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]
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]
Loli Thai Lolita Collection Vol 3 57
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]
Kogoro, Ran, Sonoko, and Conan are at a tea house when a woman wearing gothic lolita fashion clothing enters the tea house, orders a glass of water, and leaves. Ten minutes later, a woman named Yuika Shodo, arrives to the tea house where they learn that she was suppose to meet with the woman from before. The four then leave to go shopping. On the way, a pair of thieves tries to steal their shopping bags by spilling ice cream on Ran and Sonoko but are foiled by Conan. The girls are forced to change in a public restroom where they find the gothic girl from before dead.
The cellphone of the gothic girl, revealed to be Mihiro Kuze, has been ringing every ten minutes for the past two hours and on the phone is Shodo. The police confirm with the waitress at the tea house that Kuze and Shodo arrived ten minutes apart and with the public restroom thirty minutes away, it removes Shodo as a suspect. Conan however reveals that the gothic girl that entered the restaurant may not have been Kuze since the gothic lolita fashion distracts them from her face.
The police investigate the glass the gothic girl was drinking which holds Kuze's fingerprints. At the ghotic lolita shop where Kuze bought her clothes. The employee there revealed that the gothic clothes Conan investigates and realizes the trick to Shodo's alibi. 2ff7e9595c
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