NON-FICTION: "Decoration! (Or Accepting the Fact that Some Part of Me Actually Loves Decora.)
Konnichiwa, minnasan, I hope everyone out there in Cyberland is doing well! I've got a couple more hours and then have to run off to work. Once again, thank you to everyone for the wonderful birthday wishes, I appreciated it all!
From time to time I write a non-fiction piece, usually fashion related and has to do with a personal experience. So, it the case with this particular writing. It's more of a musing and reflection, but I enjoyed just getting my thoughts down.
"Decoration!" (Or Accepting the Fact that Some Part of Me Actually Loves Decora.)
By: Taffy Anderson
Fashion is an amazing thing, isn't it?
I've been known as a Gothic Lolita almost my whole university career and beyond that. In fact, many of my coworkers refer to me as a "Lolita," though only a couple really know what the style is. I tend to heavily now favor the more main stream Gyaru look, with Hime and OneeKei being my favorites. I love to wear cutting edge Korean brands and I even have a few pieces that owe their inspiration from Hip-Hop.
However, there was always one J-fashion I tended to shy away from. That was the style of "Decora."
For those of you who don't know what Decora is, it's a shortened term for "Decoration." These were young ladies and young men who strived to make themselves a literal "Living Toy." They'd put on tons of cheap plastic accessories and handmade ornaments. They loved bright, almost nauseatingly vibrant colors and lots of layers.
A stereotypical Decora girl would usually have her hair in cute pigtails. Her full bangs were then clad with at least ten to twenty small plastic barrettes. If she was wearing pigtails, puffy cute ties or large bows were a necessity. Her clothing would consist of a brightly colored shirt with potentially another shirt or really cute jacket over it. Generally, Decora girls would opt for skirts. In the line of Lolis, they would wear two or three panniers to give it a full feel. However, instead of quiet colors, it would be in neon pinks, turqouise and lime green.
One of the most distinctive aspects of the Decora were often their socks. They usually always wore at least two pair, perferably mismatched and covered in any number of adorable designs. Shoes were usually flat or sneakers and were commonly decorated or covered in glitter. The girls also loved character goods, anything from Japan's famous "Hello Kitty" icon to America's one and only "Strawberry Shortcake."
So, why did I just write all this? It was a moment of reflection I had when thinking about my Senior Year in High School. For those of you who've read my previous post about how I became a Lolita, you might say this writing is about how I came to accept my unintentional love of Decora.
I had just returned from my summer trip to Denver, Colorado. The same trip that introduced me to "The Rainbow" and the first time I had ever heard mention of Harajuku.
This was also the year I became OBSESSED with owning anything and everything made with plastic. It was a strange time for me, I wasn't quite done with school and was still debating what I wanted to do when I entered college.
So, as a kind of silly fun thing, I began to buy little plastic trinkets. It was simple enough, I'd buy a bag of children party goods, like pastic rings or colored beaded necklaces. I would then just start layering them on top of each other. Because my fingers were so small, I could wear those toy rings and stretch bracelets.
To top that off, I had a jacket covered with writings and pins. I also wore hats that had flowers stuck to them or would be covered with little things I've written or sewn on. I went from wearing all black to wearing white shirts with little vests, brightly colored sweaters and knee high socks in an inhuman range of weird colors.
My look dumbfounded and stunned some of my fellow students as well as had my parents raising an eyebrow once or twice.
But I felt cute. Like really, really, REALLY cute.
The process didn't last for long though. The middle of my final semester of school, I was less focused on wearing plastic, beads and headbands I created and more on getting my life on track and getting into my university.
So all the plastic beads, baubles, rings, bracelets and so on went into bags and were given to children I knew. I didn't look back after that.
But then, about five or six years ago, I rediscovered what I had been doing. Of course, I wouldn't have called myself a Decora, that wouldn't have been right. But I felt a kinship to these girls, even if I didn't want the world to know that I had been a variation of one.
I'm older now and was looking at some Decora pictures today. I realized that despite my denying it as much as I have, I really do love Decora. Right now, Bunny is smiling saying "Told You!" She is a very adorable Decochan. Am I too old for the style? Maybe. Can I still appreciate the style. Absolutely!
Am I going to wear it any time soon?
I think I'm going to go and buy some tacky barrettes right now.
END
Ja ne for now! =~.^=V
From time to time I write a non-fiction piece, usually fashion related and has to do with a personal experience. So, it the case with this particular writing. It's more of a musing and reflection, but I enjoyed just getting my thoughts down.
"Decoration!" (Or Accepting the Fact that Some Part of Me Actually Loves Decora.)
By: Taffy Anderson
Fashion is an amazing thing, isn't it?
I've been known as a Gothic Lolita almost my whole university career and beyond that. In fact, many of my coworkers refer to me as a "Lolita," though only a couple really know what the style is. I tend to heavily now favor the more main stream Gyaru look, with Hime and OneeKei being my favorites. I love to wear cutting edge Korean brands and I even have a few pieces that owe their inspiration from Hip-Hop.
However, there was always one J-fashion I tended to shy away from. That was the style of "Decora."
For those of you who don't know what Decora is, it's a shortened term for "Decoration." These were young ladies and young men who strived to make themselves a literal "Living Toy." They'd put on tons of cheap plastic accessories and handmade ornaments. They loved bright, almost nauseatingly vibrant colors and lots of layers.
A stereotypical Decora girl would usually have her hair in cute pigtails. Her full bangs were then clad with at least ten to twenty small plastic barrettes. If she was wearing pigtails, puffy cute ties or large bows were a necessity. Her clothing would consist of a brightly colored shirt with potentially another shirt or really cute jacket over it. Generally, Decora girls would opt for skirts. In the line of Lolis, they would wear two or three panniers to give it a full feel. However, instead of quiet colors, it would be in neon pinks, turqouise and lime green.
One of the most distinctive aspects of the Decora were often their socks. They usually always wore at least two pair, perferably mismatched and covered in any number of adorable designs. Shoes were usually flat or sneakers and were commonly decorated or covered in glitter. The girls also loved character goods, anything from Japan's famous "Hello Kitty" icon to America's one and only "Strawberry Shortcake."
So, why did I just write all this? It was a moment of reflection I had when thinking about my Senior Year in High School. For those of you who've read my previous post about how I became a Lolita, you might say this writing is about how I came to accept my unintentional love of Decora.
I had just returned from my summer trip to Denver, Colorado. The same trip that introduced me to "The Rainbow" and the first time I had ever heard mention of Harajuku.
This was also the year I became OBSESSED with owning anything and everything made with plastic. It was a strange time for me, I wasn't quite done with school and was still debating what I wanted to do when I entered college.
So, as a kind of silly fun thing, I began to buy little plastic trinkets. It was simple enough, I'd buy a bag of children party goods, like pastic rings or colored beaded necklaces. I would then just start layering them on top of each other. Because my fingers were so small, I could wear those toy rings and stretch bracelets.
To top that off, I had a jacket covered with writings and pins. I also wore hats that had flowers stuck to them or would be covered with little things I've written or sewn on. I went from wearing all black to wearing white shirts with little vests, brightly colored sweaters and knee high socks in an inhuman range of weird colors.
My look dumbfounded and stunned some of my fellow students as well as had my parents raising an eyebrow once or twice.
But I felt cute. Like really, really, REALLY cute.
The process didn't last for long though. The middle of my final semester of school, I was less focused on wearing plastic, beads and headbands I created and more on getting my life on track and getting into my university.
So all the plastic beads, baubles, rings, bracelets and so on went into bags and were given to children I knew. I didn't look back after that.
But then, about five or six years ago, I rediscovered what I had been doing. Of course, I wouldn't have called myself a Decora, that wouldn't have been right. But I felt a kinship to these girls, even if I didn't want the world to know that I had been a variation of one.
I'm older now and was looking at some Decora pictures today. I realized that despite my denying it as much as I have, I really do love Decora. Right now, Bunny is smiling saying "Told You!" She is a very adorable Decochan. Am I too old for the style? Maybe. Can I still appreciate the style. Absolutely!
Am I going to wear it any time soon?
I think I'm going to go and buy some tacky barrettes right now.
END
Ja ne for now! =~.^=V