May 24th, 2008 jane marple and the otome vision
i am terribly overinterested in clothes right now, moreso than ever in my life.
maybe i need the distraction.
maybe i’m making up for being a plain child.
whatever the reason, i am totally beset by jane marple (jm) clothing. named after the lady detective of course, and prim like her namesake, but uncharacteristically designed for fun too.
i also like the lolita style very much, the concept which now generally includes knee length skirts and dresses over a petticoat with most regular flesh covered up, like a demure young maiden (no, i am not here to shoo away nabokov’s novel). otome-kei (or, maiden-style) is a label i’m not sure exists outside of western lolitas who like to have guidelines for defining styles, but if the definition of otome-kei (in moe, of all things) is accurate, it would involve dressing up without regarding the male gaze, going about daily life in beauty and innocence. i think that is the otome vision i get from jane marple.
the basic history part: lolita has its roots in the early incarnations of country-ish looks, spawning brands such as pinkhouse and wonderful world. milk also originated in the 1970s, and designers from that brand branched off into their own labels, including shirley temple, and emily temple cute. jm was another offshoot of milk, and the company was founded in 1985. while i don’t have any pictures dating back that far, past designs are just as wonderful as the present:
besides the occasional lolita-ish elements that appear from time to time in jm, there is a big british feel to it as well, perhaps a nod to the influence vivienne westwood had on japanese fashion in the 80s?
just to prove it, jm has its own replica of westwood’s infamous (but not copyrighted) heart jacket:
whatever it is about jm, i’m in love.
s/s 2008 collection
May 25th, 2008 at 6:52 am
As a closet fashionista who nevertheless dresses like a typical middle-american white guy, I love this stuff. And speaking as someone who “knows” you through your writing, music, and online presence, I think it suits you wonderfully: It’s distinctive and polished and complete as a look, but has a weird old-world charm. The question is, how to embrace the style without becoming a slave to the fearsome economics of the clothing trade?
Answer(ish) response: Do you sew? If so, get to it; if not, it’s really not difficult once you take apart a shirt or jacket and see the components for what they are. With your design eye and artistic temperament, you could be making your own stuff for pennies, and it would be as cool and distinctive as anything out there. A decent, low-end sewing machine is oly a few hundred dollars and will be more than sufficient to sew anything but multiple layers of denim or leather. And “sardonic mile” sounds more like a clothing line than a website, even!
May 27th, 2008 at 1:42 am
i almost bought a cheap sewing machine a couple of months ago, but decided that the effort required to learn how to thread them bobbys and avoid sewing my fingers together and buy the cloth and then stuff up several beginning projects before being able to sew a simple a-line skirt.
i might think differently if i’d learnt how to sew at an earlier age…
mind you, when a new jane marple dress is 29000yen, i do have to think twice before buying anything from the label. it might send me to the machine yet.
May 30th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
You can borrow my machine, and I’ll teach you the VERY simple bobby and getting it to work-ness. You’re pretty much on your own with the patterns, though I can try to help. Though remember my crappy making shirt?