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From Lolita To Gyaru: 4 trends that changed Japan’s fashion history

7 Comments
By Mariela Nikolic

Trends come and go, and that’s bound to happen. But once in a while, you’ll see those popular swings come as a flash of light, turn everything upside down, and leave deep traces in their field. Just like Coco Chanel’s mini black dress, the platform shoes in the 1970s that Spice Girls popularized again in the '0s, and Twiggy’s amazing short cut, the following four fashion trends that were born in Japan have left a deep impact on the fashion frontier.

1. Lolita 

lolita.jpg

If you’ve seen girls in Harajuku looking like they just traveled back from 18th Century France, chances are you’ve seen the Lolitas. Their dresses are similar to Marie Antoinette’s but shorter; the prints vary from tea cups to horses and even crucifixes; the colors are for the most part pastel and simple, but the decorations, bags, shoes, and hats, are always striking. They often carry stuffed animals, too — because it’s cute!

The Lolita trend’s roots go back to 1987 when the popular fashion magazine Ryuko Tsushin first linked the L name to the unique Rococo-inspired look, though it isn’t particularly known why they went for it. It was gradually popularized in the late 1990s and 2000s by various fashion brands, establishing the trend as an official fashion category in magazines and stores.

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© Savvy Tokyo

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

7 Comments
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So do they turn up for work looking like that ?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@Andy, seeing as many of them will still be in high school yes, I'd hope they are living at home.

I happened to watch a good in depth tv documentary about gyaru / yamamba a few years ago & it was interesting to see that several parents took the common sense approach that the harder they fought it the more their daughters would get into it. It was also interesting to see that the daughters of such parents also seemed the most grounded & gave answers indicating that they themselves thought they would give it up in the near future. Those who's parents actively fought with them about their fashion seemed the most determined to keep at it.

On a side note, having visited Japan in 1992 (when almost everyone had black hair) & then again in 1999 (at peak-gyaru), the juxtaposition blew my mind.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

they are typically living at home, not working and needing their parents to pay for everything.

Demonising the unemployed and the young. Good. There's not enough of that here already.

Japanese fashion is amazing. Male and female; it's one of the things that makes the big cities tolerable- seeing people of all ages enjoying themselves, whether it's cosplay, rockabilly, goth etc.

It's refreshing to see people smile and express themselves.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Blame their parents for the majority of this, as they are typically living at home, not working and needing their parents to pay for everything.

-4 ( +2 / -6 )

No

No yes no.

No

No
0 ( +1 / -1 )

If you’ve seen girls in Harajuku looking like they just traveled back from 18th Century France, chances are you’ve seen the Lolitas. Their dresses are similar to Marie Antoinette’s but shorter;

Interesting that the author connected them to 18th Century France- I've always referred to them as the Little Bo Peep Girls.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Just with a group of students offshore on an extended study tour, and it is surprising how they threw off Japanese university style for plainer less stylized (ie. for me more normal and personalized choice, not consciousness of what everyone else would be wearing) attire.

Anyway, Lolita and the gyarus may be gone or have metamorphized into oba-gyarus, but the rorikom is still alive and well all over Japan with its congalines of otaku and its capital still in Akihabara.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

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