Unicorns

I went through some things in my room the other day and found my old collection of Bruce Coville unicorn stories, and then several unicorn statues in another box. As I looked them over, I got to thinking about how many happy childhood memories I had with those beautiful images and magical tales. Of the Peter S. Beagle novel The Last Unicorn and its subsequent film, and of recent stories with unicorns in them (like Harry Potter, Legend, and since it fresh in my mind from a recent film viewing, Peter's mount in Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe). Another of my favorites is Elizabeth Goudge's Little White Horse. In most unicorn-centric tales (even Sailor Moon!), I distinctly remember a young girl being the one the creature connects with.

The maiden and the unicorn is a noted historical pairing in many works of art, and in medieval times the unicorn had allegorical significance related to the relationship of Christ and the Virgin Mary. Unicorns could only be seen or tamed by virtuous young maidens so the legend says. Scholars and historians have fought over whether or not unicorns even exist for centuries. They say every girl goes through her "horse" phase, but I guess I'm not quite over mine, since I find myself still wanting to believe :-)

Classic Lolita Designers Look Toward Spring

To get back to a Spring feeling, I'm checking out some Spring collections. Today I'm looking at Japanese classic lolita brands' newest looks and accessories for a bit of inspiration.

Innocent World

First on the new items page for Innocent World, this clear umbrella with a roses/ribbons print is perfect for April showers, and feels lighter than a solid color umbrella might. Also counts as a lolita fashion item you can use outside of the fashion. Here is the umbrella and an offbrand alternative if you like the look but maybe not so much the print:

(The plain clear one is available at Target stores and at Target.com)

This dress/jsk from the same brand seems to be embracing a retro feel, with a belted look and a bowtie back reminiscent of the 50s/60s. This looks like it could definitely be worn with or without a blouse, making it very versatile as a piece.

Simple, and very elegant.

UPDATE: New print for spring: Antique Pansy.
(I'm loving the blue and green!)

Victorian Maiden

Next up is Victorian Maiden, whose new items are in my opinion very reminiscent of traditional Victorian aesthetic similar to the costumes and styles in such recent films as The Young Victoria. Very beautiful and with a sense of...what can I call it? Regal bearing perhaps? Although the pastels are very bright. They also released their free desktop calendar for March/April, which is my current desktop. I love the model they're using--she reminds me of Emily Blunt. Here is the coordinating separates for the print she's sporting, and the headpiece:

VM has some additional pieces for your feet and your wall. VM, MM and JetJ seem to release shoes less often than other brands :

Mary Magdalene

One of the most popular classic brands, Mary Magdalene used a heavier-looking print fabric for their Spring look. The colors are much less pastel than other brands, and there is a lot of intricate trim embellishing the straps and collar:

I'm a really big fan of de-masculinizing suit pieces, so as one might imagine I love their new suit jacket with bow-tied back. Overall very pleased with their new items:

Juliette et Justine

Last, but certainly not least (expensive) is JetJ, a very opulent brand. It looks like their Spring line isn't entirely up yet, but we have some items, one being this multi-tier chiffon (?) skirt and a rose print write dress with interestingly modern color options. I have a feeling more pieces are coming:

So there you have it--some fashion to look forward to for Spring. My next post will actually go back to Winter and deal with a more personal story. Tata!

Retro Aesthetic Inspiration: Lady LovelyLocks

Sorry for the lack of posts over the last couple of days--Jan Term's started at college and I'm busy writing a paper on Beowulf and Paradise Lost. Two English epics completely unrelated to the content of this post, lol.
The first of what I hope will be a continuing series of aesthetic inspirations I've gathered over the years. Today's piece of inspiration is from the 1980s and typifies the decade's obsession with bright colors, princesses, and above all--BIG freaking hair. Lady LovelyLocks was created by American Greetings, the same company that produced Strawberry Shortcake and Rainbow Bright. LovelyLocks never reached their level of lasting popularity, but is a very interesting series nonetheless.

Here's the story: In the faraway land of LovelyLocks, where everyone has long and lustrous hair, the king and queen give birth to a beautiful girl they name Lady LovelyLocks. However, the Grand Duchess RavenHair, envious of their power, destroys the king and queen. A wizard named ShiningGlory rescues the infant princess who will return once she grows into her powers. Lady grows into a fair maiden whose magical hair is streaked with three colors: "The soft pink glow came from the Dawn, the Sun added the radiant gold, and Twilight bestowed the shimmering lavender. These precious streaks enable her to summon the friendly little forest creatures called the Pixietails and command them to do her bidding." The Pixietails are these tiny woodland creatures with long magic hair that keep the kingdom lovely and free of evil. Lady also has another power--she can see the goodness inside anything no matter its outward appearance. With her parents gone, she is completely responsible for protecting LovelyLocks Land from the wicked heiress of RavenHair, the Duchess RavenWaves.

Lady LovelyLocks and the PixieTails, artwork examples.

What is really cool about the series is the artwork, which is highly stylized due in part to American Greetings' having originated the series. All the watercolor work, the over-the-top pastels and the cherubic faces of the characters are quite astounding. It's shocking in our age of cg-animation and 3-d to see something so intricately designed by hand! I actually only remembered the series a short while back, when I found a card from AG featuring LovelyLocks and thought," gosh, how pretty." A little googling and I found whole sites dedicated to the old cartoon/doll series, including LLL.org (where the images in this post come from).

The vain and wicked young Duchess RavenWaves

I think my favorite aspect of the show is that, by social standards, RavenWaves can be considered prettier than LovelyLocks. Yet she feels the need to compete, never satisfied with how she looks. Indeed, Lady and her friends initially hope to welcome RavenWaves as a friend and ally, but RavenWaves betrays them out of jealousy. Usually the villains on girls' shows in the 80s were portrayed as ugly hags, equating physical beauty with goodness. In this series, the villainess and the heroine are equally beautiful, but Lady is courageous, friendly, and compassionate--the things RavenWaves lacks on the inside and tries to compensate for on the outside. The one thing RavenWaves fails to realize, as we're told almost every episode, is that Lady's true powers come not from her appearance, but from her heart. The strongest message of the show was that girls needed to stop fighting with each other over what's on the outside because power and lasting beauty is only found on the inside. And to complement this, the prince on this show is named StrongHeart (emphasis added), and is cursed to live in the form of a dog, playing a secondary role the majority of the time. A different take on the fairytale model, that's for sure. But even if the show and the backstory aren't your thing, the angelic art from American Greetings is still pretty phenomenal:

The series is definitely for those of the sweeter persuasion, princess and fairy kei fashion enthusiasts would be more likely to enjoy it than your average 80s timesurfer. Tata! :-)