Most people I know collect, follow or obsess to some degree over something. Lots of record collectors, food enthusiasts and arty types.
I just seem to puddle through, doing lots of academic crap. I want a hobby, a past time and to generally be satisfied by something that won’t necessarily benefit me other than by making me satisfied.
This week I have been looking at ‘Lolita’ fashion/lifestyle.
My sister pointed me to some live journal Lolita communities. Elegant Gothic Lolita (EGL) being one of the most popular, I checked it out.
As far as I can gather, the point of Lolita is this. A bunch of girls (and a minority of boys) dressing up in a variety of styles which are influenced by an obscure Japanese street fashion.
Inspired by Victorian and Rococo periods, it has nothing to do with the Nabokov ‘Lolita’ book and everything to do with looking cute and/or elegant। I was half hoping for some heart shaped sun glasses and 1950’s bathing suites. Alas, Lolita fashion didn’t fulfil my initial hopes.
While at first it seems like there is an almost fetish nature to the style - older women dressing innocently or whatever - I don’t think there is meant to be one. On the surface - it seems purely about style, brand and approval from other Lolita’s. But there is also an underlying lifestyle choice that some adhere to - such as strict etiquette rules (some following Victorian guidelines). Beauty and femininity can also be a big part of some Lolita’s lifestyle.
On the forums and Livejournal communities, veteran Lolita’s and aspiring Lolita’s post photographs of themselves in various outfits to get feed back on their efforts.
Reading through some of these comments was often more fun than looking at the photos. The term ‘Fatty Chan’ - used to describe plus size Lolita’s - has become one of my new favourite insults.
Fatty Chan - say it aloud and smile because it is such a cruel and ridiculous term!
Aside from the initial absurdity of Lolita fashion, the idea behind the style opens up some pretty cool social ideas. Fashion is so focused on sexuality - with women squeezing, tweaking and enhancing their bodies in all kinds of ways to fit into the socially desirable norms - that it is kind of refreshing to see a fashion which is all about returning to a more demure demeanour.
The initial fetish esq. nature of the fashion is soon squashed. I came to figure that the fetish aspect was only created by male pornographic influence anyway. Lolita’s are approaching their fashion and in some cases lifestyle from a whole other angle.
On LolitaFashion.com - there are loads of articles and explanations for newbie Lolita’s.
