A Bunch of New Lolita Prints & Anime Boston

There are a few new brand prints out for Spring, so I figured I would lump them all up in one post. Some of these are actually less new than others, so I'm sure you've seen most of them by now, but I've been really wanting to gush over a couple of them.

Metamorphose- Blooming Garden

Let's start with Meta's newest print, Blooming Garden, because I just love it, especially the white colorway. It reminds me of fine china! I'm really loving the OP version of the print too, except for the cheap little bows on the bottom, but a quick snip could fix that. Meta prints are usually hit or miss, sometimes too busy for their own good, but the roses and soft colors on this one look just perfect in blue! There are actually a bunch of different pieces with this print, three JSKs, an OP, a skirt, and a few bows, even a bonnet! Meta also has a few designs on the horizon that are, at the moment, just sketches. I'm really looking forward to seeing how this one turns out. I'm hoping it's going to be something really cool like embroidery or a screen print.

Baby the Stars Shine Bright - Cherry Cherry Fallin' Cherry

Baby's newest print is cherry centric and has a really stupid name. I'm not really sure if I'm feeling this one. The red cherries might be a little too much, although it does come in a few different colors so it might look a whole lot better on a non-white background. There's two different versions of JSK in this print, one of which comes in three sizes, and a skirt and a headbow. I think that cherries just aren't my thing, so I'm not too excited about this print.

Angelic Pretty- Happy Garden

I really only have one word for this print "Uuuugh". Easter prints? No thank you. While I insist that you can wear Baby's old Trick Or Treat print any day of the year, how much wear are you really going to get out of a dress with colored eggs along the hem? Ignoring the theme of the print, I find the general color scheme of the dress really lack luster, it just looks like a green blobby mess at the bottom. While I am not an Angelic Pretty fan, I do think a lot of their prints are cute, just not the recent bunch of them, they have just begun to look more and more like blobby pastel messes. At least the cut of this dress is super cute. I love the ruffles around the collar and the crossed ribbons. This print comes in two JSK choices, an OP, and a few accessories.

Innocent Word- Antique Pansy

I love this print, it's adorable and so cool to see such a rarely used flower in a Lolita print. This particular JSK is really cute too, I love the tiers! Sadly the rest of the items in this print line kind of suck. You can get a headband that looks like the pansies from the fabric cut out and glued to a cheap headband, or a necklace along the same lines. The OP in the print really isn't doing anything for me, it has a bodice that reminds me too much of a T-shirt. Non puffy sleeves? I applaud Innocent World for trying out something new, but it just looks weird to me, a little too 1950's.

On a different note, I'll be attending Anime Boston this year, which is this coming weekend! I am actually going to try to get to the Lolita panels this year, as last year I missed out on all of them. And maybe the BJD meetup if I have room left in my bag to nestle a doll in. I'm pretty excited for the first big convention of the year. As always, I'll be in Lolita for the weekend. On Friday I'll most likely be in *gasp* Maid Lolita, something I've always wanted to try even if it is a bit silly. The rest of the weekend I'll be in Gothic Lolita with a huge bonnet on. If you spot me, a tall Gothic Lolita in a huge bonnet carrying around a BJD, say hi!

Ask Miss Caro-chan: Lolita Styles For Warm Weather

Today's Ask Miss Caro-chan comes from Haruko, who asks:
What would you recommend for a summer lolita look. Where I live it's hot most of the year, and a lolita coord with so many layers can be pretty uncomfortable, and even not worth the cuteness :(
Summer is often the worst season for wearing Lolita. True, it's lovely and beautiful out, but Lolita just has so many layers that it's usually just too hot to bother with. If you are hard core about dressing up in your finest frills the most you can do is just deal with the heat, but if you just don't want to bother, there are some things you can do to make a Lolita outfit a bit more bearable in the heat of summer.
  • Loose some layers. Start from the inside out. It can be something as simple as just not wearing bloomers, but you can keep going from there and loose the blouse and just wear a JSK, and then loose the socks or tights. If you are scared of committing a Lolita faux pas by going blouseless under a JSK, don't worry about it! Going blouseless is usually seen as OK nowadays, and a lot of Lolita brands even make halter styled tops in the summer that are meant to be worn without a blouse under them.
  • Use protection. From the sun that is! Carry a parasol or wear a large brimmed hat to keep a patch of nice cool shade wherever you go. Don't forget to wear some sunscreen too.
  • Wear open toed shoes. If you're not wearing socks, of course. Try a pair of summery platform or heeled sandals in a matching color.
  • Go easy on your hair. You're probably not going to want to use a whole bottle of hair spray in the heat of summer, or worse yet, a wig. Wear your hair either down and loose, with maybe a bit of a wave to it, or up in something very simple like curled pigtails. In addition to keeping your hair light and simple, wear an easy head piece. In the heat of summer you're not going to want to wear a big square headdress that just makes your head hot, instead go for a simple headband with a flower or a bow on it.
  • Wear lightweight fabrics. Put your velvets away for a few months and start wearing lightweight cotton, the breezier the better. If you still want to wear blouses under your JSKs, it's a good idea to find some very lightweight blouses to wear in the summer. If they are a little bit see-through it's not really going to be that big of a deal because you're going to be wearing them under a JSK.
  • Wear cutsews. If you wear skirts more than JSKs, invest in some cutsews. They are much less stuffy feeling than button-up blouses, and the fabric usually breaths better.
  • Dress for the season. Wear a lot of light pastels, or look for prints that feel summery to you.
Of course, I couldn't do a post like this without an excuse to make some coordinates! So here are a couple, one Sweet and one Gothic, of summery looking Lolita coordinates.

This coordinate is a little bit Hime. At least, Summery Sweet Lolita coordinates always remind me of Hime coordinates. A pale pastel yellow Baby JSK is paired with a variety of pink accessories to match the pink in the flowers. The hair is kept long and wavy and a small sidebow is used instead of a head eating bow.


Ah! This set is more me. I hate it when people ask me, in the summer, "Aren't you hot wearing black?" when I'm clearly wearing a tank top. Seriously people, just because something is black, doesn't mean it's 100 degrees hotter than any other color. XD Enough about that! In this set I chose black with a few gold accents to match the gold in the parasol. The dress is an Innocent World one that is very minimalistic with a corset lacing on the front, which, I think, is very Gothic looking. Hair is short and straight, and instead of a traditional Lolita headdress I chose a feathery headband with a rose clipped to it.

Making Lolita Brands More Accessible


A screen cap from the movie Kamakazi Girls

Note: This post isn't meant to imply that if Lolita brands did these things they would be rolling in the yens, just that there are some things that I feel brands do that hold back a lot of girls from ever really being able to get into Lolita. Again, this post is meant as kind of a rant/pipe dream, not me trying to assume I know how businesses work XD

Lolita brands tend to cater to a niche market, and that niche is typically petite girls who want to wear expensive and eccentric high-end clothes. As you all know though, not all Lolitas are petite, or even interested in wearing something known for being expensive, many Lolitas simply want to be able to buy and wear their favorite style of clothes. But, because the typical Lolita is not the Lolita that most brands make their clothes for, she is left out in the cold. Yes, there are many brand Lolita pieces that can fit a variety of sizes, and buying second hand can help bring down the cost, but buying whatever the hell you want, directly from the brand is not something your average Lolita will ever bother with, or sometimes even be able to do.

It is true that in the past year or so many Lolita brands have indeed expanded their shops to Western shores, either literally, in Baby's case, or through at the very least releasing an English web shop that ships overseas. Along with this, Baby has begun releasing a few select dresses in large size, and even on occasion an extra large. These are big steps from clothing stores that several years ago wouldn't even ship overseas and typically made one size of dress that is anything but "one size fits all". But I think it is a far cry from what Lolita brands can be doing to make both their clothes, and thus Lolita in general, more accessible. I also feel like if Lolita brands addressed some of these issues, fewer Lolitas would be so eager to throw their money at poor quality knock-off shops.

The following list might all just be dreams of mine, but I feel that if Lolita brands did these things, Lolita would be even bigger than it is now.
  • Expand to the West. Either by offering overseas shipping, or opening shop here. It's no secret that Lolita isn't as big as it used to be in the early 2000's in Japan, the whole fashion seems to have migrated West. There are literally thousands of customers outside of Japan that many brands are cutting themselves off from by not, at the very least, offering overseas shipping.
  • Multiple sizes. This is one is important. Not everyone fits standard brand size, therefore, not everyone can buy brand, so, dear burandos, why not make it so most everyone can buy from you? Sure, some brands offer L sized clothes, but brand large isn't exactly very big, and L sized Lolita clothes are often only offered for a handful of very simple JSKs. Why brands don't make their most popular prints in larger sizes is a mystery to me since most girls are climbing all over each other and practically throwing money at their computer screens trying to get some brands newest prints.
  • Friendlier customer service. There have been several horror stories on EGL of people spending hundreds of dollars on one item of clothing directly from a Lolita brand, receiving it only to find that something is horribly wrong, emailing the brand, and basically being told "Too bad, I don't see anything wrong." A pair of $300 Innocent World boots with a seriously crooked front come to mind. In the West, we expect to get what we pay for, in Japan, you might be paying a lot for something just for the privilege of owning something expensive.
  • Lower priced "logo" items. No, this isn't a demand for Angelic Pretty to start selling all their dresses for $60, I just think that it would be awesome if Lolita brands sold a few select things for a cheaper price, for when you need that burando fix ASAP. A sub-cutsew perhaps, just a simple puffy sleeved tee with their brand logo or newest print on the front, not one of the $80+ blouses in teeshirt material that are often in the cutsew section. Or even bringing back the logo tote, something that I have seen less and less of in brand shops over the years, which I always thought was awesome because they were typically $30 and had the brands logo plastered all over it, just the thing to add to your cart at the last minute. In fact, my first brand item was a couple of Logo totes because I had minimal money to spend and I just wanted something brand right now. I feel like cheaper brand items would also encourage the non-Lolita to buy from places like Angelic Pretty or Baby every now and then and encourage the Lolita to wear her precious brand in her non-Lolita coordinates. After all, cute and girly clothes rarely go out of style.

Will brands ever do some of these things? I doubt it. But why is it? Is it the cost? I know that it is cost effective for a brand, especially one that sells to such a specific niche, to make only one size of clothing, but I honestly do believe that most brands can indeed do things like offer every dress they sell in multiple sizes, many other brands that cater to alternative fashions do. I just don't think Japanese Lolita brands are willing to. Many Japanese brands, both Lolita and otherwise, tend to make their clothes in smaller quantities, and smaller sizes, to keep them exclusive, and thus, make them even more special than a $300 pink princess dress already is. It makes the clothes, the brand, and every one wearing them part of something more exclusive than it really needs to be. Someone really needs to send Mana a note letting him no that he's not actually Christian Dior, no matter how high he prices his clothes.

I am not going to deny it, I have a love hate relationship with Lolita, especially Lolita brands. On one hand, I love Lolita, it's what I wear nearly every day, it's what I spend large amounts of time and money on, it inspires me, and I just love it and I can't help it. On the other, I hate some of the stuff Lolita brands do, I hate their stupid sizes, I hate their blatant over pricing (No, I'm not talking about their dresses, which I think are reasonably priced for the most part, but things like injection molded plastic jewelry, pleather shoes and purses that are on par with PayLess quality, and most cutsews), and I hate the elitist attitude that many brands seem to have. I want to love certain Lolita brands unconditionally, but I just can't, and don't think think I ever will be able to unless they start to change how they do things. But, then again, should I really trust anyone who asks for hundreds of my dollars, even if it is in exchange for pretty party dresses?

If you're interested in a response about why these things probably aren't going to happen (and a few things that I was just plain wrong about, oops XD) check out this response from The Osaka Koneko.

So, fellow Lolitas, agree or disagree? Do you think brands run just dandy the way they are, or would the brand of your dreams run things a little differently?

Spam and Pickled Beets: The Gothic Lolita's Checklist.

Everyone else is making checklists à la Lolita Charm, so I want to too! Because if I don't now, when everyone else is doing it, I'll want to about 4 months from now, and my then it's going to be old news XD. Because Sweet Lolita seems to be covered, I'll be doing a Gothic Lolita's Checklist.



Before I get onto this list, let me add that this is not to be taken seriously. A Gothic Lolita doesn't have to do all these things, of course they don't, this is just my personal Gothic Lolita style, in check list form, plus a bit of goofy fun thrown in for good measure.
  • When she sees a Sweet Lolita dress, she often exclaims "I love that dress! If only it came in plain black."
  • Half her closet is black x black dresses.
  • Thinks that the pointier the shoe the better.
  • If not pointy shoes, at least a mighty platform.
  • Has a signature color that she wears with black.
  • Will paint her nails this color, or at least, secretly, her toenails.
  • Has a dozen, completely different, pairs of black socks.
  • Thinks that Rosaries are the perfect necklace.
  • Thinks that wearing multiple Rosaries is even better.
  • Thinks that tights under socks is A-okay, so long as those tights are black and lacy.
  • Thinks that all skirts should have a bustle, or at least have the pull ribbons to make a bustle an option.
  • Has sewed ribbon channels in her rare brand prints because dammit, all skirts MUST have a bustle!
  • Thinks that lighted candles perched on stone gargoyles are the perfect decor.
  • Also thinks that lots of billowy, gauzy black drapery will spruce up any room.
  • Knows how to operate a fire extinguisher. From experience.
  • Wears huge spidery false eyelashes on her bottom lid.
  • Stocks up on Halloween decorations to decorate her room.
  • Gets offended when people refer to black and white Angelic Pretty dresses as "Gothic Lolita".
  • Will wear full Lolita, in black velvet, in the heat of summer and will rationalize it with "Well, I've got a parasol and a feathered fan to cool me off."
  • Insists on drinking tomato juice out of a wine glass.
  • Thinks an antique candelabra makes the perfect finishing touch on her outfit.
  • Collects Victorian photographs and uses those for inspiration more than the Gothic & Lolita Bibles.
  • Doesn't mind holes in her clothes, so long as they were artfully put there or are part of a decaying vintage piece.

If you want another check list for Gothic Lolitas, check out the one posted on Les Fleurs Noires. If you're curious about the title of this post, and took special notice of the lovely Goth up top, it's a reference to a scan from a very old Gothic & Lolita Bible that featured a day in the life of both a Gothic and a Lolita. I'll just let you have a peek at that before I say any more. Click for larger images.

It's kind of cute at first, but a while ago someone provided a translation of it and we all found out exactly how we are supposed to be living. The Lolita's life is very cliche childish, and the Goth's life is so boring and also includes the unexplainable dinner of pickles, pickled beets, and Spam, which brings this spread to a WTF level.

Of course, this spread is meant to be silly. No one is really supposed to do these things to be a Goth or a Lolita, but every time I muse to myself on the topic of living the Lolita lifestyle, I always think of Spam and pickled beets.

Bon Appétit!

Country Lolita

Country Lolita is a substyle of Lolita that's rarely seen nowadays. Maybe it's the dawning of spring combining with my fondness for old school Lolita, but I've been sighing dreamily over country Lolita for a few weeks now.

To those of you who are unfamiliar with Country Lolita, it is a style of Lolita that is a bit Sweet and a bit Classic and all cute. Like most old school Lolita styles it's a much simpler style than other kinds of Lolita, but it can sometimes be hard to pull off. If you look too cutesy, you just look like a Sweet Lolita in a straw hat, if the colors are too dark, you just look like a Classic Lolita in a straw hat. There's a sort of balance between childish and mature for Country Lolita, I tend to think of it as a country girl in her Sunday best.There are some elements that are classically Country, so if you are planning on putting together a Country Lolita outfit for the very first time, keep a few of these pointers in mind:
  • Wear a straw hat. Many of the old Country Lolita looks include a mini straw hat, update the look by wearing a full sized hat. Or, if you can find one, a straw bonnet would look extra cute.
  • Carry a basket purse. Because it matches your hat perfectly!
  • Wear some pale yellow. I don't know what it is about the color, but it screams Country Lolita to me. Maybe because it reminds me of daisies or sunshiney fields.
  • Wear a print with a small floral design. Skip the cute bunny print and the big epic rose clusters, look for a print covered in delicate little flowers.
  • Try some gingham. Even more appropriate than tiny little flowers is gingham. I would, personally, avoid wearing light blue gingham as people might assume you're just dressing up like Dorthy from The Wizard of Oz.
  • Or maybe a fruit print. Cherries and strawberries and even apples are all cute fruits that work well with a Country Lolita look. Look for a light colorway, either white or a pale pastel, as fruit on a dark background, especially cherries, can look a little too retro or even rockabilly, and Country Lolita just isn't about that.
  • Braid your hair. No need for huge teased pigtails, instead try a simple braid. If you want something a little more, loop your braid and secure it with a bow.
  • Wear a pair of white crochet gloves. They're a an easy way to make an outfit extra cute.
  • Go natural with the makeup. Put down the fake eyelashes and glitter eyeshadow! Go with a very natural look instead, neutral eyeshadow, slightly rosy cheeks, and a hint of pink to your lips is all you really need.
  • Carry a parasol. To keep the sun off you as you go for walks in the countryside, of course.
  • Keep it simple! Keep the whole outfit simple, from your hair, to your makeup, to your accessories. Try not to load up on accessories or wear any very bold prints.
Here's a little Country Lolita coordinate I put together. I really love the look of a short sleeved OP with a long sleeved blouse under it. It makes it makes it look both a little bit fancier, and a bit more modest. You're probably going to have to change the ribbon on any straw hat you find, but it's not hard to snip off one ribbon and glue another one on. While you've got the glue gun out, why don't you add a corsage of flowers as well? A bunch of wildflowers and daisies would look perfect tucked in a straw hat!

Looking for some more Country Lolita inspiration? Try combing some of the earlier Gothic & Lolita Bibles, you're bound to come across some in the Spring issues. Don't have any Bibles from that long ago? Well, I did all the hard work for you! Here's a few choice Country Lolita outfits from the Bibles.



If these have left you scratching your head and thinking "I don't get it, isn't this just Sweet Lolita with hats?" well, yeah it pretty much is. If you want to try Country Lolita for the first time, and don't really have a straw hat to make it official Country Lolita, don't worry about it to much! Just keep the light and natural style of Country Lolita in your look and you will be a breath of fresh air in comparison to some of the technicolor super hair-sprayed Sweet Lolita that is so prevalent nowadays.

Lolita Gore Fest

The other day, while procrastinating finishing up cleaning, I was lurking around EGL and saw this awesome film class project posted by LJ user MariaVicious. It's a trailer for a movie that will never be, but it's still awesome to watch and just dream about zombie Lolita apocalypse.






Oh my gosh, how I wish this was a real movie. There's certainly a lack of movies starring Lolitas out there. I mean, there's only so many times I can watch Kamakaze Girls XD

Ironically, I saw this trailer right after I learned about the upcoming real movie, staring what is apparently a psychopathic demon possessed Gothic Lolita, Gothic & Lolita Psycho.


There's apparently not much info out about this upcoming movie at the moment. Expectations for this movie? Not much, movies like this, to me at least, tend to be silly at best. Just girls in fun clothes running around doing shocking things. I certainly am not expecting much from it after finding out that starring idol has the nickname that translates to "Queen of the Beautiful Ass". It could be fun in a cheesy horror romp sort of way, but I'm not really expecting anything profound out of it.

Antique High Heel Red Doll Shoes: A Rasputina Inspired Coordinate

If you haven't picked it up from the occasional mention, and this meme I did, I am a huge fan of the cello-rock band Rasputina. Now, they are not for everyone, so I wouldn't suggest that you go out and buy their whole discography, but I, personally, can't get enough of them. When I first really got into Lolita, the song AntiqueHighHeelRedDollShoes instantly reminded me of the style. I don't quite know why it always reminds me of Lolita, maybe the bitchy tone of the song, as Lolitas are often infamous for being bitchy on the internet (something I think that we are wrongly accused of I might add). Or, maybe it's the line in the chorus "Daintier, smarter, better dressed" which is sort of the ideal Lolita, even though it may not always be true.

So, in honor of the song that I love so much, here is a coordinate based around it. Ever since hearing that song, so many years ago, I've really wanted a pair of red Victorian boots to wear with an all black outfit. A few red elements are thrown in to give it some balance, but really, I'm not so much going for a black and red outfit as I am a black outfit with a few red details.




If you're open to some new music, give Rasputina a chance. Their music ranges from hauntingly beautiful to downright silly. Their music has made me laugh, cry, and even dance. If you're interested in hearing the song that inspired this coordinate, check out this video. It's just the song set to someone doodling, as Rasputina really doesn't make too many music videos.



While I love this song to pieces, it doesn't really give a good idea of what Rasputina typically sounds like. If you cringed away from Melora's penchant for fake British accents, give them another chance with My Little Shirtwaist Fire, one of my favorite Rasputina songs.

Grand Opening of Ophanim

I finally got my Etsy shop open! My very own Lolita brand is called Ophanim, named after a type of angel that is seen as a winged wheel covered in eyes.



My shop will be featuring the stiff brimmed bonnets that I hand make. I will continue to make more bonnets (expect some all black ones soon!) but I'll also be taking commissions for custom made bonnets in whatever color and style you like.

Besides bonnets I will be selling a few other things, such as fascinators, birdcage necklaces, and a variety of other Victorian styled Lolita accessories. I do have a lot of Sweet Lolita and deco things to list too! I just have to get around to taking pictures of them!


Take a peek at what I've got for sale at the moment! I've got a lot more stuff coming, including a few bonnets in the works!

Ask Miss Caro-chan: Lolita Styles for Short Hair & A Peek At What I've Been Up To.

Today's Ask Miss Caro-chan comes from Enichan. She asks:
Hi! I was wondering if you had any tips for lolitas with short hair. I recently got my hair cut pretty damn short, and while it kind of works as is to create a more androgynous look, I'd like to have a few more options. I just can't really think of much to do with it.
This is not exactly a subject I am well versed on, as my hair is very long, but I'll do my best! Well, first of all, there is the obvious and nearly limitless choice of wigs and hair clips. With short hair it wouldn't be hard to tuck your hair under a wig cap and plop down the wig of your choice on top of your head. This way you have near limitless color options and styles that you really don't have to worry about. If your hair is long enough to pull into pigtails or a ponytail, you could skip the full wig and just buy a ponytail fall in a color to match you hair and have instant long hair in perfect curls that you can take off whenever you want. Of course, there are down sides to wigs, nice ones can be expensive, they can be a pain to store, they get hot, and maybe you just don't want to deal with actually having to wear one. In that case, there are still many things you can do with your own hair.

If your hair is very short, too short to style or even pull together into a tiny tuft of a pigtail, your best option is to decorate! Wear a head piece, add some clips to your hair, or even consider wearing a full-sized hat. A cute beret perched at an angle above a pixie cut looks adorable! Very short hair cuts can look really cute with Lolita. Here's a post on EGL of girls showing off their short hair cuts with their frills.

If you have slightly longer hair you have even more options. Personally, I think that one of the cutest styles to wear with Lolita is the bob. If you have a bob you don't even need to consider styling it, just put on your favorite hair bow and fluff it up a little bit and you've got perfect hair! If your hair is long enough to style you could always do a sort of mini updo, keep your bangs straight (assuming you have bangs!) and curl the rest of your hair so it's nice and poodley and then pin it up and add some accessories to it.

Because many Lolitas are bit more comfortable and confident doing something if the Bibles have proved that it can be done, here's a selection of short hair styles from the Gothic & Lolita Bibles that are used in a variety of different kinds of Lolita.



If you want something a little different, try a look from the past, like pin curls. They might take some practice doing, and you might even need a friend to help you, but they give beautiful results, especially with very short hair. Here's a great tutorial on how to do them on short hair. If you are interested in other kinds of curls for short hair, check out finger waves, they were a hair style popular in the 20's and 30's.

The long waves are finger waves. The curls around her ears are most likely pin curls.


A few more examples of short hair from the 1920's.

There are lots of different styles a Lolita with short hair can pull off, you just have to be willing to experiment a bit to find which one matches your style perfectly!

If you're wondering why I've been so quite in March, it's because I've been working on projects. Projects of the bonnet (and hair clips and jewelry!) sort. I plan to get an Etsy shop up and running sometime very soon, hopefully within days. So be on the look out for that!


A sneak peek of a couple of the bonnets I have made.

Very Old School Lolita: The fashion in the 90's, 80's, and 70's

This is a bit of a continuation on my Old School series of posts. While my Old School vs. New School posts focused on what brands looked like in the first few bibles, versus what they looked like now, this post will take a look even further into the past, before the Gothic & Lolita Bibles, before Malice Mizer, before Lolita became what it is now. There is no clear beginning to the fashion, as it began with inspiration from quite a few different fashions, so it is impossible to say exactly where it came from, and when it happened, but the timeline of how Lolita came to be what it is today is very interesting. I would like add that this post is based on articles and essays I have read as well as several hours hunting down pictures of early Lolita pieces. I have never been to Japan or been a part of the Japanese Lolita scene, let alone been a part of it in the decades I am discussing. Just so you know.

The difference between how fashions form in the East and West
Japanese fashion trends tend to form and evolve in a very different way from Western alternative fashion-based subcultures, that is many of them begin as street fashions, where as Western alternative fashions are almost always music and club based. Because of this, Western alternative fashions have much more concrete beginnings. Just take the oldest Bauhaus record insert you can find and observe a busy street in a relatively large city and you'll probably be able to pick out several people dressed exactly like the picture on the insert. Check at the copyright info at the bottom of the insert and you can pretty much safely say "That style started because these guys were dressing like that when this album was made". But with Japanese styles, the ones that begin as simply a street fashion that is, such as Lolita, there isn't really any kind of media associated with it, to make a snapshot of what the fashion looked like at exactly that time, until it becomes popular enough for everyday people to start noticing the trend. Because of this, the beginnings of fashions are often lost to even the people who will later wear them. Lolita's early years existed only in the closets of fans, the streets on the weekend, and a few small shops. Not on albums, music videos, and magazines like so many Western fashion's beginnings.

Fashions that inspired Lolita and other romantic styles
It's hard to talk about Lolita's roots without going back quite a bit further than the 1970's. We'll have to go earlier still to the 1950's and even further into antiquity to the Victorian and the Rococo eras. Of course, there is no frilly line of lace stretching from one era to the next that leads directly to Lolita today, these are all completely separate styles that Lolita draws much of it's inspiration from. The cute and girly silhouette of the 1950's. The elegance and details of the Victorian era, and the decadence of the Rococo era are all different periods that inspires Lolita.

In my opinion, I feel that Lolita owes the most to the Victorians. Not just because I simply like it the most, but because it helped inspire the romantic fashion movement of the 60's and 70's in the west that then inspired Japanese fashions of the time, that finally helped form the roots of the Lolita fashion. Using the ruffles and romance of a very rose-tinted view of the Victorian era, fashion designer Mary Quant popularized the babydoll dress. A look that most Lolitas are familiar with. I think of these vintage romantic pieces as being the beginning of the beginning.

Two Mary Quant designs. The second one is a babydoll dress from the 60's.

The 70's and 80's: styles that influenced Lolita's beginnings.
A quick Google search will tell you that Angelic Pretty has it's origins in 1979, but those of you dreaming of frilly dresses in gold lamé with cute appliques of roller discoing bunnies along the hem are a bit off. While technically several Lolita brands were around in the late 70's and 80's, they certainly weren't making what they make today. Angelic Pretty (at the time, simply known as "Pretty"), for example, sold other, even smaller, designer's things at their shop. And the styles were much different than they are now.


Otome style from 1979 (credit)
Lolita brands that have been around for decades, well before they were Lolita as we know it now, most likely sold Otome and Natural-kei styled clothes. To those unfamiliar with the terms, myself included up until recently, let's do a quick lesson! Otome means "maiden" and refers to a more toned down and almost "mod" look (at least in my opinion), think such brands as Jane Marple, MILK, and Emily Temple Cute. Natural-kei is a very loose and, well, natural look. Imagine a prairie girl aesthetic, with lots of neutral colors and calico prints. The recent Mori Girl craze is descended from this style.

Gunne Sax dresses from the 1970's. Not a Japanese brand, but are often seen (or a very similarly styled brand) in the Natural-kei fashion of that time.

Besides fashions that can be more or less easily labeled, Japan is known for urging it's young girls to be cute and child-like. While many teenagers in the west strive to be sexy and sophisticated, there is, or at least there was in the eras that Lolita started to form from, just as much desire for a teenaged girl to be cute and adorable. Perhaps Lolita followed a less linear fashion timeline, and instead of growing directly out of the merging of two fashions, Otome and Natura-kei, which are more feminine than childish, it formed on it's own simply from the need to be cute.

The 90's: The dawning of Lolita
Since there are really no surviving online pictures of pieces of what it is Baby and Angelic Pretty were selling in the 80's, there's a big black hole in the history of the Lolita fashion. The earliest we have hard proof that people were actually wearing such things are the earliest volumes of the Fruits magazine. If you are unfamiliar with Fruits, it is a magazine that began in 1997 of street snaps in the Harajuku district. Kera magazine, the publication that the Gothic & Lolita Bibles are a spin-off of, was first published in 1998, and if they have any pictures of Lolita brands that would be an awesome source of what Lolita brands were selling, not just what a select few were wearing, sadly I could not get my hands on any of those early Kera magazines.

In the Fruits street snaps, Angelic Pretty is the easiest to spot and most frequently worn of the Lolita brands. Simple skirts in floral print that probably couldn't fit a modern Lolita's petticoat, peter pan blouses, and bloomers are regular items from the brand formerly known as Pretty in the first Fruits magazines from the late 90's. Click for full-sized pictures.


Now, you may notice that some of these aren't even remotely close to Lolita. I am not saying that these particular pictures are all early examples of Lolita, simply that these girls are all wearing Angelic Pretty pieces from the mid to late 90's. Now, Angelic Pretty wasn't the only brand on the block for girls of the 90's looking to add some frilly romance to their outfits. Jane Marple, Heart E, and even Vivienne Westwood are all brands of choice for the girls who are, in essence, our fashion's grandmothers. While the other "big name" brands certainly were around at the time, in Harajuku, where the photos for Fruits magazines were shot, no one was really wearing any of those until the early 2000s.

Shoichi Aoki, the man behind the Fruits magazines, unfortunately for us, isn't too fond of the Lolita style, so there are very few examples of "true" Lolita in the early Fruits, just the more adventurous outfits. I can hear some Lolita's gasping now, "Hey now! Huge pink wigs! Fake rhinestone eyelashes! Nearly neon prints! How is that not adventurous?" Well, Lolita back in the day wasn't so colorful and complicated. It was significantly simpler. It was also sometimes significantly... frumpier.

Today most of these would get a "Nice try! But here are some suggestions..." comment in the LJ communities, this is what Lolita looked like in the mid to late 90s. While these outfits tend to have varying degrees of effort put into them, from that gorgeous blue plaid Jane Marple dress to the couple of girls that look like they're just wearing their pinkest clothes, they all have elements that are found in today's Lolita, albeit worn a little differently. The 90's Lolita outfit can usually be boiled down to a few basic elements: clunky shoes, pulled up socks (not necessarily knee-highs), poofy skirt (petticoat optional), white Peter Pan collared blouse, and a cardigan.

The Late 90's: The rising of the Gothic Lolita
Now, you might notice that most of these girls can all be considered Sweet Lolita. Pinks and reds prevail. When Lolita first had it's big breakthrough in the west, it was through Gothic Lolita, Gothic Lolita and Lolita being interchangeable with each other for a number of years. But, as we all now know, Gothic Lolita is a separate type of Lolita, one that took quite some time to be "invented". Shoichi Aoki claims that Gothic Lolita started as a small trend around 2002, which, to me, doesn't sound very accurate. For a few years before that Visual-kei stars had been dressing up in a Gothic Lolita style. The monstrously popular Malice Mizer was at their height of Gothic decadence in 2000. And I'm sure you all know a Jrock fan or two, they are very well known for dressing like their idols. Maybe it just finally hit Harajuku by then, but his own magazine shows a few Gothic Lolita's scattered throughout, before even 2000 hit.


The first girl is wearing what looks like an eyepatch with "Pretty" written on it. Is this big brand's first adventure into smearing their name and Logo all over everything? That last picture is the very first picture, in Fruits, of a couple of Lolita's in "modern" Lolita, and it's from October of 1999. It sure took a long time to reach that point!

The early 2000's: Lolita in bloom

BtSSB's first advertisement in fruits. From February 2000. 12 years after they originally opened!

For whatever reason, be it the popularity of Visual-kei bands or simply the fashion finally spread to Harajuku, Lolita seems to explode in popularity as soon as the 90's are over. Once this elusive Lolita was finally captured, in all her glory, in the camera's lens she becomes a world-wide phenomena. Not only does she become much more frequently sighted, but her outfits are much more well put together. Dresses are more often from a brand instead of handmade (which is debatable whether or not this is a good thing) and they are also better fitting. This new Lolita has a much more defined look and silhouette.
These are looking very close to the Lolita we know now, and most of these styles are what people mean when they say "Old School Lolita" They are generally simpler than today's Lolita, but much more well put together than the Lolita of the 90's. You will also notice that many of these girls have ditched the pastels and traded them in for black and white. Shoes are still clunky, but not the monster moon boots from the future that many girls were wearing just a few years earlier. Headdresses are beginning to be seen as a "must wear" item. And, thankfully, petticoats are being worn by everyone, they might not be as poofy as the ones that are popular today, but at least they are there.

If I really want to get lifestyle-y on you all, I could describe the Lolita fashion as a flower. With how street fashions are formed in Japan as a rich soil for the growth and experimentation of the fashion, the styles from long ago as a seed of inspiration, Otome and Natural-kei as the roots, the darker Gothic Lolita as the thorns, the 90's style of frilly skirts and girly cardigans paired with cute accessories as a little green bud that finally blossomed into the detailed and extravagant style of the 2000's. What's in store for this metaphorical flower is hard to tell. I can honestly say that I don't think Lolita will be trampled and replaced with something new any time soon. Perhaps Lolita will become more of a subculture than "just a fashion", and occasionally pop into the mainstream, much like the Western Gothic subculture.

Oh look! An appendix.
Some brand opening dates. Many Lolita brand's came into being in the late 90's, early 2000's. But some brands came into being long before that.
  • Milk -1970
  • Angelic Pretty -Known as "Pretty" and was a select shop in LaForet in 1979. Became "Angelic Pretty" in 2001.
  • Jane Marple -1985
  • Baby the Stars Shine Bright -1988
  • HeartE -1988
  • Metamorphose -1993 (Click here for their beginnings and original name!)
  • Atelier Boz -1995
  • Innocent World -1997
If you're interested in learning a bit more about both the Lolita fashion's origins and Japanese street fashions in general, here are some links to the various articles and LJ posts that were great help in writing this.
If you got it this far through this post, thank you!
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