By Liz Ohanesian
Photo by Erin Broadley. Click image for entire slideshow.
This Lolita was born in Japan and headed for the U.S. underground in the late '90s with help from J-rock band Malice Mizer and Harajuku street style magazine Fruits. Its roots are in children’s literature, Rococo and Victorian period design and the staples of little girls’ wardrobes. This Lolita is about prim party dresses with fantastic details like bunny tails, wildly patterned knee socks, Mary Jane shoes with serious platform heels and elaborate wigs in unnatural colors. It’s a look that grandmothers love, while prompting pesky, uncreative passersby to ask “Little Bo Beep, where’s your sheep?” This Lolita takes staples of a conservative past and pushes them towards an extreme future.
“I don’t know if you’d say [Lolita is] rebellious, but it’s definitely different,” said Maki Ichigo, 18, of Long Beach.