We have some many different types of fashion across the world. Among the plethora of wonderful dressing styles such as in Paris, London, New York, etc, what piqued my interest was the dressing sense on a certain district in Japan. Yes, I am talking about the street fashion in Harajuku.
The hotspot of unique fashion styles and youth culture
Harajuku is a district in Shibuya, Japan. This place is famous for being the hotspot of unique fashion styles and youth culture. They range from casual style to crazy, quirky ones to really suave ones! Some of these types include Lolita, Gyaru, ganguro, Visual Kei, etc. Each one of them have special traits. There is no set pattern or rules in Harajuku fashion so one can wear the kind of clothing they are most comfortable with and can also experiment with different combinations. If one were to walk down Harajuku, you would surely be surrounded by iridescent colours. It’s like being in a different realm although.
The highlight of this post as mentioned in the title is the ever popular Lolita style. So, what is Lolita? It is the clothing style that has been influenced by the Victorian and Rococo period. The name ‘Lolita’ has connotations to Vladimir Nabokov’s novel having the same name by some people. However, the word is said to have first appeared in a 1980’s Japanese magazine. The concept of Lolita brings to us an image of a person dressed in cute clothes that gives us the image of a young innocent child.
Gothic Lolita
This style is depicted with people wearing a dress with a crinoline (a skirt stiffened by hoops, used more like a petticoat) having rococo design, which comes just up to the knees. The attire has long sleeves, bows, ankle or knees length socks and high heel or flat shoes. The dress is in almost or entirely in black; skulls, swords and other dark-theme accessories are adorned. Blonde or silver wigs are also worn.
Sweet Lolita
This is also known as Ame Lolita. It often consists of a bell or jumper skirt or dress that usually in light pastel colours such as pink, baby blue, white, etc. They may also have motifs with bring out their ‘kawaii side (cute side)’ such as desserts, fruits (mainly strawberries) and other elements that make one feel like a child again. Light pastel wigs are also worn.
Classic Lolita
A slight more mature style of lolita that focuses on elegance than cuteness. The type of skirts and dress are similiar to the other two except that the colours are more down-to earth. This type of lolita don’t stand out as such like the other types. It gives off a more Victorian lady kind of feel.
Lolita Fashion in India
We have many cosplayers who have taken up this Lolita style, since the year 2012. Since then, this suave look is slowly growing. I look forward to the day that this will be popular enough to possibly open a Lolita cafe in India. What do you think?
