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 Posted: Sat Apr 04, 2009 11:58 am
Now I have seen tons of lolita walking around hugging teddy bears, rabbits and kitties, oh my. For me tht doesn't really work. I, personally, like to look elegant, but not like a little girl.
I would like the opinion of other lolitas what else I could carry that isn't so....sweet. I do carry my Alucard plushie rofl , but thats all. I want some more variety. So what do you think?
Edit:This would not be for everyday, just for the occational "Hey I feel like adding a plushie."
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Posted: Sat Apr 04, 2009 12:06 pm
I guess it really depends one what you like. If you like spiders you could carry around a spider plush or something.
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Posted: Sat Apr 04, 2009 2:27 pm
Honestly, I think carrying a plush is pretty silly regardless of what you're wearing. If it's functional [ie: really a purse], that's a bit different, but not by much. The style is already very flamboyant and costume-like, and often associated with age play and sissies. Carrying a plushie or a stuffed animal often just blurs that line all the more for those unaware of the style's nuances.
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Posted: Sat Apr 04, 2009 2:55 pm
spuntino Honestly, I think carrying a plush is pretty silly regardless of what you're wearing. If it's functional [ie: really a purse], that's a bit different, but not by much. The style is already very flamboyant and costume-like, and often associated with age play and sissies. Carrying a plushie or a stuffed animal often just blurs that line all the more for those unaware of the style's nuances.
I understand where your comming from, but I'm one who dosn't care what others think and love being as avant garde as possible. (though plushies really arn't too ecentric.) For the people unaware of the style, isn't that most of the world excluding Japan and anime/fashion junkies? So why limit anything if its just based upon those that don't know about it? Flamboyant dosn't scare me (I think Turkish prints+lolita=OMFG GIMME!).
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Posted: Sat Apr 04, 2009 3:34 pm
Well, to start with, it's like you said. Plushies really aren't all that avant garde. They've been prevalent in all different levels of Japanese fashion for ages, and particularly popular with decora and school girls who can't accessorize their uniforms with anything but bag charms or the like. Saying that plushies are avant garde is like saying lolita is avant garde. They've both been around for ages, they're only just making it to the west.
In any case, the reason I'm against stuffed animals being carried with lolita is that they're yet another juvenile aspect of fashion being added to an already rather childish looking outfit. Outsiders aren't going to differentiate between us and a sissy, if we're both wearing ruffles and lace and carrying a teddy bear. Wear/carry them with your normal clothes if you want, I personally find them incredibly impractical and would probably end up shoving into a bag after not-too-long simply because I'd be fed up with carrying it.
Also, you may not care what people think of you, but it really does matter in a lot of cases. Especially when it comes to lolita. And especially when you're no longer in high school. There's a difference between being rejected or laughed at by peers who are in your classes, and being rejected or laughed at by peers and employers in your job. So, just putting it out there, that sadly the opinion of The Man really does matter if you want to function in society. It's because of that that we need to be careful what messages we are sending to the uneducated masses.
Many of us wear the style on a day-to-day or on a nearly day-to-day basis. We have to interact with the people who see us dressed this way, and making them feel comfortable or at the very least receptive to the style is very important. I would rather they think I'm strange, but still talk to me, hire me, and work with me, than try to throw beer off of balconies at me like some have done. That's just self-preservation. Caring what people think on a one-to-one basis is a good way to handle things; if someone laughs, brush them off. Handling society at large doesn't work the same way. If you put forward unflattering stereotypes, it becomes much harder to work with people one-on-one.
What the public at large thinks of us determines the way we're received by those individuals. It's the same reason many lolitas get upset seeing someone dressing badly in the fashion. It's the same reason many lolitas get upset reading an inaccurate article about the fashion. It's the same reason many lolitas get upset when we're confused for ageplayers. It's the same reason many lolitas hate being grouped with cosplayers. Society receives us a certain way, and if we want to be taken seriously for something other than our clothes, we do have to be careful what those clothes are saying. If that means we need to tone it down to placate the masses until they're used to us, so be it. Ditch the Angelic Pretty decololi and go for some Emily Temple Cute to wear to work, instead.
Additionally, lolita is growing outside of anime and Japanese fashion fans, and quite quickly at that. It's a huge misconception that lolitas and people who know what lolita is are Japanophiles/Weaboos/otaku/geeks/what have you. I've been approached by people on the street who have questions about the style, who have known what it was that I was wearing, and they rarely are anything other than normal people out on their daily business. I don't even live in a large town, I don't really visit large towns often, and still they come up and talk to me. So that shows how much exposure the style really is getting these days. Most of these people had no interest in Japanese fashion or anime at all, because that's almost always one of the first things we ask: how did you find out about it? A few of them have been photographers who liked the look, one was a political activist who tried to convince me and my friends that we should use lolita for a statement in putting forward our views as to the presidential election last fall [crazy, huh?], and most are mothers or girls my own age who just thought it looked cool and wanted to know what was up.
Because lolita is becoming more visible and more easily recognized by western culture as something that isn't related to the book or pornography, I would prefer to educate them about the style than alienate them, or leave them thinking that I'm wearing the dress as part of a fetish. Adding plushies or cat ears or anything of a costume or ageplay nature detracts from the fact that it's an actual fashion and not just cosplay. This is something that I personally want to avoid, and these are the reasons that I [me, personally] and most of my friends do not and will not ever carry plushies for anything short of a photoshoot.
If you want to carry a plushie, go right ahead. After all, you don't care what other people think, right? Well, hate to say it, but that's probably going to include most other lolitas as well. Or, at least, the ones who are out of their teens which constitute a huge portion of the western lolita world. Very few actually carry plushies or dollfies on a regular basis for anything but doll meet-ups or photoshoots. Some will haul them around after buying them at conventions, but I can tell you right now, out of the 40 or so lolitas that I've met and converse with on a regular basis, none of them carry plushies and only perhaps three have any of those bunny or bunnybear bags from Baby. It really isn't a very prevalent occurrence outside of conventions and cosplay lolita, I'm sad to say, due to the factors I listed above.
... and good grief, I wrote an essay.
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Posted: Sat Apr 04, 2009 6:37 pm
-C'est la lune qui conduit la danse...-
lol Essay or not, it touched all bases. Home-Run, bish.
-...quand le soleil sera couché dans ton âme froide.-
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Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2009 12:21 am
I asked your opinion and I thank you for it.
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Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2009 1:00 pm
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Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2009 1:55 pm
Aw they're freeking adorable!!!!!! heart heart
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Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2009 9:25 pm
Interesting topic. I can understand why you would find it annoying, I would too for most situations, but I have a few plush backpacks myself and I've carried around a giant plush before. I did it just because it made me happy though. Don't ask me to explain why! I didn't do it to look cute...dear god if someone ever described me as cute it would either have to be dooms day or April fools.
I'd be more offended if I saw a girl carrying around a playboy purse.
I've probably repeated a few things spuntino has already said, but I have to wait until I have the attention span to read the whole thing! I got 5 paragraphs in and had to take a break. xp
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Anembarassmentfromthepast
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Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 8:47 am
Yeah, sorry. D:
When I get going on a subject, I just kind of end up gushing.
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Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 6:46 pm
spuntino Yeah, sorry. D:
When I get going on a subject, I just kind of end up gushing.
And thats why we love you!
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Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 7:30 pm
maeanalda spuntino Yeah, sorry. D:
When I get going on a subject, I just kind of end up gushing.
And thats why we love you!
And here I thought it was because I compiled that giant FAQ and Link List.
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Posted: Tue May 05, 2009 11:04 am
That kinda thing only really works if it's SWEET Lolita. 3nodding
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Posted: Tue May 05, 2009 11:35 am
I think it could work depending on the plushie. Those cool Xed out eyed plushies could work for punkstyle Lolita.
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