I thought I'd post this here, since YAD was the first EGL (Elegant Gothic Lolita) kit AL offered -- note my intentional use of "the first," which implies there will be more to come, which our dear Miss K has hinted at... but before going any further, let me state VERY emphatically that nobody will ever E-VER mistake me for an expert on EGL (or frankly any other kind of fashion LOL); on the contrary, what I know about EGL would fit on the head of a pin w/room for angels to dance, but for some reason another thread randomly sparked my interest in the subject today, so I decided to poke around the Web a bit for more info, something I hadn't done back when YAD was first launched (can't remember why, I just know I didn't)... honestly, I didn't "get" YAD; I just thought some of the colours were pretty and bought them (and I'm very glad to see that the colour washes and rouges have all been made permanent items in the vast AL collection)... but NOW, for whatever random reason the Universe has chosen to pique my interest in EGL and I've spent a few minutes learning more about it, I'm thinking there are actually some Loli elements I can easily incorporate into my own style, w/o looking like I'm "trying too hard" or wearing a costume (of very significant note is an observation by Toru Iwatani, the creator of Pac-Man, that Asian cultures have a much higher tolerance for "cuteness" than Western cultures generally do)...

so for the uninitiated (like yours truly), I found this Wikipedia article surprisingly helpful, mostly b/c it led me to The Lolita Handbook, which is a regular treasure trove of info (you have to click on the links in the various posts, but I found it fascinating reading) -- I thought the explanations added a lot of depth to pix on other sites (like Tarina Tarantino ; btw, if that link doesn't work, just go to Tarina Tarantino and search on "lolita")... anyway, while I'm personally not all that attracted to gothloli per se, it seems to me that there's a lot of room to play in "Loli"-land (offhand I'd say aristo, classic, and country loli are easier for me to borrow from comfortably), and now I'm really looking forward to Kristen's next "Loli" offering...

*MWAH!*
Tanya

quote:

Originally posted by MommiePretty:
I'm thinking there are actually some Loli elements I can easily incorporate into my own style, w/o looking like I'm "trying too hard" or wearing a costume

Fantastic! There are sooooo many subcultures/subcategories out there that most people aren't even aware of - some completely insane, some you have probably seen and didn't realize!

I think Kristen doesn't truly realize what a tremendous feat her YAD collection is/was. It got everyone talking, got many ladies to dig a little deeper as Tanya has done, and even if they laughed and thought "what a bunch of weirdos!", some of the products really took off. Like Kristen said, the matte shadows, maybe not so much, but the buzz on Metamorphosis, Corset, Dolly, and now new life to Pinafore and Lollypop as lip balms - just goes to show that the collection really did open a lot of eyes to new things.

Personally, I LOVE the EGL look, but my body type just isn't suited to it. (Damn these big boobs ) Although I really do stick to a more "old school" (I really hate that phrase), traditional goth look, I am starting to play with more color, and for me to do it, it's nothing short of a freakin' miracle.

quote:

w/o looking like I'm "trying too hard" or wearing a costume

it occurred to me that I need to clarify this statement, as I meant it only in reference to myself -- there are plenty of people who look absolutely fabulous in outfits that would look utterly ridiculous on ME... I think it all has a great deal to do w/what we're mentally comfortable wearing; anything uncomfortable comes across in our body language and makes us LOOK "off"... it would basically be self-fulfilling prophecy that, b/c I think I would look like a ninny wearing a 3/4-length velvet equestrian-style riding coat (which, btw, I've actually been lusting after for something like 4 mos now), I would probably look very MUCH like a ninny... that's all at least these bolder looks get me to stick my toes out of my comfort zone every once in a while...!

*MWAH!*
Tanya

Nah, I often wear outfits that look fairly ridiculous, but I figure as long as I like them, the heck with what everyone else thinks! Today I was traipsing around Bed Bath & Beyond in a floor length velvet skirt with a train, a black Target $5 t shirt with jeweled Christmas tree, stompy Doc Martens, and a floor length frock coat! I got a few odd looks, but I figure I looked better than half the women who were running around in sweats, no makeup, and their hair a mess.

That coat is really nice (I had a black one a while back but sold it on eBay - just keep in mind the buttons come off pretty easily!). I could TOTALLY see you in the burgundy colored one. I think it's available in brown now too. I say go for it - you never know unless you try!

Thanks Tanya!

I actually started to look up some links and then ended up eating some dinner instead! There are so many different "subsets" of the Gothic Lolita look, but the most important thing is that the look itself really doesn't incorporate a lot of makeup... the goal is always to look young, fresh, innocent, pretty, etc... although sometimes it does incorporate a darker or more colorful eye with the different styles.

I find some lolita dresses to be a lot like vintage dresses, and I absolutely adore many of the dresses made by Metamorphose Temps de Fille. Sadly, they only make their dresses in one size- approximately a US size 8, which just doesn't fit me. The very gorgeous dress I did get from there as inspiration for the Spring kit just was too big for me no matter how tightly I tied the ribbons they sewed in the bodice (unfortunately it was not a corset, otherwise it might have had more hope for me, but it was sadly just too much dress overall). I sold it on Ebay and got back almost my original value!!!

But for now, I just window shop and daydream!!!

Wow, thanks for the links Tanya!

Yeah, definitely not my style though, but I'm not going to fault others who like it! Since I already look younger than I really am, I've spent the last decade trying to look a bit older so Lolita is definitely not for me! lol (Although I suppose if I wanted to go Lolita, a young-looking face would be ideal, right? ) Ultimately, I'm just too traditional/conservative at heart to feel comfortable wearing any sort of alternative fashion .... although I think that if I ever wanted to do something more alternative, I would lean a hair towards punk simply because I love bright colors and don't like black

And don't everyone start telling me "you'll appreciate looking young when you're older", I already know that .... but I just get tired of occasions like when I was planning my wedding and all the bridal store employees gave me dirty looks because they thought I was some sort of child bride, but when I mentioned that I was 23 and/or said I was in grad school, they suddenly treated me nicer! Or now, I want to look like the professional that I'm trying to be, not like the college intern

But I will say it was fun looking at all the pictures and reading the descriptions of the different styles! The artist in me appreciates all the effort some of these girls go to when dressing Lolita! (Plus I love all the cute anime drawings In grad school I watched a lot of anime on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, but now I go to bed too early for that!) I do like looking at different styles even if it's not something I'd wear for myself

WOW! i'm amazed you sold that dress. i know how much you adored it! at least you have pics of you in it which are gorgeous. many dresses from metamorphose temps de fille are equally stunning and i've been ever so tempted to splurge...

tanya.... you NEED that coat! jen ordered it for one of my christmas gifts since i've been eyeing it for a year. if you love it... you can pull off wearing anything.

quote:

I am starting to play with more color, and for me to do it, it's nothing short of a freakin' miracle.

Cin, there's an AWFUL lot of black in my wardrobe, too -- I've just been AFRAID of colour for several years (bad experience at work, back in another life), and it's only been...well, pretty much since I found AL, that I've started stepping out and playing w/colour... I've added more colour pieces to my wardrobe in the past 6 mos than I probably added in the previous 5 yrs! LOL

*MWAH!*
Tanya

quote:

And don't everyone start telling me "you'll appreciate looking young when you're older", I already know that .... but I just get tired of occasions like when I was planning my wedding and all the bridal store employees gave me dirty looks because they thought I was some sort of child bride, but when I mentioned that I was 23 and/or said I was in grad school, they suddenly treated me nicer! Or now, I want to look like the professional that I'm trying to be, not like the college intern

girl_geek, that reminds me of several years ago (7, to be exact) when I was still working for XO Comm out in Dallas -- I was kvetching to one of my female colleagues that despite my credentials I felt like I wasn't really taken seriously; I hoped that, since I was turning 30 the following year, maybe THEN I'd be taken seriously... my colleague just looked at me w/this "oh, you poor thing, you SO do NOT get it" look and said, "well, honey, that'd be great, 'cept you won't LOOK 30 until you're well past 40..." LOL most of my family have been blessed w/the "fountain of youth" gene, but I tell people I simply decided to stop aging when I was 23, and so I did... LOL

*MWAH!*
Tanya

PS -- yeah, aren't those anime drawings adorable??

OK, I just want to say that I LOVE YOU ALL!!

Tanya, that is such a beautifully thoughtful and well articulated post. I've got your links opened in my tabs and will peruse them as I get moments now and then.

I love ALL the styles so much. I'm actually a "fashion hound" and can id top name designers items from great distance, or just from seeing a smidge of a pic of an item. I sub to ALL the fashion mags and actually read them all, every word. I love going through online shops and department stores and catalogs and imagining the sort of life i might lead while wearing a particular thing or style. And at 40 I do, actually, lament my "wasted youth" as back then, when it *could* have been "appropriate" or more acceptable for me to try on different personas via clothing, I was too afraid and self conscious to do so. Now, I feel pretty darn good about myself, but my clothing choices are first and foremost practical for where I live and the sort of life I lead, which includes shoveling sidewalks, cleaning public toilets, chasing after my grandson, serving customers looking at mid to high end handcrafted goods and art, and so on. It's a pretty schizoid day, I tell you, and so I go for comfort, support, stability, ease of movement, washable-ness, warmth, and THEN I get to cute/elegant/stylish and so on. So my style is pretty darn basic and straight forward (also all solids, mostly beige, brown and black with some greens and oranges tossed in there, but that's a whole other story).

But my face. Ah, well, that's where I go a little crazy now and then, when I get a moment to play a bit. Lately my "look" has been serious lipstick, lotsa mascara, a faint but healthy flush and defined brows. Even when I'm in jeans and polar fleece and sorel boots with my hair in a crazy Polish Chicken (that's a breed) sort of uptwist thing. I mean REAL lipstick - deep red, dark brown, burgundy, bright deep pink rose, hot coral, you know - REAL COLORS. When I can do eyes, I'll do the WHOLE thing - inner liner, outer liner, shadow at least two shades. And if I could swing applying false lashes quickly, I'd do it. (All while still wearing a half zip polar fleece mock neck and cords, probably).

Anyway, I love the inspiration I get from hanging around all of you. And girl_geek, I suspect that you and I could trade closets pretty easily, at least stylewise, although I'm sure my color palette would just make you look tired. And Cin, I'd LOVE to raid your closet, and Nadja's, and I'd actually wear that velvet floorlenght skirt or that PVC dress or something, and totally try to rock it, although around here EVERYONE would think I'd gone off my rocker. And if the EGL clothing weren't so pink and floral, I'd be into that, too - but me in pink floral just equals Laura Ingalls Wilder/Little House on the Prairie rather than "subversive counter culture," and I did enough Laura Ingalls as a child in the 70s.

Anyway, I love these sorts of threads, and I love the inspiration to break out a little bit. While in Vegas next month, I plan to do a WHOLE lot of trying on, and I've sort of got it in mind to look for a gold sparkly cocktaily dress to surprise Michael with one evening. We'll see how that goes.

Mwah!

-b.

Kristen, I stumbled over the Metamorphose Temps de Fille site while I was poking around this afternoon, and they have some über-cute things, most of which I could never wear, but I could totally do a cute bolero like this one as part of my "normal" wardrobe...

Nadja, you got one of those riding jackets for Christmas?? oh, I'm SO having coat envy LOL I wonder if I could pull off the dark brown -- I'm having a total love affair w/brown and white/white metal right now...

*MWAH!*
Tanya

Bridget, I'm so glad you're enjoying this thread -- so am I!

quote:

my clothing choices are first and foremost practical for where I live and the sort of life I lead...Lately my "look" has been serious lipstick, lotsa mascara, a faint but healthy flush and defined brows. Even when I'm in jeans and polar fleece and sorel boots with my hair in a crazy Polish Chicken (that's a breed) sort of uptwist thing.

is it just me, or does even just a little bit of MU make even a quasi-"frumpy" outfit look more polished...? when I'm having an "I feel like crapola and can't be bothered w/my appearance today" day, just a smidge of lip colour seems to lift my spirits and make my "chasing the kids around the house between doing loads of laundry, vacuuming, and fixing meals" tee-shirts look cuter...

and yeah, I NEED the inspiration/permission to spend some time on my appearance and maybe colour outside the lines a bit... even more mainstream TV shows like WNTW and HDIL inspire me to try new things; and w/my love of all things sparkly-shiny, how can I resist the lovely COLOURFUL goodies Kristen keeps tempting us all with...??

*MWAH!*
Tanya

quote:

Originally posted by MommiePretty:
girl_geek, that reminds me of several years ago (7, to be exact) when I was still working for XO Comm out in Dallas -- I was kvetching to one of my female colleagues that despite my credentials I felt like I wasn't really taken seriously; I hoped that, since I was turning 30 the following year, maybe THEN I'd be taken seriously... my colleague just looked at me w/this "oh, you poor thing, you SO do NOT get it" look and said, "well, honey, that'd be great, 'cept you won't LOOK 30 until you're well past 40..." LOL most of my family have been blessed w/the "fountain of youth" gene, but I tell people I simply decided to stop aging when I was 23, and so I did... LOL

*MWAH!*
Tanya

PS -- yeah, aren't those anime drawings adorable??

Well, I hope you don't take this wrong cuz I definitely mean it in a good way, but I still wouldn't have guessed you're over 30 now Actually I've been thinking that you look A LOT like a college roommate I had once ... you have the same eyes, same hairstyle, and similar pale skin and hair color even! Not that that really matters to you, but I do think of her everytime I see you

I'm thinking I take after my dad a lot, because he could always pass for much younger than he is too. The fact that he's in his 50's and still has a full head of hair without any grey helps a lot too

quote from girl_geek:

quote:

Well, I hope you don't take this wrong cuz I definitely mean it in a good way, but I still wouldn't have guessed you're over 30 now

thx most people don't (guess I'm over 30, that is) -- I get called a liar all the time... LOL

quote from Mineral Makeup Maven:

quote:

the most important thing is that the look itself really doesn't incorporate a lot of makeup... the goal is always to look young, fresh, innocent, pretty, etc...

y'know, I hadn't thought of the EGL style not incorporating a lot in the way of MU, but come to think of it, most of the descriptions in the Lolita Handbook related to clothes and accessories, not MU... interesting... then again, MU could totally be used to play up the EGL look of "childlike innocence" -- now that I get the whole DOLL connection (DUHHHH! I can be kinda slow on the up-tick sometimes LOL), it's much easier to see Kristen's vision of feminine, sheer colours to create rosebud pink lips, delicately flushed cheeks, and clear, wide eyes... (I've already been told more than once this Christmas season that I look like a cherub :P LOL) FUN STUFF!!

*MWAH!*
Tanya

PS -- does Hello Kitty count as Loli? I ADORE Hello Kitty (and Charmmy Kitty), have ever since they came out 30-odd yrs ago (wow, I'm really dating myself now, huh?)... LOL

Here's a blog that will keep you all reading for a good while, very interesting with great pictures, some fascinating designs and lots to read!!!

http://www.carmenyuen.com/blog/

quote:

Originally posted by MommiePretty:
Kristen, I stumbled over the Metamorphose Temps de Fille site while I was poking around this afternoon, and they have some über-cute things, most of which I could never wear, but I could totally do a cute bolero like this one as part of my "normal" wardrobe...

Nadja, you got one of those riding jackets for Christmas?? oh, I'm SO having coat envy LOL I wonder if I could pull off the dark brown -- I'm having a total love affair w/brown and white/white metal right now...

*MWAH!*
Tanya

that bolero IS cute and they have been quite trendy for the past year or two... at least in my neck of the woods. and amazingly enough equestrian and military style coats are becoming more and more popular as well (thank god! i get tired of sewing ALL my clothes). i obviously wear my coat with an ankle length hobble skirt and edwardian boots but in the pic it looks adorable worn with a pair of jeans.

as far as metamorphose temps de fille... there's very few outfits i'd be able to pull off seeing as i only wear black 99% of the time (with the occasional crimson or deep purple corset) and the other 1% of the time i wear dark chocolate browns... but i have gotten many an outfit from fanplusfriend which has more egl styles to offer. i look terrible in short frilly dresses because i'm 5'10 with the skinniest legs you've ever seen... seriously. i'm not sure how old i look but i know it's not 29. if i go to a bar i've never been to before guys come up and ask if they can sneak me a drink so i'm guessing 20.

bridget ~ lol! my dad use to call me half pint when i was little. my mom always made dresses like that, put my hair in braids... and with the freckles i no chance!

and if you get a gold sparkly dress... you better take some photos!

quote:

Originally posted by Mineral Makeup Maven:
Here's a blog that will keep you all reading for a good while, very interesting with great pictures, some fascinating designs and lots to read!!!

http://www.carmenyuen.com/blog/

oooh, they added lotsa new stuff since i was there last.

i love this thread! thank you tanya, and everyone else, too!

cin, i want to raid your wardrobe, too! i would love a frock coat! actually, i have a short wine-colored frock coat, but i don't think its as dramatic as yours.

i can't do the gothic lolita thing, either, being that i am a stauesque woman (5'10" and quite voluptuous- overly so in the hips) and on the shady side of 40! anything tiny and cute like a lot of the japanese-inspired lolita stuff just doesn't suit me- i'm way too statuesque and i also have red hair, and i don't do pastels, though i do have a penchant for tulle! i do like a sort-of dark and gothic-revival victorian look for me- what i call my "victorian dominatrix" look- that's me. in my youth i looked very pre-raphaelite. i like AL GL collection, though, because its versatile and does suit my victorian dominatrix look.

if anyone sees a frock coat that would fit someone of my stature, though, let me know!

p.s. does anyone get BUST magazine? there was a good article about goth loli in the one 2 issues ago- summer, i think. btw, i think a lot of BUST readers would be into AL.

That was a very good article in BUST- I think I have it laying around here somewhere in an issue (I save them all) I could probably scan it when I get a chance...

K