Hello~ It's been a minute since my last post! But of course, I found myself spiraling down the wayback machine rabbit hole once again- And I've come to share some of my favorite pictures from my exploration.
So, for this post I've decided to try and focus on Japanese old school indie lolita brands, or "private brands" as it appears to translate to when describing brands ran by a sole individual (often a student), and I'll also go over some small shops/stores. I have a lot to sort through- this series may end up being split into parts down the line!
My last post was sort of a photo dump situation, this might be as well- So apologies if that format seems disheveled. I'll try to add commentary this time around. (Pictures might take a second to load) I'm never entirely sure if what I've found has been shared before, I haven't been in this hobby long so- Perhaps this is old news for some, but I hope you enjoy the scroll, nonetheless.
うみがめすーぷ (Umigame sūpu)
If you are familiar with rummaging around in the way back dumpster, you know that sometimes very old sites come up nearly null of pictures, or don't have information to describe images, so I was impressed with how much stuck around on Umigame sūpu's, translating to Sea Turtle Soup, web page from 2002. Forgive any weird translation, but it's nice to see someone's personality come through when talking about their passion. The owner who goes by Minato, is a self-taught dressmaker whose focus is cosplay and lolita. Interestingly they refer to all their dresses, cosplay or not, as costumes. The dress above is noted as synthetic leather and tulle and sold for the price of 20,000JPY. I was caught off guard when this image first loaded. I guess from my many hours browsing old school snaps, I don't think I've seen anything quite like this before beside Baby's heart apron. It is on the shorter side at 35cm. There are few brand pieces done in synthetic leather. Would I wear this? Maybe, this particular piece does feel more like cosplay. In all honesty, it kind of reminds me of what Diamond Honey is doing nowadays.
It's hard not to appreciate Gobelin! I believe there are two parts to this skirt, the top Gobelin and the lace petticoat. The length is noted as 42cm with a 62cm waist. I find the white x off-white/ivory lace of the petticoat interesting; I think it's giving a bit of lace monster energy which I don't mind, especially with the Gobelin overskirt situation.
At the time of writing this, I don't own any Gobelin myself, but along with the grandma vibes Gobelin gives off, I am very curious on the texture and weight of the fabric. I do have a Gobelin jacket by baby on the way though, so I'll be finding out soon.
This next skirt's product name was listed as Total Lace Skirt, which yeah makes sense! It looks similar to a few raschel lace skirts meta has done. There are 3 different tulle laces in this 5-tiered skirt. Upon closer inspection, it would seem that there is both black and navy-blue lace, but Minato explains that the lighter color is just a "matte black" which makes it appear lighter than the other lace.
When it comes to different shades of black, whether they are leaning more brown, maybe even green, do you still try and have the same shade for your entire coord? I don't think I have enough solid black in my wardrobe to worry about this just yet...
These panniers are very dainty and cute to me. I saw an old school street snap where the girl was wearing a Westwood bolero with just a big black petti. I don't know if it's still lolita, but with how decorative some petties are, I don't see why they can't be main pieces, but that's just me so take it with a grain of salt!
Honey Candy Lolita World
The images from this 2003 site were interesting, sort of had a "flexing my graphic design skills" about it. This brand's concept translated as follows:
"These are cute clothes full of frills, lace, and ribbons that girls dreamed of when they were little.
"I want to be a princess" To girls who have a heart that never forgets such a dream ..."
Sounds like the designer wanted to appeal to people's inner child with her pieces. With one of lolita's founding ideologies being that you shouldn't have to abandon the whims of dress up and frilliness with age, right on the nose yeah?
With the graphic design element and all the pictures, I can tell that the designer was proud with their work. I think this Velveteen ensemble is pretty well done. Unfortunately, a page containing the designers first 5 works were not saved, so I was unable to view those, the above pictures being their 6th. I'm not sure if I'd wear this myself! Even though I love old school, the classic black x white color combo doesn't really speak to me, so I get pretty picky with those colorways.
This dress is called Cordline Sailor OP and was the designers 9th piece of work. They go on to make "maid, nurse and waitress lolita" dresses after that. I'm a bit apprehensive when it comes to themed dresses because for me, they read a bit more on the cosplay side. Funny enough when I first started I thought nurse lolita was going to be my focus... but when I got into in, bought nurse OPs and medical prints, I just wasn't feeling it. So I stayed away from sailor dresses to avoid that costume vibe I got from my first experience- that was before I discovered old school. Now I'm coming around to it again especially after seeing AP's 2004 sailor OP...
Lapin Dolce
The last brand for this post is Lapin Dolce, which the designer says translates to gentle rabbit in french and all their designs and patterns are original. The key words for the concept of this brand were "Little Devil", "Angel", and "Antique doll" with the most common colors being black and white. The pieces I loved the most were their skirts that appear to be fully shirred!
A black and white skirt is definitely on my wish list even though I said it isn't my favorite color combo, despite being deep in the old school mines. I find solid monotone main pieces like the first one more my style, but I can't deny how pretty white lace is on black fabric. The last skirt also came in all black, white, and white x black. They were all made in 2002, which one would you choose?
The colors used here feels super nostalgic... It reminds me of bed sheet given to my older sister by my grandma. I think this dress came from the antique doll inspiration the design had. I could see a BJD with dark brown boots and hair wearing this jsk set. I don't know if this is classic enough or just a sweet floral, but even though it gives me comfy feelings, I'm not sure I'd actually wear this. I feel like I'd love to have it on display though!
Recently I decided I want to replace my off-brand items with name brand, but if one of these items popped up on Mercari, I'm sure I'd snatch it asap. So that wraps up this post! I'm sure I'll come across more handmade pieces down the line in my search, but I don't want to drag this blog out. Anyway, Do your prefer commentary or photo dumps? Would you buy an item handmade by an individual back in the day or are you strictly brando? Let me know what you think about this post! xoxox