Friday, November 14, 2014

Variations of Mori Girl: Part 1



Recently I was having a talk with some fellow Mori Girls on how to differentiate Mori from other styles. A few girls brought up the idea of specific names for variations in Mori Girl, similar to Lolita sub-styles, and I've been itching to coin a few terms for myself! Originally, I was planning for this to be one post only, but it's turned out to be a bit bigger than I thought, and will be three posts at least.

Also, if anyone has any other terms they would like to contribute, or if you make a post of your own ideas, please let me know and I will make a master post to link them all together.

And please keep in mind that all these variations have come from my own head, and that they are not officially recognized terms.

1. Western/European Mori:

This variation of the Mori tends to be darker colors, although not dark enough to be considered Dark Mori. And although it maintains the Mori silhouette, it has much less lace, and looks more like an outfit of a forest dweller who rarely ventures out of the heart of the forest. Jewelry is sometimes silvers instead of the customary gold, and outfits are simpler with less tiny details.





2. Street Mori:

This variation is where Mori Girls finds it's roots. You could argue that it is the original Mori Girl, but for the purpose of this post I'll be calling it a variation. It features lots of cream and white layers, and very few other colors. Unlike most other versions of Mori Girl, coords sometimes contain synthetic materials, and more trendy harajuku items.








3. Magazine Mori:

This variation is another one of  Mori Girls original roots. But again, I'll be referring to it as a variation.

When magazines, such as Fudge, Spoon, and Mori Girl Lesson, started to pick up on Mori they gave it their own twist. Unlike Street Mori, Magazine Mori contains many different colors and patterns. It usually contains less layers than Street Mori, and may or may not contain as much lace. 






4. Bold Mori:

This variation of Mori maintains the Mori silhouette, while incorporating many darker and jewel-like tones, as well as lots of patterns. I've most often seen this variation with the actress Aoi Yu, who is often described as the ideal Mori Girl. A fellow Mori Girl, Miss Kellie, refers to this kind of style as a modern version of Natural Kei. It is also sometimes similar to Magazine Mori.






What do you think of these terms? Do you agree? Disagree? Let me know below, or in my cbox. (Constructive criticism is always welcome!)

(If your picture is featured in this post and you would like it removed or credited, please let me know.)


2 comments:

  1. I like them all! I think I'm more the magazine type XD I don't like so much layering and I love colours and patterns.
    I don't know if I understood tribal mori well, as you described it it seems really close to magazine mori. I think there's a tribal mori in the sense of a mori strictly connected with ethnic prints and accessories, but maybe you'll put it in another cathegory or maybe it's not a feature strong enought to define a substyle as ethnic prints are all over mori.
    There are also hama girl and yama girl! I consider them mori variations more than differnt styles, but maybe you don't agree.

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    1. Hama and Yama might make their way into a later post. We shall see ;) And magazine and tribal are very similar. But I feel like tribal often contains almost un-mori kinds of fabrics, colors, and prints, if that makes any sense.

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