Crimson Reflections

This spring / summer lemons are on trend in lolita. This trend isn’t totally new; we have seen prints featuring lemons over the past 2 or so years, but it seems to be peaking this year, and it feels like lemons are absolutely everywhere.

Angelic Pretty kicked things off for the year in their January fashion show when they previewed their Fruity Lemon series.

The series was so popular that it went on to have a MTO directly after the release weekend.

AP Candy has hinted, via Instagram that they are likely going to do a special set in a darker shade of sax, that appears to be a special set for golden week. Unfortunately, it’s super high waist, which I know a lot of people aren’t very keen on.

Fruity Lemon mixes lemons with baby chickens, in a print which feels like it’s caught between spring and summer, and acts like a secondary Easter print to their less well received Flower Egg Garden series. On a side note, having seen Flower Egg Garden in person, I do have to say, it looks much cuter in person than it does in the stock photos. It’s printed on a delicate dot de chine with a nice drape and in person the colors feel much softer. I’m not going to be picking it up personally, but it’s much cuter than most people assume, I think. Anyways, back to lemons…

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Earlier this season, Melody Basket released a super cute and summery lemon print called Citron Soda. Melody Basket is a newer brand by designer 栗原茂美 (Shigeromi Kurihara) who has a history working with the Shirley Temple / Emily Temple Cute family of brands. Melody Basket makes both adult size M and a variety of children’s sizes, allowing for moms to match with their daughters.

Qpot released some cute lemon and lemonade themed accessories in their Sweet and Sour collection. Lemons are a common theme for Qpot, but this season they fit right in to current trend.

The casual/otome brand Amavel jumped onto the lemon theme as well with a new lemon and tea print called Flaver Tea. In addition to the cute embroidered JSK and blouse, there is also a fair where anyone who spends over 5,000 yen in store or online will get a free lemon tea print tote bag starting April 26th at 11:00 JST and continuing until they run out.

I really love the look of this series. Amavel makes really cute blouses with elaborately embroidered designs on the collars that pair really nicely with OTT sweet lolita. So if you are looking to spice up a coordinate with a blouse that is also on theme, and wear a Japanese size M, definitely check them out.

Chinese indie brand, The Nightingale released a super affordable lemon print (only CNY179 ) called the Big Lemon. It’s up for reservations until May 1st.

Their print uses a white background with an all over print of fresh lemons and some cute text including the word “Tea”. It’s actually really similar in thematic concept to the Amavel piece, though they have gone a very different direction with the design. I think this piece is also simple enough that it could easily transition into more everyday casual wear with a nice cardigan and some white sandals.

On the general Jfashion indie accessory side of things, social media influencer, Happyunbirthday1, released some super cute lemon bear ears recently that one of my friends picked up and posted in a floordinate and they are super cute! I’m not very familiar with her, but she seems to sell via depop, and has also made orange ears. It’s a really unique and cute concept and it seems to pair well with lolita and other Jfashion, IMHO.

I think it’s also interesting to see how many lemon themed accessories are coming out of indie designers in the last year or two compared to how much is being made by mainstream Jfashion brands. Though, I guess, also, I’ve been seeing a decrease in accessories from a lot of lolita brands in general, which is an interesting, and somewhat sad trend, IMHO.

I’ve also noticed that a lot of the indie brands making lemon accessories seem to be going big and bold with them. I’ve been seeing a lot of lemon themed items from Japanese indie designers who don’t have webshops on twitter as well, though because of the nature of twitter, it’s kind of hard to go back through and fine them now.

This is going back a tiny bit, but for those who like their lemon themed items a little less pop and a little more country, classic or mature, Indie designer Lily of the Valley put out a lemon themed 2-way clip last summer that I really loved. It’s still available via her Etsy, (and she also takes custom hat orders there!)

Also from last year, Metamorphose is still selling their vintage fruit series which contains lemons and strawberries in the print, though the overall feel is a bit more subdued than the pop-sort of feel that a lot of the lemon items this season have. I suppose in general, last season’s lemons seem a tiny but more subdued and country themed; I’d expect to see them in a nice country kitchen. In contrast, this season’s lemons seem more fresh and clean, with a plastic pop type of feel.

It’s still very early in the season, so I expect as time goes in we will see a lot more lemon themed items. I’m also noticing an uptick in yellow items in general, as well as an uptick in yellow gingham. As someone who loves yellow, I’m certainly not going to complain!

Do you have a favorite lemon print? Any lemon themed items you hope to see this season? Let me know in the comments!