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Category Archive for Books + Magazines

KERA MALE FASHION SPREAD: GOTHIC ARISTOCRAT, KODONA, OUJI, DANDY, BOYSTYLE.

Male Gothic Lolita fashion known as kodona, ouji or dandy aristocrat.
The male counterpart to Gothic Lolita fashion goes by many names: dandy, boystyle, ouji, elegant gothic aristocrat, kodona… Volume 6 of Kera Magazine Maniax throws up its hands and puts it as “Little Prince B-592”. (I have no clue what the letter and numbers refer to.)

The coy boys/girls are dreamily styled and set against a blistering winter background. The red zips on the A+Lidel pants (left) add punk to a suit that could have belonged in the 19th century. Putumayo’s skull-printed overcoat (right) barely reveals a black/white diamond-print tie.

h.NAOTO Na+h male goth aristocrat fashion photos from Kera Magazine.
h.NAOTO’s boyish Na+H outfit (left) is charming, but I can’t tear my eyes away from the dead fox dangling from the model’s shoulder! (One of my friends found a similar scarf in his aunt’s closet, with head, feet, and tails intact.) Kikirara Shoten displays a trademark waist corset and top hat (right), without the usual carnivalia.

Boystyle Japanese clothing in Kera. Black Peace Now and Atelier Boz Goth suits and ties.
Black Peace Now salutes la drame with ruffled sleeves and a trailing cossack hat (left). Atelier Boz (right) merges a Victorian topcoat with modern Goth. All of the shoes pictured are by Yosuke, except on the Kikirara Shoten model (who wears Dr. Martens).

Which Prince Charming would you want to whisk you away on a white horse?

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VINTAGE LOLITA STYLING FROM COSMIC MOOK'S SHOPPING GUIDE FOR GIRLS.

Vintage Gothic Lolita shopping guide magazine from Japan.
The number one reading material for Lolitas is, of course, the Gothic & Lolita Bible. (It’s an apt title: I picture girls clutching their dog-eared copies, reciting passages about Moi-Même-Moitié in somber tones as if pronouncing the Word…) However, it isn’t the only Japanese magazine that covers the fashion. Alternate titles tend to take a more panoptic view of Lolita; some may not consider it rorita at all. But I find these “apocryphal works” to be a welcome respite from the same-old, same-old.

Cosmic Mook’s guide for girls, for example, is a celebration of second-hand shopping. The April issue styles several of the models à la Lolita, entirely from vintage pieces.

Cosmic Mook Japanese magazine with vintage Lolita clothing and stores.

This interpretation may not conform to the canon, but I must say I’m charmed by the Bonnie and Clyde beret and patterned grey stockings.

Country and Sweet Lolita dresses and hats.

The Country Lolita look is too much for me, but I love this simplified look built from light, cotton 1970s dresses. (Sears Catalogue Lolita, anyone? )

Gothic Lolita hairstyles from Japanese mook or girl's fashion magazine.

Cosmic Mook shows you how to braid and pin up your hair to mimic the Lolita crowns worn to one side of the head. Brilliant! I can’t wait to try it out.

Cosmic Mook’s “used mix” issue can be ordered through Kinokuniya. What are your thoughts on the magazine’s unconventional “Vintage Lolita” styling?

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