Bringing Back the Old School

A while back (the beginning of November!) I started to write a blog post about general Old School Lolita and my fond memories of the early days and each time I go to write a little more it keeps morphing into separate posts! Angelically Sweet and the post about narrow headdresses both started out quick little paragraphs in this eternally unfinished post of mine and I'm afraid I've gone off track completely and yet another separate post has spawned from it.

Yeah, that's right, yet another post about Old School Lolita. What can I say XD I really love it and I would love to see the style come back, so this post is about exactly that: how to add some old school flair to your coordinates, even if you don't have a closet full of dresses from 8 or 10 years ago. Provided your closet isn't exclusively OTT prints I think that it's pretty easy to make an old school looking coordinate fairly easily without having to buy whole new pieces.

Like many things that simply aren't new any more, the old school style is shunned by some and many of the style elements (black and white, mini hats, clunky black shoes, etc.) have come to mean, to some, "unfashionable" or even "Ita". I think there is a lot to learn from the older Lolita styles and they shouldn't be written off simply because they are not so new any more. I think that keeping many of the older style trends in mind when putting together a coordinate can create some refreshing outfits. In a Lolita world full of mile high pink wigs, bold and colorful prints, and piling on as many accessories as you can the simple elegance of what we now consider Old School Lolita can be breathtaking. If you are interested in adding some old school elements to your coordinates, try some of these tips!

• Simplify your color schemes. Avoid mixing a bunch of colors into your coordinate, even if your print features a colorful print. Instead just stick to your base color and either black or white. The classic way of color coordinating, old school style, is to wear a plain colored dress with either black or white lace and then make sure your blouse, socks, shoes, purse, and parasol are the same color as the lace.
  
• Avoid brand prints. Prints didn't start to become a big thing until around 2006/07. There were prints around before then but they were usually much simpler such as allover prints with the brand logo hidden in there, something relatively generic like flowers or fruit, or a simple screen printing. If you must do a print, try classical florals or a print of scattered fruits.
• Ditch the tea parties for a pair of platforms or classic mary janes. Tea parties and other bow covered cutsie shoes are relatively new to Lolita, the most common type of shoe back then was the mary jane, either with a relatively modest heel, or a monster of a platform.
  
• Wear black or white shoes. I know they make Lolita shoes in a rainbow of colors, and you can usually find the perfect shade to match your dress, but stick to basic black or white for footwear.
• Stick to just Lolita. I know, this sounds like it should go without saying, but it seems like nearly all of the major omg-I-just-have-to-try-that trends that Lolita has gone through in the past few years have just been trends borrowed from other fashions, if not outright fashion crossovers. Lolita hardly has any trends or innovation of it's own anymore. So nix the Gyaru makeup, the Steam Punk accessories, the Mori Girl color pallet, the Hime hair, and the light dusting of deco and try something that's just purely Lolita.
  
• Wear a slim rectangle headdress. Have I told you how much I love these yet XD? The rectangle headdress was pretty much the headpiece to wear back in the day. Sure, there were bows and hats and bonnets and hair corsages back then too, but nothing really defines Old School Lolita like the rectangle headdress. While the big ruffly rectangle headdresses are only flattering on a very small portion of Lolitas, and most people just feel silly wearing them anyways, the slim and often ruffle-free headdress are a nice and modern version of the old Lolita stand by. It it pretty much instant old school without people asking you "What's on your head?!"
• Trade in your stuffed animal purse for a brand tote. This also includes pleather purses shaped like tea cups, clocks and other fancy things. Purses were much simpler back then, most of the time Lolitas just carried around a brand tote or a simple square purse with their favorite brand's logo on it.
• Keep your makeup natural, or at least simple. Don't bother with fake eyelashes, circle lenses or doing all those tricks with white eyeliner that make your eyes look huge and alien. Either stick with a natural and clean looking makeup job, or something very simple like a little bit of eyeshadow in a color that matches your coordinate. Use a red lip stain to give your lips a rosy look that is much more sweet and doll-like than the Barbie gyaru glam lips that are so popular now.
  
• Leave your wig at home. You don't need perfectly coiffed hair a mile high in a candy colored hue to complete your Lolita look. Instead try a more natural looking hair style, either a nice curl, a pair of braids or brushed out until it's straight and shiny, then either put up in pigtails or leave it down. If you want to either wear a wig or spend hours holding a curler in one hand and a bottle of hairspray in the other, consider ringlets.
  

To get some inspiration flowing, here are a few of my favorite old school coordinates taken from the first 10 or so volumes of the Gothic & Lolita Bible. These are from 2001 to about 2003 or 2004 I believe, none of that 2008 immediately-before-Deco-Lolita-became-popular "old school" XD

As you can see from these, the main pieces, the skirts and the dresses, are all similar to things still being sold by brands today, they just aren't nearly as popular as the OTT and next-big-print pieces. Some designs are recycled year by year and most brands have at least a few staple pieces that have been in their shop since the beginning. Baby, the Stars Shine Bright does this most frequently, and their recycled designs have remained relatively unchanged, with the exception of nicer photos and a bit more skirt poof nowadays. Here are a few examples of their recurring designs.

Left, 2010. Right, 2001



Left, 2010. Right, 2001

Left, 2010. Right, 2003, although they had been making the same dress for a few years before that, just without the scalloped hem.

So even if you have a wardrobe that is mostly OTT prints and very up-to-date pieces but you're desperate for something that has an old school vibe to it and you don't want to sort through second hand sales posts and buy a 10 year old dress, you can usually find something in the brand shops that's just a remake of a very old piece. Browse around on Hello Lace or The Lolibrary for the really old pieces, chances are you'll see something that's familiar because it's still being sold.

Some classically old school details to look out for are empire waists, laced up grommets, heart shaped pockets, 2 rows of lace running down the front of the skirt with tiers of lace on the side, shirring either all around or in the front, pintucks, and A-lined dresses. Older dresses were often times just as detailed and OTT in their own way, they just relied more on texture rather than color and print.

The old school style never really went away completely, it's been there all along just waiting to be rediscovered!

The Updated Rectangle Headdress

The rectangle headdress is often seen as an instant Lolita "don't" for many people, and it's understandable why. The rectangle headdress often brings up images of cheap lace hot glued to an extra wide rectangle and then tied with a sloppy satin bow under a chin. Even good quality rectangle headdresses tend to have a little too many ruffles and only look good on a small percentage of people. But, I think this is no reason to write them off completely. While I doubt the rectangle headdress is ever going to make a big come back, there are ways to update this accessory, which was once so prevalent in the fashion, so that it looks a little less like a homemade maid costume and a little more elegant.

The best way to update the rectangle headdress is to simplify it. Think of it not so much an extra place to add some more lace to a coordinate and more of a fancy headband. Whether you are making one yourself, or in search of the perfect one, make sure it's a relatively simple one. Avoid any gathered lace or ruffles around the hem or any extra large bows on it. If your headdress has ribbon ties consider tying it behind your neck instead of under your chin, or even stitching it onto a stiff headband. Try to find a very thin headdress, no more than about 2 inches wide, nothing that takes up your whole head! Below are some good examples of very up-to-date rectangular headdress.

This one from Victorian Maiden is very simple. It's merely a thin strip of matching fabric with a tiny lace trim and a small ribbon. It's also on a headband base so you don't have to worry about tying it.

This velvet headdress from Innocent world is a bit wider, but since it doesn't have any lace or a ruffle around the end it can easily get away with it. It has a pretty strip of matching lace across it to give it some elegant details. It's also on a stiff headband.

Antique Beast made this headdress, and while it is extra lacy and even has bows on it, the lace lays flat against the head so it doesn't end up looking like a maid headdress.

These are a whole bunch of Mary Magdalene headdresses and hair accessories. I think these are pretty much the perfect rectangle headdresses! They are slim, simple, and yet still elegant and pretty.

On the left is an over priced scratchy lace covered headdress from an Ebay shop, on the right is a Mary Magdalene headdress worn by this particular Japanese blogger. It's hardly a fair comparison! The Ebay headdress is awkward and goofy looking, while the Mary Magdalene one is simple and classy. These two headdresses are worlds apart in terms of style and quality, so it's not very hard to simply avoid the headdresses of questionable taste and find (or make!) something that is much nicer. While I don't know if the headdress is going to be coming back in style, it's certainly not something you should write off completely. I think that the right rectangle headdress can make the perfect finishing touch to a Classic or Gothic Lolita outfit.

One of my favorite things about these thinner, less ruffle covered headdresses is that you don't really need to style your hair around them! The thin and flat headdresses look just as nice with nicely brushed hair as they do with an up-do. Which is great for the everyday (or nearly everyday) Lolita, because sometimes you just don't feel like doing much with your hair besides running a brush through it! The extra ruffly headdress, on the other hand, usually needs at least pigtails to make it look a little less awkward.

What do you think about the rectangle headdress? Do you pretty much hate it no matter what it looks like? Or are you willing to make an exception for certain styles. Back when I first got into Lolita I had a couple rectangle headdresses and they always felt very awkward to wear, so I simply nixed the head accessories altogether for a few years until head bows became more prevalent. But, back then, many headdresses were much rufflier than these delicate head accessories that Victorian Maiden and the likes are offering up for sale, and I can definitely see myself getting more into this style of headdress, especially if it comes on a headband so I don't have to worry about accidentally tying my hair into the bow! Now that I have a shiny new sewing machine (that actually works for more than a couple inches of stitches at a time!) I plan on trying to make a couple slim rectangle headdresses. I'd like to try to make one in maroon with cream lace, and an all black one, because I think these would go very well with my wardrobe.

Old School Sweet Lolita: Angelically Sweet

While browsing through some Gothic & Lolita Bibles I noticed that the earlier ones have much more white or off-white coordinates than any of the newer volumes. These pale colored coordinates have such an angelic and innocent aesthetic and it's definitely more elegant than the modern pastel rainbow Sweet Lolita, which tends to focus on cuteness as opposed to elegance. I really love this style of old school Sweet Lolita but it's hardly ever seen any more unless it's someone deliberately dressing in Shiro Lolita, and then the focus is more about dressing mainly in all white, not maintaining an angelic air.

These are some of my favorites from the early volumes. One of the things I really love about some of these coordinates is that they are not afraid to combine off-white with white. White/off-white combos are often seen as an instant Lolita faux pas to some, but I think this is something of an unfair statement that people heard once and take a little too much to heart. True, if you are wearing a white dress and socks a pair of off-white shoes are going to look out of place, and a white blouse with off-white lace paired with a pink and white skirt is going to look strange, but that's not to say that all white and off-white combos should be written off. If you balance the two colors nicely, such as matching a white blouse and socks with an off-white JSK and socks, the result is lovely.

Another detail often seen in these early angelic Sweet Lolita coordinates are ruffly sleeves. Either wide, lace covered bell sleeves, or a long sleeve with a wide ruffle at the end. All in all the designs were much more detailed, lots of ruffles, lots of lace, and lots of bows and other sweet details. The ruffles didn't stop at the dress either! Socks had a lacy ruffle around the top, frilly bloomers peeked out from under skirts, and headdress were extra lacy or they even wore a decadent white bonnet. These old school angelic outfits were definitely over-the-top in their own way and could definitely hold their own against a modern OTT Sweet Lolita outfit.

Updating this old school style

This style is easily updated for the Lolita who loves the style, but wants a few more up-to-date details. The result, I think, ends up a little bit more Classic Lolita than Sweet Lolita, but then again, old school Sweet was often very similar to Classic Lolita.

I've picked a BtSSB staple for the JSK, a pale cream colored empire waisted JSK and paired it with a white blouse with some wristcuffs for an extra lacy ruffle. To update the look a bit I switched the knee socks for a pair of over-the-knees and instead of an old school ruffly headdress I've picked one of Innocent World's rose covered headbands. To complete the look, and to further the angelic theme, I've added a few pieces of antique gold jewelry, a couple of which feature crosses and cherubs.

This is a gorgeous style, and while people still certainly do wear Shiro Lolita, I would really love to see more white coordinates with an elegant and angelic aesthetic to them. These old school sweet coordinates have a certain look to them that many modern Sweet Lolita coordinates just don't have, despite how OTT both are. What do you think? Would you like to see the next big Angelic Pretty piece be a lace covered dress like one of these, or do you prefer cute over elegant Sweet Lolita styles?

Lolita Hairstyles: Ode to the Spiral Curl

One of my favorite Lolita hairstyles is the spiral curl, or ringlet. It's used to be one of Lolita's must have looks, but now it's nearly never seen. Which is understandable, it is very hard to pull off without looking like a Little Bo Peep cartoon and it's even harder to maintain if you do pull it off. One little slip-up and you can end up pulling your perfect curls apart never to be able to get them back together without busting out the curling iron yet again.

I can't really decide what I love most about the look, perhaps because it is a perfect example of the porcelain doll aspect of the Lolita aesthetic, or the wave of nostalgia I have whenever I see them, reminding me of a time when Lolita was still new to me and I would have given anything to get my hair to behave in such a manner.

The most classic spiral curl for Lolitas is the tight, highly styled spiral curl. These are typically perfect looking. Shiny strips of perfectly flattened hair curled into an impeccable spiral and held that way with lots and lots of hair spray. Or, probably more often than not, a very well cared for wig. This is the most "doll like" of the spiral curl, for it's perfect and near artificial look. Often seen down, but also in a pair of pigtails, this style is more suited for Classic Lolita, Gothic Lolita, or any kind of old school style.

Another variation on these curls is the "form all the curls into big curls". In which, you guessed it, you carefully form all the curls into a couple big curls. You most often see this with 2 big curls, either in ponytails or worn down with one across each shoulder, but you can have more if you feel like it. This kind of spiral curl can easily go with any of the Lolita sub-styles and makes a good, toned down alternative, for the big huge pigtails that are so prevalent in Sweet Lolita. It's much lighter on maintenance too. So long as your hair can hold a curl you need not worry too much about this getting stuck on long fingernails, buttons, headbands, or anything else that might get too close to your head as you can easily reform the curl so long as it still has some spring back in it.

One other variation is to soften up the curls a bit by going easy on the hair spray and fluffing them with your fingers. It creates a much softer and fluffier curl that is also relatively light on maintenance, since you can easily hide any accidental unravelings in the volume of the hair. This is another variation that can easily go with any of the sub-styles. As seen in the pictures below, it's perfect for hair that's too short for the other versions of the spiral curl.

How do you get these perfect curls you ask? There are a number of ways, the easiest is definitely to get a wig or a pair of clip-in extensions. You don't have to spend a couple hours carefully balancing a hot curling iron over your head to get those hard-to-reach spots, all you have to do is tuck your real hair up and pop on a wig. These curls are also pretty much never going to go flat, they'll always remain springy and perky.

Bodyline sells a rather nice looking spiral curl wig in a variety of colors. I'm seriously considering getting the reddish brown one!

You can also style your own hair by using a very thin curling iron and a whole lot of hairspray. I can't tell you the best thing to do for your type of hair, but typically what you want to do is start off with a very thin curling iron, work with small sections of hair, hold the iron vertically and gently shake the curls off of it once they are set, then spray it with hair spray. There are tons of tutorials and videos about this online for lots of different kinds of hair, so look around and experiment to find the best one for you and your hair!

I know these curls are either a love-it-or-hate-it sort of thing, but I can't help loving them, I have to admit I even like the ultra-shiny fake looking ones. But what do you think? Is it a trend you wish would come back? Or do you cringe every time you see them?

Metamorphose's Nostalgic Chess & Victoria Princess

Metamorphose has a couple new prints out in their winter line, and I think I'm in love with them! First up is Nostalgic Chess, a design reminiscent of their Old Emblem series, only featuring huge bold chessboards at the hem.

This print is fantastic! It reminds me of more indi Lolita brands such as Excentrique. This design will come in quite a number of different options. I am counting 3 JSK designs, a vest, and 2 skirts, as well as 2 different matching headdresses and a really awesome pair of socks.

Their other new print is a bit less bold, it's more of an all over floral print, called Victoria Princess

I am all sorts of in love with this series! I love the delicate antique-looking print, as well as the princessy designs. The Victoria Princess print also comes in quite a few different design options, a JSK, a short sleeved dress, 2 different tops, and 3 skirts as well as a bonnet and a rose corsage to accessorize with. My favorite piece is definitely this very princessy top. Tops like this used to be a standard Lolita design, but they have faded in popularity in the years so now they are quite a rare and refreshing sight! I don't know about the huge lace on the pink version (which doesn't seem to be there for the worn picture?) but it has it's charm, and is definitely very Metamorphose looking.

In keeping with their old school roots, Meta has also released this skirt in the Victoria Princess print:

*Gasp* It's not the standard Lolita shape! This style of skirt is another thing that was much more common way back when, before bell shaped skirts became the standard. The question "Is something like this still Lolita?" has always been debated, or at least, it has been in the past 6 or so years, but really, right now I don't care if it's Lolita or not, because I know that it's gorgeous.

In blog related news, sorry to bother everyone yesterday with a couple technical updates, but I am in the process of doing a lot of stuff to the blog and I don't want anyone to get horribly confused if things start looking weird! Comments should be back to normal in the next couple of days, I have Disqus migrating all my old comments to the new domain name (haha, I hope that's what I did at least!) and that usually takes a while. I have noticed that people have still been able to comment, bravo to them because I can't figure out how to right now XD