One of my favourite things to do is looking at people’s
lists of dream dresses. You can tell a lot about a person based on what their
dream dresses are: what sort of substyle they might be into, are they a dreamer
or a realist, maybe even something about how long they’ve been into the fashion
or how confident they are in their style. But those photo albums don’t tell you
about what makes someone’s dream dress so special to them and I feel those are
just as important, and even more interesting, than all that other stuff.
Just so I don’t constantly talk about this one dress, I’ve actually gone through all of my most coveted dream dresses and what makes them so
special for me. And to keep this from becoming too long, I’ll only do ones that
have a story attached to them, because otherwise it’ll be a case of repeatedly
saying ‘waaaah, this print is too cute, I love it!’.
Mary Magdalene’s Paulina JSK was probably the first dream
dress I proper lusted after and started hunting for. All for this very trivial
reason that it’s my namesake – even the katakana shows that the pronunciation
is pretty much the same as Polish. Although my name isn’t exactly uncommon, it’s
not the most popular either. The biggest celebrity namesake I can think of is
Paulina Rubio, although not so much well-known in Europe. And as a kid I
suffered from the My Name Is Never On Tatty Souvenirs syndrome (by the time
this stuff started appearing in Poland, I had moved to the UK, where I am yet to see a tatty souvenir with my name on it). The nearest I
ever got were stuff with Diddl in Germany with Paula on them. So when I
finally found something that not only shared my name, but also was truly
stunning and major (Mary Magdalene may be very inactive, but they’re very well
known as a brand), it won me over!
Haenuli’s Whipped Cream Kitty JSK is actually doubly special
to me. Firstly, it was bought for me by my amazing partner as a present for
graduating university with a 2:1. He supported me all through that final year,
which was one of the most stressful periods in my life, and used this dress
reward to keep me motivated and going on. I’ll forever be grateful for that.
And secondly, this is the dress I wore the very first time I went to a Tea
Party Club event – and got to meet Nunu there no less! Whilst I’m sure that all
designers are very happy to see other people wear their creations, most are not
as vocal about it as Nunu.
Lastly Angelic Pretty’s Fantasy Theater Gilet JSK is truly
proof for psychological research claiming that the more effort you put into
something, the less willing you are to part with it. I have bought this dress
exactly the way many lolitas preach to newbies: by saving every penny I could
instead of moaning about being poor. At the time I was a broke student, my stay
in Japan was predominantly funded with my savings and some of my parents’, so
for the price I paid for that dress I could’ve done all kinds of other things.
It was equivalent to about 1 month of rent and utilities for my dorm. Or about
3 return flights from Japan to Korea, including the coach from where I stayed
to the airport. Instead, I put aside all the money I was making from part-time
jobs and dropped that pile of cash at Angelic Pretty Kanazawa because I had
fell in love with this dress that much. I don’t think any other dress I own required
me to save up this hard and this consciously.
Of course, all three of them are special also because they
are beautiful pieces with designs I absolutely love to bits. However, going
back to my original point about dream dress lists and albums, it’s the stories
behind these that make these even more special and they’re not something you
could know from just a photo.
What makes you dream dress so special? Do you actually own
it or is it something you’re still trying to find? Definitely make sure to read
about other people’s stories too!
I have seen stuff with souveneirs with Pauline a few times here. But my name used to be uncommon on such stuff, It is always Katrine, Katarina, Kate, Kathy, Cate, Trina....
ReplyDeleteAnd my name is like Trine.
I have few diddl stickers and a name mug at my grandfathers' house. My name showed up on stuff more recently, but if I get outside of the country, there is nothing, as it is nickname in German speaking countries, but only a official name in Scandinavia, it doesn't show up on these name stuff as often as it is in actual popularity.
The dresses I wouldn't part with? Dimlight and Cherie Cherise unfriendly cat as I saved for dimlight for a year and Unfriendly cat I almost missed out on the dress twice, as the brown/cream colourway sold out before I saved enough for it. All but red colourway and purple colourway was sold out, good red was my second priority. Secondly Indie prints is a nightmare to track down second hand.
Dimlight is just the iconic meta print, that keeps the price secondhand(I think the Japanese prices is slightly higher than the western ones), in which is rare for meta, and it was a print I wanted for years, it is one first pieces on my wishlist, the cut is flattering, and I just need to get worn it out to some really special events to get some special memories as it was a dress I never think I would get.
Pauline is still one letter off. Oddly enough, I found some mugs at Universal Studios Orlando that had Paulina written on them - that's the last place I expected to find anything like that.
DeleteAt the moment I think I only have some Diddle mugs left, but when I was in my early teens I collected so much stuff with Diddl. All my stationary was Diddl (and to be honest, I still think Diddl erasers are one of the best ones I've had).
Oh yeah, indie brands are sooo hard to track down second hand. And because of this if you have one you might want to see, it's harder to get an accurate price for it because there are fewer/no past sales and you're either lucky in finding a buyer or no-one's interested. And Dim Light is definitely iconic, it's a very lovely print. A friend of mine has it (the re-release, but I'm not sure which cut it is) and being able to see it up close made me appreciate it all the more.
I love the storied behind each of the dresses, especially Fantasy Theater.
ReplyDeleteFantasy Theater is your typical Rags to Riches, Self-Made Woman kind of story :P (Although I got a little scared when writing this up and trying to compare its price to something at the time. I literally could've paid one month rent and utilities with the money it cost me. It puts lolita fashion prices into a little bit more of a perspective.)
DeleteI was a big Paulina Rubio Fan as a teen! Loved this post.
ReplyDelete