Le Petit Atelier

History of the Subculture

The Basics

Lolita fashion is a subculture strongly influenced by Victorian clothing and Rococo styles, originating in Japan in the late 1970s/early 1980s. The subculture includes three primary substyles: Gothic, Classic, and Sweet. Additional substyles, connected closely or loosely to the main ones, include sailor, country, hime (princess), guro (grotesque), qi and wa (inspired by traditional Chinese and Japanese dress), punk, shiro (white), kuro (black), and steampunk. The Lolita style evolved into a widely followed subculture in Japan and other countries in the 1990s and 2000s, though its popularity had waned in Japan by the 2010s, as alternative fashions gained traction. Despite this, Lolita fashion remains popular worldwide and has a notable online presence.

Further History

Although the origin of the fashion is unclear, at the end of the 1970s, a new movement known as Otome (乙女) was founded, which slightly influenced Lolita fashion since Otome means maiden, and the maiden style looks like a less elaborate Lolita style. Before Otome-kei emerged, there was already a rise of cuteness culture in the earlier seventies; during this period, there was a strong emphasis on cute and childish handwriting in Japanese schools. As a result, the company Sanrio began experimenting with cute designs. The cuteness style, known as kawaii style, became popular in the 1980s. After Otome Do-It-Yourself became popular, which led to the emergence of a new style called 'dolly-kei', the predecessor of Lolita fashion.

Between 1977 and 1998, a large part of the Harajuku shopping district closed for car traffic on Sundays. The result was an increase in interaction between pedestrians in Harajuku. When brands like PINK HOUSE (1973), Milk (1970), and Angelic Pretty (1979) began to sell cute clothing, it resulted in the emergence of a new style that would later become known as 'Lolita'.

The term 'Lolita' first appeared in the fashion magazine Ryukou Tsushin in the September 1987 issue. Shortly after that, Baby, The Stars Shine Bright (1988), Metamorphose temps de fille (1993), and other brands emerged. In the 1990s, Lolita became more accepted, with visual kei bands like Malice Mizer and others rising in popularity; these band members wore elaborate clothes that fans began to adopt. During this time Japan went through an economic depression, leading to an increase in alternative youth and fashion cultures such as gyaru, otaku, visual kei, and Lolita, as well as visual-kei-inspired clothing such as Mori, Fairy Kei, and Decora. Partly due to the economic difficulties, there was large growth in the cuteness and youth cultures that originated in the seventies.

In the late nineties, the Jingu Bashi (also called the Harajuku Bridge) became known as a meeting place for youth who wore Lolita and other alternative fashion, and Lolita became more popular, causing a surge in warehouses selling Lolita fashion. 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 (1998), and FRUiTS (1997). It was around this time that interest in and awareness of Lolita fashion began entering countries outside of Japan, with the Gothic & Lolita Bible being translated into English and distributed outside of Japan through the publisher Tokyopop, and FRUiTS publishing an English picture book of 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) and in New York (2014).

Sources of Inspiration

European culture has always been a source of inspiration and influence for Lolita fashion. There was also the book of Alice in Wonderland (1865) [50][51], written by Lewis Carroll, which has influenced many different brands and magazines (such as Alice Deco) [34]. One might think, why Alice? This is because Alice was an ideal icon for Shōjo (shoujo)-image, meaning an image of eternal innocence and beauty.[55][54] These are important qualites of Lolita for many reasons. Another figure from Rococo that served as a source of inspiration was Marie Antoinette; the manga The Rose of Versailles (Lady Oscar), based on her court, was created in 1979.

Popularization

People who have popularized the Lolita fashion include Yukari Tamura, Mana, and Novala Takemoto. Takemoto wrote the light novel Kamikaze Girls (2002) about the relationship between Momoko, a Lolita girl, and Ichigo, a yankī. The book was adapted into a film and a manga in 2004.

Mana is a musician who is known for popularizing Gothic Lolita fashion, which he calls "EGL," or "Elegant Gothic Lolita." He played in the rock band Malice Mizer (1992–2001) and founded the heavy metal band Moi dix Mois (2002–present). Both bands—whose members are known for eccentric expressions and elaborate costumes—are a part of the visual kei movement. Mana founded his own fashion label, known as Moi-même-Moitié in 1999, which specializes in Gothic Lolita. Both bands are very interested in the Rococo period.

These are just a few inspirations of the subculture.

Motives

Lolita originated as a reaction against stifling Japanese society, in which young people are pressured to strictly adhere to gender roles and the expectations and responsibilities that are part of these roles. Wearing fashion inspired by childhood clothing is a reaction against this, and this can be explained from two perspectives; it is a way to escape adulthood and to go back to the eternal beauty of childhood, and it is an escape to a fantasy world, in which an ideal identity can be created that would not be acceptable in daily life.

Some Lolitas say they enjoy the dress of the subculture simply because it is fun and not as a protest against traditional Japanese society; this is especially true for Lolitas outside of Japan. Other motives can be that wearing the fashion style increases their self-confidence or to express an alternative identity.

Terminolgy

Lolita fashion emerged decades after the publication of Vladimir Nabokov's novel Lolita (1955); the first Japanese translation was published in 1959. The novel, as many may know, is about a middle-aged man, Humbert Humbert, who grooms and abuses a twelve-year-old girl nicknamed Lolita. Because the book focused on the controversial subject of pedophilia and underage sexuality, "Lolita" soon developed a negative connotation referring to a girl inappropriately sexualized at a very young age and associated with unacceptable sexual obsession. In Japan, however, discourse around the novel instead built on the country's romanticized girls' culture (shōjo bunka), and came to be a positive (or at least neutral) synonym for the "sweet and adorable" adolescent girl, without a perverse or sexual connotation.

Despite having zero link to the book, people often are reminded of these connotations when presented with the Lolita subculture, especially those who are unaware of the fashion but aware of the novel. Within Japanese culture the name refers to cuteness and elegance rather than to sexual attractiveness. 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 a relation. ✳

Another common confusion is between the Lolita fashion style and cosplay. Although both originated in Japan, they are different and should be perceived as independent from each other. One is a fashion style while the other is role-play, with clothing and accessory being used to play a character. However, there may be some overlap between the groups. This can be seen at anime conventions such as the convention in Göteborg in which cosplay and Japanese fashion is mixed. For some Lolitas, it is insulting if people label their outfit as a costume.

My Wishlist

Sources and Lolita Based Pages