I stumbled to my computer this morning, groggy as normal (I'm a nightowl) - but an email from reader Chelsea woke me right up. She writes: "I don't know if you have already seen this, but i thought you would share in my horror/amusement... what to expect if Lolita transitions to highstreet fashion."
Indeed I laughed. Chelsea sent me a photo of rapper Lil' Mama at the 2008 Teen Choice Awards - and yes, she's wearing a big pink bow and ruffled blouse by Japanese Sweet Lolita brand Angelic Pretty. Not surprisingly, her "mash-up" outfit has provoked strong reactions - and I'm certainly interested to hear your thoughts. Ready for mine? Hold on to your pretentious caps!
We'll start with Plato's Republic. I won't go too far into the allegory of the cave - but in brief, Plato posits that our existence consists of two parts: the uncertain, visible world (which relies on our senses and is in constant flux) and the unchanging, intelligible world (the abstract definitions that are the products of human reason).
The intelligible world houses the "Forms," or the enduring ideas of things. Take the Form of "Lolita-ness." Like h.NAOTO says, the style has multiple vague subcategories - but the idea of a Lolita itself never changes. If I say the L-word, you'll probably picture Mana in rocking-horse shoes, white ruffle knee socks, a black bell-skirted dress over a ruffled white blouse, and hair in two piles on the head, topped by a big bow or little hat or mini-crown.
But we live in a physical world of ever-changing manifestations: just look at the Gothlolis of the Week who inject individual flair into their Lolita-ness. And so, we have people wearing Angelic Pretty who aren’t Japanese, who do guro and wa variations… and we have Lil’ Mama.
Some people think that if one wears Lolita clothing, one must strive to replicate the Form as closely as possible. In the most extreme quarters, any look that deviates from the so-called ideal is instantly trashed. My own view is to recognize and respect the Form, but judge the deviation on its own merits. Shouldn't fashion be about fun personal expression, rather than rules and codes? Consider the words of The Fashion Ramone:
"The world of fashion, which for being about people who likes showing off their superficiality and hedonism via clothes always serves as a calculator of liberty in any city, is lamentably the fucking community of passive consumers par excellence from Tokyo. The distinct groups like Gothic Lolitas, Ganguro, Gyaru, Kawaii and other homogeneous the only thing they do is repeating theirselves, and perhaps they dont even need to buy more clothes already. The properly called fashionistas, are just the same bullshit: or they are mere copy of the magazines, or they are fucking layers and layers of expensive clothes."
I’m all about painting my teeth black and wearing a Rococo sailboat on my head. Yes, these looks are ridiculous and don't always resemble the Goth Loli Form - but how about judging them instead on whether they're interesting to the eye?
Which brings us back to Lil’ Mama. I don't think her first look works - not because I’m holding her up against the Angelic Pretty models, but because of the lank hair, unimpressive makeup, clashing nailpolish... her jeans and visible pink bra don't help matters either.
This isn't the first time Lil' Mama wore Angelic Pretty on the red carpet; she wore a Fruits Basket apron as as dress to the BET Awards (above). You can pooh-pooh her sneakers, sports bra, and hoop earrings as violations of the Form - but I think she pulls off a fun look. The rapper isn't trying to imitate the Sweet Lolita Form (as epitomized in the upper right photo). Rather, she's infusing her hip hop attitude into a piece of clothing - and I bet she's having a good laugh in the meantime. You can say Lil' Mama looks ridiculous – she does – but is she any goofier than the ideal “golly-gee” model in pink hair?
I'm certainly awake now, and looking forward to your reactions. Hope you're all having a fun weekend!
