♡ Ruffles and lace topped with a bow ♡

Baby, The Stars Shine Bright is one of the most influential Lolita brands. The brand name was plucked from the lyrics of the group Everything But the Girl. Pictured here are images from Baby's A/W 2007 catalogue.

Opposite, below: A still from the film Kamikaze Girls (2004) with actress Kyoko Fukada. The film fueled domestic interest in Lolita fashion-the wardrobe was by Baby, and a character was named after Baby owner Akinori Isobe.

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Me, Lolita ミー、ロリータ

Dressing in frills and lace can look like or feel like a costume, but for Raine, Lolita-style clothing is her regular, daily wear, and even lifestyle. Twenty-two years old, she is an employee at the shop Baby, The Stars Shine Bright. You don't have a typical name. Raine is the name I use at work. It's a leftover from my visual-kei days.

When did you start wearing this style? I started in junior high school, 1996-97. I was into visual- kei bands at the time, but they are all so minor you wouldn't know them. I wanted to find really cute clothing. And then wow! I found this cute Lolita style. I love the frills, the lace, the ribbons. They look like doll clothes. From the first glance [placing both hands over her chest and gasping slightly] it's so cute. Some of us like strawberry prints and ribbons more than others. It's about being completely absorbed in your own world. Even down to the shoes.

Do the stares and teasing bother you? People are mean to me sometimes and they take pictures of me as if I am Minnie Mouse or some tourist attraction. It's annoying that normal people say things to me. Why do you have a right to say things to me when you look like that? If this were the eighteenth century, this dress would be totally normal. Some girls are into early American looks, like pilgrims. Bonnets and everything. Do you get it? That's what we like. It's simple. How would you describe the type of girl who becomes a Lolita? She is very independent. She is not going to get a boyfriend wearing these clothes. For Lolitas, fantasy is better than reality. Seeing someone in concert, for example, is an image of perfection. All made up and dressed to the nines, a living doll-Lolitas find that much more appealing than putting up with some guy who complains. The guys in bands are beautiful. Akogareru wo yuruseru. [Roughly meaning, "It's OK to pursue your dreams."] But in real life and with real guys, there are too many things to deal with. This generation-girls in their mid-twenties now-is no longer pressured to get married and have children. Lolitas enjoy living alone, enjoy being surrounded by cute things, creating their own worlds.

Tell me about Lolita interests and hobbies. We are interested in getting away from reality and living in our own world. We like reading Goth-Lolita-themed manga. I don't think this could happen in America. The way people think in America is free. You can lead life the way you want and have the hobbies you want. But that's not the case in Japan. On my day off I like to go shopping around Harajuku, to visit my friends that work in stores. Or else I stay home and drink my favorite tea. We will get together with friends and have tea and sandwiches. I love cake because it goes well with tea. I like ballet and opera. My home is not a castle, but I try to decorate it and create my own atmosphere. I have a lot of white furniture. Antique-looking furniture. Lots of ribbons around the room. I read about Lolita and listen to Lolita-type music. I like reading KERA and Gothic & Lolita Bible. I would love to go to Germany to see an actual castle. I've never been abroad.

What would you pack? What I would normally wear. A lot of people look at me but this is how I am.

Who's your favorite musician now? Kanoma-san (Kanoma). The is the vocalist of the visual- kei band Fatima.

What do you want out of life? I am happy as I am. There are older people that come into the store. Even when I get older I'll continue living this life.

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INDIVIDUAL EFFORTS

With technology and the Internet, it is not difficult to diffuse fashion world­ wide. Teens create Web sites promoting, chatting, and exchanging information about their favorite fashions. It is not surprising that some of the Japanese street styles have migrated to the streets of New York City. In addition to manga, anime, sushi, and other cultural objects, Japan is attempting to pro­mote the latest street fashion and is setting new fashion tastes.

Many Lolita followers who were not familiar with Japanese culture are fas­cinated by the Lolita image and fashion. The Internet has undoubtedly been the key tool that helps followers find information about Japanese Lolita la­bels, events, auctions, and chat rooms. Many are initially influenced by manga and anime.

A 22-year-old Italian Lolita who has been wearing Lolita since 2006 said, "The first time I found Lolita was on the Internet. I was looking for an image of a manga that I was reading. Then I started to get more information about this subculture, and I found an Italian forum about Lolita (gothiclolita.forum­ community.net)." An American Lolita told me, "I went to a Japanese bookstore with my friends and found Gothic and Lolita Bible and fell in love with it. Then I started to Google to get more information on the Internet." These young women find sufficient information online about Japanese Lolita brands that they want to wear. They are familiar with the well-known Lolita brands, such as Baby, the Stars Shine Bright, Metamorphose, and Angelic Pretty.

The Italian Lolita girl continued, "My favorite brand is Alice and the Pi­ rates, but I love Innocent World and Mary Magdalene, too. Usually I buy them through international online shops, but sometimes I also buy secondhand through European Lolita girls. I can buy them in Italy, too, but there are few shops that carry them, and their prices are really high, usually three or four times the original price in Japan so I prefer to buy them online." Lolita clothes are rather expensive, and this is probably one of the reasons that many of the followers of this style sew their own clothes.

As indicated in chapter 5, "Harajuku: The Youth in Silent Rebellion," it is not only the look that Lolita adopt but also a lifestyle. Lolita girls like to or­ganize tea parties, so they often find their friends on Internet chat rooms or on social networking sites and get together at the parties. There is a large U.S. Lolita community on Live Journal (www.livejournal.com), a popular social networking site, and it is subdivided into smaller communities with specific Lolita interests, such as Lolita Housewife, Princess Lolita, Loli Graphics, Lolita Indies, and Lolita Pattern Swap. There is a Lolita community in almost every state in the United States. One of the largest Lolita communities on Live Jour­nal writes:

Welcome to The Elegant Gothic Lolita (EGL) Community! Please make sure and understand all the rules before posting! Our mission is to help others share, grow, and learn in the Gothic Lolita fashion. The community discussions focus on Japa­nese Gothic Lolita fashion and its manifestations the world over. We hope you will enjoy browsing our community!

The community has monthly themes. For example, the theme for October is "Lolita and Literature." Participants can share their own writings, or they can post an outfit inspired by their favorite novel.

INSTITUTIONAL EFFORTS

The Japanese government systematically and collaboratively attempts to pro­mote a wider range of Japanese popular culture. Consumers in the West take interest in Japanese subcultures and their stylistic expressions initially through anime and manga. Japanese fashion magazines are popular in East and Southeast Asia but not in Europe or the United States. Although there are Chinese versions of Japanese street fashion magazines, such as Popteen, S-Cawaii, mina, Vivi, and Ray, there are no English versions of them, which in­dicates the geographical limitation of Japan's fashion expansion.

There are several institutional efforts to spread Japanese Lolita worldwide since it appears to be one of the most well-known Japanese subcultures over­seas. The Japanese government and both commercial and nonprofit organizations realize that there is significant commercial potential to Lolita style. In March 2009, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs appointed three Kawaii (cute) Ambassa­dors: Shizuka Fujioka, Yu Kimura, and Misako Aoki. They went around the world promoting Japanese Kawaii culture. According to the press release issued by the Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2009),

The main mission of the three ambassadors is to transmit the new trends of Japanese pop culture in the field of fashion to the rest of the world and to pro­mote understanding of Japan by their attending cultural projects carried out by the Japanese Embassies and the Japan Foundation. Pop culture, including fashion, is an integral part of today's Japanese culture. It enjoys worldwide popularity and we witness that such people are ever-increasing. Pop culture is expected to help the people of the world have more chances to know about contemporary Japan, hand-in-hand with other traditional and contemporary cultures.

Fujioka gave a lecture on Japanese fashion at the Japan Festa in Bangkok in March 2009. Aoki, who is a Lolita model for two major magazines, Gothic and Lolita Bible and Kera!, went to the Japan Expo in Paris to promote Japan's pop culture diplomacy. She also attended the World Cosplay Summit in Brazil to introduce Lolita fashion and traveled to Italy, Spain, Korea, and Russia.

Many European Lolita visit the Japan Expo in Paris, which is one of the world's largest international events celebrating Japanese pop culture, where over 160,000 people interested in Japanese pop cultural trends gather from all over the world. There are trade fairs, fashion shows, games, and various events related to Japanese popular culture, including Lolita. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and the Japan Tourism Agency (JTA) collaborated to participate in the Japan Expo Paris 2010. The number of visitors has increased every year since its inception in 2000. The Lolita come from all over Europe and hold meetings at the convention.

The Fashion Institute of Technology in New York hosted a Lolita tea party in October 2010, in conjunction with its exhibition Japan Fashion Now! The ex­hibition featured contemporary Japanese fashion from world-famous design­ers, such as lssey Miyake and Yohji Yamamoto, as well as youth subcultural fashion, including different styles and brands of Lolita fashion. A similar exhi­bition on contemporary Japanese fashion took place at London's Barbican Art Gallery in 2010. A new store called Tokyo Rebel opened in New York in 2009, which exclusively sells imported Japanese Lolita fashion.

The classic Lolita look features a frilly, Alice in Wonderland style of dress, often pink or pale blue in color, with a full skirt over petticoats, partly covered by a white apron, and with accessories such as Mary Jane shoes, a parasol, and doll-like purse. A stuffed animal or doll may also be carried. The look as a whole is often said to resemble a nineteenth-century French doll or jumeau. Although popularly associated with Harajuku, many observers believe that the Lolita style originated in Osaka, which has a lively subcultural fashion scene of its own. The designer Hitomi Okawa, who founded the Harajuku boutique Milk in 1970, was probably a precursor of the Lolita style, as was the designer Isao Kaneko of An-An with his "romantic Victorian-meets-Little-House-on-the-Prairie-style outfits that were lovely, pink, and ruffled.

The Sweet Lolita or Ama Rorita (abbreviated as Amarori) also wears pastel dresses inspired by Victorian or Rococo styles, liberally deco- rated with bows and ruffles. Accessories, such as heart-shaped purses and frilly caps, are romantic and feminine. Baby, The Stars Shine Bright, founded in 1988 by Akinori Isobe, is a fashion brand closely associated with Lolitas and Sweet Lolitas. "I love the frills, the lace, the ribbons. They look like doll clothes,” says a salesgirl. “It's so cute … . . It's about being completely absorbed in your own world.” Other popular Lolita brands include Angelic Pretty, Alice and the Pirates, Juliette and Justine, and Victorian Maiden.

Baby, The Stars Shine Bright was featured in the 2004 movie Kamikaze Girls (Shimotsuma Monogatori), which depicts an unlikely friendship between a tough biker girl and an ultra-feminine Lolita. It was also among the first Lolita brands to collaborate with doll and toy manufacturers. "Lolita girls are nostalgic for childhood,” explains Kumiko Uehara. “They don't want to be adult." Hence the attach- ment to dolls. It is also "exclusively a culture for girls - boys are not allowed." Her colleague, Akinore Isobe is a rare man in the world of Lolita fashion. Although he began as a designer, he says that today "Our designers are all female." There are currently eight designers at Baby, and another two at spin-off brand Alice and the Pirates, which was created "for tomboyish girls." At that time, there was a trend in Japan for young people going to clubs dressed as pirates in the style of Vivienne Westwood and Adam and the Ants. As Kumiko Uehara puts it, "If Alice in Wonderland jumped into the age of pirates, she couldn't just be innocent and cute. She'd have to fight, too!"

"The image of Angelic Pretty is to look like a princess in a fairy tale,” explained Hiroko Honda, who founded her company after years of running a boutique. “I liked cute stuff and I got more ambitious and wanted to make my own brand." Today the company has two young designers, Asuka and Maki, who not only create designs featuring cupcakes and toys, but also represent the brand.

By the late 1990s, there was also a darker variant, known as Gothic Lolita, or Goth-Loli. Unlike the Classic and Sweet Lolitas who favor saccharine pastels, the Gothic Lolita dresses primarily in black, referencing Victorian mourning dress. Accessories, such as a coffin purse, have a morbid flavor. The Gothic Lolita style seems to have originated in Osaka and has always been closely associated with the musical genre visual-kei, whose bands wear elaborate costumes, which are copied by fans. Kazuko Ogawa, a designer from Osaka, created clothes for Mana, guitarist for the seminal visual-kei band Malice Mizer, before Mana established his own fashion brand, Moi-même-Moitié, in 1999. Mana told anthropologist Philomena Keet, “I added a dark element to the cuteness of Lolita."

Variants of the Gothic Lolita include the Elegant Gothic Lolita and the Elegant Gothic Aristocrat. Well-known Gothic Lolita brands include Black Peace Now, Atelier Pierrot, and h.NAOTO, especially h.BLOOD and h.ANARCHY. Alice Auaa is an outstanding Gothic Lolita brand designed by Yasutaka Funakoshi. In 1993, Funakoshi opened a shop in Kobe called Alice in Modern Time, featuring punk, new wave, and gothic styles. By 1997, he had established a new shop and a brand, both called Alice Auaa.

The street-fashion magazine FRUITS covered the Gothic and Lolita looks - and other youth styles - as did other periodicals such as CUTIE and KERA. In 2000, KERA published a special issue called The Gothic &Lolita Bible, which was soon a regularly issued periodical and is now widely available in the west. In addition to Classic, Sweet, and Gothic Lolitas, there are Black, Pink, White, Country, Punk, and Erotic Lolitas, as well as male versions such as Prince. Erotic Lolitas wear primarily red and black, often leather and/or vinyl, and usu- ally corsets. Wa-Lolis wear a combination of kimono tops and Lolita skirts, while Qi-Lolis wear Chinese-style tops. The development of these fashions was paralleled by the spread of manga-influenced art works often featuring girls wearing similar styles.

"The Lolita subculture occupies a complex place within both Japanese culture and international popular culture,” observes Theresa Winge, a professor of fashion and one of a growing number of commentators. To be a Lolita is not merely a question of clothing, but of an identity that is achieved through a “ritualized performance” involving poses and mannerisms that reinforce the aesthetic conveyed by a specific style of dress. When groups of Lolitas gather, for example, near the LaForet department store in Harajuku, it is evident that their shared aesthetic "visually communicates membership" in the Lolita subculture.

Cuteness extends far beyond the classic Lolita look to embrace a host of related styles, from the Himekei (“Princess style”) popular among pretty-in-pink, ultra-feminine Shibuya girls with lots of sparkly, cute and frilly accessories to the Decorakei ("Decoration style") popular in Harajuku, which is cute overload – with pink everywhere, with a plethora of cute accessories, such as multiple barrettes, tiaras, and bows decorating curled and dyed the hair. But what is the significance of all these cute styles? Why do so many young Japanese girls want to look hyper-cute? Sometimes dismissed as mindless "bad- girl" consumers, the members of Japan's style tribes may also, at least sometimes, express "an independent girls' culture." Certainly, girls' tribes are a conspicuous feature of the Japanese streetscape and their influence is spreading in a kind of "pink globalization".

Kawaii (cute) culture is pervasive in contemporary Japan. The most famous icon of cute is probably Sanrio's flagship character, Hello Kitty, which has been incredibly popular in Japan since its invention in 1974. Of course, this type of cute character appeals to children around the world, just as little girls everywhere seem to love cute, pink, sparkly clothes. But many Japanese remain fixated on cute- ness. “In Japan, even self-respecting adults will consider a Hello Kitty wedding,” and other cute characters, such as Hello Kitty's evil rabbit friend, Kuromi, decorate everything from airplanes to condoms and cell phones.63 Cuteness is just as much a part of the Gothic Lolita aesthetic, whose reigning mascots are h.NAOTO's characters HANGRY and ANGRY, stuffed animals, who have scars, eye patches, and blood stains, but remain as cute as can be.

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Misako Aoki is Japan's official Ambassador of Cute, and part of her job is "spreading Lolita style around the world." I asked her about the significance of cuteness in Japan and its relation to Lolita fashion. "In other countries, there are words like 'very cute'," she explained, "but they don't mean exactly the same thing as kawaii. 'Very cute' is a term to describe little girls and puppies, but 'kawaii' is a broader term. It doesn't just refer to small things. It can be used for Lolita fashion or even for an old man. If a little old man has a cute smile, he'd be kawaii. Foreign people now often use the word kawaii which is probably a sign that the idea is spreading.”

"Lolita embodies the feeling of kawaii," she continued. “Like any trend, Lolita style keeps evolving. Pink has the power to make girls look very cute, so that's probably why it's so popular. But recently, a sweets motif has become very popular. On my skirt, for example, there are images of cookies and candy. Animal prints like rabbits and bears are also rising in popularity. Even when I grow older, I want to retain the playful, girlish youthfulness that comes with Lolita style. Girls prefer being called cute [kawaii] rather than pretty or beautiful, because 'pretty' seems superficial, even a little cold, whereas kawaii is not just about your outer appearance, it's also about your heart."

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Lolita, one of the most popular subcultural styles found in the Harajuku area, can be seen as a counter-reaction to kogyaru style and others that evolved out it. It is a fashion style popular among those who think Shibuya style is too sexy or erotic and not feminine. It is usually worn by girls, and the predominant image is that of a Victorian doll; it presents an exaggerated form of femininity, with pale skin, neat hair, knee- or mid-thigh-length Victorian dresses, pinafores, bloomers, stockings, and shoes or boots.

Its substyles include Gothic Lolita (sometimes called Elegant Gothic Lolita), with a monochromatic palette; Classical or Country Gothic Lolita, with pastel colors; and Punk Gothic Lolita, with punk elements such as leather, studs, safety pins, zippers, and chains. Other Lolitas include Ama-Loli, with a basic Lolita look using mostly white; if pink is used, it is called Pink-Loli. When two girls wear exactly the same Lolita style, it is called Futago-Loli, which means Twin Lolitas. Wa-Loli is a combination of Wa – Japanese elements – and Lolita. The Lolita members are bound together by their stylistic expression and have created a subcultural community. They communicate face-to-face or online, they talk about different Lolita brands and discuss how to put together a particular Lolita look or how to make handmade Lolita items. They get together at weekends, take photos of each other and post them online, go to events and attend tea parties organized by Lolita fashion labels. They have created their own language and slang that is incomprehensible to outsiders, for example "LoliBra," which refers to a Lolita brand, or "Cardi," which is a cardigan.

Mana's bands have always performed in costume. Moi dix Mois usually wear heavily modified versions of Moi-même-Moitié on stage, but Mana stresses that Moi-même- Moitié clothes are not costumes. "I think of them as day-to-day clothes," he asserts. "It's not cosplay... sometimes it is regarded as such, especially with the rise in popularity of maid cafés around Akihabara. I'd like people to realize that they're different."

But not so very different when one con- siders the profiles for the ideal wearers of EGA and EGL. The company literature states that the ideal Elegant Gothic Lolita should be slender, with empty, seductive eyes, and five feet four. She should like listening to French gothic music and reading European children's literature, live in a manor, and enjoy going for walks, shopping, visiting galleries, and listening to classical concerts. The Elegant Gothic Aristocrat should be slim, five feet eight, with slit eyes in whose sad pupils insanity sleeps. He should live in an old castle, listen to symphonic gothic black metal, read children's gothic horror mysteries, enjoy going for walks in the night, and painting. While these descriptions do not relate to the reality of the customers, as in cosplay it represents something that they can imagine becoming while wearing the clothes.

Visual-kei itself is like one big cosplaying activity. "I wouldn't say that visual-kei is a type of music," says Mana. "It just describes bands who wear costumes and makeup. You can't easily sweep them up into one musical category." Moi dix Mois tends toward the gothic, with austere classical riffs, power drumming, and lightning-fast guitar sequences from the fingers of Mana.

Moi-même-Moitié customers are usually fans of visual-kei bands, Moi dix Mois in particular. At Moi dix Mois concerts, most people are dressed in either EGA or EGL. "I really only encounter the Moi-même-Moitié customers at gigs," says Mana, "but there are also customers who just like the clothes, and are not interested in music." Most Moi-même-Moitié customers are aged from mid-twenties to mid-thirties, but younger and older fans are not unusual. The majority of sales are made through their Tokyo store in Shinjuku, whose decor brings to mind a fashionable corner of Dracula's castle.

Mana's fans often show their appreciation of the musical and sartorial legend by actually dressing up as him, in the true sense of cosplay. "I love seeing fans cosplay me, it makes me happy," Mana smiles. Such cosplayers can often be seen on Tokyo's Jingubashi bridge. "On tours abroad, I've met many foreign fans cosplaying me too," he adds, appreciatively.

Lolita is one of the most popular subcultural styles found in the Harajuku area. One of the girls I interviewed said, "I love Harajuku. I go there almost every day. I like to watch people walking down the streets of Harajuku. I love the atmos­phere of Harajuku. I like the smell of Harajuku. It's a sacred place for us."

Local landmarks of Harajuku are Takeshita Street, with small stores selling Lolita brands, and La Foret, a department store. Similar to Shibuya 109, the streets around Harajuku station on weekends are so packed that pedestrians hardly have space to walk. The population of Lolita on the Harajuku Bridge started to decline in the past few years, and some claim that this is a sign that the subculture is dying out. On the contrary, Harajuku remains exclusive and sacred for Lolita. A Lol­ita girl says:

I've been there only a few times. The Lolita girls you see on that bridge are sim­ply cosplaying and are not real Lolita. We, the real ones, never go there. Those who used to hang out there were the fans of the Visual-kei musicians with heavy makeup and flashy outfits, and they are not real Lolita. The real ones are well and alive, and we are here to stay.

Lolita fashion was once a fad, but as a fad it has died out because Harajuku subcultures are very much tied to Visual-kei rock bands, which emphasize their costume and makeup, and the popularity of such bands is on the de­cline. Those who are left are the authentic Lolita members who are here to stay. The authentic ones enjoy being marginal. Unlike the Gyaru and Gyaru-o subcultures found in the Shibuya district, which require members to leave the group when they reach a certain age, Lolita have no graduation or retirement age. They can, according to one of the Lolita girls I interviewed, "remain a Lolita as long as you look young and don't have wrinkles around your eyes."

LOLITA AS AN IDENTITY AND A LIFESTYLE

Westerners may mistakenly associate the Lolita subculture with the novel Lolita, written by Vladimir Nabokov in 1955. The book is internationally fa­mous for its controversial plot in which Humbert, a middle-aged man, be­comes obsessed with a twelve-year-old girl named Dolores Haze, also called Dolly, Lolita, Lola, Lo, and L. Similarly, in Japan, the term Lolita complex, often shortened to Loli-con, refers to a man's perverse sexual preference for young girls. Therefore, the term Lolita carries a negative sexual connotation. However, the Japanese Lolita subculture that emerged in Harajuku has nothing to do with such references. Many Lolita members know nothing about the Nabokov novel. According to Momo Matsuura, author of The World, Myself and Lolita Fashion (2007) and herself a Lolita, the term first appeared in the Sep­tember 1987 issue of a Japanese fashion magazine called Ryukou Tsushin; Lolita as a category of fashion appeared in the early 1990s.

THE ORIGIN OF LOLITA STYLE

Following the historical evolution and development of Japanese fashion, it is evident that today's Lolita style is nothing new. Some of the main characteris­tics of a Lolita look have been present for many years. The brands Milk (established in 1970 by Hitomi Okawa) and Pink House (started in 1973 by lsao Kaneko) were the forerunners of this fashion genre. Both brands became extremely popular among teens in the 1970s and 1980s. Milk still has a store in the middle of Harajuku and holds a very high status among Lolita followers. Kaneko sold Pink House and remained a head de­ signer for a number of years, but eventually left the company in 1994. These brands often appeared in Olive magazine, which created a trend called Olive Girls. Milk and Pink House clothes had all the characteristics found in Lolita fashion, such as frills, lace trimmings, ribbons, sheer fabrics such as chiffon, and layers of petticoats, projecting a childlike, innocent, girlie image.

The designers who used to work for Milk later created their own labels with a similar taste and image. Rei Yanagikawa began a children's wear label called Shirley Temple in 1974; Megumi Murano started a brand called Jane Marple in 1985. Atuski Onishi's brand that began in 1984 had a girlie image, and Akinori lsobe, who used to work for Onishi, started a brand called Baby, the Stars Shine Bright in 1988. More and more brands with a Lolita touch fol­ lowed: Metamorphose in 1993, Marble in 1998, Victorian Maiden in 1998, Mary Magdalene in 2003, and Innocent World in 2009, among many others. Among the foreign brands, Vivienne Westwood, which began in 1971, is a symbol of Lolita fashion. Her first store in Japan opened in La Foret in 1978, and it has been popular among Japanese Lolita.

One of the Lolita girls said:

From the outsider's viewpoint, our dresses seem all the same. They may look like a uniform. That is a false conception. New styles and new collections come out every season from Lolita brands. Lolita styles do change. They are not static. So we always try to catch with the latest trend in Lolita fashion. Some are manufac­tured only in limited numbers and that's how the prices go and its status goes up. Sometimes, you have to place an order at the beginning of the season. They don't sell it in the store.

While Gyaru and Gyaru-o fashion bought at Shibuya 109 is rather inexpensive, Lolita dresses can be expensive, so many followers buy them at secondhand stores in Harajuku. Some stores sell only secondhand Lolita brands, such as Maiden Clothing in Osaka and Closet Child, which has stores in Harajuku, Shinjuku, lkebukuro, Yokohama, and Sagamihara. Subcultural members cre­ate their own values and norms, and purchasing exclusive Lolita items gives members status and respect among followers.

FROM COLLECTIVE TO INDIVIDUALISTIC IDENTIFICATION WITHIN THE LOLITA SUBCULTURE

While Western youth subcultures, such as British punk or U.S. inner-city hip­ hop, often convey a strong political or ideological statement, the Lolita girls claim that they have no message and say that their distinctive styles are purely for enjoyment. Fashion and how they dress are of utmost importance, because they want to stand out and be noticed; they have no intention of rebelling against the formal and traditional ways. None of them consider their community as a counterculture. They enjoy hanging out in small or large groups around train stations, going to events together, and taking pictures of each other. Those who belong to the subcultures are connected by a strong bond and spend time with friends who dress in similar fashion. One's choice of dress and fashion is a representation of one's inner self as well as one's group membership. Having no message to express does, however, convey a message; it may be a hidden one of helplessness and hopelessness. Thus, group members do have a message-silent rebellion.

Muggleton (2000), who is in support of postmodern theory, explains that subcultures today exist in postmodern form. His idea of postmodern subcul­ture involves a combination of hybridity, diversity, and fluidity. According to Muggleton (2000: 15), traditional points of collective identification, such as class, gender, race, and place, are gradually replaced by elective, build-your­ own, consumer identities, and the members of subcultures are postmodern in that they demonstrate a fragmented, individualistic, and stylistic identifica­tion. This is a sensibility that manifests itself as an expression of freedom from structure, control, and restraint, ensuring that stasis is rejected in favor of movement and fluidity (Muggleton 2000: 158).

Style differentiation no longer defines different social classes. There is a great deal of interclass and intraclass mobility. Social identity that used to be based on the economic and political sphere is now based on something outside of these spheres. The consumption of cultural goods, such as fash­ionable clothing, performs an increasingly important role in the construction of personal identity, while the satisfaction of material needs and the emula­tion of superior classes are secondary (Crane 2000). There is a shift from class fashion to consumer fashion. In postmodern cultures, consumption is conceptualized as a form of role playing, as consumers seek to project con­ceptions of identity that are continually evolving. Social class is less evident and less important in constructing one's self-image and identity in contempo­rary society.

MASKING ONESELF WITH A LOLITA IDENTITY AND ACHIEVING A SENSE OF SELF-LIBERATION

We are what we wear. Many of the Lolita girls I talked to said that when they dress Lolita, whether it is Punk or Sweet or another variation, their personality changes. They feel more confident and strong. It is empowering. One girl said, "My life revolves around Lolita. I am constantly thinking about Lolita. I went to a fashion school because Lolita brands are so expensive and I cannot afford them. Now that I have acquired the sewing skill, I can design and make my own Lolita dress. I even created my own brand online." Another high school girl dressed in Punk Lolita said: "I couldn't talk to you if I were not dressed like this. When I am at school, I am usually quiet and shy. I am an introvert. But I can change when I dress Lolita. I feel powerful." The Lolita girls are playing the role of a princess. An Italian Lolita girl said:

I like the feeling when I look at myself at the mirror with Lolita clothes. I may be naive, but I really feel like a princess. I love it. I like the Lolita culture too, but probably because it suits my usual way to act and think. And if I'm dressed like a princess, I act even more properly like a lady.

A Japanese Lolita girl who wears the style on weekends goes to a butler cafe (see chapter 6), where waiters are dressed as English butlers and treat fe­male customers like princesses. She continued:

When I dress Lolita, it changes my demeanor. The way I talk. The way I walk. Every­ thing about me changes. I feel like a princess. I love coming to this cafe, because I am treated like a true lady. This is real me. When I am not dressed Lolita, that's not me. Lolita is real me. When I put on a Lolita dress, I am thinking to myself "which look do I want today?" After deciding that I want to go Ama-Loli, then I put all the accessories together to make that look. That thinking process itself and turning into a princess are great fun.

Another Lolita told me:

I became interested when I was sixteen to seventeen years old. I first saw Kera! [magazine]. Then my mother bought me a dress at Marui One that costs about 30,000 yen [about US$370]. I like the attention I get. I get a sense of superiority when people look at me. I change from a style to style. One time I liked Hime-kei for six months and wore Lizlisa. It just happened that the type of dress I like is Lolita.

Lolita followers are aware that their style is often perceived as strange, and people turn their heads to look at them when they walk on the streets. The Japanese Lolita said, "If my boyfriend doesn't like me in Lolita, I would rather break up with him than change my style." Lolita is self-expression and self­ satisfaction. Just by looking Lolita, girls may appear as if they are subservient and dressing in a way to get male attention. On the contrary, these girls do it for themselves or for other girls. If they care at all about what people think of them, it is the opinion of other Lolita girls. They compete among themselves and criticize each other. A Lolita follower said: "When I pass another Lolita girl on the street, I cannot help but check her out. Just look at her in the corner of my eyes to see how she put her Lolita outfit together from head to toe. If she looks great, there is a slight sense of jealousy, I admit." Adornment and self-display are always social. The girls never simply wear Lolita dress and stay at home. They dress Lolita when they go outside to meet their Lolita friends. For some it is an authentic identity; for others, it is a temporary iden­tity with a mask. One thing that is certain is that dressing Lolita takes them to a different world psychologically and emotionally, and that in turn affects and changes their personae for that moment.

A Lolita who goes by the name Alice said:

I got interested in Lolita in my second year in high school after I saw a magazine Alice. My family did not like it first. But I used to go to secondhand stores such as Bodyline and Closet Child and bought them. I took a night class at Bunka so I can now make Lolita-style dresses. My boyfriend doesn't like me in Lolita, but I don't care. I feel happy when I am wearing Lolita. I enjoy people's attention. It is the image of Marie Antoinette. I basically dress Classic Lolita. My favorite brand is Innocent World. Lolita is my life itself. My life is all about Lolita. I am always thinking about Lolita.

Recently, some fashion schools have launched classes that teach Lolita fashion. Ueda Yasuko Fashion School in Osaka created a major in Gothic and Lolita fashion, in which students learn to design, drape, create patterns, and sew Gothic and Lolita-inspired dress. Vantan Design Institute, a fashion school in Tokyo, also has a major in Goth and Lolita fashion that trains stu­dents to become brand designers or costume designers.

All the Lolita girls I met dressed Lolita only on weekends or during their free time, and never to their jobs. The majority of them change into a Lolita identity on a weekly basis. During my research in Tokyo, I met only one student who said she always wore Lolita wherever she went. She was studying to be an ac­countant, so once she passed the exam to work as an apprentice accountant she felt that she would have to give up Lolita.

A separate identity is assumed when girls dress Lolita. One Lolita girl I interviewed said:

From Monday to Friday, I work as an administrative assistant. I wear a uniform. I feel so oppressed on weekdays. But on weekends, I dress Lolita and go out shop­ping or to events. I feel so free. It is another identity. It is a totally different identity from the one that I have on weekdays. In fact, my real identity is the one I have on weekends. My Lolita identity is real me. This is real me.

Humans need to define their identity in one way or another whether it is based on gender, sexuality, occupation, income level, or race/ethnicity. Being a Lolita is an identity that gives the followers of this subculture a solid sense of belong­ ing. Through dress, they assure themselves that they are part of the group.

Lolita followers have created numerous online communities around the world. There are rules as to what kind of topics can be posted on the Inter­ net so that the subcultural identity of each site can be maintained. There are discussions on Lolita brands, instructions about how to put together a Lolita look, and how to make handmade Lolita items. Members share images from different Lolita brands and auction, sell, and buy Lolita-related items. The Lol­ita members are bound together by their stylistic expressions and have cre­ ated a global subcultural network. They communicate both face-to-face and online. They organize meetings and tea parties and get together on weekends to take pictures of each other to post online.

There are no official organizations, clubs, or gangs that Lolita belong to. They tend to organize groups of their own and engage in Lolita-related activi­ties together.

A girl who likes Sweet Lolita said:

I organized a Christmas party last year. I posted it on Mixi. Only two girls showed up, but that's okay. It was fun. We went to a restaurant that Lolita girls often go to. Even if we don't know each other and we have never met before, we can con­nect right away because we all love Lolita. We are connected by Lolita. We end up talking about it for hours.

Like many other Lolitas I have met, this girl's work is unrelated to fashion or Lolita; she works at a fast-food restaurant so she cannot dress Lolita when she is working. But otherwise, she is almost always Lolita. She said: "Lolita is central to my everyday life. I cannot imagine a life without Lolita."

VARIATIONS OF LOLITA STYLE

Lolita girls put much effort into getting the right look from head to toe. A Lolita girl explains: "It is difficult to coordinate a Lolita style, so many of us end up buying the entire outfit with accessories and shoes from one brand. That's why it gets expensive." Variations to a Lolita look include:

Ama-Loli (Sweet Lolita): the typical Lolita style with lots of lace, ruffles, and frills; mostly white and pastel colors such as blue and pink.

Classical / Elegant Lolita: similar to Ama-Loli but with fewer ruffles and frills.

Ero-Loli (Erotic Lolita): a controversial style because, in principle, Lolita has no erotic elements, and too much skin should not be exposed.

Futago-Loli (Twin Lolita): two girls dress in the same Lolita outfit.

Gosu-Loli (Gothic and Lolita): the combination of Gothic and Lolita ele­ments; monochromatic palette, often black and white.

Guro-Loli (Gore Lolita): using bandages or blood splatters or anything that looks gory.

Hime-Loli (Princess Lolita): similar to Classical Lolita, with pastel colors; princess-looking, often with a tiara.

Kuro-Loli (Black Lolita): black from head to toe.

Ouji (Prince for Lolita): the male version who would accompany a Lolita, or a Lolita girl who does not want to wear a skirt.

Pinku-Loli (Pink Lolita): pink from head to toe.

Punk Loli (Punk Lolita): a combination of Lolita and Punk elements, such as leather, zippers, safety pins, and chains.

Qi-Loli (Chinese Lolita): Lolita combined with traditional Chinese elements. Sailor-Loli (Sailor Lolita): nautical style inspired by Japanese school uniforms.

Wa-Loli (Japanese Lolita): Lolita combined with traditional Japanese ele­ments, such as kimono and obi. (Lolitafashion.org n.d.)

New variations or combinations of existing ones-such as Light Gothic Lolita, Candy Lolita-or those that merge with other subcultures-such as Loli Gyaru or Gyaru-Loli-are appearing. According to a magazine editor I spoke with, these new groups occur naturally, and one cannot tell exactly who or how it started.

Each Lolita variation has its own distinctive style and rules that the follow­ers adhere to. The Lolita subcultural lifestyle has spread worldwide among teens in the United States, Europe, and Asia. While some belong to a spe­cific Lolita category, others enjoy choosing a style depending on different occasions. Some Lolita impose strict rules as to what is considered authen­tic Lolita, and heated discussions take place on Internet message boards.

Whichever Lolita look one dresses in, it is difficult to tell whether one is a real Lolita or a cosplayer. When I started my research on Lolita subculture in 2004, I thought Lolita was part of cosplay, and I could not tell the difference between a maid costume worn by a waitress at Maid Cafe in Akihabara and Lolita fashion.

Even industry professionals are confused about the differences. A fashion marketer I interviewed in Tokyo explained, "This is a style that has been devel­oping out of the cosplay phenomenon in the streets of Japan since the mid- 199Os. The look has evolved and is slowly beginning to take roots in other countries around the world." Lolita girls are often mistaken as cosplayers who dress like their favorite characters in Japanese anime and manga, but they insist that they are not.

An American Lolita girl told me, "When people see us on the streets or coffee shops, they think we are in a play. They think this is our theatrical cos­tume. That's why a lot of people think this is part of Japanese cosplay, and we are cosplayers. But we are not!" I heard similar comments from Japanese Lolita and European Lolita over and over again. For the authentic Lolita fol­lowers, it is highly offensive for them to be called cosplayers. Lolita is an im­portant part of their life; sometimes, it consumes their entire life.

Reflecting many Lolita followers, one Lolita girl said:

I am constantly thinking about Lolita. It is my whole life and identity. Cosplay is not a reflection of your inner self. It is just an entertainment. It's their hobby. You are playing a character in anime for a couple of hours. We are not like that at all. We live Lolita. We breathe Lolita. Lolita is our authentic self.

MASS MEDIA EXPOSURE TO SPREAD LOLITA SUBCULTURE

To sustain a subculture-and keep it from simply being a group of friends who share the same values, norms, and beliefs that may go against the main­stream-it needs to spread to the masses first through word of mouth and then through the media. Yusuke Tajima, editor-in-chief of Kera! magazine said:

We need to make more occasions and places where the girls can go to wear­ing Lolita dress because Lolita styles are very distinct. The majority of them don't wear it every day. They wear it for special occasions when they meet other Lolita. Otherwise, the Lolita market will shrink, and Lolita-related businesses will shrink.

An owner of a well-known Lolita brand says:

When we started the brand, I told my girls to always dress in Lolita. If we had a new bag designed, I gave it to all my workers and told them to carry it every day, every where they go. They were like walking advertisers. Then people would ask them, "Oh, that's cute. Where did you get it?" Luckily, people and the media began to notice our brand slowly. Our two designers started to appear on TV and in fashion magazines.

Fashion as a genre or a category spreads quickly through the media and via the Internet. There needs to be a network of industries and institutions to help spread the subcultural fashion phenomenon. Kera! is the magazine that Lolita followers read. (It was launched in 1998 with the title Kerouac.) Kera!'s editorial team arranges a photo shoot every month at the Marui One department store in Shinjuku (not Harajuku) so that anyone who wants to show off her style can line up and get her picture taken by a professional photographer.4 The best ensembles appear in the magazine.

Readers' comments in Kera! show that the girls eagerly await the chance to appear in the magazine:

Hi, everyone; I have been influenced so much by Kera! that I am now going through a make over I will definitely be on the magazine someday! (January 2010: 118)

Some day, I will be cute enough to appear in Kera! (April 2010: 110)

I didn't buy Kera for two months because I wanted to be an ordinary girl. But I saw the January issue and felt an intense urge to buy it. I am now convinced that it is a source of my life. I don't care if people around me don't understand me What's best for me is not normal for others or how people look at me strange as long as I am happy, I can bear it I am back to Kera-kko. (March 2010: 108)

Kera! is my textbook. (July 2010: 104)

Just started highschool! Gonna walk around Harajuku and dress up so that I'd get my picture taken! (July 2010: 105)

I want to be Kera's model. (November 2010: 61)

Regarding Marui One, one of the girls I interviewed said, "I come here almost every month. It is a great feeling to get your picture taken. It is a thrill to check in the magazine whether I am in it or not every month." Besides Kera! there is Gothic & Lolita Bible, a quarterly magazine that began publication in Japan in 2001 and has been published in English since 2008. A novel titled Shimotsuma Monogatari (Kamikaze Girls), written by Nobara Takemoto, was published in 2002 and became a movie in 2004. A character in the novel, Momoko, wears the brand, Baby, the Stars Shine Bright. She com­mutes two and a half hours by train from lbaragi to Tokyo to buy the Lolita out­ fits. Momoko is obsessed with Lolita fashion. "If you claim that you are a real Lolita, you have seen the movie and must have read all the novels by Nobara Takemoto. We look up to him," according to a Lolita girl.

Mana-sama of Malice Mizer, a Visual-kei band, is another figure who is wor­shipped within the Lolita communities. He is the most extreme in terms of outfits and makeup. He is known to have started a genre called Gothic Lolita, based on the separate genres of Goth and Lolita. He started a label called Moi-Meme-Moitie, and his fans dress Gothic Lolita to attend his concerts. He is androgynous in appearance and wears men's as well as women's clothes, just like Nobara Takemoto. Over time, celebrities eventually lead the subcul­ture and become the followers' role models.

Various organizations host events and parties for Lolita, and many Lolita organize meetings and arrange tea parties (they do not drink coffee or alco­holic beverages) themselves. Lolita brands, such as Angelic Pretty and Triple Fortune, organize tea parties on a regular basis for their customers and show their new collections. There is also a trade fair twice a year for Lolita fashion called A La Mode Market. To further promote Lolita fashion subcultures, major events are organized such as La Foret x Kera x Rock Collections in 2009, Harajuku Style Collection, Butoukai Cool Japan Style 2010, and Hyper Japan 2010 in London. These are the events that mobilize Lolita followers, and they confirm the girls' camaraderie and sense of belonging.

CONCLUSION