Gosurori

Today's Mainichi Daily News WaiWai concerns Gosurori, better known to us as 'Gothic Lolitas'. Having a new word in my armoury, the resulting Google first led me to this site selling Gothic Lolita fashion doll clothes and this more authentic looking Gosurori doll.

Several of the main suppliers of clothing and accessories for the discerning Gosurori are online. Victorian Maiden has a nice line in furry chintz coats/coatdresses, and their Winter 2003/2004 long coat is the epitome of that the words simple elegance mean to me, but at around £340, I think I'll get out my blocks, old newspapers and sewing machine. Then there's Inoocent World, much more classically Gosurori with flounces, frills and other trims, though even their recent collections are more subdued - maybe it's the winter.

But all of this is a little expensive, and cut to fit Japanese women to boot, which is why I bought myself a copy of this Gothic and Lolita pattern book, and that's where the dress Ken saw at Novacon came from (you can just see it on the cover, middel row of photos, second from left). The book gives you a set of basic patterns, and instructions on how to adapt them to make the designs shown - this means, if you have a set of personal patterns blocks, you have all the information you need to make them to measure. No knowledge of sewing is assumed, but if you are of average ability there's no need to be able to read Japanese - the illustrations are that clear. The only gotcha is that they don't get round to telling you how much seam allowance to add until the diagram showing the pattern pieces laid out on the fabric! And remember, the instructions go from right to left. Personally, I think the Gothic Lolita stuff looks better when cut for, and worn on, the sort of curvacious figure I have.