Lolita in Tokyo wonderland - translation

I'm finally back posting something here. This time I want to share a new translation of a chapter from the book Lolita in Tokyo wonderland. I decided to translate the shopping/building your lolita wardrobe guide, since I think it can really help these who are thinking of starting wearing lolita clothes and building a lolita wardrobe. ( ^  ^ ) 

The book itself is a very nice and informative one. I believe that even these who cannot read Japanese will enjoy this book and be able to get lots of tips on where to go and what to do in Tokyo. If you are planning a trip to Tokyo this book can be a good lolita-guide. ( ^ w ^ )

Please remember that this is a fan translation.

Shopping guide for lolita beginners

When beginning ones lolita lifestyle and starting to build a wardrobe, what things should one buy? What do you call this type of item? How do you wear it? These are some questions we will be answering in this article.

Step 1 – collecting clothes

When first purchasing lolita clothing we suggest buying a one-piece dress or a jumper skirt and a blouse. It will instantly transform you into a lolita!

Jumper skirt:

Jumper skirt is a typical item in lolita fashion. Unlike a one-piece, a jumper skirt has no sleeves and can be layered on top of other clothes with greater variation.  It is usually layered on top of a blouse and wearing a jumper skirt without anything under is not typical for lolita fashion. The word jumper skirt is often shortened to JSK.

One-piece:

We suggest buying a one-piece dress to these of you who think “I want to instantly become a lolita!”. The word one-piece is often shortened to OP.

When you have gathered the above mentioned basic lolita items, you might also want to get your hands on the following clothes:

·         Cardigan: we suggest choosing a simple one, you can use it all year and match many different outfits.

·         

s    Skirt: a skirt can be worn in many different styles depending on the top you chose.

·         Cut and sew: a very useful and enjoyable item to wear, more casual than a blouse.

Step 2 – lingerie (gathering undergarments)

To make the skirt look lolita-like puffy, with lots of volume a petticoat and drawers are a must! You can vary the number of panniers you wear depending on your liking.

We recommend to wear a pannier under lolita skirts and dresses. As an example, the brand Baby the Stars Shine Bright has 2 kinds of petticoats: one with hard tulle and one with soft tulle. The hard type can be used with skirts/dresses made with heavy fabric (like velvet) or when lots of puff is desired, the soft one can be used under skirts made with light fabric or for slightly less puff. If you want to add more puff to your outfit you can always layer more than one petticoat. Wearing bloomers under the pannier is a must in lolita fashion.

Step 3 – socks and shoes

When it comes to socks and shoes non-brand items work well, but these from a lolita brand make the lolita look more complete. There are many people who first buy lolita socks, then get an increased interest in the lolita fashion and set out to become a full lolita.

Simple white knee socks or over-the-knee socks are OK. But matching the print of the socks to ones dress/skirt makes the coordinate more fashionable.  

Most of the lolita shoes are flat with a rounded toe part, they are very easy to wear and are comfortable. Some of the characteristics of lolita shoes are decorative straps and bows.

Step 4 – collecting small items/accessories

When you have gathered the essential clothing and shoes, let’s begin gathering some small items and accessories. Some people start their lolita collection by doing the opposite and bying accessories like bows and bags first.

Hair accessories

In lolita fashion lots of individuality can be expressed with ones choice of accessories. Main head accessories are head-bows. You can even add additional bows on the sides for a more gorgeous look. Bonnets and headdresses are also popular items. In summertime you can wear a tidy hat.

Bag

Motif bags are popular in lolita fashion, there are bags shaped like for example hearts, clocks, books and  instruments. Pairing the bag with a cute plush animal purse is even cuter!

Wristband

Wristands match perfectly with hime-sleeves (princess sleeves) that open up and become wide below the elbow. It is also pretty to wear them at times when you feel like your skin is showing too much or matched with a short sleeved blouse. As the name suggest (in Japanese these are called sleeve stoppers) you can use wristbands to pull up your sleeves so that they don’t get dirty white eating.

Umbrella

Having a frilly umbrella, usable both in rainy and sunny weather is great when going out. White skin is essential in lolita fashion, so let’s keep these vicious sun rays at bay in a cute way. 

Lolita fashion book - Translation 3 (Gothic lolita)

And the final part of the Lolita Fashion Book - gothic lolita is finally translated! Somehow this article was the hardest one to translate, so it took some time. I had to translate it in chunks as well, as I have been translating some other texts and drowning in homework lately. ( > __ < ) I think this will be the last part I translate from the Lolita Fashion Book, so if you have any suggestions for future translation don't be shy to comment! ( ^  w  ^ )

Before posting the rest I would first I like to state following:
The book is Misako Aoki's copyright, this is just a fan translation.
I did not translate the contents of the book exactly as they are written - word by word. I translate in a manner that allows the text to keep it's original poetic feeling and nuance (I hope).

Lolita fashion book part 3

Gothic Lolita 

About the gothic lolita style

This is a style of Lolita fashion influenced by the gothic aesthetics. There are many theories about the origins of this style, according to the most common one: the gothic and lolita style came to be in the middle of 1990s, when indie designer brands started producing and selling gothic lolita clothes. 

Dark, demonic music, like the music from the band Black Sabbath had at that time reached Japan and gained popularity, along with the European gothic aesthetics. These two influenced the lolita style and gothic lolita was born. The gothic lolita style has kept the basic form and elements of lolita, but the overall theme; inspired by gothic elements and using mainly black color, gave this style a darker feeling compared to the previous, mainly cute lolita styles. The boom of Visual Kei music that came in 1990s has also been said to influence the gothic lolita style further. 

The style gothic lolita is popular with girls who like girly clothing, but also with these who prefer a more punkish style. Gothic lolita is inspired by mystical creatures, such as vampires and therefore has a dark, magical feeling to it. The clothes are not always black, other dark colors, such as dark red are also used in this style. 

When gothic elements were first incorporated into lolita fashion, the mixture of the two styles was often referred to as gothic & lolita. This was done to differentiate the new style from the other lolita styles. Since then the style which corporates both gothic and lolita elements has sometimes been called gothic & lolita and sometimes shortened to gosurori. But the most often used, original name is gothic lolita.

 A gothic lolita coordinate

This dark fashion uses mainly black color as its theme, but other colors such as dark red, blue and white are also used. Gothic lolita has the same typical layering style as the other lolita styles - JSK over a blouse, but it also incorporates some gothic, depraved, wicked components. Skirts with a design featuring torn fabric or tulle give the style a mysterious, devil feeling to it - creating a gothic doll-like look. One of the main characteristic elements of the gothic lolita style are birdcage-like designs over skirts and dresses. We should of course not forget to talk about accessories. Fitting accessories for this style are crosses, sculls and black roses. Motifs featuring the holy Mary are also recommended. A particularly popular item in gothic lolita is the coffin shaped bag. 

Black hair suits this style well, match it with accessories decorated with roses, a hat or a mini hat with tulle. Make up is also really important for this style. Strong, dark eye makeup is often used, strive to achieve a pale look; close to the one of a bisque doll.

Point 1 

Adding gothic elements to a JSK that could be worn for kuro lolita. 

Point 2

Adding a colorful detail in dark red or blue gives the outfit an extra dimension and becomes the main point of the outfit. 

Point 3

A cane/walking stick suits the gothic style very well. The umbrella in the photo looks like a cane when closed. 

Lolita fashion book - Translation 2 (Classic Lolita)

It took some time, but here we are again. Part 2 of the Lolita Fashion book - classic lolita!

Before posting I would I like to remind you about the following:
The book is Misako Aoki's copyright, this is just a fan translation.
I did not translate the contents of the book exactly as they are written - word by word. I translate in a manner that allows the text to keep it's original poetic feeling and nuance.

Lolita fashion book part 2

Classic Lolita 

About the classic lolita style

This style is a ladylike, elegant and refined lolita style, inspired by the Rococo and Victorian eras. It is called classic lolita and often shortened to kuraloli in Japanese. Even though all lolita styles take their inspiration in the Rococo and Victorian periods, the classical European fashion taste can especially be seen in this lolita sub-style. Classic lolita still has the girly elements characteristic to the lolita style, but also has a more adult, nostalgic atmosphere to it. One of the main characteristics of the classic lolita style are the colors and patterns used. Natural combinations of colors such as brown and dark red are preferred. Many patterns take inspiration from things like rococo lacquer-ware and wallpapers - roses and other flowers are often in focus. Around the year 2012 a picture-like, gorgeous textile was introduced and is now one of the standard features of the classic lolita style. Gobelin tapestry and jacquard fabrics have also become quite popular. 

If I would give a general description of the classic lolita style, I'd say that compared to a style like sweet lolita, it is a simpler, adult-like style, that often follows an antique color scheme. The collar, hem and cuffs of the dresses are usually the main points that are decorated with lace. Empire line type of dresses and dresses with a bit narrower, longer skirts (than in other lolita styles) are common, it is a a style particularly popular with older/adult lolitas. Another popular design in the classic lolita style is to have a  bustle design on the skirt, this is to give the rear part of the dress/skirt more volume.

A classic Lolita coordinate:

As the name classic lolita suggests, it is an adult-like calm lolita style, which is heavily influenced by classic and antique culture. The focus of this style is to recreate the fashion of a well dressed, ladylike European girl. Let's play around and make a calm coordinate, with overall smoky colors and with a color scheme of dark red and brown. 

Choosing a blouse with a stand-up collar gives an outfit an extra classical feeling. A bit longer skirt length is popular in classic lolita. One piece dresses with a schoolgirl-like, tidy looking feel are also popular. Skirts often have flower patterns. Instead of combining cute elements with the classic lolita style, I suggest adding chick elements to emphasize the classical atmosphere of the outfit. As for the hair arrangement, I would recommend accessories such as bonnets and headdresses/bows decorated with flowers. A bag shaped like a book or a violin gives a coordination that extra little something. It is better not to over accessorize, like in sweet lolita, but instead put the emphasis on fewer, well chosen accessories.

Point 1

Choosing gloves and shoes in darker colors helps to bring the whole coordinate together. 

Point 2

This coordinate is based on a smoky pink color with addition of brown/dark red elements. Accessories are chosen in the same color scheme. 

Point 3

Embroidery suits the classic lolita style really well. The collar on the dress is one of the places where roses are embroidered to give the dress an additional touch of elegance. 

Lolita fashion book - Translation 1 (Sweet Lolita)

It's Friday and I am finally done with the first part of translating Misako Aoki's book "Lolita fashion". YAY! To be honest I have been done translating it for a while now, but too busy with my uni and job stuff to actually post the translation here. It did take quite a while to translate the article and it was pretty challenging to keep the structure and all the information intact while trying to make it sound good in English. I really hope it is understandable and doesn't sound odd. XD

Before posting the rest I would first I like to state following:
The book is Misako Aoki's copyright, this is just a fan translation.
I did not translate the contents of the book exactly as they are written - word by word. I translate in a manner that allows the text to keep it's original poetic feeling and nuance (I hope).

Lolita fashion book part 1

Sweet Lolita

About sweet lolita style

The style 'sweet lolita' is centered around the aesthetics of pastel colors like pink and light blue. It embodies a sweet, cute and girly atmosphere. It is thought that the style came to be called 'sweet Lolita' around 1990. At that time the 'gothic lolita' style was already established and defined by its black clothing. The style was often associated with degenerates and began to have a bad feel to it, therefore sweet lolitas wanted to break the prejudices of the 'gothic lolita' style and point out the difference between the two lolita styles. They wanted to divide the lolita genre and differentiate themselves from the gothic fashion trends. They started calling the new style as 'sweet lolita' and defined their style as "the opposite of gothic lolita fashion, a pure, angel like fashion". From that time the sweet lolitas have preserved the ideals and aesthetics of sweet lolita and kept the original ideas alive. 

Nowadays a common theme is sweet lolita are original prints with motifs such as sweets and animals. Some popular motifs are cookies, chocolate and other sweets inspired prints. Prints with plush animals are also very popular. Dresses and skirts in the sweet lolita style tend to be designed with lots of lace on the bodice and skirt parts. Wide white or pink sleeves with lace decorations for a romantic feeling are also in demand right now. Finding a friend with the same dress and 'twinning' together is another characteristic of sweet lolita. Getting together 3 friends and doing a 'triplet' coordinate is also popular. 

A sweet lolita coordinate:

Sweet lolita is a cute and pop lolita style with pastel colours as its base. Let's make a colourful, cute and POP coordinate~ I choose a dress with a print of animals and sweets. A coordinate with print x print (layers of prints) can be hard to pull of, but really cute; so let's take the challenge and try! 

In sweet lolita blouses with big round collars covered in lots of frills and ribbons are popular right now. 

Hair accessories and socks also come in many different patterns and have different motifs. There are many people who match the socks so they are from the same series release as the dress. As for the hairstyle, let's make an arrangement with layers, a head-bow or a bonnet can be layered on with additional ribbons and bows. A colorful wig also suits the sweet lolita style very well. 

Put on a fluffy pannier under the dress to give it a big puff, it helps to emphasise and show off the print of the dress. Bags with a theme of ribbons, hearts, sweets, chocolate and the like are a good choice to match this type of coordination. Also plush toy bags like a bear or a rabbit add another layer of cute to the girly feeling of the sweet lolita style. They also serve as the focus point of the outfit, so I really recommend combining them in your style. 

Point 1 

The color of the bow was chosen to match the point color (detail color) used on the details on the dress. It joins the whole outfit together. 

Point 2

The hem of the dress is cut in half circles and shaped like shells. This is a popular design. 

Point 3

The choice of accessories comes from the main color of the dress. In this case it is pink x sax blue.