Lolita fashion (ロリータファッション, rorīta fasshon) is a subculture from Japan that is highly influenced by Victorian clothing and styles from the Rococo period.[1][2][3][4][5][6] A very distinctive property of Lolita fashion is the aesthetic of cuteness.[7][8] This clothing subculture can be categorized into three main substyles: 'gothic', 'classic', and 'sweet'.[3][9] Many other substyles such as 'sailor', 'country', 'hime' (princess), 'guro' (grotesque), 'qi' and 'wa' (based on traditional Chinese and Japanese dress), 'punk', 'shiro' (white), 'kuro' (black), and 'steampunk' lolita also exist. This style evolved into a widely followed subculture in Japan and other countries in the 1990s and 2000s[10][11][12][13][14] and may have waned in Japan as of the 2010s as the fashion became more mainstream.[15][16][17]
Loli Thai Lolita Collection Vol 3
The main feature of Lolita fashion is the volume of the skirt, created by wearing a petticoat or crinoline.[18][19][20] The skirt can be either bell-shaped or A-line shaped.[20] Components of the lolita wardrobe consist mainly of a blouse (long or short sleeves) with a skirt or a dress, which usually comes to the knees.[21] Lolitas frequently wear wigs in combination with other headwear such as hair bows or a bonnet (similar to a Poke bonnet). Lolitas can also wear Victorian style drawers under their petticoats. For further effect some Lolitas use knee socks, ankle socks or tights together with either high heels or flat shoes with a bow are worn. Other typical Lolita garments are a jumperskirt (JSK) and one-piece (OP).[22]
In the late nineties, the Jingu Bashi (also called the Harajuku Bridge) became known as meeting place for youth who wore lolita and other alternative fashion,[10][38][39][40] and lolita became more popular causing a spurt of lolita Fashion selling warehouses.[41] Important magazines that contributed to the spread of the fashion style were the Gothic & Lolita Bible (2001), a spin-off of the popular Japanese fashion magazine KERA [ja] (1998), and FRUiTS (1997).[42][43] It was around this time when interest and awareness of Lolita Fashion began entering countries outside of Japan, with The Gothic & Lolita Bible being translated into English, distributed outside of Japan through the publisher Tokyopop,[44][45] and FRUits publishing an English picture book of the Japanese Street Fashion in 2001. As the style became further popularized through the Internet, more shops opened abroad, such as Baby, The Stars Shine Bright in Paris (2007)[14] and in New York (2014).[46]
Many of the very early lolitas in the 1990s hand-made most of their clothing, and were inspired by the Dolly Kei movement of the previous decade.[31] Because of the diffusion of fashion magazines people were able to use lolita patterns to make their own clothing.[citation needed] Another way to own lolita was to buy it second-hand.[104] The do-it-yourself behaviour can be seen more frequently by people who cannot afford the expensive brands.[105]
Once more retail stores began selling lolita fashion, it became less common for lolitas to make their own clothing.[citation needed] Partly due to the rise of e-commerce and globalization, lolita clothing became more widely accessible with the help of the Internet. The market was quickly divided into multiple components: one which purchases mainly from Japanese or Chinese internet marketplaces, the other making use of shopping services to purchase Japanese brands,[76] with some communities making larger orders as a group.[106] Not every online shop delivers quality lolita (inspired) products, a notorious example is Milanoo (2014).[107] Some web shops sell brand replicas, which is frowned upon by many in this community.[108] A Chinese replica manufacturer that is famous for his replica design is Oo Jia.[108] Second-hand shopping is also an alternative to buying new pieces as items can be bought at a lower price (albeit with varying item condition) and is the sole method of obtaining pieces that are no longer produced by their respective brand.
Many lolitas consider being photographed without permission to be rude and disrespectful,[109][110][111] however some rules differ or overlap in different parts of this community.[112] Lolitas often host meetings in public spaces such as parks, restaurants, cafes, shopping malls, public events, and festivals.[113] Some meetings take place at members' homes, and often have custom house rules (e.g. each member must bring their own cupcake to the meeting).[114] Lolita meetings therefore are a social aspect of the lolita fashion community, serving as an opportunity for members to meet one another.[citation needed] Many lolitas also used to use Livejournal to communicate, but many have switched to Facebook groups in the interim.[115]
Within Japanese culture the name refers to cuteness and elegance rather than to sexual attractiveness.[128][129] Many lolitas in Japan are not aware that lolita is associated with Nabokov's book and they are disgusted by it when they discover such relation.[130] The Japanese sense of "Lolita" also appears in lolicon (from "Lolita complex"),[131][132] a term associated with Russell Trainer's novel The Lolita Complex (1966, translated 1969) and associated with otaku (anime and manga fan) culture. The concept and genre of media reflects a blend between the aesthetic of kawaii and sexual themes in fiction.[122]
On one of her early missions she had to adopt an outfit in gothic lolita style as part of a disguise, and she decided she liked it, taking it as her primary look ever since. She has a tendency to take interest in and play with other things she finds cute, such as a starfish she found while walking on the sea bed.[1][3]
Outside Japan, Lolita fashion has gained a strong foothold. Most lolitas gather together to form communities with other lolitas close to them. These communities gather together and wear the fashion in meetups, where they can enjoy the company of others who wear the same interests. Lolita communities also have a huge online presence, allowing people in rural areas to communicate, trade, and sell.
The style is not mass-marketed outside Japan, though small stores have emerged. Baby, The Stars Shine Bright, and Angelic Pretty both operate stores in Paris and San Francisco. Numerous indie brands and resellers have popped up all over the world. The Chinese site Taobao hosts scores of lolita retailers who are can sell their designs internationally with shopping services like Spreenow. The lolita secondhand market is booming on sites like LaceMarket and Facebook Marketplace.
A full Lolita outfit is called a "coord" or coordinate. Every outfit will include a dress or skirt to achieve the proper lolita silhouette. Dresses are made with very full skirts to accommodate a petticoat. Lolita dresses are categorized as either JSKs or OPs. JSKs, or jumperskirts, are sleeveless dresses normally worn over a blouse, and OPs, or one-pieces, are worn without a blouse.
From 2009-2014, sweet lolita was all the rage and it was very popular to wear multiple hair accessories, a wig, circle lenses, fake lashes, deco nails, and wear more elaborate makeup. That style is now called OTT (Over The Top) sweet lolita.
Gothic lolita accessories can be more experimental. Rectangle headdresses, bonnets, and bows are popular, but you can also see wide-brim hats, crowns, horns, or antlers. Shoes vary widely- Mary Janes, boots, and platform shoes are all acceptable. Bags and purses can be simple or shaped like coffins or bats, etc.
Moi-même-Moitié was the first gothic lolita brand, founded by visual kei rock musician Mana in 1999. Mana was the first figurehead of the fashion and is often jokingly referred to as a god. His brand released two lines of clothing, Elegant Gothic Lolita (EGL) and Elegant Gothic Aristocrat (EGA). EGL has still used as a label for the lolita community and the EGA line started Aristocrat fashion.
Is the old (90s, early 2000s) version of lolita fashion. It is visually very different from modern lolita, so it is often referred to as a separate sub-style. Compared to lolita now, it was more "frumpy". Fabrics were often solid, tartan, or gobelin. Petticoats, matching, and a full coord of lolita pieces were unnecessary. Old school lolita is still frequently worn in this day and age, much to the delight of nostalgic veterans.
Also known as Ouji or Dandy depending on the substyle, is a Japanese street fashion which, like Aristocrat, is frequently associated with Lolita; it is not considered a Lolita style but shares many aesthetics with Lolita since it is the masculine counterpart of the style. Despite being the male equivalent of Lolita, Boystyle can be worn by people of all genders, just as Lolita can be. It can feature a lot of elements such as flowers, makeup, and accessories, which are not seen as typically masculine, but can also have just as many substyles as lolita (e.g. sweet, gothic, classic, and more).
Celestia loathed her true self and the common world she was born into, considering her given name of Taeko Yasuhiro a "loser's name", and so sometime during her childhood, Celestia retreated into an obsession with European royalty - particularly of the Victorian and Rococo period and European historical figures like Marie Antoinette. To make her life appear more glamorous, she took on the European-sounding name "Celestia Ludenberg" and concocted a fictional backstory for herself in which her father was a member of the French nobility, and her mother was a member of a German family of musicians. She began adopting a fake ambiguous European accent and wearing and designing her own well-known line of lolita fashion. Her ultimate dream in life was to own and live in a European castle filled with handsome male servants dressed as vampires, and this dream is what led her into the world of gambling in order to raise the significant amount of money she would need. 2ff7e9595c
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