Lolita Fashion

For you to know Lolita more

Some words in the Lolita culture are not common and may make you confused without clarification. Here is a small dictionary of Lolita fashion for those who want to know Lolita more.

glb/Gothic Lolita Bible: It’s a Japanese magazine dedicated to the darkly cute Gothic Lolita. It contains everything you need such as photos, sewing patterns and lots of tips to perfect your look.

Mook: A hybrid word derived from both “book” and “magazine”. Mooks are the size of magazines and contain similar content but the binding is much sturdier and the pages are much thicker, like a book’s.

Shimotsuma Monogatari / Kamizake Girls: A popular book about a Lolita and a biker-chick written by Novala Takemoto. This book has also been made into a movie and a manga.

Rococo: A style of 18th Century art and design, also referred to as “Late Baroque”, it’s one of the important inspiration source of Lolita.

Ita Lolita: Basically, an Ita Lolita is a Lolita who is painful to look at. For example cheap lace, poorly made clothes with cheap looking fabric, a lack of coordination skills, etc.

Bonnet: A hat with a large brim and made of fabric or straw, it will be tied under the chin by ribbons.

Half-bonnet: A backless bonnet, it is more similar to a headdress with a brim.

Shirring:  Two or more rows of gathers used to decorate parts of garments, usually the sleeves, bodice and yoke.

Sock Toppers: A decoration made from ribbon and lace usually, sitting at the top of one’s socks.

Wrist Cuffs: A wrist accessory like a bracelet made of lace.

Jabot: A clothing accessory down the front of a shirt, blouse, or dress. It’s an ornamental cascade of ruffles or frills worn around the neck.

Kachuusha: A headband, most often with a big alice bow on top

Bloomers: Loose shorts gathered at the bottom and worn under a skirt to protect modesty.

Pannier / Petticoat: It’s a type of underskirt to extend the width of the skirt. It made of Organza usually.

Cutsew: A Lolita blouse with a little bit casual element and made of jersey or knit fabric normally.
jsk / Jumper Skirt: A Lolita dress without sleeves usually worn with a blouse.

op / One Piece: A Lolita dress with sleeves, consisting of or fashioned in a single whole piece.

Rockinghorse Shoes: Pair of shoes have very thick soles. Their heels made from wood or cork with a notch taken out of the back.

Lucky Pack: A secret pack of Lolita costumes which sold for a very favorable price by Lolita brands at different times during a year.

A girl in an anime convention

In Japan, despite still being a subculture and fringe fashion, Lolita fashion is mass-marketed and has wide visibility particularly in the streets of Tokyo and Osaka, on television, in manga and computer games. Outside of Japan it is still a widely unknown fringe fashion although it has slowly begun to spread to other countries. Lolita fashion, along with cosplay and other Japanese cultural phenomena, can sometimes be seen at concerts and anime conventions throughout Europe and the United States.

Rococo dresses

“Lolita Fashion” as a name began during the mid 1980’s, it is a fashion subculture originating in Japan that is primarily influenced by Victorian clothing as well as costumes from the Rococo period. Lolita has made this into a unique fashion by adding gothic and original design elements to the look. From this, Lolita fashion has evolved into several different sub styles and has created a devoted subculture in Japan…

The Japanese band X-Japan

another Visual Kei band Glay

In the 1990s, the Lolita fashion trend began to pick up with bands like X-Japan and other Visual Kei (or visual type) bands coming into popularity. These bands wore intricate costumes, which fans began adopting as their own style. The style soon spread from its origins in the Kansai region, and ultimately reached Tokyo where it became popularized throughout Japanese youth culture. Today, Lolita fashion has grown so much in popularity that it can be found even in department stores.

A Sweet Lolita girl on the street

In addition to being a fashion, some people enjoy living a “Lolita Lifestyle” in which one sees Lolita as more of a philosophy of living beautifully rather than just dressing it. Someone living a Lolita Lifestyle may try and live like a princess, surrounding themselves with things of beauty, and taking part in a number of ‘proper’ feminine activities. Although some do choose to follow a strict Lolita lifestyle, there are others who simply enjoy wearing the clothes. For the majority of Lolita, dressing in the fashion does not mean changing personalities and habits: it may simply be a preference of style or a statement for modesty.

People presumed that “Lolita Fashion” and “Gothic Lolita Fashion” was one and the same. “Lolita Fashion” adores disliked the presumption that “Lolita Fashion” is “Gothic Lolita” inclining that they are two different Fashion Styles altogether.