Trends of the Past: Camouflage Lolita?

Cruella De Vil wigs, mismatched socks, pastry hats, applying your false eyelashes about halfway down your face... Lolita definitely has it's fair share of odd trends that come and go with the times, but I think that one of the weirdest and most inexplicable ones to hit the fashion was the trend of Camouflage Lolita, from back in the old school days. Yes, that's right, quite possibly the least elegant thing in the world managed to become a Lolita trend, albeit not a very widespread one.

I'm honestly not sure how this happened, it probably happened with a somewhat strange Angelic Pretty collaboration in 2005 with the Jrock band Psycho le Cemu, in which they designed this set, complete with old school giant ruffly headdress, for the musician Aya.

 The elegance! The mystery! The crossdressing!

This was not a one-off, a just-for-Aya-to-dance-around-in costume, but something actually released by Angelic Pretty. Believe it or not, Aya was something of a Lolita idol, a pink-haired second-rate Mana, who often appeared in the Gothic & Lolita Bibles, usually wearing, or doing, something questionable. I am particularly fond of a picture of him posing with a vacuum cleaner, pretending to be some sort of Punk Lolita housewife, and one sort of awkward Wizard of Oz photo shoot that involved drawings of bishounen Scarecrow. I honestly have no idea what ever happened to Aya, I seem to recall some sort of brief career as a Halloween themed costumed rock star, but for whatever reason, he seems to have slipped from the pages of the Bibles, and from the Lolita timeline.

 Angelic Pretty's stock photos for this set.

When most people even recall that camo-print Lolita was even a thing, they usually think back to Metamorphose's Punkma Camouflage set released a year later, in 2006. After all, Meta tends to be the odd ball in the Lolita world, no one would have really expected Angelic Pretty to make something like this, it seems to have Meta's shenanigans all over it. Maybe Meta didn't invent camo-loli, but they certainly jumped all over that bandwagon with Punkma and released a surprisingly large amount of pieces, in a wide range of styles, in their particular brand of camo-print, which featured cute silhouettes of their bunny and bear mascots.

   

Believe it or not, there are actually a few more pieces in this series!

While this is Meta's most famous camo-print line, it certainly wasn't their first! Before this bunny and bear covered camo-print came a more generic print set. As far as I know, it came in grey and pink, had 2 different styles of skirt, and a heart-shaped apron. At least, these are the only pieces of it I have ever seen online.

 

A couple pieces from the original Meta camo-print set, complete with matching heart-shaped apron. Because just a camo Lolita skirt is never enough.

Did it come before the Psycho le Cemu Angelic Pretty set? Did Metamorphose, in fact, invent such a thing as Camouflage Lolita? Honestly, I have no idea, as there is very little information about Meta's first camo series online. All I know is that, just like all the other camo-print Lolita pieces that have released, it is pretty awesome, for it's equal parts of badass and tackiness. I actually used to own one of the pink skirts from this set! I loved it for it's tackiness, but never quite knew how to wear it so, regrettably, I sold it. I would probably pick it up in a heart-beat if I saw it for sale again, that is, if it was for the $35 that I paid for it and had been making the rounds through the second hand Lolita community for.

Sometime last week I was tweeting around Twitter and was conversing* with a fellow old school Lolita/fashion-in-questionable-taste fan about the old camo-loli and wondered if this weird trend could ever get revived for current generations of Lolita fans. Conclusion: probably not, but wouldn't it be wacky if it did? So, I coaxed some life out of my dying Wacom tablet and doodled up what I thought a print would look like this trend happened today in Lolita.

 Awful? More like AWESOME-FULL.

First thing to change, from the old style, would definitely be the colors, they're just too bold and monochromatic for the modern Lolita. Drawing inspiration from Angelic Pretty, I made a pallet of all the pastel colors I could think of (Which is apparently just four colors...) and made a big pastel mess of a camouflage print. If you squint your eyes and think about bunny rabbits, it sort of looks like what a lot of relatively recent Angelic Pretty prints look like to me. But, still, it was too plain. All-over prints are so Baby the Stars Shine Bright, and that's just not what we were going for. Knowing that Lolitas can't ever get enough of irony (Guro Lolita, anyone?) we decided to bust out the big guns. The big cookie guns, covered in frosting, and made into a frosting sandwich, that is. And some grenades and tanks and hearts for good measure too.

My tablet managed to give out on me while I was trying to draw up some outfits with this print, which is a shame, because they were actually really fun looking, if a bit completely an utterly silly. They involved hats shaped like tank cookies and machine gun cookie purses. And the dress came in 2 styles, typical Angelic Pretty OP, and a more Fairy Kei styled empire waist mini-dress with matching bloomers. I think I hear Maki and Asuka knocking on my door now, just begging me to fly to Japan and design dresses for them now!

That's about the short-lived and weird trend of Camouflage Lolita in a nutshell. What do you think about it? Did you not even know about this skeleton buried deep within the Lolita closet? Or maybe you were actually a fan of it at one time? When I first started buying Lolita pieces, this style was in full-swing, well, as full of a swing as it ever was, and I was a bit baffled by it, this manly and inelegant print, so out of place in a time when nearly all Lolita prints were classical and elegant florals, but I enjoyed it for it's silly irony, and I still do. When I hear people complain about some new trend being un-Lolitalike, or someone not considering something part of the Lolita fashion just because it doesn't follow their idea of elegance, I tend to think back to these camo-printed pieces and wonder how they would react if they knew that brands used to put out pieces like this.


*the following story is a bit over dramatized, the conversation basically went Her: "Remember Meta's camo print?" Me:"OMG LOVED IT! It should come back in OTT!" Her: "OMG WITH COOKIE GUNS" Me: "I'M GONNA DRAW IT!" But that's not very fun to read, or write about.

Taking Classic Lolita to the Next Level. Dare I say, OTT Classic?

When people hear "OTT Classic" there are a lot of mixed reactions, from "OMG that sounds awesome!" to "Impossible! There's no such thing". Personally, I feel that anything, with proper styling, can be made into a nicely put together over-the-top outfit, after all, OTT simply means that a style is a little more excessive than it usually is. To call a style of Lolita "Classic" we are simply implying a general aesthetic, one that typically is styled after elegant times gone by, not that there is some sort of cap to how many accessories you can wear. And after all, many fashions of the past are known for being very opulent and over-the-top in pretty much any sense of the term, so why should Classic Lolita simply mean "those plain Lolita dresses that sort of look like grandma's couch?" Just because Classic Lolita is generally thought of as the more "toned down" Lolita style that doesn't mean that there is a limit to how excessive the style can be, in fact, I think that because Classic Lolita is a bit more toned down that means that it doesn't take much to push it into the realm of over-the-top.

OTT Classic as the next big thing?

"OTT Classic" has been talked about on the sidelines of Lolita for a while now, usually when people are predicting the next big trend in Lolita. I can easily see the next big thing in Lolita being an over-the-top take on Classic Lolita! Classic Lolita has almost always been talked about as being the next big thing, and with people still hopped up on the over-the-top trend that came along a few years ago with Sweet Lolita, it only seems natural that the next must-wear style in Lolita will be just as outrageous.

It might seem a bit of blasphemy to those that love the simplicity of Classic Lolita, but OTT Classic is a style that seems to have everything that OTT Sweet had that made it pretty much sit on top of the Lolita world for the past 4 years. So, what makes are some of the things that make OTT Sweet so beloved that can easily be applied to Classic Lolita?

• Print overload- One of the things that made OTT Sweet Lolita very popular was the abundance of cute prints coming out for Sweet Lolitas, and the same can be said of OTT Classic. Instead of prints featuring toys and cute animals, an OTT classic enthusiast could have her pick of any of the various Classic prints, from Juliette et Justine's opulent Rococo cupids, to more traditional clusters of huge floral bouquets. One upside to Classic that Sweet Lolita's rarely get the luxury of is the fact that floral prints can typically be bought domestically, either easily and relatively online or through local fabric shops, while finding a good Sweet Lolita print in a fabric store is nearly an impossible task and many Lolita seamstresses have to import fabrics from Japan, at a considerable cost. 
• Accessory overload- While the OTT Sweet Lolita can load up on hair accessories, wrist cuffs, fuzzy brooches, cute rings, and all sorts of other things they can clip to themselves and their clothes, Classic Lolita has it's own version of accessory overload. Faux rose clips, fancy Victorian-esque jewelry, cameos, and pretty much any other jewelry element that is normally used in Classic Lolita can simply be multiplied and worn like it is in OTT Sweet. Take a cue from the Sweets and add some jewelry and accessories in places they weren't originally intended for, clip a cluster of cameos on a bonnet, pin a necklace fancifully on a bodice bow, or wear brooches in your hair.
• Mixing in other Jfashion styles- I think that one of the things that made OTT Sweet so popular was it's versatility when it came to outfits outside of Lolita. Many Lolita's are sometimes a bit lost when it comes time to wear something other than Lolita, but OTT Sweet lovers had their pick of a variety of non-Lolita Jfashions to pick from that had a similar aesthetic, such as Decora, Hime, and Pop Kei. These styles could either be worn completely separately from Lolita, or even mixed and matched together to create outfits that were trendy and original. The same can be said of Classic Lolita, since both Mori and Dolly Kei are more and more frequently mixed in with the style and both share a similar aesthetic to Classic Lolita all while having much more relaxed rules.

So what makes a Classic Lolita coordinate OTT?

As I have mentioned, Classic Lolita is generally thought to be a much more toned down and refined Lolita style, so, personally, I feel that anything that is a bit fancier or more decorated than is usually seen in Classic Lolita could be called OTT Classic. This includes things like extra poofy skirts, excessive and opulent jewelry, purses shaped like fancy things, bold prints, extra layers (longer skirts worn under shorter skirts, boleros over blouses, jabots and wristcuffs added to blouses, etc), large bonnets, and non-cotton materials such as silks, chiffons, brocades, velvets, and gobelins. These are all things that, while they are undoubtedly a part of the Lolita fashion and aesthetic, are not often combined all at once in one coordinate, thus adding several of them to one outfit is usually enough to make it a bit more over-the-top than is normally seen in Classic Lolita

Much like with OTT Sweet, it is not just a matter of the dress alone making a coordinate, but rather how that dress is put together with other pieces and accessories. It is a combination of not just a prettily patterned dress, but the addition of accessories as well as hair and makeup styling. A dress with a Victorian wallpaper-esque print paired with a plain cream blouse, cream tights, a matching rectangle headdress and brown mary-janes is undoubtedly Classic Lolita, but pair that same dress with a chiffon blouse with billowing sleeves, a couple extra petticoats, a huge flower covered bonnet, lace tights, Victorian boots, a long lace underskirt, oodles of antiqued gold jewelry, and doll-like flawless makeup job and it just seems like the same dress has become something else completely, not necessarily something better, just something more extreme and definitely over-the-top in terms of elegance.

One of the Lolitas who I think is a perfect example of taking Classic Lolita to the next level is Steph from the blog Moar Lace Please. The following outfits are all from her blog, for more, definitely check out her blog!

  

Styles like this are also featured several times throughout various Gothic & Lolita Bibles, both in street snaps and photoshoots. Please excuse this very sparse sampling of examples from the Bibles! I have recently lost my folder full of every G&LB scan ever in a computer move and am still trying to get it back together!

  

A brief note about the phrase "OTT Classic"

I would like to add, one final time, that I am really just using the phrase "OTT Classic" to describe a style of Classic Lolita that is a little bit fancier and more decorated than Classic Lolita is usually perceived as being. If you think that these styles should only be called regular old Classic Lolita, that is fine. If you prefer to call them Neo-Rococo Phantasmagoria Opulent Antiquated Lolita, that is just fine too. 

I'm not necessarily saying that every time a Classic Lolita dons a bonnet with a few extra roses clipped to it that she is being "OMG a totally over the top wacky princess just like those OTT Sweet Lolitas!" I do not necessarily believe that every deviation from the standard idea of Lolita needs a very specific sub-style name or that things that deviate from the Lolita norm and do not have a very specific community approved sub-style name are all the sudden new and strange and no loner Lolita, but I do believe that, as a blogger, it's a hell of a lot easier to use buzzwords and brief descriptive phrases to describe things. You probably wouldn't have made it this far into this post if, instead of saying "OTT Classic", I said "This style of Classic Lolita, that, while still considered Classic Lolita, has leaning towards poofier petticoats and more accessories than what most people consider Classic Lolita". 

Lolita sub-style names shouldn't limit what can be worn in said sub-style, they just make it a heck of a lot easier to talk about the things we enjoy.

Completely Ridiculous Lolita Trend Predictions!

Lolita is known for having some ridiculous trends, everything from wearing hats hat look like cakes or melted ice cream headdresses, to pastel afro wigs, to mismatched shoes, to even the more mundane trend of encrusting everything you have in rhinestones and fake whipped cream. So, I got to thinking, is there anything that might be just a bit too weird to become a Lolita trend? I hope you don't mind this no-I-am-not-serious (so no hate mail, please!) prediction at a few trends that I really hope don't plan on hitting Lolita anytime soon. Well, maybe I wouldn't mind some of these!

Wig overload!

With the wig trend at it's peak, wig enthusiasts will start to look for ways to wear all their wigs and hair falls all at once. It will start with wearing more than 2 curly hair falls on your wigs at one time, Lolita's will start clipping at least half a dozen wig falls onto their base wig. Soon a famous Lolita model is spotted in a Gothic & Lolita street snap with one of her falls clipped to her purse, and another clipped to her waist-tie bow, and yet another wrapped up around her wrist. The rising popularity in the new My Little Pony cartoon will cause Lolita's to exclaim "OMG! It looks like she has a pony tail growing out of her butt! THAT'S SO CUTE!" and Lolita's everywhere will at least start clipping their extra wig falls to their purses and to their waist ties. Brands will soon release big detachable butt-bows complete with an attached pony tail, and smaller pony tail purse charms. Some will complain that the trend makes us look like furries, but no one cares because we all are too excited about My Little Ponies to give a fuck.

Super hero styled capes.

Not necessarily capes in general, or those fancy historically correct Rococo cape-ish things that are on the back of Baby's $800 super special dresses, but capes that look a bit like a super hero cape. For some reason, it starts becoming popular for Lolitas to don frilly, lace edged capes that tie in the front in a big ruffly bow. Soon enough, brands start putting out capes that feature their logo or a cute screen printing from their most recent print on the back. Many arguments break out because a lot of Lolitas find it "too costumey". The trend eventually subsides and super hero Lolita capes are generally only worn around Halloween, or at meetups that involve going to the newest comic book based movie.

Wearing a fancy bra outside of your clothes.

A trend like this- completely ridiculous, mildly offensive, and just so out of left field- I can only imagine Metamorphose starting. Perhaps one day, on their site, they offer a Lolita-esque bra, it's really cute and ruffly, and everyone loves it, but for some reason it's being modeled on the outside of a blouse. Are they asking us to wear it this way? Did they just not feel like undressing their mannequin? Are they trying to troll us? Whatever the answers might be, the trend catches on and a few daring Lolitas start wearing fancy bras over their clothes and then next thing you know, you can't go to a meetup without at least half the Lolitas there wearing bras on the outside. Arguments will break out on EGL, with anti-outside-bra complaints of "It looks like you're trying to be the other kind of Lolita" while pro-outside-bra supporters will remind everyone that they are wearing a bra under their outside bra, so it's not really their underwear that everyone is seeing.

Kawaii meat prints.

Sometime this Summer, Angelic Pretty will discover the traditional picnic or cook-out and will fall in love with plaid tablecloths, cute country styled plates and cutlery, and even potato salad and hot dogs and hamburgers. They'll release a border print featuring cute cut crystal bowls piled high with potato salad, links of sausages piled up on china plates, juicy hamburgers stacked 3 patties high, and hot dogs with a squiggle of glittery golden mustard going down the middle. Of course, everything will be printed in pale pastels, creating a nauseating raw-hamburger and un-cooked hot dog effect. But Lolita's will eat it up (har har) anyways and the next thing you know Baby will be putting out a sort of retro styled print with hot dogs and hamburgers and Innocent World will be releasing a print featuring a fine line drawing of marbled T-bone steaks.

Over-the-top Classic book hats

I imagine a brand like Alice & the Pirates or Juliette et Justine would start this trend. They would release a really fancy, really expensive, book hat and everyone would have to have it, but it would be too expensive and too daring for all but the most courageous Lolitas to try. Crafty Lolitas would figure out a way to make their own versions of book hats using either old books (and a lot of neck strength!) or those cardboard fake book boxes you can pick up at home stores, a tutorial would hit EGL and then everyone would rush to make their own. 

Bubble Bath Lolita

Baby will release another version of those weird terry cloth material dresses and a famous Lolita model will appear in a G&LB street snap wearing it with a pair of fuzzy slipper shoes, a cute little shower cap tilted at an angle, and carrying a cell phone with a bath pouf clipped to it. Soon everyone will start buying up Baby's terry cloth dresses and wearing them with cute shower caps, the less daring will simply clip pastel bath poufs to their purses and cellphones. Shortly after, Metamorphose and Angelic Pretty will each release a bubble bath themed print and a matching colorful towel, both of which will sell out almost instantly. A more "toned down" version of Bubble Bath Lolita will appear, which just involves wearing a bubble bath themed print and wrapping a cute towel around your hair. Arguments will break out over who is the real Bubble Bath Lolita. Baby terry cloth dress purists will exclaim to the print lovers "There's nothing bubble bath about your outfit at all! You're just wearing a print and have your hair wrapped up in a towel! you look stupid!", and the print lovers will exclaim "You look so boring! Your shower cap looks more like grandma's night cap! You look like grandma shuffling around in a bathrobe!" The trend eventually dies, but Lolitas continue to clip bath poufs on purses and cellphones. Two years later, Bodyline releases a bubble bath print dress for $15, EGL is flooded with noobs asking how to coordinate it in a proper Bubble Bath Lolita coordinate.

Chimney Sweep Loli

A photoshoot posted to EGL of a Lolita in an all white outfit, adorably smudged with soot, this becomes a huge hit. Lolita's soon start snapping up cheap white Lolita dresses with the intent to cover in artistically placed smudges of soot. Cute little soot hearts are drawn on cheeks. This trend soon dies out as Lolitas find that the soot has managed to get all over their white blouses, white socks, shoes, purse, and just about everything else the dress touches, ruining much more than the cheap white dress they intended. EGL is flooded with "How do I get soot off Angelic Pretty prints if I can't wash them!?"

So, these are my ideas for trends that might be too wacky even for Lolita! True, some of these might work, the book hats and bath pouf cell charms and maybe, if we're really lucky, the pony-tails-on-your-butt. Who knows though, someone might prove me wrong soon enough! Lolita always manages to surprise me with it's sometimes completely strange trends. Trend that, I must admit, I sometimes find myself falling into as well. It's just really hard to resist something that's completely out-there but everyone else is doing too!

Do you think super hero capes and soot covered dresses could be a possibility in Lolita? Or do you plan on rushing  to clip your extra wig falls onto your butt? But, what I'd really like to know, is what kind of weird trends could you imagine being the next big thing in Lolita? I'd love to hear your ideas! I'll be making a list of all the best ones to add onto this entry!

Reader suggested trends!

• Laurette  "Big chunky metal armour size jewellery. Even metal bows with black and white poke a dot skirts."
• Cherie "HIKING LOLITA! With fanny packs, duck boots and nordic print cardigans!"
• OfstaALaSheep "I think it would be funny if you had a giant fake lolipop that was attached to a headband, and you wore that. Then, you rat the hair around it, and it looks like you a giant lolipop stuck to your head! 8D"
• Queran "Viking Lolita. Of course it would be started by AatP with a trendy viking ship print and soon every Pirate Lolita, who lost her respect for pirates due to "pirates of the carribean", will wear cute little horn helmets and wild red wigs to match her newest "plunder and rape"-print."
• ConstanceHOUANG "Decoden dress, obviously! A dress covered with rhinestones, whipped cream and teddy bears"
• Watercat8 "How About a SUPER crazy trend, like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory themed coards! but not just prints of the factory landscape oh no, they would be girls with orange-y spray on tans wearing green wigs, brown blouses and white skirts with overalls (Oompa-Loompa, doompadee Doo!) Other girls would paint their faces and hands violet and wear blue wigs, blouses, and JSKs. Kodona lederhosen coards covered in chocolate, you can see where I'm going, right?

Keep them coming! I'd love to hear more trend suggestions!

Angelic Pretty: Re-releases and Reimaginings.

In the past few months, it seems like Angelic Pretty has been doing a bit of switching up their style, while at the same time, revisiting some old favorites. It started sometime in the last year, when they started to release prints that were a bit bolder in color, and simpler in print design instead of the pastel jumble of cuteness that made them so popular in recent years. Angelic Pretty also gave everyone quite a shock when they announced that they had decided to re-release Sugary Carnival, a print which is definitely one of their most sought after pieces and was recently made into a replica. With this, it almost seemed as if Angelic Pretty realized "hey, we made some awesome stuff in the past that people still love, let's do that again!" so shortly after Sugary Carnival was re-released they came out with Aqua Princess, a print that looks surprisingly like Twinkle Mermaid, a print that was, at one time, another one of Angelic Pretty's most popular prints.

Left, Aqua Princess; Right, Twinkle Mermaid

Aqua Princess is very different from anything Angelic Pretty has released in a long time simply because the print is a simple 2 color print, reminiscent of some of their first custom screen printings in the early 2000's.

Left, Toy Fantasy; Right, Toy Parade.

While Toy Fantasy isn't a direct re-release, it is very reminiscent of Toy Parade, which was one of Angelic Pretty's very first custom fabric prints, from 2007.

What does this mean for Angelic Pretty and even Lolita? Does it mean that Angelic Pretty has simply run out of different combinations of candy and cute animals to add to their dresses? I doubt it. Angelic Pretty has been on the cutting edge of Lolita fashion for the past 4 years, or at least, the cutting edge of Lolita has been Angelic Pretty. I, and many other Lolitas, feel that the trends in Lolita are beginning to shift away from the over-the-top-rainbow-explosion-glitter-extravaganza that Angelic Pretty has popularized, and, at least a little bit, has started focusing a bit on the nostalgia of Lolita trends gone by. To me, it seems like Angelic Pretty is, instead of trying to come up with The Next Big Thing, grabbing a hold of this new trend for the old and making it their own. "Remember this?! If you liked it you're going to love this!" they seem to be saying.

Will this trend of re-releases and reimaginings continue for very long? Will other brands start to take heed? Baby has already re-released a couple popular prints this year, Stained Glass and Vampire Requiem, but, while popular, neither of which are as iconic as the Angelic Pretty prints that are getting a second go. Many Lolitas have been practically begging Moi Meme Moitie to follow in Baby and AP's footsteps and re-release what is quite possibly Lolita's most sought after print, Iron Gate. Will MmM listen and give in? MmM is known for being one of Lolita's most "exclusive" brands, priding themselves on high prices, limited runs, and nearly impossible to get a hold of pieces, so it's highly unlikely that the old Iron Gate print will ever see new life, but perhaps Mana has heard these cries and listened because a recent print of theirs is a bit reminiscent to the Iron Gate styling.

This re-releasing of older prints is something of a double-edged sword and within the Lolita community there are people who feel very strongly about both sides of the argument. There are those who long to get their hands on a long ago released print and would prefer not to simply buy a replica, even if one were available; and there are others who enjoy the collecting aspect of the fashion and would be crushed to find that a print that they spent a lot of time and money to own could now be so easily, and cheaply, bought. Myself, I'm a bit torn. I have several older prints that cost me an arm and leg and I would be a bit annoyed to find out that if I had only waited I could have gotten them for retail price, but there are even more prints that I know I'll never be able to get my hands on because they are just too rare. I think that when it comes right down to it, I am more of a fan of the reimaginings of prints rather than the re-releases. I feel that this way there is always something new coming out, even if it's heavily inspired, or just a rearranged version of something old.

What about the rest of you? Do you like the direction backwards some brands seem to be going? Or are you always craving something new and exciting from your favorite brands?

I also would like to start doing the 30 day Lolita meme that has been going around in the community! I don't know how I'll go about doing it, maybe I'll actually do a post every day, or every couple of days, or just answer all the questions for any missed days between blog posts. However I decide to do it, today is the first day, so let's answer the first question!

Day 1 – 10 things about your Lolita bubble.

1. I fell in love with Gothic Lolita first, and consider myself a Gothic Lolita, but I really enjoy most all of the sub-styles and wear several of them pretty frequently.
2. That being said, I don't really worry too much about if what I am wearing doesn't exactly fall within one sub-style, or sometimes even completely within the usual Lolita definition.
3. I wear Lolita as much as possible, on a near daily basis. When I get home from work I typically change into a Lolita outfit even if I'm just planning on a night of playing on the computer and reading.
4. I love pink and black! I am a complete sucker for pink and black colorways and I have a ton of pink and black pieces.
5. I have a love/hate relationship with print replicas. I think they're great for people who can't otherwise get a hold of their dream print, but besides the couple of Bodyline ones that I already own and were the first print replicas to really make a splash, I can't really see myself buying any more. Even though I'm always just on the verge of jumping on some sort of group order to get some for cheap.
6. I don't have many Lolita purses. I usually just carry one of my h.NAOTO bags with me, regardless of how well it matches what I'm wearing.
7. I don't have many Lolita shoes either, at least compared to my clothing wardrobe. I usually match a pair of black tea parties with nearly everything, just because they are really easy to walk around in all day. Come to think of it, I really need to invest in a brown and a white pair!
8. Lolita has made me learn, and want to learn, a lot of things! From sewing, to hat making, to doll customizing, to a million more little mundane things. I really love being inspired by Lolita!
9. Baby the Stars Shine Bright is definitely my favorite Lolita brand. They were the first brand I feel in love with and one of the brands that continues to amaze me with their quality and designs. I also really love their little "B" logo.
10. My wardrobe turnover isn't very high. Some people are constantly buying and selling, but I tend to just buy. Even things I rarely wear I don't want to part with because I know they can be made into really cute outfits, even if they aren't really my style.
11. *Super Special Bonus Bubble* I love those completely tacky animated .gifs. Kitten that float up and down for no reason, winking bears, glittery flowers, random bobbing exclamations of "cute!", I love them all, but I never get a chance to use them in my blog!

If you want to join in on this meme along with everyone else, you can check out this post by Sweet Lolita On The Go to get all the questions!

A little note: I just got a new laptop (since my old was was on it's last leg!) and I decided to switch over to Chrome because everyone else is, and I, for whatever reason, can't figure how the heck to resize my images in blogger! So... until I figure that out (or just switch back to good old familiar Firefox) pictures are going to be a bit randomly sized around here!

Sweet-Classic Lolita

"Sweet-Classic" is a phrase that I've noticed popping up in the last couple years that describes, exactly as it sounds, a style that's not quite Sweet and not quite Classic. I like to think of it as the modern Lolita's answer to Country Lolita.

Sweet-Classic is one of those "sort of" styles, it's by no means considered "official" so some people disagree that it's even a style in the first place, and will either consider it to be regular Classic Lolita, just in lighter colors and with cuter prints, or regular Sweet Lolita, with a more sophisticated design. But I feel that it's slowly becoming it's own sub-style, and while it may never be an "official" style, I think it definitely does have an aesthetic of it's own.

If you're interested in some coordinates that blur the line between Classic and Sweet Lolita, check out these scans from some various G&LBs! Click for a bigger picture.

Prints seem to be the big defining factor of this style, both custom brand prints and more generic off-the-fabric-bolt prints. Although brand, many of the following dresses are made with relatively generic all-over floral fabric, and can easily be replicated with easy-to-find commercial fabric and offbrand dresses with similar fabrics can be found at places like Bodyline and Taobao. Keep an eye out for pale pastel colors, not necessarily the muted colors of Classic or the bold and multiple colors of Sweet, but simple pale and pretty pastels. While floral prints still abound, often in vertical or horizontal stripes, there are also prints much more reminiscent of Sweet Lolita, such as cute animals and toys. But the difference is that while most Sweet Lolita prints featuring animals and toys are very cartoony, the Sweet-Classic print features much more realistic illustrations, giving the print more of a Victorian story book look.

Innocent World's Sweet-Classic

Innocent World is probably the brand that first popularized this look, back when they started jumping on the cute border print trend that Angelic Pretty started. While AP was out making prints with toys and cuddly bunnies frolicking and having fun, IW followed shortly behind with more sophisticated versions of cute prints. They often came in more muted pastels and featured much more Victorian styled toys and cute animals, if not just florals.

Baby, the Stars Shine Bright's Sweet-Classic

While Baby didn't really help popularize the Sweet-Classic look, they have been making dresses with a similar aesthetic for a long time, and are always a nice choice if you're looking for a piece featuring pretty Classic florals with a Sweet color scheme and a sophisticated, yet cute cut.

Angelic Pretty's Sweet-Classic

While Angelic Pretty has made the occasional classical floral piece ever since the beginning, they have sort of come full circle with a couple recent custom print additions such as Vanilla Chan or Sugar Pansy, both of which are a huge step away from some of their recent prints, as they are much neater and more sophisticated looking. Even though Vanilla Chan features big headed kittens and bows, the fact that the print is much more orderly looking gives it a completely different aesthetic than some of their other recent prints.

Okay, so I think I know what kind of dresses make for a Sweet-Classic dress, but how do I coordinate it?

Well, since it's not really an "official" style, more of a descriptive phrase, it's sometimes a bit hard to pinpoint what makes something Sweet-Classic, but there are a few key points to the outfits that help define the style.

• Limited color pallet. Many Sweet-Classic prints already have all the colors an outfit can need in them already! The Lolita interested in this tends to choose not to pick out multiple colors from the print to incorporate throughout the outfit and instead lets the dress and the style be the focus of the outfit, not the color scheme.
  
• Minimal and "grown-up" accessories. The Sweet-Classic look isn't about wearing as many matching accessories as possible. In fact, many Sweet-Classic looks seem to exclude wearing any jewelry at all, at the most, possibly a ring or a simple necklace.
  
• Simply styled hair. Gone from this style are the huge teased pigtails and wigs that are usually seen in Sweet Lolita, instead the Sweet-Classic enthusiast would wear her hair in a very simple, yet elegant, hairstyle. Such as a pair of braids, buns, or loose in a very gentle curl.
  
• Heels. Flat and cute shoes, while an option in Sweet-Classic, aren't seen nearly as much as a pair of cute heels, either heeled mary janes, or a pair of Victorian boots. Matching the color of your shoe to the color of your dress is not necessary, a white or cream pair of heels does just fine.
  
• Small hair accessories. Since the Sweet-Classic Lolita's hair is styled simply, without massive amounts of volume, hair accessories are kept simple as well. A small Alice bow, a round headdress, or even simply a cute clip or small hair bow is all that is needed for this style.

Of course, I don't believe that Lolitas should worry too much about fitting the perfect label onto themselves or their outfits, and they certainly shouldn't limit themselves or even individual outfits to fitting perfectly within one style. But I do think it is nice to have a tangible name to go with a particular style, especially if you really enjoy it! What do you think of the style? Do you simply consider it to be merely Classic in softer colors, or perhaps just Sweet with flowers? Or, like me, are you enjoying watching what could possibly be a new Lolita sub-style emerge and make it's own place in the world of Lolita?

Before I end this post, I would also like to point out that in the last post of mine, some people seemed to misunderstand what I was saying. I was not necessarily predicting the rise of the Classic Lolita, so much as I was the decline of the Over-the-Top Sweet Lolita. There is more to Lolita than just OTT Sweet & Classic, and Sweet Lolita certainly isn't going anywhere! There were just as many Lolitas in cute, light pastels in this volume as there are in many of the other recent spring volumes of the G&LB, they just seemed to have ditched the clustery unicorn-and-bunnies-baking-glittery-cupcake prints for elegant florals and decided to leave gigantic pastel wigs at home. That is why I made this post, to remind some that Sweet Lolita isn't ever going to go anywhere, and that OTT Sweet Lolita isn't the only kind of Sweet Lolita out there, even though it may have seemed that way for the past few years! I did not mean to imply that Sweet Lolita is, or ever will be, dead and gone, just that it seems to be growing up a bit, at least for a little while!