What Is Lolita And Lolita Fashion?

Lolita is a novel by Vladimir Nabokov, first written in English and published in 1955 in Paris, later translated by the author into Russian and published in 1958 in New York. The book is internationally famous for its innovative style and infamous for its controversial subject: the protagonist and unreliable narrator, middle-aged Humbert Humbert, who becomes obsessed and sexually involved with a 12-year-old girl named Dolores Haze. The novel was adapted to film by Stanley Kubrick in 1962, and again in 1997 by Adrian Lyne.

Lolita film in 1997

However, Lolita fashion is a subculture originating in Japan. Primarily influenced by Victorian clothing and costumes from the Rococo period, today’s Lolita has made its way into a unique fashion by adding gothic and original design elements such as lace, ribbons to the look. From this, Lolita fashion has evolved into mainly four sub styles including gothic Lolita, sweet Lolita, classic Lolita and punk Lolita. Normally, the Lolita look consists primarily of a knee length skirt or dress, headdress, blouse, petticoat, knee high socks or stockings and rocking horse or high heel/platform shoes. Although the origin of Lolita fashion is unclear, it is likely the movement started in the late 1970s when famous labels including Pink House, Milk and Angelic Pretty began selling clothes that would be considered "Lolita" by today's standards. Shortly after that came Baby and The Stars Shine Bright. In the 1990s, Lolita fashion became better recognized, with bands like Malice Mizer coming into popularity.

Lolita fashion show

In Lolita fashion, it is generally accepted that "Lolita" does not refer to Vladimir Nabokov's famous novel.Adherents present themselves more as Victorian children or porcelain dolls and prefer to look "cute" or "beautiful" rather than "sexy". While there are Lolitas who agree that the term 'Lolita' does not necessarily have anything to do with sex at all,Lolita fashion can even be considered a movement where girls ranging from pre-teens to late 20s fight the current fashion with modesty. It allows a woman to feel young, cute, beautiful or off-limits, depending on which type of Lolita a girl chooses to be. 

Today, Lolita fashion is becoming increasingly popular and specially is adored by most young people. No longer a fashion confined within Janpan, it is getting development due to Internet and media industry. It is sometimes seen many lolita clubs and lolita lovers from different countries such as United States, United Kingdom, Canada and others. More and more people wear a lolita dress on the street and we can also see more lolita fashion shows on the runway and some famous stars also love lolita dress.