iPhone app iPad app Android phone app Android tablet app More

Gothic Lolita Fashion Makes Its Way From Japan To Mexico (PHOTOS)

The Huffington Post  |  By Posted: 05/06/2012 11:02 am Updated: 05/06/2012 11:18 am

Gothic Lolitas

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:

Loading Slideshow...


Also on HuffPost:

FOLLOW LATINO VOICES

 
 
  • Comments
  • 248
  • Pending Comments
  • 0
  • View FAQ
Post Comment Preview Comment
To reply to a Comment: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to.
View All
Favorites
Recency  | 
Popularity
Page: 1 2 3 4 5  Next ›  Last »  (7 total)
11:01 AM on 12/17/2012
I lot of you people here are just rude, judgmental, and ignorant. These girls can do whatever they want. I rather see this than girls in "daisy dukes" and hooker clothes on any day. You don't like people to criticize you, so don't bother them.
photo
HEXYEBO
What time is it ? Same as usual
07:21 AM on 08/05/2012
these women are singularly unattractive, frilly outfits or not.
04:43 AM on 06/28/2012
The level of ignorance I'm finding in this post does not surprise me. There are misconceptions of lolita fashion because we, as members of western society, carry a different connotation of the name "Lolita". Having originated in a foreign language, translation means there is meaning and connotations lost from the word from it's origin language. The Japanese believed it was a cute-sounding girl's name, unaware of the meaning it now carries in western society because of Nabokov's novel "Lolita". There is no other relation between the book and the fashion.
As an educated lolita (and aware of both the western and Japanese meanings to the word "Lolita"), I am happy to answer questions and dispel misinformation for the open-minded.
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Thomas Murphy
Lives in Seattle, Washington.
01:58 PM on 06/21/2012
Their minds are as empty as their clothes are sick.
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Thomas Murphy
Lives in Seattle, Washington.
01:54 PM on 06/21/2012
Don't be surprised once you get raped by a fifty year old man you little trendy fools...
03:53 AM on 06/28/2012
Your ignorance of rape is what's sick.
Any woman can be raped, there is no way to deter a rapist, because it's a power issue on the man's part.
Rape is sex without consent. It doesn't matter if the woman wears a burqa or nothing at all. If the man wants sex and wants to use force to get it, he will. Sexual assault can happen to anybody regardless of appearance.
Here's somewhere to start. http://lessonstobelearned462.wordpress.com/2011/05/17/if-a-rapist-wants-to-rape-a-rapist-will-rape/
Educate yourself.
12:02 PM on 12/20/2012
How is dressing in conservative frills sick and rape-causing? Most women who dress in this style tend to be in an older age group, dressing in clothes that would usually adorn a little girl. With the logic that clothing would cause rape, the only people this would attract are pedophiles, who would then be turned off by the simple fact these girls are not actually in the age group that they are sexually attracted to. Most loli girls dress that way because it implies innocence and wonder, child-like qualities that are often lost on today's teens. The term used for this clothing was recognised in Western culture as sexual, thanks to the novel "Lolita", but I can assure you, there is very little similarities between the two. ^-^
jenniferkizzy
zombie chick
05:16 PM on 05/11/2012
oh and education suck's every where so yeah if you like talking about me say it too my face buddy i dare you cyber bullying only pleases people who are over compensating for there own lack of life see ya
04:00 AM on 06/28/2012
I'm guessing you're either 13 or English is not your first language.
If you really want to be taken seriously, voice your opinions and keep self-righteousness out of it. Not everyone will agree with you, muffin. :)
jenniferkizzy
zombie chick
05:10 PM on 05/11/2012
oh and japanese fashion isn't the end all and begin all of humanity when will you sheeple learn too think for yourself it's simple i don't care about all this end of freaking story GET A LIFE
photo
Cibeles
Dammit Mittens, get that dog off the roof!
12:50 PM on 05/08/2012
It sucked in Japan therefore it suckeths anywhere.
photo
irrenmann
won't read your angry replies :D
07:49 PM on 05/07/2012
If it gets anyone to listen to Malice Mizer, it was worth it.
photo
HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
SpritelyWarrior
Shut the front door.
06:06 PM on 05/07/2012
I'm waiting for the ganguro look to come in style.
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Jerry Bourbon
05:39 PM on 05/07/2012
OK, girls! If you want to be a "rebel", you must adhere to the following dress code:

Sigh...
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Fran Jaime
Yo Soy 132!
01:01 PM on 05/16/2012
Kids will do that. Btw, this used only at cosplay conventions or parties, not out on the street.
03:56 AM on 06/28/2012
Wrong. I can assure you that it is, in fact, a street fashion.
Lolita fashion even got it's start from Japanese street-snap magazines around the 80's, such as Fruits.
12:06 PM on 12/20/2012
I don't really think Lolita style is about being a rebel-- If it was, I feel like more girls would be doing that. I generally find that the girls involved in the clothing style just like to be a bit more conservative in the way they dress, showing less skin, and many use it to show a bit more personality. I wear the style because I tend to be a bit child-like in personality and I just really like the way the frills look. C:
photo
French Toast
MAPLE SYRUP
12:59 PM on 05/07/2012
I see this fashion trend the same way I see Wiccans and heavily tattooed women. They're boring people living boring lives who want to seem less boring through some plodding counterculture modification. The irony being that it makes them even more boring and predictable than before. Highly stylized superficiality is just as boring as regular superficiality.

I am one of the most vanilla looking people you'll ever meet. I am also uncommon in my level of knowledge, particularly as I have not spent my effort learning silly statistics and super-stylized subcultures prone to being snuffed out at any time by their own lack of adaptability (over-specialization). That's what irritates me about such people. They're not any more likely to want to learn things than the average population. They're just buying overpriced wares on the net and memorizing useless factoids and consuming mass media just like all the other schmucks.
03:25 PM on 05/07/2012
Why do you judge them by their appearance? Most lolitas are ordinary people with ordinary interests and hobbies (except for their clothes) and they don't try to be anything more.
photo
French Toast
MAPLE SYRUP
04:38 PM on 05/07/2012
"“Why do you judge them by their appearance?"

They focus on their own appearance. I judge them by what they focus on.

"Most lolitas are ordinary people with ordinary interests and hobbies... and they don't try to be anything more.”

Which is precisely what I said, only more derisively.
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Fran Jaime
Yo Soy 132!
01:02 PM on 05/16/2012
Because people who judge by appearance are trying to make their pathetic, little lives more bearable.
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
ncconcernedcitizen
only a fool would take me seriously
04:45 PM on 05/07/2012
yawn... wake me up when you are done idolizing yourself.
photo
French Toast
MAPLE SYRUP
06:26 PM on 05/07/2012
You wake me up when you have something substantive to add.
02:17 PM on 05/14/2012
Hahaha, may I call you the sleeping beauty? she will not stop her egocentrism, first pigs will grow wings and chickens lay bacon XD
Her "knowledge" is far far beyond ours, don't you see? Lets reverence her, now! (sarcastic tone)
jenniferkizzy
zombie chick
11:41 AM on 05/07/2012
you know what if you don't like something you should be allowed too voice it it's called a freaking opinion should i look it up for you people cause clearly you all don't under stand
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Fran Jaime
Yo Soy 132!
05:43 PM on 05/07/2012
But everyone else also has the right to an opinion on your opinion.
jenniferkizzy
zombie chick
09:30 PM on 05/07/2012
ok
11:29 AM on 05/07/2012
how is this news or even worth posting about
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
hypyrwyf
ignorance begets fear begets violence
12:15 PM on 05/07/2012
style section
jenniferkizzy
zombie chick
10:55 AM on 05/07/2012
and the dumbing down of women continues bye did women get dumber or did men finally brow beat us into submission bye
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
hypyrwyf
ignorance begets fear begets violence
12:19 PM on 05/07/2012
I see it as a pendulum swing away from over-sexualization of women. I also thinks it's open to interpretation, like artwork.
jenniferkizzy
zombie chick
01:37 PM on 05/07/2012
ok what ever
jenniferkizzy
zombie chick
12:48 PM on 05/08/2012
sad too say but yes women like in the victorian era had too have the immediate approval of men and it's still going on bye