Lolita sub- styles: Part 1

 Hello, today I will be talking about the four most common lolita sub styles. They are old school/ traditional, sweet lolita, classic lolita and gothic lolita. As this blog is intended for the newbies to the fashion, I don't want to confuse and overwhelm you with too much information all at once:)
 While lolita refers to the name of the fashion we wear in general, lolita fashion came from the fascination with the Victorian- Rococo look of the 18th century. The first known style to appear on the streets of Harajuku was Old School, but sometimes refered to as Traditional lolita style. Then out of the old school look, lolita fashion evolved into what we know today into the other lolita sub styles.

 

Old School/ Traditional Lolita

What is old school lolita? Old school lolita back in the early days of the fashion consisted of a lot less bright colours, tartan fabric was also popular, also to add detail to the dress, lace was also used. An outfit usually consists of a blouse, the JSK ( jumper skirt), or OP ( one piece, which requires no blouse), and often featured a head dress, bonnet or head bow. However, according to "some lolitas", they refer to this style as Traditional lolita style. But, in my opinion, it was the first instalment of lolita fashion and grew into what we know today.

 

 

 

In the movie Kamikaze girls, we also see the main character, Momoko, who also wears old school style Lolita.

 

 



Sweet Lolita 

Sweet lolita is exactly as the name suggests it's sweet. So, brighter colours are used, such as pastel pinks, purples, blues and greens. The dresses are covered in cute and sweet prints such as candy, cupcakes, chocolate, bears, rabbits, unicorns, lambs, rainbows, hearts, stars, strawberries and fruit in general. The bell shaped petti coat is also popular with this style as it makes the desired cute cupcake shape that defines the sweet style. Sweet lolita is also characterised by big hair (for big hair they wear wigs), lots of cute and matching accessories, and bright and colourful make up.

 

 

 

Classic Lolita

Classic lolita is a more toned down mature style. It consists of colours like creams, off whites and others are more subdued colours, like dusty pastel colours, and jewel tones are often seen. Prints usually consist of flowers, forest animals, kitchen objects, clocks and wall paper like prints. Head wear are often hats, head bows that sit lower than sweet lolita head bows, bonnets, head dresses and corsages. The A- line petti coat is popular with this style as well as using a natrual make up look. Some lolitas prefer to either style their own hair (like in the picture below), or wear a natural hair coloured wig with their coord.

 

 

Gothic Lolita

Gothic lolita consists of darker colours, like black, dark blues, and deep reds. This style was made famous by Mana sama, who was a singer of the visual kei band, Malice Mizer. He also owns the lolita fashion brand Moi mem Moite. Out of all styles I have talked about thus far, this is seen as the most popular. As for prints, crosses, church themes, religious motives, chandeliers, bats, grave yards and etc are popular with this style.

 

It can also be argued that kuro ( meaning wearing all black) and shiro ( meaning wearing all white), are also forms of gothic lolita as well.  

 

In conclusion, it is up to you how you style and put your coord together. By all means, please don't be afraid to ask for help from your local lolita community or facebook groups, like Big Sisters of Lolita Fashion to help guide you in your quest to find what works for you! This is especially important when you are first starting out in the fashion. Click here for how you can get your hands on lolita fashion.

If you want to learn more about the substyles I have mentioned, click here for a video done by the You Tube channel, Kawaii Pateen, featuring Misako Aoki.

Good Luck!!

That's all for today rufflebutts.

Have a lovely lolita day!!