Around this time in last year, I wrote a blog post about “oldschool” and the perceptions of “early lolita'' within sections of the community. The hunger for history and nostalgic aesthetics seems to have only advanced since, as I’ve noticed a significant increase in demand for dresses and accessories that embody the stereotypical “oldschool” look.
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| Photoshoot for the Nostalgia Collection by Summer Tales Boutique, featuring model Rosalynn (@lolitawonderland on Instagram). Taken from the Summer Tales Boutique webshop. |
But what is this look, and how should it be achieved? Oldschool seems to mean different things to different people. Many associate it with solid pieces with stark, relatively simple colour palettes; although floral and patterned fabrics, like tartans and gobelin, are equally popular. The designs of the dresses themselves are usually considered simpler and “more wearable” than modern lolita, perhaps reflecting the notion that the fashion was more “authentic” in its early years. Some believe that only pieces produced within a certain period of time (usually from the 1990s to early 2000s) can be counted as "true" oldschool, though I personally think overall design is more important than the age of the garment (please read my previous post on the subject if you want to know why!).
To contribute to these debates, I will be exploring some common perceptions about oldschool and early lolita, and comparing them to photographs and streetsnaps we have from the early to mid 2000s. This is not to argue that any particular definition of oldschool or lolita history is wrong, but rather to push the boundaries of the substyle, and challenge what we consider “authentic” in current lolita fashion. So, whether you agree or disagree with me on what oldschool is (or isn’t), I hope we can enjoy finding inspiration from these images, and what they can tell us about our fashion and our community – past, present, and future.
Oldschool and OTT
“Simple” and “wearable” are words that often come up when people describe oldschool as a substyle to lolitas today. In a lot of ways, this is true – compared to releases made within the last 10 to 15 years, older releases generally have simpler colour palettes, fewer prints, less voluminous skirts, and more streamlined silhouettes. Though other decorative elements, such as unique ribbons, piping, pintucks, and lace, would be used to add interest to a piece, the bold prints and over-the-top designs that defined other periods of lolita fashion were simply not as common. The terms “OTT” and “oldschool” are rarely used in the same sentence, and indeed, for many lolitas, that is a part of the substyle’s appeal. I count myself within that category – as someone who wears lolita almost every time I leave the house, I feel that the relative simplicity of a lot of older dresses makes them more versatile and easy to coordinate. They also don’t draw as much attention as many of my later pieces, which saves a lot of time and questioning from neighbours during my trips to the supermarket.
Recently, however, I have been enamoured with what I call “oldschool OTT”: outfits both from and inspired by early lolita which are just as outlandish and over-the-top as any modern iteration. My obsession began when I saw a Baby, the Stars Shine Bright advertisement in GLB02 featuring the Gingham Check Doll OP – a beautiful, princess-sleeved dress with enough lace, ribbons, and embroidery to be considered OTT by any standard. Complete with a miniature straw hat, lacey knee-high socks, more ribbons, and even a matching doll, it seemed totally opposite to the idea of the stereotypical image of the simple, casual, oldschool coordinate. GLB06 featured an ad from Angelic Pretty that had a similarly extravagant outfit, the model dressed as a Christmas princess in her red-and-white cape, dress, teddy bear, and crown.
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| (Left) Advertisement for Baby, the Stars Shine Bright in GLB04 / (Right) Advertisement for Angelic Pretty in GLB06 Images Courtesy of Lolita History |
Looking at street snaps from magazines of the same era, it is clear that looks like these were not limited to professional photoshoots and advertisements. In GLB16, we see a lolita wearing a skirt with bold, contrasting diamond patterns, complete with platforms, a mini hat, and mismatched socks. Another snap from GLB12 features a lolita wearing wings and a halo to complement their angelic shiro coordinate. Kera 66 includes a snap of a lolita wearing a coordinate almost identical to the Angelic Pretty ad mentioned above, complete with crown and fur-trimmed cape. These are just a few examples, flick through any number of street fashion publications and you’re likely to spot more.
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| (Left) Streetsnap from GLB16 / (Middle) Streetsnap from GLB12 / (Right) Streetsnap from Kera 66 Images courtesy of Lolita History |
Of course, I’m not claiming that all lolitas in the early 2000s wore coordinates like this. Just like today, these types of elaborate, over-the-top outfits were probably the exception rather than the norm, and more casual, simple, pieces would have been used more frequently for day-to-day dress. Still, I can’t help but admire and be inspired by the creativity behind some of these coordinates, and think about how they both do and do not fit the modern perception of “oldschool” lolita. If nothing else, they show how an appreciation for opulence, frivolity, and extravagance has always been at the heart of this fashion, uniting lolitas of today with those who came before.
The great cotton/polyester debate
In the past few years, there’s been a lot of discontent over the use (or overuse) of polyester and other synthetic materials by major lolita brands. This is especially true of Angelic Pretty, coming to a head with the re-release of their iconic Honey Cake print, which, in addition to being made of polyester instead of cotton, also had significant issues with fit, sizing, and construction. The poor quality of some of these recent releases, combined with polyester’s notorious lack of breathability and penchant for causing discomfort among those with sensory issues, has contributed to the impression that anything made of polyester is inherently bad. This, in turn, plays into the idea that older cotton dresses represent a purer or more authentic time in lolita fashion, when the quality and comfort of the garment was put before all else. As a result, cotton is often seen as a key feature within the oldschool aesthetic, and is often cited as one of the key differences between older and current lolita styles.
But while it is true that brands did utilise cotton more frequently in the early years of lolita — when the material would have been cheaper and more readily available, especially in Japan — that doesn’t mean that synthetic materials were avoided entirely. This is especially true among gothic and punk brands, such as Atelier Boz and Moi-Meme-Moitie, which frequently used translucent poly-chiffons to create dramatic layers, as well as synthetic shantung for that silk-like sheen.
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| (Left) Shantung Hesse OP by Atelier Boz, released 2002 / (Right) Iron Gate JSK by Moi-meme-Moitie, released 2006 Images from Lolibrary |
Furthermore, while cotton was certainly the workhorse fabric among many more sweet- or classic-oriented lolita brands in the early 2000s, this did not mean that there was no branching out or experimenting with other materials. Metamorphose experimented with synthetic shantungs, polyester georgettes, and various forms of denim all throughout this period; while Baby, the Stars Shine Bright released a number of velour dresses, cutsews, and boleros from the 2000s to the early 2010s.
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| (Left) Pleats OP by Metamorphose temps de Filles, released 2004 / (Right) Velour OP by Baby, the Stars Shine Bright, released 2001 Images from Lolibrary. |
If there seems to be a major shift between the prevalence of cotton in the “oldschool” era as opposed to the range of synthetics and organic materials we see in lolita today, I personally think that has is less to with waning commitment to customer comfort and quality, and more to do with changing tastes, consumer demographics, and wider economic circumstances. The rise of elaborate printed designs from 2008 onwards is an obvious factor — prints on cotton are prone to bleeding and fading over time, as anyone who owned the original Sugar Carnival release would be able to attest to. Lolitas as a whole are also ageing, and polyester generally requires less maintenance, storage, and living space than cotton. The economic circumstances are more complex, but cotton production in Japan has also been on decline since at least the mid-2000s, an issue that affects not only the type of fabrics favoured by lolita brands, but also their methods and locations of manufacturing.
To print or not to print?
Oldschool is commonly associated with either solid colours or relatively simple patterns, namely floral or tartan print. Certainly, the elaborate, custom-designed border prints that lolita is so known for today were not as popular in the early 2000s as they were in the latter half of the decade, when Angelic Pretty’s brilliant pastels took the fashion by storm.
Border print dresses did exist, however, if in a slightly different form from what we know today. They were generally less complex, with the prints themselves being largely uniform in colour, reflecting the more simple colourways and combinations that lolita was associated with at the time. There also tended to be more blank space within the print, which focused on objects or patterns that followed a particular theme, rather than the creation of a narrative landscape. I’ve found that screen printing was used more often in older designs For cutsews and boleros as well, though this is largely based on my own collection and anecdotal evidence, rather than hard data.
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| (Left) Double Cross Shantung Skirt by Victorian Maiden, released 2001 / (Middle) Music Note JSK by Angelic Pretty, released 2003 / (Right) Carousel Horse Print JSK by Metamorphose temps de Fille, released 2004 Images from Lolibrary |
But there are exceptions to this rule. In 2004, Baby the Stars Shine Bright released the original Snow White JSK, which featured a complex fairy tale similar to those we see in Baby’s modern releases. Even before that, custom border prints featuring a range of brilliant, bold colours were being produced by brands such as Jane Marple, Shirley Temple, and Emily Temple Cute. If you like sweet prints in particular, I highly recommend reading this post from the incomparable Raine Dragon, which explores the expansion of parfait prints from the 1990s to the present day.
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| (Left) Snow White JSK by Baby, the Stars Shine Bright, released 2004 / (Middle) '02 Autumn Matryoshka Print JSK by Jane Marple, released 2002 / (Left) Mermaid Print Skirt by Emily Temple Cute, released 2002. Images from Lolibary |
Conclusion
All of this is to say that while modern interpretations of oldschool seem to enforce the idea of a great dividing line in lolita history and design, the reality is not quite so cut and dry. Lolita brands have always experimented with a wide range of materials, themes, and patterns. So while I don’t question the fact that there are many differences between the “look” of lolita today compared to the early years of the fashion, I do question is the degree of romanticism with which many lolitas (especially in the West) view the era of “oldschool” and the people who wore it – even to the extent of demeaning lolitas of today.
Of course, I wasn’t in Harajuku in 2004. I was not part of that community, I don’t even have the language skills to read the letters and posts they left for future generations to find. But based on the sources that I have been able to analyse — the records of releases on Lolibrary, archived brand websites and old blogs, not to mention the hundreds of photographs in magazines like Kera and GLB featuring lolitas both in and out of Japan at this time, it seems to me that lolita brands and the people who loved them really weren’t that different from how we are today. And that, I think, makes me feel much more connected with lolitas of the past than simply wearing an older dress.
Whilst I too have not been part of the fashion at the time that we would now consider to be the oldschool era, from what I've observed the ones doing the romanticising tend to be the ones who, well, haven't been around in the fashion at that time themselves. Those in our communities who remember the early LiveJournal days and have been interested in the fashion since the late 90s/early 00s usually remember the variety of looks that were seen at the time, both from the few scans available from Japanese magazines and from what the English-speaking lolitas were sharing online. My impression, as someone who doesn't wear that sort of look, is that the majority of its new wearers only do a surface level research into it, which leads to holding that most common oldschool lolita look as the one and only instead of looking to acknowledge and admire how much was already done with it at the time when choices were more limited than now. On the other hand, I've also noticed a fair few lolitas who have been around for a while or who do like oldschool lolita who have become a bit too prescriptive about what is and isn't oldschool (particularly with styling like makeup or accessorising). I get that this boils down to the same thing as most of our other 'outside the box' gripes, i.e. people would prefer if those looks weren't called or tagged as 'lolita' or 'oldschool lolita' - but it can also get a bit too 'only this way is the right way' sometimes. In other words, like you said, we've always had a variety of looks around us, those who find themselves drawn to one look over others will hopefully look into it more and learn for themselves what else is possible within that.
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