Recently whilst doing a lolita search on YouTube I stumbled across a performance at the Nickelodeon Mexico Teen Choice Awards. I was a little confused as to how the video was relevant to my search but curiosity got the better of me and I clicked away. I was surprised to see that the three girls up on the stage, in a legitimate televised concert, were decked out in Angelic Pretty!
The more I watched the video the more excited I became, sure they weren't wearing blouses and their skirts were a little short on them but who cares, they were wearing lolita! And to put the icing on the cake the song was pretty catchy too!
Once the video was over I scrolled down to read the comments expecting a whole bunch of enthusiastic lolitas to be singing the praises of this group. I was shocked at what I found.
The comments for the video were full of lolitas spewing hate towards the group for the way they were wearing brand. Commenters referred to the singers as "whores" and "fatties". Usually I would just let this go but the sheer amount of negative comments really horrified me. If lolita fashion has taught me anything it's that people can be beautiful even if they wear something a little different from the main stream, so how are these girls any different? They are just wearing something that makes them feel cute (well, perhaps something their stylists think is cute) so does it really matter that they wear it differently than the way we wear it? Is experimenting with lolita clothing only acceptable in the Eastern world?
Personally I am happy that lolita is becoming more exposed to the general public, if lolita grows in popularity that means it will become more readily available which is a step in the right direction for Western lolitas.
What do you think? Would you watch Eme 15 because they wore lolita or would you not enjoy them because they don't follow "the rules"? I personally will be keeping an eye on them, sure their style is pretty teeny bopper but they are just too cute!
The comments for the video were full of lolitas spewing hate towards the group for the way they were wearing brand. Commenters referred to the singers as "whores" and "fatties". Usually I would just let this go but the sheer amount of negative comments really horrified me. If lolita fashion has taught me anything it's that people can be beautiful even if they wear something a little different from the main stream, so how are these girls any different? They are just wearing something that makes them feel cute (well, perhaps something their stylists think is cute) so does it really matter that they wear it differently than the way we wear it? Is experimenting with lolita clothing only acceptable in the Eastern world?
Personally I am happy that lolita is becoming more exposed to the general public, if lolita grows in popularity that means it will become more readily available which is a step in the right direction for Western lolitas.
What do you think? Would you watch Eme 15 because they wore lolita or would you not enjoy them because they don't follow "the rules"? I personally will be keeping an eye on them, sure their style is pretty teeny bopper but they are just too cute!
I hate this group! They didn't respect the lolita rules, they cut the dresses to look shorter...
ReplyDeleteI think they only use Lolita for caught the interest of public
It looks like the dresses are missing a part? How can they be that short on them otherwise? :O I'm 5'9 and they don't look like that on me, EVER.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise, I'm indifferent.
I find it very upsetting when women call other women "whores" based entirly on the length of their skirts. It's bad enough when men do that but it's just so much more frustraiting when women slut shame eachother.
ReplyDeleteI don't get why it caused so much fuss, it's a pop band, they'll likely adopt another fashion in a month or two...Hey remember when Gwen Stefani and Lady Gaga single handedly destroyed Lolita?
Yeah me neither...People need to chill out.
I don't think that people need to hate on them. It is true that they aren't respecting the rules, but it isn't bad to experiment either... after all, it is a pop group. Maybe they don't even know that lolita has rules or even that what they are wearing is called "lolita".
ReplyDeleteHaters will always find an occasion to call people "whores" (even if they wear long dresses), "fatties", and so on, so I don't think that we need to bother that much.
I honestly feel like everyone here tends to be a little up tight about "the rules". People in Eastern countries experiment with Lolita all the time and do just fine with not insulting each other or demeaning each other. I find it really sad that the creativity in the community is being stifled because some girls with no imagination are shaming the ones who want to try new things.
ReplyDeleteYes their dresses are a little short, yes they aren't wearing blouses, and yes they probably only did it as a publicity stunt. Who cares? The community needs to stop taking themselves too seriously and just have some fun.
I think it's weird how people are treating what they are obviously wearing as stage costumes as something that needs to be judged as a fashion choice. Visual kei bands and the like who are considered "lolita" bands in Japan rarely wear anything that would be considered completely within the bounds of lolita, even when wearing brand. I wouldn't even bother to call such things "breaking the rules," because they are obviously not trying to wear lolita: they are wearing stage costumes. Performers wear short, fluffy dresses all the time: only the prints make these stand out at all.
ReplyDeleteI think the reason people are so upset is because for a lot of girls, Lolita is about modesty. By shortening the dresses and showing their garter straps, they're taking away from the modest aspect and making a fashion we constantly stress as being nonsexual into something sexy.
ReplyDeleteMy biggest peeve was their limp looking hair and how they looked like they were missing something. I don't mind the short lengths, they're doing what's popular right now, but the outfits overall were just not that impressive.
I think you have to be in our ( mexican ) society to understand the hatred and all the name calling.
ReplyDeleteHere almost no one can afford brand, so the few lolis that have it used to get a lot of hate. It's not like that anymore, but most of the girls got really angry because someone who is not into lolita had the all-mighty-and-glorious AP.
Also, in our television, all girls have to be "sexy". I guess it's just what people like to see. But lolis sure where angry when lolita was ( again ) related to sex.
I really don't care, but i do understand where the hatred is comming from. Being a lolita in our society is definetly not easy. We get a lot of hate and while walking down the street all the guys stare, shout awful, dirty stuff at you and it's really scary. Having lolita being associated with a bunch of too-sexy-to-be-that-age girls is not a great thing. The education in my country is just not good enough, so people don't know how to be respectuful so... yeah XD
I just think this will be a short lived "fad". Its not like people of "normal" society see these as lolita dresses or even Angelic Pretty. And they will be forgotten with time. People break the rules and look fabulous all the time (I myself mix lolita and burlesque) -- but unfortunately these girls didn't.
ReplyDeleteLolita's need to get there bloomers out of a twist. If you really felt secure in your "lolitaizm" then this little band wouldn't threaten you guys so much!
I think that's pretty awesome to mix Loli and Burlesque. I'm sure it makes great coords :)
Delete~ Kieli ~
Honestly, people just need to calm down. There is no one way of wearing anything. I believe in tradition but hey if something good comes out of experimentation, then why not. I think it's pretty awesome that more people are getting into Loli. Be it for legitimate reasons or just for show, it's getting recognition.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm honestly getting tired of people thinking it's only for sexual reasons. I'm also tired of those that think there is only one way to do something. People can wear whatever they want to wear. Just because you wear something, doesn't mean anything. It could just mean you feel comfortable with yourself to wear it. Not everything is about sex.
And if people didn't experiment, we wouldn't have different levels of Loli either. Or any fashion for that matter. People just need to calm the freak down.
I would definitely listen or watch more of this group's stuff. It's awesome they're wearing Loli. (And it doesn't look as crazy as Nicki Minaj xD ) Thank you for sharing this.
~ Kieli ~
Well I think it's important to make it clear that this is not a lolita band... it's actually a band composed by the main characters of a tv series called Miss XV that nickelodeon is producing. This is just the style they used for the performance (although I think the one wearing Honey Cake is lolita but I'm not sure). So I think that what upset lolitas was the fact that they made the dresses shorter and it kind of looked like a costume, given the fact that they do not wear the style in the series or every day and the lyrics talk about alice in wonderland. Also it is important to add that many people thought they were dressing as children or dolls reinforcing the idea that the style was a costume.
ReplyDeleteI remember when I first saw that video and the brief moment of "WTF!" I experienced. I even posted it on my blog for others to see and comment on.
ReplyDeleteI really don't know if this group knows much about Lolita, I was just abhorrent about how they were dancing around in those costumes in front of....children. That was the grotesque part to me. Just not classy at all.
These are all some fantastic points, I'm so happy to read so many different opinions.
ReplyDeleteSome things I'd like to address are that I was glad to get a perspective on Mexican culture from Muuh, it sounds scary to be a lolita there. Taking the seemingly mandatory sexualization of women into consideration I think that it's even more understandable why they altered their clothing. I don't think the group was trying to offend, they were just trying to fit into their societies norms. They are trying to make money and gain fans.
And to respond to the people who thought the group was dressed indecently, they were actually rather covered for performers. Just look at stars like Katy Perry or JLo who usually dance around wearing next to nothing. I feel that, even in front of children, they were dressed appropriately.
It may be cute, but still, the dresses are way too short on them! I'm not obssesively strict to rules, but the girl in AP's "Honey Cake" (if I'm right of the name) looks weird and for me ugly. Other girls, despite the shortness of dresses look quite good, though. And since I like everything connected with our fashion, I'd surely watch it.
ReplyDeleteAnd calling them "fatties" (WHERE?!) or "whores" is just the evidence of saying "haters gonna hate". 'Cause those girls are neither or them.
I'm mixed about the scenario. Sure its a bit of a bummer to see people dressing in the clothes that follow a strict code of modesty and coordination but at the same time, kudos to them for not picking your mainstream cocktail hoochie dresses. And even though its not perfectly Lolita, the dresses on their own look summery and fun which is probably what these girls were going for in their look for the performance.
ReplyDeleteI personally don't care what they wear or how they wear it I pick the music I like because it is good not based on how the singer or singers dress
ReplyDeleteI think part of what dissuaded me away from being a legit lolita enthusiast is the whole "rules" aspect and how much people stick to it. it really didn't feel different than the way people act judgmental about Prada and Gucci and high fashion brands like that. which of course i could never afford sustainably. i love lolita fashion, but even more, i love that there's girls out there who take something as incredible as lolita fashion and makes it their own. that's what's really impressive to me, and that is no doubt how lolita become a fashion style... i think when people are overly judgmental about rules with fashion, it's because they're too afraid to break them themselves for fear of not looking as good. that's just the way i see it though. i'm not a lifestyle lolita in anyway, so i guess i don't really have as much of a say.
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw this, I got so excited that I posted it to my local Lolita group for comments. I wrote like a book, so I will just paste it here:
ReplyDeleteOn the one hand, yeah, garter straps and Lolita isn't exactly the image we want to be sending when people in general already get sketch images just based on the fashion's name (I wish I had a dollar for every time I had to explain that, No, we are not related to that book's content, no we do not endorse that type of image/behavior....).
But! On the other hand, a well known (and well loved!) Lolita brand is dancing across the stage on mainstream television! I mean... I am torn between popping out the bubbly or adding them to my Dwarven Giant Book of Grudges. Although, fishnets and straps aside, I am leaning (drunkenly, perhaps) towards the bubbly.
And it's not like we all wear it that way so even if someone was like "What?" and looked it up, they would see a more common usage of that clothing. Still... My thinking is people will think it's cute, look it up on the interweb, be like "Say whaaaaaat!? I gotta get me one!" and the next thing you know, you can walk on the streets of New York and see someone wearing it every so often. I know that's never going to happen, but I like it when main stream oriented people get exposed to things I know and love but that they just have no way of getting access to because it's obscure and they are obviously not looking.
Facebook quoting aside, I find everyone's different takes to be really interesting. I especially like the "haters gonna hate" comment (so true, right?!). But I do have to say that while the exposure is good, and I'm happy to see Angelic Pretty in a surprising place, I tend to have a cautious side to all my opinions and that is that: Do we really want "sexy" associated overmuch with the Lolita image that already has the stigma of its very namesake? I realize that this one incident wont really cause any lasting problems or damage, but this isn't an isolated event really. So those thoughts at least pop into my head.
Then again, even after all my pessimism, I feel like, well hey, they are teeny boppers, and I think they were cute, so I can shrug it off. But I could understand why others might not.
I got excited too! Sure they don't 'follow the rules' but they're not really claiming to be lolita so I don't mind. They really look cute to me. As for the shortness of their skirts, I'm more intrigued than infuriated... how did they get them so short ouo?
ReplyDelete