Lolita fashion
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.
[3][9] Many other substyles such as 'Sailor', 'Country', 'Hime' (princess), 'Guro' (grotesque), 'Qi' and 'Wa' (based on traditional Chinese and Japanese dress, respectively), 'Punk', 'Shiro' (white), 'Kuro' (black), and 'Steampunk' Lolita also exist.
[15][16][17] The main feature of Lolita fashion is the volume of the skirt, created by wearing a petticoat or crinoline.
[20] Components of the Lolita wardrobe consist most importantly of a blouse (long or short sleeves) with a skirt or a dress, such as a jumperskirt (JSK), or a one-piece (OP), which usually come to the knees.
[27][28] After Otome Do-It-Yourself became popular, which led to the emergence of a new style called 'dolly-kei', the predecessor of Lolita fashion.
[30] When brands like PINK HOUSE (1973),[10][31] Milk (1970),[10] and Angelic Pretty (1979)[32] began to sell cute clothing, it resulted in the emergence of a new style that would later become known as 'Lolita'.
[10] Shortly after that, Baby, The Stars Shine Bright (1988),[34] Metamorphose temps de fille (1993),[35] and other brands emerged.
[citation needed] Partly due to the economic difficulties, there was large growth in the cuteness and youth cultures that originated in the seventies.
[42][43] 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,[44][45] 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)[14] and in New York (2014).
[52] The reason that the character Alice was a source of inspiration for Lolita fashion is that she was an ideal icon for the Shōjo (shoujo)-image,[34][54] meaning an image of eternal innocence and beauty.
[56] Another figure from Rococo that served as a source of inspiration was Marie Antoinette;[57] the manga The Rose of Versailles (Lady Oscar), based on her court, was created in 1979.
People who have popularized the Lolita fashion include Yukari Tamura, Mana, and Novala Takemoto.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs in February 2009[69] assigned models to spread Japanese pop culture.
[74] Possible reasons for the popularity of Lolita fashion outside of Japan include a growing interest in Japanese culture as well as use of the Internet as a place to share information,[38][72][75][76] leading to an increase in worldwide shopping and the opportunity for enthusiastic foreign Lolitas to purchase fashion items.
[77] JK uniforms, hanfu and Lolita are the three most popular types of clothing among China's Gen Z consumers.
[5][98][99] Some Lolitas say they enjoy the dress of the subculture simply because it is fun and not as a protest against traditional Japanese society.
[10][77][32][99][104][105] 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.
[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 concept and genre of media reflects a blend between the aesthetic of kawaii and sexual themes in fiction.
