Despite what some ladies might claim, no one is "born a Lolita" (no really, you did not slide out of the womb decked out in Angelic Pretty). Of course, people can have predispositions and tastes that might lead them to enjoy the lolita aesthetic more than the average person. Regardless, we all arrived there some how, whether it was through a friend, the internet, a band, a movie, et cetera.
How did I get into Lolita? In a roundabout way, vampires. And my fairy Gothmother. It goes something like this....
Once upon a time, within a black hole in the universe known as Front Royal, Virginia...
...I was an angsty, nerdy little spookykid in 7th grade looking for a place to fit in. In a small, conservative town, this is not easy to do (especially if you are a non-christian liberal). Books were my main comfort, so I spent most of my time after school at the little public library. One day, whilst I was attempting use the ancient library computer, a Goth girl appeared next to me and complimented my totally sweet dragon necklace. Several years older than I, she was the first example of a Goth I'd ever seen IRL (the overall first having been Lydia from Beetlejuice). We got to talking about books, she was reading Blood And Gold and asked if I'd heard of Anne Rice. I hadn't, so off we went to the shelves. We spent the next couple of hours together, during which she showed me not only Anne Rice, but Carmilla (one of the first published vampire stories) and several other vampire genre staples. After that day, I never ever saw her again, not once for the rest of the two years after that I remained in Front Royal. I never even got her name. But, I checked out The Vampire Lestat and I was bitten,
er, smitten.
Fueled by my new found love of the undead, I began writing short stories about a girl and a vampire, and decided to dress them in a Gothic fashion, like the strange but lovely lady I had met. This lead me to investigate not only clothing, but the whole of the subculture, including music. Though obviously not actually a Goth band, I came across Malice Mizer in the process, and was thusly introduced to Gothic Lolita. I wouldn't consider myself a Lolita for several years to come, but the idea was planted and Gothic Lolita attire featured prominently in my artwork forever after.
Old sketchbook drawings.
I slowly began building a Goth wardrobe of my own. I experimented with all sorts of looks for the first couple years (and yes, I definitely had my babybat times). But, overall, my one true love was Victorian goth, because at the heart of it, I just wanted to be some sort of eccentric vampire aristocrat. Eventually (around my Junior year of high school), I realized that I didn't just have to express that desire solely on special occasions. I could be as fancy as I wanted to everyday if it made me happy! I even made up a silly little backstory to go with my choice of dress. Basically, "what would a modern-day lady vampire nostalgic for the frills of her human youth wear? Why, Gothic Lolita of course!" I'd previously experimented a little with wearing Lolita thanks to a friend who made her own dresses, but didn't actually begin wearing it out and about until those last two years of highschool.
This dress from Retroscope Fashions (also mentioned in my
last post about mourning attire) was my first Lolita purchase.
Last year, I joined my local Lolita community, MD Grandeur, and Lolita
really took over my life! I shifted to the other end of the Goth-to-Lolita spectrum, nowadays I only occasionally wear trad-goth or Victorian goth ensembles (not that they are that disparate though) and wear Gothic Lolita almost everyday. I'm lucky enough to have a job that allows me to wear what I want and a supportive family that doesn't give me a hard time for my fashion choices.
Oh, and my love affair with Monsieur Lestat de Lioncourt is still going strong ;)
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| In front of Anne Rice's house in New Orleans, last year. |
