lolita fashion history! (brands, terms, incidents) and more!! MEANT FOR NEWER LOLITA

Before I start this, I’d like to start by saying that I’m NOT an expert. Lolita is just my hobby and I want more people to be informed about the fashion. Please do your own research about this just to make sure. I also may forget to add/ not come across some things so if I do please feel free to lmk!!! This is more meant for newer lolitas who want to learn about the fashion, but everyone is welcome to read!

GLOSSARY

• General history (detailed)

• brand

• Terms

• The book

• Incidents

• Idols

• Credits

GENERAL HISTORY

Although we do not know exactly when lolita fashion emerged, we can estimate it was around the 1980-1990 timeframe. It emerged from a Japanese fashion style called otome kei, which emerged in the late 70’s. Otome kei shares lots of similarities with lolita fashion, such as the bell shaped dresses, and similar shoes. Loita fashion started out in Harajuku, and started to gain popularity around the late 1990’s to early 2000’s with the help of kamikaze girls. Speaking of kamikaze girls, the movie popularized the brand Baby, The Stars Shine Bright, which is arguably the most influential and famous brand that specializes in lolita fashion. But i havent mentioned one specific influential person until now. That person is mana sama. he pioneered the gothic lolita substyle and just lolita fashion in general. This brings us to 2010-2020. Some lolitas in the west think lolita fashion is dying, but i dont think that is truly the case. Lolita is popular all over the world now and is a well known harajuku fashion substyle.

BRAND

Some of the most well known brands are but not limited to:

-moi meme moite

-baby, the stars shine bright

-angellic pretty

-alice and the pirates

-mary magdalene

-putumayo

-h. Naoto

The first brands include: MILK (1970) PINK HOUSE (1973) and angelic pretty (1979)

TERMS

-brand: designer lolita

- JSK: jumperskirt

-OP: one piece

-OTK: over the knee (socks)

-OTT: over the top

-coord: an entire outfit

-BL: blouse

-KC: a bow on a headband

-salopette: imagine overalls but with a skirt at the bottom

-SK: skirt

-cutsew: a type of shirt

-bolero: a sweater with a short waist hem. (look this one up its hard to explain)

-petticoat: a skirt worn under dresses/skirts to poof them out.

-bloomers: shorts worn for modesty.

-UTK: under the knee (socks)

-replica: rip-off of a lolita peice

-egl: elegant gothic lolita (also used to describe all of lolita)

THE BOOK

I'm going to try and keep this short. LOLITA FASHION IS IN NO WAY CONNECTED TO NABOKOVS BOOK!! They simply happen to share a name. Words have different meanings in different languages, take for example, the english word f**k and the french word faq. In french that word means seal- as in the animal. People in Japan just thought the word was cute and used it. Also, lolita has been used as a name for CENTURIES.

INCIDENTS

• Mr yan bodypillow: mr yan was the former owner of bodyline, a brand that no longer associates with him. He would fly underage foreign girls out to Japan to model for bodyline and ask them to marry him. He obviously got a lot of backlash for this and his only response was to drop a bodypillow. This became a massive joke.

• Yellow wall lolita- a girl who posed infront of extremely yellow walls with a extensive moi meme moitie collection

(please note this is a small recap of incidents, do your own reaserch!1!1!)

CREDITS

• General history: Japanese Fashion Wikia (for otome kei), wikipidea (for lolita fashion)

• brands : wikipedia (for the first brands)

• Terms: devilinspired (DO NOT BUY FROM HERE.)

• The book: my own argument

• Incidents: lovely lor on youtube!