Original print club

When other Lolitas discuss what prints they adore and love, I always express my love for pieces in solid colors, claiming I own barely any printed pieces. After having taken another proper look at my wardrobe, I realized that I had more prints than I pretend I do. All in all I've got eleven printed pieces, accessories included. The count was pretty confusing because I wasn't sure whether patterned pieces like tartan or gingham are counted as prints. Naturally the Japanese Lolita community came to my rescue and they explained to me that oripuri (Japanese: オリプリ), or original prints, are counted as "Lolita prints." The reason for this being that most other prints are commercial fabrics anyone can buy and use, whilst oripuri are original artworks meaning they can legally only be used by (or with consent from) the creator, like I explained in Duped by a neologism. The prints being original artworks is also why they have such elaborate names like Vampire Prelude, Rose Ornament, Heart Damask or simply Gobelin Print to name a few from my own wardrobe. However, these are relatively simple names since they are no Effeuiller la Marguerite ~Whereabouts of Maiden's Love~ or Le Merveille Boudoir ~Everlasting Lady Time~ (thank you, Baby, the Stars Shine Bright).

A small collection of my print garments

Original prints started in the early 2000s with Baby, the Stars Shine Bright's Alice's Babydoll JSK from 2002 being one of the first named prints. It features a border print combined with an allover print that doesn't cover the bodice. Angelic Pretty released two orignal prints the year after with their Strawberry Print series, which was a border print featuring their monogram by Maki, and their Princess Silhouette Print series, which was a border print by Kira Imai. I'm not sure who designs the prints at Baby, the Stars Shine Bright but it's probably Kumiko Uehara, Masumi Kano or Saki Tachibana as they've been designing for the brand for a long time already. When it comes to Alice and the Pirates I guess it might be Mitsuba or Tomomi Nakamura. They seemingly don't work for the brand anymore and have been replaced by elle and MAYU (please don't ask me since when this is the case).

Top, left to right: Kumiko Uehara, Masumi Kanou and Saki Tachibana
Bottom, left to right: Mitsuba and Tomomi Nakamura

In the mid 2000s prints rose in popularity because they added storytelling to the pieces and their unique names did help a lot to add to this sense of dreaminess. This is why you will find a lot of prints related to fairytales like Baby, the Stars Shine Bright's Cinderella series, Snow White series and Thumbelina series. Angelic Pretty also found inspiration in fairy tales with their Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty series. I feel this also led to the boom of what is colloquially known as "over-the-top sweet Lolita" which is a style of Lolita fashion influenced by kawaii fashion. The reason for this is that it paved the way for more creative color combinations which were featured heavily in Angelic Pretty's promotional material back then. Unfortunately, when something gets popular others will try to get a piece of the pie. This was mainly done by Bodyline and Dream of Lolita, who both made replicas of existing Lolita fashion pieces. If you wish to know what pieces Bodyline copied and tried to pass off as their own design, I recommend you read Stephano's post 140 Times Bodyline Made Knockoffs and Replicas of Other J-fashion Brands. The post is structured per brand so you can go through it alphabetically.

Maki and Asuka in Paris by Camille (2009)

Victorian Maiden and Mary Magdalene are a Lolita brands that used to get replicated often by Milanoo/Lolitashow (they're a Taobao reseller now). This is because they don't use prints very often. I understand that the reason they don't design a lot of prints might be that it would be an extra cost. Even though, Victorian Maiden was part of New York Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2023 they aren't part of the big players in Lolita fashion like Angelic Pretty, Metamorphose and Baby, the Stars Shine Bright. Their designer Ayumi often shares parts of their production process on X. For instance, they've been trying to reproduce the braid they used for Regimen Classical Doll for over a year since the original company that made them went out if business. This really showed me that even though they get replicated often, they prove that they care a lot about those details that make a garment a Victorian Maiden garment. I really hope I can support them in the future.

Thank you, and take care.