† Name: Alessia
† Age: 21 years
† Location: Rome, Italy
† How were you introduced to Gothic Lolita fashion?
I knew this style viewing two years ago some pictures of Mana-Sama, which fascinated me for their great sense of aesthetics and refined beauty. After some time my interest in this style grew up a lot and I begun to dress Lolita with pleasure since a year.
† What do you find appealing about GL style and culture?
As I said before, I think that this style has an unique sense of aesthetic, beauty and grace. When I dress in this way is like I’m achieving my ideal of beauty, and this style also represents a part of me.
† What are your favorite GL clothing brands?
Metamorphose Temps De Fille, Innocent World, Juliette Et Justine, Fanplusfriend, Mary Magdalene, Angelic Pretty.
† Any other comments (inspiration, tips, favorites)?
First of all thank you very much for choosing me as Lolita of the week, I’m glad about it! :) To all the people that loves Lolita like me I would like to say only few tips: be always yourself, do what you like, dream all you can and be beautiful! :D Cheers from Italy!

Film of the Week #21: A Tale of Two Sisters (dir. Ji-Woon Kim. If you’re looking for a good scare, buy this!)

† Name: Cassandra
† Age: 20
† Location:
Chicago, IL, USA
† How were you introduced to Gothic Lolita fashion?
I have been part of the Gothic Subculture for a very long time and I randomly came across Japanese Goth fashion while looking online in about 2004. The more I saw images from other sources such as Gothic & Lolita Bible and the Fruits and Fresh Fruits books the more I wanted to have those clothes. For some reason at the time I didn’t think that I could actually own those clothes since the magazines and clothing websites were in Japanese. I wanted to take inspiration from the Japanese Gothic Fashion/ Lolita Fashion to enhance my gothic aesthetic. I did more research and talked to people that were part of the fashion subculture. Then I learned about EGL community on livejournal as well as the Lolita Handbook. I went from my poorly done interpretation of the fashion to a well dressed Lolita. I have been dressing Lolita and seriously into it since 2007. My interests have expanded to not only Gothic Lolita but all styles of Lolita including Sweet and Classic.
† What do you find appealing about GL style and culture?
It’s cute.
† What are your favorite GL clothing brands?
Meta, Baby, Angelic Pretty, Innocent World, and Moitie.
† Any other comments (inspiration, tips, favorites)?
Always do research! Read Wikipedia for fun! Always try to improve your understanding of what you are into. This seems like common sense but it’s not. A lot of people, including myself when I started getting into Lolita, think they have an understanding of the style and culture by looking at photos but there is so much more to it that I would have never known about if I didn’t do more research.

I also want to mention that Lolita is not cosplay, it’s a fashion if you don’t feel comfortable wearing it to the grocery store then you probably shouldn’t be wearing it, and that goes with almost any fashion. However with that said there is an appropriate time and place to wear different styles.

Film of the Week #20: Ed Wood (Johnny Depp, dir. Tim Burton. Ed’s crew of spooks reminds me of my Tokyo J-Goths!)

PS – an IMMENSELY CUTE new project will be unveiled on Monday. You and your grandma will go nuts for this, so check back soon! (I gave my mailing list system a makeover; you can sign up for periodic updates on the top-right sidebar.)