Girls donning frilly tops, bell-shaped skirts, knee-high socks and rocking horse shoes appear in the photos of the Facebook page of the group "Lolitas Paradise." The group site is a meeting point for Mexican girls who are are interested in the fashion subculture of Gothic Lolitas which has made its way from Japan to Monterrey, in Northern Mexico.
The fashion style -- often referred to as 'nymphet'-inspired styles in high fashion magazines -- is actually influenced by grand but modest fashion periods.
"The style is connected to a more elegant time, to the era of Alice in Wonderland, the Victorian and Rococo eras" said La Carmina, travel TV host and fashion blogger whose focus is on Japanese street styles. "There's a whole feeling of fantasy when you're wearing these clothes. It's that feeling of beauty that these girls are after."
The beginning of the Gothic Lolita style can be traced back to the Japanese punk and metal music scene of the late 80s known as Visual Kei. The style was first donned by flamboyant male performers and popularized by Mana, guitarist of the now disbanded Japanese band Malice Mizer.
In the early 90s clothing brands started creating their own Gothic Lolita-esque apparel and the look made its way out to the streets and becoming part of the colorful parade of people and styles which flock to Tokyo's Harajuku area each Sunday.
According to La Carmina, the popularity of Gothic Lolita style in Mexico is in part due to the proliferation of anime, manga and transated Japanese cartoons which have attracted followers around the globe.
While the term Lolita is usually associated with Vladimir Nabokov's novel of the same name about a young temptress, the Gothic Lolita style has no connection to the Russian author's great novel.
"People are thrown off by the name Lolita because they think it's connected to the book," said La Carmina. "But it has nothing to with that. It's just a name. In reality it's a very modest style."
At its very core, Gothic Lolita style is not about the sex appeal. It's about the clothes, the fashion and the way those two make you feel.
"The goal of Lolita is not to create a sexy image but rather to maintain a cute or elegant appeal," said one of the members of the Monterrey Lolita Paradise Club to The Daily Mail.
"The intention of Lolita fashion is for women to wear what makes them feel beautiful and dress for their own happiness, not for the approval of the opposite sex."
TAKE A LOOK AT PHOTOS OF MEXICAN GOTHIC LOLITAS:
