all I'm looking for. But what do those words mean, then?

Caramea, Asio Otus, Serina.

Balance: just the right amount of everything in comparison with everything else. The right amount of accessories, for example, is whatever goes well with the rest of the outfit. The right amount of colour depends on the amounts of other colours in the outfit.

I must admit I'm a little bit jelly.

Elegance: I like it when simple things work, but elegance doesn't always mean lack of everything extra. It's more to do with how much of what and in which style - huge hair corsages with hime are so well in style that they don't seem OTT in the least, and lots of make-up doesn't matter if it's on a goff.

Doing it right. Btw I didn't first see it but now it looks to me like Serina and Asio Otus are about to bump hips and Caramea is looking at it all "bah, humbug".

Originality: something out of the ordinary, generic look of lolita. Something added that's not often seen with the style. A good rule of thumb is, though, that if you want to make an unusual outfit, make sure you're also doing your hair, make-up, accessorizing etc. well (and according to your outfit), because adding something unusual can backfire in a million ways.

Originality only works when the combination is good to begin with and this is why you'll usually only see it look good on lolitas with some experience under their belts. An unusual item draws attention and can either make the outfit or ruin it, all depending on whether it's calling that attention to an already awesome combo or to something that was a little bit on the fail side to begin with. And for Bobsakes don't just slap on something random and decide to call the style something-loli after that one strange accessory, just no. It also doesn't work as an excuse to other failings in the outfit, trust me it's been tried before.

In photos are:
Asio Otus, her blog Oh yeah Drop the beat and Replay is here.
Caramea, her blog New Vogue Children can be found here.
Serina, you'll find her DA account through this link here.