Confessions of a Cosplay Hipster: Cosplay Lolita? WTF is that?! (Part 1)

WARNING: IMAGE HEAVY POST!

Disclaimer: This blog entry is not targeted towards anyone but rather written to enlighten and entertain. Any symptoms of butthurt or hate towards what is written inside or towards the author may be a side-effect of your hard-hardheadedness to accept the things written here, if symptoms persist please consult a doctor immediately XD. The photos used are not mine unless stated otherwise

If you've just noticed my love for lolita memes and funny images then I'm guessing you're new to my blog :))

Firstly lemme just say I've got nothing against people who supposedly "Cosplay" lolita besides the fact that it's a misconception I'm trying to help stamp out. Ok, down to business... What the Fuck is "Cosplay Lolita"?! If you've read my previous blog entry related to this you'd get that there is no such thing as a Cosplay Lolita in the POV of a lolita enthusiast. But to the cosplay newbie there is such a thing. I am here to clarify the different types of misconceived attire and faux pas that "Cosplay Lolitas" wear that differentiates them from real lolita enthusiasts.

According to Lolitafashion.org a cosplay lolita attire is "Cosplay Lolita is worn by those who wish to dress in Lolita as more of a costume, usually only at anime or game conventions. This type of Lolita outfit is normally crudely put together. A dress in this style is usually created from a sort of satin, adorned with oodles of scratchy lace, and is not very fitting to the Lolita fashion as a whole. A majority of dresses in this style are either too short and show far too much skin for any proper Lolita or are very reminiscent of a maid or nurse. This could be due to the fact that some associate Lolita with maid or nurse characters in anime." This is all too true here in the local cosplay community in the Philippines. If you take the time to search the words "Lolita Dress" in the local CNPH Cosplay Market you are bound to encounter a butt-load of so called Lolita dresses that are over-priced and not at all very lolita like or not lolita clothes at all. Why is that you ask? It's because of the misconception that Lolita is a genre of cosplay or a character in which anyone can cosplay. Hence the bad choices in fabric, lace, shoes and accessories.What's worse is the fact that people sell them at an almost premium price that makes me want to tear my hair out because they're unreasonably badly made and the materials used are just as bad, simply said they're an embarrassment.

My usual reaction to so called "Lolita Dresses" in the CNPH Cosplay market

Ahem...

So let me elaborate some of the so called "Cosplay Lolita" genres in the local community that I've noticed.

"Bedroom Costume Lolita" aka "Sexy Lolita", "Sex Shop Outfit Lolita"

O_o Sometimes I wonder if I will ever see a girl in a lolita meet wear this...

An outfit much more suited for pornography or for "private audiences" has been labeled by cosplayers as lolita for a loooong, loooooooong time in the local cosplay shores of the Philippines. I will never forget the con I attended where I asked one girl in a similar outfit to the one posted (when I asked out of curiosity) what character she was cosplaying answered to me "Oh, I'm cosplaying gothic lolita Sakura Haruno"

My dearest patron troll knows how I feel....

This kind of lolita is so rampant in the local community that it hurts the eyes. The misconceived notion that "If I want to cosplay something and show off my body, I have the right to sex it up!!!" is so widespread in the local community that you can't help wonder if the girls who wear those sorts of outfits know the actual purpose of the clothes that their wearing. Then again I have seen girls in the cosplay community wear much worse.

Lolita is supposed to be elegant, conservative and respectable looking even in the sub-genre of "Ero-Lolita" a focus on looking elegant is implied and championed by even the most liberal of lolita enthusiasts. To even DARE compare Ero-Lolita to this bedroom counterpart is like comparing Anne Rice's Sleeping Beauty trilogy to tabloid smut. It's a gigantic no brainer as to why this ISN'T considered lolita. If you insist it is lolita, please, save us both the migraines and just get out...

Maid Lolita aka. *breathes in* "LookatmeI'mwearingamaidoutfitwithruffles,itmustbelolita"

Just because it has ruffles...

...Doesn't mean it's lolita :)) nor does the fact of it having lace make it lolita. If that were the case then just wearing regular lacey or ruffle-butt rumba panties is SO DAMN RORI-KAWAII DESUUU!!!! *fires confetti canon*

Lacey! IT MUST BE RORITA!!!!

Ahem... There's this misconceived notion that maid outfits are also lolita outfits. uhhhh... I don't think I've ever seen a "Maid Lolita" in any of the GLBs or any site that talks about lolita. :/ Hence my statement "All that has ruffles and lace is not always Lolita!!!"

Maid outfits and the like are usually linked to anime characters in fanservice art or is the actual focus of said anime. And maid outfits are also a con staple due to the popularity of Maid cafes. This just proves my point about them, Maid cafe outfits are considered UNIFORMS by the staffers/ maids themselves, they never call it a lolita outfit or costume :/

So called maid lolitas are also SOOOO rampant in the Philippines that you'll drink yourself under the table if you make a drinking game out of it every convention. Nuff said.

The Lace Monster Lolita aka. "MORE LACE=MOAR LOLITA-I-ER IT IS"

If we reflect back to the belief that as long as it has ruffles or lace it's lolita then The Lace Monster Lolita is king... errr... QUEEN *cough* of all the lolitas.

So some of you might be asking, "So if I pile on lace and ruffles that makes me a cosplay lolita? But what about old-school lolita outfits?" This is were things get tricky. The answer is a blurred grey area. If you pile on lace and ruffles in a manner that has a coherent design as opposed to the monstrosity up there, then no, you won't look like a cosplay lolita BUT if you go overboard on them then you might just fall under that category. As for Old-School lolita outfits, where most of them were mostly brand-named outfits there's still a matter of one thing that separated them from the so called cosplay lolita and that's QUALITY. Even back then good quality lace was used for old-school lolita designs that may seem ITA (painful to the eye) today. Cosplay lolitas are usually more concern in getting more for their bucks than the quality that they buy. Hence most of them would go for cheap-ass scratchy, synthetic lace and shiny-ass fabrics. I'll talk about cloth some other time.

I will be honest, I once owned a lace monster dress complete with shiny fabric that would puts me to a large amount of self-embarrassment over my old lolita choices.

Yup... That ugly dress XDDD

Moving on...

Cat Girl lolita aka. "SUPAH KAWAII DESSU RABITO/NEKO-EAR LOLITA DESUUU"

This won bodyline's design contest? O_o 

I think most folks would agree that animal ears on lolita outfits make for weeaboo-ish attire and is a definite no no in lolita outfits. What is a weeaboo you might ask? A weeaboo is an individual who is obsessed with Anime/Otaku culture to the point of outright denial and forsaking of their own cultural background or in layman's term they're the creepers who are overly obsessed with anime/manga/whatever in your community.

 The presence of tails and even mewling in conventions of these so called catgirls just makes me wonder if they're actually just closeted furries (no offense towards furries). :/ It may look cute on your favorite anime character but the presence of animal ears on a piece of lolita clothing (even on brand items!!!) makes it look cheap and tacky, a common mistake of the newbie lolita that makes them seem like cosplay lolitas instead. Always remember that the main goal of a lolita is to look "elegant, classy and refined" and a pair of animals doesn't make your outfit so, keep your weeaboo-ness out of your lolita closet

I don't really have much to say but this kind also includes rabbit ears, demon horns, cat ears, dog ears, wolf ears, etc. etc.

That's it for now, in part 2 I'll discuss a few more looks I've noticed in the local cosplay community along with what not to get caught dead in.


Bloody kisses and sweet returns,

Amadeo