Horror Movie Recs (Halloween is approaching!) 🎃

Hello again! 🦇

To get myself back in the groove of writing in this blog, I thought I'd do a quick and fun post about some of my favorite horror movies. When it comes to my taste in horror, I'd say it's really all over the place. I like "quality" horror movies that are technically good cinema, and I like cheesy 80s movies. In fact, I think I like "bad" 80s horror more than ever before. 

A lot of horror gets a bad rep for being corny, but to that I say -- that's what the genre is all about! I also think a lot of movies we think of as "bad" can actually have more to say than you might think. But I don't think horror needs to be high-brow to have value, and the value can be in the shock, the camp, and the sheer love put into it. Anyways, my boyfriend and I have been making a point of getting through classic horror franchises the last few spooky seasons — every Friday the 13th, every Nightmare, and so on. 

I've fallen more and more in love with horror with every passing year so without further ado, here are some of my favorites that I recommend for this Halloween. I decided just to stick to 5, because I couldn't possibly name all my favorites.

1. Friday the 13th franchise —Yes, every single one.

OK, so this counts as like, 10 movies, but my absolute favorite horror memory is getting through every single one of these. Some are godawful, some are so-so, and a handful of these are genuinely good movies. I recommend watching them all because it's fascinating seeing the journey of directors and writers pass on Jason's story, and the decisions made along the way (without getting too spoilery, Part V makes a huge departure for the franchise that I wish they'd followed through on!). 

Some of my favorites are the aforementioned Part V, but I also like Jason takes Manhattan (8), the Final Chapter (4), and the delightfully fun Freddy vs. Jason. Friday the 13th as a franchise is completely no-frills, but there's a lot of love in it for the craft of horror movies. Plus, Tom Savini is the master of practical effects. 

2. Fright Night

Vampires. 80s dance tunes. Chris Sarandon. Incredible practical effects. This movie is so much fun -- I watched it recently for the first time and immediately rewatched it the day after, and then the significantly less fun remake. 

I know a lot of people consider The Lost Boys the iconic 80s fun vampire movie but to be honest, I'm not a huge fan. Fright Night is where it's at... and the nightclub scene will forever be branded in my memory as one of the sexiest moments in vampire movie history. 

3. Noroi: The Curse

I wanted to include at least 1 J-Horror in here. There are so many good ones but I think the movie that scared me the most and truly marked me is Noroi. Koji Shiraishi is a master of found footage, and Noroi is definitely his best movie. The lore is delivered at a perfect pace, there are twists and turns, and some images will haunt you for a while after. Highly recommend this for a good scare. 

4. X

The most recent in the list (2022!), X is an homage to 70s slashers, most notably the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Most interestingly, Mia Goth plays both the final girl and the killer, and does an incredible job in both roles. The kills rely on practical effects which is refreshing to see, the premise is interesting, and the cinematography is beautiful (it's an A24 movie, after all). 

This isn't a perfect movie, however. It does fall back on some tired tropes around the elderly and uses naked old bodies for shock value, which I could have done without. But it still left an impression on me and it's great to see such a classic slasher formula come back. 

5. Scream 4

Why didn't I pick Scream 1? Cause this one is my favorite, sorry! The original Scream is incredible and I'll always love my homoerotic killer boyfriends, but Scream 4 absolutely bamboozled me. I don't want to say too much because you really have to watch it, but it's definitely the most solid sequel in the franchise. 

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Like I said, there are too many other movies I could name, but some honorable mentions that didn't make the cut are Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, RINGU, The Exorcist I and III, the Candyman remake, and Bram Stoker's Dracula (barely a horror but still a favorite).

This year my boyfriend and I plan on getting through the entire Hellraiser franchise, so maybe I'll make post about that at some point. This October I definitely plan on watching a ton of horror, making spooky cocktails, and I want to try my hand at baking a coffin cake. I'm more in the season than ever before! Happy Halloween Season!

🎃💀My Oingo Boingo Album Ranking 💀🎃

 I haven't posted here in a while and I was debating for the longest time what I wanted to write about next — so I asked myself "OK, what have I really been up to lately?" and the answer is just...listening to Oingo Boingo. 

I intended this blog to be exclusively about lolita and goth music, so this doesn't exactly fit, but whatever. Oingo Boingo is a cult 80s band and a lot of goths like 80s music and new wave so it's close enough lol. I'm pretty sure I'm the only one that reads this blog anyway! 

Oingo Boingo is an 80s new wave band fronted by Danny Elfman (yes that Danny Elfman). The band itself is huge and members came and went over the years -- I usually compare their makeup to Gorillaz in my head, in that Gorillaz also has many members fronted by 1 guy. Oingo Boingo disbanded in 1995 with a huge farewell concert, but most recently Elfman performed a ton of their songs at Coachella. (As an aside, I hope I'm that hot when I'm 68.) 

I'm not sure exactly why I'm so obsessed with Oingo Boingo but their sound is incredibly unique, incorporating synth and horns, some ska influence, all paired with Danny Elfman's unique voice. Without further ado, I'm going to rank all the Oingo Boingo albums from my least favourite to most favourite. 

7. Dark at the End of the Tunnel

I feel bad putting this at the end, because it's not a garbage album, but this one and BOI-NGO are really not the usual Oingo Boingo sound. This particular album is pretty dark, but not in the fun Dead Man's Party kind of way. Paired with a lack of horns and whimsy that usually characterizes the band's sound, it's not even really worth a re-listen.

6. BOI-NGO

A lot of what I have to say about this album I've already said about Dark at the End of the Tunnel, but I'm ranking this higher because it's more upbeat. That said, the album is really like a generic "80s pop" album. The world instruments, horns, interesting Elfman vocal delivery...kind of not there. I do like Elevator Man, though.

5. Boingo

This is Oingo Boingo's final album and while it's not a total return to form after the two previous albums, it's definitely more interesting and less 'generic 80s'. The opening track on this album, "Insanity", is SUCH a good opener. It's incredibly dramatic and I understand why they chose it for the opening number of their farewell tour. The songs on this album are all pretty long, actually, and overall it feels like a goodbye album. The rename here, "Boingo" instead of "Oingo Boingo" seems to refer to the fact that there are no horns on this album. In fact, the whole album is quite sad tonally. That is a big con for me so it's only in spot #5. 

4. Only a Lad

The band's first album and a great example of their sound. This album contains the highly controversial song "Little Girls" which is a satire of men in positions of power who prey after underage girls -- though that tends to go under the radar a lot, and many people don't like the song (which I kind of understand). The whole album is catchy though and it's a great first album to listen to if you're not familiar with Oingo Boingo. I would rank it higher but the next three albums are such bangers that I can't!

3. Good For Your Soul

One of their most successful albums by far, I can confidently say literally every song on this album is good. My personal favourite is "Pictures of You", a song about a man in love with a...zombie-undead woman? It definitely feels like a precursor to Dead Man's Party, anyway. Other amazing songs are "Good for Your Soul" and "No Spill Blood". A solid album that I can listen to on repeat. 

2. Dead Man's Party

The album the band is most known for and a great Halloween album. This is pure Oingo Boingo and I particularly love how it deals with the inevitability of death, but doesn't frame it in a negative way. This album contains their most well-known track "Weird Science", which Elfman just wrote for a movie and later would regret that it would become how the band was known. It's a good song in my opinion but I get where he's coming from. My favourite song on the album is "No one Lives Forever" but "Just Another Day" is also fantastic!

1. Nothing to Fear 

My favourite album -- again, literally every song is good. The opener "Grey Matter" is a frantic, anxiety-inducing song, followed by "Insects" in which the sound of a mosquito in your ear plays in the background. "Private Life" is a fascinating song about a man whose basically cut off everyone in his life and thinks he's happy but isn't really. And "Running on a Treadmill" is a wonderfully upbeat song with a poignant metaphor. I love this album SO much, if that isn't clear. 

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Well that's it from me! Just felt like doing a fun little post like this. If you listen to any of these albums let me know which one you liked (if any)!

Life Update

Oops, I haven't written here in over a month! Not much has been going on, but I wanted to talk a bit about movies and music I've been enjoying — and some lolita finds.

As I write this I have tickets to see Molchat Doma in May...but given what's happening right now and that the band is in Belarus...I wonder honestly if that concert will still happen. The important thing is that people are safe so I won't cry a river if it doesn't work out.

As for other music, I've been listening to a lot of Male Tears lately, as well as ACTORS, Diva Destruction, and Boy Harsher. Male Tears's latest album, "Trauma Club" is really great, especially the song Model Citizen!

I've been watching some horror lately, mostly bad stuff though. I watched the 2022 Texas Chainsaw Massacre and it was laughably bad. I could probably write a whole blog post just about that but to sum it up, it came across as some "anti-SJW" shit. The gore was incredible though, I will say that.

I also watched The Dark and the Wicked, which is a Shudder exclusive. It had good atmosphere and some scares...but it just didn't explain enough! I don't need things over-explained to me in horror, but this was bare bones. I don't know, I'm waiting for a Shudder exclusive to really wow me and it hasn't happened. At least there's Dragula.

Turning to lolita, I recently went to my comm's Valentine's Day meet. We just met up at a public space to chat, since things aren't safe enough re: Omicron yet to book a restaurant. I wore Vampire Prelude because red roses are on theme.

JSK: Alice and the Pirates

Corset: Sheglit

Blouse, socks, bag: Moitie

Shoes: Yosuke

Besides that I've been doing OK on my lolita resolutions. Got a Wishlist main piece this week, which I actually posted in my last post! It's Mary Magdalene's Elodie Doll JSK and with tags. The piece isn't super rare, but it is in pink and mint. I got the mint one and can't wait to receive it. I've been looking for years.

I also got a VM cotton blouse and bonnet secondhand! I needed a blouse like this with a bow, to add visual interest when I wear the JSK — it's only of those pieces that sort of requires something at your collar. 

Anyway that's all I had to share. Back to watching movies. Hopefully I'll have something more interesting to share next time.

My 2022 Lolita Goals

I'm a huge advocate of goals for anything in life: they keep you focused and cut away a lot of bullshit. When I first started in lolita, I didn't have a clear vision of where I saw in wardrobe in X years and I really paid the price. For the first 3-4 years I was in the fashion, I didn't have a cohesive wardrobe at all. I didn't have any main wardrobe colors so I had accessories that matched only one dress...I couldn't make varied coords with any of my pieces...it was a mess. Eventually, I dropped an entire substyle (sweet) and basically started fresh. 

These days I'm careful about what I add to my wardrobe to make sure I can make lots of coords out of any new dress I get. I make sure I get enough filler like cardigans and socks to keep things fresh, and so on. (I definitely have my friend Stefen to thank for inspiring me with her organizational skills.)

Last year my goal was to make my wardrobe 50/50 classic and gothic because I didn't have much gothic at the time. I definitely achieved that goal! Looking ahead, I wanted to list out some of my lolita goals for 2022. They're not necessarily purchase-related but many are haha.

1. Get more hair accessories

I could probably also write "and blouses, and socks" but really where I'm crucially lacking is in hair accessories — especially for gothic lolita. I choose not to wear wigs so my options are narrow when it comes to accessories that actually stay on my head and look good. I feel like a lot of gothic hair accessories are really OTT and dramatic so that's another hurdle. In 2022 I want to get more from Antique Beast (when they open) and other indie shops like Hoshibako.

2. Only get dresses on my wishlist

Left to right: Moitie's Divine Cross JSK, MM Tweed OP, MM Elodie Doll JSK

This one is so tough but I do genuinely want to follow it. I feel like every impulse main piece purchase I've ever made, I've eventually sold. It's only the pieces I truly wanted that I've kept, so going forward I want to only invest in pieces I really, really want. Unfortunately that means a lot of rare Mary Magdalene and Moitie which I doubt I'll find easily — so 2022 might be an uneventful year for dresses. That said, I did just find a wishlist item recently: Moitie's Rose Tulle OP! 

3. Wear the fashion 2x a week

Last year I wore lolita about once a week and I'd like to do even better this year! I don't know about others but for me personally, the biggest hurdle to wearing lolita is just...putting it on. Once I have it on I feel amazing and get a real serotonin boost. But when I'm low or lazy, it can seem unappealing to pile layers on. I think wearing it more regularly will shake that laziness! I invest so much money and emotional energy into lolita so I want to make the most of it. 

4. Support Victorian Maiden, Sheglit, and Atelier Pierrot

This one kind of speaks for itself. I like these brands but don't often get anything new from them. Of course, brands don't survive from lolitas getting them secondhand on Lace Market — so I want to make a point of supporting them directly. This may sound like it contradicts Goal #2 but all of these brands make great filler pieces, so I don't necessarily need to get dresses to support them!

5. Let go of perfection

The hardest one. As lolita becomes more popular, it feels like it's most present on Instagram and Tiktok…and with that comes this pressure to be perfect, to look perfect, to have the perfect edits, the perfect wardrobe, the perfect curated image of yourself. It's a lot. I want my relationship to lolita to be about me and not how I'm perceived by others so in 2022 I'd like to wear more half-assed coords, more no-makeup coords, and take fewer photos in general. 

That's it for my 2022 goals! I hope I can achieve most if not all of them. If you have any lolita goals I wish you the best of luck with them!

My 2021 Gothic Lolita Wardrobe

January is just around the corner and it's time for the traditional wardrobe posts from the EGL comm. I've never done a detailed wardrobe post as my camera is just not that great and, frankly,  I'm kind of lazy. But since I've been posting on this blog somewhat regularly, I mustered up the energy to post my gothic main pieces! There are a couple of pieces here that aren't technically gothic, but I'm counting them because they're not a part of my classic wardrobe either. 

Just as a disclaimer, I want to state that I've been wearing the fashion for almost 6 years now. I own a lot, but that is the result of time, saving — and also, I've sold a lot of pieces I didn't love enough to afford dresses I can really see myself coording for years to come. I just don't want anyone to think a wardrobe like this appears out of nowhere. Lolita is very much a long-term hobby.

So without further ado, here are my goth/kuro/hard to categorize main pieces!

Alice & The Pirates - Vampire Prelude JSK (ivory)

I've wanted this dress for years and finally saw it this past year on Xianyu. The ivory and black colorways are my favorite and I'd love to have both one day! This dress is so striking and I particularly like how the roses pop on the ivory colorway.

Baby, The Stars Shine Bright - Velvet Babydoll JSK 

Such a classic BABY cut. Since I'm no longer a sweet lolita, I could only see myself owning this piece in black and specifically in velvet. I know it's not a gothic dress but I've coorded it in gothic ways and I think it works.

Moi-Meme-Moitie - Archangel OP

Apparently, this dress is 65% polyester and 35% cotton but it feels like 100% cotton, which is one of my favorite things about it. It has such a great weight to it and is extremely flattering! 

Moi-Meme-Moitie - Chandelier JSK (black x white)

My only JSK with no straps. I'm considering getting some detachable clear straps added to this, as my bust is too small to accommodate it. I love the lace on this dress so much, it pops so nicely!

Metamorphose - Camo Skirt (?)

Probably the most random piece I own. I love the pink camo and wide, tacky raschel lace...

Metamorphose - 3-Tiered Skirt (?)

I bought this when I was living in Japan. Found it for 2k yen which is such a steal! It's a great basic piece, and holds a lot of poof.

Moi-Meme-Moitie - Cross OP

My first Moitie piece! This dress is perfect for casual looks but can be dressed up, too. It's probably the comfiest dress I own. I particularly like the tuck in the sleeves.

Moi-Meme-Moitie - Holy Angel Long OP (white)

A lucky find on my first trip to Closet Child in Harajuku. Truthfully I struggle to coord this but it has such sentimental value, it's hard to part with it. 

Cornet - OP (unknown)

Like most Cornet pieces, this one is hard to identify. Found it online for a good deal because the detachable sleeves are in poor condition. It's cute but really short. [Update: I ended up selling this mere days after writing this post! I guess seeing all my pieces laid out like this inspired me to reevaluate what I wanted to keep!]

Putumayo - Skirt (?)

The least EGL of my wardrobe but it's great for casual wear! You can't see in this photo, but there are safety pins on it. 

Metamorphose - Velour Skirt

Another good deal! I love wearing this for more vampire-inspired coords.

Metamorphose - Trumpet Sleeve Babydoll OP (2007)

This isn't to be confused with the iconic 2000 Babydoll OP from Meta, but the design is pretty similar and scratches my OTT itch! Definitely my least-wearable piece but I like having at least 1 dress for special occaisions.

Moi-Meme-Moitie - Holy Queen Skirt

I know I keep saying this but I got this for a good deal — in this case, because the print is a bit faded. Personally I think the fading doesn't really show. 

Sheglit - Briar Rose Long OP

I wanted this so badly when it came out but this cut and colorway sold out first! Luckily I found it on Fril a few weeks later for half the price. It doesn't photograph well like this but this is another one of my most comfortable, wearable dresses. I love coording it.

Victorian Maiden - Nun OP (2002)

This is a dress I can't quite believe I own. It's the oldest piece in my collection and extremely iconic. Victorian Maiden doesn't really make goth pieces like this anymore, but I sure wish they did!

Moi-Meme-Moitie - Silent Moon OP

Ah, yes. The dress every gothic lolita owns. Not much to say here except that this border print always takes my breath away. I initially waffled between the black and white colorways but I'm happy I went with this.

And that's it for my 2021 Gothic wardrobe! The gothic side of my wardrobe grew considerably in the past year and I feel really lucky! My goal for 2021 was to have a 50-50 classic/gothic wardrobe and I definitely think I achieved that. 

My goals for 2022 are just to get more filler items like socks, jewelry and headwear, and make the most of the main pieces I currently own. Happy New Year to whoever is reading this!

Is Classic Lolita dead?

Sweet, gothic, and classic. 

Whether you started out 10+ years ago and read a guide on LJ or joined yesterday and asked someone on FB, people will tell you these are the 3 main substyles of lolita fashion. And yet, with each passing year, it seems classic lolita is more and more irrelevant. One could argue that defining classic as one of the top 3 substyles may be immaterial at this point — and many of us would argue the substyle is in fact dead. 

But I'm not here to argue whether or not classic is dead. Rather, I want to talk about factors that have contributed to it being so unpopular, common misconceptions about what classic even is, and what the future of classic lolita might be. While I'll be drawing from facts, a lot of this is just my personal theories, so don't take this as the holy grail opinion on the topic! I'm someone who happens to wear a lot of classic lolita and considers it their main substyle, but I was not active in lolita fashion during the years in which classic brands were most active. 

What is classic lolita?

Sometimes I joke that if I had a dollar for every time someone posts a "classic" coord online, only for it to be sweet lolita with florals, I'd be rich. And yet, this is all too common. It's hard to say without sounding like an asshole or elitist but frankly, there seems to be a lack of understanding in the lolita community about what classic lolita actually is. I think this is largely because of the lack of examples or active brands, or the "everything Innocent World releases is pure classic" mentality, but anyway. 

Classic lolita examples.

Classic lolita can be defined, in my opinion, by 3 main traits. 

First: an A-line shape. Pretty much no classic dresses will have the bell/cupcake shape that sweet dresses do. 

Second: historical influence. This isn't to say classic lolita is "historically accurate", but that there is a clearer line drawn between classic cuts/motifs and Victorian, or Rococo, or Edwardian styles. This is tangentially related but you will almost never see border prints in classic either. Solids or all-over print fabric is much more common.

Third: Relatively simple styling. OTT classic is a thing but even then, it does not come close to OTT sweet. A lot of classic lolitas I know reuse the same brown shoes a lot, simple blouse, a hat or headdress, plain socks. By normie standards this is really extravagant, of course, but by lolita standards classic lolitas can look pretty plain! 

Florals do not a classic dress make! These are sweet.

Common mistakes I see are people assuming any floral/antique pattern is automatically classic, or any jewel tones are classic. In reality, classic lolita can come in all colors, including light pink and black. I also see people taking solid dresses with simple styling and call them classic, when the dress they're wearing has like 10 bows, lace and ruffles everywhere. This is technically possible in classic, but 9 times out of 10, a more cutesy, ruffly cut is a sweet dress. 

The brands (where are they now?)

The 3 most well-known classic lolita brands are Victorian Maiden, Mary Magdalene, and Innocent World — with a major mention to Juliette & Justine as well. Of these brands, the most active currently are Victorian Maiden and Innocent World. 

Victorian Maiden did shut down briefly, only to make a comeback and now are releasing things pretty regularly — though we haven't seen a full return in my opinion. No shoes, much less headwear, and an overall decline in quality (not to say they're terrible, just not quite the same). Most recently, designer Lumi announced her retirement. It's too early to say what impact this will have on the brand, but fingers crossed everything is OK. I do think a few of their newer releases have really scratched the classic itch, notably their recent Antique Rose release. I was also really into the Swan Lake series and am strongly debating getting the OP in black. 

Innocent World is very active and has found their niche with older lolitas. They release longer cuts almost exclusively now. They never seem to give their models long enough petticoats, though. Lampshade city. I haven't bought IW new in years, as I find their quality is very much lacking for the price — but almost all their releases sell out, so clearly they have a dedicated audience. Since I'm unsure how much of any design they produce, it's hard to say how much they're selling, but in any case older Japanese Lolitas seem to love them. I can't grumble about this as it's keeping classic alive, but my elitist self can't help but feel like the quality of their materials is not representative of what true classic should be lol. You can judge me if you want. I'm just saying, I bought an apron from them new like 2 years ago and it was riddled with loose threads. I was not impressed. 

[I also want to note that a lot of IW releases — the most popular ones, anyway — really toe the line for me. Lotta and Revival Anette are two of their most beloved releases, but both of them read as sweet to me. Toned down, maybe country-inspired sweet, but sweet nonetheless. Totally aware that people will disagree with me on this, but that's just what I think!]

Often thought of as "the" classic dress — I'm not so sure.

Mary Magdalene is very likely dead. Even in their heyday, they were comprised of a handful of people designing garments in an apartment in Kyoto (or Osaka? Someone correct me!). MM has been in slow decline for a few years now — they had a preorder for a Farutetto rerelease a few years ago which they didn't end up honoring (they refunded people). Then they had a coat preorder last year which seems to have done well, and those did indeed ship out, but we've heard nothing from them since February 2021. It's depressing, as I think people were excited to welcome them back. I'm particularly heartbroken since I love Mary Magdalene and I think they are quintessentially classic… but their designs have been famously ripped off over the years by Milanoo-type sites. I think newbies to the fashion still fall for those. I always facepalm when I see that — like, in what world could you buy a dress like Ekaterina or Petit Four OP for under 100$? Come on, people!

Juliette & Justine is the brand I know the least about, but they seem to still be active. They're a bit more niche and definitely not for everyone. Personally, I'm not into their painting prints and some of their cuts are straight up weird, lol. Anyway!

Overall unpopularity of classic lolita : The reasons

Regardless of each brand's situation, classic lolita as a whole is much less popular compared to sweet and gothic. When the pandemic first started, the other 2 substyles BOOMED, while classic remained more or less the same. I think there are two main reasons for this, which I'll get into now.

Sizing

It's no secret that the majority of classic lolita is small. Like, REALLY small. I'm 5"3 and quite thin but I can't fit into most older Victorian Maiden. The average waist on their older releases seems to be around 64-65cm, which as a fully grown 28-year-old man is not an option for me. I suspect this is small for many Japanese women as well! Mary Magdalene is also quite small, most of it unshirred. Basically, classic is the least size inclusive of the 3 substyles. And while there are Taobao brands offering some classic designs, I don't feel like a lot of them nail the "look" of classic lolita in the same way VM and MM do. (For the record, I think gothic isn't that size-inclusive either, but I see less comments to this effect.)

It's sort of a Catch-22, because I think classic brands for the most part didn't take off the way Angelic Pretty did. If you're not selling a lot, it's less likely you'll expand and branch out to larger sizes. But then if they had larger sizes, they might sell more. Hence the Catch-22. But suffice to say the teeny tiny sizing has not helped classic boom in popularity. 

Performance on social media

It's cynical, sure, but the reality is classic lolita does not perform as well as sweet or gothic. There is probably another blog post somewhere in this point, but I do think a lot of people in 2021 get into alt fashion for their social media presence, having a cool feed, and so on. OTT sweet and gothic do so much better in this regard! Sweet lolita is the most visible substyle and many people interested in lolita fashion think sweet is the only side of the fashion. Meanwhile, classic lolitas on IG often cater to totally different communities — historical fashion comms, vintage comms, and so on. 

Basically, I think lolita fashion in the last few years has become a victim of the Hype. AP releases are more and more competitive, Wunderwelt crashes every time Moitie has a release…and classic just hasn't carried nearly the same amount of anticipation or status. You don't really get the "flex" of owning the newest print. I'm not saying I'm above this — I definitely fall for the Moitie hype, too! But I mean, when is the last time a classic dress has been so sought after that a Victorian Maiden release crashed Wunderwelt?

The current state (and future) of classic

These days, I can probably count on 2 hands the number of people I know who wear classic regularly. A lot of them (most of them) bought their wardrobes years ago. Many of us wait years and years for that elusive rare MM or VM to pop up on a secondhand site. We get wardrobe fillers from vintage stores or non-lolita shops. Next to the other two substyles, it's hard to see any resemblance.

This poor dress has been replicated so many times. I think a lot of newbies don't even know it's MM!

To me, it feels like classic lolitas are almost separate from the lolita community in general. Maybe I'm being negative, but it feels like classic lolita ""culture"" is just different — again, much less hype, fewer releases to discuss, more of an affinity with vintage or historical fans. 

I think for classic to boom again, we'd need to see brands be more active. We'd need more sizing options. OTT classic would probably be popular over standard classic. These are just my theories, though. 

I love classic lolita with a passion and I dearly love the dresses I've found over the years. I'll keep trying to complete my classic wishlist and I'll keep wearing classic even if it totally dies out. This blog post probably seems negative but I write it all because I love classic so much! 

She Past Away Show

I recently got to see She Past Away perform and I'm so happy I did! As I probably have mentioned before, I got really into the goth subculture during quarantine, so up until now I didn't have a chance to see any music live (for obvious reasons). Truthfully it was a bit weird being there, in the sense that I don't think the pandemic is over by any means and yet people behaved as if everything was fine. Once there I was like "well, I'm here, might as well enjoy it", but I'm not sure if I'd rush back to a show until we have more info on the new variants. 

Anyway, heavy stuff aside, I had a lot of fun. I went with a good friend and my partner, both of whom aren't familiar with She Past Away, so I got to introduce them! I'm really bad at sharing stuff I'm passionate about. I have a fear of annoying people or boring them. So this was a challenge for me, but I soon relaxed and I think they both had fun! The show was at the Fairmount Theater, which is an OK size, definitely a music venue but nothing massive. A local act called Oiseau de Proie (bird of prey) opened for them. I wasn't familiar with her but my friend said they went to high school with her?? 

I didn't want to wear gothic lolita because it's so sweaty, so I wore a goth outfit using lolita elements. Some goth women told me I looked really good which was super flattering!!!!

Skirt: Meta

Cutsew + socks: Moitie

Bustier: Killstar

Shoes: Yosuke

Choker: Necrosarium

The show itself was so fun! They played mostly from their newer album, Disko Anksiyete, which is really upbeat and great to dance to. They played their more popular songs from their first album, too. I drank beer and danced but didn't go into the crowd. We stayed more to the side and that was a better option for sure. I also got a t-shirt from the merch table.

I debated which design to pick and almost got one with just the band name, but my partner thought this hand one looked cool so I went with this one. It was a good choice. Anyway, that was my time at She Past Away! Depending on how things go with COVID, I'd really like to see Molchat Doma in May and maybe Lebanon Hanover. That's all for now!