My Lolita Fashion History

My Fashion History and How I was Lead to Lolita

I can't talk about my fashion history without also sharing my personal experiences with Japanese culture, since that's where Lolita style was born.

I've always been inspired by Japanese culture; be it through stories from my mom about her trip to Japan in the 70's, through food and snacks during visits to Little Tokyo, through anime, manga, and games, or through the Karate scene I was a part of since I was very young. Vintage items from Japan have always been around my house, and one of my best friends growing up in California during elementary school was a Japanese boy who told us about Pokémon and Yugioh before any kid in America knew what those words meant.
His mom would also frequently give me little gifts and trinkets from Japan, some of which I still have to this day.
In elementary school, some people just assumed I knew how to read Japanese before I even really knew what hiragana or katakana was! Don't get me wrong, I was interested in other cultures too, especially ancient Egyptian, but Japan always stood out to me.

As I grew up, I had many interests but they always seemed to have a Japanese influence. Sailor Moon, Tamagotchi, Power Rangers, Totoro, Pokémon, drawing, piano, comics/manga, Video games (especially Nintendo), frequenting the San Diego ComicCon and more.

Back when I was in elementary school, I mostly remember wearing big baggy shirts because they were comfortable, plain shorts, and cropped curly hair since apparently I never took care of it. Most people called me a tom boy, and many female classmates thought I WAS a boy. Never really bothered me, as I liked hot wheels AND dolls. It was all open to me, and thankfully my parents never raised me to believe that some things had to be exclusive to boys.

 It wasn't until middle school that I decided I really liked gothic styles. I was a bit angsty as we all were at that age (too cool for everything) but nothing too out of control like getting kicked out of school or getting in fights. I didn't have any friends though at that time, neither did I get bullied, so I never was afraid of wearing strange things to express myself. Thick eyeliner, spiked leather collars, and other random "goodies" you'd find at a typical Hot Topic back in the 90's. When I saw "girly girls", they always came off as boy crazy and annoying...girly was not for me.

Fast forward to High School! Everyone was required to take at least a year or two of a language, but I ended up doing all 4 years of Japanese. After the 3rd year of Japanese, the kids were rewarded with a 1 week stay in Japan that included a few days with a host family. It was such a great experience, of course! We stayed mostly in the Tokyo area I believe, as we were able to go to Harajuku...

ENCOUNTERING LOLITA
By this point, I knew a bit about Lolita and various Japanese fashions. I considered myself somewhat unique with the things I wore (wooden geta to school with an otherwise "normal" looking outfit, and the occasional silk Haori thrown over a dress or tank top/jeans, plus other fun experiments...) When we went to Harajuku, I had heard of some of the brands, but was still not totally familiar. We ended up going into the Bodyline shop there (which to us appeared to be the pinnacle of Lolita fashion as we saw it, plus it must have seemed very affordable for us as high school kids) I believe one of my girl friends got some type of Kuro/all black dress, and I snagged a black and white headdress. I had NOTHING to wear it with, but it looked so nice I figured I could make it work with something. ( I never did by the way and I still have it too!)

Now, I wish I could remember the EXACT moment when I first saw a Livejournal Lolita group, or when I FIRST went to a big brand website, but by this point I just remember being aware of them off and on for years. I do believe that one of the first sites I saw and really explored was Victorian Maiden. I LOVED how it wasn't too over the top sweet and cute, but more subtle and beautiful. I also remember being very interested in Metamorphose, which I still am today. Mostly for their quirky styles and slightly more reasonable prices when compared to other brands.

Some of the first things I bought was a Black coat from Meta that had pink embroidery on it, and 2 skirts and a petticoat from Bodyline. I ended up selling the coat to someone in Australia since at the time I never had a full coordinate to wear it with, plus I felt the sleeves weren't long enough (I have broad shoulders) I still have the skirts, and I enjoy trying to make nice coords with what many would consider cheaper or low end skirts as a base.

CRAFTING WITH LOLITA
I have always been artistic and willing to try new crafts and projects, so right away when I saw the prices brands were charging for Lolita accessories, I realized I should just try making them myself! I ended up opening an etsy shop where I sold many bows/hair accessories, chokers, wrist cuffs, and jewelry. When I used to work at JoAnns fabrics, I could get discounts on items and resell after adding something cute to them. For instance, at one point JoAnns was selling knee high socks for one dollar each. I bought 10 or so in black and white, sewed nice lace and ribbon I got from ebay, and resold them! It was really enjoyable for me, and I was happy to help other Lolitas who didn't want to pay $40+ for brand socks or smaller accessories.

EARLY PURCHASES
I believe the first JSK I bought was at Bodyline in Japan with a friend in college. Much later, I ordered another lovely JSK from chess story, but instantly realized it didn't work for me when I put it on. Unfortunately with online purchases in a style like this, reselling after trying does happen a lot (especially with shoes). It's trial and error unless you live right next to a shop where you can see the dresses and colors in person and can try them all on. Another GREAT reason to start with low budget items by the way! Try some second hand or hand made items, or even try something that is rated highly at Bodyline to see if you even like it. From there, you can really decide what you feel comfortable in!! (but I'll get more into that in another article)

Since I had a sewing machine kicking around, I sewed a few skirts and even a simple JSK. All of which I successfully sold! I was really happy that other people liked what I had made, despite me not ever having taken a sewing class in my life. I felt like I had a decent understanding of the style, and could make my own decisions on what to add or take away.

EARLY COORDINATES
My first full (or at least 80% full) coordinate was the light purple Birthday Cake Bodyline dress. I paired it with striped pastel and black carousel socks, off brand black stubby heals, a short black cardigan and probably just did my hair in plain pigtails with some random bows. Initially, I would wear just the skirts once in a while, or large hair bows, but rarely full outfits...

 Another early-ish but memorable coord I did was for a ren fair! This was sort of a combo of Lolita and renaissance fairy princess as I didn't use a traditional blouse, but it was one I bought in Harajuku, and I wore black leather strappy sandals with no socks (I'm sorry but I knew I would be walking through dirt ALL day, and I didn't want to get good shoes and socks dirty :P) The skirt was from Fan-Plus friend, and I'm glad I was able to work it into something. I definitely want to make another outfit with it again, possibly more traditional with a black blouse. The hair piece in both pics was made by me; black lace, white pearls, and a black bow off to the side.

For a mini convention in Alabama called HamaCon, my theme was fairy tale carriage. I had a pink and white carriage necklace I put together that ended up becoming a sort of belt/sash thing by the end of the night, gold shoes, a bodyline skirt with bunnies and Cinderella style carriages, and a black blouse.

 

Just recently I went to a very small convention at a college that was scifi themed, so I wore the most astrological coord I could muster :3 There were constellations on the blouse collar, on the tights, and all through the dress print, which was a replica of Metamorphose's Twinke Journey print. So many people said they loved it and that the ponies made them happy, I felt that it was a success. I also enjoyed how utterly poofy this dress was! (if I can find a pic, I'll update this post)


I think a very important thing that has helped me continue with Lolita (and other unique fashions in general) is that I can't think of a single negative reaction I've ever received while I'm out! I know there are many girls who get harassed or chastised for what they are wearing (for whatever reason) but I swear to you, 99% of the comments I get are positive. Sometimes, people have even heard of "Lolita aesthetic" and ask me about the style and how to get into it more.

 Yes people stare, but hey, I'm GIVING them something that I hope is pretty to stare at! They don't have to like it, but perhaps it made their day a little more interesting and I hope they saw that I was a happy and decently behaved human being and nothing to really fear. Apparently, I'm pretty good at focusing on whatever I'm doing (shopping/eating/etc) and I end up totally missing comments people make. Usually whoever I'm with will tell me after the fact if someone said something (positive or negative) but to me it's all fine :3

I'm not sure where to end this, as my tastes in fashion change frequently, but I do find myself coming back to Lolita as it evolves over time as well even when many people were moving to fairy kei and 80s pastel styles. I always like when I hear girls talk about how head-dresses are "old-school" Lolita, but for a long time that was all I knew! I guess I'm a bit of an old-school lolita who still appreciates change and trying new things :3

I somewhat recently discovered a brand that is working on bringing "old-school" elements of Lolita back into the fashion in new ways. That's how I see fashion; always evolving but also re-examining older styles with fresh eyes. After all, at it's core, Lolita is a re-examining of older rococo/royal/victorian styles as Harajuku Japan sees it. I'll always enjoy keeping an eye on evolving trends in Lolita, as well as bringing my own creativity to the table.