Betsey Johnson - 40 Years of Lolita Fashion

Fashion icon Betsey Johnson has been making Lolita-friendly, whimsical frocks for over 40 years.  Tuesday night at a Manhattan nightclub, there was a runway show/birthday party/concert in her honor.

I have to say it was one of my favorite fashion events that I have ever attended as my childhood pop icon, Cyndi Lauper opened the show performing Girls Just Wanna Have Fun and True Colors.  She was dressed on a Gothic/punk Lolita outfit of black tulle skirt, swiss dot bustier and studded leather jacket.

Next, the models danced down the runway in outfits that spanned from Betsey Johnson's 1960's looks all the way through current seasons of 2012.  Pink champagne, pink popcorn and pink cupcakes were served to guests who danced the night away until the sun came up!

Lolitas and Gothic Lolitas at New York Comic-Con

I love New York Comic-con.  It's like Halloween came early, but with better cosplay and outfits.  There was no shortage of Lolitas and their darker counterpart, Gothic Lolitas.  There were several panels that addressed the nuances of the style and brought out a bunch of fashionable fans...

Gothic Fashion Bonanza at Wave Gotik Leipzig

It's one of the biggest displays of Gothic fashion in the world.  2000 20000 fans converged on Leipzig, Germany for Europe's most popular Gothic music festivals.  The most impressive spectacle of course, was the fashion on display last week.

Almost every sub-style was represented at Wave Gotik Music and Art Festival.  You had your romantics, your Renaissance and Victorian groups.  Cyber punk Goths mingled with Steampunks.  Lolitas were on board, along with new styles like Camo-Goth.   While black and red are the classic Goth palette, there many who used bright colors in their ensembles.  

photos by Carsten Koall, John MacDougall

F.I.T.'s Tokyo Fashion Festa

 Earlier this month, amid the chaos that was NY Fashion Week, the Museum at FIT hosted the Lolitas, Cosplay and fantasy hair and makeup at the Tokyo Fashion Festa.

A fashion show was presented featuring manga, cosplay and Gothic fashion.  There were makeup and hair demonstrations to complete the fashion looks.  Following the style portion, there was a tea party reception for all the participants and fans. This festival was an extension to the current museum exhibit, Japan Fashion Now that has been extended until April 8, 2011.
Hair & Makeup photos by Lawrence Brenner.  Cosplay Photos by Philip Ng.

Japan Fashion Now Exhibit at the Museum at FIT

Inspiration from the East?  Avant-garde or Super-sweet?  Gothic? Anime?  What do you think of when you think of Japanese fashion?  The current exhibit at the Museum of FIT investigates the tipping point of Japan as a fashion heavyweight in the 1980's to current streetwear influences.  Edgy designers like Comme des Garcons and Yohji Yamamoto bridged philosophy and art with functional clothing.  

There is a gallery of a futuristic Tokyo and a range of styles representing subcultures of Forest Girl, Kawaii, Gothic Lolitas and Cosplay.

The exhibit runs until January 8, 2011 and is located at 27th street and 7th avenue in NYC.

Lolita Fashion at NY Comic-Con

Fan Girls & Fan Boys converged on NYC's Jacob Javits Center for the annual NY Comic-Con Festival this weekend.  One of the popular panels for fashion fans was the Lolita session on Friday afternoon.

Representatives from NYC Lolitas broke it down for Lolita Fashion newbies.  They covered the different types of Lolitas, essential accessories and wardrobe staples (start with the petticoat!).  The key brands were listed (Baby, the Stars Shine Bright, Moi-Meme Moitier...) and where to get them.  

Good quality is expensive...The hostesses stressed saving your money and what Ebay vendors to avoid.  They also gave examples of local shopping mall stores to adapt accessories from (H&M, etc.)

My favorite part of the event was the parade of fashionable Lolitas who showed their style...

NYC: Cosplay and GothLoli Tea Party at Animinicon Soho

Does the world look better through an animated lens?  Need a good excuse to dress up and party?

The Animinicon festival in New York's Soho neighborhood is your weekend destination.  Start with tonight's Cosplay reception.  Dance to J-rock and win prizes for your outfit.

Saturday will have concerts, meet & greets with famous Manga artists as well as screenings.

Dress your best for Sunday's Victorian Tea Pary.  Gothic or Lolitas can sip lovely Harney & Tea drinks.  Shop from the large range of dealers on-site.

See the site for more info.

Kerli's Gothic Lolita Music Style

Her music is infectious. Her style is part Lolita, part Barbie part Goth on acid... And I love it. Her two most popular music videos have some of the best fashion styling in Gothic Lolita mode I have seen in awhile.

Her music video for "Walking On Air" was an eerie, creepy doll fantasy that suited the haunting song:

Her recent tune for "Tea Party" was part of the recent "Almost Alice" soundtrack for Tim Burton's film. The catchy dance video was pure fashion porn... Enjoy!

Lolita Fashion Day in NYC

Get your petticoats, lace gloves and parasols ready. Kinokuniya Bookstore in Midtown Manhattan is hosting a full day of events and treats for the fashionably Lolita this Saturday, June 5th.

Prominent Lolita bloggers from La Vida Frills, Lolita Charm and Pretty Wonderland discuss their work and how Lolita fashion inspires them. Bibi will discuss Lolita history with tutorials on how to Lolita your own life.

Learn about DIY Lolita fashion or how to start your brand with designers of I Do Declare and Morrigan NYC.

Stick around for giveaways and gifts from Anna Sui, Magnolia Bakery, Tokyo Rebel among others. Anyone that is dressed in Lolita attire will get free sweets from in-house Cafe Zaiya (I love their carrot cake cookies). For more info, click here.

Photo from Lolita Charm

Cosplay 2.0 Party at the Japan Society NYC

Get dressed and come in your best. In collaboration with their Graphic Heroes, Magic Monsters exhibit, the Japan Society is hosting their annual Cosplay party on the afternoon of Saturday, May 15th. The party will be held in the big screen theater for a screening of Evangelion and will feature a costume competition.

Guests include Uncle Yo, Mario Bueno, World Cosplay Summit 2009 Team USA, and manga Artist Hiroki Otsuka. Nibble on onegiri rice balls, snap yourself in the photobooth.

The contest is a test of creativity, so no rentals or store bought outfits please! More info here.

Photo by George Hirose

Lolita Fashion in San Francisco - Baby The Stars Shine Bright

Tired of having to fly all the way to Japan for your Gothic and Lolita needs? If you are on the West Coast, the popular boutique and girly fashion brand has opened its first U.S. flagship store. Baby The Stars Shine Bright has a great shopping blog that features their favorite customers in their newly acquired outfits. If you are in North America, but unable to visit the store in person, you can contact them about ordering directly.

Wonder-ous Costumes in 3D - Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland

Opening today is Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. The dark prince of Hollywood unleashes another gorgeous film on the screen in eye-popping 3D. One of his most important partners in achieving his style is Colleen Atwood, costume designer extraordinaire. She is the talent behind the looks of Sweeney Todd, Sleepy Hollow, Batman Returns and many of my other favorite films . For Alice in Wonderland, she wanted to stay far away from the cliche "Alice-in-a-bag" costumes you see at Halloween (many based on Disney's original animated version). Instead, her team took inspiration from authentic illustrations by John Tenniel and Lewis Carroll from original 1865 editions of the books.

As reality wasn't a priority, Ms. Atwood designed Anne Hathaway's look as frothy, Victorian "Stepford Fairy Princess". For Helena Bonham Carter's red queen, the designer outfitted her in a stiff, exaggerated Elizabethan collar to create a frame for the oversized head. The actress then was fitted with a prosthetic forehead and a 3 lb heart-shaped wig.  Digital effects did the rest.

For Johnny Depp’s Mad Hatter, Colleen Atwood created his look as a blend of Edwardian hat maker (the ones who actually did go mad from mercury poisoning) and a watercolor illustration created by Depp and Burton himself.

Go see the movie, or check out many of Ms. Atwood’s costumes and sketches in person at the Tim Burton retrospective at the MOMA.

Gothic Lolita: A Training Manual

There are many genres of dark and Gothic styling. Most of the divas out there can accept and crossover their fashionable wardrobes. However, the Courtesan has learned that if there was any group out there in the Gothic universe that is very particular about the proper style etiquette, it would be the Lolitas.
For the uninitiated, the term "Gothic Lolita" should not be used lightly to refer to any cute, lacy or vaguely Victorian costume fan. There are apparently many rules pertaining to accessories, pop culture influences, and even quality of your clothing materials...
Sound overwhelming? Not to worry, there is a WikiHow chapter that spells out in 7 basic steps exactly what it takes to transform yourself into this fashion icon. This website explicitly describes every detail you need to tend to, resources for shopping as well as the importance of good sewing skills.
Once you have mastered the basics, you can branch off into the sub genres... Dark, Sweet, Cyber, Glitter, Elegant...

The Courtesan's Fashion Library: Japanese Goth

Japanese Goth
Hitting the bookshelves this week is a gorgeous book displaying a range of our favorite looks in Victorian, punk, anime, lace, and vampire-inspired lolitas. While the mainstreaming of Gothic fashion and culture keeps getting bigger and bigger, here is a book that presents it as the diverse artform it really is.

"Gothic culture in Japan doesn't mean listening to Bauhaus and wearing all black," says author Tiffany Godoy, a Tokyo-based fashion writer who co-created the book with Ivan Vartanian. "It explores core elements of Japanese culture like the supernatural, fantasy, folklore, religion, eroticism, gender, beauty, and performance, among others."

Not just a pretty tome, the author also continues into investigating the deeper inspirations, "There are so many elements that come into play: the island culture and mentality, isolationism, the shift of culture from pre– and post–World War II. I want to truly reflect the culture and ideas of the various scenes." Click here for a slideshow preview of what you will find inside.

Click to pre-order or buy: Japanese Goth

Academy Award for Gothic Fashion? Sweeney Todd and Oscar.

Colleen Atwood is one of my favorite costume designers of all time. She already won the golden statue twice already for the slick, sexy outfits in "Chicago" and more innovative, Asian chic for "Memoirs of a Geisha". Her signature look has been the frequent styling collaborations with Goth film auteur, Tim Burton.

In Sweeney Todd, the designer has created a distressed, more-punk-than-Broadway look for the dark and bloody musical. Blacks, greys and deep wines, blood red, shredded silks and velvets. Corsets and tailored vests give a nice silhouette. Critics have already pegged her as the favorite to win the Academy Award this Sunday.

She has my vote, and if you are watching the Oscars this weekend, show this amazing artist some love!

Bella Umbrella Pagoda Parasols

The weather is cold, wet and miserable! Those of you with cat-like tendencies to cower and pout in the rain can find fashionable relief. Strike a dramatic, Edward Gorey-like silhouette with this Pagoda shaped parasol from Bella Umbrella.The beautiful and jewel-like handles are interchangeable. This company also has collections of antique, vintage and stunning accessories to fulfill your most romantic bridal or Gothic Lolita needs.