The first International Lolita Day is on Sat, June 3rd, 2023 (the first Saturday of June) and the second one is on Sat, Dec 2nd, 2023 (the first Saturday of December).

Today's article will highlight a traditional festival in the Lolita Fashion Community -the Internation Lolita Day.  So if you are new to Lolita Fashion, you might see some relative contents or hashtags that you might not have seen before in the Lolita Fashion community in the next few weeks.

The hashtags are usually #internationallolitaday or #ILD. You might see some Lolita meetup blogs and vlogs of different special events and coordinates in those hashtags. What exactly is international lolita day? I hope this article helps!

• What is Internation Lolita Day(ILD)?
• When is Internation Lolita Day?
• The Goal of International Lolita Day
• How to celebrate Internation Lolita Day?

What is Internation Lolita Day(ILD)?

Internation Lolita Day, which can be abbreviated to ILD, is a festival celebrated by the Lolita Fashion community twice a year.

The term first appeared in the EGL community on LiveJournal and was first coined by a member of it. EGL LiveJourney community is a Lolita Fashion forum now widely known among lolitas. The first ILD took place on December 3rd, 2005, and has since gained famous worldwide, with many lolitas gathering in major cities, such as New York City, Los Angeles, etc, and celebrating it.

Summer ILD (First Saturday of June)

When is Internation Lolita Day?

ILD happens not once a year but twice a year. So, there are two International Lolita Days: one is on the first Saturday of June and the other one is on the first Saturday of December.

The reason why there are two ILDs is to ensure no matter where you live you can get a hot day and a cold day to celebrate, offering the chance to be able to dress up for summer and winter. It also offers you two chances in case some people are busy and can't attend this one. He or She can still choose to celebrate the other one. 

Winter ILD (First Saturday of December)

The Goal of International Lolita Day

Unlike a lot of other fashion, Lolita Fashion is very niche. Sometimes you won't even find another lolita fashion lover in your town. Or sometimes you do have a small local group but they are not very active.

*Lolita Fashion — A Japanese street fashion/subculture characterized by explicitly romantic silhouettes, bell-shaped or A-line-shaped skirts, lots of lace, and specific "rules" that shape the style. It is inspired by the Rococo, Victorian, and Edwardian eras past. It is said that it have been born in Japan around the 70s. It has various sub-styles such as Classic Lolita, Sweet Lolita, and Gothic Lolita.

*Lolita Fashion is just a Fashion style, you can go out in a Lolita outfit without attending any event, occasion, or party, just dressing for the sake of dressing.

The goal of ILD is to increase the visibility of Lolita Fashion and dispel the myth that you must be a young girl of a certain age, size, or race to dress in Lolita Fashion. Wherever you are, no matter what size, gender, race, age, or religion you are, just wear it proudly!

ILD just offers an opportunity for lolitas or brolitas all over the world to gather together, proudly show off our favorite or the latest frilly outfits, and share our passion for Lolita Fashion.

Besides, as a Lolita Newbie who may hesitate to dress up for fear of being the only Lolita Fashion lover in town, attending a bigger Lolita meetup can ease our nerves sort of. Some people will feel more comfortable in a large group. So participating in an ILD meetup can be a good way for Lolita newbies to start the journey in Lolita Fashion and strengthen the bonds between lolitas from different places.

How to celebrate Internation Lolita Day?

There is no certain correct way to celebrate ILD. It's just a day we can talk about our love for Lolita Fashion, and meet up with our lolita friends and community. You should celebrate however you want to celebrate ILD. 

1. Have a Meetup

The most common thing to do is to have a meetup: either a smaller one in your local community or a big one for the small communities around each other.

Casual Meetup with Friends

Bigger Meetup with Local Community

The meetups can be a tea party or can be casual meetups like having a picnic, going to a restaurant, a museum, or just chilling in a cafe. You can have special themes to coordinate for your meetup on that day. Just eat a lot of good food, have lots of tea, enjoy good company, and talk with your lolita fellows.

1.1 Have a Tea Pary


 

1.2 Have an ILD Walk:
Lolitas on the street of New York City



 

1.3 Go to a Museum:
Meetup at The National Museum of Western Art

 

Meetup in the State Hall, Vienna


 

1.4 Have a Picnic

So the meetup really depends on your local community and does not fear even if you are a newcomer or if you don't have any brand or you only have handmade items. It doesn't matter!

Bigger communities always have a lot of newcomers to their meetups at ILD because it's easy for Lolita Newbies to sort of get the courage. They know it's going to be a bigger meetup than usual so they can just sit and chill and don't have to interact if they don't want to. Whereas a small meetup can be more intimating. Maybe you like smaller meetups and if there are a lot of people you will feel more stressed. It depends on what kind of person you are.

2. Celebrate by Yourself

If you live somewhere that doesn't have a lot of local community or a global community, or other people can't attend then there is something you can celebrate by yourself.

It can be either wearing something special or the favorite lolita outfit you have or the newest stuff you have been getting lately. And wear it to go to someplace nice like watching a movie, riding a horse, doing some activity you like, or even just appreciating some lolita fashion magazines and chill by yourself at home. The most important thing is that you will have fun. 

Read through the old edition of the Gothic Lolita Bible
 

 

Have Twin Outfit with Friends


 

Ride a Horse

If you don't have the opportunity to go outside, you can buy something for yourself on International Lolita Day so that you can have something to look forward to. Or you can be more creative: having a digital ILD in a discord server with your lolita friends.

Conclusion

To sum up, it all comes down to what you would like to celebrate and what's available to you.

Lolita Fashion is a way of us reflecting on the outside and how we feel on the inside. It's a way of showing our interests through what we wear. You'll get to wear something anyway why not make it fun?

Not every fashion has a specific day in mind so that people can gather around and discuss. I hope you will have a fantastic International Lolita Day! If you happen to miss this Summer ILD. Don't worry, there is another in December.