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.