Under-rated Flowers In Lolita

There are so many floral lolita dresses out there that it would be extremely difficult to count them all. By far the most popular flower for floral prints is the rose. I can understand this. Roses are really beautiful and they are also very versatile. You can use roses in many different types of lolita. Cherry blossoms are another flower that gets used a lot, although this is mainly wa lolita.

But I sometimes think it would be really great if there was a wider range of floral prints out there. I think this is why I find series such as AP's Sugar Pansy so appealing. As much as I adore roses and can't get enough of them, I would love the chance to wear other floral prints too.

Which leads me to my list of flowers I would like to see more of in lolita. I appreciate some of these flowers may have already appeared in prints but they are nowhere near as widely available. So here I am giving these flowers a little bit of love!

Bluebells

I love the idea of walking through an over-grown forest along trails that have long been forgotten. Hidden away are some beautiful bluebells. I think a lot of forest prints focus on the cute animals instead of the flowers. My top woodland flower choice would be the bluebell. I still have this memory of going on a walk with my mum and sister when I was young and stumbling across these beautiful flowers. Bluebells also have an interesting shape to them with a bell shape (a bit like lolita skirts!) that opens out at the bottom.

Snowdrops

I love snowdrops! They are one of my favourite flowers. I love the fragility of them and how they indicate that Spring is here and Summer is just around the corner. They have such a fresh, crisp white colour to them as well. Some would possibly say that a snowdrop was a it too plain looking to make a print for. Maybe you could combine snowdrops with the bluebells. Or you could do a snowdrop and daffodil combination for a really Spring themed print.

Lotus Flowers

I think this one is a bit surprising. I sometimes feel that lotus flowers fall in the same old rut that cherry blossom does and it mainly gets paired up with wa lolita but not a lot else. I guess an issue here would be that people feel that lotus flowers need to be paired with water, and water does not always come out that well in a print.

Wisteria Tunnels

You have no idea how much I want to jump inside this photograph and run down this tunnel! Although I don't think a tunnel would come out well in a print, you could just have it hanging down from an arch. This particular photo was taken at Kawachi Fuji Park. A lot of people have said that this photo is in fact fake, but it really isn't! I think this makes it even more impressive because it has a look which is almost too good to be true. I have seen similar flowers to Wisteria used in prints before but it has never taken centre stage and instead is a bit of a supporting role. But just once I would love to see a Wisteria style print which brings out the true beauty of the flowers.

Sweet Peas

Sweet Peas are very popular for weddings. In fact, I wanted these for my bridesmaid's bouquets at my own wedding (sadly, they were out of season!). I think sweet peas have a floaty whimsical feel to them and they could be used in a similar way to the pansies in Sugar Pansy. They also look very delicate.

Hydrangea

And last, but by no means least, we have the hydrangea. According to the language of flowers, apparently hydrangeas are meant to mean 'vanity' and I guess they do have a very showy appearance to them! I like how you can find massive bushes full of hydrangea flowers and also how they come in extraordinary colours. Surprisingly, I think these flowers could work with gothic and I would really love Moi Meme Moitie to do a print with hydrangeas. I guess this could partially be down to the anime XXXHolic, which has lots of dark imagery to it. In series one there is an episode where the lead is sucked in to a Hydrangea bush and they discover there is a corpse hidden beneath it. And so this is probably where my idea to pair this with gothic lolita comes from!

There are so many more flowers I could mention. Whilst I was writing this post, I remembered a story in one of the English Gothic Lolita bibles where the models are each playing the roles of different flowers in the hope of attracting the attention of the prince. I believe it is in the 2nd English Bible (the Flower issue). I am not in any way bashing roses, but there is a whole world of flowers out there waiting for their time to shine. I feel like there is a whole new variety of ideas waiting to be used and combined. They just need a bit of love and attention!

More peach please!

I saw that somebody was asking about 'Orange Lolita' online today. It is a colour which seems to be rare for lolita. We are bombarded with yellow, blue, pink, mint pastel shades and deep gothic colours and for some reason, orange does not fit in as well. I personally am not a fan of bright shades of orange. I have nothing against the colour, it has just never appealed to me and I worry it wont suit me. However, for a long time now I have wanted there to be more peach coloured items. Peach is a lot less harsh than full blown orange and I think it will suit more people.

Pretty roses! I have always thought that certain classic outfits would benefit from some peach. The easiest way to do this would be with a simple corsage made from a fake or real flower. I chose roses because I think peach coloured roses have this delicate romantic feel. My mother used to have loads of peach coloured roses in her garden and they smelled amazing.

In the first rose picture the roses have a very orange hue but this second rose shows that peach can be pink and even yellow tones can be present. The colours blend in well together. I think this rose demonstrates how good peach can look with yellow and pink. I have been thinking of other colours peach could go with. Creamy colours would probably go well and certain shades of green could contrast nicely. I think pink and peach would work best.

So, after randomly googling images what peach lolita items did I find? Not a lot.

This dress looks very delicate and pretty. It is more pink than peach but the colour has a peach undertone to it. I don't remember who made this dress so I have no idea how good it is in real life.

I also found this skirt which was commissioned by an Etsy shop. If you want to get peach lolita items, then getting pieces specially made might be the best route. At least then you can specify what you want. I thought this skirt was very floaty and light. It makes me think of Spring time but I would use it during the Summer too.

After searching for dresses and skirts, I tried to find a peach blouse (please be careful when searching because for some reason, 'peach blouse' brought up a load of naked women!). I think I want a peach blouse most of all and then I would like to thread matching flowers in my hair. I was unable to find a blouse I liked but this bolero. It was from a cosplay shop but I would not let that put me off buying it.

Peach is a popular wedding colour and wedding websites appear to have a lot of peach items. I found this rose bag on a wedding site. A bag like this would make a huge impact to an outfit.

The same website also brought up this wrist corsage. Personally, I would remove the bright pink gems.

I recently purchased this flower headband from Primark. In real life, the roses are more peach than pink. I want to find a way to add this to a lolita co-ordinate. I am thinking of doing something '60's hippy' with my hair and possibly adding more flowers. As for the dress, I am thinking of using my Meta lucky pack dress which has yellow roses in the print. I want a long sleeve peach blouse to finish off the outfit!

So I definitely think that there needs to be more peach lolita! I am surprised that peach and orange are not more popular. Peach would look gorgeous with classic but would also suit sweet. Orange is a bit more difficult but maybe it would look great on certain skin tones. I hope that lolita brands take more notice of these underused colours in the future!