Motif Monday: Bows!!

Bows are so iconic in Lolita it borders on ridiculous. Whether it be punk, goth, sweet or classic, almost no Lolita outfit is completely lacking in bows. They can be anywhere- on the dress, on the print on the dress, on your blouse, on your shoes, your tights, your socks, and especially in your hair as a headpiece! The best part about bows? They're one of the easiest accessories to obtain!

Bows aren't just for Lolita fashion, so they're sold just about anywhere. Forever 21 in particular has some particularly lovely bows (90% of my bow collection comes from them!) for very cheap! They don't just have bows for your head- there's a large variety of bow-related jewelry, as well. Bows on your wrist, bows on your necklace, bows on your rings... they're all out there and easy to apply to Lolita fashion!

Out of all Lolita brands though, Angelic Pretty has to be the most famous (or infamous, depending on how you look at it!) when it comes to usage of bows. They have plenty of dresses with tastefully places bows like the dress above, but they're also notorious for releasing dresses that are literally bows upon bows... I personally find it cute in a tacky sort of way but lots of people might just find it ridiculous!!

Finally, and I don't know if I'm biased because BABY's headbows were some of the first Lolita items I saw, but I have always felt that BABY makes the best headbows, whether they be plain or the match a specific print. Okay, maybe Angelic Pretty and Metamorphose release similar bows, but... I'm biased, okay?! :P
That's all for bows, which are by far the most common and arguably the cutest theme in Lolita. Next week: Spring motifs!

Motif Monday: Unicorns!!

I adore unicorns. I really do. I shamelessly tote a unicorn bag around with me during school, leading to many confused looks and questions as to why I'm carrying a stuffed unicorn around (because it's "stuffed" with my cell phone and my iPod of course ;P). Given the mystical beauty and aloofness of unicorns, it's not wonder they're a motif often seen in Lolita (though in my opinion, not nearly enough!!).

My favorite example of unicorns in a brand would have to be Metamorphose Temp de Fille's Twinkle Journey. I loved the rich jewel tones in the print, which were a nice break from the pastels. Unlike Angelic Pretty's chubby, adorable carnival ponies, the unicorns in Twinkle Journey were far more slender and more "beautiful" rather than "cute." Of course, I absolutely adore cute unicorns and ponies-- what's not to like? But it is nice to see something that leans more towards the "beautiful" side of Lolita rather than just being "cute." :)

The indie Lolita brand Pink Macaroon has released what is probably my favorite unicorn-related collection, "Unicorn Fantasy." I don't want to spam you with a ton of pictures so I've only included the picture of the bag and a picture from the photoshoot used to promote the collection, but there were quite a few pieces released. There were pillows, necklaces, rings-- everything a unicorn-lover like me could want. Of course, I'm still waiting for the skirt to pop up again in pink (and maybe even the bag!). Since I'm a poor job-less high school student, it's unlikely I'll be able to afford either if they should appear again, but I can dream, right?
If you're looking for other unicorn prints/items in Lolita, Angelic Pretty released an adorable unicorn bag a while back, and many of their items often include ponies (which are basically just hornless unicorns :P). I'm unsure whether BABY or any of the punk brands have done anything unicorn-related, but on that thought I'd just like to say that it would be so cool if Putamayo released a punk cutsew with an angry, eye-patched unicorn badass on it!! Even if it would be super cheesy!!


As a side note, some of you might know of my recent obsession with gyaru. I was up well-past two AM last night scouring all sorts of gal-related blogs (the fact that my sleep schedule was super screwed-up from vacation helped me in that endeavor!), and I can firmly say I think Gal may be my second love. It's cute, but it shows a little skin, making it a great fashion for summer/spring where layers upon layers of bloomers and petticoats might be a bit much (especially when you're as sensitive to temperature as I am...). I know a lot of people might view gyaru as "slutty," but I really don't see what's not to like. I may leave the Agejo at home for school, but who cares so long as I look great and feel beautiful??
During my search around gyaru blogs yesterday, I found yet ANOTHER blog hosting a giveaway (this blog probably has to be one of my favorites! She's so talented at coordinating and she's only sixteen! So impressive!). The contest post can be found here:
http://starreprincess.blogspot.com/2011/02/first-100-followers-giveaway.html
DEFINITELY give the rest of her blog a read if you get the chance. Mana is so cute and such an inspiration for new hime-gyaru and hime Lolitas alike! :)

Motif Monday:Easy, breezy, beautiful... chiffon!

Recently, the weather became a bit warmer in my area. Granted, it was only a tiny bit warmer and what might seem very cold to a lot of people (it was a high of 50! Just enough to wear a short-sleeved shirt outside without freezing to death. :) ), but nonetheless the warmer weather got me dreaming about spring and summer clothing.
Those of you who know me in real life know that typically, I despise summer and spring fashion. I feel like a lot of clothes released in this time period when warmer-weather fashion starts making it's way into stores are rather uninspired, and as I perused the racks of Forever 21 earlier today in an effort to find some clothes that fit me (I lost a lot of weight since last time I went summer clothes shopping, so I'm in new of an almost entirely new wardrobe!), I found that for the most part I still felt the same way. There were quite a lot of clothes that were too plain for my tastes (even if I do go for a more laid-back look in the summer and almost entirely leave Lolita out of the equation, I still don't want to wear a "punny" tee shirt and jean shorts everyday), or clothes that I just didn't like, and apparently others didn't like as well since there were countless numbers of t-shirts that looked like they were meant for old women on the racks, untouched. Yet, I still did find a few things that suited my tastes, which brings me to this post's subject...
Chiffon!
By the time I was checking out, I realized 75% of the things I got were made of chiffon. I finally realized today that for warmer weather fashion, I just adore chiffon. Besides it evoking adjectives that resemble a certain makeup brand's slogan when I look at it, chiffon really is a wonderful fabric for those warmer days. It's light, airy, and reminiscent of a fairy's skirt. If fairies really did exist, I think chiffon would be their fabric of choice.
Even though, as I mentioned previously, I try to avoid Lolita in the summer (I'm very sensitive to temperature, so layers upon layers of petticoats just don't help anything when it's 90 degrees outside), there's still a couple of Lolita dresses I think would work well for summer, like this dress from Dear Celine:

Isn't it just darling?! I can picture a fairy girl running around a big field in this, just twirling around without a care in the world (yes, when it comes to fashion, my fantasies are extremely cheesy :P ). This dress comes in more than one color, but mint is my favorite. If I have money after I go to Anime Boston (I'm finally going this year! Who else is going?!) I may have to order this, though I may end up saving up even if it takes me until half way through the summer. :)
Unfortunately, this is one of the only examples I can find of chiffon being used in Lolita. I'm sure there are a few, but I can't seem to find any pictures of brands using chiffon! It's a shame, because if Angelic Pretty released a chiffon jsk similar to this one with maybe a sweets print on the fabric, I'd be all over that. :(
Well, that's motif Monday! I hope everyone else is lucky enough to experience the warmer weather if you aren't already in a warm place, and remember: Think Spring!! <3

Motif Monday: Hearts!!

I thought that since my posted was rather sporadic, I needed some sort of regular theme to keep this blog in check. And thus, I'd like to introduce: Motif Mondays!
Every Monday I'll pick a theme commonly seen in Lolita and discuss why it may be so popular, and show examples of that motif in a coord.
So, considering today's the ever-popular Valentine's Day, we'll kick this off with Hearts as the first motif!

Do I really need to explain why hearts are such a popular motif? They symbolize love, romance, innocence... personally, when I think of hearts, I think of a young couple in love-but not a dark, dramatic love, but a more innocent love. It's the sort of image that reminds me of the innocent "Date Nites" Disneyland advertised way back when like seen here in this poster:

That poster is the exact sort of romantic love that lifestyle Lolitas in particular would desire. There doesn't immediately appear to be any sex involved, and the couple isn't crying or going over "heavy" things... they're just spinning around, having a good time on the tea cup with their sweet heart! :)
Some of my favorite pieces with a heart theme (of course, they're all AP!):

This heart pocket jumper skirt is a classic, and one of my all time favorite AP pieces. It's simply adorable, and even though I do love prints the fact that the hearts are worked into the design of the garment itself rather than drawn into a print is a nice change from all the AP print madness you see today.

AP has actually done a TON of heart-shaped purses, though this one is simply adorable. There are similar ones with polka dots, but I feel like polka dots aren't the most versatile thing in the world, especially if you're trying to pair some with the more modern AP prints.

These socks are simply darling. I own the Bodyline replicas (yes, yes, I'm not anti-replica, don't kill me!) in pink, and they're just adorable. Unfortunately the lace on mine got ruined when my parents decided to run them through the washer and dryer with my normal socks (probably my fault for not doing my own laundry, I suppose) but I still like to drool over pictures like these.
As you can tell, AP makes the best heart-themed items, but other sweet brands such as Baby occasionally make good items!! Obviously sweet is the substyle best suited for use of this motif, but a really cool idea I think a punk/goth Lolita should try is making an outfit with a real human heart motif!! How cool would that be?! :)