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Description
A little update on my 'Women in Japan - A Calendar of Misconceptions' project.

This is the A3 sized Gothic Lolita page. When finished she will be a paper dress-up type doll. This is the base, and there will be slits cut to push the tabs of clothes onto (that I am in the process of colouring). The clothes will be a Recruit Suite (for finding a job), a Traditional Kimono (for retaining tradition), a Schoolgirl Uniform (for focusing on education) and a McDonalds Uniform (for those menial part time jobs everyone wants to put off doing).

The point made here is that she choses to wear the Gothic Lolita outfit, but the viewer can punch the perforated clothes out and dress her up differently - thus forcing her to grow up. But until then she will wear her Gothic Lolita dress. The extra clothes will be on tabs of paper that cover the date, and can be flipped over to reveal the months, or ripped off completely once the clothes have been punched out.

When I'm finished I'll upload the entire thing in .gif form so people can see what I mean.

The concept behind this piece is that some girls in Japan dress in the Gothic Lolita style to try rebel against having to grow up.

"As a nostalgic fetish, Lolita style presents a critique of the current world. Nostalgia is a strong impulse during periods when the contemporary world is frightening or uncertain. For many young people in contemporary Japan, this is indeed the case. They are unlikely to starve, but many college graduates have difficulty finding a job and even more live with their parents until they are in their 30s. In fact, “‘Japanese people don’t want to be growing up so quickly,’ [Masanobu] Sugatsuke [editor of Composite, a fashion/culture magazine] told [Rebecca Mead]. ‘They would like to stay young mentally and socially.’ In Japan, living at home with your parents and going shopping every weekend is a form of rebellion” (Mead).

You can find the entire article here [link] "

I understand that some dress this way only because it looks cute, or cool, or whatever - but for this project I needed to look beyond that. I also know there are other reasons, but this was the one I chose to focus on.

Anyway, I'll upload all 6 pages when I've finished them (3 down, 3 to go >_< ).

Reference for pose was [link] by ~shanghai-STOCK
I can't remember where the brushes are from, but if anyone knows I'd be happy to credit them <3

This was just a WIP, here are the finished pages~

Women in Japan - A Calendar of Misconceptions
Cover Page - Ebi Girl: [link] Daily Deviation that Inspired the Cover: [link]
January & February - Ama Diver: [link] Mug for Sale: [link]
March & April - Housewife: [link]
May & June - Geisha: [link] Mug for Sale: [link]
July & August - Gothic Lolita: [link] Mug for Sale: [link]
September & October - Magical Manga Girl: [link]
November & December - Ganguro Girl: [link] Mug for Sale: [link]
Back Page with Explainations: [link]

Description
A little update on my 'Women in Japan - A Calendar of Misconceptions' project.

This is the A3 sized Gothic Lolita page. When finished she will be a paper dress-up type doll. This is the base, and there will be slits cut to push the tabs of clothes onto (that I am in the process of colouring). The clothes will be a Recruit Suite (for finding a job), a Traditional Kimono (for retaining tradition), a Schoolgirl Uniform (for focusing on education) and a McDonalds Uniform (for those menial part time jobs everyone wants to put off doing).

The point made here is that she choses to wear the Gothic Lolita outfit, but the viewer can punch the perforated clothes out and dress her up differently - thus forcing her to grow up. But until then she will wear her Gothic Lolita dress. The extra clothes will be on tabs of paper that cover the date, and can be flipped over to reveal the months, or ripped off completely once the clothes have been punched out.

When I'm finished I'll upload the entire thing in .gif form so people can see what I mean.

The concept behind this piece is that some girls in Japan dress in the Gothic Lolita style to try rebel against having to grow up.

"As a nostalgic fetish, Lolita style presents a critique of the current world. Nostalgia is a strong impulse during periods when the contemporary world is frightening or uncertain. For many young people in contemporary Japan, this is indeed the case. They are unlikely to starve, but many college graduates have difficulty finding a job and even more live with their parents until they are in their 30s. In fact, “‘Japanese people don’t want to be growing up so quickly,’ [Masanobu] Sugatsuke [editor of Composite, a fashion/culture magazine] told [Rebecca Mead]. ‘They would like to stay young mentally and socially.’ In Japan, living at home with your parents and going shopping every weekend is a form of rebellion” (Mead).

You can find the entire article here [link] "

I understand that some dress this way only because it looks cute, or cool, or whatever - but for this project I needed to look beyond that. I also know there are other reasons, but this was the one I chose to focus on.

Anyway, I'll upload all 6 pages when I've finished them (3 down, 3 to go >_< ).

Reference for pose was [link] by ~shanghai-STOCK
I can't remember where the brushes are from, but if anyone knows I'd be happy to credit them <3

This was just a WIP, here are the finished pages~

Women in Japan - A Calendar of Misconceptions
Cover Page - Ebi Girl: [link] Daily Deviation that Inspired the Cover: [link]
January & February - Ama Diver: [link] Mug for Sale: [link]
March & April - Housewife: [link]
May & June - Geisha: [link] Mug for Sale: [link]
July & August - Gothic Lolita: [link] Mug for Sale: [link]
September & October - Magical Manga Girl: [link]
November & December - Ganguro Girl: [link] Mug for Sale: [link]
Back Page with Explainations: [link]