So, what was the deal with that FASHION show at a COSPLAY event, you may ask. Now, my dear honeybee, please, let me explain.

Photo: Michal Svojanovsky

In the first installment of my 'explanatory post, because I want everyone to know about the amazing fashion we have here in CZ and SK so that everyone can be in awe, bow before the amazing seamstresses here', I'm gonna talk about the first inspiration, why this fashion show was even born, who helped and what went absolutely wrong (let's be real and let's learn from our mistakes, I bring your some pro-tips).

It all began last year in June witch a chance meeting between me, Temi and Anet. Temi, as you know, is the second (and better) half of Bara no Usagi. She is really into alta moda and haute couture, just like I am, so we had been dreaming for quite a long time of a fashion show that could be shown in the otaku community and wouldn't be too out of a place but still awesome and luxurious. Cue Anet, one of the organizers of Cosples, who is also a very good friend of ours, is a part of RG (just like Temi), and is an awesome person! Everybody needs an Anet in their life. really.

Our visions all began with these (All hail our  gods - Sweet Banana AKA Dolce&Gabbana♥):

So, back on track, after subtly (not so subtly tho, we need to be somehow an elephant in a porcelain cup because without it, no great thing would have been accomplished!) introducing our idea of a grande fashion show, Anet told us that hey, why don't we actually do a fashion show for Cosples?

This gif actually represents people during organizing a fashion show, mainly those around me that don't want to have anything to do with my workaholic slave-driver self

Now, please, let me stop here for a moment. The problem with organizing fashion shows is that one person can't do it all on their own, and the communication between the event's organizing team and the head of the fashion show must, at all times, be clear and perfect. In other words, if these two sides don't communicate clearly and on time, the stress levels are rising and the show itself is slowly packing its bags and reserving a ticket to launch itself into the sun. 

The problem with planning a fashion show for an event, for the first time? The communication is going to suck big time. Everybody knows what they want but nobody will tell you exactly what it is that they want. 

Mistakes were made, words were exchanged later that was ideal, at one moment I thought that the whole show was over even before it started, people were panicking, nobody knew what to do, but somehow, SOMEHOW, everything was resolved and we were finally officially part of Cosples!

That sentence really made me happy - you know, people knew there was gonna be a fashion show, it was official! ♥

To give advice to everyone planning such an elaborate show as a part of an already gradieuse event - talk to each other and make sure that both sides know exactly what the side wants, and communicate on time, ask and talk! Right now, I am in the middle of planning a lolita fashion show for AnimeFest  2018, and I think that the head of programme affairs is already sick of my questions. But if it means that everything will go smoothly in the upcoming months, I am willing to play the role of a stomach bug evolving into an ulcer! 

Trust me, there is nothing worse that answering 'I actually don't know...' to any of your models' or staff's questions.

This reminds me of the FS preparations - everything burns, nobody actually knows what's going on, but hey, it's okay, that's normal!

The big question was, should I actually make the entire dress collection for the show or should I play the role of an activist and invite some other brands? The second options is true at all times and nobody is surprised, righ. 

I knew that if I wanted the lolita community to be widely known and talked about in happy and awed terms, I had to invite the best of the best. And this is the reason why the fashion show was not 'haute couture' or 'lolita' only, but was 'couture & lolita'. 

Because I am a crazy person and usual fashion shows bore me to tears, I knew that show with a story is a must! Slowly and through trial and error I ended up with a basic outline - there is going to be a story teller, a girl that would be the audiences' persona, and three fractions, in each there would be a different style.

Then one day while sleepily dragging myself to faculty to teach new generations of scientists, I got the perfect idea - the theme would be 'Metamorphosis'! The girl would be partly a Dantian character, going through different parts of something, and she would be required to choose something, only for the audience to choose her ultimate fate! 

Even later, when looking at some dress' ideas, I knew that the difference in the styles means that I would have something light, something more gothic and dark in style, and then there are lolita brands. 

Then later, while listening to some Malice Mizer in combination with ALI Project and Rokugen Alice, I got the idea of a Hell, Heaven and Earth/Life fractions, and the girl is someone who died and her soul is traveling through dimensions so she can choose where she's gonna stay for all eternity. And also, I should add a guide. Just because stories usually have someone that knows what's going on, I told myself.

So, the main characters and fractions were decided, and then I hoped that nothing major would require changes.


Also, some more advice for planners of fashion shows - do yourself a favour, be the baddest witch around and hunt your models into attending a rehearsal some days before the fashion show, and then be even worse and threaten them into attending another rehearsal just hours before the show itself.
For everyone who doesn't know what it means to model in one of my fashion shows - a week before the event, there is a rehearsal that lasts for about four or so hours, where I try to help with the model's psychology and mental preparations, then there is an exercise part because nobody has ever walked right with their muscle mass being in a state of liquid poo, also the models have to know how to walk so we have a walking session (no, walking is not easy, trust me), and then in the last few hours we try to go through the story and where should everybody be at, what is the right time, how to get there, and what to do once they are at that spot.
It's more like a boot camp, my dear poor models. I think that that night, everybody slept like a baby!
Then, once the day of the event arrives, we go through the story and the show two times, with music and story telling and everything, and then we hope for the best.
So as you can see, being a model is not easy! This is why I choose my models very carefully, if I see that someone just uses this opportunity to 'wear a nice dress', they are out of the game. Either you are doing this for others, for the j-fashion community, to create something beautiful, be selfless and be able to be 'just a model', or you are not in the game. Strict, I know, but these shows are my babies and I want them to be for others, not just for us.

Photo: Michal Svojanovsky

In the next installment, I am gonna talk more about the main character and story teller designs and the first dimension the girl encountered - Hell.

So the other day me and my dear friend Mitsu (all hail MTsu, the one and only lolita queen! *insert the national anthem here*) and her boyfriend went to visit one of my colleagues at Lednice castle. It's a beautiful place, I really love it! Maybe a bit overused, but whatever, I like it ♥

Anyways, we went there and I had to take some pictures of Mitsu in the gardens. We got there like one/two hours before the sun set and so I was blessed with a window of beautiful golden light time. And then I was cursed because I haven't got my tripod with me and the window was like five seconds long and so I had to improvise and out of the two hundred shots I took, only about seventeen was okay.

But that doesn't matter! I am glad I was able to take some nice pics of MTsu~ She's always a great model, she knows her good side, her poses, really, one can only stand and click away and she will just dance around being all beautiful and model-y :D

It was my first photoshoot with me behind the camera so I was kind of scared of how it will turn out (especially since the sun was so agreeable, thanks bro, really glad you could help!), but I think, subjectively, that in the end I got some pretty shots, learned a ton of new things and I am so glad I was able to shoot with MTsu! ♥

!!!MTsu's homepage is here!!! Go visit that beautiful lady ♫

Warning: Do not take these pics and claim that you are the author. If you want to post them ANYWHERE, ask me or Mitsu. If I find out they are just running around without my watermark and without credits, I will be fucking angry.

If you like them, please let us know~

If you have any constructive critique, please let me know, I am still only learning and any new tips are welcomed! ♥

FRUiTS magazine is dead, but FRUiTS lives on. At least, Aoki Shoichi said so (If you don't know who that is, he is the dude that gave birth to the cult, the photographer that should be worshipped by every fashionista). That guy still takes photographs, and besides, FRUiTS lives on in everyone who wears Harajuku fashion. Thanks to those pages full of amazingly dressed people, Harajuku fashion got around like a plague. History is documented on those pages! One day, that stuff will be in museums because once it was an incredible monthly occurrence of stylish. Now, you don't have that because everyone has instagram and so instead of once a month, people can have eye orgasms every minute.

Aoki Shoichi. Source here

You know, publishing a magazine, a monthly magazine at that, is not cheap. You have advertisements, staff, printing. It's not cheap. And people just don't buy physical copies anymore. 

Thus, let me ask you a question. When was the last time you bought a PRINTED magazine/book/fashion spread? Yeah, a majority of people doesn't buy that anymore, right? The truth is, we live in a digital world, everything you need is made up of zeros and ones, not lignin and cellulose. Someone wants to see the latest fairy kei fashion trends? They search tumblr. Someone else want to know what their favourite star said? They don't read a printed interview, they check their twitter. 

And that is not a bad thing, everything is easier to access, you want a tour of Harajuku? Well then have a damn virtual tour of Harajuku! The thing is, three magazines ceased their printed production, other just started, some went digital. That does not mean that Harajuku fashion magazines are over, they evolved into either digital form or morphed - I like to think of Melt as a love child of Kera and G&L Bible. Individually, those two magazines didn't have a large audience, but together? I have hope~

Kera mobile, issue 9. Have a look at it, it's just as awesome as were the printed issues!

Tourists. Tourists in Harajuku. Are. Horrible. Really! Every day, there are millions of people passing trough and ogling, taking pictures and generally making stylish kids feel like they are an exhibit in a ZOO. Often, tourists don't even ask permission from those whose pictures are being taken. You know, when five people in the span of one hour take a picture of you, one can live with that. But when it's every freaking minute, that's just pushing it! And so fashionistas don't want to mingle with their own kind in their natural habitat, because their natural habitat has fallen prey to armadas of tourists without an ounce of respect. If you want to take a picture of someone, just ask. ASK! There is only a small chance you will get rejected!

Also, not only that people who were there at the beginning or even some twenty years later, during the 2000s, are older, but there is one giant reason why Harajuku fashion is not that in-your-face-Japan as it used to be. It's simple. If you look at Japan's history and political turmoils of the late 20th century/beginning of the 21st century, you will see that Japan was in some deep shit, economically, culturally and mentally. And Japan's youth rebelled. It's easy as that, Harajuku fashion was primarily born out of the love of western fashion penetrating Japan and the rebellious natures of Japanese teens. And now, is there a reason for people to rebel? Well, there are plenty of reasons but if somebody dresses in full Harajuku style, nobody will look at them as if they ran out of mental asylum for time-travelers. The fashion just lost the impact it once had. (On side note, punk is not dead! Right? If you really think about it, punk and Harajuku fashion are SO similiar...)

Examples of modern Harajuku style. Not your ordinary clothing, but somehow familiar. Taken from Tokyfashion

Young people like fast fashion. You know, stuff like Forever21, Uniqlo (who remembers Shimotsuma Monogatari and Jusco? Yeah, fantasy has become reality) and H&M and such. It's cheap and convenient. On the other hand, before every visit of La Foret it is advised to sell at least three of your kidneys and four lungs. Designer clothes are expensive and Harajuku fashion can be a damn expensive life style (doesn't have to be if you are manually talented with a fashionable eye and can reconstruct and give new life to old pieces). Shops close down because there is not enough people to pay for their clothes, it's just life.
Also, the image of Harajuku fashion has highly been industrialized and made mainstream, at least to some extent. It's become quite conservative, and I think that sometimes people can't say if a person's dressed in Harajuku or they are just some kind of high-brand wearing stylish kid.
Also, talking about stores, you want to have a home-shop in Harajuku, you pay with dragon blood and fairy dust, it's that expensive. It's mostly because of the fashion's global fame. Indie brands and smaller shops have moved further away. Harajuku fashion is relocating.

You see this, you run. Understood? Source

There is a freakingly known and good fashion college nearby, and Harajuku attracts a lot of talented people still. Stylish people just won't fully disappear from Harajuku, that's like asking pope to leave Vatican. Try it, I heard it's quite impossible ;}

There are various new styles emerging. Let's just briefly touch upon them, I want to write in more detail later, they are interestig~

• Peco Club, or Peco fashion: Once upon a time, there was a girl called Peco who was so pretty and colourful and had a great style and dated a genderless boy star Ryucheru. People liked her style and started copying her and thus new style, looking very much like fairy kei had an affair with larme kei, was born.

Peco. Taken from her twitter

• With Peco the name Bubbles Harajuku is often said in the same breath. It is a shop in Harajuku that sells cute clothes for uber-trendy teen girls. (More about this shop in the upcoming Peco article, it's quite an interesting shop!)

Bubbles store. Source

• Genderless kei is big and shines and people are taking notice of it! I think that genderless will be very big! It's not only for boys who said 'fuck it' to masculine clothing and wear whatever the hell they want, if they like that sweater from women's sections, they will wear the hell out of that damn sweater! Girls are on that trendy train, too!

Ryucheru. Taken from his instagram

• Maybe we will have a new Harajuku queen. Kyary got onto some bumpy road with her flop of 2016's October fail (more like last three years completely boring music. I love her style and her image, but truthfully, her music now is boring. With the exception of 'Harajuku oyahoi'! That one is LIT! ♥) and also have you seen her 'Easta' MV? I can't help myself, I hate it. It's sad. And also there are rumours she will be changing her image and everyone is like 'wait, rewind, what?'. Well, monarchy comes and goes, Tudors could write until they lose their heads from all those changes. (my puns are getting worse and worse...) All in all, Nakata saddens me and I cry over Kyary, I love her so much and yet...

Harajuku Iyahoi. It's catchy and I love it and if you haven't seen it, go have some amazingness today~

Yamaguchi Sayoko, the vintage icon whom the Japanese love more than ever

Hey, you know, somebody panics and shouts about the death of Harajuku every few years. We have been there, heard that. The world was supposed to end in 2000, 2012 and even last year and we are still here. Fashion doesn't die, it just evolves, okay?

Important links:

Kera magazine here

Buy Melt here

Buy Eternita here
Interview witch Aoki Shoichi here (in Japanese)
Kyary Pamyu Pamyu MV Harajuku iyahoi here

As once Tommy heavenly6 said: 

I am not your perfect you

I'm not your wish come true

I'm not your cupcake filling

I'm not your lollipop peeling

I'm not your fairy lullaby

I'm not your once upon a time

I'm not always so friendly

But I am not always your enemy

(But you can try me~)

Pic and edit: Kristyna Hodakova

I think these lyrics describe me quite well, actually. I am not claiming to be the best at what I do, or to be the perfect hime lolita people sometimes picture me as. I have many flaws (hello there, my moodiness! And also, give a shout-out to my picture perfect sarcasm, love you, bro!) and my creations have many flaws. But I think that I have a passion for what I do, and sometimes my ideas aren't half bad. Which is why I created this blog. 

Some of you know that one of my biggest dreams is to inspire other people, to help them come out of their shell and just be creative, fuck what other people think! I want to remind people that if Harujuku fashion, photography, illustrations, make-up, fashion and whatever else kind of artsy fills your being with happiness and is the reason you get up every morning, it's not just a 'hobby'. It's your purpose and you should be damn proud of yourself, because not everyone can lead such a powerfully creative life as you do! 

"To care about what other people think is to become boring" - Yoshiaki, genderless boy and a damn big inspiration

Yoshiaki and his sister. Here is his instagram and go follow him, you're welcome B>

In short, the reason why I am giving the world a chance to either love or hate my work (and trust me when I say I am quite self-conscious about my creations...) is YOU. If you, by any chance, become inspired by what I do, then my purpose has been fulfilled. I mean, something like 'too much alternative fashion' doesn't exist. Period. Who doesn't like your style, hit them with the newest issue of Melt. Seriously, you don't need this kind of negativity in your life, especially not when it comes from someone whose biggest adventure was yesterday's toilet seance after eating too many plums. Their ties and pencil skirts can't measure up to your pumps or frilled JSKs with life-sized boats. 

(Oh god, I feel like a giant jerk right now, well, doesn't matter, let's just agree that their world and your world are different and they have no right to say how you should dress. Are you killing someone? No, so they can just waddle off. But if you are, by any chance killing someone, I think we need to have a word...)

Also, the second reason is (yay for staying on topic for longer periods of time!) our Czech lolita community. They are the best! Yes, of course, some people are not the best, but my friends are the best! I get often asked about my makeup or my sewing, and I see this blog as a perfect opportunity just to have all my tutorials and reviews in one place, so they can learn what they need. They are my babies and I need to be a helpful mama ♥

The next reason is shameless self-propagation, because of my brand! Oh yes, I think this is a very important fact to state, I have an indie brand! Lolita, haute couture, Harajuku fashion, I mix and match styles and give them my own twist and I love it. For those interested and those who haven't seen the huge banner on the right sidebar, here is the link~ L'Hortenia de la forêt ♥

Well, my ramblings are all over the place, so let's just add some facts, shall we?
I am a PhD student at Brno University of Technology, faculty of chemistry, Biotechnology is my home~! (My gosh, I have a degree and I still feel like a five year old with an attitude problem, go me!)
I've been into lolita and Japanese fashion for about 16 years now, I guess? I am planning on writing a detailed journey of mine through my ita and WTFFF??? stages in my early teens, so stay tuned and you will be spectators at my public humiliation!

I am mostly inspired by music, so yeah, you will see a LOT of music references and 'you have to listen to this!'s.

I've been sewing for about ten years or so, I guess, so if you want to ask something, I think my advice will be good. At least in some cases, let's be real!

I love doing fashion shows, be it as a model or as the head boss, so fashion shows and how to act before/during/after them is going to be a topic of some of my articles.
Sometimes I cosplay. Yes, that's right, hide your wives and your children's innocence, I cosplay!

I recently got into photography, I am NOT an expert so maybe your eyes will bleed and you will get a migraine because of some of the shots, but hey, it can get only better, right? *silently cries in pixels*

One of my dreams is to draw my very own manga and become a respected lolita illustrator, so not only that your eyes will want to kill themselves because of my amateurish photos, say hello to my doodles!

If there is anything you want to know, just send me and email, or contact me through facebook or any other platform, I don't bite if people don't attack ♪♫♪

Next articles:
My lolita journey or Oh God why, how, just burn it!
Shironuri makeup - the basics tutorial