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Japan is a weird place. From its movies to its festivals to its dining habits, the country has a long history of giving birth to some truly bizarre sh*t, then sending it overseas to our eagerly awaiting, comparatively bland Western hands.
The most recent weirdo Eastern trend to show up on American shores is the fashion movement known as Lolita. Despite the fact that is sounds like some filthy daddy-daughter fetish scene, Lolita, according to most enthusiasts, has nothing at all to do with sexuality and everything to do with embracing your inner well-behaved Victorian-era prepubescent girl.
Ladies who practice Lolita do so by dressing themselves like the porcelain doll that your got for your eighth birthday, then going online to connect with other girls who dress like the porcelain doll that you got for your eighth birthday, then getting together to do things like sing karaoke, drink tea, and attend animae conventions.
Huh.
According to one Lolita site, the movement originated in the 1980s when Japanese teens would kick it every weekend in downtown Tokyo jamming to rock bands and getting all gussied up for each other. A small faction of girls on this scene, for one reason or another, started sporting Little-Bo-Peep-esque ensembles; a few key trendmakers picked up on the look and started companies like Baby, The Stars Shine Bright and Manifesteange Metamorphose temps de fille that specialized in producing the frilly, old-fashioned clothing, some Japanese rock bands embraced the trend, and thus the Lolita subculture was born.
There are a number of “styles” of Lolita that a lady can choose from. For the girly traditionalists who like lace, pastels, ruffles, knee socks - the whole little girl work - the Sweet Lolita look is probably their best bet. Angsty types who like black and abhor the sunlight make perfect Goth Lolitas, and for those grown women who want to want to wear elaborate costumes but still be kind of adult-ish about it, the Victorian Lolita look is less kitsch, more class. Wizard of Oz fans can make like Dorothy and rock the gingham as a Country Lolita, and chicks who are all about blood-spattered nurse uniforms would do well as Guro Lolitas. (No, for real.)
But no matter what type of Lolita a girl identifies herself as, all practitioners agree that the ideal Lolita not only looks like a classic lady but is a classic lady: poised, polite, gentle, and soft-spoken at all times. For girls who embrace the lifestyle, being Lolita is ultimately about creating a more fantastic, “pretty” existence for yourself to escape the drudgery of the day to day, a.k.a. playing some serious motherf*cking dress-up.
Unsurprisingly, some people take issue with the Lolita style. For one, the association of the name with the infamous Vladimir Nabokov novel combined with the fact that the movement is about adult women dressing like fetishized little girls understandably strikes some people as disturbing. And personally, I’m not overly impressed with the vaguely misogynistic undertones to the whole scene. However, as I mentioned before, ladies who identify themselves as Lolita don’t associate the style with sexuality at all and instead see it as a means of expressing themselves; of building confidence and being part of a community.
In a recent New York Times piece, Lolita Kelsey Hine said about the style “…it gives us a sense of self…it’s meant for girls. Girl on girl fashion as opposed to girls for men fashion.”
While I have no intentions of going Lolita myself, I do think that there are some good ideas that can be taken away from the trend. Good quality bonding with like-minded sisters certainly never hurt anyone, and taking the time to get down with your inner child can do wonders for the soul. Times are tough, and the reality of young adulthood can be a bitter pill to swallow. Sometimes, making a like a five-year-old and adding a little whimsy to everyday life helps to put things in perspective and remind yourself that the world really is a lovely place.
But I’ll do it by playing on a swing set while mowing down on FunDip, because dudes, the day I wear a petticoat and bloomers is the day hell freezes over.
39 Comments
Ew weird!
Lol, the basic idea is kind of cool though..
It’s weird that this is “the most recent” trend. I’ve been knowing about Lolita for about 8 years now. Strange. And also, the type of Lolita you are referring to is called “Sweet Lolita.” If you think that’s weird check out “Gothic Lolita.” Not as sweet and innocent, that’s for sure.
Yeah, Read about japanese fashions theyre adorable!!!!! Ganguro, Lolita, Gothic Lolita, theres hundres, yamamba (which is like extreme ganguro) theyre really, really interesting, even if one is not bold enough to wear the clothes (i admit i have a few 80-inch knee high japanese import platforms and several bunny-style clothing - hoodies with bunny ears, etc, from japan. I ;love the style!!!) But i understand how its weird to most people, haha!
xox
er….I meant 8 inch, of course!!
I love Lolita! I even have a couple outfits that I donned at ACen earlier this year. I think the whole style is really innovative and fun. I also agree that it has nothing to do with sexuality; just because it’s called “Lolita” doesn’t mean you can automatically connect it to that novel written by a closet pedophile.
And don’t be knockin’ Japanese culture, they’re at the forefront of fashion, unlike the majority of the United States.
I don’t think I’d ever wear this style but I do think it’s cute.
And don’t hate me for saying this but I read the book Lolita last summer and I liked it. There aren’t many writers out there that can simultaniously horrify me, and make me want to find out what happens next at the same time. It is a very disturbing, but well written book.
Also, if you read the book, you’ll notice that the main character often dresses Dolly (Lolita) in clothes that are similar to the fashion the Japanese girls wear. I don’t think it is necessarily sexual, but I do think there can be connections made to the book.
Could you have written this article with any less class and research on the topic? Not to mention your use of the English language is atrocious and redundant. When writing about something of a different subculture or something you don’t fully understand you should come off as a lot less biased and judgmental. You obviously don’t have a good grasp on the basic aesthetics, terminology and optional philosophy of the fashion (not costume) nor the community that surrounds it. I would have expected a much more eloquent article from a University of Michigan student, but I guess a college education doesn’t make you an intelligent, well-poised individual.
Oh, and on another note- how is wearing frilly, girly clothes misogynistic? You don’t need to wear pants to be a self-respecting woman. If you are insiuating that if a woman wears what she finds to be aesthetically pleasing is bad then YOU are being the misogynistic one.
Everything about this article is offensive and amateurish. I would keep your day job.
This is one of the worst articles I’ve ever read. I agree with Cara, could you have done a WORSE job of researching for and writing this?
I’m glad that you have your own opinion, but how much of your subject did you actually look into?
Did you personally SPEAK to any of the girls in your area who chose to dress lolita?
Did you ask THEM why THEY do it instead of just googling it and deciding that the first lolita bashing website you found would do well enough?
Also, it isn’t a great idea to START OFF an article insulting a country. It shows that you aren’t very educated at all.
This is terribly written, not to mention the description of lolita fashion itself is poor. You obviously spent about 5 minutes on google researching this, instead of actually LOOKING in to the fashion.
Your stereotyping of the sub-styles of lolita disgusts me. I am a gothic lolita and we are not the type who angst more than the typical young adult nor do we abhor the sunlight. Most of us dress gothic because we look better in darker colours or prefer a more elegant look to the candy-coated toothache that can be sweet lolita.
And as Cara mentioned above, HOW is lolita misogynistic? If you ask a lot of young men, they find lolita strange and (shock!) even unattractive! I find the short skirts and breast-bearing tops most of my peers wear to be much more misogynistic than my modest skirts and frills. Which, by the way, I wear because I like to, not because I need to feel sexy.
I hope for your sake that you are not majoring in journalism.
Way to start an article, by stating that “Japan is weird”. Yeah, well, USA is weird too.
And your article is just as atrocious. Please do some research before writing about something you don’t understand. It’s good that you seem maybe, well, at least interested, but it’s kind-of disrespectful to those of us who follow the fashion.
“…it gives us a sense of self…it’s meant for girls. Girl on girl fashion as opposed to girls for men fashion.”
This quote also seems out of place with nothing backing it up. Are you implying something when you say “Girl on girl” fashion? Yeah, you MAY want to rethink that. ;
Not only is this article badly written, it’s also done so in bad taste.
It’s a shame that it seems every person who decides to write an article about Lolita never captures the real essence of it, and instead just makes tons of references to sexuality and Nabokov’s Lolita - we’ve heard it a million times, and we’ll say it a million times that Lolita has nothing to do with being sexual - aside from Ero Lolita, that is, however even in this style, most of the time more skin is covered than you find with average American teenage girls with their low cut shirts and miniskirts.
Also, I would advise you to avoid describe things as “weird” or “weirdo” simply because they are different. It surprises me you’re actually in college, this sounds like the ramblings of a gossipy highschooler’s blog.
Hey, I actually found your article pretty amusing, even as a lolita myself. It’s obviously pretty tongue-in-cheek, so hey, yay for being less serious.
I’m only curious as to what would lead you to believe that lolita has “vaguely misogynistic undertones”? I’ve always found lolita to be exactly the opposite, as celebrating the ideas of femininity and sisterhood, but maybe you see it differently. I wish that you had explained this part, and would love to hear more from your side of it.
I’m sure I am being a bit obnoxious by reiterating this, but exactly how much research did you do? Beyond the horibly stereotyped description of lolita, your grammar is atrocious. I’ve read reports by 5th graders that were more properly composed. For a site catering to college students, you would think half of this stuff would be well written. Even if I didn’t care for the fashion, I would be completely stunned at the poor construction of this.
Next, nothing about lolita is intended in a sexual way. If someone is sexually attracted to almost fully covered teens/young adults something is wrong with them, not the lolitas. At least you don’t see girls in lolita being tramps.
Do you even have a fact checker? Not only is this article poorly researched, but it’s littered with spelling errors and references to businesses who’s names are improperly written.
It’s Metamorphose Temps de Fille, there is no other word before Metamorphose.
Anime doesn’t have an “a” in it, and that’s an easy place to have meetups but has no attachment to style whatsoever.
Also, if this is the latest trend, then why was it started in 1980? It’s not a trend, or a fad, but a rather long running fashion. It’s also not a costume. It’s a fashion, period.
Poorly researched and chock full of logical fallacies.
I for one am a lolita. The fact that you said “But no matter what type of Lolita a girl identifies herself as, all practitioners agree that the ideal Lolita not only looks like a classic lady but is a classic lady: poised, polite, gentle, and soft-spoken at all times.” is quite strange as its utter lies.
I’m neither poised, gentle nor soft-spoken. There is no standard that we have to live upto we are our own selves in this fashion. Some of us are quite bitchy and I even know that one of us is a biker, very fair from those so-called ’standards’.
Yeah, I’m going to have to agree that this is one of the worst researched articles on lolita fashion that I have ever read. Also, you don’t credit your photos, the first one is obviously a magazine spread and I saw the second one on flickr yesterday. Way to go, copywrite infringement! I guess the University didn’t teach you about that in journalism 101, huh?
Ah.. this reminds me of the time when my class worked on a huge project and the professor had to force the newspaper writer to not make us look like victims of a conspiracy. Have you not learned ethics in your writing classes? Oh, of course not, because nobody uses what they learn in the classroom, anyway.
Ever since the lolita fashion has been brought to the attention of the mainstream media, I have seen many articles on the subject; to my dismay, many of these pieces are either written with a poor base of research or an already substantial negative bias by the author. Unfortunately, I must say that this article follows the same pattern of ignorance.
Lolita fashion is not worn for the admiration of pedophiles or meant to be used in any sexual connotation for that matter. It is a return to innocence and an escape from the limitations of expression in femininity, so prevalent in today’s society.
Girls today are forced by peer pressure and gender roles to confine to the cookie cutter image of what is considered “sexy” by the media. How can you tell me that our clothing is based solely on the attraction of men, when every other ad in the average girl’s magazine expresses the same objective?
I prefer to wear my petticoat, my corset, and my bloomers, and frankly feel very empowered and dignant in doing so.
I applaud you in trying, I suppose. But next time you decide to write an article, please try not to blow a string of misconceptions out of your undergarments. Frankly, it is unladylike, and you obviously have the world of research at your disposal if you have wriiten this article online.
Eme: in defense of accuracy, the writer does refer to Metamorphose correctly. I was surprised a while back to discover that Metamorphose Temps de Fille is a shortened version of “Manifesteange Metamorphose Temps de Fille,” just like Metamorphose or Meta refers to the same company. If you would check their website, the company explains their whole name and its meaning in their About Us section.
Thank you for linking to our site and using some of our information but you really could have researched this better. You state that all Lolitas agree that they should act proper at all times but if you had delved into our site further and looked at our ‘Lolita Myths’ section or even have any knowledge of the Lolita community at all you could know that this is not the case. Clothes do not change someone’s personality and while some Lolitas do like to act the way you have suggested it is not universally agreed upon as the norm.
Also, what is this ‘animae’ and where can I get some?
Did you sleep through your journalism class?
I feel so embarrassed that you go to the same school as me. Please, gtfo.
Obviously, you have no idea what lolita is or what it’s about. Who in the world let you write that article?? Where are the facts?, where are the sources?
I’ve never read a more poorly written article. haha
Is this supposed to be journalism?
Honestly?
… are you honestly serious? You have insulted JAPAN in the first paragraph of this rubbish article. What on earth were you thinking? Look at the USA for God’s sake, all day every day- Oprah, Dr. Phil, people on documentaries thinking they’re VAMPIRES, LOTS of people in America believe they’ve been abducted by Aliens on a constant basis, people who believe they can talk to ghosts, celebrity scandals all day every day, Tom Cruise dated this person so Tom Cruise is now better than John Travolta, you name it- and you’re sticking your nose into how Japan is weird?!
My God, I am into Lolita fashion and I can say, I don’t have men groping my ass when I walk past- I get cat calls, people yelling from cars and all the rest, what the hell is wrong with you? If you would have atLEAST sent an email to a current Lolita, you might know that it’s nothing like what you stated above.
I honestly wish some people wouldn’t get too ahead of themselves, producing utter garbage that just sends a false and biased message to those who read (that have no idea about Lolita or anything it involves).
If you’re studying journalism (or atleast paid attention in High School) you’d know that Journalists are better off stating the facts instead of bringing people their opinion, because that’s what you’ve done. If I had to go through this entire article, I’d false you out on so much of it.
Ugh, if I could, I’d probably kick you in the arse right now.
“Also, what is this ‘animae’ and where can I get some?”
Also, I second this.
You are a very poor writer and I suggest taking English 101 and Journalism 101. This is a biased, poorly written article that lacks one of the most important parts of journalism: interviews. It would have taken about five minutes to find a lolita who would be willing to answer a few questions. Instead, you borrow and steal from secondary sources? Shame on you.
Also, I understand that you inserted vulgarities to sound edgy, but it comes off as rather forced. If you don’t feel comfortable swearing in your writing, you don’t have to.
You’re in college, so maybe you should learn to write an essay that a college student would write instead of degrading bullshit.
your journalism professor would deny teaching you if he saw this pathetic bullshit. if you have no idea what you’re writing about, please DO NOT write it at all. fail.
This is a very poorly written and researched article. Did the author even talk to anyone who has lived in Japan, or even an actual Japanese person? Also, very biased and judgmental. It’s just fashion, some people like bloomers, and some people like hot pants and tube-tops.
And Japan is not a weird place. People are kind and polite there. It may be weird by YOUR standards, but this is nothing new or unusual there. I seriously hope the author is not a journalism major.
Althought i believe in freedom of speech, your article is full of inaccuracies. It’s highly opinionated and insults all lolitas, whether they live in Japan or not. I’d like to assume that you’re a feminist who finds the whole lolita scene “degrading” to the independent macho females of today, but trying to prove your point with an article as badly written as your own will only end up blowing up in your face. In truth, your article just makes you sound xenophobic and prejudiced. Lolita is a style of fasion just as much as preppy, punk, and nerdy are. People all have negative assumptions about driffent cliques; whether in school or the “real” world. All i can say is that the next time you decide to write an article, either get your facts staight or just burn your paper. P.S. Pedophiles go for little children, not lolitas. Those people are just called perverts.
Do you know anything AT ALL About lolita???!
I believe the tone of the writer of the article is amused, bordering ‘mocking’ if not at all. Did the Japan-bashing bandwagon go by again? I hope readers have enough sense not to take her seriously. She’s probably secretly having a laugh at all the fallacies she created.
P.S. I’m not an American. And not a lolita. Although, the kodona fashion interests me very much.
I think if you searched this entire site you would find much of the same irreverant humour and tongue-in-cheek writing style. This is not the NY Times, it is a site for college students. Personally, I was amused by this piece and it made me want to look into the style whether the article was completely factual or not. Well done, Lyndsey.
I’m surprised that I actually thought this was funny and amusing, in the way you intended it to be. What flew up everybody’s petticoat? Geez. I think it’s refreshing to read an article that senses the basic essence of Lolita even though the author doesn’t participate in it.
Yeah, I disagree with some of it, but they’re matters of interpretation, not fact. Not everyone agrees that Lolitas need to have a certain attitude, but it used to be a more popular notion than it is now.
I’m wondering how Lolita has misogynistic tendencies, though. Totally confused about that. Can you elaborate? I’ve always felt that Lolita (particularly in the US) has a strong feminist undercurrent.
To many people idolize Japan. I think a lot of the responses are from people like that. I’m half Japanese, and I think Lolita is actually sick. Let’s live at the age we are, not try to go back into some prepubescent form where dressing up was “Totally cool!” Seriously though, the amount of people I hear talking about the Japanese like they’re some higher race drives me bonkers.
P.S. - One of my ex-girlfriends was “Lolita” and she ate, slept and breathed it. She got really obsessive about it, always having her head in the clouds. She would spend hundreds on the dresses and accessories and then been penniless for quite some time afterwards. She’s one of those white girls who always wanted to be Asian. I guess through doing lolita she thought she was getting there. I’ve got a personal grudge against this stuff, sorry to offend.
sry, but “fetishized” is relative.
How does this look like a “daddy-daughter fetish”? I don’t associate Lolita fashion with sex and I don’t see anything weird like such a fetish in it. I think the association of Lolita fashion depends on the thoughts of the viewer or the person that wears it. That means, when the person that sees the fashion and thinks “omg this looks like a weird fetish” it’s not the clothing that makes it look like that, it’s more the perverted mind of the viewer that associates everything with sex.
sry for bad english btw.
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