I really agree with you!

Well I heard about it before. But lolita is a fashion that sometimes have bigger, sometimes smaller popularity but is still somewhere around. Expecially outside of Japan it is quiet popular and don’t look like fading away. I’m crossing finger for loli. It’s still my most favorite style :)

well gothic loli maybe declining in Japan but it’s really rising in the US. And Seba’s drawings are really funny xD

Aawww~ I just begun my journey as a lolita~ XD

i think its not the style itself that ppl r losing interest in. i think its the fact that its no longer unique. everyone is wearing it and that simple fact is what makes a trend lose its… trendyness. the styles and outfits ppl wear are usually a way of expressing themselves and keeping themselves different from evryone else but when evryones wearing it u end up losing that individuality u strive for and then u go searching for a different style. i believe thats why lolita fashion is losing its popularity in japan. but thats only my opinion. ^-^

Economy vs. Prices~~ that’s just what I believe. . . I think Lolita will stay consistent as long as it’s buyers have the money for it ; u;

i was shopping for a dress and got one from Angel Secret,,wrong size, sent it back at my own exspense,,got a second dress,,again the wrong size,,,paid to send that one back as well,,,wanted my refund and hadn’t gotten it yet,,all this was way back in June 2010! I am steering clear of the lolita look if this is how the shops treat their customers. Bah,,,wouldn’t you? Am i wrong?

Interesting.I don’t know about Gothloli’ it’s not my scene but all of harajuku in general has lost it’s edge. Everything is becoming more and more mainstream.

Ah so the topic appears here for discussion. Hmm…well Lolita fashion isn’t exactly for me (since I don’t cross dress just yet haha, besides it’ll take me god knows how long to reach Malice Mizer’s status)…but I do enjoy soothing my eyes upon viewing the clothing being worn. Which is one of the reasons I started reading this blog.

It remains beautiful and gorgeous in my eyes, but you bringing up the issue of the fashion having a decline certainly brings up an interesting bigger topic: “If something was liked before…why should it not be liked again?” or “Why not stick with tradition?”

Well in my opinion I don’t think people are asking for revolution in Lolita fashion, but rather an evolution. I personally don’t mind the current state of Lolita fashion currently, but I can understand the frustration in wearers of the clothing to not see something new. If they have something similar from before, why spend the money to buy again? No one wants to see a change in the DNA of Lolita fashion, but just aesthetic change to bring a wide variety of clothing for the fashion.

Personally I just find it so hard to see what to exactly change since I like it so much as is already. Time will tell, I’m sure some creative genius will come along to bring something new. Though I love h.NAOTO, it can’t just be him pushing Lolita fashion along.

I wish for the best…it’d be quite scary to see me somehow end up taking action haha d(>w<)b

I like EGL-inspired fashion, but when it’s “pure” it tends to be a little formulaic, almost like a uniform.

The first generetions of lolitas are all grown up now. How old is the oldest loli and for how long will she go on wearing cutsie little dresses? It’s a youth fashion and I agree that the new generations need fresh ideas.

When I was in Japan I didnt see many lolitas on the street, but the vast majority of girls at the concert I was at wore lolita. I dont think its a mass fashion, but it still must have some popularity at the rate prints and shoes sell out…grrrrr. I would like to see the fashion evolve and mix it up with other styles, be more casual, less rules etc. And it probably will.

=( Do you think the brands will stop the Lolita? (or make something else?…)

I don;t think Mana would want to be a figurehead setting the rules and conditions… I wonder what he thinks of all this too.

In the 90′s, European countries took over trends from North America with a few years delay. I think that is what now is happening with Japan and the west (actually its more the rest of the world). Alternative girls outside Japan/Asia find the EGL/EGA-style renewing to what they are used to see in their daily live.

To me the lolita styles where always combinations of sweet + more sweet or dark + more dark. Where a sufficient amount of accessories is needed to complete the style and give it the extravagant looks that attract so much attention. It’s not more than logic that this kind of accessorizing bores the Japanese by now.

I recognize what h.Naoto is doing, because I myself look for a new kind of accessorizing to. He uses fewer accessories and makes them stronger and more striking by contrasting classic colours and texture of the fabrics/materials. As you can see with the feathered coat above. By emphasising the clothing this way, it creates a different ambiance. I think this is quite hard and the reason for h.Naoto to use more from different styles like punk and underground.

I actually had a conversation with some of the staff at Baby the Stars Shine Bright/San Francisco about 2 or so weeks ago, and our mutual opinions are that the style is moving more towards “Alice and the Pirates” flavor- that is, Gothic and Gothic Loli with a Steam Punk edge to it. Atelier Boz also comes to mind…

Part of the problem is the extreme rigid adherence to “rules” by the Lolita consumers themselves (especially the western ones): they’re not allowing the designers to break out of that set template and get truly creative, so we’re seeing increasingly that there’s not much of a point paying a fortune to get the same dress or blouse you bought 4 years ago, with a different print motif on it. Designers are producing less to streamline budgets (which actually has the negative effect that they no longer have a good selection), and design houses are
closing.

Lolita need to remember that enjoying the style movement and self expression must come first- we’re not in a competition to see who can nail the “look” of particular models from Japanese magazines! Get creative! Be original!

I think the reason it’s dying out is precisely that those who participate in it don’t see it as a lifestyle – just as fashion. So, like all trends, it will fade or change.

Original scenes from the 70/80s like trad goth/post-punk and various punk scenes have lasted for decades because of the immersion in the culture, both musical and ideological, that the styles require. Of course, neither are as “popular” as they were in the past, but you see old-timers sticking to it even now.

Now, look at various Western alternative fashion trends in the past decade, particularly emo-scene and other Hot Topic-related/mall-goth fashions.
The arc of these styles’ popularity and decline (or dispersion into different varieties like popcore, crunkcore, etc-core) actually quite closely reflects that of EGL/Lolita fashion in Japan.

If a style is nothing more than a fashion, you can’t expect it to stick around when it, inevitably, falls out of favor.

I would feel more sad about this, but I came to this realization a while ago and haven’t been all that intrigued by lolita fashion since then… No interesting new cuts or radically different styling.

Part of me feels like I’ve outgrown a lot of street styles… I don’t dye my hair or do nearly as crazy make-up as I used to… and my wardrobe is starting to become more unified. I still have a very distinct style, but I think I started to separate myself from all the subculture fashions I used to flit between like goth-punk and lolita and made my own style from it.

I find it ironic that the picture of H Naoto features a bunny bag character. I mean, cliché! I will always love lolita fashion because it’s unique, and I would argue you have to be the change you want to see in this fashion. If you want different changes, bring it!

I think lolita is becoming less popular is because their not bringing anything new! Which is really sad since I do adore lolita fashion but I also crave for variety and change!

Haha, people have been saying Lolita was in decline for years.
I lived through several waves of Lolita fanaticism and decline in Tokyo, and honestly it never really goes away.
I think the change now has been that there is a move away from the insane sugary OTT stuff that was huge in about 2005 – 2008. These days that look is feeling tired (correlation to the economy much?) and a lot of girls have moved to Gothic or Classical, which honestly just stands out less in a public space than Sweet Lolita.

In addition, many girls have gotten much more comfortable mixing and matching their Lolita clothes with other labels or vintage pieces, a la Mori girl or Dolly kei. The head-to-toe brand devotion of yore has become a bit tacky, just like head-to-toe Louis Vuitton and Gucci logos are now incredibly gauche in the high fashion world.
I know this is true for myself – four years ago, I was all about a total Lolita look, and now I simply mix skirts/socks/bows/whatever in every day outfits with vintage blouses or Vivienne Westwood or Topshop.

I don’t think the Lolita labels need to change – they are Lolita, they sell Lolita clothes. Their customers are perfectly capable of changing things up for themselves – and they certainly are.

I can’t speak for Japan now that I don’t live there anymore, but lolita continues to spread throughout the world even now, and in Europe its popularity will probably outlive that of Japan. In any case, this subculture/style has really demonstrated lasting power against all the other subcultures that have come and gone.

I can’t speak for Japan now that I don’t live there anymore, but lolita continues to spread throughout the world even now, and in Europe its popularity will probably outlive that of Japan. In any case, this subculture/style has really demonstrated lasting power against all the other subcultures that have come and gone.

I kind of have to agree. I love lolita and have been into it for 10 years, but I find the style has stagnated. The make up of the outfits remain the same, following the same guidelines they always have. It is still very beautiful, but I agree that it’s sort of becoming the same old same old in that not many designers try to design “outside the box”, but rather within the same guidelines and styles they always have.

Within lolita communities, especially in North America, there is a overabundance of people believing there are rules to lolita and there is not room for experimentation. Doing your own thing with lolita is almost frowned upon by many, and if it’s not brand, it’s not considered true lolita. And let’s be realistic, in a time of global recession, who can really afford an entire wardrobe of only brand? Is it such a bad thing to wear brands people don’t know about?

That being said, part of it’s charm is that it is a very recognizable and complete look, but I also find it can be very easy to pull off– many people just buy matching sets and wear them the way they were meant to be worn on the mannequin. I feel like that takes the fun away from any fashion, when personal taste and combination are no longer involved. If everyone is wearing the same brands and items, it loses it’s fun and unique feeling. Where’s the creativity in that?

I love lolita but I do feel it’s losing it’s initial charm over time.

I personally dislike that brands do not offer more simple dresses for everyday wear to work or school. See, everyone is impressed by girl in nice feminine dress, but very few are impressed by girl who looks like kids toy which run away from playing room. I also feel like many prints are just too strange OR too boring. There is no surprise, no “This is SUCH great idea, why did noone invent it before?” moment. Well, except JetJ, who is 1:1 casual and surprising, but they are too expensive. Also, that is another problem of brands. Prints are interesting, but expensive. Solid colors designs need the key thing – DESIGN – to be interesting and THAT is the main problem of lolita fashion as whole – too many main brands just stick on their past designs. Look at all these taobao shops, how wonderfull they can be with good old pattern-cut work. For example White Moon do really nice things with common fabrics and their own FANTASY. h.NAOTO and Beast are also very inovative and still progressing. I think the key is not to sleep on the victory crown and keep moving.