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REUTERS AND NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLES ABOUT GOTHIC LOLITA, VICTORIAN COSPLAY.

Portraits of Gothic and Sweet Lolitas at fashion event in Tokyo, Japan. Japanese women dressed in Lolita fashion walk in front of the venue of the 0101 Marui Shinjuku Individual Fashion Expo IV, a gothic, Lolita and punk fashion event, in Tokyo September 23, 2008.

You know you’ve hit the big-time when there are two articles about you in two of the world’s most influential newspapers… within the span of three days. We’re talking about Miss Lolita, naturally; she’s drilled herself far deeper into the public consciousness than gyaru, decora, manba, or other Harajuku fashion tribes. Reuters and the New York Times published short articles that provide a basic overview of Lolita fashion. Here are some quotes by young women about their lifestyle; the photos are from Reuters.

Gosurori bible photos, pretty harajuku girls. Japanese women dressed in Lolita fashion walk in front of the venue of the Individual Fashion Expo MARUI young, a gothic, Lolita and punk fashion event, in Tokyo September 23, 2008.

Nancy Ramos: “I saw a girl dressed as a Lolita and thought it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. She was wearing a pair of rocking-horse ballerina shoes, and I had never seen anything like them before. I was fascinated that you could walk with your heel missing.”

“Our Lolita is an elegant young girl inspired by Victorian or Rococo times. They aspire to create a sense of nobility.”

From A New Generation of Lolitas Makes a Fashion Statement by Dabrali Jimenez, NY Times, 08/09/26

street snaps of male punk fashion, hats and shutter shades. Little boy as London punk in plaid, spiked choker. Cosplay in front of the venue of Marui Individual Fashion Expo.IV, a gothic, Lolita and punk fashion event, in Tokyo September 23, 2008.

Eriko Enokizome: “Lolita is my basic needs. Without Lolita, I cannot be myself so I’m extremely glad that I found Lolita fashion.”

Chizuru Matsuda: “Gothic-Lolita fashion is like that special magic that allows me to become a different character. It’s been eight years since I discovered this fashion, but it took me two years to actually complete my overall style.”

Misuzu Kitahara: “I would like all Gothic-Lolita girls to refine their inner beauty first. I see a lot of girls smoking and sitting down on the floor in their outfits. I don’t want them doing this.”

From Lolita goes Victorian, Goth in Japan cosplay trend by Hiro Muramoto, Reuters, 08/09/29

SHARE & COMMENT

31 Comments

  1. em
    Posted September 29, 2008 at 8:52 pm | Permalink

    oooh, they called it cosplay. :/ It's more of a lifestyle, really, and it's great to see people gaining confidence from it.

    I'm not a loli myself, but I admire it, and find the designs to be very beautiful (or cute). It would be fun to try, but it doesn't really “fit” with me.

    Anywho, nice article, and I enjoy reading your blog!

  2. em
    Posted September 30, 2008 at 3:52 am | Permalink

    oooh, they called it cosplay. :/ It’s more of a lifestyle, really, and it’s great to see people gaining confidence from it.

    I’m not a loli myself, but I admire it, and find the designs to be very beautiful (or cute). It would be fun to try, but it doesn’t really “fit” with me.

    Anywho, nice article, and I enjoy reading your blog!

  3. LiTtLe_MiSs_PsYcHo
    Posted September 29, 2008 at 11:20 pm | Permalink

    wow, love the clothes!!!!

    yeh I agree with em, i find it more of a lifestyle than cosplay.

    LoL I can also relate to Eriko Enokizome ans Misuzu Kitahara's quote

  4. Damien Darkshade
    Posted September 30, 2008 at 12:26 am | Permalink

    I do enjoy the style. But it's the manners and the way the girl hold herself that I most admire.

  5. LiTtLe_MiSs_PsYcHo
    Posted September 30, 2008 at 6:20 am | Permalink

    wow, love the clothes!!!!

    yeh I agree with em, i find it more of a lifestyle than cosplay.

    LoL I can also relate to Eriko Enokizome ans Misuzu Kitahara’s quote

  6. Emma
    Posted September 30, 2008 at 2:22 am | Permalink

    Isn't the girl on the first pic who was there with 3 friends (two sweet lolis and one girl dressed like her) the same person you took pics of at the expo?

    I wish it was easier to buy lolita stuff in Europe… or that is to say, in a part of Europe with insane taxes!

  7. Damien Darkshade
    Posted September 30, 2008 at 7:26 am | Permalink

    I do enjoy the style. But it’s the manners and the way the girl hold herself that I most admire.

  8. Emma
    Posted September 30, 2008 at 9:22 am | Permalink

    Isn’t the girl on the first pic who was there with 3 friends (two sweet lolis and one girl dressed like her) the same person you took pics of at the expo?

    I wish it was easier to buy lolita stuff in Europe… or that is to say, in a part of Europe with insane taxes!

    • lacarmina
      Posted September 30, 2008 at 2:36 pm | Permalink

      Yes, it is the same girl!

      There are Lolita stores in Paris, London, Amsterdam… there’s online ordering from Marui and others… there’s DIY… where there’s a will, there’s a way! :)

      • Emma
        Posted October 1, 2008 at 6:45 am | Permalink

        Oh really? I knew there was a BSSB in Paris, but I never heard of any stores in London or Amsterdam. Any chance you have addresses for any of those Europe shops? That would be extremely helpful ^^

        • lacarmina
          Posted October 1, 2008 at 11:17 pm | Permalink

          LONDON: Sai Sai (Camden Mkt), blablahospital (Unit 34 C Camden Stables Market Chalk Farm road London NW1 8AH Thurs & Fri 1pm-6pm, Sat & Sunday 10:30am- 6:30pm),

          Vivienne Westwood’s World’s End
          430 Kings Rd London, SW10 0LJ, 020 73526551

          Vivienne Westwood
          44 Conduit St London, W1S 2YL, United Kingdom 020 74391109 more info »

          Vivienne Westwood
          6 Davies St London, W1K 3DN, 020 76293757

          Japan Centre
          212 Piccadilly London, W1J 9HX 020 74398035

          Mitsukoshi
          Japanese department store with a bookshop

          NETHERLANDS
          MFashion
          http://www.mfashion.eu/

          Helena-Angelique
          http://www.helena-angelique.com/

          • Emma
            Posted October 2, 2008 at 1:44 pm | Permalink

            Thank you so much! ^o^ London will see me very soon…

  9. E. Vio
    Posted September 30, 2008 at 6:59 am | Permalink

    I wanted to let you know I linked you to my blog, so expect a wee bit more traffic :P

  10. lacarmina
    Posted September 30, 2008 at 7:36 am | Permalink

    Yes, it is the same girl!

    There are Lolita stores in Paris, London, Amsterdam… there's online ordering from Marui and others… there's DIY… where there's a will, there's a way! :)

  11. E. Vio
    Posted September 30, 2008 at 1:59 pm | Permalink

    I wanted to let you know I linked you to my blog, so expect a wee bit more traffic :P

  12. Somnium in Tenebris
    Posted September 30, 2008 at 5:23 pm | Permalink

    The last sentence had the best point i think. Hardly ever do i encounter so called “lolitas” with a character and manners to match.

    From what i've seen it's mostly about the looks, collecting brand at any cost , gossiping til you drop, being jealous about other peoples brand , acting hypocritically nice and “Holier Than Thou” in order to be deified liked by other girls and e-bullying anybody who owns less brand seems lesser than *Them* or doesn't meet *Their* standards .

    *clap clap* I had another image on lolita. But it seems human-big-fish-eats-the-smaller-nature knows no (sub)cultural limits .

    p.s. I regret the fact that Lolita is the “next big thing” in the American market. They're gonna make a tit of this culture as they did with everything else before it.

  13. lacarmina
    Posted September 30, 2008 at 5:24 pm | Permalink

    Nicely put.

  14. lacarmina
    Posted September 30, 2008 at 5:31 pm | Permalink

    A writer from the Nerve.com blog Scanner sent me a link to an article that they just posted about Goth Loli fashion. Would be interested to hear your thoughts.

    http://nerve.com/CS/blogs/scanner/archive/2008/

  15. Somnium in Tenebris
    Posted October 1, 2008 at 12:23 am | Permalink

    The last sentence had the best point i think. Hardly ever do i encounter so called “lolitas” with a character and manners to match.

    From what i’ve seen it’s mostly about the looks, collecting brand at any cost , gossiping til you drop, being jealous about other peoples brand , acting hypocritically nice and “Holier Than Thou” in order to be deified liked by other girls and e-bullying anybody who owns less brand seems lesser than *Them* or doesn’t meet *Their* standards .

    *clap clap* I had another image on lolita. But it seems human-big-fish-eats-the-smaller-nature knows no (sub)cultural limits .

    p.s. I regret the fact that Lolita is the “next big thing” in the American market. They’re gonna make a tit of this culture as they did with everything else before it.

  16. lacarmina
    Posted October 1, 2008 at 12:31 am | Permalink

    A writer from the Nerve.com blog Scanner sent me a link to an article that they just posted about Goth Loli fashion. Would be interested to hear your thoughts.

    http://nerve.com/CS/blogs/scanner/archive/2008/09/29/going-to-japan-don-t-forget-your-parasol-and-pink-wig.aspx

  17. candystripes
    Posted September 30, 2008 at 9:03 pm | Permalink

    la carmina,

    awesome blog!
    have you heard about baby stars shine bright and alice and the pirates at new york anime con? i saw the fashion show and it was so amazing! i never thought that a japanese brand would be in new york and doing a real fashion show. so amazing that the nyc people got the designers to come! I am so jealous of the girls who got to interview them and model for them!!

    you should do a post on it. i have pictures if you wnt them. everyone was so beautiful! ^_^ there was a tea party with the designers afterward too but i didn't get to go so sad. but yay for lolita in new york!! ^_^

    rock on,
    ~candy.stripes~

  18. lacarmina
    Posted September 30, 2008 at 10:07 pm | Permalink

    Hi Candy Stripes,
    Oooh I've been so preoccupied with Lolita life in Tokyo that I missed that. I'm open to doing a post on it, but I'm quite picky about photo quality – still, you can send me what you have to gothiccarmina@gmail.com I'll of course credit and link you however you like.

  19. candystripes
    Posted October 1, 2008 at 4:03 am | Permalink

    la carmina,

    awesome blog!
    have you heard about baby stars shine bright and alice and the pirates at new york anime con? i saw the fashion show and it was so amazing! i never thought that a japanese brand would be in new york and doing a real fashion show. so amazing that the nyc people got the designers to come! I am so jealous of the girls who got to interview them and model for them!!

    you should do a post on it. i have pictures if you wnt them. everyone was so beautiful! ^_^ there was a tea party with the designers afterward too but i didn’t get to go so sad. but yay for lolita in new york!! ^_^

    rock on,
    ~candy.stripes~

    • lacarmina
      Posted October 1, 2008 at 5:07 am | Permalink

      Hi Candy Stripes,
      Oooh I’ve been so preoccupied with Lolita life in Tokyo that I missed that. I’m open to doing a post on it, but I’m quite picky about photo quality – still, you can send me what you have to gothiccarmina@gmail.com I’ll of course credit and link you however you like.

  20. Emma
    Posted September 30, 2008 at 11:45 pm | Permalink

    Oh really? I knew there was a BSSB in Paris, but I never heard of any stores in London or Amsterdam. Any chance you have addresses for any of those Europe shops? That would be extremely helpful ^^

  21. lacarmina
    Posted October 1, 2008 at 4:17 pm | Permalink

    LONDON: Sai Sai (Camden Mkt), blablahospital (Unit 34 C Camden Stables Market Chalk Farm road London NW1 8AH Thurs & Fri 1pm-6pm, Sat & Sunday 10:30am- 6:30pm),

    Vivienne Westwood's World's End
    430 Kings Rd London, SW10 0LJ, 020 73526551

    Vivienne Westwood
    44 Conduit St London, W1S 2YL, United Kingdom 020 74391109 more info »

    Vivienne Westwood
    6 Davies St London, W1K 3DN, 020 76293757

    Japan Centre
    212 Piccadilly London, W1J 9HX 020 74398035

    Mitsukoshi
    Japanese department store with a bookshop

    NETHERLANDS
    MFashion
    http://www.mfashion.eu/

    Helena-Angelique
    http://www.helena-angelique.com/

  22. Emma
    Posted October 2, 2008 at 6:44 am | Permalink

    Thank you so much! ^o^ London will see me very soon…

  23. jen
    Posted October 5, 2008 at 4:29 am | Permalink

    nice article! but really, these newspapers are so late in reporting :[
    that last quote from Misuzu Kitahara I feel is very important. Lolita is about being charming and sweet, so inner beauty is a must.

  24. jen
    Posted October 5, 2008 at 11:29 am | Permalink

    nice article! but really, these newspapers are so late in reporting :[
    that last quote from Misuzu Kitahara I feel is very important. Lolita is about being charming and sweet, so inner beauty is a must.

  25. jen
    Posted October 5, 2008 at 11:29 am | Permalink

    nice article! but really, these newspapers are so late in reporting :[
    that last quote from Misuzu Kitahara I feel is very important. Lolita is about being charming and sweet, so inner beauty is a must.