LOVER® is a fashion label with a sensibility I can wholly relate to. This trailer showcasing its latest collection reminds me of Bright Star with its poignant voiceovers and moody, evocative cinematography.
...pictured here with a complimentary tote bag fronted by a llama (?)
the mori girl indulging in quaint past-times like sewing and needlework...
her cozy nook and its accompanying accoutrements...
frolicking in the woods...
real-life mori girls and the contents of their bags...
another lovely editorial and fashion spread...
Aoi Yu in this Spoon magazine editorial is beautiful as always, but I am particularly captivated by the styling! I discovered this on Mori Girl - a blog dedicated to the Japanese subculture of "forest girls", via Daydream Lily. And how serendipitous that I just purchased the Japanese magazine, Forest Girl, chronicling every detail of the mori girl lifestyle, from Kinokuniya last week. It is one sumptuous magazine, and I'll share with you some pages shortly!
But first i'll share this really good description of the mori girl -
'Mori' means forest in Japanese, and mori girls look like fairytale forestI first came across this so-called phenomenon on a tv programme last year when the trend started up in Japan. I remember being very much intrigued. But I'd hate to think of it as a trend, or a phenomenon that is location-specific. Perhaps it was influenced by the slow food/life movement. But ultimately, I think in every society, there has always been pockets of people who favour the old and the rustic, the slow and the lovely.
wanderers in their loose dresses, vintage prints and quaint accessories. Mori
girls choose to live their lives on their own terms, stopping to appreciate the
little things that others overlook amidst the hustle and bustle of daily life.
La Biche Apprivoisée, Robe de Paul Poiret, from Gazette du Bon Ton, Issue 4, by Jean Bernier (active 1910-1925) & Léon Bakst (1866-1924). France, 1922.
I chanced upon this illustration browsing through the excellent selection of prints at the Victoria & Albert Museum Online Shop. The fine details, sense of movement, and folkloric theme made me fall in love instantly.
Subversive, eccentric and flamboyant, the artistic community in the first half of the twentieth century was engaged in a grand experiment. The Bohemians ate garlic and didn't always wash; they painted and danced and didn't care what people thought. They sent their children to co-ed schools; explored homosexuality and Free Love. They were often drunk, broke and hungry but they were rebels.
I have to admit I made up my mind to get the book Among the Bohemians: Experiments in Living 1900-1939 as soon as I read the above description. What I did find out upon some further reading was that author, Virginia Nicholson, is the granddaughter of Vanessa Bell and great-niece of Virginia Woolf. And one of the bohemians whose lives she recorded is, of course, that of her great-aunt's herself!
After having the Laura Ashley biography in my shopping cart for the longest time, I determined to get it after flipping through it at a brick-&-mortar bookstore recently and swooning at the pictures (like the one above I took from Google books!)
Sometimes, I truly wish I was born in England in the early 20th Century. Failing which, I'm glad there are books like these I can lose myself in.
I chose to put up a video instead of pictures because I just love the way the girl talks.
