This is my first Lolita Blog Carnival post, and I'm pleased to celebrate this experience with a special topic - my inspirations.
When I first started in this fashion, I approached it from an experiential aspect, playing with a lot of my interests at the same time. I liked all of the sub-styles, and created outfits to fit many of them. This was very fun, for awhile, but I noticed that, while I was entertaining many of my interests, I never had a direction as to what I was aiming for. And, in hindsight, I now see that I was all over the place with my sense of style. Now, I find it more comforting to be able to look at the big picture and examine my intent and overall objective when wearing Lolita clothing. Before, I treated each outfit as it's own entity, and it was very telling. However, I now try to string all of my clothing together to convey a certain design or story. And my inspirations has helped me craft this image.
I have many inspirations, but, for the sake of this post, I've narrowed them down to three people who represent the main three components that make up the image I project. I call these components the 3 'A's - Appearance, Aesthetic and Atmosphere.
◊ Appearance
If someone would've asked me what "look" I was trying to achieve a year ago, I would've simply responded, "Cute." But really, that's too broad of an answer that I couldn't even then explain. It wasn't until I saw a post about Old School Volks dolls in honeyed's archive on Tumblr that I realized what I wanted to look like, or, better yet, what I wanted my makeup to look like.
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| These are just three that I like the most, but there are many more to swoon over. Please, take time to admire the others here. |
I know what you might be thinking. You're saying, "So you want to be a doll?" Simply, no, I don't. I'm not attracted to them merely because they're dolls, but because their appearance gives off a certain mood and character. It's a type of beauty that's hauntingly unsettling. It's a different kind of beauty that's alluring and off putting at the same time. I can only hope to reach this level someday. I want my appearance to speak volumes without me saying anything at all.
◊ Aesthetic
There are many interpretations as to what the word "aesthetic" means, but, for this, I'm labeling it as my philosophy. And, in my opinion, no one has a stronger philosophy about Lolita than Mana. And, instantly, I can feel the eye rolls all the way through the screen, and hear the sarcasm - "Oh, really? An Old School Gothic Lolita citing Mana as one of their inspirations. How shocking! Wake me when this section is over." While other Lolitas would consider the cliche embarrassing, I find it to be quit quelling. Because of Mana, I'm not ashamed to foster a deeper connection with the aesthetic of Gothic Lolita. In a message to Gothic Lolitas, Mana told us that he hoped Lolita would be " your style, your way of life, no matter what anyone tells you" and how he wanted "you to love this world for all of your life." I've never felt anything more assuring then these words, and I live to embody them for a very long time.
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| Source: Monologue Sanctuary |
In the 50th edition of the Gothic Lolita Bible, Mihara Mitsukazu wrote a kind memento that said "Whenever I reread [ the GLB] all over again from the issue 1, I notice that Mana-sama's look and spirituality has never changed, and that's cool" (taken from Monologue Sanctuary's translation). I want to be able to develop a strong look and spirit that's also as unwavering as Mana's.
◊ Atmosphere
As for atmosphere, I would say that Yoh's illustrations serves as a great inspiration for me to follow. All of his works stems from one place that he calls his "Monochrome World." And that's exactly what his works create - a world. They're much more than random characters placed on top of vague backgrounds. Everything is purposeful and precise. Every detail is carefully crafted to support the mood of his world. And he does this in a way that doesn't overshadows his characters.
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| Source: Yoh's website |
It's my intention to create a similar world that Yoh has made, but for myself in Lolita fashion. I want my clothes to determine my own unique climate and tone outside of the one created by society. Yoh's illustrations teaches me to reflct on the little details that I corporate into my world. Do they help define or cloud my objective? Thanks to Yoh, I can always be motivated to refine my image.
With the help of these three inspirations, I choose; I create; I become my own design.
Make sure to check out Lolita Blog Carnival!
Lolita Blog Carnival is an online Loita community of Lolita bloggers who come together to blog about certain topics each week to stimulate further ideas for great blog posts!
Here are other Lolitas with inspiring role models:
I loved this post! Your inspirations are so similar to my ~Dream Lolita~ that I never really have the patience to do on any sort of regular basis! My tumblr blog is the one that you found the pictures of the BJDs on and I was taken aback as I scrolled down because I recognized them instantly! I've always loved their look as well, the very precise Gothic makeup paired with dolly sweet Lolita outfits and hair is just so sweet to me.
ReplyDeleteI glad you enjoyed my post. I put a great amount of thought and feeling into it, so it means a lot to me. And I know who you are, Caro Dee! It felt like a blessing the last time you commented on one of my posts, since you're like a Lolita saint here in the West. I really appreciate your posts and your patronage to our fashion. I'm just trying to give back by using what you gave us!
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