Sugar and spice, but not necessarily nice.

12.1.11

Punk (Lolita) Is Not Dead! ...Right?

I was going to do a post about the New Year and how I reflect on what lolita has made me, but fuck that. It was too much me and not enough of what this blog actually is suppose to be. Plus, this has been on my mind a bit, and it kinda goes with EGL's theme for the month and if I ramble as I really should when doing this blog, maybe I'll actually fucking put out something.

Now, it's pretty obvious by now (or should be) that I LOVE punk and love mixing it with lolita. I don't really consider myself that goth for gothic, OTT sweet never really took for me and most classic either doesn't fit me, is out of my price range or both. Primarily, I wear more toned down sweet, punk and really whatever I think looks good, regardless of labels.

But lately, it's been more mixing with punk.


Unfortunately, it's not something I see much of anymore. Really, what happened to it? Did it go away with Nana Kitade's hiatus, or do people just no know how to do it anymore without just throwing on a plaid jsk and studded belt? Is it that OTT sweet has sat it's sugary ass over the dominion of lolita and squashed out the fun but edgy look of pu---wait, this sounds familiar...


...Oh son of a bitch.

Really though, I just went on 4chan and saw a girl ask about rockinghorse shoes on the general lolita thread in /cgl/. I decided to respond, since I'm dying for a pair (thinking about caving to Bodyline again, even though I have tiiiiny US size 5.5 feet and their shoes have run big on me before), but someone posted just moments before I did.


Whaaaaaat?! I did not want to see those words put into print, but really... Go on daily_lolita and search for punk coordinates. There isn't that much up there, and while it's great to see the h.Naoto and Putumayo springing up again, there's a lack to some of the creativity that there was to punk lolita when I got back into lolita, four-five years ago.

Honestly, I'm seeing it start to come back. A little. But really, red and black with a studded belt don't make a loli punk. Look back at some old Nana Kitade. Look into KERA, and you'll find some fucking rad (yeah, I said rad) coordinates that go beyond expectations.

Like, this one from last fall:


I bet you weren't thinking of using Cherry Cherry Fallin' Cherry (...good god, that sounds like a board game) in a punk coordinate. You also don't have to go with dark colors for something to take on a punk aspect. There was also this in KERA not too long ago:


The accessories and hairstyling really reinforce the punk side, while the color scheme and silhouette reinforces the lolita. With punk style, like gothic lolita, it's all about finding the balance between the two subcultural aesthetics.

Punk is an awesome style for lolita because, like OTT lolita, it's highly experimental and you can keep piling on shit and look good. Unlike OTT lolita, you don't have to stick to brand and coordinate a full set to an AP series. Punk is the exact style that off brand is made for, because while Vivienne Westwood is pricey a lot of the original punks deconstructed secondhand for their clothes. Or stole, but I'm not encouraging that.

So, for all you lolis that have admired punk but never thought you could pull it off for some reason, I'm encouraging you to try. Mix and match, watch Nana Kitade's music videos, read some KERA, check out Punk: the Whole Story (which it really isn't, but it's a nice taste to those starting to learn or have a passing interest about the movement and music), listen to the play list on the right and maybe take a trip to a your local punk shop (NOT Hot Topic) or Goodwill and just try it. You might find that it actually can work with what you have.


6 comments:

  1. Shop-lifting lolitas. Goddamn. Just think of how much you could fit under those skirts (I kid, I kid).

    What's weird is that I've never seen (well done) punk lolita all that much. Even when I started getting into lolita, it was either very rare, or very poorly done. Some lolitas really rocked the look, but they seem to have disappeared (aka: grown up or gotten lives that keep them too busy to spend posting things on d_l).

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  2. High fives for sweet punk. It's seriously become my go-to style, and for our community Christmas party, I put Cherry Berry Bunny with a white moto jacket. Best.

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  3. I am TOTALLY with you on this. I wear my hellcatpunks riders jacket with everything, and it looks fuckin' BAD ASS. Srsly, Kera isn't lacking in the punk/ alt loli category in the least, why is it so absent in the west?

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  4. @Laura: Maybe because it looks like everyone is jumping onto the sweet bandwagon? I know that probably isn't true but it looks like that sometimes.

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  5. Awesome post! This is totally inspiring me to experiment while trying to put together an outfit for the Pennywise show here soon ^__________^/ Not going to say it's going to be strictly Lolita as I have way too much of Sweet clothes, but hey. I can only try! Thanks for the links and such, they're awesome.

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  6. I used to dress punk when I was younger and the idea of punk lolita really appeals to me. The only problem is I don't know where to buy it. It seems like you have to buy plain looking lolita clothing and punk it up with accessories, or buy punk items and blend them into lolita.

    Or there's always that plaid option... :/

    But the idea of sweetpunk is inspiring me! I love wearing chucks and big stompy boots rather than tea party shoes. But I love my cakes *__* So a fusion of the two seems perfect and now I'm going to experiment on polyvore.

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