[discussion] Summer Hairstyle Ideas

[disclaimer: I am not a professional hairdresser by any means, these are merely my observations based on experience and reading a bunch of Japanese fashion magazines, obviously you can do whatever you want and shine on in your particular style, just dooo it]

Hey all, this is a lolita hairstyle overview post for all of you people who wonder if there is anything else you can do with your hair besides the prototypical blunt straight across bangs with varying lengths of curls. Especially in the south, where it is so hot and humid you can bake cookies and fry eggs on your car, lolitas start looking for options to wigs + hair accessories + drowning in sweat.  If you are not dedicated to wearing a short bobbed wig or attaching the perfect fringe to your natural hair, or if you're a lifestyle lolita and just want to wear your own hair with lolita once in a while, please keep on reading for tips and example photos of hairstyles that have apparently been approved by the designers and editors (for better or worse lmao.) Some of these are excellent options to style natural hair without bangs, and some are creative ways to make an updo for natural hair and wigs, with or without bangs, to keep hair off the back of your neck and stay cool.

The latest trends include textured flattened fishtail braids with ribbons and flowers, very popular with gyaru and larme kei the past 2 seasons and also showing up in Western styles. Also you can see here various asymmetrical and symmetrical styles: centered symmetrical hair accessories such as maxi pad style headdresses or centered hairbows look ideal with symmetrical hairstyles (mostly with bangs), but that is just a guideline, side swept hair can still pull off symmetrical hair accessories if you believe enough.

I also highly recommend these youtube tutorials from lolita-tips, especially for natural hair! http://lolita-tips.tumblr.com/post/24798938231/a-guide-to-lolita-hair-tutorials

If you have very long hair with no bangs, Fanny Rosie has tons of coord pics with perfectly styled hair. Unfortunately no tutorials. (Wait she just posted some lol) 

http://fannyrosie.tumblr.com/

For very short hair or ouji, I do not have as many reference photos from the magazines or official sites. Outfits for ouji tend to include hats, which aren't exactly hot-weather items, although styles that are more gothic and visual kei/punk have a little more variety. Faux hawks, colorful extensions and braids, shaved hair are often seen with Black Peace Now, Putumayo and H. Naoto. Otherwise, mostly hats if anything, maybe some flower crowns or mini crowns or bobby pins.

I personally have straight flat hair, no bangs, that does not lend itself to curling or styling, so I am in the group of lolitas who wear wigs no matter how hot. But for casual outdoors events, I do wear a hime gyaru half-updo with a headband and various flowers and hairpins. If... I care that much anyway lol.

Whatever you do, do not pull your hair back into a plain ponytail unless you are wearing Meta's poodle skirts from a while back. Even a bun would be better. While some people may disagree, especially if they're lifestylers, I still believe that a lolita dream dress you spent hours working to purchase deserves at least 5 minutes of hair styling, even if that 5 minutes consists of you brushing your hair and putting on a hat. 

Anyway, if you have good photos or links to share, feel free to comment!