Ladies of the Forest: Mori-Girl

Japanese street fashion is becoming bigger by the minute. There are so many varieties of genres and so many great examples to look at! In the beginning, I really only knew about Lolita, which is a great sub-genre! However, once I started researching more and more about fashion, I stumbled upon a type that I just love.

Mori-girl. 

Mori literally means “forest”, so they are “forest girls”. This relates to the type of clothing they wear – loose-fitting dresses and clothing that are made of natural materials in subdued colours. It is pretty, relaxed and feminine.

 

While there are good amounts of stores/shops that cater to Mori-girls, most of these girls tend to shop at vintage stores. This allows them to recreate the clothing into their own unique fashion. There are not many rules to follow when it comes to Mori, which makes girls feel comfortable entering into this fashion world.

I love the idea of Mori. I find it very pretty – the colours are beautiful (subdued colours and deep, natural colours) and there are very romantic tones to the clothing.

I’ve noticed in my research that there are a lot of girls incorporating my two new favorite types of Japanese street fashion: Mori and Lolita.

 

The Lolita sub-culture is already very pretty and feminine, so adding Mori just makes it appear more fanciful and romantic. The colours are different and there are more natural elements to the clothing. It looks less constricting and more relaxed than the traditional Lolita outfits. I actually rather like the combination of the two!

What do you think of Mori-girl? Would you wear it?

Summer of Anime 2013
Spotlight: Crunchyroll

Recently, for a shojo-girl like me, Crunchyroll has gone in the opposite direction in genres of anime. Their most recent season, Spring 2013, included a lot of action and very few quality shojos. However, this upcoming summer season is looking up! There is a lot of cute, slice-of-life, moe shows that I'm really looking forward to :) 

My Top 5

5) Kitakubu Katsudou Kiroku

  
Synopsis:
When a friend asks Natsuki what high school club she's going to join, she cheerfully responds "the go-home club" (meaning, she's not going to join any of them). However, she soon realizes that this club actually exists at her high school, and she's just expressed interest in joining it! Before she knows it, she ends up as one of the two new members of "the go-home club," which is a small group of eccentric school girls. One of the girls likes fighting bears, while another is ridiculously rich. But what exactly constitutes the activities of "the go-home club"?

My Notes: 
This looks like a cute anime; I am a HUGE fan of slice of life shows because they keep me smiling. I can relate (to most of it). Plus, I love seeing cute school girl uniforms! 

4) Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi

Synopsis:
God abandoned the world on Sunday. As a result, nobody in the world can die or reproduce. A little girl, Ai, is the gravekeeper for a village. She has prepared 47 graves for the eventual deaths of every member of the village. Later, a boy who identifies himself as "Hampnie Hambart, the 'Man-eating Toy'," which is coincidentally the name that Ai's mother left behind as the name of her father, arrives in the village and slaughters everybody. Just what is going on?

My Notes: 
Now, I know that this is not a "shojo" of sorts. But I love a strong female lead. Plus, I've read the manga and it's really interesting so far! Check out the outfits in this one - Ai's clothes are very nice. 

3) Gin-no-Sagi

 
Synopsis:
Yugo Hachiken dreams of life separated from his family, so he takes the initiative by enrolling in an agriculture school. He thinks, with his talent in studying, no problems will arise no matter what kind of school he attends. He is proven wrong very quickly. Raised as a city boy, he is forced to uncover the inconvenient truth about agricultural life. Enjoy the story of Hachiken, as he tries to keep up with his new friends, farmers' heirs, who are already accustomed to the harsh world of farming. With no clear goals or understanding of farming life, how will Hachiken survive this new, cruel reality? The story of a sweat, tear, and mud-stained youth begins!

My Notes:
This one just looks fun! It reminds me of Moyashimon, which has the characters residing in an agricultural college as well. I love finding animes that are situated in colleges instead of high school. I can really relate!

2) Tokurei Sochi Dantai Stella Jo-Gakuin Kōtō-ka C3-Bu

Synopsis: 
Yura Yamato has just arrived at the high school division of Stella Women's Academy, when Sonora Kashima invites her to join a club called "C³". Sonora is the third-year student who became the new head of this club for military survival games. The other members include two second-year students (part-Japanese Karila Hatsuse and G36K-wielding Honoka Mutsu) and two other new students (Rento Kirishima whose family runs a Japanese sweets shop and the really short Yachiyo Hinata).

My Notes: 
This concept is so fantastic! Adorable girls and military survival games?! How can this get any better? The otaku and moe-girl is me is just going crazy. Super excited! 

And my #1 is...

1) Servant x Service 

Synopsis: 
Originally a popular four-panel manga series, SERVANT × SERVICE is a story following Lucy Yamagami, an employee of the Health and Welfare Division, at a certain government ward office in Hokkaido prefecture. The slice-of-life comedy follows Lucy’s day-to-day as a newly hired public servant alongside her eccentric colleagues and how they all actively and covertly serve their community every day. SERVANT × SERVICE touches upon situations that are similar to what often occur in actual Japanese ward offices since the author of the manga, Karino Takatsu was formerly employed at a government ward office herself.

My Notes: 
GAH! This looks so cute! I love that it's in a work environment. This never happens in anime! This is especially great because I'll be graduating soon >< Slice of life, comedy, shojo (?)...Number One Choice for Summer 2013!

 For the entire list of Crunchyroll's Summer 2013 Season, check it out here.

What are you excited for this season? Let me know! :D

Into the House of Lolita

I first came across Lolita when I was attending conventions. At every single one, I kept seeing these girls who looked so incredibly cute that I had to ask...What are you wearing? They came back at me with, "Why, lolita, of course." And that's what started my adoration of the adorable fashion.

I never got the chance to experience Lolita before this year, until I joined the Facebook group, The Metroplex Lolitas (this is their Livejournal page, just type it into Facebook and you'll find it).

They fully got me into what I find the best type of fashion - the type that makes you feel good about yourself. I started looking into places that sold Lolita and, man, it's expensive! My poor college budget!

But, the quality of the clothing really does equal the price of what you're getting. A JSK (jumper skirt dress) from a brand designer (such as Baby, the Stars Shine Bright) might run for about $275. But, it is beautifully made and has so many great details. You just have to save up for these pieces :)

Isn't it beautiful???

Lolita comes in a variety of different types: Sweet, Gothic, Classic, Hime, Casual, etc. The best site that I found when I first starting researching this fashion is Hello Lace, a really great reference site for newbies and veterans alike. I decided towards the beginning of this process that I wanted to go towards Classic Lolita. My favorite Classic Lolita site has to be FyeahClassicLolita on Tumblr. It has so many beautiful pieces done by regular girls.

Fanny Rosie 

 

My first Lolita piece is something that I believe to be a pretty decent success - it wasn't a brand piece but I still enjoyed it immensely. It is a dress from Bodyline, an off-brand site that sells cute pieces for good prices. However, it doesn't have the same quality as brand pieces. But they worked for my first dress!

Lookin pretty cute!

Overall, I'm really excited to begin my Lolita journey. I hope to continue it as much as I can! 

Moe!

This blog is devoted to all that is moe. What is moe, you ask? Well, it is a Japanese term that describes something cute, precious and very feminine. And moe is something that I love and live by!

There will be a lot of random things that I think are moe, like anime, lolita, cosplay and even simple things like cooking and sewing. But it will be cute and, as always, an adventure!

Let's find out where this moe life leads me next!

 

Note: Expect to be overrun by nerdiness. 

...that is all.