For the longest time, people have been mixing other alternative styles with Lolita. Fairy Lolita, mori/Lolita, gal and Lolita... I'd be lying if I said I didn't love each and every one of these styles with a passion. Mixing styles can lead to all sorts of new ideas and amazing coords never before seen in Lolita, even if it's something as small as wearing a Jesus Diamante necklace with an otherwise totally Lolita coord.
However, what about more "American" counterculture styles? What about scene, emo, and all those styles that Lolita seems to continually snub?
A while ago, a girl posted to EGL with some Polyvores for emo/Lolita. The coords this girl came up with were... questionable, to say the least. The girl's attitude when she was told so, often in the nicest terms possible, was even worse. However, during all this drama, many girls kept saying how emo/Lolita could never, ever work. Why not, I ask? Emo, while it doesn't share as many elements with Lolita as fairy-kei or hime-kei, does have a couple of elements that could work into Lolita. Maybe voluminous dark hair with various bow clips decorating it, with a darker dress adorned with a more playful print (I'm thinking skulls with bows)? Okay, that wasn't the best image possible, but I'm sure that with enough creativity plenty of experience with both emo and Lolita, somebody could make it work. It wouldn't be everybody's cup of tea (including mine), but as long as it follows the rules of the fashion, is well put-together and the wearer them self has a good attitude toward any negative critique they would most likely receive, I see no reason why emo and Lolita could never be mixed.
However, realistically I'm pretty sure this will never happen. I'm going to be brutally honest here (and I do mean
brutally)- the majority of the members of styles like the ones I just mentioned tend to be younger, thus immature and ignorant. Every time I walk into a mall that has a Hot Topic while wearing Lolita, I get negative comments (often shouted from afar, where I can't reach them with my parasol) from packs of teens clad in black with poofy, huge hair. I admit, this has made me somewhat biased against members of these styles. When I meet somebody who identifies themselves as an emo/scene/etc kid online, I'm skeptical of them until they earn my trust (which again, I admit, is not often). However, are the STYLES themselves really so bad? Not necessarily. I may not be crazy about the clothes, but I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for the hair (my guilty pleasure :P).
A while ago, my friend decided that she's determined to make Cyber Goth and Lolita work. Like many, I was skeptical at first. Cyber and Lolita? I thought, Those styles are very different from each other, not to mention Cyber isn't exactly my favorite in the first place...
But then she showed me some pictures she'd drawn of her ideas for the style, and my faith in the idea was immediately restored. The style had the typical Cyber dreads in black and pink, with those Cyber goggles adorned with hearts. The girl in the picture had piercings on her nose and lip (I do love piercings in Lolita, I admit!), and was wearing a dress that looked like it was designed by AP's evil twin, adorned with skulls wearing bows and black cupcakes. She was carrying a bat purse similar to the one MMM released way back, and had stompy goth boots on (another one of my guilty pleasures!!). It not only followed all the rules of Lolita, but it was very cute and well put-together.
I want to see this style work, but once again I've heard girls say that Cyber/Lolita will never work in real life. Honestly, I can't wait for my aforementioned friend to create the outfit she's drawn (she's working on her sewing skills in hopes of creating such an outfit someday!) and show everybody that yes, those darker styles that aren't necessarily everybody's cup of tea can work in Lolita. Hopefully, she'll be able to do so soon :)
Now, keep in mind that this girl is fairly well-versed in Lolita-- she's read the Bibles, she frequents EGL, and she has a growing wardrobe of her own-- she knows what she's doing, and being a part-time goth as well she's used to negative critiques and receives them with grace, so before you run off and try to make a crossover style of your own with Lolita, be sure you know at least the basics and be prepared for any negative critique that will probably come (as the majority of the Lolita community is just as skeptical, if not even more than I was). But, even so, who says it HAS to be Lolita? If you create a coord with Lolita in mind, but you know it doesn't really truly resemble the fashion you love, call it what it is- Lolita INSPIRED. It's not that hard, and you won't get jumped on for trying to label your creation for something it's not (which, for people who truly make an attempt to follow the fashion, can be a bit grating). Thanks for reading, and good luck for all you crossover hopefuls!! :)
