Japan and its fascination with Lolita fashion
Lolita fashion is so in nowadays in Japan and it is slowly gaining interest worldwide. If you are quite the anime fan, you can see young females dressed in what they call as Loli costumes. Lolita fashion is also evident nowadays in anime such as GALS! and Rozen Maiden.
So what exactly is Lolita fashion? First off, this has nothing to do with anything sexual like most other people would readily think, promise.
Lolita Fashion is a fashion subculture in Japan that is primarily influenced by Victorian children's clothing as well as costumes from the Rococo period. The Lolita look consists primarily of a knee length skirt or dress, headdress, blouse, petticoat, knee high socks or stockings and rocking horse or high heel/platform shoes.
It is unclear to how Lolita fashion really started but it is confirmed that it started in the 1970's when fashion labels like Pink House and Angelic Pretty started selling what is is considered today as Lolita fashion but it only actually became popular during the '90's.
Lolita fashion can also be described as a counter against the growing "showing of skin" by females. It has been noted that Lolita fashion is "being able to dress up without having to be sexy".
It has been said that Lolita fashion is often very pricey because Lolita fashion "highlights quality", although more creative (and can't afford top of the line lolita dresses) women opt to make their own lolita garments, which highlights another aspect of lolita fashion, craftsmanship (cosplayers being the most prominent examples).
Since the '90's boom of lolita fashion, the Lolita fashion itself became a strong subculture in Japan, enjoying many followers to this day. Also, it is through Lolita fashion that other fashion subculture emerged such as the Gothic lolita, Wa-Loli and Visual Kei.
But what is the secret behind success of the Lolita fashion?
Its secret is behind the "Kawaii" sense that every Lolita employs in her wardrobe. Llita fashion's slowly growing influence in the fashion world is proof that kawaii (cute in Japanese) is slowly becoming in. Also a another factor that could be the reason behind its success is the remarkable quality and craftsmanship that Lolita fashion shows. These are probably the reason why Lolita fashion is loved by many people through out the ages and keeps us interested.
With the Lolita fashion's slow emergence and the commercialization of "anime" and "manga", the Lolita fashion will certainly continue to boom.
Will Lolita fashion makes its way to the mainstream fashion industry or you consider Lolita fashion to be already mainstream? What do you think?