we are the children of the time machine

I love being a mori girl. The lifestyle and the community are major reasons why I feel comfortable identifying as a mori girl. But the thing that always gets me is the clothing style. The sub-styles of mori that most mori girls are familiar with are the ones that contain layering and lace, which is a lovely look for many. But what about the girls that prefer not to wear so many layers? What about the mori girls out there who love shorts and t-shirts? What about them?

This is why I strongly believe that magazine mori should be just as popularized as the traditional mori style. Magazine mori is a not very well known sub-style of mori that is found in more popular asian fashion magazines. This style combines the traditional mori kei idea of a forest-looking aura with the practicality and simplicity of the city. I believe this style is practical and important for those girls living in the city who want to represent themselves but without standing out too much. 

Mori girls who don’t prefer the traditional mori kei style shouldn’t be lost and confused. They shouldn’t be questioning whether or not they truly are a mori girl because they don’t prefer the traditional ideas. No one especially should be questioning them about it either. No one should be thinking am I mori enough? because of what they wear. 

One of the biggest pros of being in the mori community is the fact that everybody is open to new ideas. Mori kei shouldn’t be a set of guidelines, it should be how a mori girl or boy represents their interests, their feelings, and their personality through clothing of choice. 

Bc this look is so popular (on tumblr at least), and the mori tag is 90% taobao items/looks, it just seems like the default. It is interesting that certain people have gone as far to term this style as REAL MORI when it would be better described as “taobao mori”. I also think that this style is very ott (like ott lolita) compared to the mori you see in street snaps, or even early style bloggers like catsinstrawhats, hiu.yu, shanadeer, i’m forgetting lots it’s been a while… but they all dress in a more subdued, yet eclectic, rustic, real, slightly eccentric, person out in the woods fashion. this is notable as well since the extremely lacey, gauzey, white and cream look was always deemed a different beast in earlier communities, since it was unsuitable for popular hobby’s like forest walks, gardening, even “too much” for crafting or baking.

I aggree on the idea that the more “casual” maybe side of mori is really different from the “original mori” let’s say but while TaoBao is a huge thing I must say is not unique.

Lately,a lot of Shana shops have opening here.Shana is a frech brand of clothing just like any other,just like Primark or idk Zara and the likes but the particular thing is that their designs use lots of patterns ( especially for the autumn collection) with natural colours like beige,navy,green and burgundy. I usually look at them and I kinda get a mori vibe but most of the time is not layering stuff;maybe a kimono jacket here or shorts over tights there but that’s it. I think this is a style that does not require natural threads and textiles that could be easier to access in comparison to mori for most people.

Where I live there is only one thrift store and everything it has is either 90s or 2000s with very loud colours but cardigans and blouses can be found in normal stores.

Plus,maybe it is just me but most of WR and TaoBao stuff remind me a lot of otome kei…???

The only thing I don’t particularly like is the name of magazine mori. I mean,it feels as if it was high and luxury,like ott while in RL I feel it is a lot more subdued. It kind of feels like “garden/backyard kei” or something like that rather than mori kei ^^.

catsinstrawhats' Cath here. Just jumping in with a few thoughts off the top of my noggin (as I randomly came across this when ego-searching! Hah) - also, I am old and am not used to new Tumblr, so maybe I am replying in the wrong place...

10-15 years ago, there really weren't one-stop shops for mori fashion (such as stores on Taobao) available to people outside Japan (or China in the case of stores like Dear-Li). Moreover, even when we could use a third-party/shipping service, most of the mori bloggers I knew were in high school/university, so we really didn't have the money to use these services. So our wardrobes were a mix of thrifting, sewing, and making do with what we could find in local stores that fit the vibe - the whole search process was actually one of my favourite parts of dressing in the mori style! I would go to the thrift store twice a week, searching endlessly for items that even vaguely looked like things I had seen in the mori girl mooks.

Whilst it doesn't really come up in my regular conversation, for my own point of reference, I tend to refer to the original style (from the mixi community to the establishment of places like Wonder Rocket) as "mori-girl", whilst the newer iteration of it as "mori-kei". When mori was initially popular, it was rarely, if ever, referred to as mori-kei! (Although I understand the use of kei helps make it a more open style than pairing it with "girl"!)

It is kind of weird thinking of mori fashion having rules- even the outfits featured in Japanese magazines and Japanese mori communities were so diverse! Trousers, dresses, skirts- a mix of it all! In fact, I loved to wear trousers/shorts as much as I did dresses- and most of those styles I emulated from other mori girls! I think this somewhat rule-free nature of the style drew me to it initially- Has this idea changed??

ネルケン (NELKEN)

These colors <3