24-hour Cinderella of frills

Last month there was some discourse around a J-fashion influencer who "invented a new J-fashion style" named "idol kei." The original X thread is no longer public as the person has limited who can see her posts. This is because she was getting a lot of flak for claiming to start a new fashion movement based on a community she isn't a part of. Besides that, she also made up a whole bunch of rules and used images from online content creators without their consent. When she was called out for this she didn't respond all too kindly with some of the online content creators claiming that they're getting death threats from her fanbase. When I saw this thread, I wasn't all too happy reading about it and my husband certainly got to hear all about it from me. I feel that "inventing a new J-fashion style", or any style at all, just does not happen: it would be inorganic. Any style, be it fashion, architecture or art, happens because of a certain feeling, social climate or event. These things do not get born from thin air. Furthermore, one should always practice what they preach when it comes to stylistic movements.

Majima Gorō performing ２４時間シンデレラ (English: 24-hour Cinderella) from Yakuza O

One of the statements made in the X thread was that "idol kei" and Lolita fashion share a lot of similarities. Of course, reading this really grinded my gears because a lot of Lolita fashion novices try to mix idol costumes with Lolita fashion, which is just a faux pas in my book. You can definitely wear idol costumes at your leisure but just don't call it Lolita fashion: it's a culture, not a costume. However, this got me thinking on why people mistakenly call idol costumes Lolita fashion and vice versa. When the raids for Dawntrail released in Final Fantasy XIV, my friend called its second boss, Honey B. Lovely, a gothic Lolita. Naturally I was quick to correct her and explained that it unfortunately was an idol costume. As soon as she heard the boss's soundtrack she connected the dots as well. Honey B. Lovely, or AAC Light-heavyweight M2 (not as memorable or catchy) has an amazing soundtrack with satirical lyrics in which they highlight an idol's climb to fame yet it never being enough. This is because idol fans love seeing their favorite idol become better over time: it's about the (never-ending) journey, not the destination.

Honey B. Lovely from Final Fantasy XIV

Besides the full skirts, I think the girly and frilly aspect of idol costumes unfortunately blurs the line between the two. This has made it quite hard for Lolita fashion novices to browse the Chinese market for a main piece that is considered more affordable. Some of them have even started considering idol Lolita as an actual substyle. Come to think of it, it isn't all that weird since most Lolitas will redirect novices to the Lolita Handbook on LiveJournal which has more misinformation than BuzzFeed and LADBible combined. If you look at different sources that get suggested by these self-proclaimed veterans, like Japanese Fashion Wikia, you can find a list counting more than twenty substyles with each one worse than the next. And if you read through that list as a complete rookie, you might think: Well, if Easter Lolita is a substyle, then idol Lolita most certainly can. It certainly is hard to argue with that thought process, but I hope some constructive criticism and common sense (anybody can create and edit a wiki on Fandom) will help them on the way.

Alice Stella group photo

Idols and Lolitas cross each other's paths more than one might think. For instance, during Baby, the Stars Shine Bright and Alice and the Pirates' fashion shows a lot of the models walking on the runway are idols, like Rea and Umi in 2023. Some idols even model for some new dress releases like Liyuu did for Sugar Bouquet ~ Maiden's Eternal Longing ~ Princess sleeve one piece dress (what a mouth full). Last year, famous Lolita model Midori Fukasawa tried her hand at producing a idol group that only wears Lolita fashion named NEW WAVE LOLITA. This had become quite the successful endeavor since it was promoted by Metamorphose during the audition period. The group has released one song under that name, フリルのシンデレラ (English: Cinderella of Frills) which has such a dreamy sound. Since then, the group has been officially launched as Alice Stella and has released their first EP, aptly named FIRST TEA PARTY. I do hope endeavors like these keep happening so more people can learn about Lolita fashion.

Thank you, and take care.