In defense of Bittersweet

The year is 2008. I had just been accepted into The Art Institute to pursue a degree in Graphic Design. My style then could be considered somewhere between growing out of trying to please the masses in American Eagle Hippie Grateful Dead Chic, and easing into a tacky Pastel Goth Rockabilly monstrosity; needless to say, I was more fascinated with the idea of fashion than actually diving into it head first, since my own style had changed so much and I had no idea where I was going with it to be honest.

Making my way through Tumblr.com to find some inspiration for my latest art project (As you do), I saw it in the results--girls sporting bright lavender and mint wigs, tights with melting goop on them, cross necklaces, and coffin shapes purses… spooky at its finest, paired with some of the cutest designed dresses sporting flowers, cosmetics, and all manner of preciousness.
I had known of Lolita tangentially at this point, only from Visual Kei. 

And I think we all can relate to having this “ah ha” moment with Lolita fashion: when you see a coord you know intrinsically appeals to you more than anything has, and expresses your own personal style better than you ever could.

And that, my friends, is how I stumbled across the style that was known in some circles as “Bittersweet”, a mish-mash of sweet pastel, and horror creepy goodness.

Perhaps I’m just looking at this maybe-its-a-style in rose tinted glasses.

I know it’s controversial and some deem it not a real substyle. 

But hear me out folks! Bittersweet deserves just as much space as Oldschool, or Elegant Gothic Lolita. Why? Let me elaborate with some similar examples. 

“Oldschool” is just what Lolita looked like in a certain time, pre-2010’s. It’s not much different from the current sweet, other than having a certain “look” that makes it feel nostalgic, or accessories and main pieces from that era. 

“Elegant Gothic Lolita” is Mana’s way of designating his particular style--just gothic with an extra layer of description that invokes the imagery of Moi-Meme-Moitie's own flair for the gothic style. You know it when you hear it. 

All of these are splitting hairs, but isn’t the whole fashion doing that anyways? We pride ourselves on knowing which accessories, skirt shapes, shoes, and jewelry invoke sweet, classic, or gothic. It gets granular sometimes, and I’ve definitely been on both sides of the argument that a certain pair of shoes were more gothic than classic… But they “could” work with both. 

In this same vein, I truly believe Bittersweet is a product of its time and niche classification of a certain look or style. It’s sweet, sure, but with that creepy-cute punch which sets it apart from the usual saccharine style we associate with Angelic Pretty or old Metamorphose Crown Label. It’s a way to take a lolita substyle, and make it something more uniquely you, and isn’t that the point of fashion? 

In any case, I am a firm believer this nomenclature hurts nothing or no one.
It’s all just having fun  (if you aren’t you’re doing it wrong). 

So go on and pair Milky Planet with a black harness. Wear an eyeball purse and a split mint-and-pink wig in that coord.

If Bittersweet has one supporter left, it’s me!