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Today I wanted to talk about the difference between “cosplay lolita” and “themed lolita”, and how to make an outfit based on something other than the traditionally lolita-related while still maintaining the style.
First off, I’m not thrilled with the term “cosplay lolita” as a cosplayer who spends a lot of time, money, and energy making costumes well, the derogatory connotation is awkward for me. But, it’s the best term I can think of for lolita based on something non-traditional that just doesn’t come out well. So bear with me, fellow cosplayers.
A lot of the time the reason that themed lolita becomes cosplay lolita is that people just haven’t done their research and aren’t familiar with the fashion. I would suggest enough research to kill a person, coupled with some normal lolita outfits. Honestly, a year of research and participation is what I’d recommend. I think it takes that long to get settled into the community, learn the boundaries, and get used to coordinating.
There are a couple of things I think should be avoided as well, just in general they make a themed lolita outfit look a little too much like a costume. Ears or tails are probably a bad idea. They signal immediately that this person doesn’t know what they’re doing to a seasoned lolita and they’re extremely hard to pull off even for girls who’ve been in the fashion for years. Anything too revealing this means a blouse and tights or socks and knee length skirt are a good idea. The less you wear, the more it looks like a costume. Crazy colors is another something to be taken into consideration. A lot of anime characters wear some pretty ridiculous color combos, and a lot of times if someone tries to do an anime-related outfit they’ll just stick with that color scheme. If possible, go with a more traditional color scheme or at least tone it down. If your character wears purple and green, go with lavender or a sage green.
I think the easiest way to make a themed outfit look less like a costume is to not base it directly on one character and just try and make their outfit look lolita. It’s by taking elements from that thing you like (whatever it may be) and make a print or some appliqués. Granted, I have seen some amazing designs and outfits based directly on characters in the past, but I think it’s a lot easier to pull off a dress with a Pikachu on it than a full bright yellow lolita dress.
I hope this is somewhat helpful. These certainly aren’t strict guidelines or anything, just some thoughts to keep in mind if you’re interested in making something themed, especially if you haven’t been in the fashion long.
Kaitlyn said:
That gave me some ideas, and I wasn’t even sure how I wanted to cosplay (or whether I did at all) this year. Although I’m not going to try it, I’d love to see someone pull off cat ears in lolita, that would be pretty cool.
makelovely said:
I’m glad :D I would be nice if it would work, but at least to me I’ve never seen it done well. I’ve seen bunny ears looking very cute a couple of times though.
Madam Neko said:
Being a cosplayer before I was ever Lolita I know how you feel. It feels like a lot of Lolitas hate on Cosplay.
However, black and white lace monsters still make me gag, but I am a big fan of themed Lolita!
makelovely said:
I feel like it’s unintentional hate though. I think most lolitas have no problem with cosplayers and understand the work that goes into their costumes, but the phrase “cosplay lolita” caught on and now it’s kind of everywhere. Plus, I think the automatic association of “costume” with “cheap” in our society stems from terrible Halloween costumes, which doesn’t help D:
Haha oh man, me too!
caro said:
Great post! I’ve been working on one like this forever but have never gotten around to finishing it!
I think the idea of a cosplay Lolita with a cute themed print or applique is a great idea! I’d love to see a cute pale yellow dress with an awesome Pikachu applique on it rather than a neon yellow dress with a tail sticking out of it XD
makelovely said:
Thank you! It’s kind of hard to explain why some things work and some things don’t, so I’m glad to hear it worked. Haha I was totally thinking of this Pichu skirt when I was talking about that: http://nikothepanda.deviantart.com/art/My-Pichus-love-Apples-187365207?q=gallery:nikothepanda/16577982&qo=4 It’s so cute :D
Polly said:
Yeah, I’ve never understood why it’s called “cosplay lolita,” because the cosplayers don’t think it’s cosplay and the Lolitas don’t think it’s Lolita.
But I can’t think of a better name.
makelovely said:
I’m not really sure either. It’s just a term that someone used and then it got picked up by other people I guess.