Monday, February 18, 2013

British fashion and Lolita's in Japan at the V&A museum.


When we were in London last month, we took the opportunity to visit Kitty & the Bulldog, an exposition at The Victoria & Albert's museum on the influence of British fashion icons such as Vivienne Westwood and movements such as punk and goth as well as the Alice in Wonderland aesthetics and the Victorian era on the development of Japan's Lolita style. In any case, for all the kitschiness of the style, I love that these girls are in fact "rebelling against the conventions of contemporary society".

The boy has been wanting to go to Japan since forever (he is a big anime watcher) and we find the Lolita's along with Cosplay kind of fascinating. We joke that when we go there we will totally play along and get some disguises. I dream of dressing as Orihime Inoue, yes, it's the long, flowy, orange hair that got me. If you are in London, you can see this exposition until February 24, but in any case here is a peek.


By the way, thanks to Jacqueline from The Hourglass Files, for bringing this exposition to my attention. You should totally check out her blog, it is a mix of fashion history,  current tendencies, great deconstructions of what certain garments meant with regards to their time (my favorite might be this piece on feminine lingerie dresses from the beginning of the century)  as well as an approach to her personal style.


If you do go to the Victoria & Albert's museum, don't miss the photography exhibit "Light  from the Middle East" of which the lovely Cara from Peonies and Polaroids wrote about here.  My favorite part was Issa Touma's series: 'Sufis: The day of al-Ziyara', which documents "...an annual procession of Sufi pilgrims in northern Syria. Touma photographed the event over the course of ten years, gradually gaining the trust of his subjects. His images convey his sense of immersion in the festival and capture the fervour of the worshippers."

The Victoria and Albert Museum. Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL (Tube station: South Kensington). First and last images via the V&A's homepage.

4 comments:

  1. Weird and cool. My favourite anime is Laputa. I have both the dubbed and subtitled versions. I love art galleries and museums but Remus is not such a fan. I have to find other people to do that sort of thing with. The British Library has some amazing exhibits too.

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    1. Oh yes, The British Librabry :) And St. Pancras station is just beautiful. The husband is very curious about Laputa now, thanks for the recommendation.

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  2. Ok, so I'm going to admit...I think it's too cool for me. I don't get it? I mean I like it as art, but I still don't get it as clothing...

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    1. That's why I find it fascinating. It is so over the top, so dramatic. And yet they get away with it, they go out to the street and are themselves, dressed like a doll, all confident. They don't care if it's weird or if anyone has an opinion, they are just, them.
      But I think they talk to each other and they go together to certain designated places (a square), it's more like a flash mob, and less like everyday clothing.
      As for the outfits, my favorites were the "classical" ones, meaning the red one with a bird print and the pink striped ones. (Not that I would wear them, except for maybe, a dres-up party).

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