Lolita is not cosplay. Again, one more time with a louder voice, Lolita is not cosplay!

Too often Japanese street brands are confused for cosplay because they are so eccentric and different compared to average fashion. However, of course, they are very different! Lolita coordinates are not based on a character design that someone is replicating, but instead are following trends, rules, and guidelines set out by this fashion style. Lolita fashion began in Japan as a style of clothing based on Victorian and Rococo fashions in Europe. Most of the time, it features a dress or skirt, but sometimes has long jackets, pants, or shorts for a more masculine look.

Lolita is a very elaborate and modest fashion, where most of the skin is covered by high socks and high collars. It has many different sub-styles that are all classified as Lolita and have the same basic things in common (the shape of the silhouette, the modesty, the use of many accessories, an overall doll-like aesthetic, et cetera) but are all very different in how they use the basic guidelines. The two most popular shakes are gothic and sweet, but there's also classic, country, aristocrat, pirate, and more! While most often worn by girls, Lolita is not limited to women. Some men also enjoy wearing Lolita fashion, whether wearing a boy-style outfit with pants or wearing a dress as well. As long as men are following the same guidelines that women follow, they are still wearing Lolita fashion!

Of course, the intricacies and world of Lolita are much more complicated than this, and as with any fashion, the trends are always moving and changing. Different brands will always take different approaches, and the style has spread from Harajuku and into the rest of the world which also means change! But the basics remain the same - petticoats, headpieces, shaped bags, elaborate prints and details, and beautiful end results.

Gothic Lolita is probably the most traditional style of Lolita. As you can probably guess, it heavily features black as the main colour, though white and other dark colours like red or purple can also be accents. Typical motifs in gothic Lolita style are crosses, castles, bats, coffins, or other macabre designs. Gothic Lolitas often carry black designed parasols as well and use a mature, minimalist makeup style. It's similar to any gothic style of fashion of course with a lot of the same elements while following the specific details that make it Lolita.

Gothic Lolita is also one of the most popular styles of Lolita to be seen in anime. Some popular characters that wear fashion based on gothic Lolita are Misa Amane from Death Note, Celestia Ludenberck Danganranpa: Kibou no Gakuen to Zetsubou no Koukousei The Animation, and Cyan Hirijikawa from Show by Rock, just to name a few. And of course, our highlighted example - Suigintou from Rozen Maiden!

Rozen Maiden begins with Jun Sakurada, a boy that stays home all the time ordering things online and only using them until the free trial ends. When he accidentally accepts a parcel with a wind-up doll inside, his life is forever changed. She begins to act like a real person, and reveals she is part of the Rozen Maiden doll collection! She had to fight the other dolls in the Alice Game to become a real girl and be able to meet the person that created her. And the real kicker is that she needs a human to help her - and she has Jun! But this first doll won't be the last one to show up at Jun's house...

Suigintou is one of the dolls competing in the Alice Game, and as the first one in the series of dolls, she is the most determined to win the game due to her obsession with meeting Rozen, their creator. Her design is based on a very classic gothic Lolita style. She has a long, A-line black and white dress with crosses on it, long sleeves, and a high collar. She even wears one of the most traditional Lolita headpieces, a laced band ties across her head (somewhat similar to what a maid traditionally wears in her hair). Her gothic Lolita aesthetic adds to her characterisation by making her doll-like and cute, but dark and dangerous. Her personality is spiteful and brutal, and she will do anything to win the Alice Game, and her dark attire adds to highlighting that part of her personality. The character designer's choice to base Suigintou's style on gothic Lolita was a very intentional one.

For an added bonus, see how many other Lolita-inspired girls you can find in Rozen Maiden because Suigintou isn’t the only one!

As the name suggests, sweet Lolita is a cuter, sweeter style than gothic Lolita. It usually consists of brighter colours, with everything from pastel pinks to mint greens to baby blues and more. Typical motifs for sweet Lolita are candy and other sweet foods, animals, fruit, and toys. Makeup is usually done in a fun way, perhaps with an extra pink blush on the cheeks or gems and stickers around the eyes. Some people feel that sweet Lolita is the most childish style of all Lolita styles because the wearer often looks like a children's doll and many of the prints and accessories feature things that kids like.

Sweet Lolita is less common in anime than gothic but it's definitely still out there if you want to see it featured! Like most Lolita in anime, it's rarely completely accurate and creative licensing of course comes into play when designing the characters. One example though is Victorique de Blois from Gosick, and another our next featured Lolita-esque girl - Marry Kozakura from Mekakucity Actors!

Mekakucity Actors also begins with a young shut-in boy named Shun Kisaragi. He hasn't left his house in two years, but when he accidentally spills soda on his keyboard, he has to leave to buy a new one! As much as he hates going outside, not having a computer is even worse. Shun runs into some really awful luck though when the department store he visits is suddenly attacked and he finds himself a hostage! Luckily, a group of mysterious young people who have strange powers are able to save him, and he finds himself drafted into their group called the Blindfold Gang.

Our sweet Lolita example is a member of the Blindfold Gang named Marry Kozakura. Her design includes an Alice in Wonderland inspired light blue dress with white apron, with a Lolita silhouette, long sleeves, and high collar. Marry's hair is long and she leaves it down, accessorised with a simple ribbon tied across the top, also Lolita inspired. Her character is a quiet one who doesn't speak much and typically follows her friends who protect her, and she spends her free time making flowers in her room. Her sweet Lolita inspired outfit adds to her innocent and child-like quality and helps perpetuate those parts of her character. Because she isn't entirely human, Marry has not aged in a traditional way, and her fashion also helps her to look younger than she is. Marry's sweet Lolita design adds a lot to her character by helping make the first impression of her before she even talks as being soft, feminine, and shy.