With lolita fashion brands announcing new releases seemingly every week, it can be exhausting trying to keep up with the news on your own. Luckily, you don’t have to. Here are three ways to keep up with the latest releases (I know, your wallet will hate me).
Follow the brands on social media.
Major Japanese brands are most active on Twitter. Baby, Angelic Pretty, Moitie, and others all announce new releases on their dedicated Twitter pages.
Of course, that’s not the only social media site brands use! Atelier Pierrot has dedicated a lot of effort to reaching out to overseas customers. They’re very active on Instagram (holding live stream sales every few months) and Facebook. Metamorphose has a very active Facebook page, with information about their overseas only plus size releases.
Some individual stores, including Baby SF and Angelic Pretty Paris, are very active on social media, including Instagram and Tiktok. Though they may not be the first to announce a new release, they will have specific information about when their store will get the new releases.
Obviously this is all easier said than done! In these few paragraphs alone, I’ve mentioned 4 different social media sites, and it’s easy for these announcements to get lost in the shuffle of the algorithm. If you’re a particular die hard fan of a brand, consider turning on notifications for that brand. I’ve done this for indie brands, including The Black Ribbon and Voodooodolly, so I would be sure to snag the pieces I wanted.
Join a dedicated updates group on Facebook.
If trying to keep track of all of these releases is just too much to do by yourself, consider joining a group like Lolita Updates. This group updates daily with releases from Japanese and indie brands all over the world. It’s also a great way to find new brands you might not have heard of before.
Many Chinese indie brand post releases on Weibo. Since that’s not a social media most English speaking lolitas use, it may be easier to follow Chinese Lolita Updates, which posts Chinese indie brand releases. Keep in mind that Chinese Lolita Updates is also a Taobao shopping service, so they do have an ulterior motive for you knowing about all these releases (obviously this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, just something to be aware of).
Crowdsource the information with friends or other lolitas.
If Facebook just isn’t your thing and you can’t keep track of everything on your own, dividing up the work among friends or acquaintances can help. If you’re part of a frilly group chat or discord, it’s pretty easy to incorporate new brand releases as part of your chats. This may not be as comprehensive as a group like Lolita Updates, but it is more fun to see a friend get excited over a release!
Of course, I can’t close out without reminding you that it’s okay if you’re not keeping up with new releases! Angelic Pretty released more than 50 new dresses last year. You can’t buy every dress. It’s also fine to just hunt for old releases or just enjoy the wardrobe you have! Making the fashion fun for you is the most important thing.