This week we were lucky enough to get an interview with the adorable Lolita Guru Princess Peachie! With so many adoring fans, and possibly the best UK Lolita Guide on the net, we couldn't wait to pick her brain, and find out a little more about the girl behind the frills! So here are our questions, and her answers as this weeks Kawaii Interview!



1. Where would you say your love of Kawaii fashion came from/started, and who is your biggest inspiration right now?
I can't remember a time where I didn't love cute things! From the first day I started highschool I loved to tie up my hair in pigtails with faux flowers and write down all my schoolwork with kawaii pink stationary. Even when I was as young as 4, I was drawing cute girls and teddies in frilly dresses which looked very similar to lolita fashion. When I discovered the style had an actual name, it was a dream come true because it suddenly meant that I could search for these clothes and wear them myself!

2. If you were asked to explain what is so great about wearing Lolita Fashion to someone from another planet, what would you say?
Lolita fashion is the style of a girl's childlike dreams, full of fantasy and whimsy. When you wear lolita fashion you feel at least a little bit magical. A lot of girls and women wear lolita fashion because it helps them feel like a princess, which can really help boost their self confidence and get in touch with their femininity. On that note, some guys also enjoy wearing it because of that reason. There are many different styles of lolita fashion, ranging from a sugary sweet look to a sombre gothic look; but they all help people connect with the particular identity of girlishness, ornate clothing and lovely things.



3.If this same alien abducted all of your possessions, but let you keep 3 things what would they be?
That's a really hard question because I am a materialistic person. I sincerely hope their spaceship has room for all my plushies! The 3 most important items to me are my pink Nintendo 3DS, my computer because I do all my creative work on it, and my childhood teddy which is a little white puppy.

4. Can you tell us a nice memory you have linked to a particular Kawaii outfit and why that memory is special?
I have lots of happy memories with kawaii fashion! But a really special one I will never forget was a casual outfit: a white Fairy Kei t-shirt with 80's Barbie fabric sewn on the front with a lace border, a pink pleated schoolgirl miniskirt with matching pink bowtie, white knee socks with little pink teddy bears and balloons on, baby pink sneakers, and my hair was tied up in pigtails with pink heart hair-ties. The memory was special because it was the weekend of my 23rd birthday and my boyfriend took me to the fairground near my house, and it was so super sunny and pretty and we had to walk through the cherry blossom trees to get there. All the pretty pink cherry blossom petals were raining down over us and it was so dreamlike. I had lots of fun playing games at the fairground and eating a candy apple, then later we had ice cream together. Hehe!


5. What is your experience of other people within the Kawaii community?
I have made so many friends through the kawaii community, it's amazing! And I get to talk with people with the same interests on a daily basis. Almost all the people I talk to have been super kind and supportive, and I get a very large amount of younger people asking me for advice on how to join in with the whole kawaii culture. What I love best about the Kawaii community is that everybody loves sharing links and reviews on where to buy cute things, so everybody can wear what they like and be happy- there's definitely no "you can't copy my style so don't wear the same thing as me" vibe, instead we embrace awesome things like twinning!

6. If you had the chance to wear any piece of clothing/any outfit on earth, what would it be?
Glinda, the Good Witch of the North's pink, glittery, super-puffy fairy dress from The Wizard of Oz movie (complete with bubble).

7. If you could live anywhere in the world for a month where would you go?
I know everybody can see this coming- JAPAN! I love so, so many parts of their culture and lifestyle. I would totally explore every nook and cranny of Harajuku's fashion stores, go to Akihabara and Otaroad for all the anime merchandise and to dine at the maid cafés, eat udon and sushi at a restaurant, walk through the pretty gardens and watch the koi fish, play at the arcades and win plushies from the claw machines, visit Tokyo Disneyland and Sanrio Puroland, try lots of japanese sweets and desserts, and the last thing I absolutely MUST do is visit Rabbit Island, an island overrun with thousands of adorable bunnies you can hand feed!


8. We and your fans know that you live with M.E, and we think you are a real inspiration, not just to kawaii girls, but indeed to many people who deal with painful/troublesome conditions. Has kawaii fashion and culture helped you through the tough times, and what advice would you give to others, who are maybe having a tough time with an illness/mental health issue or otherwise?
I would say it definitely has! "Kawaii" is usually heavily emphasised with positivity and soothing feelings; e.g. kawaii things in Japan are used all the time to create a happy and non-intimidating atmosphere. Even people who aren't part of the kawaii scene know the wonderful feeling you get from cuddling a cute cat. It's about lowering stress, promoting happiness and creating a feeling of safety, and I think that's a really important aspect of therapy when you have a chronic illness (physical or mental). Cuddle your favourite plushies, watch cartoons and Disney movies, play cute and gentle simulation games like Animal Crossing or Harvest Moon, listen to happy and upbeat music, eat and drink from cute plates and cups (or better yet, made cute bento lunches if you feel like you can! I use moulds shaped like bunnies, hearts and stars which make things much easier)- and of course find super kawaii yet comfortable clothes you can lounge and sleep in.

9. Okay! Back to the fun questions! Favourite foods? And a food you HATE! 
 I have a massive sweet tooth, especially for desserts- like cakes, pastries, puddings, tarts, etc! My favourite cake is strawberry gateau, made with fresh cream. However I also really love healthy food- I'm particularly passionate about veggies and I eat a mainly vegetarian diet (no meat except fish sometimes). A vegetable I really don't like would be aubergine though, icky!


10. What's your favourite thing to curl up under a blanket and watch?
K-On!, a slice of life anime about cute girls doing cute things and having a cute friendship together. I always end up watching it when I'm feeling super ill and it cheers me up so much. All the characters are just so adorable and funny. Yui, the main character, is the girl I relate to the most from any anime! Except she usually gets bad grades, and I sure don't haha.

11. Tough one, Hello Kitty or Rillakumma?
I pick Hello Kitty. I love how all her merchandise is so round, girly and soft-looking. Even Hello Kitty toasters and phones look like big round pieces of candy!

12. If you had 3 versions of yourself, what careers would you want to follow? 
One would be a toy maker, one would work at a maid café, and one would be a freelance digital artist! I am already two of these things, can you guess which ones?

13. Finally, what would you say to anyone interested in kawaii fashion/culture who might be worried or self-conscious? 
 Part of kawaii culture is about embracing the style you like and going against the grind! It's important that you remind yourself that you will stand out from the crowd and you will get stares, but try to treat that as a positive thing- you are interesting, different and cute! You are showing you have the bravery to express yourself the way you want, and anybody that scorns you for doing so is not worth your time of day. The more confidence you have, the better you will look.

Many people say that they have had self-confidence issues before they discovered kawaii fashion, myself included. Kawaii fashion has given them the boost they needed in life, has helped them discover self-love, meet great new friends and affected their life in really positive way - but what happens if you're too scared to even start wearing these styles in the first place?

I interviewed a few of my friends to find out their opinion on such matters, and I hope that they can inspire you to finally start dressing in your favourite style!

Question 1: How has your prefered 'kawaii style' (lolita, fairy kei, gyaru etc) helped your confidence?
Chris: Wearing Lolita has affected my self-confidence in a really positive way, especially when it comes to crossdressing. Not that I ever had significant issues with self-confidence, but I was very self-conscious about my appearance as a female. Everytime I wore Lolita in public, people approached me and complimented me on how good I looked and a lot of people were surprised to find out that I'm actually male, which was the best kind of reaction I could possibly get. Going out in such eye-catching fashion-style helped me get confident with more casual styles aswell.
Katherine: I have passion, drive and motivation that didn't exist before. Lolita fills my whole life and gives me new opportunities every day. I can talk to people rather than just hang around the edge of the group and hope something good happens. I even find myself ready to teach others about lolita fashion. Most of all I just find that I have a life I can enjoy how I want to, and a passion that'll never really go away.

Question 2: What was your life and fashion like before you started dressing in your 'kawaii style'?
Chris: To be honest, before I got into Lolita, or j-fashion in general, I didn't give much of a damn about fashion at all. I pretty much just wore shoes, jeans and a shirt, preferably all in black. Typically male. Thanks to a friend who wore j-fashion styles to school. I become interested in it and for the first time in my life I started researching fashion. Oh, and I had great interest in crossdressing before that, but it wasn't any good and I didn't do it in public either, because I knew it wasn't good and I wasn't confident enough.
Katherine: Rather boring. I lived with little passion, much social awkwardness. I was interested in emo fashion but due to a lack of motivation couldn't really get into it.
Alex: before japanese fashion my look was a lot less cute! My mum is a goth so I was mostly influenced by her style. I'd probably say the fashion has made me (try) act more cute as well!


Question 3: Did you have any worries before dressing in your favourite style? How did you get over it?
Chris: I was shy at first. I feared that I might be "ita". However, I ran my blog for about two years at that point, constantly reblogging things I like and I researched a lot about Lolita and took my time putting my first coord together. I also double-checked things with friends and after I got their approval I first wore Lolita at a small convention near my home town. I wasn't good at putting on make-up so I had a friend do it for me. I received a lot of positive feedback during that day and my shyness was reduced significantly. My first time with Lolita in public was during a j-fashion meet-up, so again I wasn't alone doing it and that helped me feel "safe".
Katherine: My family were my biggest worry because they all seemed to want me to dress how they dress. I found I've had to overcome this gradually by using lolita to improve my life thus improving their image of it
Alex: I'm mostly shy about seeing people I know when dressed in lolita, like class mates who I'm not especially close with. Sometimes if I see some one I recognise I hide in a shop or somethin.... OTL But I find it a lot easier if I wear a wig because then less people can recognise me!! xD I was quite nervous about wearing fairy Kei for the first time, but I decided to wear it at a rock gig. Yeah, I stood out a lot.... but the band are all about accepting people and the fans are all like family so I was positive they wouldn't hate on it. In fact some of them were asking were I bought my things from!!!
Katie: I started off too shy to wear Lolita, but then I was invited to a meet up and saw how everyone there didn't seem to have any trouble wearing it, so I decided to order my first Lolita dress.


Question 4: How do you deal with the negative attention you receive?
Chris:  I haven't received any kind of negative attention so far. People have always been friendly and asked if they could take photos and so on. Of course I noticed people looking at me, but I always thought they were looking, because I looked so good haha. I liked wearing such clothes so much it really boosted my confidence to another level.
Katherine: I like it to be honest. Most of it comes from jealousy so I take it as a compliment. Also it means that my conscious decision to dress differently to the crowd hasn't gone unnoticed.
Alex: I haven't actually had to many negative reactions. Mostly people curious about why I'm dressing up.The stares aren't a problem thanks to the previously mentioned goth mother, I gotten used to stares a long time ago! xD
Katie: I deal with negative attention by ignoring it. I don't usually pay attention to what's going on around me, and that has finally come in useful

Question 5: Any advice for newbies?
Chris: If you want to start wearing kawaii fashion, I recommend going out with friends. Everything's easier if you're not the only one doing it. If you have any friends who can give you advice and feedback to outfits and so on it's really helpful aswell.
Katherine:  The first time is the worst so I'd recommend being with a friend or few, and do something you enjoy talking about pleasant things. Confidence usually won't come instantly so find your feet in your own time. After you keep gaining confidence you'll find the rewards get greater and greater, but you have to take that first step to set out on any journey.
Alex: I'd probably suggest wearing it at a convention like Hyper Japan [or MCM Expo] first because you wouldn't look like the weird one!
Katie: Also, I think that wearing kawaii fashion makes people more confident, so if someone is too nervous to wear cute stuff, they should just go for it.

♥Lauren