Wednesday, August 12, 2009 at 11:19AM By: Cynthia Anderson San Francisco goes gothic lolita
Baby the Stars Shine Bright/Image Courtesy of New PeopleFrom the Comme des Garcons' Fall 2008 collection for H&M to images in Women’s Wear Daily this past Spring, Gothic Lolita (or Lolita) has been showing up as a major style influence around the globe for months, and is set to make it’s mark on the San Francisco scene this weekend with the opening of the New People Building in Japantown.
The building which will be unveiled as part of the JPOP Summit 2009, will be home to several of the world’s premiere Gothic Lolita brands, including Baby the Stars Shine Bright, and Black Peace Now. These previously unavailable in San Francisco brands are expected to attract hundreds of lolita-coiffed shoppers to Japantown over the weekend, turning the event into a real life fashion show not to be missed.
So what is Lolita?
Although obviously borrowing it's name from the Nabokov novel, Lolita as a style is not overtly sexy. In fact according to Lolita Fashion.org:
"The term "Lolita" may be off-putting to those who first hear about the fashion because of the connotation it holds from Vladimir Nabokov's novel, 'Lolita', which changed the meaning of the name for most people in the Western world. It is generally assumed though that the name of the fashion comes from a distortion of the meaning while word-borrowing from English. In the case of the fashion the term 'Lolita' only refers to the child-like nature of some of the clothes and is also used because of the beauty or cuteness of the name. Lolita Fashion is emphatically not about looking sexy and is instead about looking cute or elegant."
instore display at Black Peace Now/Image via New PeopleLolita also has little in common with the smeared make-up and sloppy Marilyn Manson concert tees so often associated with the word "goth" in the American mainstream media. Instead, this creatively expressive look which is said to be inspired primarily by fashion of the Victorian and Rococo periods, is carefully crafted by the wearer and includes several key elements such as a hat or headpiece, a bell shape skirt, pantaloons, tights (striped or solid) and shoes (often mary janes or lace-up).
While full-Lolita might be a bit much for the casual fashion fan, one has to admit that elements of this sweetly quirky look can breathe a breath of fresh air into an otherwise boring wardrobe; and with the opening of Baby the Stars Shine Bright and Black Peace Now in San Francisco, we look forward to seeing local Lolitas showing off their finery on the streets around the bay.
Black Peace Now/Image courtesy of New PeopleFor more images from Baby the Stars Shine Bright and Black Peace Now visit the Style Wylde Galleries
A detailed list of events for the JPOP Summit 2009 can be found at the Japantown Center homepage and the New People official site.
Reader Comments (10)
Great article!
I can't wait for the BTSSB and Black Peace Now opening.
It's nice to finally see a well-informed article about lolita on the internet.
Wonderful article! I especially enjoyed seeing the photos from Black Peace Now and Baby the Stars Shine Bright! It makes me wish I lived in San Francisco so bad! I live in Arkansas and theres practically no lolita scene (except me) at all, let alone any stores opening up!
Great article. If only I was in the US to visit the store opening! As a Lolita myself, I really appreciate an accurately informed article such as this!
this is probably the best article i've read about lolita! i hope other people will write about us like this...T^T
Finally, a well written article on Lolita. Thank you very much.
It's so nice to finally see a well written article about Lolita.
Now if only I didn't live on the east coast...
I agree with what others have said! Thank you for writing an accurate, informed, well written article on lolita. It's very encouraging to see. Thank you!!
This is a fantastic article! I am very impressed with it! Hopefully this will get more press and more will understand our style in a positive light!
Very nice article! It's difficult to find articles about lolita that are --accurate-- but you nailed it on the head here. Great job!!
Nice post - enjoyed it!