Clau

             You could have fallen in love in the 90's with Malice Mizer during the Gackt era. The whimsical music, Mana's enigmatic cross dressing, or their overdone shows. Or maybe you read Chobits and fell in love with Chi's frilly outfits. Then again, you could have been flipping through Fruits magazine when you fell in love with that girl wearing the Angelic Pretty baby blue dress. It all came to you suddently, linked to your addiction to japanese pop culture addiction... but then again, it could have been that you heard Gwen Estefani singing about "those harajuku girls", or wondered about those girls wearing the "french maid dresses" at the cons.  But no matter how it got into your mind, it happened... the Gothic Lolita fashion... oh, blessed be the day all of us got hooked on this flamboyant fashion, and started a journey of lace, ribbons, platform maryjanes, dolls, Mana, as well as harsh critisism, money spending, sewing lessons, and often ridicule.
            
           The case is that once Lolita became implanted in that little brain of yours, you searched for pictures, wikipedia definitions, livejournal communities and myspace groups for clues on how to pull off the look that Mana had described as the ideal of what a woman should look like. Moi meme moitie, Baby the Stars Shine Bright, Victorian Maiden and other names became soon familiar to you for one reason: they were the source of impecable cuteness. The problem was, that cuteness came with a price... a high one that would cost you entire paychecks that you wouldnt earn before graduating college. At 300 dollars or more per dress, as the intelligent young adult you are, you switch to considering your own wardrobe as a lolita source.  Sure, you could make lace headpieces that looked like pads. Of course you could go to the local costume shop and buy those 4 dollar leg avenue tights if you didnt already have them, but for everything else, your punk rock wardrobe would have to do.

             Being the good little deviant girl that you are, you already owned a good deal of punk/rock wear, legwarmers, over the knee striped socks, and cute little black shoes to pull it together. For your debut, you take out that black lacy mini skirt you got at ye good olde mall. It might not fit a petticoat underneath, but it has lace, so it will work, right? heheh... then, you have several options for the top... you could go for your button up-tormented-catholic school girl shirt, or just a plain black camisole with a lace incert on the neck line. Then, you might put on leg warmers, gloves with the fingers cut out and your over the knee socks. If you're lucky, you already own a pair of mary janes, but if that's not the case, any black shoes will probably do for you. Finally, your home made headpiece to complete the look. If you go the extra mile, you will do your hair in pig tail dreads, just like those girls on that myspace picture did. And so, you step out the door to enjoy life as the new you...

           The problem at this point is, though, that being from the western emisphere, gothic lolita means more to you goth than lolita, and your perception of reality is distorted by the over use of lace on your head that will do nothing but get your friends going with the french maid jokes... but dont worry. The seeds are planted, and within months, your dreadful, cheap cookoon will hatch into a frilly dolly that Momoko would be proud of!