Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Gothic & Lolita Bible #40

This is primarily a Dolly Kei related blog, but I'm still dressing lolita, mixing lolita with it, and always watching for what brands are putting out. So with that, I'm always excited to get the new issue of G&L!

#40 is this year's summer edition, and it also sees the return of the beautiful illustrated covers. This time by Mitsukazu Mihara.

The cover:



I love the piratey-gothness of the illustration!

Inside version:


This issues stickers: Angelic Pretty Sheep Garden Print


So, the first thing I noticed while doing my initial flip-through (and have noticed more and more over the last three issues): the lack of OTT sweet lolita. There's still a couple of the sickly-sweet ads from Angelic Pretty, and one from Metamorphose, but the issue is definitely dominated by classic and gothic. Even in a couple of the shoots where sweet pieces are worn, they're toned down quite a bit. Personally, I'm glad to see this trend fading out. OTT sweet is one of the things that have sort of been pushing me away from lolita, and I'll be happy to see elegance return to this beautiful fashion.

A pleasant surprise in this issue, are the featured on some more vintage-look, antique and Dolly Kei shops, including a page on Grimoire!








Some of the other shops featured:















No G&L is complete without a Moi-même-moitie spread featuring Mana and his new print. The newest print, "Silent Moon" is gorgeous, but the stand-out piece for me is the emerald green jsk. It's stunning, and a huge departure from the MMM colour palette.



Modeled by Mana, and just so gorgeous! Added to my "dream item" list!

This issue also has a big focus on hair. Wig styling is still dominant it seems, but the colours are all natural. And the styling definitely seems to be directed more to classic and gothic.









Every issue comes with patterns (this is always my favorite part!) to make your own Lolita items. The patterns this time include
•Alice and the Pirates round headdress
•Baby the Stars Shine Bright old-school headdress
•Innocent World cutsew
•Chocochip Cookie floral headband
•Putumayo lace choker
•Black Peace Now skirt
•Angelic Pretty bow headband and lace choker
•Victorian Maiden lace and flower hair tie
•ZigZag purse







I loved this shoot for ZigZag:



I loved this issue! Lots of great simple patterns, and I was pleased to see the direction (hopefully) that lolita fashion trends will be going.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

2 comments:

  1. OMG!! I was debating about getting vol 40, but I wasn't sure...although, the cover was drawing me in anyways ;D But, now that I've seen the inside, I have to get it ^_^ Thanks for the review ^^

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  2. No problem! I'm so glad they decided to do an illustration for the cover again, it's so lovely!

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