Content Warning: Discussion of various beauty standards.
When I meet people for the first time and they ask me about my hobbies, I’m pretty free with information related to my anime fannishness. It’s never been something that I’ve actively hid away from anyone, but there were definitely moments in the past where I thought twice about being open about it. At the rate I watch anime (and manage to hold down a full-time job), I probably shouldn’t have a lot of time or money left-over to pursue anything else. But I do happen to have other interests (surprising, I know), and one of them I tend to hold above the others even if it’s a little difficult to talk about.
Since my early college days I’ve been a fan of lolita fashion, and for the last several years I’ve been a collector and wearer of it. Anime Feminist, a site I hold in fairly high regard, recently had a feature on lolita fashion that did a good job of clearing up some of the misconceptions people tend to have about it. It got me thinking about the reasons why it initially appealed to me, and why I still enjoy it even as I creep onward toward middle age.