Mori Girl Style

Fashion is a common form of self expression and since deciding to make my own clothes I am now faced with huge decisions in this area that was never in my control before. What did I want to wear? Why did I want to wear those things? What materials would I make them out of? These were some of the big questions for me. As I learned how to make clothes better and better, my own style began to emerge and take shape. One of the sources I heavily based my style on was a style called Mori, or Mori Girl.

First, Mori is a Japanese word that means forest. It would translate to forest girl. This gives you the first impression of what this style is about. To be more accurate it's not supposed to be a "style", but a lifestyle. I was first drawn to Mori, because I really love the clothing style, but the more I read about it the more I liked it. Style wise it combines natural fibers, vintage styles, comfort and many symbols of nature. I was definitely down for all of that. Here are a few examples:

I also liked that it was meant to incorporate a lifestyle that I also connected with, mostly. This lifestyle was defined my someone called Choco. She came up with 62 "rules" or parameters to define Mori:

1. You like loose fitting dresses.
2. You always wear dresses and skirts.
3. You prefer slightly quirky clothes over simple ones, but you don’t like loud and flashy clothes.
4. You look natural, but with your own style.
5. You are particular about fabrics.
6. You like ethnic clothes, too.
7. You wear A-line clothes.
8. You like wearing dresses that little girls would wear, too.
9. You like smock-like dresses and blouses.
10. You don’t like super sweet fashion.
11. You like deep colors like Burgundy, Fukamidori (dark green, #00552e), Koniro (navy blue, #223a70) and Chairo (dark brown, #965042).
12. Warm colors look good on you.
13. Short nails feel more comfortable.
14. You like fluffy hats made of knitwear or fur.
15. You like ear muffs.
16. You like ponchos and boleros.
17. You want to have leather bags.
18. You use pochettes for everything.
19. You prefer gold accessories over silver.
20. You feel attracted to old things.
21. You like pocket watches.
22. You like necklaces with magnifying glasses or large designs.
23. You like designs featuring animals.
24. You like designs featuring sweets.
25. You like plaid and polka dots.
26. You like old-fashioned flower patterns.
27. You like lace.
28. You like tights and leggings.
29. Your shoes are basic and flat soled.
30. You like round toe shoes.
31. If you wear sneakers you wear them like loosely fitting cute slip-ons.
32. Instead of regular buttons you like hand-made buttons.
33. You want to wrap your stole or muffler around yourself.
34. In winter, a turtleneck design is your basis.
35. You like layering garments.
36. Puff sleeves make you feel emotional.
37. You love fairy tales.
38. Fair-skinned.
39. Your hair is loosely permed.
40. Bob cut x straight bangs.
41. Straight bangs x long loose perm,
42. Girly.
43. You like FELISSIMO.
44. Of FELISSIMO, you especially like the brands Syrup and &sloe.
45. You like the feel of Q-pot “sweets”.
46. You enjoy chilling out at cafés.
47. You like walking with a camera in your hand.
48. You unconsciously end up at variety stores.
49. You can’t help starting collections of things you like, you are a collector.
50. Finding cute books at the book store makes you happy.
51. You get excited when you visit a furniture store.
52. You like making things by hand.
53. Autumn and winter are your favorite seasons.
54. You’d like to visit Scandinavia one day.
55. You like to have round cheeks.
56. If you use perfume, you prefer faint flower scents best.
57. (You long to be) a girl that exudes a soft mood.
58. (You long to be) an uncomplicated girl.
59. You have been told you come across as laid-back.
60. You consider Hagumi Hanamoto of Honey and Clover to be a Mori Girl.
61. Shizuru Satonaka from Tada, Kimi wo Aishiteru is also a Mori Girl.
62. You have been told by a friend that it looks like you are in a forest.

I don't agree with all of these, I sure there aren't very many "Mori girls" who do, but I felt it was a great based to work from. I began a Pinterest board to develop my own version of Mori, I call it "Enchanted Forest Style". I have found some challenges with adapting the style to my life and environment. The biggest issue has been finding summer clothes that fit in the Mori style without getting heat exhaustion. I live in the Sacramento Valley of California, which gets very hot in the summer, and staying cool can be very difficult. Because of this layering becomes challenging or impossible. Getting that Mori effect without layers has been a big challenge, because of this I have another Pinterest board just for summer ideas. It has help develop some ideas that I'm pretty happy with and I know won't kill me in the summer. Shorts became a must, but I found ways of incorporating them in a way I felt matched. Last summer I even found a cute gingham swimsuit that went along with the style perfectly! Here are some pictures from that board:

There are other offshoots of the Mori style that I use in my own style as well. One of my favorites in Dark Mori. Which is basically Mori mixed with Goth and gives it this unique witchy feel to it that I love. Another related style to Mori girl, is Yama girl. Yama means mountain and the style is more focused on hiking, camping and backpacking. I, of course, love it! It is very practical, but is still a really cute style. Looking cute while in the back country is a nice addition to the practical needs. Yama girl combines these two things. Because of this I use it to develop clothes I use for backpack and often work clothes for my livestock and garden. 

I have become very passionate about this style. After I graduate in the spring I plan on opening an Etsy store and make clothes and other items that match this style and lifestyle. There are areas that I think could be expanded when it comes to Mori. One is a children's style. Mori kind of has that feel anyway, it wouldn't be challenging to create a child Mori style. Some of the values of the Mori style make a lot of sense for a children's style. Comfort is a big thing and so are natural fibers which are more functional than synthetic if used right and they handle wear and tear much better. This would provide a long lived, comfortable, durable, but cute looking clothes that I think not only would appeal to children, but also their parents. Here are some ideas I've found for children:

 Maternity is the other area that I think needs expanding. I feel this is actually important for the Mori to embrace this aspect if it's supposed to be a lifestyle. I will definitely being doing this for my own pregnancies in the future. It would be simple to take many ideas already out there in Mori and use them during maternity. Empire waist dresses that are very popular within the Mori style make good maternity dresses. Here are a few designs that I plan to try out in the future for maternity:

What do you guys think of Mori? What styles do you guys like and incorporate into your own style? What kind of work have you done on your style? Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!