This week's LBC topic: Three Prints I Would Like to See! For these three, I decided to go with one of my favorite themes, "Literary Lolita;" therefore, all of the prints are based off of literature, and are ridiculously detailed in description, because I'm a crazy person. Hey, we all have our passions, right?

So, once again, what on Earth is a Lolita Blog Carnival? Well, it's a group of Lolibloggers like myself who all blog together about the same topic on the same day. The topics are voted on at the Facebook group and a deadline is set, and everyone works on their articles until the posting deadline. At the end, we all link to each others' entries at the bottom of our own, so all of our lovely readers can see what other participating Lolibloggers had to say.

First and foremost: Antique Library. I imagine this as a richly-colored classical border print, in hunter green, burgundy, plum, cream, etc. It would have regimental stripes going down to about 3/4 of the way down the skirt, where tall, ornate wooden bookcases would begin. Then, closer to the bottom, there would be spindly antique tables and plush leather armchairs. Sporadically throughout the print there may be the silhouettes of lolitas, sitting at tables, reaching for books, reclining in chairs, but I'm not sold on that yet. At the top of the print, the regimental stripes would be decorated with small falling books, as if they're being dropped from the ceiling to the bookshelves below. After trying to find images to represent this print, I've found that JM did a library print themselves, but it's very different from what I'm envisioning!

Secondly: The Secret Garden. This would be a sweet/classic print with the main colorways as muted pastels, such as peach, sage, powder blue, etc. The main print, though, would be bright, spring-y colors depicting, front and center, a large wrought iron gate, Moitie-syle, entwined with large roses of various shades. Flanking it would be a stone wall with a fantastical garden twining up the dress behind it- huge sunflowers, big, ancient oaks, and all manner of vines and flowers twisting up to cover most of the skirt itself. I know Angelic Pretty did a Secret Garden series many moons ago, but this would be a more ETC-style kitschy, vintage look to it.

Third and finally: Love Letters of Great Men. There's this fabulous book I found at a friend's house, and it's seriously just a transcription on various love letter from various great men - everyone from Mark Twain to Napoleon Bonaparte. This sweet-classic print, inspired by BABY's Strawberry Love Letters series, would simply be a collection on there love letters in dress form. It would look like the letters were spread out on a gingham table cloth - or, even better, a wood-grain pattern like a well-oiled antique table - and all would be in different handwriting styles and signed by those who wrote them. They would probably be too small to actually read, but they would be strewn over this table cloth as well as daisies, roses, and various other flowers associated with love. This would come in a variety of colors of gingham (or woodgrain), but the main image itself - the letters and flowers - would hardly have to change per color.

See what everyone else had to say!

Ramble Rori

F Yeah Lolita

Lemontree
A Lace Jail
Good Morning Lovely
Darkly Darling

Secret Window
La Petite Princess
Carnivale Salt
Puppenschloss

Commercially Alternative
Parfait Doll
Toothless Tigers
Candy-Coated Life

Fashion Fairytales and Sewing Secrets

I'm pretty sure every follower of lolita fashion is familiar with the book we so often get likened to. Plenty of us yell and scream about how the conventional definition of the word is completely off-base, and we can tell people we aren't sexually-provocative young girls until our throats bleed, the only way we can truly understand the difference between ourselves and the characters in the book is to, you know, actually read it. That's what I was thinking the first time I picked up the book.I first read Lolita when I originally got into this fashion, to arm myself against what I imagined would be an onslaught of pedophiles as soon as I uttered its name. I went to my local library. I read the first page. I was hooked, and the addiction would last a lifetime.

It isn't even so much that it's a good story. For me, that first time, it didn't even have a story. I was so entranced by the beauty of Nabokov's language, his flowery descriptions and elegant prose, that my first time reading the book I couldn't have told you what it was about. I registered nothing but the words- beautiful words I had never heard of or seen before, in English, Latin, and French.

But then, the second time I read it, I picked up on the plot: the beautiful, heartbreaking, incredibly disturbing plot. You may have heard that Lolita

is a troubling book, not just in the sense of being a mentally-taxing read, but also in that you find yourself rooting for the bad guy-- a bad guy who is so far from most civilized morals that, before reading, you think he's the type of character you could never feel any sympathy for. Of course I won't go into details or give anything away, but anyone who has experience with incest, sexual trauma, rape, or even kidnapping, please be warned that this book could be highly triggering. However, if you're a bibliophile, this piece is practically required reading. It was through Lolitathat I learned to think critically of point of view, that I learned that the narrator is not always trustworthy, that I learned to think outside of the box which was instilled in me during my middle school English classes. When I'm a literature teacher, I'll probably assign this book for these reasons if nothing else.

But I digress. The point is, there's more to this book than racy thematic devices. This piece is an excellent read for anyone interested in vintage fashion (Oh, if I had Dolly's wardrobe!), psychology, literature, or even just people who like long books full of fancy words and beautiful prose which borders on erotica. If nothing else, read this book to arm yourself against the fight our name has destined us for; I can almost guarantee you'll enjoy it.

I'm starting to think I have a problem with finding ways to associate fine literature with lolita fashion. Oh well, at least it makes blogging easier! One of my favorite classes right now is an English course called "The American Renaissance," focusing on American writers from the 1803's-1860's- think Thoreau, Melville, and, my current focus, Emerson. This weekend we were assigned his essay "Self-Reliance," which was written around the 1830's or 40's and discusses the importance of non-conformity and being true to one's self. Now, while Emerson was writing to and for male academics of his era, I've been struck during this reading by how pertinent it is to followers of lolita fashion, who mostly have to follow their own internal compass but often get bogged down by the "rules." Here are a few of my favorite quotes from the essay, all of which I think a lolita could really benefit from:

"There comes a time in every [hu]man's education where he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide."*

"Whoso would be a [hu]man, must be a nonconformist"* 

"My life is for itself and not for a spectacle."

"What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness. It is the harder because you will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it. It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude."

"[...]conformity makes them not false in a few particulars, authors of a few lies, but false in all particulars. Their every truth is not quite true. [...]every word they say chagrins us and we know not where to begin to set them right."

"To be great is to be misunderstood."

"Insist on yourself; never imitate. Your own gift you can present every moment with the cumulative force of a whole life's cultivation; but the adopted talent of another you have only an extemporaneous half possession."

"Do that which is assigned to you, and you cannot hope too much or dare too much."

"For everything that is given something is taken. Society acquires new arts and loses old instincts."

 *Note: The original quote uses the gender-specific word "man;" however, it can still be surmised that Emerson was speaking to all people, not just penis-bearing individuals, hence my edit.

What is the lesson that can be taken away from these quotes, and how does it relate to lolita? Well, if you haven't picked up on it so far (you must be new here...), I am all for sartorial self-reliance. I believe it is the natural state of a person's aesthetics to be constantly evolving, and if one forces oneself to pigeon-hole into one style they are doing a disservice to themselves and their society- or subculture, as the case may be. It is only through standing on one's own feet and supporting one's own ideas that one reaches their true potential. This isn't to say that finding and using inspiration isn't important; however, one must take the essence or the details of an inspiring source (the softness of textures in mori-girl, or gyaru-style stilettos) and absorb them into one's own fashion without emulating the source outright. It's only through experimentation and absorption that a person's fashion style evolves, not through emulation and mimicry.

What do you think? Do you agree, or do you think that emulation is the sincerest form of flattery? Or do you think that I should shut up and stop pretending that Emerson was writing about floofy dresses and petticoats when he wrote this essay?

EDIT! 

Oh, I've just remembered! My assignment for my creative writing class this week is about establishing setting, and our homework was to write three paragraphs about a place we've been. Mine's still in the works, but it will be three paragraphs about places I've been in Japan. Would you all like to see it when it's done? I know a lot of people have been asking for more detail about my Japan trip - I know, I know, I still owe you one article on it- it's coming, promise!  - so if you're interested that'll be posted later this week! ♥

(Picture from F Yeah Nerdy Lolitas on Tumblr and originally posted to the sew_loli livejournal community)

What makes a work of literature a sweet lolita piece? Sweet lolita literature is a different breed from gothic and classic lolita. It is from a much different time period, starting about 1800 and going through the 1980's. Like the fashion itself, sweet lolita literature is more modern than its counterparts, but it is also focused on Europe and North America. Children's literature features heavily, especially those books which are written seemingly as children's novels, but are actually geared more towards adults. Other common themes are uniqueness, love, self-exploration, and the beauty of the world around the subject. Sweet lolita literature is light and effervescent with deeply-resonating undertones.

On the Sweet Lolita's Bookshelf...

In no particular order:

• The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
• The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
• The Serendipity book series by Stephen Cosgrove, especially Flutterby
• A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
• Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
• Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll
• Tales of my Mother Goose by Charles Perrault
• The Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti
• Any anthology by Shel Silverstein, but especially A Light in the Attic
• Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Margaret
• Andrew Lang's Fairy Books, compiled by Andrew Lang
• Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder

As always, fellow lolitas! What's on your sweet lolita required reading list?

And this concludes the Lolita Required Reading series! I may end up doing a few more, or maybe just one big post of a few lists for specific substyles, but I think everyone is sick of seeing these things by now! Sorry that this post is a little late, I was in Boston all week with friends and now I'm running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to get ready for school before the hurricane hits. Sigh!

art in this post by Cinnamoron on DeviantART

What makes a work of literature a gothic lolita piece? A work of gothic lolita literature is a little more broad time-wise than the classic lolita pieces; it can include everything from the Bible to modern vampire novels. However, for these works, I drew mainly on a similar time from as the classic lolita pieces, namely around the 1500's-1900's, also mainly written in Europe and North America. Gothic literature is actually its own genre, so this list taps greatly into those classics with a few other unexpected additions. Victorian horror is a heavy hitter in this list, but early science fiction and fantasy also make an appearance. Common themes in gothic lolita literature are, obviously, gothic classics like vampires and murder but also the supernatural in general, malaise with society, ennui, discontent with the modern world, and a deep-seated feeling of one's own strangeness. It is an escape from the false brightness of modern life like a London or Paris back alley; dark and shadowy, these works have a slightly foreboding air and rarely end happily.

On the Gothic Lolita's bookshelf...

In no particular order:

• The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells
• Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe
• A Modest Proposal by Johnathan Swift
• Grimm's Fairy Stories by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
• Dracula by Bram Stoker
• The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
• Anything by Edgar Allen Poe but especially his poetry and short stories
• Les Fleurs du Mal by Charles Baudelaire
• The Legends of King Arthur and His Knights by Sir James Knowles
• Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
• The Duchess of Malfi by John Webster
• A Light in August by William Faulkner
• Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

I have to admit, as someone who doesn't dapple much in gothic lolita or gothic fashion in general, this was a difficult one for me! So I encourage my more gothically-inclined followers to please add your suggestions to the comments section below! I'd love to see what you all recommend~

You know I love anything related to literature, so today it occurred to me, just for fun, to make a list of my reading recommendations for lolitas. However, as I was thinking about it, I realized that the books I wanted to recommend may not really inspire followers of every style, so I'm breaking them down into sub-styles. This is my required reading list for lovers of classic lolita; if it goes over well, I'll work on gothic and sweet lists, too!

What makes a work of literature a classic lolita piece? It was probably written between 1600-1900 in Europe or North America. This collection focuses mainly on novels but also includes essays, plays, and poetry. Early science fiction and the pastoral convention feature heavily. It focuses on themes like the domestic sphere, nature versus society, tradition, art and its importance to the human soul, science and its effects on humanity, and the importance of knowledge of oneself and the world around one. Like the lolita herself, it is classic and timeless with an implication of scandalous experimentation which, though it would cause little commotion these days, certainly rustled the petticoats of its time.

On the Classic Lolita's Bookshelf...

In no particular order:

• Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe
• Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne
• Walden by Henry David Thoreau
• Beauty and the Beast by Marie Le Prince de Beaumont
• The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• A collection of fairytales by Hans Christian Andersen
• The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells
• The Picture of Dorian Gray
• The Passionate Shepherd to his Love by Christopher Marlowe
• Anything by Shakespeare but especially As You Like It, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night, or King Lear, or most of his sonnets.
• A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf
• The Poet by Ralph Waldo Emerson
• Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Anonymous
• Il Canzonere by Francesco Petrarch
• L'Allegro and Il Penseroso by John Milton

Fellow classic lolitas! What's on your bookshelf?



Part of the Literary Lolita series

I'm very excited about this sub-series! I've been wanting to translate my English major into this blog for ages, but I couldn't figure out just the right way to do so. This is a branch of my Literary Lolita series that hasn't gotten much love in far too long.

Charles Baudelaire was born in 1821 in Paris. He is regarded as a poet, critic, and essayist; his best-selling collection of poetry, Les Fleurs de Mal (The Flowers of Evil), was first published in 1857, though it was revised many times both before and after his death. It was quite the scandalous read, touching on topics like lesbianism, erotica, vampirism, and the macabre, which were very taboo at this time, and was one of the many forerunners to the Modernist movement. It caused such an uproar that he, the publisher, and the printer were all fined heavily for creating an offense against public morals, and called for the suppression and removal of six of the raunchiest poems. As well as being a critic and essayist, Baudelaire also translated Poe into French very prolifically; it is said that he alone was responsible for making the American writer accessible to Europe.

In my opinion, Baudelaire is the quintessential poet for gothic lolitas to know. He's absolutely perfect for those interested in the macabre- I mean, the man wrote a love poem about a dog carcass, for crying out loud. Common themes in Baudelaire's work include the natural vs. the man-made (he's in favor of the latter, which was crazy for his time), boredom as the ultimate agony, lost innocence, drugs, and the oppressiveness of modern living. Anyone who knows Modernism knows that these are hugely common in works of that genre.

One of Baudelaire's opinions that I find fascinating (because it's the polar opposite of my own) is that of the natural being evil and the man-made being the only good. For example: crime is natural, he says, and it is only the imposition of laws and morals that allows society to function- otherwise, we would only live by our natural urges. Nature disgusts him; he sees no reason why it should be regarded at all, let alone emulated. Another example he sites is make-up, he says that he only approves of it if it is outlandish and unnatural; natural make-up to enhance one's features is something he cannot stand. This fits well with lolita- gothic black eyeliner, sweet rhinestones and stickers under the eyes, for example. He also believes that boredom is the worst pain one can feel, but that it is only born in city-dwellers. He posits that it is only through excessive over-stimulation that boredom hits, and that because those who live in cities are so constantly bombarded by stimulation, they are also subject to a ennui more potent than anything felt by country mice. This boredom, and the many uses of doing away with it, is another big theme in his work.

Required reading:

• À une passante (To a Passerby)
• Danse Macabre
• Les Deux Bonne Soeurs (The Two Good Sisters)
• L'Invitation Au Voyage (Invitation to the Voyage)
• Les Métamorphoses du vampire (The Metamorphosis of Vampires) -- NSFW!
• Le Rebelle (The Rebel)

Now, while one of the main themes in these pieces is the macabre, those of us with weaker constitutions shouldn't be scared away. I wouldn't describe myself as skittish, exactly, or weak-stomached, but I definitely dislike any of the many things that I classify as "distasteful;" unchecked eroticism and detailed descriptions of decomposition rank highly among those. Despite that, or maybe because of it, I find Baudelaire intoxicating. His word choice is beautiful, even to the point of transcending the errors of translation (though on more than one occasion I considered brushing up on my French, just to read the originals), and his imagery is absolutely spot-on to creative the exact emotion he intends. Anyone in my shoes should start with the first on this list, To a Passerby, which is a very short, poignant love poem that is still one of my favorites I've read- potentially ever. As an avid reader of poetry, that comes as quite a recommendation!

Wow, does anyone even remember Literary Lolita? I haven't done one of these pieces since probably last fall semester. I just haven't been mentally stimulated by my literature classes as of late- last year it was Shakespeare and Drama As Literature, and I find that it's usually transcendentalism, modernism, and Romanticism that inspire me. These writers put such an emphasis on looking inside yourself and creating from that self-awareness a "you" that is truly the best possible, which seems to me a very poignant idea for a lolita. However, inspiration is such a fickle mistress- she'll catch you anywhere, even in the middle of research. I'm doing an oral report on the French poet Baudelaire for my World Literature course, and while sifting through online biographies, a snippet caught my eye and really struck me:

In his own time Baudelaire was largely ignored. With Stéphane Mallarmé and Paul Verlaine he formed the so-called Decadents. Baudelaire argued in LE PEINTRE DE LA VIE MODERNE (1863, The Painter of Modern Life) in favor of artificiality, stating that vice is natural in that it is selfish, while virtue is artificial because we must restrain our natural impulses in order to be good. The snobbish aesthete, the dandy, was for Baudelaire the ultimate hero and the best proof of an absolutely purposeless existence: he is a gentleman who never becomes vulgar and always preserves the cool smile of the stoic.

"There can be no progress (real, that is, moral) except in the individual and by the individual himself." (from Mon Coeur Mis À Nu, 1897)

Artificiality. The dandy: a figure of leasure and expense, cold and selfish but destined to be the life of the party (especially if he's paying). Someone who hides his boorishness and human imperfection behind the immaculateness of his appearance. Sound familiar? I've heard gyaru say that they only feel comfortable with themselves when they're completely artificial, when they're completely hidden behind a paper-mâché mask they've created as a substitute for themselves and slabbed on like cement. I don't think lolitas are far from this mentality, either; sometimes I feel like, when I wear lolita, I'm leaving the cracked, broken version of myself behind for a few hours to become a purer, prettier, more whole me. I can ignore all of my problems - sometimes selfishly - just as long as I can pretend to be this princess, this Victorian lady, this woodland maiden. We take comfort in this illusion we create, this facade of perfection and innocence and purity. I lost my purity a long time ago, as did everyone; is this why we seek comfort in our frills and bows?

"He is a gentleman who never becomes vulgar and always preserves the cool smile of the stoic."

At the same time, how many of us have been to a meet-up and seen, you know, that girl. The one who smiles sweetly to everyone, never has a negative word to say, won't swear, blushes at the mention of indiscretions- the "perfect lolita." Everyone present rolls their eyes. It's frowned upon for a girl to act like the doll she looks like. We put on our petticoats and knee socks and scream at the top of our lungs that it's not sexual, and yet, if the sex joke comes up and anyone doesn't laugh, she's immediately ostracized. She's such a prude. She doesn't know how to have fun. She's being enslaved by this outfit she has put on, and everyone else knows it and hates her for it. See if she's invited back next time.

Some would say, it's because she's letting the clothes control her. It's because she's only acting that way because she feels like she has to, not because it's really her. Who wants to hang out with someone who's playing a part the whole time? And yet, this is coming from the other guests of the masquerade- her mask just isn't the right one. Everyone else is in pink, and she's in blue. Everyone else is wearing rhinestones, and she's wearing pearls. But, intrinsically, is she different? No, of course not. Perhaps these "other girls" are just not the same as her; they're drawn to the fashion because it's pretty, or cute, or different, or just because it feels right, but for the most part they're normal girls. They assume that the mindset of a lifestyle lolita must come to one after she has discovered the fashion, that she must be painting not only her face but her mind with the glitter and pastels of lolita purity, simply because they can't imagine anyone would be that way by nature. And maybe they're right, and there are plenty of girls who do that. However, it is also possible that nature came before nurture, and that a girl who has always felt out-of-place in modern society with its mini-skirts and stripper heels and boob jobs may have finally found a clothing style that suits the maiden inside her. Of course, she would feel no need to change who she is when she dons her dresses; her purity of language and discomfort at certain subjects would not disappear. However, because she is such a rare breed, she is ridiculed, told that she is allowing clothing to control her life. She knows the opposite is true, but how can she convince others without sounding vapid and false? There are no words to say that her mind affects the clothes, the clothes don't affect her mind, without sounding like she's making excuses or justifying herself. So what does she do? She either withdraws from this community or changes herself completely, forces herself to laugh at jokes that make her uncomfortable, or sits silently at meet-ups and tries to be as unassuming as possible, maybe blending in with the carpet or the wallpaper. Clearly one can see the better option.

I'm not this girl. I'm just as raucous as the next person when I want to be, and I love philosophical discussions about sexual positions just as much as I love discussing Romanticism and Baudelaire. However, my interest in exploring the human psyche and "getting into" the minds of people lends itself well to the role of Devil's Advocate. I never approve of pressuring people into being something different than they truly are, just as I will never tell anyone that they should assimilate in ways they're uncomfortable with just to belong to a group. Some animals need a herd to belong to, and humans are, oftentimes, pack animals in this way. Lolita fashion itself has, in its followers, a hugely dependent hive mind in which people need to feel that they're accepted in the scene; this is also practical, of course, because riding the subway with a group is a lot safer than riding it alone when you're already attracting unwanted attention. But, beside the obvious reasons, is belonging to a group necessary?

The answer is a resounding no. To the princess: You are different because you are special. Stand firm. Be true to yourself. Listen to your heart. If you feel incomplete without a community, if you need the mental stimulation of discussing our philosophy and exchanging fashion tips, it may be worth it to indulge in the occasional meet-up. But remember that no matter who you're with, you're still yourself. Be proud to be different... or be the same as everyone else.

extra:
The Lone Lolita ~ F*** Yeah Lolita

I don't care what anyone says, Shakespeare is and always will be one of my favorite writers. I have not once in my life enjoyed drama as literature as much as I enjoy Shakespeare. My fellow literature-buffs may be shaking their heads right now; much of the controversy over Shakespeare is that his plots are recycled over from his and other playwrights' popular works at the time, and that they're the Elizabethan version of today's soap operas. Well.... yes. I can't argue that- the latter is their charm, why they still resonate with people today, and the former... I guess everyone needs to draw their inspiration somewhere?

I have no excuse for that one, really. But the point is, the Bard's my bro. I haven't read anything by him that I didn't like (Well, Henry IV part 1 was borderline, but...), and one of my first readings is still to this day my favorite: Midsummer Night's Dream. When I accepted a slot in the Ballet Fairytale Photoshoot (details and photos coming soon!) and saw that Titania, Shakespeare's queen of the faeries, was one of the available characters to portray, I must admit I jumped out of my skin a little with excitement. Not necessarily the most dynamic or feminist-minded roles the Bard has ever written, I consider Titania to be, if nothing else, one of Shakespeare's best-spoken female roles, and obsessing as I do over words, this builds a strong affinity to her in my heart. I did spend a few days waffling over which role to choose, because there were some excellent ones, but in my soul I knew that I would end up selecting Titania. And I did.

As far as my actual dress goes, I'm not giving any details, except that I've been, as Victoria Suzanne says, fervently texting my atelier for the past week or so. You'll have to wait and see for that one! But here's a preview of the headpiece I made to match it:

From the front:

Side/back:

Detail:

It was easy, once I figured out what I wanted to do, too - I just went to the craft store and bought a bough of fake hydrangeas and a blue rose (my favorite! If only they really existed), then used their flowers and leaves as well as some heart-shaped blue rhinestones I already had, and attached together. I fretted about how to attach it for a few hours, then had a stroke of genius and used a vintage circlet I'd never worn as a base and made a "crown." What do you think - befitting of a Faerie Queen?

This evening I watched the 2006 HBO/BBC production of As You Like It. I've just finished reading the play in my Shakespeare class, and am about to write a critical analysis of it (maybe - or should I choose A Midsummer Night's Dream?! Decisions, decisions - the cruel fate of the English major!) and my teacher recommended seeing a production or movie-adaptation of the play we choose first. The text mentioned the Kenneth Branagh version as taking place in post-feudal Japan, so of course, my interest was peaked. I really recommend this version - the costumes are so beautiful, a necessity as even in Shakespeare's original the plot is incredibly lacking as compared to the characters. There doesn't really seem to be any point in setting it in Japan, but it does make for some very pretty costumes and settings. One character in particular strikes me, and that is Aliena. Cousin to the main character Rosalind, she was rather cast-aside in the original; this film version gives her a role as pastoral shepherdess and outfits her in florals, sage green, and hip-length blond hair woven with flowers.

She starts out the movie as a courtier named Celia, all curled-updo and satin corsetry:

Celia, in blue, before the exile

Rosalind is exiled, and Celia sneaks away with her, calling herself Aliena ("the estranged one," according to my textbook) to Rosalind's new pseudonym "Ganymede." However, after entering the forest of Arden, she finds herself exhausted and distressed, not having realized what she got herself into. She becomes tousled and unkempt, her appearance mirroring her fatigue:

Disheveled Aliena with Touchstone the fool

All she wants is a place to rest and food to eat! Once she gets these and becomes comfortable in her surroundings, she accepts the pastoral life Fortune has temporarily provided her with:

Aliena, mori-style

I can't even begin to explain how much I love this look. If I could drses like this everyday I think I could die happy!

Aliena by herlumpiness

Get that look:

• Use soft, dusty pastels like sage, rose, or cream
• Use a ruffled bolero to allude to her ruffled overdress
• Keep make-up and hair natural; a bit of just-kissed-pink gloss, cream shadow, and tousled hair
• Don't overdo accessories - use rose corsages or make yourself a flower crown out of fake flowers, or even real if they're blooming for you!
• In my mind, Aliena is barefoot, but as this isn't really too practical for her as a shepherdess or you in the modern world, break lolita convention and go for a pair of sturdy yet comfy gladiator sandals, as in my imagination all historical fashions favored.

For those of you who are into Shakespeare, I... don't recommend this movie or even the original play. However, for those of you who are interested in period drama and enjoy historical costume, beautiful imagery, and quotable characters, definitely check this version out. Anyone interested in boystyle? Check out Rosalind as Ganymede - hottie!

Bryce Dallas Howard as Ganymede/Rosalind, in brown

Though I must admit, Orlando is quite a looker himself. I... don't know who that other man is.

So some of you may know or have caught on that I'm currently attending (real!) college. An even smaller number of people will know that I am an English major (insert ubiquitous English major joke here), &thus have to read lots &lots &lots of essays, short stories, and novels; I'm currently required to read about 250-300 pages a week, &it's just going to get worse - whew! Even the things you love get tedious after too long, &while I adore reading, I find myself slumping through my homework, leaving hundreds of pages unread until mere hours before class. What do I do to keep my interest? Well, as many before me have, I relate it back to something I love: lolita.

A while back, Victoria Suzanne wrote this excellent post about viewing your lolita coordinates as an art form. It talks about making up a story to inspire your outfit. Well, I'm going to expand on this - taking someone else's writing as inspiration for your outfits.

I'll provide two examples,fittingly by Edgar Allan Poe, one of my favorite poets.

• Romance
• Annabel Lee

If you aren't familiar with these poems, I suggest you read them from the links provided - it's not really necessary to understand the post, but they're lovely, so you should do it anyway. No, I changed my mind - it is necessary; not as a lolita or a reader of my blog/this post, just as a person. Do it. Trust me.

(Poetry will change your life!!! Can you tell I'm an English major?)

So, when you're taking inspiration from anything - books, poems, music - there are three things to take note of: mood, symbolism, and themes. I figured Poe would be a good example to illustrate these, because he uses all three heavily. For the mood, take note of the type of language the creator (which I will henceforth refer to as "he," because my example is a male writer) uses, and for poetry, note the cadence: choppiness can denote anger, while flowing, beautiful words can denote romance, etc. Symbolism is easy - what hidden undercurrents does he use? What symbolism does he use to make his point? Poe compares Annabel Lee's eyes to stars, so I played off of that a little. Symbolism is something that is alluded to or mentioned only once; anything repeated often throughout the piece is a theme. A specific animal (Romance mentions birds fairly frequently), a location (the seaside in Annabel Lee), or any other number of things would count as a theme. A mood can also be a theme - the heavy, mourning air of Annabel Lee is a good example.


Now that you've narrowed down the mood, symbolism, and themes in the piece you want to emulate, look for other things, such as allusions to color or specific clothing items. If you can find that, you're straight - otherwise &more likely you'll have to do a bit more detective work. Use your symbolism or themes for this one - I added shells &seafoam green to the outfit I used for Annabel Lee because of the repeated theme of the ocean.

Romance

For Romance, I skipped any deep, philosophical interpretations and just went with my feelings and thoughts when I read this poem. I thought of nature, the woods, springtime,  and a childhood sweetheart the older, more logical narrator is trying to forget. I tried to find other interpretations of the poem, but the internet failed me, so this is all I have to go on. I wanted an almost childish, Alice Deco-type look for the girl I got the impression of, so I went with lighter spring colors and floral themes, like a child wandering away from a picnic to go pick wildflowers. If anyone else has another interpretation I'd love to hear/see it!

Annabel Lee

Not going to lie, Annabel Lee is my favorite poem of all time, evereverever. It was the first poem I read of Edgar Allan Poe's, and it's stuck with me strongly ever since. Again I wanted a childish air, since he flat out states that Annabel Lee was a child when she died. Pearls, seafoam green, and the sailor top all allude to the seaside kingdom in which the lovers lived, whereas the contrasting dark colors &veil imply mourning. The necklace has a cherub in it, referencing the angels ("not half so happy in heaven"). The stars are a a reference to the celestial symbolism in the last stanza of the poem.

We all get into our slumps- no one can avoid it, no matter how much you love x, y, or z. And whether it's your homework, your wardrobe, or your literary choices, I will always believe that beauty can help pull you out of it- whether that beauty is finding sartorial inspiration from a poem, imagining what the characters in that Nella Larsen novel are wearing, or doing your make-up as described in your Ancient Egyptian history homework a la Cleopatra. But don't think of inspiration as only something to rescue you when you're not your best - taking inspiration from the things you read, hear, or see is a great way to keep you connected to your environment &can be a great way to mesh your love of __________ with your love of lolita.
(Also, I might be starting a series called the Literary Lolita, relating the things I'm learning from my English classes back to lolita. It won't be a scheduled thing - just whenever I encounter something post-worthy. What do you guys think?)