Visual Kei and Lolita

Recently there has been some talk about wearing lolita to concerts, mainly due, I think, to the increase of Japanese visual-style bands playing in the West and Dir en grey’s upcoming American tour. It seems again to be a really polarized topic, though those people who are against it seem to feel more strongly about the topic than those for it.

Personally, I have gone to over 40 indies lives in Japan (over the course of my two stays in Japan), and I’ve worn lolita to quite a few. That said, I’ve seen Dir en grey 10 times in Japan, and I’ve never worn lolita (though I’ve wanted to!) My personal reasons behind this are quite simple: I don’t wear lolita when I want to be really really active at a show, because I will be too self conscious and I won’t be able to have fun, and because I’d be upset if something got damaged. Even when I do wear lolita to lives, I tend to opt for something more casual, usually cutsew/skirt combinations and often things that I picked up used/on sale or from cheaper brands (this is where Bodyline really comes in handy!) My coordinate to the right is one of my typical sweet-style live outfits: Anna House blouse (very cheap!), offbrand headband from a kid’s shop, and a Meta skirt purchased in the final days of the summer sale for 60% off. That’s just my own personal preference though, and I do occasionally end up going to lives in intricate outfits.

There are almost always lolitas at visual kei lives. In fact I can only think of a few indies shows that I have atteneded where there was not at least one lolita in attendance. They run the gamut from very rare prints to lace monstrosities that would immediately be ripped apart on some less friendly forums in the English-speaking world (and which are ripped apart on the less friendly Japanese forums as well). Going back to a previous entry I wrote about lifestyle, the divide is naturally between girls who wear lolita and just happen to go to lives, versus girls who go to lives and choose to wear lolita. There are just as many itas in Japan as anywhere else. With the increase in quality from Bodyline recently, I’ve noticed an overall improvement in one-time or live-only lolitas: they can now get better items for their money, plus the higher quality in the items means that even if they don’t intend to, they’re getting closer to actual lolita than costume (usually!).

Of course bands that have a very visual appeal, especially ones with a member that dresses in a lolita or pseudo-lolita style, attract more lolitas (and more wildly attired people in general). The trend in recent times is that people are dressing down more for lives, but you won’t find any slobs waiting for bands like Versailles, which features style icon Hizaki (pictured to the left). Many fans also tend to tailor their live style to the style of the band they’re seeing; Decola Hopping, featuring a female vocalist bedecked in AP and rainbow colored petticoats, has a lot of deco-loli fans, while the aforementioned Versailles has a lot of gothic and classic lolitas.

As for Dir en grey, they are a bit infamous for supposedly giving lolita fashion a verbal thrashing (which was actually just guitarist Die making fun of it, as he is apt to do of many things, and vocalist Kyo stating the VERY true fact that it just doesn’t suit some people). Honestly though, I think that these statements should be taken in stride, as the band has been working hard to shuck its visual label for a number of years– it’s just not cool any more, and it doesn’t suit the music that they’re trying to make. Dir en grey is my favourite band and has been for years, though, so I might be a little more lenient with them. At any rate, there are always lolitas at Dir en grey concerts in Japan, in spite of what a lot of Westerners think (there seems to be some idea that a lolita at a Dir show would be lynched or shunned)– furthermore, these lolitas tend to go all out. It’s not uncommon to see extremely rare prints (AP’s Twinkle Mermaid, Baby’s Snow White) on show, as well as those things just released. While I think these girls are brave for risking their precious pieces at a violent show, I don’t think they’re doing anything too scandalous. Dir en grey’s visual past basically guarantees them a lolita fanbase, that’s all there is to it.
That said, I don’t think one can draw too many comparisons between the Western and Japanese Dir en grey fanbases. I personally would be more scared of being lynched for wearing lolita at an American show than at a Japanese one. But I will never know because I value freedom of movement more than fashion — at least, in this one situation!

Aldila: Lolita Exhibition

On October 5th I visited the 10th Lolita Exhibition by Aldila in Osaka.  Aldila also holds indies brand events in Tokyo and even in Nagoya occasionally (though I missed the only Nagoya one that has happened since I moved here). It was the perfect opportunity to “twin” with a friend of mine who has the same print by Baby, only in skirt form, so we took our Twin Foreigner Cuteness Attack to the masses. We were a bit late for the event, but when we got there it was still in full swing. There were a lot of really creatively dressed people in attendance as well as selling their wares– perhaps my favourite were the man in the monocle and tophat and the girl who was working an AP-style decololi outfit with her Meta biscuit print JSK.
Though the brands present covered the range from Gothic to Country and were all mixed together, and attendees were decked out in their finest Classic to their most cavity-inducing sweet, there was a sort of obvious divide between the different styles. The staff of gothic brands were a little wary of girls bedecked in ice cream, and likewise the tables selling charms with various foodstuffs attached seemed to not know what to say to the Victorian ladies among them. It was a divide I haven’t ever noticed before, and was kind of disconcerting– especially once my friend suggest that other lolitas might be “thinking of sweet lolitas as the himegyaru of lolita now”. Considering the tension between lolitas and gyaru, that is NOT a good thing!

Anyway. There were a lot of brands in attendance– somewhere around 40 are listed on Aldila’s website, and though I don’t think there were really that many when we arrived (I’m sure some left early), there were quite a few.  It was set up much in the same fashion as any small sales exhibition (maybe a lot of people can conjure up an image of the sales room at an anime convention), with each brand purchasing a table or two to display their wares.  Most of the sellers stocked accessories, quite a few had racks of clothing, and there was even some artwork for sale– all of it handmade.  You could really feel the sense of pride that most sellers had in their work, as well.

One of the standout brands in my mind were キラキラスタァ (KirakiraStar), who have a blog and webshop listed, though nothing is currently for sale there. At first glance they appeared to be peddling just the usual sweets jewelry, though I thought it was especially attractive because of the pearlized, colored creams they used for decorating. But when I picked up a piece and looked at it, I knew I was in love!

An apple-shaped macaron brooch– what more could any girl ever want? Especially when it comes complete with little gems for seeds. At 1200yen (~US12), it wasn’t a bad price, either.

As for other purchases, I also picked up a new headdress from armeria maritima, who also make cute jumperskirts for affordable prices. Their site is located here, and there are a few items in the shop for you to peruse. For the prices (around 8000yen for a jsk on the site, though they were 500-1500 yen cheaper at the event), I would say that the quality is not bad. The katyusha I purchased is to the right. It’s simple, but it matches an IW dress I have really well, so I can’t wait to wear it (I hate to admit also that I’m starting to lean more and more toward smaller and more adult head accessories… no!!!), and for only 1000yen (~US10), a good deal. Also, the girl who was working the table was SO adorable and talkative– and her English was pretty good– I just had to support her brand!

Other brands worth mentioning were Chantilly, mentioned in a previous post. I love their use of so-huge-its-crazy rose lace! Unfortunately they didn’t have the JSK I’ve been pining for (actually, Chantilly was presented by Atelier Pierrot, and most of the actual clothing on display was by the latter; Chantilly was providing their usual assortment of amazing bonnets and headwear, plus a few darling blouses). Lyra’s Cute Tone was there to provide options for adorable false nails (Oh how I would love to try those!!). YUki provided cute, ETC-style cutsews, which unfortunately had ETC-style prices as well.
Quiet Darkness featured gothic and aristocrat style jewelry and small items, like the butterfly corsages on the left. Their headdresses are also to die for, but are also as expensive as established brand prices (in my opinion, though, they are quite worth it– if you’re a gothic lolita, which I’m not!).

One disappointment of the event was that my friend and I found the ultimate in ridiculous lolita accessories– cupcake scepters! And for only 800yen, of course we wanted them. Actually, the entire table they were at was stocked with cheap but adorable sweet-deco goods. Why was this disappointing? Because the entire time we were there, there was never a single person working at the table to sell us anything! How annoying. That scepter will haunt my dreams. Or maybe I’ll just email them and see if they can ship them… Anyway, the brand was Barahime, and you can see the scepters in question on their blog.

Anyway! I have rambled on long enough. The event was fun, if brief for me, and it was great to see some of the up-and-comers in the lolita world. I’m a fan of indies brands, and I think we should all support the good ones. All of the major brands in lolita fashion today started as small independant labels, and with the support of fans have managed to keep going. Good luck, little brands!

Bodyline takes center stage

Recently the much maligned Bodyline has become more and more popular among tried-and-true lolitas, for more than just petticoats and bloomers. In the past the brand was a laughingstock, the name considered synonymous with cheap lace and costume-like designs.

A recent major sale by the brand, however, led some people to give them another try– present party included. I personally purchased several items from Bodyline during the 50% off sale and was quite pleased with the quality for the price. For example, I got the skirt pictured here for only 1500yen (~$15US). It’s not the best-made thing I own, but it’s quite worth 1500 yen!
I also purchased a jumperskirt and was was happy to find that it was trimmed with soft cotton lace, and had no apparent major flaws.

However, one has to wonder about Bodyline– is it such a good thing? I don’t think there’s anything wrong with getting cute products for cheap, especially for beginner lolitas or old hands who would like to add some pieces for lounging around in. However, Bodyline has a history of ripping off other brands, sometimes more blatantly than others. Take, for example, these recent additions to Bodylines rakuten shop:

The print on the skirt is an obvious reproduction of Angelic Pretty’s extremely popular “Fruit Parlor” (sometimes incorrectly translated as “Fruits Parlor”) series, which is pictured below.

I am surprised by the reaction to these new items– at least, by the Western community. I’ve seen a lot of Japanese threads full of outrage, but most of the non-Japanese lolitas seem to find it an acceptable, cheap alternative to the original brands. I suppose this might be due to the fact that, with all fees and shipping included, buying brand from overseas is not only time-consuming and difficult, it is also significantly more expensive. Also, purchasing fake items– such as Secret Shop shoes (AP is certainly a frequent target for this sort of thing– is a common, well-known, and accepted fact within the Western lolita community.
In my opinion, I think people should only buy the knockoffs if they like the design of the knockoff, not because it looks like a brand item. If you want something that looks like Angelic Pretty’s Fruit Parlor, you should buy Angelic Pretty’s Fruit Parlor. If you think that this is a cute skirt, you should buy it for that reason, but not try to pass it off as the real deal.

These are pretty obvious fakes though; I have to wonder how people are going to feel while wearing them. Living in Japan I think I would be self-conscious about running into someone wearing the real deal; but I think even in America I would feel awkward about it.
But then, the irony of that is the skirt that I ordered, pictured above, is actually an Atelier Pierrot knockoff. Perhaps I feel less awkward about it because it is less obvious? Or maybe because I couldn’t wear the original design due to size issues… More grey area!

For all the stories that Western lolitas spread about Bodyline in Japan (I once heard a laughable tale about “real” lolitas standing outside of a Bodyline shop and lynching anyone who came out with a purchase in hand, which at least is an hilarious mental image before you have to admit that it is ridiculous), I think it’s more a source of embarrassment than anything else. Often you see girls caught in a Kera! Snap wearing a piece of Bodyline in their outfit, but never once have I actually seen it listed in their brand list– the item is usually simply referred to as “from Harajuku” or “I forgot”. While brand events have been known to put a “no Bodyline” clause into the invitations for parties with strict dress codes, I don’t think they’d go so far as to lynch anyone over it, either. Japan is too non-confrontational, as a whole, for people to actually be attacked for something like that; though they’ll probably be the stars of a malicious thread on an anonymous forum later on (kind of like the West, actually).

If anything, it just gives Bodyline more publicity. But if they are really trying to become a respectable brand, they need to carefully consider things like this. I think they may have seriously shot themselves in the foot; they’ll turn a quick profit on this, for sure, but they’ll loose some potential longterm customers in the process. …Well, maybe.
Personally, I can say that I lost what respect that I had gained for Bodyline– and I really HAD gained some, upon seeing the quality of the items I ordered. However, I still want to order some shoes from their site… even the most self-righteous lolita needs cheap shoes!

Not-so-pro tips

While this isn’t specifically lolita-related, it is in response to a previous article, so I thought some people might be interested.
After my post about makeup and personal grooming a few people asked for ideas about what specifically they could do. I’m neither a beauty queen nor a makeup expert so I don’t know how qualified I am to reply to that, but I do have a couple basic tricks up my sleeve that I’d like to share! Please remember, though, that I live in Japan, so the products I use generally have a Japan-bias.

One thing I can’t recommend enough is Camellia oil, called Tsubaki in Japan. It has been a staple of Japanese grooming for hundreds of years– it’s what kept the elaborate hairstyles of the Geisha in place (and might still do so, if they haven’t moved on to more modern chemical compounds)– and it has a multitude of uses, including treating dry skin. Personally I just use it for my hair. A friend of mine, after listening to me whine about my coarse, unruly hair not being able to hold a curl for more than 2 seconds in the Nagoya humidity, suggested I try it– and now I am suggesting it to you! The variety I usually use is pictured to the left: “Oshima Tsubaki tsuyatsuya water” — and I’ll admit that I did choose this kind because it has “Camellia oil in water” printed directly on the label! I think that pretty much all “camellia oil in water” solutions should be about the same (or you can buy the oil concentrated and dilute it yourself). The oil not only helps create the perfect curl, it also gives your hair a really healthy shine and, best of all, it’s all-natural. I recommend using wax to hold the curl in place.
If you live in Japan, you can get this particular product for about 1000 yen. Camellia oil products are a bit more expensive overseas, as the Western market hasn’t really caught on to how great they are yet, but still quite affordable. You can buy the Oshima Tsubaki variety on Amazon for US$10.75!

I also find that, especially in an extremely humid climate like the one in which I live, makeup base is just about the most important kind of makeup I put on. For the longest time I didn’t think it was necessary, and even after I finally broke down and tried a few kinds, I was put off by the sticky or greasy feel they left me with and less than impressed with their results. And then, the clouds parted and Pore Putty Clear appeared. As disgusting as the name sounds, I absolutely love this stuff. The finish is smooth and powdery to the touch, and it is seriously weapons grade– put it on in the morning and you’ll need to scrub with makeup remover twice to get it off. Which means, it doesn’t go anywhere, even if you sweat or get caught in the rain. Even better? In Japan it retails for about 1050yen including tax, and you can buy it online (for example at Sasa.com, where it is only US$9.70).

You can get it for slightly cheaper at discount cosmetics chains– if you’re around Nagoya I recommend Base Girl, which, while having a rather hilarious mistake of a name, has some great deals on not only cosmetics but also clothing, as well as boasting a huge collection of bargain-basement-priced perfumes.

Speaking of perfume, I LOVE the stuff, and I think it’s a lolita staple. If you’re going to be really really girly, you need to smell that way too, right? (Right!)
My current favourites are Juicy Couture and Aquolina Pink Sugar — the former I usually spritz on when I’m going for a cooler look, the latter is of course perfect when my goal is to look like a cupcake. Other great scents are the obvious Lolita by Lolita Lempicka (which managed to migrate to another part of my room before I snapped this photo), which has a deeper, headier scent that I think makes it lovely for more mature lolita looks or nighttime outings. Another one that I like is Geparlys Temptation, which is a fruitier scent than I usually choose and therefore I tend to use it when wearing colors or styles that are a little out of the norm.
Perfume is an extremely personal thing, so you should choose your scents carefully and make sure they suit not only your style but your own natural scent. Smell is the sense which is most strongly linked to memory– and who doesn’t want to be remembered beautifully?

Not exactly inconspicuous

I think I ended up on TV yesterday… maybe, and definitely only in my region. And if so, only for about 2 seconds during a live show that will never be rerun. Thank goodness!

Why? Because I looked like that! Probably the biggest fund-raiser in Japan took place on Sunday– called 24 Hour TV, just about every city in Japan has some sort of event that culminates with a big celebration at the end of the day, all with the goal of getting donations to support disaster relief and other important causes. I stopped to get information about donating and was singled out by the host of the show here in my city, solely because of the way I was dressed– there were indeed other foreigners around.

This post isn’t very informative… but I thought it was a cute anecdote about the reception of lolitas in Japan… or at least, this particular lolita in Japan.

By the way, right now I’m working on an entry about a topic that someone asked me about. If there are any specific things that people who read this blog are interested in learning more about (that is, about Japan and/or lolita fashion), ask and I’ll do my best to answer. If I have enough to say I’ll make a new entry about it, so we both win.

Lolita in the Media

I just saw a tv special about the making of an upcoming drama that made me think about the portrayal of lolita fashion on Japanese tv, because a lot of people ask about it. Of course, I don’t watch tv 24/7, and I don’t speak Japanese brilliantly, so I don’t know everything there is to know, but I do keep an eye out for lolita characters or even cameos– and I do have a fondness for dramas! Anyway there are a couple of dramas this season that make me think of the way tv dramas look at this fashion I love so much.

First is NHK’s upcoming キャットストリート (“Cat Street”), which is based on a manga by the artist of Hana Yori Dango (which, aside from being immensely popular in that form, also spawned a media frenzy around it’s multiple drama recreations; in fact, there’s a Hana Yori Dango movie in theaters right now!), which prominently features a lolita character. I haven’t read the comic, but through a little research I see that the lolita is a girl named “Momiji” who makes her own clothes and finds herself generally shunned because of her fashion. From the special, I see that she is portrayed at least in the drama as the usual uber-energetic best friend of the main character, and her style is primarily sweet lolita (though in the interview the actress refers to her own character as “Gothic Lolita”).
This program starts on Thursday and I look forward to seeing it, although I’ll have to stream it online because it comes on pretty early

Also currently on air is the Teppei-starring Shibatora, which features a character who works at a maid cafe. Episode 5 most prominently features the maid cafe, in which all the “maids” wear clothing from Baby the Stars Shine Bright. The clothes are never referenced as lolita clothes and are just considered normal costumes for waitresses in maid cafes to wear. This is a fallacy though, actually– I’ve never seen maid cafe staff in anything but maid cosplay; I have, however, seen some Alice- or otherwise-themed cafes uniform their employees in some brand items. For example, the staff of the Alice cafe in Nagoya all wear uniforms by Milky Ange. Anyway, another theme of that particular episode is pedophilia, which is upsetting in the way it is related to lolita.

I think the two completely different portrayals of lolita fashion provided by these shows gives us a little insight into the mindsets in Japan about lolitas. The first girl is lolita ALL the time. It’s who she is. I guess she’s what would be called a “lifestyle loli” in the west. The other girls happen to wear lolita as part of their jobs, which is directly connected to otaku/moe culture and attracts some creepy characters. Of course I feel more comfortable with the first version, but in the general media the latter is much more common. If not something that is related to maid cafes, lolita characters are usually portrayed as gloomy or downright psychotic. You never really see just a normal girl who happens to dress like a little doll… but then, maybe normal girls don’t

I’m not really worried about whether this particular media attention is going to change the face of lolita or anything; it actually happens all the time– don’t forget there was recently a Hello Project group that performed in lolita (called, for some reason, The Possible). A few months back there was also a hime lolita featured on 恋のから騒ぎ(“Much Ado About Love”), a show that is based around a gravelly-voiced host– a very famous tv personality in Japan– asking “weird” girls (mostly gyaru) about their relationships. Just a couple weeks ago a sweet lolita appeared as well, though her fashion sense was a little dubious in my humble opinion.

I don’t really think the presence of lolita characters on tv (or in comics or wherever else) has really made the fashion more understandable to outsiders, though. Most of the appearances just reinforce the stereotypes they already have, so nothing ever really changes. If Cat Street becomes extremely popular, the lolita character might be thought about a little more seriously… but its still not really an accurate portrayal– after all, the lolita is just the sidekick. And the series is only 6 episodes long! I don’t predict too much ground being broken there.
I’ll watch anyway, though. Just to make sure.

Ask not what you can do for your brand (4)

I didn’t realize that I had totally forgotten to talk about point cards! Which is funny, because they’re ever-present for a lolita shopper (or any shopper!) in Japan.

Point cards are not only a way to earn incentives for spending money at a particular shop, they’re a sort of status symbol as well (they also have the unfortunate side effect of being a tangible gauge for how much you have spent on new merchandise). Generally you aren’t offered a point card until you have shopped at a particular brand several times, unless you buy a substantial amount the first time you go. I’ve never tried asking for a point card at a lolita brand shop, but I imagine they wouldn’t say no to you; I’ve asked in any number of other stores and been favourably received, though most places want you to get a point card the very first time you buy something.

You usually get one point per a specified amount of money spent at the store; for example, Angelic Pretty is 1 point per 3000 yen, and Baby is 1 point per 5250. Innocent World is the “most expensive”, so to speak, card that I have, with each point a steep 10,000 yen. The number of points required before you reach the goal also depends on the brand, usually between 15 and 20, sometimes as many as 30. The prize that you’re working toward is that the cards become coupons once they’re filled up– again, each brand is a little different, but for example AP’s cards are worth 3000 yen off of any amount, while Baby’s are worth 3000 off any purchase that costs more than 6000; Meta’s is a great deal: 5000 yen off any purchase plus a novelty item. In some cases, if you’re lucky enough to have a full or close-to-full card, brands will have novelty fairs wherein you can exchange your card for limited edition items instead of cash off.
Personally I think AP’s cards are the most customer-friendly– most brands give no credit for amounts that do not total up to a full point (several times I’ve been chagrined to discover that I am a few hundred yen short of another point at Baby), but AP simply writes the excess amount on the card and that’s added to your next visit’s total, so you never lose out. For once AP is on the customer’s side!

I also have to admit that point cards sometimes give me a bit of an elite feeling. My Baby card, for example, has a lovely number 4 written in a large block on the top of it, meaning that I’ve filled 3 full cards already. A card like that earns a little nicer treatment from the staff of any Baby shop when they see it. (Being a regular customer in Nagoya of course warrants a high level of customer care, but in stores where I’m not known, the little card says: I understand and love this style and am a loyal customer.)

Personally I think point cards are a great little benefit, especially for such an expensive fashion as lolita; but actually you can get point cards anywhere– from Tower Records to the discount cosmetics shops to the consignment shops! It’s fun to rack up points but for people like me, I tend to want to spend a little extra to make sure I always get the most points possible… it’s dangerous!

But in my arms she was always Lolita.

Image copyright MGM.

I’ve been re-reading Nabokov’s classic novel Lolita recently, partly because I could feel my brain beginning to atrophy as a result of reading too much nonsense (good nonsense, but nonsense nonetheless, The Russian Concubine et al) and I needed something possessing the verbosity only found in “classic literature” (and I’ve had my fill of Wilde for a while)… and partly because I wondered what it would feel like to go back to this controversial story after becoming that which is so often confused with it: a Lolita by fashion terms. I think the first and last time I read this book must have been at the end of my junior high career or the beginning of high school, so a number of years ago. I’d never heard of Lolita fashion at that time and I got a little scandalous thrill from reading the book because it was actually banned in my school district. The movie was even more scandalous– for my 14-year-old self.

Anyway, I digress. I just wanted to make a bit of a comment about these two oft-confused but fundamentally different usages of the same name. Lolita fashion is one of those gross misnomers that would have benefited SO much from a simple name change in its early stages (I can’t help but think about the English school NOVA, which would probably be doing a LOT better now if its name had been changed after it collapsed and before it came back…). But that can’t really be helped now, and forever the fashion will be incorrectly equated with Nabokov’s famous Lolita (and as a result, “lolicon” in Japan, which takes it’s name from “Lolita complex”– also from Nabokov’s famous 12-year-old).

There are a lot of debates about why the fashion is called “Lolita” and whether it’s related to the book, or the film (in which Lo is fundamentally different as a character: in the book she’s a fairly typical kid to everyone except the perverted Humbert Humbert, but in the film she is presented as a seductive young woman). Personally, I think that if the name has any significance at all, they have to be related. But I don’t think that means that Lolita fashion should be considered something inherently sexual. Perhaps this was just yet another misinterpretation of Lo’s character; or perhaps it was something a little deeper.
First, let’s think about Lolita the character’s two personalities.
In the book, she’s a grubby little girl who is just interested in being a kid until her life comes crashing down– thanks entirely to Dr. Humbert, a middle-aged man who can’t contain his desire for her. Her world becomes increasingly wild and unpredictable and extremely mature, especially considering she’s only 12. If the fashion is consciously based on this version of the character, then we might say that the idea is to give girls who find themselves thrown into a world that is changing too fast, and becoming too dirty, some sort of lovely fantasy to cling to.
In the film, Lolita is a 14-year-old tease who seduces Humbert. If we want to think of the fashion as related to this version of Lo we might conclude that it is for girls that are young at heart but still mature and worldly in their heads. She’s quite a tough cookie, after all. Which is actually a kind of compliment if you think about it– and certainly many a Lolita I know is an intelligent young woman wrapped in a very colorful package.

Honestly I don’t think there’s anything insulting about relating the Lolita fashion with Nabokov’s character. The insulting thing is when it is done by someone who actually knows very little about either. Whether there’s any real connection, we may never know (and while it’s interesting to ponder, there’s no point in fighting over it).

As for whether Lolita the fashion is intended to be about sex, I’d say decidedly no; but as a friend of mine once said, Lolita might not be inherently sexual, but humans are, and that’s bound to connect at some point. But people who wear blue jeans have sex too– that doesn’t make blue jeans an automatic statement of sexuality. If Lolita WAS originally intended to have some sort of sexual connotations, I think it’s moved pretty far in the opposite direction by now. I can’t see how wearing a two-tier cake or a cupcake on your head could really be seen as an invitation for lowbrow activities (but that’s just one girl’s opinion).
Unfortunately, there has been enough media exposure of Lolita fashion, linking it to maid fashion and the “moe” phenomenon, that in Japan there are a number of people assume all kinds of Lolita fashion are actually some sort of fetish.
Among people who know about the fashion though, there is a particular idea– that Lolitas can be downright frigid. As one of my Japanese friends explained: Lolitas and gyaru don’t get along because “Lolitas are prudes and gyaru are easy”.
But that’s for a different essay altogether!

And in conclusion, I recommend both the book and the movie Lolita to anyone who hasn’t yet read or seen it. If nothing else you’ll probably learn some new vocabulary!

When in Rome

Long time no see :O I’ve been really busy the last month, and also I was at a bit of a loss about what I should write about here when I seem to cover everything in various other places. Luckily a friend suggested that I write about Japanese perception of Lolitas, and voila! a topic was born.

Just as many people– specifically so-called Japanophiles– think of Japan as a magic land made of candy and brand where everything is beautiful and clean, they also tend to think of the Japanese (in Japan) as being an otherworldly creature. There are a lot of misconceptions about Japanese culture, daily life, et cetera, but of course it would take many volumes to cover such a vast quantity of information and that’s not what I seek to do anyway. I do think, though, that it’s at least interesting to take a look at how lolitas are seen in Japan.
This is based on my own experience living in Osaka and Nagoya, and visiting other cities, as well as using anecdotes from friends who are also into lolita or other fashion subcultures.

A lot of people ask me whether, because lolita fashion originated in Japan, people are widely accepting of it. I think the answer to this is no; certainly more people are aware of it, but the majority don’t understand it and mistake it for something else. Of course it depends on where you are while in lolita– a big city is going to be different from a small mountain town, whatever country you’re in. There are certain places in Japan, most famously Harajuku and Shinjuku– and in Osaka Shinsaibashi/America-mura, and in Nagoya Osu and Sakae– where lolita isn’t going to attract all that much attention, and is likely to get a more positive response than negative. The reason for this, though, is that these are fashionable areas, and the people that frequent them are used to seeing lolitas. That said, being a non-Japanese lolita is ALWAYS going to attract some amount of attention, just as being a foreigner at all is going to attract attention in almost every city (except perhaps Tokyo and some places of Osaka– even in Nagoya, Japan’s third largest city, people are often surprised to see foreigners at all).

One of the most interesting responses that I get, and many of my friends here in Japan agree, is that elderly women tend to be the most vocal about their love for lolita. Businessmen tend either to simply stare or to titter amongst themselves, young women are torn between admiration and disgust, and I’ve seen my fair number of boys get scared and run the other direction (quite literally– a group of friends and I, two of us in full lolita, came across a group of young men, who saw us and played a quick game of rock-paper-scissors to decide who was going to do whatever they had planned. The winner/loser stalked up to us boldly, but stopped several feet away and shouted “I can’t do it!” and made a dash back to his buddies. Things like this happen more often than you might think, but I don’t think they meant any harm). I have had people say inappropriate things to me and make situations quite awkward, but I don’t think these are because I’m a foreign lolita versus a Japanese lolita; I think it happens to all of us. And in some cases I think it’s more because I’m not Japanese, rather than the outfit I’m wearing. Like anywhere else, you should stay away from creepy-looking areas and just generally use common sense. Japan IS safer than most countries, but that’s not a license to be stupid.

At any rate, the general outside reaction varies greatly, but don’t be surprised to have people discreetly or not-so-discreetly snapping photos of you every time you stop moving.

While the general opinion of lolita is important to note, perhaps the closed-door opinion is even more important. What I mean is how your friends, (host) family, and coworkers are going to react when they find out your “secret”– even if you don’t consider it to be one. This may or may not vary from the reactions you already get in western countries, I’m not sure because it was never an issue for me in my home country.

I have been very lucky in Japan to have coworkers and students who more or less found lolita interesting and cute. I didn’t want anyone to know about it for the longest time, because I learned when I was a student in Osaka that many people confuse lolita with fetish/maid. As far as friends being accepting, I’m generally not worried about that because I firmly believe that a friend who can’t accept something as basic as my fashion choices isn’t a friend I really need.

I’ve gotten a few shocked “eeeeh?!” reactions, but nothing more serious than that, and it can definitely be more serious. I have had friends who were ordered by their superiors at work to never wear lolita in any place where the customers/students might see them (which, depending on where they worked, could mean never wearing lolita without leaving the city). I have also had friends whose host families had some trouble accepting a “weird” lifestyle– once to the extent that the family eventually demanded the host daughter be removed from their house, according to the girl solely due to their arguments about her fashion choices. While there are a lot of families that are fine with their new charges dressing strange, there are still many who are not.
Japan remains a country with a very conservative core, and despite what the world knows of Japan through its pop culture, there are more people on the conservative side than on the wild street-fashion (giant-robot-riding) side. Young Japanese lolitas and other street fashion wearers are noted for carrying suitcases around with them at all times– frequently this is because they carry a change of clothes with them. If Japan were as open-minded as people in the West believe, kids would probably be able to change clothes at home. But whether their fashion choice is a secret from their families (which is possible because many post-high schoolers live at home and have a part-time job or two to earn money) or simply not accepted in that “not under MY roof!” way, a lot of people have to change clothes on the go.

A friend once said, and I totally agree, that being a lolita is a matter that should be handled with delicacy– kind of like coming out. A lot of people are perfectly fine with homosexuals– that is, until their child or best friend or employee comes out. It is a lot easier to accept something when it doesn’t have a direct impact on your life.
As terrible as this seems, it does make sense. In a society that prizes conformity, it’s tough to accept something that doesn’t fit that mold. When a business hires a foreign employee or a host family agrees to accept a student, theoretically they should also accept whatever idiosyncrasies that person brings, since we all have them. From the point of view of the family/company though, they may feel like they didn’t get what they “signed up for”. Coming from America, I can’t stand the idea of a business controlling what the employees do in their off time, but in Japan things are different and it does happen.

I’m not saying “When in Rome…” though, because being a hard-headed American I can never accept that. And I’m not saying you shouldn’t come to live or work in Japan, either. I’m just recommending some delicacy in a delicate matter. As a non-Japanese lolita in Japan you are definitely going to stand out, but it doesn’t have to be a bad thing.