To welcome our fabulous, rufflelicious new affiliates to the site — The LoliDudes, I’ll be discussing something close to their hearts: Lolita Fashions. It is an unfortunate fact that of the hundreds of Gothic Lolita, Visual Kei, and Harajuku Street Fashion enthusiasts on the local scene, very few of them actually manage to pull off the looks they are inspired by.

This sad occurrence appears to stem from haphazard research methods, halfhearted efforts into putting the outfits together, and a lack of attention to detail when it comes to trimming and accessorizing their main pieces. I know I’m no fashion plate myself, but I do know enough to tell that your old high school uniform, a pair of torn tights, and a “mini top hat” made out of thin cardboard and Elmer’s Glue-All does not equal Gothic Lolita Fashion.

It’s time to take a step in the right direction. Here are five places where you can start learning about real Elegant Gothic Lolita style, authentic Harajuku street fashion, and genuine Sweet Lolita trends, and use them as inspirations for your own personal sense of style.

Gothic and Lolita Bible

The GLB is a quarterly mook published by KERA, detailing the season’s latest on Gothic Lolita, Sweet Lolita, and Punk Lolita Fashions. The magazine also contains how-to articles, sewing patterns, and literature to inspire and inculcate the complete Lolita experience with their readers. Thanks to the magazine’s coverage of many different styles of Harajuku street fashion, the readers can take their pick of which style reflects their own.

The magazine is an important resource for Filipinas looking to dress in the Lolita style because of the hundreds of photographs spread out across its pages. With the photos providing visual cues, local Lolitas can sew their own original pieces based on the designer looks, or have their favorite seamstress copy these designs for them.

The Summer issue is particularly helpful since the fashions featured in it are more suited to the Philippines’ tropical climate, which of course would not be the best place to wear the thick and heavy ensembles from the Winter edition. For girls inspired by Tokyo’s latest street fashions, this magazine is the first step on a long but enjoyable journey to the outfit of their dreams.

Tokyo Kawaii TV

Tokyo Kawaii TV is a weekly fashion show that airs in Japanese on NHK World Premium and in English on NHK World (available on Sky Cable and Destiny Cable; please check with your local cable operators for details). Tokyo Kawaii TV is broadcast every Saturday night at 11:30 PM Japan Astro or 10:30 PM Philippine Standard Time.

For those who do not have NHK at home, or for those who only get the Japanese-language version, you can visit the blog of Japanese kawaii-culture blogger and Tokyo fashion enthusiast Kirin at Tokyo Kawaii Etc. Kirin has excellent summaries of many of Tokyo Kawaii TV’s episodes in English, as well as streaming videos of these shows (please note that the similar names are only a coincidence; Tokyo Kawaii TV/NHK and Kirin are in no way connected to each other).

The show picks one theme every week, and the three hosts hold interviews, go to shops, and talk to experts on the topic of the week. The topics are always fashion oriented, and cater to a wide array of Harajuku street styles, including Fruits, Punk, and Lolita. Not only do you get a sense of how the fashion works in the real world outside of the pages of a magazine, you can even get great tips for hand-making clothes and accessories from the experts themselves.

Continued in Part 2.