In the grand scheme of things, I think Meta has been one of the few brands to stay pretty consistent over the years. Beautiful prints with interesting themes, a wide variety of styles, and every now and then something crazy. They’ve even kept those ridiculous raschel lace overlays! But they haven’t resisted the changing tides entirely. So I was pleasantly surprised to see this on their Japanese site today:
Meta used to be pretty well known for their uniform-style clothes, especially this super rare 2003 nurse set:
Which looks so strikingly similar! The series is called Engelsbeginn, or, scandalously, D.Walkure II. This series thankfully manages to avoid looking offensive and looks more medical than military, but the styling is mildly similar. Medical themed things haven’t been popular with brands for a long time, ever since the transition from more cosplay styles to more fashion outfits that saw rectangular headdresses and aprons go. I think it’s pretty cool though, and no doubt it will sell well with how hard to find and expensive the original 2003 set is. There’s some more pictures of different color schemes (all named after angels, to add an extra level of confusion) over here!
Hy Megan,
it might be me, but I’ve noticed that nursing themes are really popular in Lolita. How so?
I find it so costume like :P
Hello! Well I wouldn’t say they’re overly popular, brands don’t make them often. People do like them quite a bit though, which is why the older set is so hard to find. I think there’s a couple of reasons why medical stuff exists. For one, back when lolita started it was a lot more exaggerated and costumey. It was pretty standard to wear aprons with things and wear big bell sleeves and headdresses. Another is that it suits the macabre aesthetic that some lolitas look for. Gothic styles often feature things like skulls, grave stones, etc. so I don’t think it’s too much different. It is a little weird that certain sorts of “themed” sets or accessories are considered too much by most people (cat ears, for example) and others are just seen as fine. I’m not sure how that came about.