Les Fleurs Du Mal: A Sopor Aeternus Inspired Coordinate

 A few months ago I made a Rasputina inspired Lolita coordinate, well, I'm back with another coordinate inspired by some of my favorite music, this time inspired by the music of Sopor Aeternus. I had a huge wall of text about here rambling about my love of Sopor Aeternus and me trying to explain it, but honestly, that is a lot of text, if you are curious about the long answer to WTF is Sopor Aeternus, check out the wiki page, if you want the short answer, well Sopor Aeternus is one of my most favorite musical groups, fronted by Anna-Varney Cantodea, a mysterious 50-something Goth. Musically, she is a bit Gothic, a bit Medieval, a bit tongue-in-cheek, and almost always over-the-top. In recent years Anna-Varney has gone from the grotesque to elegant, dusty Victorian finery, a change that has inspired a bit of my own wardrobe.

Anna-Varney's color of choice at the moment, when not simply black, is a pinkish lavender color, so I've spiced up a Gothic Lolita coordinate with Victorian accents with a few accessories, some as close to that lavender as I could find, that are inspired by various songs and images. A coffin ring, a black feather plume, an umbrella with a cathedral print on the inside, roses, and lacy fingerless gloves.

I, of course, can't end this post without having a Sopor Aeternus song up! So here is one off of the most recent album, Les Fleurs du Mal. This particular song "Some Men Are Like Chocolate" is incredibly catchy, upbeat, and generally optimistic for the majority of Sopor Aeternus songs out there, but I love it so much. If you haven't heard Sopor Aeternus before, well, this is as good as any to listen to at first XD Anna-Varney has a rather unique voice, that honestly boggled my mind a bit when I first heard it, but it has since grown on me quite a bit, if you couldn't tell.

Old School vs. New School, Round 4: Victorian Maiden and Innocent World

Round 4: Victorian Maiden

Victorian Maiden now, volume 32

Victorian Maiden then, volumes 1-3

Round 4: Innocent World

Innocent World now, volume 33



Innocent World then, volumes 1-3

I've combined Victorian Maiden and Innocent World in one post, just because I don't have much to say about either of them. I think that Innocent World, much like Metamorphose, has stuck to its roots, while Victorian Maiden has more or less joined the Lolita mainstream. Many of Innocent World's older pieces would fit right at home in some of their newer lines, and they are a brand known for having a few signature cuts of dress that they re-release in various color combos and prints over the years. On the other hand Victorian Maiden has gone from the early anything-goes attitude of Lolita, long velvet dresses, skirts that can't fit a petticoat, and satins, to the more up-to-date style of full cotton skirts.

I also feel that Victorian Maiden has sort of lost a bit of their charm with the mainstreaming of their ways. They still make beautiful things, but I used to love the fact that Victorian Maiden was the odd gal out. Sure, every now and then they'll put out something reminiscent of the good old days, but I'm not exactly rushing to pre-order it. It would have been very interesting if Victorian Maiden had evolved with more emphasis on the Gothic style that they looked like they were leaning towards in the beginning.