Finding Your Style: Your Own Unique Take On Lolita

I've been into Lolita for almost 5 years now. Trust me, it has been a love affair as it's probably been for most of you. But, I can honestly say that it's definitely a journey into finding what your actual style is within the realm of the fashion itself. Sure, you could pick a "style" like sweet, gothic or classic, but can you find your style within it. It's taken me a very long time to truly find my style when it comes to this fashion culture and now I'd like to share my style with you.

Let's start off with the beginning. Oddly, you wouldn't be able to tell at all, but I started my frilly days off as a Gothic girl. Though I still love the details of gothic style, since my usual non lolita style is a more all black look (not gothic but...dark colors?) I try to dress a bit differently when in the frills compared to my western street fashion counter part. I think many can consider the first step of most lolitas "the old school step", but at least for me it was more on the ita side (yes, yes, I was an ita! Don't deny you were one also, come on!)  

Sadly, we've all taken the plunge into Lolita fashion sometimes without the complete understanding of it. Take me for example, I got into the fashion because of Mana from Malice Mizer. I don't think I really need to explain much of why I admired him or why I even dared to dress similar to him, but maybe it was my love affair with my own collection of dolls at the time and wanting to look similar to them - and I'm really not going to continue on this since I'm pretty sure 95% of you have the same response. 

But after having the incredible realization that this fashion took real dedication and work (No, really!?), I took a bit of a back step on

 it and let myself collect items until I could actually make a decent outfit. Trial and error outfits took place one right after the other, but finally I saw the light. No no, not the heavenly like, The Rori Light! (I honestly think I saw Momoko holding a hand out to me with this one!) The realization that I found the style that called out to me the most: Sweet Lolita. 

But what exactly draws one to this style (which has been the most popular for the last 3 or so years.) that had me believing in Lolita once more as something that was made for me to wear. I've even seen pictures of me as a baby in clothes are definitely pieces of what would become lolita, especially those bonnets my mother forced upon me at such a young age. Sweet Lolita completed that gap in my fashion heart for me that craved pastels in a bell shaped dress form, that I felt fit me the best in the world of fashion for me. I had never felt so beautiful, so adorable or so healthy looking then I did the first time I put on my first brand dress: A little polka dot number from Angelic Pretty in a stark red and white color palette! 

Since then it's been completely a romance of absolute adorable and cuteness that has made me a sweet lolita girl for life. The use of animals, ridiculously high calorie looking sweets and beautiful shades of pink have made me dedicated enough to want to be buried in it, just like in the picture next to the text. I can't contain myself when I see the newest Angelic Pretty print, in all it's sparkle like wonder, it's almost like the feeling you get on Christmas day looking at the new presents under the tree. Such prints as Pastel Ala Mode and Dreamy Dollhouse have given me such fantasies of fun with friends and adventures into new places. 

I get the same feeling from Baby as well. Baby has this great sort of vintage take on what Angelic Pretty tends to make more modern and or slightly tacky (in the best way possible though, seriously.) Even the newest prints like my favorite Twinkle Princess Dream are just well, a dream in themselves (I'm dying for the navy or pink version!) 

Then fast forward to a little under 3 months ago. I step into a new world of style, that is what has ultimately lead me to writing this in the first place. It's best to understand during my teen years I was obsessed with Punk fashion. Joey Ramone and Debbie Harry were my idols and I dreamed of being just as cool as them by dressing in every bit I could get from Trash and Vaudeville at the time. Quickly I learned that the ones called "punks" were never ones to identify themselves as such and therefore I banished the thoughts from my mind. Fast forward to the point previously mentioned and I re-discovered my love for a very under appreciated brand: Putumayo. 

Putumayo can't and shouldn't even be just connected to punk lolita. It, to me, is the only true brand that can call itself a sweet punk style brand. It mixes the two perfectly. It'll have pieces that focus on fairy tale themes turned upside down. One of my favorites was a theme of cutsews featuring Little Red Riding Hood holding a bloody knife but looking absolutely cute doing so (odd? of course!) Maybe it's because I'm obsessed with plaid, but this brand speaks to me like no other and I'm now on a mission: With every coordinate to capture my love of both sweet and punk to perfection.

The only person I've found do this perfectly is one of the old school girls, Nana Kitade. I actually haven't heard much from Ms. Kitade in recent years, but back about 4 years ago she was one of my idols. She always knew the right way to blend Baby The Stars Shine Bright with spiked bracelets and skulls in this way that almost looked elegant. I remember that moment when I first saw Nana in person, carrying her Baby Bunny Bag and sitting with it, arms all around. It's probably one of the most inspirational images ever for me, and I want to carry that tradition on in my style!

So then, what is exactly my style? It's a mixture of sparkles, Barbies, The 80's with your rock n roll mischief and a lot of confidence. It involves hats, clips and a lot of patterned bows. Give me different kinds of solids, maybe even a print or too that makes you think of the bitter taste of dark chocolate. If Debbie Harry or Cyndi Lauper was lolita, would they approve? If they do then I'd wear it for sure. Take any combination of red plaid or pink and black and you've got a winning result of something fun yet interesting: me. Now give me some pink leopard print and let's go!

So, what do you consider your personal lolita style? Is it a mixture of things or do you like to just try one style per outfit? Post pictures and have fun! 

Iconic Love Letter: 80's/90's Magical Girl Series

Growing up as a child of the 90's, I was fully submerged into the new obsession of the young female gender: The Magical Girl Show! Granted, some of these shows can be considered cheesy, silly and sometimes just plain odd - but do we care? No! As long as there is a character with a cute sense of style, fun powers we dreamed about and some cute guy to crush on, we were set for fun! But wait, Style!? Inspiration!? From a kids television show!? But of course! My absolute favorite part of these shows was the look of each character, and I wanted to dress and be like them all so badly. So, in tribute to these fantastic series that we've all grown up with, I decided to make them my Iconic Love Letter for this week! So hop on your magic wand and let's get started!

Let's start off with my favorite series of the 80's, Jem! If you don't know about Jem, let me tell you that you are missing something, as the iconic heroine would say, Truly Outrageous! Jem is the story of Jerrica, who has just been given the complete ownership of her Father's record company after his passing. She also has to be in charge of an orphanage for little girls. She's so stressed and on top of that, she's dating the cutest guy Rico! What is she going to do!? One day, Jerrica is given the power to transform into Jem, her rock-n-roll goddess alter ego! New, Jerrica must decide between which life to lead: Her own or the one of Jem. The series has some of the coolest and catchiest songs I've ever heard, along with the most epic and tackiest outfits ever. But what makes Jem so cool is that it knows how silly it is, which makes you want to be in the world of the series even more! I mean, I'd love to transform myself into a pink haired rock star, wouldn't you?
Next up, we have Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders (also known as Princess Starla in other countries). The plot revolves around an alternative version of Avalon (think Rainbow Bright mixed with Samurai Troopers in terms of style), where people who are given the magic of Merlin can protect the world with The Crown Jewels and chosen animal companions. Our star is Princess Gwenevere, who is now destined to defeat the evil Lady Kale. She also has two allies, known as the Jewel Riders, named Tamara and Fallon! My favorite character of the series was Tamara, considered to be the oldest and prettiest of the Jewel Riders. She carries the heart stone and is known for taking care of the animals of Avalon. Maybe it was the British accent or the fact that she's the reason I'm obsessed with Mint and Pink together, but Tamara is a class act all on her own. Also, who doesn't want to ride on a pet Unicorn named Sunstar? (my favorite of the horses!) I highly recommend this if you haven't seen it!
Now, you can't go without mentioning the popular Magical Girl anime series that were huge at this time as well. Though there are a lot to chose from, I wanted to give special shout outs to my favorites - Cardcaptor Sakura and Sailor Moon (S and SuperS being my favorite seasons!). I'm pretty sure that anyone and everyone reading this blog knows of at least one of both of these series, and I'd manage to say you even are a big fan of them too. It was hard to ignore the success of these shows, but especially Sailor Moon here in the states. Though, we were never truly treated to seeing the entirety of these shows (but at least we were given Cardcaptor Sakura uncut many years later), they still are incredible and hard to not adore.
Cardcaptor Sakura is one of those unique series that really, in my mind, has no flaws. It's also important to note that this is probably the closest we've come to having a Lolita super hero of any sort! You can't deny the fact how excited you were to see Sakura's new fighting outfit each episode, created specially by her friend Tomoyo! I'm also a sucker for anything with angel wings, and this just made that aspect even cuter for myself. I have so many favorite outfits and moments from this show, allowing myself to never grow away from it completely.
... and don't even get me started on Sailor Moon. It's hard to clearly define the impact this series has had on me and the millions that have watched it, but it's probably in the time-line of things why I'm even writing this blog today. Sailor Moon was the first anime series I ever saw, watched every episode, and know every plot line by heart. It also brought my down the track line to learning about Japanese pop culture and now, you know the rest of the story. Sailor Moon is also in this unique category of complete pure and fabulous timeless story telling. Sure, there are your occasional filler episodes (there are in EVERY series, honestly.), but they are charming when you get to know all the characters - which I almost consider friends after seeing them for the past 16 years of my life. If you're going to rewatch any part of the series, I recommend the Pegasus story arch along with the R series movie! They're romantic, funny and touching!
Side note: Sailor Chibi-Moon isn't my favorite, Sailor Saturn is actually!
So now you want to incorporate these into your style, but how?
Here is my own personal outfit based on these magical ladies!
First off, pick an empire waist cut JSK or OP. Make sure that it creates a sort of round cuteness effect, and looks a bit casual so you can run around in it. I'd also suggest going with a cutsew or parka that has a sailor/peter pan collar. This is to go along with the sailor uniform inspired style from the anime shows, which are all based around this school uniform style. Next, I'd chose a pair of more comfortable but cute shoes, like these AP Engineer Boots in Pink! I'd also go with a bag that resembles a school styled one, especially since most of these characters are in high school or young adults! Make sure to pick out a cool brooch that looks magical girl inspired, like this one I found on etsy that's based on a Sailor Moon design. Remember to get a big and adorable bow to finish the look, see if you can find one with stars or sequin in it. Even though this coordinate is almost entirely AP and Mint/Pink, you can do it whatever way you like - if Sailor Moon would wear it, then go for it!

So whatever Magical Girl you like the most, feel free to incorporate them into your style! What is your favorite Magical Girl series? Was it not mentioned here? Have you ever made an outfit inspired by them? Mention in the comments below!