Boy… hard to believe it’s almost the New Year! In the past twelve months, I’ve discovered some outstanding Visual Kei music, including Dir en Grey and Versailles. But hands down, my top pick for 2007 would be the Gothic Lolita duo, Kokusyoku Sumire (Black Violet).
You can hear what I’m raving about on their MySpace page, which has six streamable songs. The “twins” aren’t actually related, but they’re frighteningly gifted musicians: Yuki (vocals/piano/accordion) is a strong soprano who bursts into falsetto; Sachi (violin/piano) pulls off rapid minor-key passages without a hitch. Kokusyoku Sumire's sound draws from the most haunting aspects of cabaret, classical, opera, and Japanese folk. I can’t understand a word they say, but I’m not surprised to hear that the songs are inspired by fairy tales (“Little Red Riding Hood”, “The Little Match Girl”, “Hansel and Gretel”).
Yuki and Sachi have a stage presence that’s as bizarrely mesmerizing as their music. They have the same black bobbed hair with straight bangs, and wear matching Gothic Lolita dresses with minimal makeup.
No wonder Kokusyoku Sumire has made waves in Japan’s Goth Loli scene. Since their debut in 2004, they have played at Tokyo Dark Castle and a Nagoya Angelic Pretty tea party. The girls are frequently pictured in the Gothic & Lolita Bible and are the “face” of Angelic Pretty. The band has released several CDs (available from HMV Japan), and has branched into solo projects. Last November, Kokusyoku Sumire visited Europe for the first time and held three concerts in Paris.
If you’re fond of the Gothic Lolita aesthetic, you’ll love Kokusyoku Sumire – especially their music videos. Aren't the German Expressionist hallucinations in “Circus No Uma” (above) marvelous? Perhaps Kokusyoku Sumire will be my favorite band for 2008 as well!
† Name/URL: Suzy † Age: 25 † Location: Austria † How were you introduced to Gothic Lolita fashion?
A couple of years ago through Malize Mizer. † What do you find appealing about GL style and culture?
In the beginning, I found it to be a (n expensive) hobby but then somehow it took a great part in my life and now ... it's a part of me. I couldn't imagine myself being without Gothic Lolita. † What are your favorite GL clothing brands? Moi-Même-Moitié,Atelier Boz and Alice & the Pirates. † Any other comments? DIX Love!
For the cash-strapped, Gothic Lolita can be a difficult lifestyle to sustain. A dress by Mary Magdalene or Innocent World can set you back $300. But here’s some good news: at Tiny Cravings, we can buy these clothes for a fraction of the price! Granted, the items are also a fraction of the size… and made of clay. But oh, aren’t they darling?
Jeanine of Tiny Cravings has launched a collection of Lolita charms, all of which are handmade from polymer clay and finished with a light gloss. She plans to expand the collection to include jewelry in Gothic, Sweet, Classic, Guro, Shiro, Pirate, and Hime styles. Above is my favorite: a white rabbit in a top hat and bowtie. Equally adorable is the frilly hat, which is inspired by a Baby, the Stars Shine Bright design.
Jeanine writes, “I am always happy to consider custom requests so don't hesitate to ask.” She can make replicas in any color of your favorite Lolita headdresses, parasols, shoes… you name it.
Tiny Cravings sells necklaces, barrettes, hair pins, brooches, and earrings in addition to charms. The Gothic Lolita miniatures are in the $20-35 range, and may be ordered with a sterling silver chain or black silk cord with silver clasps.
My latest fixation (and you know how I get obsessed with things) is Steampunk – especially since it’s a kindred spirit to Miss Gothic Lolita. Both are neo-Victorian aesthetics, although Steampunk has Western origins and is mainly inspired by a genre of science fiction. These novels usually take place in a futuristic 19th century England, in which steam-powered inventions that would have been impossible at the time are found to exist. Think computers and time machines, clumsily built from valves, clockwork, and bulging brass pipes set to explode any second.
The image above shows that Steampunk fashion has much in common with Gothic Lolita, minus the polish and kawaii (cuteness) of the Japanese style. A Steampunk outfit “tends to synthesize punk, goth and rivet styles as filtered through the Victorian era.” A lady might wear a tattered corset and bustle skirt in drab colors, such as black, olive green, or dark pinstripes. Hair tends to be swept up in two knobs or a messy up-do, as if she had just emerged from an explosion.
Men often channel the Gentleman Inventor of Jules Verne’s tales. Like Japan’s Kodonas, they wear vests, waistcoats, slacks, top hats, cravats, and carry a pocketwatch. A Sky Pirate outfit incorporates a sash and leather aviator cap.
For both sexes, big stompy boots with buckles are a must. And we mustn’t forget the Steampunk signature: round brass goggles, usually worn on the forehead.
Steampunk and Lolita fashion come together in Katsuhiro Otomo’s animated film, Steamboy. The story centers on Ray, born to a family of inventors in an alt-19th century England. A package from his grandfather arrives, containing a Steam Ball that he must protect at all costs… and that’s where the fun begins. Poor Ray has to fend off attacks by fabulously cumbersome machines: an automotive, a giant zeppelin with a mechanical claw, “steam troopers” wielding guns, barely-steerable gliders…
Ray befriends a not-so-sweet Lolita named Scarlett O’Hara. The 14-year-old heiress looks like an innocent doll in fluffy pink and white dresses, which resemble Metamorphose and Baby’s. But boy, is she ever a pain! Scarlett whines and complains and abuses her little Chihuahua. Happily, she matures by the stunning end scene, and the credits show that she later becomes an aviator. (If only Paris Hilton would do the same…)
Steamboy is a visual wonder, with a superb electric-tinted soundtrack by Steve Jablonsky. And isn’t the parallel evolution of Steampunk and Gothic Lolita fascinating? Just take the excellent Steampunk blog Brass Goggles… the format and layout is nearly identical to La Carmina's!
Happy Halloween (or whatever it is you celebrate) from La Carmina!
The holidays are the perfect excuse to take a break from the Gothic Lolita monochrome. For a Christmas Lolita look, try dressing up in red and white - like these girls in the Baby, the Stars Shine Bright graphic above.
What's on everyone's Lolita wish-lists? Did Santa give you what you wanted for Xmas?
Any Gurololi (Gory Lolita) can relate to the complications that costume designer Colleen Atwood faced when working on the movie Sweeney Todd. The two-time Oscar winner (for 2002's Chicago and 2005's Memoirs of a Geisha) has collaborated with director Tim Burton on films from Edward Scissorhands to Sleepy Hollow, so her problem wasn't the gore – it was cleaning it all up.
Throughout the movie, the vengeful Victorian barber (Johnny Depp) literally gets blood on his sleeve – again and again and again. Atwood ended up making 25 shirts, eight pairs of paints and seven waistcoats for Depp. “The big thing was where was [the blood] going and how are we going to get it off,” Atwood says. "On the days - as we got used to saying - we had a kill, we had the people that ran the shirts up to the washers, the people on set taking care of the people, buckets of towels, changing booths, mini showers set up. We got really good at it."
Her Sweeney Todd costumes are beautifully conceived and can inspire Lolitas of all stripes. For the Gothic girls, we have Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter), who bakes the barber’s victims into meat pies. She wears black shoulder-baring dresses with tiers of ruffles on her backside; her frazzled hair is swept in a Mana-like up-do; her skin is ashen with sooty smudges under the eyes. Atwood explains that the darkness is authentic to the time: "When you went out on the streets, it was really dirty, so I wanted to add that layer of grubbiness."
Sweet Lolitas can relate to Lucy, the barber’s virtuous wife, with her pink and white princess dresses and blonde ringlets. Her daughter, Johanna, wears blue empire-waist dresses in the vein of a Classic Lolita. There’s even something for Sailor Lolis. In the hilarious dream sequence “By the Sea,” Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett unwind in elaborate Victorian beachwear. (Depp doesn’t seem pleased with his cute, full-body, horizontally striped bathing suit.)
Go out and see Sweeney Todd – I think you’ll love the dark Victorian atmosphere and twisted humor of the film. Wishing you a bloody Nightmare before Xmas!
† Name/URL: Hanna † Age: 22 † Location: Sweden † How were you introduced to Gothic Lolita fashion?
About 5 years ago through a friend. † What do you find appealing about GL style and culture?
The look somehow appeals to me, I can't really say exactly what it is. † What are your favorite GL clothing brands?
I never buy brand stuff, but I think Moi-meme-Moitie and Antique Beast have really nice clothing and accessories. I also like Vivienne Westwood a lot. Athough she's not making specifically Lolita clothing, I think you can use a lot of her stuff like that anyway.
† Any other comments? Makeup-vise I think LinDa is a fantastic inspiration for those who likes it a bit more "extreme".
