Funny, I too just came to this board to try and understand cosplay and fashion. I've found it difficult to make female friends in my life because I don't share their interests, my interests are more male-centric but that poses problems for me as men can't control themselves and fall in love with me constantly which is undesirable for me. I wish to understand why girls like this stuff. I found a somewhat expensive lolita dress for sale at Goodwill recently for 5$, it was my size and I wore it around for a day. I didn't really feel any different wearing it versus wearing anything else.