°˖✧✝ The Gothic Lolita Purists and the Gothic Brands that Cater to Them ✝✧˖°

One of Moi-meme-Moitie's shop girls posing
inside the shop's famous coffin shaped fitting room.

In Lolita fashion, things change. One year we're joking about how short brands will continue to make their dresses, all the while still wearing them, and in the next, we're hunting for the perfect underskirt to go under our new, fashionable calf-length OP. But for a Gothic Lolita, for the most part, it looks like they've been wearing the same thing they've always been wearing. Some would say that it's because Gothic Lolita isn't as popular as it once was, which would limit the amount of varing designs being produced for them. But, is the fashion's stagnancy really based on it not being able to gain back its popularity or something else? I propose it could be that Gothic Lolitas and the designers who design for them just don't want to change. They just may be content with the look they've already accomplished, and don't feel the need for any other alteration or incorporation within it. 

Post from Lolita Confessions

Take this post from Lolita Confessions, where an anonymous contributor comments on Moi-meme-Moitie's "integrity," as an example. In the post, they mention how the Gothic brand "never made a chocolate print, and never made a horse print" and goes on to say how they've "changed in a few ways since they started out, but at the same time, they just keep doing them." While this reads as a compliment to the brand's devotion, there are those who would say that the reasoning behind the brand's intention is simpler- Gothic brands produce Gothic clothing. However, if a brand's premise was as plain as that, then we would only come to expect Sweet brands to produce Sweet clothing and Classic brands to produce Classic clothing. Though, with all of the Gothic integration within Sweet and Classic designs over the years, we know this not to be true. So how does a Gothic brand's integrity differ from a Sweet one?    

The way the Gothic Lolita and Gothic Aristocrat on the left are style may be outdated,
but their clothing designs can still be seen in current Gothic clothing.

However, the same can't be said for the two Sweet Lolitas on the right.
The Sweet Lolita on the left is wearing Angelic Pretty's Ballerina Print JSK (2005).
And yes, it's being paired with a purse with crucifixes.  

I've come to think of a Gothic brand's consistency as a tool for preservation. Brands that aren't considered to promote Gothic fashion, but occasionally dabble with Gothic incorporation, treat Gothic aesthetics as a trend. Because it's used more as a trend, the driving force behind its use is for a kitschy addition and not one of passion. However, to an actual Gothic brand, their look isn't a novelty. It's their raison d'etre- the reason for their existence.

In an TV interview, Mana shares some insight on his fashion brand: 

"In '99, I opened the fashion shop Moi-meme-Moitie with clothing for Gothic Lolitas. At the time, there was nothing that associated the cute aspect with the dark one, so I did it. Furthermore, I don't like ephemeral fashions. My creations are intended for people who share my viewpoint on things."**

**This English translation was translated from French, which was translated from Japanese. Therefore, the English translation my not reflect the original Japanese fully.

There aren't many interviews from Gothic brand creators or designers in Lolita fashion, but I feel as though their sentiments would reside more along with these lines from Mana, especially with his view on ephemeral fashions. For a fashion to be ephemeral, it'd have to be short-lived. And to Mana, his brand's axiom is the opposite- it's enduring. The proof is in how well these brands have maintained their original concepts and designs in the face of the many changing trends.

MmM Designers: "Boss, what should our new custom lace be this time..."
Mana: "Crosses, we always choose crosses."

Source: Detail shot of Front Cross Chiffon JSK (2010) on Lolibrary 

Though, with how huge of an impact the style had, it seems like the Gothic Lolita sub-style has been around as long as the fashion started. But Gothic Lolita only got its footing in the late '90s during the big boom of Gothic centered entertainment and fashion in Japan. So the Lolita brands before this time weren't designing for those with Gothic interests. It was only during Gothic's popularity did this happen, which springboarded the creation of the black colorway option for their clothing. And ultimately, made a way for non-Gothic brands to participate in this trend.  

Left: Angelic Pretty's Puppet Circus JSK advertisement 

Right: Angelic Pretty's Puppet Circus JSK (2006) stock photo (Source: Hellolace)

Sure, it comes in black and can be styled in a Gothic way, but Puppet Circus's design is not Gothic.
I'm pretty sure pompom trims are a part of a Gothic Lolita's nightmares.

While there were still some Gothic designs being created by these non-Gothic designers sparingly after Gothic Lolita's popularity, the amount of Gothic designs eventually dwindled to what we have now- maybe two or three Gothic collections from these brands a year, with one of those being an obligatory Halloween print (and I'm talking about an actual Gothic design and not just an OP in a darker colorway or a crucifix added to a print). And it's in this way how non-Gothic brands attenuate the Gothic aesthetic that Gothic brands helped expand.

Non-Gothic brand designers: "Crosses are back in style now. Quick, put them on everything!"

From left to right:
Innocent World's Rose and Cross Lace (2015)
BABY, the Stars Shine Bright's Maria's Catholic Nun OP (2014)
Angelic Pretty's Milky Cross OP (2014)

However, for an actual Gothic brand, their approach is different- the designers have stuck with their original concepts instead of playing with the pieces of other styles. Because of that, these small Gothic brands have become the backbone of the Gothic Lolita sub-culture. And because they play such a primary part in the style's representation, there's little room for them to alternate. This may be extreme for most, but for a Gothic Lolita, total adherence to the style just seems to be expected.

For this reason, there's a commitment from Gothic Lolitas that's unprecedented in any other sub-style in the fashion. Simply put, Gothic Lolitas are hardcore- they're here for the long-haul. Just like Gothic brands, you'd rarely find any vacillation among them. One of the funniest examples of this is in a video that was uploaded to YouTube named "Lifestyle of goth-loli girls & Mana Sama Interview" by the user Yhmar21Erio. Due to copyright issues, I'm not able to view the video in my country anymore, but I'll still link it to distinguish which video I'm referring to. Luckily, because the video is old, it's already well know to the people who have been in the fashion for a while. But for those who aren't familiar to the video, I'll describe the part I'm referencing.   

If the original uploaded video doesn't play for you, you may be able to watch it on a different platform here. 

In this discussion with Sweet and Gothic Lolitas, one of the interviewers ask if the Sweet Lolitas ever wear black, even after being told that the Sweet Lolitas try to live a Sweet, or cute, lifestyle. But surprisingly, the Sweet Lolitas admit to occasionally wearing black clothing. The interviewer then ask the Gothic Lolitas the same question, but referring to the color pink. All of the Gothic Lolitas sternly deny it. The Gothic Lolitas go on to explain how the try to transmit the Gothic aesthetic throughout their life, insisting that they always emulate a Gothic appearance. All three even go as far to admit that they would own a pet bat if it were possible!    

When you can't get a real bat, Antique beasT's Black Cat Headdress can be used as the next best thing.
Thirty years from now, this headdress will still be a staple piece for Gothic Lolitas.

Source: Antique beasT website

All in all, the Gothic sub-culture houses some of the most faithful participants, and many Gothic Lolitas internalize that same kind of loyalty when it comes to their look and atmosphere around them. And although small, Gothic brands remain standing along side their costumers to create looks that are both memorable and enduring.

°˖✧ 'Till next time

°˖✧✝ The Bear Necessities Meetup ✝✧˖°

Remember in my last post when I mentioned the rent hikes in New York City? Well, even FAO Schwarz, the oldest toy store in the United States, felt the sting of such rent increases and was placed with the burden of closing down their store front once again. I've always wanted to create a toy themed meetup for FAO Schwarz, but never had the time to plan one. Though, when my friend mentioned a bear themed meetup she was planing with another one of our friends, I made the effort of recommending that we include a stop at the famous toy store before they closed.   

Blouse: Alice and the Pirates
JSK: Innocent World
Accessories: Handmade or Off brand

My friend was really excited for the meetup's theme and wanted everyone to participate. Without a doubt, bears are cute, but I felt as though I wouldn't be able to make a bear themed Gothic Lolita outfit. And truthfully, the meetup seemed more geared toward Sweet Lolitas than anything. Ready to sit this one out, my friend insisted that I at least try to come up with an outfit. So instead of an outfit focused around bears, I decided to just add my black teddy bear as an accessory. To further my attempt, I put furry pompoms on top of my head to mimic the look of bear ears.

The main part of the event was afternoon tea at Kings' Carriage House. This was the tea room we wanted to go to during the Death Becomes Her meetup I hosted at the beginning of this year, but we decided on the tea room too late to make reservations. Kings' Carriage turned out to be very nice, with inviting decor and enjoyable savory selections. 

The first two pictures are of the waiting area in Kings' Carriage House.
The third is of the bathroom. I know it's strange to take a picture
of the bathroom, but it was so nice. It was decorated more like a hallway.

On their website, a quote describes the tea room as a "charming cottage house" that's "the equivalent of a country getaway." I would say that the description lives up to the actual tea room. It really looked as if we were in someone's house. On the way to Kings' Carriage, my friend I walked right past it, because it looked so much like a residence than a restaurant. Though, the downside to the homey atmosphere was the small eating areas. There where only nine of us, a moderate size for a group of Lolitas, but there was hardly enough room for us and our petticoats.

I think I enjoyed their savoy choices the best.
The tastiest one wound have to be the Oak Smoked Scottish Salmon Pinwheels.

One of the greatest thing about Kings' Carriage is that they love Lolitas! They were overly accommodating to our needs, and they wanted us to take pictures everywhere. Our waitress even insisted she take all of our pictures for us. It really did turn into a photo shoot, with us taking many pictures inside and out in the front.

They told me to get to the back because I was the tallest.

All of the bears, and alpaca-chan, wanted to take a family photo.

Okay, so I didn't know that the Kuma Kumya and Usakumya pochettes
have magnetic hands. So when it was suggested that we should link
them together, so it'll look like their holding hands,
I had to get the Sweet Lolitas to hold hands too!

After a long time at Kings' Carriage, we headed to FAO Schwarz. The toy store looked a bit plain on the outside, and, from the look of it, I thought we were going in to a regular department store, like Macy's or Lord and Taylor. But I guess they saved all of the wonderment for the inside. Once we stepped inside, we were greeted by a little bakery called Sugar Plumm, which was the first stop into Candyland on the ground floor.

That box of candy is about half the height of my friend!

On the way up to the next level, we were so captivated with how huge one of the display bears was, and thought it would produce some cute pictures for our bear theme. Everyone took a picture with the giant bear but my friend and me. We were both wearing a Gothic outfit, so we wanted to find something a bit... dark. The teddy bear and animal section was at the top of the escalator, so my friend went straight to a friendly black bear.     

For some reason, I was more enticed by the moose.
Are moose "dark"? I don't think so, but I still thought they looked cool.

Including the infant floor on the underground level, FAO Schwarz had four floors! Even though we walked into the large animal section on the second floor, I would say that it only took up about a sixth of the entire levl. There was a section for just about every large toy marking franchise you could think about. What surprised me the most though were the stores within the toy store. Use the fact that they had multiple stores, like Build-A-Bear, to understand how vast FAO Schwarz was.

And of course, FAO Schwarz would be nothing without their famous floor piano.
I wish I had time to play on it. It's been a dream of mine since I was a kid.

They even had Rilakuma goods.
My friend was lucky. Everything was 50% in that section!

We spent a long time exploring FAO Schwarz, but it started to get late. We were there for so long that we missed going to our third stop for the day, the larger storefront for Build-A-Bear, because they closed. But, since there was a Build-A-Bear in FAO Schwarz, we didn't feel too bad for missing it. Some of us decided to part ways at this point, but the rest of us decided to keep the party going and go to Dylan's Candy Bar.

The first floor of Dylan's Candy Bar is a candy store where you can buy prepacked candy, candy but the pound, or merchandise with candy designs. It's seen more as a tourist spot, so the prices were a bit high, and the first floor is always packed with people until closing. The second floor turns into a ice cream shop, eatery, and bar. There's no wait to go to the ice cream shop or bar, but you'll have to put your name on a list to be seated for food due to their limited space upstairs. There are only three booths.

You can't tell from the pictures, but there are real candy pieces in the steps
going upstairs to the second floor! 

Look! The booths are shaped like cupcakes!
We agreed that we'd wait as long as we needed to next time to get the purple cupcake booth.

We only wanted drinks, so we were allowed to walk directly to the bar. Because of our group's size, we couldn't all sit at the bar, and were place at a regular booth next to the bar instead. It wasn't the one of the cupcakes booths, though. My friend bought a drink that was dusted with Pop Rocks candy around it's rim and another friend of mine had one with Sour Patch candy swimming at the bottom of the glass. I forgot to mention something important about the bar. The bar at Dylan's serves alcoholic beverages with some sort of candy incorporated in it. So, yes. The bar allowed us to be mature and childish at the same time!

I was going to get a drink, but decided to go with a sundae at the last moment. I picked their Roller Derby sundae, which was crafted around cookies. There were three different scoops of cookie flavored ice cream, whipped cream, caramel, chocolate chip cookies, and a fair amount of Whoppers (they're malted milk balls covered in chocolate).  

For a meetup that I wasn't going to go to, that day turned out to be jammed packed and extremely fun. There's always something to do in New York City, especially if you're with friends. 

°˖✧ 'Till next time

°˖✧✝ R.I.P. The Dove Parlor ✝✧˖°

Source: The Dove Parlor website photos

Due to the current rent increase in New York City, many businesses, both small and fairly large, are put up to the regrettable task of closing down their storefronts, with The Dove Parlor being one of them. Though not as renowned as other parlors in the city, Dove provided an interesting cocktail bar meant for those with a curiosity of the underground culture. And it was literally underground! Down the slabs of steps and through a worn wooden door painted white, Dove opened up into a dark lounge with red, textured baroque wall paper, which coupled with the dark mahogany wood finishes throughout the lounge. The hearth with a group of flickering candles in place of a kindling fire added to the romantic atmosphere. Natural light came through the glass panels of the door, but dimmed lamps mounted on the walls and glimmering candles created most of the lighting inside.

The Dove was also the venue where a tea party was arranged for Misako when she visited New York City for a lecture, Lolita Fashion: Costume or Culture, at Japan Society last year. I wasn't able to go to either event, but dreamed about experiencing Dove myself, Misako or no Misako.

Though pretty, there are people in my community who infamously call this event the "Tea-less Tea Party."
It was labeled as a tea party, but there turned out to be no tea at all!

Never lie to a Lolita by saying there's tea when there isn't any.

There was a picnic arranged for the New York Lolita community the day before Dove's closing, and my friends and I originally planed on attending. However, the high possibility of rain forced the host of the meetup to postpone the event to a day with more favorable weather. Dishearten, some of my friends looked for other activities we could do that day instead. Remembering Dove's closing day, one of my friends decided that one last trip to the lounge would be more than sufficient.

My friend made our little gathering an open invitation, which garnered a fair amount of new Lolitas I've never met to come along with us, which is always great! Going to Dove in the evening seemed more fitting, so we agreed to meetup for a late lunch first. For fun, we chose Food Gallery 32 in Koreatown. Basically, it's a food court, but looks more like a food mall with its three floors. Asides from the the Red Mango and the eatery that sells taiyaki at the entrance, the bottom floor is reserved for savory appetizers and entrees. The top floor housed an interesting selection of desserts. There were so many choices!

Source: Food Gallery 32 website

After lunch, we brought some taiyaki on our way out to eat while at the lounge. Dove had a no outside food policy, but seeing as they were closing the next day, we assumed that it wouldn't be a problem. Thankfully, it wasn't! The staff was very open to us being there and didn't mind our little snack.

To show our support, everyone at least bought one drink. Yes, we were all of legal drinking age. I bought two, but because this meetup was some time ago, at the end of June, I've forgotten their names and ingredients. Though, I do remember the first one involved ginger and the second one used cranberries. I really wanted to try their absinthe, but they ran out.

First group shot of the day. Also, obligatory kawaii peace hand gesture.

Don't my legs look long in this photo?! 

We were at the lounge for I decent amount of time, playing games and exchanging stories, but decided to end everything before it got dark. The dimmed lamps with the lack of natural lighting didn't produce many desirable photos, so we tried outside, even though it was still raining!

The lighting looks so much better.

Everyone had brought an umbrella, so there was no real problem with taking pictures outside. This is why it's important to have accessories that coordinates well with your outfit. I opted out using an umbrella for my pictures. It seemed okay without one (but it really wasn't).

Jacket & Skirt Set: Metamorphose temps de fille
Blouse: Alice and the Pirates
Accessories: Handmade

This set has a detachable layer of organza ruffles underneath the collar and bottom of the jacket, but I took them off for a more relaxed outfit. I'm saving those attachments for an outfit that's more OTT. But even without the ruffles, this set has become my favorite piece in my wardrobe. I love the silhouettes of Metamorphose's sets. They always make me feel like a princess. Though, I'm pretty sure the reason is because of their bell sleeves.  

Here's a picture of me posing for another picture. I didn't even notice!

My sleeve just didn't want to cooperate that day, or my ribbons.

Without any context, it looks like my friend is scolding me!
"You can't do that in Lolita!"

She wasn't, though. She was telling what she was doing before the meetup.

After pictures, we eventually split up, with some going to the BABY store or finding a place that sold desserts. Not wanting to wait another hour for the train, I decided to go home. But when I got there, I found the courage to do something bold- take a picture with out my glasses!

I am pretty and I am allowed to feel as though I am pretty.

This is something I don't tell myself often. 
I have to start being comfortable with myself.

On the way to Dove, we were joking around about how it's frustrating to wear glasses in the rain and having them fog up, when I said that I could never go without wearing my glasses because of how insecure I am. One of my friends, who wears contacts, said that she felt the same way when she transitioned from her glasses, but insisted that I would look just as nice without them and hoped that I would be able to realize it for myself one day. I don't know why, but her words got the best of me and pushed me into doing such a thing. I still feel compelled to hide part of my face with glasses, but I am starting to consider contacts in the future.

°˖✧ 'Till next time