Friday, September 25, 2009

Hello Lovelies,
Fairly recently there was a bit of an uproar on the online lolita communities about the surgance of sweet lolitas. You see, sweet lolita has been very popular surpassing gothic and classic lolitas on the outfit posting sites. "But!" , you say "Why is that so peculiar? Sweet lolita has always been very popular!"
Yes my dove, but not like this. This incarnation of sweet lolita stylings are a mix of neon pastels drenched in eye-gouging tooth-decaying face-melting hyper-sugar unicorns, bunnies, and rainbows. If you can possibly imagine. For a while there we had post after post of cotton candy hair. Similar prints being worn in similar coordinates by similarly posing girls. It was a bit droll yes, but I respect anyone who holds true to their extremes. I saw that as something more novel, a temporary trend, than something i'd have to face forever. But there was also something more dangerous lurking, something more personal. The gothic lolitas were facing near extinction. There were virtually no comments when gL would post, and you could go virtually a month without seeing hide nor hair of a single black jumperskirt.
There was backlash, annonymous threats were made, people were flammed, children trappled in the streets but then..... Silence. A break in the sweet armaggedon was seen. There on the horizon, we saw the designs for the new season and they were toned down and slightly.... understated.
Well sweets withdrew and confessed they really weren't into all those bright colors anyway and a balance between the sweet tribes and the gothic tribes was held.
This lead to my renewed love of gothic styles and my desperate attempt to fill myself with as much as I could.
First off: Moi Meme Moitie. You can't say gothic lolita without thinking of this brand. Helmed by the Patron Saint of all Lolitas, Mana. This brand has clothes darker than midnight, deeper that shadows, and blacker than the hearts of men.




These two are examples of my two favorite dresses to come out fairly recently by the brand. Gorgeous aren't they? There are not all black, but its that complementary color that makes the black stand out even bolder.


This next brand is lesser known but that's a damn shame! Millefleurs/Millenoirs (which translated meansThousand Flowers/Thousand Black) is a gorgeous brand that evokes a modern day Versailles. A girl named Mary Antoinettie is the sensitive daughter of a rich tycoon, who was made to raise herself by two disinterested parents. She runs off in the middle of the night to dark mysterious clubs set underneath the Tokyo streets where this little princess meets all sorts of horrible and romantic figures. She is lost in this world, her pure heart preventing her from succumbing to the temptation of the damned but down she tumbles, night after night. Like Alice, down the rabbit hole, spending her nights out on the cold dark streets of Toyko. Er... whatever. Mf/Mn has beautifully corsetted dresses with brocade designed fabrics and princess like hems. In fact I had read some writer describe them as "Gothic Hime", I actually find this appropriate.


Now Atelier Pierrot is a a notorious brand known for its beautiful dresses and relative unattanibility (which has now changed thanks to Tokyo Rebel). If you frequent the AP site you'd notice that they are also a liscened seller of other brands (brands inside of a brand?!?!) like Moi Meme Moitie and Victorian Maiden. A one stop shop for classic and gothic lolitas. AP is the home of the coveted cage skirt and the harlequin patterned skirt. A cross some where between gothic and classic Atelier Pierrot is a brand to keep your eyes on.






What have we learned from this? Well i'd say calm down kiddies, Gothic Lolikta is here to stay and only gets better and better all the time. With the recent addition of CdJapan selling Moi Meme Moitie, TokyoRebel selling Atelier Pierrot it is getting easier and easier to fill your batcave with dark fashions. The Sweet Lolitas can live just as happily as the Goth Lolitas, live and let live lolis!


Xoxo,
RL