Gothic Lolitas in the classic blue & black colour combination at the Victoria and Albert museum on the day of the tea party, 5th May 2012 - taken by a V&A photographer
Article originally written for the CreateVoice, (the youth forum at the Victoria and Albert Museum) - written by myself, Ayesha Singh and Noyuvo Mo.
On the 5th of May 2012 the
Victoria and Albert Museum was host to a group of over one hundred Lolitas for
an event alongside the Kitty and the
Bulldog exhibition, celebrating the Lolita fashion subculture and its
variants. If there's one thing to know about the followers of this fashion
trend, it's that they never go unnoticed! First originating in the Harajuku
district of Japan, the trend takes its main influence from the high necklines
and modest hemlines of Victorian Britain, over a century after the era ended
and nearly six thousand miles away. Given the roots of Lolita in the Victorian
era, it seemed only fitting for the Lolitas to hold their tea party at the
V&A (despite the rain), complete with a visit to the exhibition itself.
Despite originating in Japan,
online forums have created a community of dedicated Lolitas from all around
Britain, co-ordinating and attending events around the country. As one of the
girls we spoke to noted, since the rise of the internet the subculture has
spread and developed rapidly over the last decade, whereas previously the
fashion was limited to specific magazines such as the Gothic and Lolita Bible quarterly. Since the increase of the
trend's popularity, Japanese retailers began shipping overseas and the trend
has transformed into one of a more elastic variety - some of the Lolitas that
we spoke to said that they now seldom follow the 'rules' of the trend, instead
adapting them in order for their outfits to reflect their individual personalities.
We spoke to some of the Lolitas about
their fashion choices, and found that there are plenty of do's and don'ts in
the world of Lolita fashion. All of them spoke about the importance of quality
of the material, helping to distinguish the fashion as a style, as opposed to a
costume. There are many websites detailing the typical 'anatomy' of a Lolita
outfit: all are insistent on the hemline being no shorter than slightly above
the knee. With the focus being on modesty and prettiness, the Lolitas generally
wear gloves, tights or frilly socks, beautiful headpieces and jewellery, and
adorn their dresses with lace. Bloomers are also generally seen as requisite
- one Lolita from Dorset exclaimed,
"I'm not wearing them now, but I should be!"
There is the obvious connection with
Vladimir Nabokov's novel 'Lolita', which one of the girls acknowledged could be
seen to be a worry for some who don't know the trend. She commented that
despite knowing the trend had nothing to do with the novel, the verbal
association sometimes made her nervous because her boyfriend is a little older
than her. On seeing a Lolita for yourself, though, there is no doubt that the
style focuses on modesty and prettiness, not on emulating extreme youth. Three
Lolitas spoke about presumptions made about them simply because of their dress.
Many might assume that Lolitas tend to be art students, but there was a range
of professions across the Lolitas, with one of them currently studying Biochemistry.
They also spoke about people touching their clothing or taking pictures without
asking, or presuming that they were wanting attention (no matter negative or
positive) because of their style, and being asked strange questions like "Are
you Dutch?" or "Is it your birthday?". However for a trend which
may outwardly seem so extreme, reactions the Lolitas described were on the
whole incredibly positive. All of the Lolitas were unanimous in one area:
elderly ladies are big fans of the Lolita fashion, often commenting on its
prettiness and modesty. The Lolitas certainly attracted a lot of positive
attention at the museum!
We were curious to know a little
more about their individual styles and how they first discovered it was
something they were interested in. The ways that the Lolitas had come to find the
fashion varied greatly. One , a 25 year old illustrator, was researching quirky
trends for her fashion designs when she came across the style, fell in love
with feeling 'cute and modest' and has never looked back. Though dressed as a
'Classic' Lolita for the tea party, her general style is that of a 'Gothic'
Lolita, which she interchanges with other alternative styles such as Fairy Kei
and Gyaru. However, she felt that once she reached twenty-five she might have
to 'graduate' from the alternative styles. A lot of the Lolitas seemed to feel
this way, but one Lolita told us that at thirty she'd decided to throw all her
'normal' clothes away, and become a full time Lolita! One eighteen-year old
Lolita from South Wales cited that her interest came from watching the Harajuku
Girls in Gwen Stefani's music videos. A classic Lolita from Bath felt that the
immediate aesthetic appeal of the clothes was what drew her to the style - a
sentiment echoed by many of the others. Many of the Lolitas said that they had
been led to the style through Goth and anime websites, finding the classic
tailoring and instantly recognisable silhouette exciting and different from the
high street, whose clothes are "not really made for an hourglass
shape" as one rightly pointed out.
Visitors at the
museum on the day were extremely appreciative of the Lolitas and their outfits,
complimenting them and asking for pictures. If you weren’t there don’t feel
like you missed out! The V&A’s Kitty
and Bulldog exhibition displays the many types of Lolita dress and its
history in the Toshiba Gallery. It is up until 27th of January 2013,
so there’s plenty of time to go enjoy this fascinating fashion trend.
No comments:
Post a Comment