Hi! I Have A Couple Of Very Old Brand Pieces That Aren't On Lolibrary. Where Would You Suggest I Look

hi! I have a couple of very old brand pieces that aren't on lolibrary. where would you suggest I look to hunt down additional info and maybe add them to the database? thanks!

Hello! I’m very excited by this question.

I have a few suggestions depending on how knowledgeable you are on the item- if you aren’t sure where to start at all you might have some luck with narrowing down the general era or release date of the item judging by its label or wash tag.

Various tag guides have been published- this one by How To Become An Angel on neocities and this one on Raine’s Crimson Reflections blog.

But since you have checked lolibrary and it isn’t there, i’m assuming you have some information already (release year or print name or something along those lines). It’s possible to access old versions of lolita brand’s websites through the wayback machine and adjust the year to suit your best guess. From the homepage you can go to the brand catalogue and see the dresses / jsks / undergarments / ect and see if any have descriptions that will match your mystery item (even if there is no stock photo available). For example:

- Angelic Pretty 2002- present

- BTSSB 2000- present

- Metamorphose 2000- present

- Victorian Maiden 2001- present

- Innocent World 2001- 2004

- Innocent World 2005- present

- MmM 2001- 2010

- Atelier Boz 2001-2003

- Atelier Boz 2004 to 2017

Lolibrary is an extensive database, but it doesn’t cover every single piece in existence. If I haven’t found it on lolibrary and I haven’t found any information on the brand’s original website, I will usually turn to my lolita magazines and see if I can spot the item anywhere. Lolita History is a great resource that most of you are already aware of. It’s great for GLB scans and even other niche publications that have been kindly submitted. You can filter by Keywords to narrow down your search.

All of the advice above is if you are the kind of person that likes to take your time with research and look into the item personally. If you don’t have time for that, i’d just post it on social media and ask if anyone knows anything. U can post it here on tumblr or u can send it to me! There will always be someone happy to help, and if it’s something I can’t do myself I will volunteer to submit it to some senior lolibrarians and see what can be revealed.