>>585051When I started, Meta had only just begun to ship overseas and shipping and customs made it ridiculously expensive, like €400 for a basic JSK. Meta wasn’t exactly coveted back then either (with few exceptions) so I don’t know anyone who ordered from them. The only ‘shopping services’ were friends/family who travelled to Japan for work or holiday and could buy dresses in-store for you. The only other option was Bodyline, which was even shittier back then and sold for almost brand prices at conventions. Ironically my local comm was genuinely elitist then and the inner circle was this tiny club of girls who could afford to travel to Japan once a year and shop in-store. Everyone else was on the margins, kind of awkwardly socialising at cons and other public events but not allowed in the ‘official’ lolita community. I remember trying to talk to the brand girls after a fashion show they’d organised at a con once, wearing a handmade dress, and they completely ignored me, like pretended I wasn’t there and they couldn’t hear me talking. I was 14 and cried when I got home kek
Anyway it’s wild to me when people act like the lolita community in 2025 is elitist and the clothes are hard to get. It has never been easier to wear lolita or find a community that accepts you. There’s people in my comm now who post ‘coords’ that consist largely of Genshin Impact cosplay pieces and people still praise them. The bar is on the floor.