Gyaru and Lolita

I have never been able to understand why people like to lump different things together into somehow-related groups. I am personally a big fan of just letting things stay unique unto themselves. But, that said, people still do tend to want to consider things as parts of larger groups, much to the chagrin of the actual human members of those groups.

The case in point: gyaru, especially himegyaru, and lolita (I supposed himeloli specifically). Ever since Ageha model Himeka Shirosaki (right; check out her blog) decided to flaunt her love for lolita (well, before that, I’m sure– but that line has a nice ring to it), lolitas all over the world have been at war about whether these two fashion genres are related, and if so, how much.

First, let me outline my own personal bias.
I do not like gyaru, particularly Nagoya’s brand, uncreatively called “Nagoya girls”. It is unfair to make a blanket judgment about any group of people based on their fashion, race, creed, or whatever; I agree with this entirely. But nevertheless I find myself forming a little sneer whenever I see a mass of overly-teased, ozone-murdering hair saunter by. Once bitten, twice shy, I suppose. I have met a LOT of gyaru in my time in Japan, as the fashion is definitely on the rise, and have only ever liked one or two. So. Take whatever I may say about them with a grain of salt, because even if I try to be objective, I will undoubtedly fail.

Anyway, I think one would have to admit that there are some definite similarities between sweet lolita/hime lolita and himegyaru– at least in the aesthetics. Frills and pastels work well for girls of both persuasions, and big hair and wildly decorated nails are common additions to both looks. The main goal of any kind of fashion with the word “hime” attached to it is naturally to look like a princess, and in the case of Japan that generally means either a Disney character or Marie Antoinette (to be clever I’d wager that himegyaru leans toward the former and himeloli toward the latter).
A major, and noticable, difference is often the choice of materials: while lolitas take (an absurd amount of) pride in cotton cluny and brand-original tulle lace, gyaru clothing tends toward the (generally more noticeable) wide raschel laces. Lolita tends to shun shiny satin ribbons and gyaru bypasses grosgrain. That’s not to say that both fashions don’t occasionally borrow a page from one another’s books, and actually I think it happens fairly often.

Last summer I saw a few fabrics used both by Angelic Pretty and La Pafait, a himegyaru brand indigenous to Nagoya, and even what appeared to be a knockoff of AP’s Sweet Ribbon Strawberry print. Additionally, lower tier lolita brands like A+lidel regularly use the same fabrics as gyaru brands, such as the strawberry check fabric seen in the La Pafait skirt to the left.

I have seen gyaru carrying or wearing lolita brand bags, parasols, and other small items more times than I can count, and they often shop in lolita stores. However, I have very rarely spotted a lolita sporting an accessory from a gyaru brand. I think the reason behind this could be that gyaru is more flexible and open to interpretation; also, lolita brands are more apt to make items that target gyaru (AP is especially adept at this) than gyaru brands are to target lolitas. I think lolitas in the West might be a little surprised to learn about that first note: lolitas in Japan tend not to go for the casual, mix-and-match looks that are so often seen on forums like Daily Lolita. For the most part, they either go all-out, or go for something that many Western lolitas wouldn’t classify as lolita at all (that style is usually labeled as “fruits” in the Western world). While this makes for more serious lolita eye candy, it also provides a fairly fixed box within which to coordinate. However, when a lolita brand does produce something that has an especially gyaru look to it, it is generally accepted by lolitas. Perhaps we’re all just brandwhores at heart, after all…

At any rate, I can honestly say I’ve never seen a girl in lolita hanging out with a girl in himegyaru, or anything like that. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen or that the same girls wouldn’t be together in different clothing, but there does seem to be a divide. Once, walking with a Japanese lolita friend of mine past a string of gyaru shops, she teasingly tried to push me into them, saying “you want to go in there??” — just as you might shove a shy girl into a fetish clothing store. She made a barfing noise and we walked away giggling.
A friend once summed the two fashions’ ideas of one another pretty concisely: Lolitas think of gyaru as easy, gyaru think of lolitas as prudes. And really, there are obvious differences in the fashion (gyaru features low-cut tops and ultra short skirts, versus lolita’s high necklines and knee-length skirts) that would suggest such. But I agree more aptly, probably because it’s less offensive, with the idea that gyaru dress for boys, while lolitas dress for other girls. That sounds about right. Well, personally I don’t really care what other people think. Or, I say I don’t as I post my outfit coordinates online, at least….

Visual Kei and Lolita

Recently there has been some talk about wearing lolita to concerts, mainly due, I think, to the increase of Japanese visual-style bands playing in the West and Dir en grey’s upcoming American tour. It seems again to be a really polarized topic, though those people who are against it seem to feel more strongly about the topic than those for it.

Personally, I have gone to over 40 indies lives in Japan (over the course of my two stays in Japan), and I’ve worn lolita to quite a few. That said, I’ve seen Dir en grey 10 times in Japan, and I’ve never worn lolita (though I’ve wanted to!) My personal reasons behind this are quite simple: I don’t wear lolita when I want to be really really active at a show, because I will be too self conscious and I won’t be able to have fun, and because I’d be upset if something got damaged. Even when I do wear lolita to lives, I tend to opt for something more casual, usually cutsew/skirt combinations and often things that I picked up used/on sale or from cheaper brands (this is where Bodyline really comes in handy!) My coordinate to the right is one of my typical sweet-style live outfits: Anna House blouse (very cheap!), offbrand headband from a kid’s shop, and a Meta skirt purchased in the final days of the summer sale for 60% off. That’s just my own personal preference though, and I do occasionally end up going to lives in intricate outfits.

There are almost always lolitas at visual kei lives. In fact I can only think of a few indies shows that I have atteneded where there was not at least one lolita in attendance. They run the gamut from very rare prints to lace monstrosities that would immediately be ripped apart on some less friendly forums in the English-speaking world (and which are ripped apart on the less friendly Japanese forums as well). Going back to a previous entry I wrote about lifestyle, the divide is naturally between girls who wear lolita and just happen to go to lives, versus girls who go to lives and choose to wear lolita. There are just as many itas in Japan as anywhere else. With the increase in quality from Bodyline recently, I’ve noticed an overall improvement in one-time or live-only lolitas: they can now get better items for their money, plus the higher quality in the items means that even if they don’t intend to, they’re getting closer to actual lolita than costume (usually!).

Of course bands that have a very visual appeal, especially ones with a member that dresses in a lolita or pseudo-lolita style, attract more lolitas (and more wildly attired people in general). The trend in recent times is that people are dressing down more for lives, but you won’t find any slobs waiting for bands like Versailles, which features style icon Hizaki (pictured to the left). Many fans also tend to tailor their live style to the style of the band they’re seeing; Decola Hopping, featuring a female vocalist bedecked in AP and rainbow colored petticoats, has a lot of deco-loli fans, while the aforementioned Versailles has a lot of gothic and classic lolitas.

As for Dir en grey, they are a bit infamous for supposedly giving lolita fashion a verbal thrashing (which was actually just guitarist Die making fun of it, as he is apt to do of many things, and vocalist Kyo stating the VERY true fact that it just doesn’t suit some people). Honestly though, I think that these statements should be taken in stride, as the band has been working hard to shuck its visual label for a number of years– it’s just not cool any more, and it doesn’t suit the music that they’re trying to make. Dir en grey is my favourite band and has been for years, though, so I might be a little more lenient with them. At any rate, there are always lolitas at Dir en grey concerts in Japan, in spite of what a lot of Westerners think (there seems to be some idea that a lolita at a Dir show would be lynched or shunned)– furthermore, these lolitas tend to go all out. It’s not uncommon to see extremely rare prints (AP’s Twinkle Mermaid, Baby’s Snow White) on show, as well as those things just released. While I think these girls are brave for risking their precious pieces at a violent show, I don’t think they’re doing anything too scandalous. Dir en grey’s visual past basically guarantees them a lolita fanbase, that’s all there is to it.
That said, I don’t think one can draw too many comparisons between the Western and Japanese Dir en grey fanbases. I personally would be more scared of being lynched for wearing lolita at an American show than at a Japanese one. But I will never know because I value freedom of movement more than fashion — at least, in this one situation!

Aldila: Lolita Exhibition

On October 5th I visited the 10th Lolita Exhibition by Aldila in Osaka.  Aldila also holds indies brand events in Tokyo and even in Nagoya occasionally (though I missed the only Nagoya one that has happened since I moved here). It was the perfect opportunity to “twin” with a friend of mine who has the same print by Baby, only in skirt form, so we took our Twin Foreigner Cuteness Attack to the masses. We were a bit late for the event, but when we got there it was still in full swing. There were a lot of really creatively dressed people in attendance as well as selling their wares– perhaps my favourite were the man in the monocle and tophat and the girl who was working an AP-style decololi outfit with her Meta biscuit print JSK.
Though the brands present covered the range from Gothic to Country and were all mixed together, and attendees were decked out in their finest Classic to their most cavity-inducing sweet, there was a sort of obvious divide between the different styles. The staff of gothic brands were a little wary of girls bedecked in ice cream, and likewise the tables selling charms with various foodstuffs attached seemed to not know what to say to the Victorian ladies among them. It was a divide I haven’t ever noticed before, and was kind of disconcerting– especially once my friend suggest that other lolitas might be “thinking of sweet lolitas as the himegyaru of lolita now”. Considering the tension between lolitas and gyaru, that is NOT a good thing!

Anyway. There were a lot of brands in attendance– somewhere around 40 are listed on Aldila’s website, and though I don’t think there were really that many when we arrived (I’m sure some left early), there were quite a few.  It was set up much in the same fashion as any small sales exhibition (maybe a lot of people can conjure up an image of the sales room at an anime convention), with each brand purchasing a table or two to display their wares.  Most of the sellers stocked accessories, quite a few had racks of clothing, and there was even some artwork for sale– all of it handmade.  You could really feel the sense of pride that most sellers had in their work, as well.

One of the standout brands in my mind were キラキラスタァ (KirakiraStar), who have a blog and webshop listed, though nothing is currently for sale there. At first glance they appeared to be peddling just the usual sweets jewelry, though I thought it was especially attractive because of the pearlized, colored creams they used for decorating. But when I picked up a piece and looked at it, I knew I was in love!

An apple-shaped macaron brooch– what more could any girl ever want? Especially when it comes complete with little gems for seeds. At 1200yen (~US12), it wasn’t a bad price, either.

As for other purchases, I also picked up a new headdress from armeria maritima, who also make cute jumperskirts for affordable prices. Their site is located here, and there are a few items in the shop for you to peruse. For the prices (around 8000yen for a jsk on the site, though they were 500-1500 yen cheaper at the event), I would say that the quality is not bad. The katyusha I purchased is to the right. It’s simple, but it matches an IW dress I have really well, so I can’t wait to wear it (I hate to admit also that I’m starting to lean more and more toward smaller and more adult head accessories… no!!!), and for only 1000yen (~US10), a good deal. Also, the girl who was working the table was SO adorable and talkative– and her English was pretty good– I just had to support her brand!

Other brands worth mentioning were Chantilly, mentioned in a previous post. I love their use of so-huge-its-crazy rose lace! Unfortunately they didn’t have the JSK I’ve been pining for (actually, Chantilly was presented by Atelier Pierrot, and most of the actual clothing on display was by the latter; Chantilly was providing their usual assortment of amazing bonnets and headwear, plus a few darling blouses). Lyra’s Cute Tone was there to provide options for adorable false nails (Oh how I would love to try those!!). YUki provided cute, ETC-style cutsews, which unfortunately had ETC-style prices as well.
Quiet Darkness featured gothic and aristocrat style jewelry and small items, like the butterfly corsages on the left. Their headdresses are also to die for, but are also as expensive as established brand prices (in my opinion, though, they are quite worth it– if you’re a gothic lolita, which I’m not!).

One disappointment of the event was that my friend and I found the ultimate in ridiculous lolita accessories– cupcake scepters! And for only 800yen, of course we wanted them. Actually, the entire table they were at was stocked with cheap but adorable sweet-deco goods. Why was this disappointing? Because the entire time we were there, there was never a single person working at the table to sell us anything! How annoying. That scepter will haunt my dreams. Or maybe I’ll just email them and see if they can ship them… Anyway, the brand was Barahime, and you can see the scepters in question on their blog.

Anyway! I have rambled on long enough. The event was fun, if brief for me, and it was great to see some of the up-and-comers in the lolita world. I’m a fan of indies brands, and I think we should all support the good ones. All of the major brands in lolita fashion today started as small independant labels, and with the support of fans have managed to keep going. Good luck, little brands!

Bodyline takes center stage

Recently the much maligned Bodyline has become more and more popular among tried-and-true lolitas, for more than just petticoats and bloomers. In the past the brand was a laughingstock, the name considered synonymous with cheap lace and costume-like designs.

A recent major sale by the brand, however, led some people to give them another try– present party included. I personally purchased several items from Bodyline during the 50% off sale and was quite pleased with the quality for the price. For example, I got the skirt pictured here for only 1500yen (~$15US). It’s not the best-made thing I own, but it’s quite worth 1500 yen!
I also purchased a jumperskirt and was was happy to find that it was trimmed with soft cotton lace, and had no apparent major flaws.

However, one has to wonder about Bodyline– is it such a good thing? I don’t think there’s anything wrong with getting cute products for cheap, especially for beginner lolitas or old hands who would like to add some pieces for lounging around in. However, Bodyline has a history of ripping off other brands, sometimes more blatantly than others. Take, for example, these recent additions to Bodylines rakuten shop:

The print on the skirt is an obvious reproduction of Angelic Pretty’s extremely popular “Fruit Parlor” (sometimes incorrectly translated as “Fruits Parlor”) series, which is pictured below.

I am surprised by the reaction to these new items– at least, by the Western community. I’ve seen a lot of Japanese threads full of outrage, but most of the non-Japanese lolitas seem to find it an acceptable, cheap alternative to the original brands. I suppose this might be due to the fact that, with all fees and shipping included, buying brand from overseas is not only time-consuming and difficult, it is also significantly more expensive. Also, purchasing fake items– such as Secret Shop shoes (AP is certainly a frequent target for this sort of thing– is a common, well-known, and accepted fact within the Western lolita community.
In my opinion, I think people should only buy the knockoffs if they like the design of the knockoff, not because it looks like a brand item. If you want something that looks like Angelic Pretty’s Fruit Parlor, you should buy Angelic Pretty’s Fruit Parlor. If you think that this is a cute skirt, you should buy it for that reason, but not try to pass it off as the real deal.

These are pretty obvious fakes though; I have to wonder how people are going to feel while wearing them. Living in Japan I think I would be self-conscious about running into someone wearing the real deal; but I think even in America I would feel awkward about it.
But then, the irony of that is the skirt that I ordered, pictured above, is actually an Atelier Pierrot knockoff. Perhaps I feel less awkward about it because it is less obvious? Or maybe because I couldn’t wear the original design due to size issues… More grey area!

For all the stories that Western lolitas spread about Bodyline in Japan (I once heard a laughable tale about “real” lolitas standing outside of a Bodyline shop and lynching anyone who came out with a purchase in hand, which at least is an hilarious mental image before you have to admit that it is ridiculous), I think it’s more a source of embarrassment than anything else. Often you see girls caught in a Kera! Snap wearing a piece of Bodyline in their outfit, but never once have I actually seen it listed in their brand list– the item is usually simply referred to as “from Harajuku” or “I forgot”. While brand events have been known to put a “no Bodyline” clause into the invitations for parties with strict dress codes, I don’t think they’d go so far as to lynch anyone over it, either. Japan is too non-confrontational, as a whole, for people to actually be attacked for something like that; though they’ll probably be the stars of a malicious thread on an anonymous forum later on (kind of like the West, actually).

If anything, it just gives Bodyline more publicity. But if they are really trying to become a respectable brand, they need to carefully consider things like this. I think they may have seriously shot themselves in the foot; they’ll turn a quick profit on this, for sure, but they’ll loose some potential longterm customers in the process. …Well, maybe.
Personally, I can say that I lost what respect that I had gained for Bodyline– and I really HAD gained some, upon seeing the quality of the items I ordered. However, I still want to order some shoes from their site… even the most self-righteous lolita needs cheap shoes!

Fall 08

So after perusing the 30th volume of the Gothic & Lolita Bible, out today, I started thinking about the fall season from the brands.

People seem to always polarize their opinions about everything– they either really really love it or absolutely hate it. I’m feeling this especially with Metamorphose this season– almost every lolita I know feels strongly one way or the other. Honestly though, I’m neither extremely impressed nor disappointed (except with the raschel lace Swan Border pieces, which I have a deep distaste for). The school series is playing it safe, in particular.

Angelic Pretty, recently the constant center of attention, really delivered with the Fancy Melody series. I wish I’d acted quick enough to snag the black jumperskirt! I’m really regretting it now that the series is in stores. It’s amazingly cute. The Royal Poodle line is on reserve now, and the blue x silver socks and jumper sold out withing the first two days, so it’s definitely going to be a hit. I like it a lot. If the skirt would fit me I’d be all over it!

I was mostly excited about the GLB because I was hoping for better pictures of the Rococo Accessories print (ロココ小物柄). It didn’t really deliver on that, unfortunately. And all I can share with you is an even blurrier, tinier picture of the magazine article! That’s kind of sad…
Anyway though, the print appears to have all sorts of delightful things in it: parasols, fans, perfume bottles. It’s just adorable in my opinion. And I love the violet-ish color with bright accents. It really does scream Marie Antoinette! It’s so decadent.
Personally I’d like something a little more elegant/adult this season (maybe I’m starting to feel my age… noooooo!), and Baby’s “Rose Candle” onepiece is all of that and then some. I saw the skirt during a sample exhibition at Passe, and fell in love instantly, but Baby’s skirts have much too small of waists for me. This OP will probably turn out too small, as well, because Baby’s sizes rarely end up being what they initially guess for magazines. I think that it looks perfect in this coordination though. Perfect shoes, perfect hair, perfect everything!

Recently I’ve been drawn to brands I don’t pay much attention to; for example the indie brand Chantilly. I’ve seen their bonnets and a few other pieces at the Angelic Pretty here in Nagoya before, and they always seem impeccably made, but I never much noticed anything else about them. In this month’s Kera, which has some photos from the fashion show in France last month, I spotted a darling jsk that I’m just dying to have, black with big lace roses.
I also really really love this upcoming skirt/blouse combination from Mille Fleurs. It’s so ridiculous and over the top! If only it would fit me, I’d.. probably not be able to afford it anyway! Oh well. It’s lovely to look at.
It seems that their site hasn’t been updated in quite a while, though. I really wish some brands would stay on the ball. But I guess if you have a very small business, just keeping your blog updated might be enough. I’m not sure how… but maybe it is.

As for coats, I think everyone is performing brilliantly there. Baby’s are perhaps a bit safe, AP’s appliqués are kooky as ever (though their normal coats and the trench coat currently in reserve are all fabulous), Victorian Maiden’s are to die for… but then, I’m a coat person.

At any rate, that’s my few cents on the Autumn releases from the brands… well, some of them! While it’s on my mind, I’m not too pleased with IW, either. I think they’ve been trying pretty desperately lately to do something ultra cute, but somehow they always seem to miss their mark. They should stick to making elegant and regal pieces, and leave the teddy bear prints to AP. You can’t really pull off stuffed animals in a print using dusty, mature colors, in my opinion.
I was also interested to note that this issue of the GLB is kind of lacking in the over-the-top deco goodness of recent times. Is the wearing-a-parfait trend finally dying out? I hope not… because that will mean I’m fashion-backward!

Ask not what you can do for your brand (4)

I didn’t realize that I had totally forgotten to talk about point cards! Which is funny, because they’re ever-present for a lolita shopper (or any shopper!) in Japan.

Point cards are not only a way to earn incentives for spending money at a particular shop, they’re a sort of status symbol as well (they also have the unfortunate side effect of being a tangible gauge for how much you have spent on new merchandise). Generally you aren’t offered a point card until you have shopped at a particular brand several times, unless you buy a substantial amount the first time you go. I’ve never tried asking for a point card at a lolita brand shop, but I imagine they wouldn’t say no to you; I’ve asked in any number of other stores and been favourably received, though most places want you to get a point card the very first time you buy something.

You usually get one point per a specified amount of money spent at the store; for example, Angelic Pretty is 1 point per 3000 yen, and Baby is 1 point per 5250. Innocent World is the “most expensive”, so to speak, card that I have, with each point a steep 10,000 yen. The number of points required before you reach the goal also depends on the brand, usually between 15 and 20, sometimes as many as 30. The prize that you’re working toward is that the cards become coupons once they’re filled up– again, each brand is a little different, but for example AP’s cards are worth 3000 yen off of any amount, while Baby’s are worth 3000 off any purchase that costs more than 6000; Meta’s is a great deal: 5000 yen off any purchase plus a novelty item. In some cases, if you’re lucky enough to have a full or close-to-full card, brands will have novelty fairs wherein you can exchange your card for limited edition items instead of cash off.
Personally I think AP’s cards are the most customer-friendly– most brands give no credit for amounts that do not total up to a full point (several times I’ve been chagrined to discover that I am a few hundred yen short of another point at Baby), but AP simply writes the excess amount on the card and that’s added to your next visit’s total, so you never lose out. For once AP is on the customer’s side!

I also have to admit that point cards sometimes give me a bit of an elite feeling. My Baby card, for example, has a lovely number 4 written in a large block on the top of it, meaning that I’ve filled 3 full cards already. A card like that earns a little nicer treatment from the staff of any Baby shop when they see it. (Being a regular customer in Nagoya of course warrants a high level of customer care, but in stores where I’m not known, the little card says: I understand and love this style and am a loyal customer.)

Personally I think point cards are a great little benefit, especially for such an expensive fashion as lolita; but actually you can get point cards anywhere– from Tower Records to the discount cosmetics shops to the consignment shops! It’s fun to rack up points but for people like me, I tend to want to spend a little extra to make sure I always get the most points possible… it’s dangerous!

Makeup? Or make down?

I believe that lolita fashion isn’t just about putting on a really cute dress– there’s an entire aesthetic that needs to be considered, and you can be wearing the rarest, cutest, most amazing Moitie-and-Angelic-Pretty-collaboration-radioactive-macarons-on-a-cross print ever, and you won’t look like a lolita if you don’t put effort into your all-around appearance.

In keeping with a theme I unintentionally developed of saying very non-PC things here in my blog, I’m going to say that, yes, I think all lolitas should do their hair and wear some kind of makeup, unless their hair and skin is naturally perfect (and even though I know a lot of beautiful people, I’ve yet to see anyone who fits that description). Yes, natural beauty is great. And yes, all people should feel proud to be who they are and to have their own unique personal attributes. However, I for one can’t see the point in going through all the effort of putting on really cute clothes if you’re not going to wash your hair.

I think a lot of lolitas, especially those just starting out, run into big problems when it comes to makeup. I think it’s important to consider that the makeup you wear in your everyday life might not be appropriate for the days when you dress like a cupcake (or, depending on your style, a vampire). Wearing extremely heavy makeup while wearing a bright, cute frock is going to make you look like Baby Jane, and you certainly don’t want that!

The kind of makeup you wear is largely dependent upon your personal style; that said, it is usually more appropriate to save your thick black eyeliner for your gothic looks and go for a more natural look with sweet and classic lolita. The age-old adage “What Would Mana Do” doesn’t really apply to things that Mana wouldn’t be caught dead in. And anyway, just imagine what all that eyeliner and mascara would look like on a girl in a frilly yellow dress! Ghastly!
I think Gothic Lolita in its true form is extremely striking; it’s also more mature than it’s sweeter counterparts. Makeup that is too neutral will make the wearer’s face seem incongruous with the overall look. However, white makeup is almost NEVER a good idea unless you’re going to be in some kind of play, or you happen to BE Mana. Your foundation should never been too different a shade from your natural skintone, if for no other reason than you will invariably end up exposing your natural skin color at some point and everyone will find out anyway.

That doesn’t mean it has to be boring, though. After all, sweet lolita is rather over-the-top to begin with so you might as well have some fun with your makeup. I think it’s especially fun to experiment with eyeshadows– colors are the way to go! Recently the trend I’ve seen on a lot of Japanese lolitas is to wear one shade of eyeshadow and a different color eyeliner and yet another hue of mascara. This gives the entire face a really playful, fairy-like look and adds to the fantasy of the outfit. Just make sure to not go overboard, and coordinate your makeup! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve met people who insist that they should wear blue eye shadow with every single outfit.
Also, experts will tell you that you should choose between a strong eye and a strong lip when doing your makeup. With gothic you might be able to get away with having dark lipstick and deep eye makeup, but with sweet I think it’s safer to stick with a colorful eye and a natural, if very shiny, lip.

As with any kind of fashion, what you’re really looking for is makeup that compliments your overall look. If the makeup is too flashy it will overpower the outfit; too plain and your beautiful face will take a backseat to the clothes you’re wearing.

I recommend carrying oil-reducing sheets with you. Flash cameras tend to bring out the worst in people’s faces, so a little dab before the flash goes off might save you the trouble of photoshopping later. This is especially useful for people who cannot wear foundation due to allergies.
If you do have various skin conditions that prevents you from wearing the usual layers of concealer, foundation, blush, etc, adding a touch of lipgloss and some mascara will give you a more finished look. You might be surprised at how far just a little bit goes.

Remember, when you’re wearing lolita, the dress shouldn’t be the only pretty thing! Your bound to feel a lot more confident, as well, if you have the whole package.

Angelic Ugly

(Or, Why are the AP Girls so MEAN?)

In Japan, as everyone knows, customer service is incredibly important and is rarely taken lightly. Because there’s really *not* that much competition as far as price undercutting is concerned, and also because of the importance placed on politeness in this society, you can expect to be treated like a queen when you walk into a Prada boutique– or into a McDonald’s. There are exceptions to every rule though, of course, and unfortunately, Angelic Pretty is a rather infamous exception to the rule of… well, good manners.

At first, shortly after I moved to Nagoya and started shopping at AP, I was treated quite well. There was one particular girl on staff who always greeted me (it’s pretty common for certain staff members to attach themselves to specific customers, and vice versa). Shortly thereafter, though, that girl disappeared, and staff interaction became worse and worse. I thought it was just me, or just foreigners; perhaps they were afraid we wouldn’t understand Japanese, or perhaps in their xenophobia they believed we didn’t know anything about lolita or Angelic Pretty as a brand. I appeared in their store several times in head-to-toe AP and was continually snubbed. Perhaps they were racist.
All of my non-Japanese lolita friends reported similar stories. We had trouble getting staff attention when we needed help, we were not welcomed upon walking into the store. One of my friends with a good understanding of Japanese overheard the shopgirls making fun of her while she was shopping. I personally have been told– TWICE– that I couldn’t reserve certain special items because they had already sold out in reservation, only to find out later that it was totally untrue.

I stuck with this notion of possible racism until meeting a new Lolita friend– this one an adorable Japanese girl, born and bred, the perfect size for Lolita clothing. When she told me that she was also treated rudely, I started to wonder who, exactly, they WERE nice to.

I can’t begin to explain this phenomenon, though. Some have suggested that it may be due to the large “gyaru” (or “gal”) clientèle that AP (almost exclusively among the brands) serves. Gyaru are widely perceived to be snobbish and rude, so at first glance, that might be a logical explanation. I don’t think that’s really the case, though. Regardless of how gyaru behave on the streets, even in actual gyaru shops, such as Liz Lisa and the notorious La Pafait, a customer can expect to be treated with an overabundance of generosity– even if it’s obviously an act, it’s still present. After all, even if the customer doesn’t LOOK like they would wear/fit/be suited to your clothing, doesn’t mean you can’t make money off them. So it’s not the gyaru issue.

Angelic Pretty’s popularity has skyrocketed as the forerunner for the ever more excessive sweet lolita style. Aside from raking in the cash on all of their sure-to-sell-out prints, these very limited pieces have given the brand a sort of prestige that might have resulted in this snobby attitude.
Or maybe they’re just bitches. Who knows?

Anyway, don’t let that stop you from visiting AP, really. Many people on vacation, only visiting the store once, report only good things about the brand, so it’s possible that problems would only arise after multiple trips to the same store. Personally, though, I’m quite sick of it, and haven’t bought anything from their boutique for myself in quite a while as a result.
But then I’ll admit, that’s also in part due to the fact that they’ve either not had anything I want, or they have but not in the color/price range I want it in….
I might be carrying this soon:

*sigh*

Ask not what you can do for your brand… (redux)

One of my favourite things would have to be novelty fairs. I love novelty items and limited edition goods!

Novelty fairs happen with a fair amount of frequency, and can be nation-wide or limited to only specific stores. Fairs are often timed to go with anniversaries or other store-based events, as well as national holidays/vacation periods, as well as the changing of seasons.
Usually novelties are really limited so to get one you have to get to the store quick! Also, there are set amounts of money one must spend in order to get the novelties; in big novelty fairs, the more you spend, the “bigger” the gift you receive– soon Baby will start a fair wherein you can get a cute pen for spending more than 10,000 yen, or a tote bag for spending more than 25,000.
Novelty items can be anything you can imagine really– from dishes to clothing to jewelry and so forth. Novelty items usually can’t be purchased otherwise so it’s really fun to have them.
Angelic Pretty novelty towel:

Metamorphose pouches:

Generally you can’t get multiple novelty items, but the Meta shop staff are awesome and let me because I spent the proper amount on two separate occasions.

Along with novelty fairs, brands will sometimes release limited edition items. These are usually for special events and are often limited to individual stores. I tend to think of “special sets” like the ones Meta and AP release around New Year’s as this kind of item, rather than “lucky packs” as most people consider them.
For example, I was lucky enough to get a limited edition color of a cutsew by Baby, which was released to celebrate a “t-shirt fair” by the mall they’re located in. Most brands in the mall released special shirts just for that week.

This part’s getting long, so I’ll end it here ^^

Ask not what you can do for your brand… (part 1)

A lot of people ask questions about sales/lucky packs, etc, so I thought I would try to explain some of it here 🙂

Lolita brands are infamous for being stingy with sales (though not as bad as major designer labels like Coach or Burberry, not even mentioning LV), generally having only two major sales per year: a New Year sale, and a mid-summer sale, both of which are for clearing out the previous season’s styles. All major stores in Japan have these sales, but to varying degrees. For the Lolita brands, discounts generally range from 20% off to 80% off, though of course the deeper discounts are applied later in the sale.

Some brands have a very short time in which these sales take place, maybe a week or two. Metamorphose’s sales seem to last forever (in fact, I think there are STILL some things on sale at the shop in Nagoya, a quarter of a year later…), but their prices don’t change dramatically once the sale has begun. Angelic Pretty and Baby, the Stars Shine Bright tend to allow their sales to run a month or so, and by the end of the sales you can get things for some ridiculously low prices.
example: I got my coat from AP for under 10,000 yen.

In these cases, its about luck… and perseverance! Sales periods often coincide with vacation periods so the bored and/or diligent brandslave can spend a lot of time visiting the stores repeatedly, waiting for prices to drop.
And while that may sound odd– as if the prices are going to change throughout the day– it’s true! Shops will often have an “exciting” hour or something, wherein discounts jump by 10% (so something that’s 50% off is now 60% off). Sometimes these are advertised in the blogs, and sometimes just on a little notice somewhere in the store.

Aside from the major sales that everyone knows about, there are also smaller sales throughout the year. “B” sales and “sample” sales are for when a brand wants to get rid of any damaged, defective, or “used” (as in, used for displays or in photoshoots) merchandise. Generally the so-called damage is so tiny you wouldn’t notice it anyway, like a tiny dot of discoloration on the underside of a collar; also, sometimes the brands just have an extra piece from an old collection that they want to get rid of. Regardless of this, the prices are almost always marked down at least 30%, usually closer to 50% or 60% off.
B sales are usually announced in advance on the brand’s website as well as on blogs, and the duration of the sale varies greatly. In my experience, Angelic Pretty B sales last only one weekend, so if you miss it, you’re out of luck.

Other sales throughout the year occur for various reasons– for example, for that particular shop’s anniversary. Other reasons are not as… expected. My region’s baseball team is exceptionally good, and last year they won the championship. As a result, Baby, the Stars Shine Bright had a 15%-off sale for most of their merchandise… plus all the bunny-bear bags were wearing little baseball caps, and that alone was worth going to see xD

Whew! So that’s all I can think of to say about sales. If you have any questions, feel free to ask 🙂
I’ll continue to talk about lucky packs and other incentives (novelties, point cards) later.