~~My Life, My Style~~

Inspired by a fellow Etsian's blog on fashion Whistling Gypsy , I decided to make my own "style file" and deconstruct my own unique fashion choices. 

MY Inspirations

~ Japanese Lolita Street Style!

~ Native American

~ Nautical

~ Japanese School Girl

For now lets look at Lolita...

~~ Japanese Lolita Style~~

This is probably the most influential of my inspirations.  Recognize the dress??  :-)

Every Sunday in Harajuku (Tokyo, Japan) on the bridge leading to the temple, young girls dress in the Lolita or cosplay styles and gather to talk, pose for pictures and otherwise hang out in their costumes.

While living in Japan a friend of mine and I decided to dress Lolita and BOY were we a hit.  As the only gaijin (foreigners) dressed Lolita we were a big hit for the tourists and other Lolita girls on the bridge.

What is Lolita?

~~Strangely it is based on a Russian novel by Vladamir Nabokov, a story surrounding a middle age man in love with a 12 year old girl.~~~

Weirded out yet?

Don't worry too much.  Lolita style is not as heavily connected to "sexually precocious girls" as it may have been from the start. 

Mostly it is based on Victorian and Rococo period clothing.

Japanese girls who dress Lolita mostly strive to look cute or beautiful rather than sexy.  There are also different types of Lolita. 

Gothic Lolita

~~Combines Lolita with gothic styles of the same period.  Think mourning clothing~~

Sweet Lolita

Personally my favorite Lolita style. This is more influenced by Rococo and Edwardian style (which I LOVE!).  In our picture above, my friend and I are definitely fitting the sweet style or ama-loli.  Pinks and other sugary colors are a MUST. 

You may have seen this kind of style recently popping up EVERYWHERE

Punk Lolita

Heard of Steampunk?? This is its origin.  This huge fashion craze started with lolita and morphed to include elements of fantasy, gear heads, goggles etc.  Those of you on etsy may agree with me that "steampunk" has gone a bit out of hand.  BUT it was once an interesting and unique underground style.

Wa Lolita

I saw this style alot in Harajuku.  This style combines traditional Japanese clothing with Lolita style.  See the wa lolita girl here?

Overall...

Lolita style fits with my love for all things history and culture related. Many of my jewelry items have Lolita influences such as these:

Click here to see more on etsy!

Click here to see more on etsy!

Click here to buy on etsy!

Click here!!

Back to my Personal Style

From the Lolita style I have taken away a love of LONG over the knee socks, lace and frills, big bows and soft colors.  Its so funny as I start to hit this style hit the American mainstream.  Walk into any Forever 21 and you will find: dusty pink and lace!

Love it!!

~~~~Virginia~~~~

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~As we know, Japan has gone through incredible hardship as of late.  It affects me deeply as I consider it a truly special place for me, and almost a second home. I stayed in Nagano for nearly 2 months in the mountains a few years ago, and returned again to study abroad in Tokyo for 6 months.  It was a short time overall but it was enough to feel at home. 

I fully plan on going to volunteer or aid somehow when things are more under control. I found a great site that can tell you more here:

Japan Volunteers