Lolita Handbook (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} lolita_handbook) wrote,@ 2006-10-07 11:35:00 |
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What is Lolita?
♥What is Lolita?♥
Lolita is a very hard style to define, but in my opinion what really defines it is it's childlike innocence and old-fashioned elegance. It's distinctive style is most obviously from the Victorian and Rococo eras, but you will see a lot of influence from the Edwardian period and even some 40s and 50s American clothing styles - any time period in which fashion was elegant and beautiful. The bell-shaped skirt provides the typical silhouette, but it is neither what makes something lolita nor is it required of all lolitas. There is no one item of clothing or a color or trim that embodies all that is lolita - it is a unique aesthetic that's hard to perfect. To some there's a lifestyle attached - not only wearing the clothes as often as possible but also taking part in lolita activities and following a certain code of etiquette - but to others it is merely a clothing style. Lolita can be an escape from the mundane, or an attempt to return to a more innocent time in life. It's something a little bit different to everyone, but what lolitas have in common is a shared desire to wear really awesome clothes.
But that's just my highly generalized opinion, for better and more in depth explanations, please read these:
Fatalfille's Essay on Lolita
Seeinglife's Lolita Definition
Or for a slightly less whimsical explanation:
Wikipedia Article on lolita
For more articles on Lolita:
Avant Gauche's List of Articles
Sonia_bunny's List of Articles
♥What about Nabokov's "Lolita"? Isn't that where the term "lolita" comes from"?♥
Yes and no. There is no simple answer to this and you can probably argue it for hours all to no avail. Yes Nabokov popularized the term as a name for a young girl, but there is no indication that the Japanese borrowed the sexual connotation of the word as well. Most lolitas will protest a Nabokov reference, but others see a sexual side side to the fashion. Like all other facets of lolita fashion, each person has a unique perspective on the word itself, so rarely is it beneficial to argue it at length. If anyone has some articles on the subject I'd love to add them.
Copyright 2005 South China Morning Post Ltd.
South China Morning Post
November 10, 2005
SECTION: NEWS; Observer; Pg. 14
LENGTH: 598 words
HEADLINE: Living in Tokyo's shadow
BYLINE: Alex Lo
BODY:
In Japanese, gosurori means GothLoli, or Gothic Lolita. At comic book fairs and youth shopping malls in Hong Kong, it is not unusual nowadays to come upon such "Lolitas", young girls or women dressed in Victorian-style clothing to look like porcelain dolls.
Others put on Japanese schoolgirl uniforms, kimonos or various cartoonish outfits - popularised by famous characters in Japanese manga comics - to simulate the appearance of an under-aged nymph.
Mainstream boutiques and department stores in main Japanese cities were apparently already selling Lolita clothes in 2000. As a youth sub-culture, it must have been entrenched well before then in Japan - so we in Hong Kong are more than half a decade behind.
Local pop star Kelly Chen Wai-lam recently dressed as one at a Halloween bash at Ocean Park. It was rather embarrassing: it doesn't matter how old Chen is, she is clearly past the age limit on posing as a fake Lolita.
It's depressing to think how we are always playing catch-up to the latest in Japanese (sub) culture, from youth fads and high cuisine to underground porn and social pathology.
While Japan's gangsters are busy producing high-quality pornographic VCDs and DVDs, our triads can do nothing better than pirate their Japanese counterparts. If the Japanese porn industry were to collapse today, triad gangsters in Hong Kong would have to go on welfare.
We are even behind when it comes to depression and mass psychology. For years, Japanese media and health-care professionals have been writing and warning about the growing hikikomori phenomenon. Reports are only now surfacing in local papers that we, too, have our own reclusive adolescents and young adults who live in abject isolation and shun all human contact.
The Hong Kong Christian Service released in July what is believed to be the first local hikikomori study of its kind, estimating there are about 6,000 such troubled youths among us. I would bet the problem has been there all along, but we only now recognise this social malaise in our midst.
In the past, local social workers, educators, parents and media pundits had bemoaned youths who spent all their waking hours on games and computers in their own room, interrupting their cyber-routine only when they had to eat or go to the toilet.
What did we think their problems were?
Because we were late - as usual - to the internet craze, we were paying more attention to the games rather than the gamers - the symptoms and not the disease. Hikikomori can mean both the social phenomenon and the people who suffer from it.
In a sense, it's nothing new: what can be more ordinary than for lonely, misunderstood and confused youths, under intense pressure from family and school, to withdraw into a cocoon of their own making?
The much-hyped Japanese film Train Man, which did well last month at the local box office, underlines the public interest in this trend. It tells the story of one such recluse who rescues a girl and wins her heart, with help and advice from fellow hikikomori on the Net.
There is no shortage of experts, in Hong Kong and elsewhere, to explain the hikikomori phenomenon. But why some young people are caught up in it while others outgrow it is ultimately as perplexing and unexplainable as many other social diseases.
It is serious food for thought. Perhaps Japanese culture, even with all its malaise, malice and dysfunctions, has a lot more to offer than the meagre, imitative "culture" of our "world city".
Alex Lo is a columnist and senior reporter at the Post
LOAD-DATE: November 10, 2005
Copyright 2006 Times Newspapers Limited
All Rights Reserved
The Times (London)
July 22, 2006, Saturday
SECTION: FEATURES; Offbeat Japan; Pg. 6
LENGTH: 610 words
HEADLINE: The fashion victims who refuse to grow up
BYLINE: Alicia Kirby
BODY:
Alicia Kirby explores the weird world of the trendy Peta Pans
"JAPANESE girls do not want to grow up because they think they will have to wear a suit and become a part of corporate culture, which is a sign for them that their youth is over." This insight comes from Sebastian Masuda, the founder of the shop 6% Dokidoki, a hotspot for style victims who have an obsession with cute, or kawaii -trinkets and clothes.
The preoccupation with kawaii has been taken to the extreme in the sub cultural styles prevalent in Harajuku, the fashion mecca of Tokyo, where young people parade around in the most bizarre apparel. The main fringe fashions in the area are Lolita, Gothic Lolita and a relatively new fad called Dekora.
Gothic Lolitas emulate Victorian or Edwardian porcelain dolls. Opting for dark colours, they wear frilly lace petticoats and headdresses and often paint their faces a deathly white to give themselves the air of a ghoulish Bo Peep.
In contrast, simple Lolitas prefer soft shades of pink, blue or white and red checks. Their visually arresting milkmaid garb is more sickly sweet.
Dekora stands for decoration and takes its inspiration from children's clothes and accessories. Followers do not usually wear make-up but adorn themselves with as many kawaii -bags, toys and layers of clothes -as possible. The result is a distorted adult/child/bag lady/toyshop look.
Whether hip Tokyo youths dress in these styles or opt for another emerging trend of wearing garishly coloured tutus called panier, they have one thing in common: they are intent on creating a style that makes them look like a child trapped in an adult's body.
After Japan's economy hit the buffers in the 1990s, young people did not have the money to spend on high fashion so they bought children's clothes and accessories.
The prevalence of club culture in the Eighties meant that shoppers scoured stores for items that glowed in the dark, which were mainly children's toys. Other children's toys were then taken up as street fashion accessories and the popularity of cartoon characters such as Hello Kitty spread to mainstream global markets.
Dressing in such conspicuous and utterly impractical outfits takes time and effort. The shopgirls at 6% Dokidoki are living Barbie and Blythe dolls walking, talking icons of kawaii.
Asami, one of the shopgirls, talks of the style as an academic pursuit. "I started liking kawaii things when I was in primary school as my parents used to make me wear cute things and I studied and learnt from that," she says.
It is not just girls who are dedicated followers of the fashion. Urban street labels such as Billionaire Boys Club, co-owned by Pharrell Williams, the music producer and singer, and Nigo, the Japanese hip-hop mogul behind the global cult brand A Bathing Ape (Bape), are following suit. They have started to produce clothes apparently targeted at consumers aged under ten.
On the streets and in the clubs, men are wearing brightly coloured Bape patent leather trainers and camouflage patterned hooded sweatshirts in pink and purple.
The Bape shop boys proudly wear tops covered in prints of a cute little cartoon monkey saying: "Isn't my new T-shirt kawaii?"
Conservative elderly Japanese tut with disapproval. Shocked and ashamed by the way young people are dressing, they see it as another symptom of the breakdown of society and of tradition and respect.
Is the movement that has taken cute fashion into the realms of self-parody a refusal by the young to grow up? Masuda compares it to the punk scene in London in the 1980s, minus the violence. Perhaps the sartorial rebellion against conservatism is simply the happy anarchy of Japanese punk.
LOAD-DATE: July 22, 2006
Copyright 2006 The Mainichi Newspapers
Mainichi Daily News
May 28, 2006 Sunday
LENGTH: 416 words
HEADLINE: Kimono counselor, gothic Lolitas and a saucy 'juicy' how you see Japanese fashion
BODY:
A woman applying the Japanese national costume, a pair of girls in gothic garments, and an example of the occasionally bizarre use of English in this country are the My Japan readers' contest winners this week.
Jorge de Luna Andrada captured a wonderful photo of a woman who does her part to try and retain a slice of old Japan in the 21st century by dressing people up in kimono, a surprisingly difficult garment to wear.
"While ever-changing foreign fashion burgeons upon Japanese culture, Kazuko Ueda of Suita (Osaka Prefecture) faithfully guards tradition. As her hobby, Kazuko-san garbs foreign visitors in the best kimono while carefully explaining the components, the practices, and the philosophy that go into wearing perhaps the single most recognizable symbol of Japan," de Luna Andrada said of his winning entry.
Alexandra Hays tapped into the wide variety of fashions on view among Japan's youth for her shot.
"This picture was taken in front of the Meiji Shrine (in Tokyo) on an average Sunday afternoon. The two pictured girls represent the amazing range of styles one witnesses in Harajuku -- from super-kawaii to gothic Lolita. Their outfits are at once cute, subversive, intelligent and creative," Hays said.
Dan Nicolaescu managed to snap a shot that perfectly sums up how the use of English in Japan can occasionally become the butt of jokes -- literally, as it turns out in the case of Nicolaescu's photo.
"(This is) summer fashion with appealing English logo," Nicolaescu said of his photo.
Let the world know about how you see Japan and send in an entry to the MSN-Mainichi Daily News My Japan readers contest.
The theme this week is "Summer in Japan."
For the My Japan readers contest, judges pick the best photos and stories, and run them prominently every Sunday on MSN-Mainichi Daily News, the world's most viewed Japan news site in English!
The three main photos selected to run on the site will win prizes courtesy of the Mottainai Campaign spearheaded by 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai. Those who come close will also have their works displayed on the site.
Entering is easy. Use the entry form you can find linked at the bottom of this page and submit your photo accompanied by a short description of no more than 50 words describing what happened in the picture, where the photo was taken and when.
Entries close at noon Friday, Japan Standard Time. (Mainichi)
LOAD-DATE: May 27, 2006
Copyright 2006 Kyodo News Service
All Rights Reserved
Japan Economic Newswire
January 16, 2006 Monday 11:29 PM GMT
SECTION: INTERNATIONAL NEWS
LENGTH: 1237 words
HEADLINE: FEATURE: American fashion designers turn to Japan for trends and inspiration
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES Jan. 16
BODY:
From Tokyo's trendsetting Harajuku shopping district, to the timeless artistry of kimonos crafted in Kyoto, Japanese style and culture are growing sources of inspiration for American fashion designers and artists.
The influence has emerged in a variety of forms -- Tokyo street-style couture and restyled traditional kimonos have appeared on New York fashion runways, while chic Los Angeles boutiques showcase fashion jewelry adorned with variations on Hello Kitty, the cute cat character.
"Japanese culture definitely influences American fashion," said Jason Campbell, founder and editor in chief of JC Report, a global fashion trend-tracking website, set to launch in a Japanese format this February.
For nearly 30 years, Tokyo's Harajuku district, with its numerous clothing stores and trendy boutiques, has attracted multitudes of fashion-savvy youth who have developed an array of vibrant subcultures, such as the lace-wearing ' gothic Lolitas' and brightly coiffed punk rockers.
In late 2004, pop-star-turned-designer Gwen Stefani introduced American fans to Harajuku's colorful culture with her debut solo album "Love. Angel. Music. Baby.," featuring "Harajuku Girls," an ode to the district's fashionable young women.
Then, last year, the 36-year-old lead singer for No Doubt launched her co-designed high-end apparel line L.A.M.B., followed by a collection of casual wear and accessories called "Harajuku Lovers: A Fatal Attraction to Cuteness," featuring playful street-style designs inspired by her fondness for Harajuku fashion.
"Customers love the line and they love Gwen Stefani," said Yvonne Leung, store manager of the trendsetting Kitson store in Los Angeles. The celebrity shopping hotspot was the first retailer to carry the Harajuku Lovers line.
"It's Gwen that's brought a different part of Japan to us. At this point, she's turned Harajuku Lovers into such a brand itself that it's like another Hello Kitty," Leung said.
Stefani recently completed a U.S. concert tour which featured four female dancers, three of them Japanese, dressed in a series of Harajuku-style costumes and elaborate street ware.
Besides Stefani, traditional American companies, including Walt Disney, are staking their claim on Harajuku's rapidly evolving fashion scene.
Jeff Daggett, vice president of Disney's Softlines-Japan, regularly monitors style trends in Harajuku, including the recent popularity of eye treatments and fashion contact lenses. He said he and other observers share their findings with their counterparts throughout Asia and in Disney's global Softlines divisions.
Disney also participates in trends by developing partnerships with Japanese fashion companies. In 2004, the company worked with Tokyo-based retro-punk label Hysteric Glamour to create high-end T-shirts featuring Tinker Bell, the blonde pixie of "Peter Pan" fame.
"It was a collaboration of two unexpected companies. Disney with their rich heritage of characters and Hysteric because of their strong fashion and trendsetting reputation," said Dennis Green, senior vice president of Creative for Disney Softlines, who managed the company's relationship with Hysteric Glamour.
The T-shirts, which portrayed Tinker Bell in a backdrop of punk and graffiti scenes, retailed for around $100 at Hysteric Glamour's trendy Harajuku store, and the popular Fred Segal boutique in Los Angeles.
While Tokyo's hip fashion region remains a vibrant fashion influence, some progressive American designers are also finding inspiration in traditional elements of Japanese culture.
New York design duo Heatherette incorporate style influences from urban London, New York and Japan into their adventurous fashions. Their designs typically feature bold, contrasting patterns, bright colors, and playful, iconic imagery.
In 2003, the pair, consisting of Richie Rich, 29, and Traver Rains, 28, took their design process to Japan, as guests of a Kyoto-based program to promote modern interpretations of traditional kimono artistry.
As participants, Rich and Rains lived in Kyoto and observed traditional Japanese arts, including the weaving of silk used for kimonos. The two later used silk and fabric from vintage and new kimonos for their spring 2004 collection.
"The fabric is so elegant that you almost can't demystify the beauty of it -- the patterns just bounce off the fabrics," Rich said. "When we were cutting into the fabrics it was like a guilty pleasure, just knowing the intensity of the work," he said.
Rich, a former ice skater, and Rains, a rodeo champion, reinvented the kimonos in a series of vibrant designs, including dramatic robes in shimmering gold and red, and patchwork-style skirts in a range of delicate white, green and blue patterns.
They premiered their designs in 2003 in Osaka, followed by a colorful New York show titled "From Kyoto with Love," which also featured models wearing 30 vintage kimonos brought from Kyoto.
"In our Kyoto collection, I think they thought we were going to come up with really over the top, crazy looks, but instead we found the designs almost shaped themselves into traditional-feeling pieces," said Rich.
Heatherette are also looking to modern Japanese trends for inspiration. They currently have a collection of handbags and T-shirts labeled Hello Kitty Couture by Heatherette, retailing in Japan. The iconic cat character will grace the pair's junior apparel line in America this June.
Rich also confirmed plans for Heatherette to design clothes for the popular Japanese pop duo Puffy AmiYumi, next season.
For other designers, Japanese style and culture have been long-standing sources of influence and inspiration.
Los Angeles-based fashion jewelry designer Tarina Tarantino has admired Japanese style, notably the Harajuku scene and famed character Hello Kitty, for decades.
"I have been a fan of Hello Kitty for over 30 years," Tarantino said, from her sparkling new boutique in L.A.'s hip Melrose neighborhood.
After forming her business in 1995 with husband and now company CEO Alfonso Campos, 35, Tarantino, 34, was able to transform her love of jewelry and Hello Kitty into a creative and successful venture.
In 2002, Tokyo-based Sanrio Co. invited Tarantino, a former fashion model, to design jewelry based on their beloved cat character.
She created a series of necklaces, bracelets, rings, and hair ornaments adorned with her hip take on Hello Kitty. Tarantino named the character Pink Head, after her fuchsia-colored hairstyle, inspired by the designer's own bright trademark locks.
"Everyone loves her," said Tarantino fondly of her Pink Head creation. "She's an alternative to Hello Kitty. This is a very special collection -- she's unique to our company," she said.
Tarantino has developed storylines for the limited Pink Head pieces, including the recent Russian Nouveau collection, featuring the character as a Russian princess with long pink locks, topped by a tiara.
"We like to give her a story for each collection that we do every season, because that way there's something for the customer to know about the pieces," said Tarantino, who emphasizes the importance of wrapping customer purchases with detail and artistry, inspired by her admiration of Japanese gift-giving.
Tarantino and her Pink Head creations are enjoying international success with in-store boutiques in Italy and Korea. And in a new deal with Tokyo-based Itochu Timeless, 17 Tarina Tarantino stores will launch in Japan during the next three years.
LOAD-DATE: January 17, 2006
Copyright 2005 Guardian Newspapers Limited
All Rights Reserved
The Guardian (London) - Final Edition
December 17, 2005 Saturday
SECTION: THE GUIDE; Pg. 30
LENGTH: 186 words
HEADLINE: The Guide: PREVIEW books: FreshFruits SHOICHI AOKI
BYLINE: Lee Wallick
BODY:
To most people Harajuku girls are those four accessories Gwen Stefani keeps in tow. But long before the platinum pop diva laid claim this is what the kids congregating around the streets of Tokyo's hippest shopping district were called. Shoichi Aoki first started photographing their customised thrift-store-meets-cyber-punk ensembles and " Gothic Lolita" looks in 1994 for the now cultish-ly followed FRUiTS magazine and subsequent book of the same name. Remarkably, these youth were developing their own street style instead of mimicking their Western counterparts. Much like our own hoodie-ban, the local government was so overwhelmed by this Hoko-ten or "pedestrian heaven" phenomenon that it was abolished by special decree. The trendy teens then turned to pages instead of promenades to keep current. This second edition offers previously unseen snapshots with added fashion credits to accompany the subjects. Each vibrant and fascinating image documents what started with the odd tartan, Westwood mini-skirt and Hello Kitty keyring but soon exploded into a full-blown, uniquely Japanese, subculture.
Phaidon, £19.95
LOAD-DATE: December 17, 2005
Copyright 2005 Financial Times Information
All Rights Reserved
Global News Wire - Asia Africa Intelligence Wire
Copyright 2005 The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Berhad
Malay Mail
August 31, 2005
ACC-NO: A20050901C-E4D8-GNW
LENGTH: 1569 words
HEADLINE: LOVABLE 'LIVEWIRES'
BYLINE: Rizal Solomon
BODY:
LIVEWIRES ISSUE 1 to 6 MARVEL THIS is quite possibly the best mini-series Marvel has published this year.
And it's a shame it never got the attention that it was due.
But there's always the upcoming trade (hopefully), so consider this a heads-up.
Stem Cell, Hollowpoint Ninja, Gothic Lolita, Cornfed and Social Butterfly are all nanobuilt humanform combat mecha with 'smartwire' bodies specialised for covert ops and Artificially Intelligent minds programmed for suicidal loyalty.
They're the superhuman products of a top-secret, quasi-governmental R&D programme called Project Livewire.
Livewire has a unique agenda - namely to seek out, sabotage and destroy other top-secret, quasi-governmental R&D programmes.
In the chaotic midst of a raid on one covert project, the team's newest member, Stem Cell, is hastily 'booted' up to replace a fallen Livewire.
At first unaware that she's actually a robotic mecha, the way the story of the journey she takes to uncover her true nature (and believe me you won't see the ending coming) makes this a must read.
Stem Cell is so named because her body's nanotech 'smartware' and AI mind haven't yet specialised and evolved into a mission-specific configuration (as with human stem cells' ability to develop into any other cell in the human body).
By contrast, her posthuman teammates are each uniquely tailored and modified for their roles.
Each has a function.
And looks can be very deceiving.
The team's 'heavy artillery' is provided by the diminutive Gothic Lolita.
Though small, her body is actually a hyperdense assembly of nanomachines, giving her far and away the most superhuman strength and power out of the group.
By contrast, the hulking Cornfed, nicknamed after his default human appearance as a blond, beefy Midwestern farmboy, is nowhere near as physically powerful.
With his massive frame bloated with spare 'smartware' literally cannibalised from fallen teammates (and a multifunction 'nanofactory' housed in his big belly), he serves as a healer/repair mecha, when not using the heavy-duty computing power inherent in his smartware bulk for wireless hacking and cracking.
Human interaction is the speciality of the relentlessly personable and 'hot' Social Butterfly, who utilises everything from subliminal 'infrasonic vocal cues' to artificial pheromones to direct neurological tampering to manipulate the organic humans she superficially resembles.
Finally, stealth, sudden violence, and exotic, ultra-tech weaponry are the specialities of the inhumanly fast, agile and elusive Hollowpoint Ninja.
Part of the fun is watching how the team clicks together to get their mission done.
But the real draw of Livewire is the coming-of-age journey Stem Cell takes, which ends at a point of loss of innocence.
The person she becomes at the end changed your entire perception of the Livewires.
The art is manga-esque.
But it's used to amazing effect.
The wide-eyed innocent look of Stem Cell makes what happens in the climactic battle downright disturbing, and it enhances the chilling ending the book has.
Highly recommended.
LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES ISSUE 9 DC WHEN this series first came out, I wasn't really sure what to make of it.
The concept was interesting - a group of superpowered teens from all around the Universe decide to band together and form a youth activist group of sorts.
The first couple of issues were entertaining but the world of the Legion at that point was still drawn in a black and white sort of way.
Largely, all adults were cold, manipulative and distant while the teens were filled with the passionate fire of equality, fraternity and liberty.
Now, if it was just any writer I would have been guilty of giving up on the book since it looked like it was going to follow a typical teen angsty mode of thought.
But this is Mark Waid.
The man wrote some of the finest Fantastic Four stories around.
He wrote Kingdom Come.
And he gave us Empire.
So that means that there's more to the story than meets the eye.
And - lo and behold - Waid delivers the knockout punch in this issue.
But before we get to that, a rundown on what's been going on.
This latest incarnation of Legion was launched last year and has quickly gained a following.
This new, fifth series has started the team over from scratch again, and quickly establishes the cultural context that the Legion exists in, which provides a clever little explanation on why everyone has Boy/Lad/Girl/Lass/Kid attached to their Legion code-names.
The Legion is huge.
They've got thousands of young people on many different worlds who have become 'Legionnaires', worshipping the heroes in a cult-like manner, with many maintaining a constant vigil outside Legion headquarters.
It's a few centuries in the future but people's tendency to hero worship and form mobs are still there.
The Legion becomes a ideology that teens quickly take to with those flashy 'super-hero' costumes quickly becoming a form of teen rebellious expression.
Naturally, the adults are not too happy.
The future of the Legion is largely an emotionally and mentally repressive society with Orwellian surveillance.
The Legion is not actively working towards the seemingly well-meaning government's overthrow but more interested in reform as they work to protect people while attempting to inspire others with the legends of superheroism of old.
That's the ideal anyway.
But the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
And soon these kids learn the hard way why adults end up compromising so much in life and why so many eventually just give up on their dreams.
The Legion makes a lot of plans.
But life happens while they're doing it.
The Legion is led by Cosmic Boy, who's got magnetic powers and big plans for the Legion.
The first few issues show how Cosmic Boy deploys the Legion around the Universe to set things right, but inadvertently trigger off more problems when individual planets react badly to having the Legion mess around with their teens.
Cosmic Boy's big plans for the Legion don't just meet with disapproval outside the Legion, but also inside.
Specifically, Braniac 5 - the Legion's resident genius - also has some lofty ambitions for the Legion and part of that involves him taking over the leadership.
Braniac is a complex and formidable character.
He is reputed to have a brain exponentially more powerful than a human (he's a 12th level intelligence; most humans have 6th level brains, and even most of his fellow Coluans have 10th level ones).
This grants him excellent calculation skills, amazing memory and exceptional technical know-how.
And also one heck of a big ego.
He's basically an adult's worst nightmare come true - a teen who thinks he knows everything and has the resources to do whatever he likes.
The last few issues have seen tensions rise between Braniac and Cosmic Boy.
Since these two are the big guns of the Legions, sides are quickly drawn as some Legionnaires side with Cosmic Boy and some go with Braniac.
But still, up until this issue it's been just tension and opinions about who's right and wrong.
Well, the fuse was lit last issue when Cosmic Boy broke into Braniac's research lab while the genius was off the planet.
Cosmic Boy, among other things, suspects Braniac planning a coup.
And the fall out of Cosmic Boy's actions is seen in this Issue.
Braniac may be smart, but he let his emotions get the better of him and he makes a flat-out attempt to sabotage Cosmic Boy in this issue.
The repercussions of that is an all-out civil war within Legion headquarters.
If Waid hadn't been carefully and slowly building the story up to this point, we wouldn't really care about these teens as they knock each other's brains about.
He has done such great work with each character that - on some level - everyone of them matters to us.
Even Braniac, with all his ego, is still a good kid at heart.
Well, he was anyway.
But he's taken his first few steps into being the kind of adult he hates by acting out in such a vengeful manner in this issue.
Highly recommended.
However, since the back issues are absolutely vital to appreciating this issue, it's best you wait for the upcoming trade which collects the first six issues - Legion of Super-Heroes: Teenage Revolution.
JUSTICE ISSUE 1 DC THE hype for the book is true - it's fantastic.
The art by Alex Ross and Doug Braithwaite is something to behold.
But the lingering effect of Justice comes from Jim Krueger's thoughtful and heartfelt script.
He wonderfully brings out the humanity in the characters, even the worst of them.
His elegant prose and the stunning art make us believe in a story where the villains, all plagued by the same nightmare, unite to bring about a better world for all humanity.
The book opens with an apocalyptic vision and ends on a great cliff-hanger.
The most memorable part, however, are those quiet tender moments Aquaman shares with his wife and child.
Recommended.
COMICS COURTESY OF THE COMICS CORNER No.
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LOAD-DATE: August 31, 2005
Copyright 2005 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest Global Communications Corp.
All Rights Reserved
Edmonton Journal (Alberta)
May 7, 2005 Saturday
Final Edition
SECTION: ED; Pg. D3
LENGTH: 991 words
HEADLINE: Where East meets West: Anime cults, Japanese tunes on radio and women who dress like Elegant Gothic Lolitas. Japanese pop culture is big around here
BYLINE: Vivian Giang, The Edmonton Journal
BODY:
Back in 1983, Styx had us thanking Mr. Roboto. Now blond rocker Gwen Stefani has introduced North America to her version of the Tokyo-based fashionistas known as harajuku girls.
Japan -- it's the land that brought us karaoke, Dance Dance Revolution and wide-eyed cartoon characters. It seems almost inevitable that Japanese fashion and music are in line for mass consumption in the West.
Or not.
"Trends move so quickly in Japan that it doesn't have time to catch up here before it moves on," says Ian Horner, spokesperson for Animethon, a huge convention held in Edmonton each August celebrating the Japanese cartoon form known as anime (pronounced ah-nih-meh).
Japanese trends do indeed come and go, but anime is one fad that crossed the Pacific and established a strong foothold. Saturday morning cartoons like Astroboy and Sailor Moon are largely to thank for its cult following. Edmonton's subculture of devotees to anime (and all things Japanese) coalesced at the U of A in 1990 with the first meeting of the Banzai Anime Klub of Alberta (BAKA).
Horner, like many other North Americans, became hooked on the culture without knowing it when he began watching Robotech and Astroboy as a kid. "I had no idea they were Japanese," says the 25-year-old, who eventually travelled to Japan to experience the culture firsthand.
Interest has exploded since BAKA's first meeting.
Last summer Animethon drew more than 3,000 visitors -- including hundreds of costume-wearing fans known as "cosplayers" -- to see the latest anime, visit the Japanese marketplaces, and check out cultural displays and presentations. Now going into its 12th year, the Edmonton event is billed as Western Canada's largest convention showcasing Japanese animation.
Horner is quick to point out that the most popular versions of anime -- Pokemon anyone? -- are just a tiny sample of what's out there. The genre has spread into high-tech, hyper-violent anime series such as Akira, Neo Evangelion Genesis and the recently released Steam Boy, a retro sci-fi epic.
Elsewhere, anime movies like Ghost in the Shell, Princess Mononoke and the Oscar-winning Spirited Away are turning cartoons into a pastime for connoisseurs, not just entertainment for kids and geeks.
"Anime is spearheading the breakthrough of Japanese culture in North America," says Horner. "Japanese lifestyle, music and fashion are following closely. It's just a matter of time."
That time is now for NAIT radio and TV student James Oikawa. Every Wednesday night during the college school year Oikawa hosts The Big-O's Japan Slam (at 92.3 FM on Shaw cable radio, or streamed at ww.nait.ca/nr92), playing music from his personal collection.
"At first I thought Japanese music was different, but it sounds like mainstream music here, just in a different language," says the 26-year-old. "Every genre -- pop, rock, hip-hop, rap, punk -- is represented in Japanese music."
While Oikawa thinks it's great to see the likes of Stefani drawing attention to the music and culture of the Far East, he urges people to keep an open mind. Horner agrees. "App-roach it as another story, another media to look at, and (don't think of it as) funny or cool because it's Japanese."
Stefani has taken some heat for her spin on the harajuku phenomenon, and Horner says the West gets a very distilled version of what real Japanese pop culture looks like, thanks to movies and celebrities. Corporations, as well, don't always catch on to what's hot. We may never see LaSenza carrying the white puffy socks that junior and high school girls sport across Japan.
"Any celebrity promoting his or her idea of Japanese culture leads to the westernization of it," says Horner. "It's not as authentic. The interpretation is through another's eyes."
So, will we be seeing harajuku girls on the streets of Edmonton soon?
"Edmonton is at a disadvantage because of its climate," he says with a laugh. "But they do exist in the summer on Whyte Ave. They're rare, though."
I'M TURNING JAPANESE, I REALLY THINK SO...
Angel wings, animal ears and flashy neon wigs, oh my!
Inspired by cosplay outfits at Animethon, Shelly Vickers began designing and sewing her own EGL (Elegant Gothic Lolita) outfits. "I tried looking everywhere for them, but there aren't many stores in North America that sell this stuff," says the 18-year-old. "If you can't make your own, you can go online and order costumes." Vickers usually dons her outfits at anime or sci-fi conventions and the odd night on the town.
HERE'S SOME TIPS ON HOW TO MAKE THE LOOK:
- Wear a knee-length skirt or petticoat (the puffier the better) and white stockings. For your top, think corsets and puffy sleeves. Wherever possible, infuse your outfit with bows, ribbons and lace. Wear platform shoes or Mary Janes to complete the look.
- EGL generally uses a black-and-white colour scheme. Go all dark with white accessories (e.g. apron, gloves, hair ties, parasol, etc.) or try dressing all in white.
- The aim is to look like a porcelain doll. Hairstyles tend to be clean-cut and the face pale while makeup accentuates the eyes and lips.
- Pull out all the stops. "Just think cute," says Vickers. "And let your imagination run wild."
A CULTURE DEFINED
- Anime: Japanese animation, in which characters are easily distinguishable by their big eyes, small mouths and near-impossible hair. Think Astroboy, Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z.
- Manga: Japanese comic books, which normally precede an anime series. Translated manga books have become increasingly popular in North America.
- Harajuku: One of many districts in Japan. A popular hangout for teens who are into street fashion or Gothic Lolita clothing. Harajuku is a nice place to take a look at all the latest fashions from Tokyo! (urbandictionary.com)
- Cosplay: Literally "costume play," dressing up and pretending to be a fictional character (usually a sci-fi, comic book, or anime character). There are anime cosplay conventions around the world. ( urbandictionary.com)
GRAPHIC:
Photo: Candace Elliott, The Journal; Elegant Gothic Lolita steps out of the manga pages in the form of Edmonton anime fan Shelly Vickers.;
Photo: John Lucas, The Journal; James Oikawa, left, and Ian Horner say anime is cool, period, not just 'cos it's funny Japanese stuff.; Graphic: Journal Stock; (See hard copy for graphic).
LOAD-DATE: May 7, 2005
Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company
The New York Times
March 13, 2005 Sunday
Late Edition - Final
SECTION: Section 9; Column 3; Style Desk; Pg. 8
LENGTH: 1176 words
HEADLINE: Gothic Lolitas: Demure vs. Dominatrix
BYLINE: By LAURA M. HOLSON
BODY:
IT did not take long for Twinkle Lam to realize that she had a problem on her hands.
For the past 10 months the 23-year-old Ms. Lam has moderated an online discussion group about Gothic and Lolita fashion, a style of dressing imported from Japan featuring Victorian-era calf-length skirts, bloomers, aprons, lace bows and ruffled petticoats that has attracted a following among high-school and college-age girls in the United States.
For the most part, discussion on the Web log (www.livejournal.com/community/egl), a forum of about 2,500 ardent adherents to Gothic and Lolita fashion that Ms. Lam manages from her home in Dallas, revolves around questions like where to buy chunky high-heeled Mary Jane pumps or how to fashion Bo Peep collars. But over the winter, the usually polite exchanges gave way to angry, often profane declamations.
At issue was Gwen Stefani's Alice in Wonderland costume in her ''What You Waiting For'' video. Alice, with her prim white collar, poofy sleeves and bell-shaped skirts, is an informal muse for many G.L.'s, as they call themselves, and the sense was that Ms. Stefani had bastardized the look by exposing blue ruffled panties and laced-up high heels, making the look more dominatrix than demure.
''That outfit looks nothing like Lolita,'' read one of the more restrained posts. ''It's not even original, it looks like what Britney wore when she kissed Madonna.''
Although petticoats and parasols are hardly mall-wear, Ms. Lam said the video was a sign that the Gothic and Lolita aesthetic, once fetishized by a few, might be moving out into the mainstream, where it could be co-opted and corrupted by the many. Just in the last six months, Ms. Lam said, Gothic and Lolita blog sites have been infiltrated by men seeking pictures of girls in sexed-up Gothic and Lolita fare ''That never happened until recently,'' Ms. Lam said. ''It's coming more into the spotlight, and it's only going to become more and more popular.''
Not that Ms. Stefani was the first celebrity to call attention to Gothic and Lolita fashion; Amy Lee, the lead singer of Evanescence, wears black lace dresses favored by some G.L.'s, and last year Courtney Love was co-writer of a Japanese-style comic book about Princess Ai, a character based loosely on Ms. Love who dresses in Gothic and Lolita style. Neither Ms. Lee nor Ms. Love, though, has drawn the ire Ms. Stefani did. She has incorporated the style into her act, traveling with a troupe called the Harajuku girls, named after a trendy neighborhood in Tokyo where many girls who wear the style gather on weekends.
Gothic and Lolita got its start in the early to mid-1990's among Japanese schoolgirls inspired by the band Malice Mizer and in particular by Mana, the band's effeminate guitarist, who wore black and white ruffled dresses, elaborate bows, false eyelashes and heavy white makeup.
The look caught on as part of Japan's ''cosplay,'' or costume play, culture, in which young people dress up like iconic pop figures, many of them popular cartoon characters. Soon teenage girls in Tokyo were stitching recreations of Mana's costumes by hand. Local designers followed, and ultimately Mana created his own line, Moi-meme-Moitie, which is sold in Japanese department stores.
In 2000 publishers of the Japanese fashion magazine Kera started publishing the Gothic & Lolita Bible, which has grown to a circulation of 80,000. Part catalog, part fashion magazine, it has patterns for making costumes as well as recipes for bite-size chocolate cakes with powdered sugar crosses that Gothic Lolitas (or Goth-Lolis, as they are known in Japan) can serve at tea parties.
As the look spread, it inspired different interpretations, so that in addition to the traditional Gothic and Lolita look, which is heavy on the Goth with black or white dresses, clunky black shoes, and dark makeup, there is also Sweet Lolita, bursting with ruffles and pastels; Elegant Gothic Lolita, a corseted Victorian style; and Schoolgirl Lolita, favoring pleated skirts and knee socks.
Jodi Bryson, a consulting development editor for Tokyopop, a leading provider of Japanese style comic books in the United States, who has studied the trend, said that she first started noticing an interest in Gothic and Lolita in the United States about three years ago as Americans either visited Tokyo or learned about Gothic and Lolita online. ''It was then we started seeing girls dress up, from teenagers to college-age and beyond,'' she said. ''The attraction was twofold: there was the creative side, making costumes, and the escape of role-playing. It was a killer way for girls to express themselves.''
In addition to spending hundreds if not thousands of dollars on Gothic and Lolita fashion, American followers of the trend join online communities, scour Japanese bookstores and eBay for issues of the Gothic & Lolita Bible (they can buy it for anywhere from $20 in a bookstore to as much as $50 online), and meet for tea parties at which they dress up and eat cake. Many, she said, also go to anime conventions, where people celebrate all things Japanese.
Michelle Nguyen, 22, lived in Japan for five months in 2003 and became a regular reader of the Gothic & Lolita Bible there. Now a senior at Penn State University studying English, advertising and Japanese, she buys Japanese-made skirts and dresses on eBay and has taken up sewing so she can make her own outfits. She has four parasols, various flouncy pastel skirts, and plenty of floppy lace bows. She and friends organize Gothic and Lolita outings for which they dress up and have tea or go to movies like Lemony Snicket's ''Series of Unfortunate Events,'' in which the costumes evoke the Gothic and Lolita style.
She said she sometimes gets stares from students on campus. ''I used to wear big frilly skirts out to classes, but it's hard to do,'' she said. ''You have to function sitting at a desk and, in a ruffled skirt, you just can't do that.''
Ms. Lam, who attends college and works for an oil and gas company in Dallas, has more than 10 full Gothic and Lolita outfits, on which she has spent thousands of dollars. She said she wouldn't even think of wearing one to work. ''Half would have a heart attack, and I don't know about the other half,'' she said of her co-workers. ''My mom, when she first saw me dressed up, said, 'Why didn't we just save your baby clothes?'''
As for her boyfriend, she said: ''He really likes to see me in the sweet stuff, all white. I'm like, can't I wear something more practical?''
Ms. Lam predicts that the hullabaloo over Ms. Stefani will subside, although it has changed the nature of the conversation among Gothic and Lolita fans forever. A hopeful sign, she said, is that some fans are warming to the idea that the trend is not solely theirs anymore.
''We should all be flattered that the style is reaching mainstream,'' read one recent post online. ''Fashion is a free right.''
Also, Ms. Lam pointed out, the more mainstream the look becomes, the more available the clothes will be, and more affordable, too.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
GRAPHIC: Photos: BLOOMERS AND BLUE PANTIES -- Michelle Nguyen dresses in a Victorian-inspired style, while Gwen Stefani's look is much less prim. (Photo by Lisa Kyle for The New York Times)
(Photo by Mike Blake/Reuters)
LOAD-DATE: March 13, 2005
Copyright 2004 MCN International Pte Ltd.
All Rights Reserved
Channel NewsAsia
September 2, 2004 Thursday
SECTION: ASIA PACIFIC
LENGTH: 307 words
HEADLINE: Tokyo streets make way for ' Gothic Lolita' fashion
BODY:
TOKYO : Tokyo is a city where some of the most outrageous fashion trends can be seen.
Young women would wear whatever was in - long hair dyed blond or eyes accentuated with white eye shadow.
These days, a new look can be spotted on the streets.
Channel NewsAsia meets the "Gothic Lolitas".
Frills and ribbons in pink and blue.
In the late 1970s, you can spot teenagers to those in their early 20s dressed like this in the streets of Tokyo.
It was called the Lolita fashion, which was popularised by celebrities of that era.
Fast forward to the 21st century.
And while these frills have survived, they are now black in colour.
It is called "Gosuloli" in Japanese, or Gothic Lolita.
The young women look like Victorian maidens, with a tinge of evil.
And it is precisely this drastic contrast that attracts them to dress this way.
"I got into this fashion after seeing pictures of the style in a magazine."
"I initially liked the glamour type of look, but when I saw the Lolita, I was instantly attracted."
Some Gothic Lolitas wear ordinary clothes in the day and only transform themselves when they go clubbing at night.
It is at a well-known club in Shibuya Tokyo that the so-called charisma of "Gosu loli" perform quite often. And there they are rehearsing."
This duo called Kokushoku Sumire, look like the average Japanese women.
But as show time drew near, they turned into mysterious looking dolls.
Sachi, member of Kokushoku Sumire, said: "This is basically our own world. We simply choose to express our ideas through this type of clothes."
Kokushoku Sumire re-arranges old Japanese pops from the early 1900s. They also sing opera.
In fact, the girls are so well received that they are releasing their first compact disc soon.
So the Gothic Lolita looks set to stay around in Japan for a while. - CNA
LOAD-DATE: September 2, 2004
♥What is Lolita?♥
Lolita is a very hard style to define, but in my opinion what really defines it is it's childlike innocence and old-fashioned elegance. It's distinctive style is most obviously from the Victorian and Rococo eras, but you will see a lot of influence from the Edwardian period and even some 40s and 50s American clothing styles - any time period in which fashion was elegant and beautiful. The bell-shaped skirt provides the typical silhouette, but it is neither what makes something lolita nor is it required of all lolitas. There is no one item of clothing or a color or trim that embodies all that is lolita - it is a unique aesthetic that's hard to perfect. To some there's a lifestyle attached - not only wearing the clothes as often as possible but also taking part in lolita activities and following a certain code of etiquette - but to others it is merely a clothing style. Lolita can be an escape from the mundane, or an attempt to return to a more innocent time in life. It's something a little bit different to everyone, but what lolitas have in common is a shared desire to wear really awesome clothes.
But that's just my highly generalized opinion, for better and more in depth explanations, please read these:
Fatalfille's Essay on Lolita
Seeinglife's Lolita Definition
Or for a slightly less whimsical explanation:
Wikipedia Article on lolita
For more articles on Lolita:
Avant Gauche's List of Articles
Sonia_bunny's List of Articles
♥What about Nabokov's "Lolita"? Isn't that where the term "lolita" comes from"?♥
Yes and no. There is no simple answer to this and you can probably argue it for hours all to no avail. Yes Nabokov popularized the term as a name for a young girl, but there is no indication that the Japanese borrowed the sexual connotation of the word as well. Most lolitas will protest a Nabokov reference, but others see a sexual side side to the fashion. Like all other facets of lolita fashion, each person has a unique perspective on the word itself, so rarely is it beneficial to argue it at length. If anyone has some articles on the subject I'd love to add them.
Copyright 2005 South China Morning Post Ltd.
South China Morning Post
November 10, 2005
SECTION: NEWS; Observer; Pg. 14
LENGTH: 598 words
HEADLINE: Living in Tokyo's shadow
BYLINE: Alex Lo
BODY:
In Japanese, gosurori means GothLoli, or Gothic Lolita. At comic book fairs and youth shopping malls in Hong Kong, it is not unusual nowadays to come upon such "Lolitas", young girls or women dressed in Victorian-style clothing to look like porcelain dolls.
Others put on Japanese schoolgirl uniforms, kimonos or various cartoonish outfits - popularised by famous characters in Japanese manga comics - to simulate the appearance of an under-aged nymph.
Mainstream boutiques and department stores in main Japanese cities were apparently already selling Lolita clothes in 2000. As a youth sub-culture, it must have been entrenched well before then in Japan - so we in Hong Kong are more than half a decade behind.
Local pop star Kelly Chen Wai-lam recently dressed as one at a Halloween bash at Ocean Park. It was rather embarrassing: it doesn't matter how old Chen is, she is clearly past the age limit on posing as a fake Lolita.
It's depressing to think how we are always playing catch-up to the latest in Japanese (sub) culture, from youth fads and high cuisine to underground porn and social pathology.
While Japan's gangsters are busy producing high-quality pornographic VCDs and DVDs, our triads can do nothing better than pirate their Japanese counterparts. If the Japanese porn industry were to collapse today, triad gangsters in Hong Kong would have to go on welfare.
We are even behind when it comes to depression and mass psychology. For years, Japanese media and health-care professionals have been writing and warning about the growing hikikomori phenomenon. Reports are only now surfacing in local papers that we, too, have our own reclusive adolescents and young adults who live in abject isolation and shun all human contact.
The Hong Kong Christian Service released in July what is believed to be the first local hikikomori study of its kind, estimating there are about 6,000 such troubled youths among us. I would bet the problem has been there all along, but we only now recognise this social malaise in our midst.
In the past, local social workers, educators, parents and media pundits had bemoaned youths who spent all their waking hours on games and computers in their own room, interrupting their cyber-routine only when they had to eat or go to the toilet.
What did we think their problems were?
Because we were late - as usual - to the internet craze, we were paying more attention to the games rather than the gamers - the symptoms and not the disease. Hikikomori can mean both the social phenomenon and the people who suffer from it.
In a sense, it's nothing new: what can be more ordinary than for lonely, misunderstood and confused youths, under intense pressure from family and school, to withdraw into a cocoon of their own making?
The much-hyped Japanese film Train Man, which did well last month at the local box office, underlines the public interest in this trend. It tells the story of one such recluse who rescues a girl and wins her heart, with help and advice from fellow hikikomori on the Net.
There is no shortage of experts, in Hong Kong and elsewhere, to explain the hikikomori phenomenon. But why some young people are caught up in it while others outgrow it is ultimately as perplexing and unexplainable as many other social diseases.
It is serious food for thought. Perhaps Japanese culture, even with all its malaise, malice and dysfunctions, has a lot more to offer than the meagre, imitative "culture" of our "world city".
Alex Lo is a columnist and senior reporter at the Post
LOAD-DATE: November 10, 2005
Copyright 2006 Times Newspapers Limited
All Rights Reserved
The Times (London)
July 22, 2006, Saturday
SECTION: FEATURES; Offbeat Japan; Pg. 6
LENGTH: 610 words
HEADLINE: The fashion victims who refuse to grow up
BYLINE: Alicia Kirby
BODY:
Alicia Kirby explores the weird world of the trendy Peta Pans
"JAPANESE girls do not want to grow up because they think they will have to wear a suit and become a part of corporate culture, which is a sign for them that their youth is over." This insight comes from Sebastian Masuda, the founder of the shop 6% Dokidoki, a hotspot for style victims who have an obsession with cute, or kawaii -trinkets and clothes.
The preoccupation with kawaii has been taken to the extreme in the sub cultural styles prevalent in Harajuku, the fashion mecca of Tokyo, where young people parade around in the most bizarre apparel. The main fringe fashions in the area are Lolita, Gothic Lolita and a relatively new fad called Dekora.
Gothic Lolitas emulate Victorian or Edwardian porcelain dolls. Opting for dark colours, they wear frilly lace petticoats and headdresses and often paint their faces a deathly white to give themselves the air of a ghoulish Bo Peep.
In contrast, simple Lolitas prefer soft shades of pink, blue or white and red checks. Their visually arresting milkmaid garb is more sickly sweet.
Dekora stands for decoration and takes its inspiration from children's clothes and accessories. Followers do not usually wear make-up but adorn themselves with as many kawaii -bags, toys and layers of clothes -as possible. The result is a distorted adult/child/bag lady/toyshop look.
Whether hip Tokyo youths dress in these styles or opt for another emerging trend of wearing garishly coloured tutus called panier, they have one thing in common: they are intent on creating a style that makes them look like a child trapped in an adult's body.
After Japan's economy hit the buffers in the 1990s, young people did not have the money to spend on high fashion so they bought children's clothes and accessories.
The prevalence of club culture in the Eighties meant that shoppers scoured stores for items that glowed in the dark, which were mainly children's toys. Other children's toys were then taken up as street fashion accessories and the popularity of cartoon characters such as Hello Kitty spread to mainstream global markets.
Dressing in such conspicuous and utterly impractical outfits takes time and effort. The shopgirls at 6% Dokidoki are living Barbie and Blythe dolls walking, talking icons of kawaii.
Asami, one of the shopgirls, talks of the style as an academic pursuit. "I started liking kawaii things when I was in primary school as my parents used to make me wear cute things and I studied and learnt from that," she says.
It is not just girls who are dedicated followers of the fashion. Urban street labels such as Billionaire Boys Club, co-owned by Pharrell Williams, the music producer and singer, and Nigo, the Japanese hip-hop mogul behind the global cult brand A Bathing Ape (Bape), are following suit. They have started to produce clothes apparently targeted at consumers aged under ten.
On the streets and in the clubs, men are wearing brightly coloured Bape patent leather trainers and camouflage patterned hooded sweatshirts in pink and purple.
The Bape shop boys proudly wear tops covered in prints of a cute little cartoon monkey saying: "Isn't my new T-shirt kawaii?"
Conservative elderly Japanese tut with disapproval. Shocked and ashamed by the way young people are dressing, they see it as another symptom of the breakdown of society and of tradition and respect.
Is the movement that has taken cute fashion into the realms of self-parody a refusal by the young to grow up? Masuda compares it to the punk scene in London in the 1980s, minus the violence. Perhaps the sartorial rebellion against conservatism is simply the happy anarchy of Japanese punk.
LOAD-DATE: July 22, 2006
Copyright 2006 The Mainichi Newspapers
Mainichi Daily News
May 28, 2006 Sunday
LENGTH: 416 words
HEADLINE: Kimono counselor, gothic Lolitas and a saucy 'juicy' how you see Japanese fashion
BODY:
A woman applying the Japanese national costume, a pair of girls in gothic garments, and an example of the occasionally bizarre use of English in this country are the My Japan readers' contest winners this week.
Jorge de Luna Andrada captured a wonderful photo of a woman who does her part to try and retain a slice of old Japan in the 21st century by dressing people up in kimono, a surprisingly difficult garment to wear.
"While ever-changing foreign fashion burgeons upon Japanese culture, Kazuko Ueda of Suita (Osaka Prefecture) faithfully guards tradition. As her hobby, Kazuko-san garbs foreign visitors in the best kimono while carefully explaining the components, the practices, and the philosophy that go into wearing perhaps the single most recognizable symbol of Japan," de Luna Andrada said of his winning entry.
Alexandra Hays tapped into the wide variety of fashions on view among Japan's youth for her shot.
"This picture was taken in front of the Meiji Shrine (in Tokyo) on an average Sunday afternoon. The two pictured girls represent the amazing range of styles one witnesses in Harajuku -- from super-kawaii to gothic Lolita. Their outfits are at once cute, subversive, intelligent and creative," Hays said.
Dan Nicolaescu managed to snap a shot that perfectly sums up how the use of English in Japan can occasionally become the butt of jokes -- literally, as it turns out in the case of Nicolaescu's photo.
"(This is) summer fashion with appealing English logo," Nicolaescu said of his photo.
Let the world know about how you see Japan and send in an entry to the MSN-Mainichi Daily News My Japan readers contest.
The theme this week is "Summer in Japan."
For the My Japan readers contest, judges pick the best photos and stories, and run them prominently every Sunday on MSN-Mainichi Daily News, the world's most viewed Japan news site in English!
The three main photos selected to run on the site will win prizes courtesy of the Mottainai Campaign spearheaded by 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai. Those who come close will also have their works displayed on the site.
Entering is easy. Use the entry form you can find linked at the bottom of this page and submit your photo accompanied by a short description of no more than 50 words describing what happened in the picture, where the photo was taken and when.
Entries close at noon Friday, Japan Standard Time. (Mainichi)
LOAD-DATE: May 27, 2006
Copyright 2006 Kyodo News Service
All Rights Reserved
Japan Economic Newswire
January 16, 2006 Monday 11:29 PM GMT
SECTION: INTERNATIONAL NEWS
LENGTH: 1237 words
HEADLINE: FEATURE: American fashion designers turn to Japan for trends and inspiration
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES Jan. 16
BODY:
From Tokyo's trendsetting Harajuku shopping district, to the timeless artistry of kimonos crafted in Kyoto, Japanese style and culture are growing sources of inspiration for American fashion designers and artists.
The influence has emerged in a variety of forms -- Tokyo street-style couture and restyled traditional kimonos have appeared on New York fashion runways, while chic Los Angeles boutiques showcase fashion jewelry adorned with variations on Hello Kitty, the cute cat character.
"Japanese culture definitely influences American fashion," said Jason Campbell, founder and editor in chief of JC Report, a global fashion trend-tracking website, set to launch in a Japanese format this February.
For nearly 30 years, Tokyo's Harajuku district, with its numerous clothing stores and trendy boutiques, has attracted multitudes of fashion-savvy youth who have developed an array of vibrant subcultures, such as the lace-wearing ' gothic Lolitas' and brightly coiffed punk rockers.
In late 2004, pop-star-turned-designer Gwen Stefani introduced American fans to Harajuku's colorful culture with her debut solo album "Love. Angel. Music. Baby.," featuring "Harajuku Girls," an ode to the district's fashionable young women.
Then, last year, the 36-year-old lead singer for No Doubt launched her co-designed high-end apparel line L.A.M.B., followed by a collection of casual wear and accessories called "Harajuku Lovers: A Fatal Attraction to Cuteness," featuring playful street-style designs inspired by her fondness for Harajuku fashion.
"Customers love the line and they love Gwen Stefani," said Yvonne Leung, store manager of the trendsetting Kitson store in Los Angeles. The celebrity shopping hotspot was the first retailer to carry the Harajuku Lovers line.
"It's Gwen that's brought a different part of Japan to us. At this point, she's turned Harajuku Lovers into such a brand itself that it's like another Hello Kitty," Leung said.
Stefani recently completed a U.S. concert tour which featured four female dancers, three of them Japanese, dressed in a series of Harajuku-style costumes and elaborate street ware.
Besides Stefani, traditional American companies, including Walt Disney, are staking their claim on Harajuku's rapidly evolving fashion scene.
Jeff Daggett, vice president of Disney's Softlines-Japan, regularly monitors style trends in Harajuku, including the recent popularity of eye treatments and fashion contact lenses. He said he and other observers share their findings with their counterparts throughout Asia and in Disney's global Softlines divisions.
Disney also participates in trends by developing partnerships with Japanese fashion companies. In 2004, the company worked with Tokyo-based retro-punk label Hysteric Glamour to create high-end T-shirts featuring Tinker Bell, the blonde pixie of "Peter Pan" fame.
"It was a collaboration of two unexpected companies. Disney with their rich heritage of characters and Hysteric because of their strong fashion and trendsetting reputation," said Dennis Green, senior vice president of Creative for Disney Softlines, who managed the company's relationship with Hysteric Glamour.
The T-shirts, which portrayed Tinker Bell in a backdrop of punk and graffiti scenes, retailed for around $100 at Hysteric Glamour's trendy Harajuku store, and the popular Fred Segal boutique in Los Angeles.
While Tokyo's hip fashion region remains a vibrant fashion influence, some progressive American designers are also finding inspiration in traditional elements of Japanese culture.
New York design duo Heatherette incorporate style influences from urban London, New York and Japan into their adventurous fashions. Their designs typically feature bold, contrasting patterns, bright colors, and playful, iconic imagery.
In 2003, the pair, consisting of Richie Rich, 29, and Traver Rains, 28, took their design process to Japan, as guests of a Kyoto-based program to promote modern interpretations of traditional kimono artistry.
As participants, Rich and Rains lived in Kyoto and observed traditional Japanese arts, including the weaving of silk used for kimonos. The two later used silk and fabric from vintage and new kimonos for their spring 2004 collection.
"The fabric is so elegant that you almost can't demystify the beauty of it -- the patterns just bounce off the fabrics," Rich said. "When we were cutting into the fabrics it was like a guilty pleasure, just knowing the intensity of the work," he said.
Rich, a former ice skater, and Rains, a rodeo champion, reinvented the kimonos in a series of vibrant designs, including dramatic robes in shimmering gold and red, and patchwork-style skirts in a range of delicate white, green and blue patterns.
They premiered their designs in 2003 in Osaka, followed by a colorful New York show titled "From Kyoto with Love," which also featured models wearing 30 vintage kimonos brought from Kyoto.
"In our Kyoto collection, I think they thought we were going to come up with really over the top, crazy looks, but instead we found the designs almost shaped themselves into traditional-feeling pieces," said Rich.
Heatherette are also looking to modern Japanese trends for inspiration. They currently have a collection of handbags and T-shirts labeled Hello Kitty Couture by Heatherette, retailing in Japan. The iconic cat character will grace the pair's junior apparel line in America this June.
Rich also confirmed plans for Heatherette to design clothes for the popular Japanese pop duo Puffy AmiYumi, next season.
For other designers, Japanese style and culture have been long-standing sources of influence and inspiration.
Los Angeles-based fashion jewelry designer Tarina Tarantino has admired Japanese style, notably the Harajuku scene and famed character Hello Kitty, for decades.
"I have been a fan of Hello Kitty for over 30 years," Tarantino said, from her sparkling new boutique in L.A.'s hip Melrose neighborhood.
After forming her business in 1995 with husband and now company CEO Alfonso Campos, 35, Tarantino, 34, was able to transform her love of jewelry and Hello Kitty into a creative and successful venture.
In 2002, Tokyo-based Sanrio Co. invited Tarantino, a former fashion model, to design jewelry based on their beloved cat character.
She created a series of necklaces, bracelets, rings, and hair ornaments adorned with her hip take on Hello Kitty. Tarantino named the character Pink Head, after her fuchsia-colored hairstyle, inspired by the designer's own bright trademark locks.
"Everyone loves her," said Tarantino fondly of her Pink Head creation. "She's an alternative to Hello Kitty. This is a very special collection -- she's unique to our company," she said.
Tarantino has developed storylines for the limited Pink Head pieces, including the recent Russian Nouveau collection, featuring the character as a Russian princess with long pink locks, topped by a tiara.
"We like to give her a story for each collection that we do every season, because that way there's something for the customer to know about the pieces," said Tarantino, who emphasizes the importance of wrapping customer purchases with detail and artistry, inspired by her admiration of Japanese gift-giving.
Tarantino and her Pink Head creations are enjoying international success with in-store boutiques in Italy and Korea. And in a new deal with Tokyo-based Itochu Timeless, 17 Tarina Tarantino stores will launch in Japan during the next three years.
LOAD-DATE: January 17, 2006
Copyright 2005 Guardian Newspapers Limited
All Rights Reserved
The Guardian (London) - Final Edition
December 17, 2005 Saturday
SECTION: THE GUIDE; Pg. 30
LENGTH: 186 words
HEADLINE: The Guide: PREVIEW books: FreshFruits SHOICHI AOKI
BYLINE: Lee Wallick
BODY:
To most people Harajuku girls are those four accessories Gwen Stefani keeps in tow. But long before the platinum pop diva laid claim this is what the kids congregating around the streets of Tokyo's hippest shopping district were called. Shoichi Aoki first started photographing their customised thrift-store-meets-cyber-punk ensembles and " Gothic Lolita" looks in 1994 for the now cultish-ly followed FRUiTS magazine and subsequent book of the same name. Remarkably, these youth were developing their own street style instead of mimicking their Western counterparts. Much like our own hoodie-ban, the local government was so overwhelmed by this Hoko-ten or "pedestrian heaven" phenomenon that it was abolished by special decree. The trendy teens then turned to pages instead of promenades to keep current. This second edition offers previously unseen snapshots with added fashion credits to accompany the subjects. Each vibrant and fascinating image documents what started with the odd tartan, Westwood mini-skirt and Hello Kitty keyring but soon exploded into a full-blown, uniquely Japanese, subculture.
Phaidon, £19.95
LOAD-DATE: December 17, 2005
Copyright 2005 Financial Times Information
All Rights Reserved
Global News Wire - Asia Africa Intelligence Wire
Copyright 2005 The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Berhad
Malay Mail
August 31, 2005
ACC-NO: A20050901C-E4D8-GNW
LENGTH: 1569 words
HEADLINE: LOVABLE 'LIVEWIRES'
BYLINE: Rizal Solomon
BODY:
LIVEWIRES ISSUE 1 to 6 MARVEL THIS is quite possibly the best mini-series Marvel has published this year.
And it's a shame it never got the attention that it was due.
But there's always the upcoming trade (hopefully), so consider this a heads-up.
Stem Cell, Hollowpoint Ninja, Gothic Lolita, Cornfed and Social Butterfly are all nanobuilt humanform combat mecha with 'smartwire' bodies specialised for covert ops and Artificially Intelligent minds programmed for suicidal loyalty.
They're the superhuman products of a top-secret, quasi-governmental R&D programme called Project Livewire.
Livewire has a unique agenda - namely to seek out, sabotage and destroy other top-secret, quasi-governmental R&D programmes.
In the chaotic midst of a raid on one covert project, the team's newest member, Stem Cell, is hastily 'booted' up to replace a fallen Livewire.
At first unaware that she's actually a robotic mecha, the way the story of the journey she takes to uncover her true nature (and believe me you won't see the ending coming) makes this a must read.
Stem Cell is so named because her body's nanotech 'smartware' and AI mind haven't yet specialised and evolved into a mission-specific configuration (as with human stem cells' ability to develop into any other cell in the human body).
By contrast, her posthuman teammates are each uniquely tailored and modified for their roles.
Each has a function.
And looks can be very deceiving.
The team's 'heavy artillery' is provided by the diminutive Gothic Lolita.
Though small, her body is actually a hyperdense assembly of nanomachines, giving her far and away the most superhuman strength and power out of the group.
By contrast, the hulking Cornfed, nicknamed after his default human appearance as a blond, beefy Midwestern farmboy, is nowhere near as physically powerful.
With his massive frame bloated with spare 'smartware' literally cannibalised from fallen teammates (and a multifunction 'nanofactory' housed in his big belly), he serves as a healer/repair mecha, when not using the heavy-duty computing power inherent in his smartware bulk for wireless hacking and cracking.
Human interaction is the speciality of the relentlessly personable and 'hot' Social Butterfly, who utilises everything from subliminal 'infrasonic vocal cues' to artificial pheromones to direct neurological tampering to manipulate the organic humans she superficially resembles.
Finally, stealth, sudden violence, and exotic, ultra-tech weaponry are the specialities of the inhumanly fast, agile and elusive Hollowpoint Ninja.
Part of the fun is watching how the team clicks together to get their mission done.
But the real draw of Livewire is the coming-of-age journey Stem Cell takes, which ends at a point of loss of innocence.
The person she becomes at the end changed your entire perception of the Livewires.
The art is manga-esque.
But it's used to amazing effect.
The wide-eyed innocent look of Stem Cell makes what happens in the climactic battle downright disturbing, and it enhances the chilling ending the book has.
Highly recommended.
LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES ISSUE 9 DC WHEN this series first came out, I wasn't really sure what to make of it.
The concept was interesting - a group of superpowered teens from all around the Universe decide to band together and form a youth activist group of sorts.
The first couple of issues were entertaining but the world of the Legion at that point was still drawn in a black and white sort of way.
Largely, all adults were cold, manipulative and distant while the teens were filled with the passionate fire of equality, fraternity and liberty.
Now, if it was just any writer I would have been guilty of giving up on the book since it looked like it was going to follow a typical teen angsty mode of thought.
But this is Mark Waid.
The man wrote some of the finest Fantastic Four stories around.
He wrote Kingdom Come.
And he gave us Empire.
So that means that there's more to the story than meets the eye.
And - lo and behold - Waid delivers the knockout punch in this issue.
But before we get to that, a rundown on what's been going on.
This latest incarnation of Legion was launched last year and has quickly gained a following.
This new, fifth series has started the team over from scratch again, and quickly establishes the cultural context that the Legion exists in, which provides a clever little explanation on why everyone has Boy/Lad/Girl/Lass/Kid attached to their Legion code-names.
The Legion is huge.
They've got thousands of young people on many different worlds who have become 'Legionnaires', worshipping the heroes in a cult-like manner, with many maintaining a constant vigil outside Legion headquarters.
It's a few centuries in the future but people's tendency to hero worship and form mobs are still there.
The Legion becomes a ideology that teens quickly take to with those flashy 'super-hero' costumes quickly becoming a form of teen rebellious expression.
Naturally, the adults are not too happy.
The future of the Legion is largely an emotionally and mentally repressive society with Orwellian surveillance.
The Legion is not actively working towards the seemingly well-meaning government's overthrow but more interested in reform as they work to protect people while attempting to inspire others with the legends of superheroism of old.
That's the ideal anyway.
But the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
And soon these kids learn the hard way why adults end up compromising so much in life and why so many eventually just give up on their dreams.
The Legion makes a lot of plans.
But life happens while they're doing it.
The Legion is led by Cosmic Boy, who's got magnetic powers and big plans for the Legion.
The first few issues show how Cosmic Boy deploys the Legion around the Universe to set things right, but inadvertently trigger off more problems when individual planets react badly to having the Legion mess around with their teens.
Cosmic Boy's big plans for the Legion don't just meet with disapproval outside the Legion, but also inside.
Specifically, Braniac 5 - the Legion's resident genius - also has some lofty ambitions for the Legion and part of that involves him taking over the leadership.
Braniac is a complex and formidable character.
He is reputed to have a brain exponentially more powerful than a human (he's a 12th level intelligence; most humans have 6th level brains, and even most of his fellow Coluans have 10th level ones).
This grants him excellent calculation skills, amazing memory and exceptional technical know-how.
And also one heck of a big ego.
He's basically an adult's worst nightmare come true - a teen who thinks he knows everything and has the resources to do whatever he likes.
The last few issues have seen tensions rise between Braniac and Cosmic Boy.
Since these two are the big guns of the Legions, sides are quickly drawn as some Legionnaires side with Cosmic Boy and some go with Braniac.
But still, up until this issue it's been just tension and opinions about who's right and wrong.
Well, the fuse was lit last issue when Cosmic Boy broke into Braniac's research lab while the genius was off the planet.
Cosmic Boy, among other things, suspects Braniac planning a coup.
And the fall out of Cosmic Boy's actions is seen in this Issue.
Braniac may be smart, but he let his emotions get the better of him and he makes a flat-out attempt to sabotage Cosmic Boy in this issue.
The repercussions of that is an all-out civil war within Legion headquarters.
If Waid hadn't been carefully and slowly building the story up to this point, we wouldn't really care about these teens as they knock each other's brains about.
He has done such great work with each character that - on some level - everyone of them matters to us.
Even Braniac, with all his ego, is still a good kid at heart.
Well, he was anyway.
But he's taken his first few steps into being the kind of adult he hates by acting out in such a vengeful manner in this issue.
Highly recommended.
However, since the back issues are absolutely vital to appreciating this issue, it's best you wait for the upcoming trade which collects the first six issues - Legion of Super-Heroes: Teenage Revolution.
JUSTICE ISSUE 1 DC THE hype for the book is true - it's fantastic.
The art by Alex Ross and Doug Braithwaite is something to behold.
But the lingering effect of Justice comes from Jim Krueger's thoughtful and heartfelt script.
He wonderfully brings out the humanity in the characters, even the worst of them.
His elegant prose and the stunning art make us believe in a story where the villains, all plagued by the same nightmare, unite to bring about a better world for all humanity.
The book opens with an apocalyptic vision and ends on a great cliff-hanger.
The most memorable part, however, are those quiet tender moments Aquaman shares with his wife and child.
Recommended.
COMICS COURTESY OF THE COMICS CORNER No.
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LOAD-DATE: August 31, 2005
Copyright 2005 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest Global Communications Corp.
All Rights Reserved
Edmonton Journal (Alberta)
May 7, 2005 Saturday
Final Edition
SECTION: ED; Pg. D3
LENGTH: 991 words
HEADLINE: Where East meets West: Anime cults, Japanese tunes on radio and women who dress like Elegant Gothic Lolitas. Japanese pop culture is big around here
BYLINE: Vivian Giang, The Edmonton Journal
BODY:
Back in 1983, Styx had us thanking Mr. Roboto. Now blond rocker Gwen Stefani has introduced North America to her version of the Tokyo-based fashionistas known as harajuku girls.
Japan -- it's the land that brought us karaoke, Dance Dance Revolution and wide-eyed cartoon characters. It seems almost inevitable that Japanese fashion and music are in line for mass consumption in the West.
Or not.
"Trends move so quickly in Japan that it doesn't have time to catch up here before it moves on," says Ian Horner, spokesperson for Animethon, a huge convention held in Edmonton each August celebrating the Japanese cartoon form known as anime (pronounced ah-nih-meh).
Japanese trends do indeed come and go, but anime is one fad that crossed the Pacific and established a strong foothold. Saturday morning cartoons like Astroboy and Sailor Moon are largely to thank for its cult following. Edmonton's subculture of devotees to anime (and all things Japanese) coalesced at the U of A in 1990 with the first meeting of the Banzai Anime Klub of Alberta (BAKA).
Horner, like many other North Americans, became hooked on the culture without knowing it when he began watching Robotech and Astroboy as a kid. "I had no idea they were Japanese," says the 25-year-old, who eventually travelled to Japan to experience the culture firsthand.
Interest has exploded since BAKA's first meeting.
Last summer Animethon drew more than 3,000 visitors -- including hundreds of costume-wearing fans known as "cosplayers" -- to see the latest anime, visit the Japanese marketplaces, and check out cultural displays and presentations. Now going into its 12th year, the Edmonton event is billed as Western Canada's largest convention showcasing Japanese animation.
Horner is quick to point out that the most popular versions of anime -- Pokemon anyone? -- are just a tiny sample of what's out there. The genre has spread into high-tech, hyper-violent anime series such as Akira, Neo Evangelion Genesis and the recently released Steam Boy, a retro sci-fi epic.
Elsewhere, anime movies like Ghost in the Shell, Princess Mononoke and the Oscar-winning Spirited Away are turning cartoons into a pastime for connoisseurs, not just entertainment for kids and geeks.
"Anime is spearheading the breakthrough of Japanese culture in North America," says Horner. "Japanese lifestyle, music and fashion are following closely. It's just a matter of time."
That time is now for NAIT radio and TV student James Oikawa. Every Wednesday night during the college school year Oikawa hosts The Big-O's Japan Slam (at 92.3 FM on Shaw cable radio, or streamed at ww.nait.ca/nr92), playing music from his personal collection.
"At first I thought Japanese music was different, but it sounds like mainstream music here, just in a different language," says the 26-year-old. "Every genre -- pop, rock, hip-hop, rap, punk -- is represented in Japanese music."
While Oikawa thinks it's great to see the likes of Stefani drawing attention to the music and culture of the Far East, he urges people to keep an open mind. Horner agrees. "App-roach it as another story, another media to look at, and (don't think of it as) funny or cool because it's Japanese."
Stefani has taken some heat for her spin on the harajuku phenomenon, and Horner says the West gets a very distilled version of what real Japanese pop culture looks like, thanks to movies and celebrities. Corporations, as well, don't always catch on to what's hot. We may never see LaSenza carrying the white puffy socks that junior and high school girls sport across Japan.
"Any celebrity promoting his or her idea of Japanese culture leads to the westernization of it," says Horner. "It's not as authentic. The interpretation is through another's eyes."
So, will we be seeing harajuku girls on the streets of Edmonton soon?
"Edmonton is at a disadvantage because of its climate," he says with a laugh. "But they do exist in the summer on Whyte Ave. They're rare, though."
I'M TURNING JAPANESE, I REALLY THINK SO...
Angel wings, animal ears and flashy neon wigs, oh my!
Inspired by cosplay outfits at Animethon, Shelly Vickers began designing and sewing her own EGL (Elegant Gothic Lolita) outfits. "I tried looking everywhere for them, but there aren't many stores in North America that sell this stuff," says the 18-year-old. "If you can't make your own, you can go online and order costumes." Vickers usually dons her outfits at anime or sci-fi conventions and the odd night on the town.
HERE'S SOME TIPS ON HOW TO MAKE THE LOOK:
- Wear a knee-length skirt or petticoat (the puffier the better) and white stockings. For your top, think corsets and puffy sleeves. Wherever possible, infuse your outfit with bows, ribbons and lace. Wear platform shoes or Mary Janes to complete the look.
- EGL generally uses a black-and-white colour scheme. Go all dark with white accessories (e.g. apron, gloves, hair ties, parasol, etc.) or try dressing all in white.
- The aim is to look like a porcelain doll. Hairstyles tend to be clean-cut and the face pale while makeup accentuates the eyes and lips.
- Pull out all the stops. "Just think cute," says Vickers. "And let your imagination run wild."
A CULTURE DEFINED
- Anime: Japanese animation, in which characters are easily distinguishable by their big eyes, small mouths and near-impossible hair. Think Astroboy, Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z.
- Manga: Japanese comic books, which normally precede an anime series. Translated manga books have become increasingly popular in North America.
- Harajuku: One of many districts in Japan. A popular hangout for teens who are into street fashion or Gothic Lolita clothing. Harajuku is a nice place to take a look at all the latest fashions from Tokyo! (urbandictionary.com)
- Cosplay: Literally "costume play," dressing up and pretending to be a fictional character (usually a sci-fi, comic book, or anime character). There are anime cosplay conventions around the world. ( urbandictionary.com)
GRAPHIC:
Photo: Candace Elliott, The Journal; Elegant Gothic Lolita steps out of the manga pages in the form of Edmonton anime fan Shelly Vickers.;
Photo: John Lucas, The Journal; James Oikawa, left, and Ian Horner say anime is cool, period, not just 'cos it's funny Japanese stuff.; Graphic: Journal Stock; (See hard copy for graphic).
LOAD-DATE: May 7, 2005
Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company
The New York Times
March 13, 2005 Sunday
Late Edition - Final
SECTION: Section 9; Column 3; Style Desk; Pg. 8
LENGTH: 1176 words
HEADLINE: Gothic Lolitas: Demure vs. Dominatrix
BYLINE: By LAURA M. HOLSON
BODY:
IT did not take long for Twinkle Lam to realize that she had a problem on her hands.
For the past 10 months the 23-year-old Ms. Lam has moderated an online discussion group about Gothic and Lolita fashion, a style of dressing imported from Japan featuring Victorian-era calf-length skirts, bloomers, aprons, lace bows and ruffled petticoats that has attracted a following among high-school and college-age girls in the United States.
For the most part, discussion on the Web log (www.livejournal.com/community/egl), a forum of about 2,500 ardent adherents to Gothic and Lolita fashion that Ms. Lam manages from her home in Dallas, revolves around questions like where to buy chunky high-heeled Mary Jane pumps or how to fashion Bo Peep collars. But over the winter, the usually polite exchanges gave way to angry, often profane declamations.
At issue was Gwen Stefani's Alice in Wonderland costume in her ''What You Waiting For'' video. Alice, with her prim white collar, poofy sleeves and bell-shaped skirts, is an informal muse for many G.L.'s, as they call themselves, and the sense was that Ms. Stefani had bastardized the look by exposing blue ruffled panties and laced-up high heels, making the look more dominatrix than demure.
''That outfit looks nothing like Lolita,'' read one of the more restrained posts. ''It's not even original, it looks like what Britney wore when she kissed Madonna.''
Although petticoats and parasols are hardly mall-wear, Ms. Lam said the video was a sign that the Gothic and Lolita aesthetic, once fetishized by a few, might be moving out into the mainstream, where it could be co-opted and corrupted by the many. Just in the last six months, Ms. Lam said, Gothic and Lolita blog sites have been infiltrated by men seeking pictures of girls in sexed-up Gothic and Lolita fare ''That never happened until recently,'' Ms. Lam said. ''It's coming more into the spotlight, and it's only going to become more and more popular.''
Not that Ms. Stefani was the first celebrity to call attention to Gothic and Lolita fashion; Amy Lee, the lead singer of Evanescence, wears black lace dresses favored by some G.L.'s, and last year Courtney Love was co-writer of a Japanese-style comic book about Princess Ai, a character based loosely on Ms. Love who dresses in Gothic and Lolita style. Neither Ms. Lee nor Ms. Love, though, has drawn the ire Ms. Stefani did. She has incorporated the style into her act, traveling with a troupe called the Harajuku girls, named after a trendy neighborhood in Tokyo where many girls who wear the style gather on weekends.
Gothic and Lolita got its start in the early to mid-1990's among Japanese schoolgirls inspired by the band Malice Mizer and in particular by Mana, the band's effeminate guitarist, who wore black and white ruffled dresses, elaborate bows, false eyelashes and heavy white makeup.
The look caught on as part of Japan's ''cosplay,'' or costume play, culture, in which young people dress up like iconic pop figures, many of them popular cartoon characters. Soon teenage girls in Tokyo were stitching recreations of Mana's costumes by hand. Local designers followed, and ultimately Mana created his own line, Moi-meme-Moitie, which is sold in Japanese department stores.
In 2000 publishers of the Japanese fashion magazine Kera started publishing the Gothic & Lolita Bible, which has grown to a circulation of 80,000. Part catalog, part fashion magazine, it has patterns for making costumes as well as recipes for bite-size chocolate cakes with powdered sugar crosses that Gothic Lolitas (or Goth-Lolis, as they are known in Japan) can serve at tea parties.
As the look spread, it inspired different interpretations, so that in addition to the traditional Gothic and Lolita look, which is heavy on the Goth with black or white dresses, clunky black shoes, and dark makeup, there is also Sweet Lolita, bursting with ruffles and pastels; Elegant Gothic Lolita, a corseted Victorian style; and Schoolgirl Lolita, favoring pleated skirts and knee socks.
Jodi Bryson, a consulting development editor for Tokyopop, a leading provider of Japanese style comic books in the United States, who has studied the trend, said that she first started noticing an interest in Gothic and Lolita in the United States about three years ago as Americans either visited Tokyo or learned about Gothic and Lolita online. ''It was then we started seeing girls dress up, from teenagers to college-age and beyond,'' she said. ''The attraction was twofold: there was the creative side, making costumes, and the escape of role-playing. It was a killer way for girls to express themselves.''
In addition to spending hundreds if not thousands of dollars on Gothic and Lolita fashion, American followers of the trend join online communities, scour Japanese bookstores and eBay for issues of the Gothic & Lolita Bible (they can buy it for anywhere from $20 in a bookstore to as much as $50 online), and meet for tea parties at which they dress up and eat cake. Many, she said, also go to anime conventions, where people celebrate all things Japanese.
Michelle Nguyen, 22, lived in Japan for five months in 2003 and became a regular reader of the Gothic & Lolita Bible there. Now a senior at Penn State University studying English, advertising and Japanese, she buys Japanese-made skirts and dresses on eBay and has taken up sewing so she can make her own outfits. She has four parasols, various flouncy pastel skirts, and plenty of floppy lace bows. She and friends organize Gothic and Lolita outings for which they dress up and have tea or go to movies like Lemony Snicket's ''Series of Unfortunate Events,'' in which the costumes evoke the Gothic and Lolita style.
She said she sometimes gets stares from students on campus. ''I used to wear big frilly skirts out to classes, but it's hard to do,'' she said. ''You have to function sitting at a desk and, in a ruffled skirt, you just can't do that.''
Ms. Lam, who attends college and works for an oil and gas company in Dallas, has more than 10 full Gothic and Lolita outfits, on which she has spent thousands of dollars. She said she wouldn't even think of wearing one to work. ''Half would have a heart attack, and I don't know about the other half,'' she said of her co-workers. ''My mom, when she first saw me dressed up, said, 'Why didn't we just save your baby clothes?'''
As for her boyfriend, she said: ''He really likes to see me in the sweet stuff, all white. I'm like, can't I wear something more practical?''
Ms. Lam predicts that the hullabaloo over Ms. Stefani will subside, although it has changed the nature of the conversation among Gothic and Lolita fans forever. A hopeful sign, she said, is that some fans are warming to the idea that the trend is not solely theirs anymore.
''We should all be flattered that the style is reaching mainstream,'' read one recent post online. ''Fashion is a free right.''
Also, Ms. Lam pointed out, the more mainstream the look becomes, the more available the clothes will be, and more affordable, too.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
GRAPHIC: Photos: BLOOMERS AND BLUE PANTIES -- Michelle Nguyen dresses in a Victorian-inspired style, while Gwen Stefani's look is much less prim. (Photo by Lisa Kyle for The New York Times)
(Photo by Mike Blake/Reuters)
LOAD-DATE: March 13, 2005
Copyright 2004 MCN International Pte Ltd.
All Rights Reserved
Channel NewsAsia
September 2, 2004 Thursday
SECTION: ASIA PACIFIC
LENGTH: 307 words
HEADLINE: Tokyo streets make way for ' Gothic Lolita' fashion
BODY:
TOKYO : Tokyo is a city where some of the most outrageous fashion trends can be seen.
Young women would wear whatever was in - long hair dyed blond or eyes accentuated with white eye shadow.
These days, a new look can be spotted on the streets.
Channel NewsAsia meets the "Gothic Lolitas".
Frills and ribbons in pink and blue.
In the late 1970s, you can spot teenagers to those in their early 20s dressed like this in the streets of Tokyo.
It was called the Lolita fashion, which was popularised by celebrities of that era.
Fast forward to the 21st century.
And while these frills have survived, they are now black in colour.
It is called "Gosuloli" in Japanese, or Gothic Lolita.
The young women look like Victorian maidens, with a tinge of evil.
And it is precisely this drastic contrast that attracts them to dress this way.
"I got into this fashion after seeing pictures of the style in a magazine."
"I initially liked the glamour type of look, but when I saw the Lolita, I was instantly attracted."
Some Gothic Lolitas wear ordinary clothes in the day and only transform themselves when they go clubbing at night.
It is at a well-known club in Shibuya Tokyo that the so-called charisma of "Gosu loli" perform quite often. And there they are rehearsing."
This duo called Kokushoku Sumire, look like the average Japanese women.
But as show time drew near, they turned into mysterious looking dolls.
Sachi, member of Kokushoku Sumire, said: "This is basically our own world. We simply choose to express our ideas through this type of clothes."
Kokushoku Sumire re-arranges old Japanese pops from the early 1900s. They also sing opera.
In fact, the girls are so well received that they are releasing their first compact disc soon.
So the Gothic Lolita looks set to stay around in Japan for a while. - CNA
LOAD-DATE: September 2, 2004
