Lolita Charm: For The Love Of Black

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

For The Love Of Black

For a long time - at least, for most of my induction into lolita - it seemed that Sweet Lolita was on a mounting rise. What began as a modest interest in Baby the Stars Shine Bright quickly bloomed into a love of Angelic Pretty and from there exploded into the decololi era, full of pink wigs and print-frenzy and head-eating bows. I admit that these are the styles I 'grew up on' in lolita. I find that I'm quickly becoming a more nostalgic lolita senior these days as I watch what I never thought - sweet fading from the lolita world.

If the lolita world was a tea table, in which everyone had been eating the sugariest cake for hours, a suddenly belly-aching cry rang, 'Oh God, I need a cup of coffee. Black. No sugar, please - keep it.' Even the few girls who had drunk the most sugary sweet tea headed for finger sandwiches stuffed with wholesome, entirely unsweetened filling.

Perhaps this was a longer metaphor than necessary, but I shall get on to the point - I predict a broad drop-off in sweet lolita style, especially the very over-the-top styles of Angelic Pretty. As for decololi, it has become an increasingly rare animal. It seems like what was yesterday's big hit has suddenly lost all interest - the signs were written on the wall. Sugary Carnival had its rush, but Cherry Berry Bunny was a little less, and now Memorial Cake a little less after that. If it wasn't for Melty Choc, the new pink and chocolate colored line being pushed, I would nearly declare Memorial Cake to be the last of its kind for a while. Maybe it's the economy, maybe it is just an envitable flow of time, but I think that Gothic, aristocratic, and some classic are going to be the new majority in the lolita world.

It's not surprising, really. Trends fluctuate back and forth like a pendulum, from one extreme to the next and everywhere in between. Just like the 60s brought big hair and the 70s brought pin-straight, people move towards diversity. Trends occur in the fashion world because somebody starts aching for something new and and then suddenly everyone wants whatever if new and different. Black veils and spiderweb motifs are suddenly starting to look like a breath of fresh air after all the unicorns and candy. Even I'm starting to daydream about aristocratic, sharp-lapeled jackets and longer pleated skirts. But I think I'm ready for the switchover. Are you?

A (Tongue-in- Cheek) Survival Guide for Sweet Lolitas

Stock up on anything that looks like it will suffer from the lack of sweet lolitas - like sweets jewelry, candy-shaped purses, etc.
Be ready with a constant arsenal of bows to sweeten anything - pink bows on bats? Yes!
If even you are falling prey to some of the elegant gothic designs, pair them with sweet basics. I think a beautiful gothic corset would look fabulous with a frilly, sweet-style black or white blouse.
If you're still really into sweets themes, try using black coffee, dark chocolate, licorice, or espresso beans in your motifs!
Try wearing black dresses from sweet brands, like Baby the Stars Shine Bright or Angelic Pretty. Then you can still wear them with the gothic accessories - I'm always hypnotized by Suppurate System.
When there are fewer sweet lolitas, there's less competition for the It Print of the Month! Take advantage of it!

I'd also do a Survival Guide for Sweet Lolitas in a Classic Age but they're so close I'm not worried about assimilation ;)

No matter who takes up the style torch of the lolita world, one must remember that all forms of lolita are beautiful. To war one style with another is as ridiculous as twin sisters fighting. A friend once asked me how to such different styles could be considered the same thing. I responded it that it was a simple as two sides of the same coin. You can't really have one without the other - the depth of the fashion would be lost. The most powerful motif in lolita fashion is our love of juxtaposition - dark innocence; one side will make you bigger, one side will make you smaller; cute and creepy. Each fresh wave of trends keeps lolita evolving - and forever young.

Labels: culture, discussion, fashion

9 Comments:

At June 24, 2009 at 5:27 PM , Anonymous said...: "Pink bows on bats"
Hehe! I love it :D

My friend who is newly attracted to lolita fashion is definitely more drawn to the sensible colours of the gothic side. That's fine by me, because it means less shopping competition when we go out to the mall :) I'm the one buying ice-cream necklaces while she buys a black frilly headband :)

I think maybe the majority of lolitas in my country that I see online have been wearing gothic or darker styles recently.

I don't think I'll ever get tired of my crazily fun sweet prints, but I am a fan of gothic lolita too and have some darker (but maybe still sweet?) clothes that I want to make eventually.
At June 24, 2009 at 6:03 PM , Anonymous said...: Fun article! I've never been one for sweet anyway -- I don't like the idea of food all over me...but lol I want it to continue so less attention is paid to my (classic) interests. :S

The idea of too much sugar sums it up well. Isn't everyone becoming a health nut these days, anyway? :p
At June 24, 2009 at 6:41 PM , Unknown said...: I always love your articles!I havve always been more of a classic lolita myself, but it will be sad to see so little of the candy coloured girls!
At June 24, 2009 at 7:45 PM , sumin said...: I love sweet lolita. I consider myself a sweet lolita (but my mom drew the line somewhere, so I guess it's closer to a casual sweet lolita). The less competition would be helpful, but the declination of sweet lolitas would make me panic a bit. Just a wee bit.

I love your blog entries. ^^
At June 24, 2009 at 8:21 PM , Cassandra James said...: I adore Sweet and who knows, when another style becomes more popular and prevalent maybe people will stop bashing on Sweet? XD I swear if the most popular style isn't Gothic Lolita some girls seem to bust a nut.
I for one love every Lolita style so I'm never scared of what's next around the corner for the fashion.
At June 25, 2009 at 10:39 AM , Frillypinkdreams said...: o.o NOW I'm really terrified o.o
I'm JUST getting started at becoming a lolita, and my goal was sweet TT_TT OH MY GOD! I don't think I can live withouth that style!!! Is this the end? :S
At June 25, 2009 at 11:12 AM , Lady Christina said...: I agree with Lolita-chan....I'm a bit terrified that Sweet Lolita is dying. I'd like to try and get my hands on a Pink Cherry Berry Bunny OP for my first Lolita outfit, luckily I think Sweet can last two to three more months until I can get a job. On the other hand, I also think it'll be pushed back on the shelf like Gothic and classic styles were, and I also think it's about time for Moi Meme Moite and Mary Magdalene to shine and give Metamorphose, BABY, and Angelic Pretty a chance relax a while from all the demand they've been getting. (And hopefully they'll make clothing in bigger sizes for us big busted Loli's ^-^)
At June 30, 2009 at 6:29 PM , musouka_ningyou said...: As much as I love sweet, and of course I'm sad to see sweet going out of style, I'm a bit glad that the overly sweet trend is dying a little. It seemed (to me, at least) to be a little more on how much AP and how many sweets rings you had, almost like it was a status symbol in the loli world. I'll also be glad to see more of a resurgance of classic and classic sweet, since that's the kinds of things I like most (I'm starting to really love the old sweet style that was more like an OTT version today's classic in pastel colours).

One of the great things about loli, though, is that nothing really goes out of style. No one will be upset if you are wearing last season's styles, or even be upset if you are wearing styles from 5 years (or more!) ago. The only things I really see getting looked down upon are elements commonly associated with itas (black x white stockings, rectangular headresses), but on the right person and in the right outfit, even these are still perfectly fine. (I wear black x white stockings with my sailor outfit, which also includes a - gasp! - circle skirt.)

The girls who truely love really sugary sweet will still continue to wear it (I will probably even get in on the cheaper prices, haha), and those who don't will be weeded out, which is fine. It's a natural cycle of fashion, and thankfully loli doesn't have a true rejection phase. :D

(Though, I'm sad that I didn't get any sweets jewelry while the fad was still really strong, and I'm afraid that if I try to sell it at local cans, it won't sell as well by the time I get going...)

Also, I don't know why, but my LJ open ID hasn't been working here for a little while. Has anyone else had any problems?
At June 10, 2011 at 5:39 AM , Rose said...: Hehe, the bottom left picture is in one of my Gothic and Lolita Bible (Volume 26). (:
I love your blog, by the way ^w^

--
~Rosie
UnordinaryImagination.blogspot.com

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Wednesday, June 24, 2009

For The Love Of Black

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