A Mirror to Our World

Whilst Spooky Season haunts all around us, the Bibliotheca bloggers have agreed on a less scary theme for now (or maybe potentially a more scary one once you read this post) and that is mirror. And boy, am I excited to ramble on about how fashion is a mirror to our society and collective state of mind!

Photo by Artem Saranin on Pexels.com.

Watch most fashion history video essays on YouTube and you will soon learn that fashion trends hold a mirror to our societies and reflect back what’s happening at a bigger scale. The shortening of the hemlines and the more extravagant looks of the 1920s (and to an extent the 1960s) were a coping mechanism in times of relative turmoil, as well as a display of the gradually growing freedoms granted to women. The minimalist trends of the 1930s and the 1990s came as direct responses to the extravagances of the previous decades, but also a result of the financial crises that affected the decades. And those are only the most obvious examples (that don’t touch on the pandemic).

Lolita fashion is the same. Of course, it emerged as a rebellion against societal expectations placed on women in Japan, but this goes further than that. Maybe especially because of lolita fashion being relatively insular and so much smaller in scale compared to mainstream trends, our responses to external factors can sometimes feel more punchy. From where I stand, they also appear to last a little bit longer because with the predefined silhouette, upholding quality, and the collector’s mentality it is less susceptible to fast-paced changes and microtrends like we see on the high street and on social media.

So what have we seen/are we seeing? And what is lolita fashion telling us about ourselves now? 

The two main centres of focus that I am seeing across the English-speaking lolita fashion communities are the continuing popularity of oldschool and the rise in popularity of Atelier Pierrot’s style gothic. Not to say that other things aren’t happening, I don’t think that sweet lolita will ever die, plus my view may be skewed somewhat by my own feelings of standing out (forever not fitting in with the crowd uwu), but these two seem to be reflected the most right now and be the strongest mirrors to the wider world.

Oldschool

Oldschool seems to be the easier one to explain. As a style, it harkens back to the simpler times, when  good quality fabric and lace meant more than a fancy print, while styling was both less involved and often more experimental. This was the lolita that people could see themselves wearing every day: comfortable, versatile, but still elegant and dressy by mainstream fashion standards.

Meanwhile, not once have we left turbulent times since entering the new decade. Pandemic, global conflicts, constant battle against the rising far-right, fighting for more than just the bare basic human rights – that takes an emotional toll on a person. And when we’re emotionally wiped out, we crave comfort. Oldschool lolita is one of the most comfortable things out there, not least because of the plentiful shirring. The simpler styling and often smaller silhouettes are both physically more comfortable (three accessories vs thirty makes a difference) and emotionally comfortable (easier to tuck yourself in when in a busier public space).

The nostalgia of Gothic & Lolita Bible scans confirms how much of an inspiration those simpler looks are right now.
Picture from Pinterest.

In a way that’s not entirely removed from the mainstream, oldschool lolita also seems to have more of an appeal with the younger generations who are currently in a Y2K phase and, to my view, Gen Z seem particularly fond of making things that are considered simply ugly (bucket hats and crocs, to name a few) cool and trendy. The frumpy quality of oldschool lolita fits into that aesthetic window of something that’s nostalgic for the 2000s, but also unpolished and mismatched, and therefore ‘ugly’ in comparison to the highly polished later iterations of the fashion. Young people are already dealing with countless rules placed upon them, from as strict as rules to as fluid as how to be an ethical person in a capitalist world – to them the more loose notions on what makes a coord good or balanced in oldschool vs say the 2012-style of sweet is probably just as freeing as the advent of lolita was to its earliest wearers. Plus, upcycling old curtains and vintage lace, which so current oldschool indie brands are doing, fits great with the environmental messages within the fashion industry, so it’s even easier to tell yourself that you’re being good when wearing that. 

In other words, what the continuing high popularity of this style is telling us is that there has still not been any time of actual rest from the tumultuous start to the decade that we’ve had. The craving for comfort and simplicity is a natural response to the current world state, and between practicality, physical ease, and a less fussy look oldschool lolita is a very appealing option to many, whether they have started in the fashion recently or been in it for years already.

Atelier Pierrot goth

The other way that people cope with troubled times is through escapism. The peak of the pandemic brought with it the now infamous sweet boom because staying at home made dressing in OTT Sweet so much easier. However, between it attracting more attention when out and about, and some of that pandemic popularity naturally dying down (let’s face it, it was easier to have a niche, visually striking special interest with nothing else going on), room was made for a gothic version.

This is where Atelier Pierrot swept in. They really ticked all the boxes: investing in bigger sizes; actively engaging with the Western market; tapping into the fact that goth is somewhat recognisable to and semi-interchangeable with the mainstream – and no least of all, the long-standing lolita wearers who just are not into sweet. Our community is growing older, the 30-somethings are a big group and they have often been at it for a decade or so. They are more likely to want something that can be dressed up and down that is more elegant rather than frumpy – and Atelier Pierrot provides that. Often with just as much comfort given the size range, their own favour of full shirring, and the more recent foray into natural fibres alongside their usual synthetic ones. Despite the steady influx of younger people joining the fashion, many of whom do start out with gothic lolita, the community remains that because of those long-standing members in their 30s and older who frequently have the means to purchase quality items and who therefore will spend more on something with robust quality control that won’t look like a long-forgotten trend in ten years’ time.

Atelier Pierrot staff coordinates. Whilst multi-brand, you can see how all of these looks immediately appear more wearable and versatile for long-term wardrobe building.
Photo from X.

Moreover, Atelier Pierrot understood the assignment from the mainstream market: that marketing is key. As hard as it is on many independent creators, the success of a brand or a product these days is often less about the product itself and more about the parasocial relationship with the creator or brand. Just go to your nearest book shop and see how many new releases are ‘TikTok sensations’ or something like that. Even when the original creators have long been able to stop creating social media content themselves, the parasociality continues by virtue of their stuff being so big that communities of fans have formed themselves and are carrying on the marketing through sheer size affecting algorithms. Through Connie, Atelier Pierrot not only broke through the metaphorical fourth wall of a Japanese brand directly reaching out to the Western market with live streams, personal shopping streams, and English language shopping opportunities, but also tapped into the potential of meme marketing. Their English Instagram account is excellently balanced between product advertising, aspirational capsule collages, and memes that tap into current things in the world (such as Moo Deng) and humorous observations on the shopping habits of its customer base (porbl). And if my own penchant for wanting dumb stuff because it amuses me is a measure of anything, then the Western community had no chance against the excellent meme game on Atelier Pierrot’s social media, falling right into their trap.

So whether through a darker escapist way of coping with the state of the world, by falling into the trap of modern day marketing, or simply through wanting to throw money at versatile pieces of good quality, the Atelier Pierrot chokehold on the Western community right now is a great reflection of how our community has evolved into its current form that seems to be a bit darker overall than even 2-3 years ago at the height of the sweet boom.

As I said before, this is not a definitive take on either lolita fashion or how it’s a reflection of our world and community. I don’t mean this post to be a history lesson, which is why I skipped previous decades – though if there is appetite for that, let me know and I’ll see if I have any more Big Thoughts left for that. And this is certainly not exhaustive in terms of what kinds of lolita fashion are popular right now. Even opening your social media of choice will show that sweet lolita continues to fare well, both in its OTT and more regular forms, and for the sake of brevity I refrained from splitting the post into further regional differences (of which there are certainly plenty, even as small as between cities, let alone between countries or continents).

That being said, oldschool lolita and Atelier Pierrot’s flavour of gothic certainly seem to have the most influence right now from where I’m looking, whether that’s at meetups or online. And I can’t help but notice how the rise in their popularity is not an isolated incident, but rather a perfect storm of factors outside of mere personal preferences and brands’ design choices. What we see people wear, and to an extent design to sell, tells us so much about the state of our fashion community and the world at large – it only takes looking just that little bit closer to see it.