Demolish the Verbal Monolith

I'd like to briefly rehash an old argument about terminology and Chinese brands here. 

Away from the Influence

This post precipitated out of the current litigation over whether mainstream influencers with near-identical content have defensible intellectual property rights to the stylistic aspects of their work and personal image. Influencers seem to have a role in so many fashion ecosystems, yet the lolita community doesn't really support this niche. 

Lolita Skills

The past couple of weeks have been rough. As a trans person in the thick of U.S. politics, I haven't felt this concerned about domestic policy and its immediate ramifications for my friends and family in a long while. Fashion is a solace in this trying time-- moreover, it has given us all important skills for the future. 

Bibliotheca: Banana for Scaled Production

 The Bibliotheca theme has shifted to being bimonthly. Due to my ongoing health concern (hopefully fixed at the end of July), this schedule shift is pretty darn helpful. So, when asked for ideas for prompts, I threw out a silly one: banana for scale. Because my fellow bloggers are also goofballs, now a bunch of Real Fashion Experts are writing about bananas and scales. Putting my own twist on things (as usual), I've decided to write about the scale of production for lolita.

Bibliotheca: The Mortifying Ordeal of Being Known

It's Halloween, it's Bibliotheca, and like the shriveled monkey's paw of a human being that I am, I have to put an unexpected, cursed twist on every wish and prompt unfortunate enough to come my way. More specifically, the prompt of the month is Horror. I'm pretty good with typical horror--  I don't scare easy, though I do startle at loud noises and fascism. But what really scares me in my lolita life is visibility.

Material Matters: An Introduction to Organza

The specifics of fabrics can often be confusing for lolitas, even experienced ones. Lolita material discourse typically centers around the primary polyester vs. cotton divide, with adherents on both sides. Rarely does the discussion cover the specifics beyond the fiber content. I've covered the basics of lolita fabric in my old school post series, in which I divided the identity of a fabric into four components: fiber content, weave, all-over dye, and print. Any fabric can come in any color or print, but weave and fiber content define a fabric.

Organza (and organdy, which is a variation thereof) is a tricky fabric to deal with. Despite having been a minor part of lolita since its inception, and having many uses, it's a real pain to sew with, and can fail in new and interesting ways that small-scale brands may have trouble managing. Because of this, organza was seldom used until after the OTT sweet boom. So, this unique textile is a perfect introduction to why fabrics are more than just an aesthetic choice. 

Bibliotheca: Fruits of Fall

The end of the month approaches, so it must be Bibliotheca time. September's theme is "Fruits of Fall". Normally, I'd tortuously transform this into an ode to pumpkins and gourds, but it's not the month for that. Both Jewish High Holy Days fell in September, so I'm feeling a little bit more earnest than usual, and the (currently upcoming) federal government shutdown has the entire D.C. area on edge. As such, I'll talk about my feelings on the two fall fruits in my wardrobe and one I would love to see. 

Bibliotheca: Headwear pt. 2: Who needs it?

For the second half of my Bibliotheca headwear themed posts this month, I'm trotting out an even hotter take than usual. 

I love headdresses, hats mini and huge, stupid little clips and cakes and bows that make people look like the most conspicuous shoplifter in Clair's. But with all that affection for headwear, I still don't think headwear is required. 

Bibliotheca: Growth and Moving Past Anonymity

This post, once again, is brought to you by Bibliotheca, aka the only thing that gets me to write when I'm under the weather. It's been a rough month in tourism and in my life, so I'm glad to have an excuse to write! This month's theme is growth, so it's a perfect chance to tackle a sensitive topic: /cgl/ on 4chan and why I (and most lolitas I know) outgrew it and the illusion of anonymity it offered. 

Scary Post: Am I a Perma-Ita?

Ita, for lolitas, is a word laden with fear, making it perfect for the spooky season! As most lolitas know, ita comes from both the second half of the word lolita and the Japanese exclamation "itai", meaning "ouch"! Accordingly, lolitas use the term ita to describe coordinates so ugly that they find them painful; it's generally expected that a new lolita will have a brief ita phase before they grow into their coordination skills. The idea of being bad at a fashion is a complex topic, so I will probably expand on the idea of ita-ness through more posts.

Several mutations of this term have developed in the English-speaking community, including perma-ita, or permanent ita. As the name implies, a perma-ita begins with an ita phase but never grows out of it. I don't claim to be perfect, despite my comedic self-aggrandizement. But, horror of horrors, am I stuck being an ita? I can't really judge my own bad taste, but I will definitely try.

Bibliotheca: HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!

It's almost Halloween! Halloween is my favorite secular holiday, so I was feral levels of excited to learn that it was the October Bibliotheca theme!

I'm going to keep things light; this post is just a short list of five spooky reasons why Halloween and lolitas are perfect for each other.

My Kuma Kumya Jack-O-Lantern from last year

Bibliotheca: Fall and Deciduousness

This month's Bibliotheca theme is Fall! It can also be autumn, if you prefer. Fall doesn't happen everywhere, but in temperate forested climates (like my area), it's very literal: one by one, all the leaves of certain trees shed, not in death, but just discarded for the season.

Attack of the Noncommittal Colorways

Recently, there has been a personal attack on my taste, my style, and the very fiber of my being. This came in the form of Alice and the Pirates' 2021 wine dress Secret Adventure and the Winery of Happiness ", which has four colorways, none of which are black or wine. Furthermore, each colorway is desaturated and about the same level of brightness, falling into the category of what I am going to call "noncommittal colorways". 

Bibliotheca: J-Fashion as Self-Care

The Bibliotheca theme for August 2021 is self-care, which makes the perfect chance for me to talk about myself. J-fashion wasn't always my priority; in fact, like many lolitas my age, I only learned about it through anime conventions.

Ero and Old School: Forsaken Lolita Taxonomy

Last taxonomy post, I talked about themes, substyles, and lolita taxonomy, specifically with regards to nonsense-term 'bittersweet' and my beloved punk lolita. This post is about ero lolita and old school lolita, what categories they fall into, and how that might effect coordination of each. Like 'bittersweet',old school seems to be a term used primarily by anglophone lolitas. 

Bibliotheca: Polymer Clay Sweets Jewelry

Surprise! I've been accepted as a Bibliotheca blog circle member. Bibliotheca, created by the lovely lolitas at Bay Area Kei, is a way that bloggers can get in touch with readers and create a thriving community with meaningful, informative posts that other platforms just aren't designed for. Please be sure to check out everyone's hard work!

This month's theme is DIY, so I'm going to share some (mostly sweets-themed) polymer clay jewelry I've made recently, as well as my materials and process. First, though, let's dive into the history of sweets jewelry. Just note, a lot of my information is from Japanese Wikipedia, so it may not be perfectly accurate. 

Unemployment and the lolita community

 This is a mostly personal, text-only post, so I'll be putting it under a cut.

The Consolidation of Ouji

Even though I usually wear lolita these days, my first love in jfashion was ouji. Ouji is a vaguely masculine-leaning, often shorts-wearing counterpart to lolita; for more, read Stephano's Ouji Overview. But, as I grow forever older and grumpier, I've become skeptical of the 'ouji' label as an umbrella term. As any ouji can tell you, it's nearly impossible to find ouji stores or get multiple substyles in one place. 

Pride Month: Why is lolita so queer?

 As pride month comes to a close, it's time for a super special ~pride post~. As always, these are my personal thoughts, and not representative of the communities as a whole.

Lolitas are, undoubtedly, extremely gay. But why?

 

Summer ILD 2021: Becoming a Lolita

Today is International Lolita Day, the first Saturday in June, so it's the perfect time for me to write a little autobiography of my life in lolita. I've decided to put it under a cut because it's kind of boring.