The Difference Between Cosplay Lolita and Lolita Fashion

You've all heard it before, but whether or not you know what it is is the big question...

Cosplay Lolita! What is it?

Well from my understanding and from my own opinion, there are two categories of Cosplay Lolita. One for the Lolita which is not quite right in some ways and convention only appropriate, and someone cosplaying a Lolita character from an anime.

As everyone who is a Lolita should know already, Lolita Fashion is not a cosplay. So why is there such a thing called Cosplay Lolita? The point of this article is to point out the major differences between a Cosplay Lolita and  a partaker of the Fashion, and to bridge the understanding of why Lolita Fashion is not Cosplay and in fact a fashion.

Not Quite Right

Animal ears- Sometimes it can look alright....many other times not so much. When combining animal ears into Lolita Fashion there are ways to make it work, and it definitely can. Although this is extremely hard and should only be a challenge for the experienced Lolita. The ways in which they don't work is what makes it stand out. When combining animal ears you can easily make it work by having a bunny hoodie, or matching it up somehow with the colour scheme or print on you dress, not just randomly shoving a pair of cat ears on your head. Wearing a random pair of cat ears and a tail is all right for conventions and a bit of fun, but this then makes your outfit fall under the category of Cosplay Lolita, and not Lolita Fashion.

An extremely cute outfit. There is nothing wrong with how she is dressed,
 but this is convention appropriate only. What she is wearing is not Lolita
 Fashion but  Cosplay Lolita, this is because of the cat ears and the lack
of a blouse and many other contributing factors.

The Young Lolita- Dealing With Difficult Parents

I have touched upon the topic of self esteem and dealing with society's reactions, yet I believe learning to deal with parents reactions can be just as daunting. For a young Lolita, the only things getting in your way may be money concerns and parents....

I get mixed emotions from my parents no matter what outfit I am wearing. Sometimes they hate my fashion, sometimes they love it. Although this can be the same with any outfit, and any fashion that anyone wears. 

Whether you are trying to work up the courage to show off your first coordination, or you just need the courage to be able to get past the fear of what your parents may think, there are many different things you can do to help.

Research- This is one thing, I regret to inform you, I did not do. Before you purchase your first coordination, research as much as you possibly can, ask for advice online from other Lolita's and learn exactly what the fashion is as a whole. As you research you can show your mum or your dad some of the things you find. Find pictures of 'actual' people, and definitely not anime characters. Although some people get into Lolita Fashion through anime, the two have nothing to do with one another. Showing your parents pictures of anime characters will get them to believe that the fashion is cosplay, or something real people don't wear.

As you go through this process of research, show your parent or guardian that this is something you like. Point out that dress you see online, tell them you think it's cute. Point out that girl on Tumblr and say how you like what she wears. Just show them as much of the fashion as you can, and get them warmed up to the idea that this is something that you like.

Don't lie- After hinting at the fashion for a while and telling them how cute you think it is, you may want to embrace the first step of buying or eventually wearing your garments. I can't stress how important this point is, don't lie to your parents. If they are confused and don't understand something, do your best to explain it even if they don't understand or believe you at first. Don't say Lolita is cosplay just to get them to buy you something, as they will forever believe it. Don't sneak behind their backs and buy items they don't want you buying, or getting your friends to buy things for you. Even if your parents don't understand Lolita, being deceitful or lying  to them is just going to make them ban it from you all together, or hate the fashion even more. 

Budget- Some things parents hate about Lolita Fashion is the price. If brand is your thing, a parent may not understand that or want to buy these things for you. No way is any parent going to buy, or even see a reasonable reason for you buying that $800 dress. Start out with off brand for your first coordinate if you can, and show them this is something you love. Wear your off brand coordinate as much as you can and work your way up to the more expensive things gradually.

If you are old enough to get a job, then I highly recommend you do so. If you show your parents this is something you will work hard towards to obtain yourself, you are showing them you are responsible. If you are not old enough to get a job there are other ways you can still get the things you want. Collect birthday and Christmas money, do odd jobs around the house, ask to baby sit a younger sibling or relative etc. Even if you can't earn much, work hard at it to achieve what you want.

Be gradual- If you aren't a very feminine girl then of course your parents won't want you to buy that Sweet Lolita dress, or see any point in you wearing something at all feminine, elegant or cute. If you are always wearing band t-shits and skinny jeans for example, your parent may just groan and see this as a phase you will grow out of, and a total waste of time and money to buy these clothes.

Although it may seem like a pain, the best idea is to gradually introduce more feminine or Lolita like outfits into your wardrobe. And even if you do own Lolita already, start wearing dressier clothes when going out with mum just to prove that you can be girly when you want to. Show your parent of guardian this is something you love, and you will do whatever it takes to get it. 

Unfortunately though no amount of advice I can give will entirely change a parents mind. Some people get lucky and have parents that love Lolita Fashion for various reasons, others have parents who don't care what they do, and some have parents who hate and despise Lolita Fashion to no end. Unfortunately we can not change a parents opinion sometimes, and while we live under their roof we have no choice but to abide by their rules.

Beach Lolita

Well I have already written a blog post on wearing Lolita in the summertime...but what about the beach? Obviously Lolita Fashion is just not practical for the beach, you can't have your pretty petticoats and your nice shoes ruined with sand and sea water. Yet you don't want to wear plain boring clothes just to go to the beach. Although you can still wear cute clothes, and Lolita look-a-like outfits to the beach, just not actual Lolita. Ditch the petticoat, and go for something practical.

The know how of Casual Lolita

As amazing as Over The Top (OTT) Lolita Fashion is let's face
it, it's just not practical for everyday wear. An over the top Lolita outfit will not only make you stand out and look a little crazy, but will be very impracticable in your everyday life. Although...why should you have to get rid of your frills for everyday life? You should wear what you feel happy and comfortable with shouldn't you? Even the over the top lifestyle Lolita will have an occasion or an event where dressing down is required. So here's the simple do's and don't's of dressing down your frills.

Cardigans, cut-sews and t-shirts

Casual Lolita still retains the basic elements of Lolita Fashion, yet is a more toned down version of the style. Casual Lolita is best described as what a Lolita will wear when 'not dressing up'. So don't forget to keep the key ingredients of a Lolita outfit in mind when creating a coordination.

A great casual Lolita outfit can be made with any colour or Lolita sub-style, as long as you remember to match colours, prints etc...like you normally would with any Lolita outfit.  

To keep things toned down for everyday life and for comfort, there are many options. Many brands sell simple cut-sews for this purpose. A cut-sew will be more comfortable than a blouse paired with a skirt, and will have a more causal toned down look. There are many affordable cut-sews out there for the daily Lolita, with Bodyline cut-sews being a great option, and affordable second hand pieces can be acquired from EGL sales and even Closet Child from time to time.

Amazing Lolita Documentaries

Well I wanted to just compose a small post today on what I believe to be amazing Lolita documentaries. These documentaries will not only help those new to the style and learning about its roots but help everyone learn the sense and feeling of community and what Lolita means to individuals around the world. Some of these documentaries I found to actually be rather inspiring.

Halloween for a Lolita

Well everyone knows that Halloween is just around the corner, so I thought I'd write a post on Guro Lolita for you all. Fist of all, what is Guro Lolita?

Although Lolita is not cosplay Guro Lolita is a more 'costume' type look from the standard Lolita. The idea is to imitate a broken doll, and just like the name implies Guro means gory. The style can be pulled off with any colour, but white covered in fake blood is usually the easiest to pull off and the most often seen. A Guro Lolita outfit can be as simple as wearing a Gothic Lolita co-ord with an eye patch or as complex as splattering your entire outfit in fake blood.

How do you go about creating a Guro Lolita co-ord?- Creating a Guro Lolita co-ordination can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be. Just remember though this is not a costume and just a build on the normal Lolita style. Guro Lolita is all about being cute yet downright creepy, like something straight out of a horror movie, and you can go about this in many ways.

The stereotypical Guro Lolita is one wearing a white dress covered in fake blood. Although this sounds nice it can be very hard to do and not always the best option, but there are other ways to go about it. Covering an entire garment with fake blood is not also messy but will ruin a perfectly good dress. You could always buy a cheap off brand dress but the best way to go about it is to wear a cute blood splattered apron. Purchase a cute Lolita half apron or make your own and have fun splattering it with fake blood or paint. Paint is usually the ideal option as it is permanent and makes less of a mess, meaning you can wear it for more than one Halloween event.

Don't forget creepy motifs like medical symbols and crosses. You can also go crazy with makeup a little more than standard Lolita and make yourself look really creepy with eye patches, fake bruises and stitches, bandages and gauze, fake knives, broken dolls, bloody teddy bears, arm slings...you can go as crazy or as simple as you like as long as you keep your outfit true to Lolita.

And here's me in Guro Lolita on the left 

Confidence and Living Far Away From Other Lolitas

Being a Lolita isn't easy, especially if you live in a small town. Dealing with society and feeling all alone can really ruin someone's confidence and fun with the fashion. Lolita is a fun fashion that is all about dressing for ones self, yet sometimes society just doesn't get it.

Lolita's With Glasses

I have heard it asked multiple times by new Lolita's...is it ok to wear glasses?

Wearing glasses in Lolita Fashion most certainly is accepted. Some of us can't or just don't want to wear contacts so we are stuck with good old fashioned glasses so we can see. You shouldn't be stumbling around bumping into things and squinting your eyes just for a fashion statement. Although a lot of Lolita's do wear contact lenses for the big eyed doll look, this is not essential.


Try to make it work. If you are concerned that wearing glasses won't suit Lolita don't fret and get your frilly knickers in a knot. There are plenty of Lolita's who wear glasses, you just need to put some effort into making it work.

Try for a simple frame. If you wear Lolita often and multiple sub styles, then you may just want to get a simple pair. Buying a plain black or silver pair will go with many styles and won't draw too much attention to them. You could also go with a cute nerdy pair or a retro style, they would look pretty awesome with most sub styles.

Get them to match your look. Are you a Sweet Lolita or a Classic? Some people like to stick mainly to one sub style, if so you could have fun choosing an awesome pair of glasses to match with all your outfits. If you are an over the top Sweet Lolita, then try going for a cute pink pair, or some cute little Hello Kitty ones. You could easily have your glasses as the most eye catching part of your coordinate.

Go for more than one pair. If you like to change up from Sweet to Gothic or you just want to have a pair of glasses to go with each outfit, why not get two pairs. Get a nice pink pair and then a black pair if you want, two that are the complete opposite from each other so they will go with more styles.

Lolita Fashion in the Summer Time

Ever wanted to wear Lolita in the summer time?

Didn't think you could stand wearing your pretty frills under the soaring heat?

Well with a few tips and tricks it's easy enough to wear your favourite garments right throughout the duration of summer.

Lets be honest here... being a Lolita, especially in a hot climate, isn't easy. Dealing with modesty and all the rules of the fashion, still being true to yourself, and dealing with the heat is a hard battle to face. Yet with patience and love for the fashion you can get through all these challenges.