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Sweet Lolita through the years

Part 3

2008-2013(ish) “ott sweet”

This is what I believe to be both the most iconic era and the most misunderstood. As someone who was wearing and getting into Lolita at this time I remember it very fondly.

This is the era that really cemented lolita as what we know it as today. Due to the sheer amount of references and documentation of this era I’m going to focus less on individual items and moreso show the over all look

The regular look at the time was very elaborate and focused on creating a fully cohesive coord from head to toe. Balance, harmony, motifs, color and detail level being carried from head to toe was more important than ever. Contrary to popular belief however, piling on a bunch of accessories was not really the look. Very few Lolita’s went for the decora inspired vibe and instead went for tasteful balanced statement accessories and a lot of cohesion. Each individual item had its own detail creating a very “ott” look when paired with the trendy hair and makeup at the time as well as the busier prints and brighter colors.

Casual Lolita was still seen at the time though it seems what people call casual Lolita now is wildly different than what we called it back then.perhaps it was due to OTT very elaborate coords being the norm led to the casual coords of the time being quite elaborate in their own right. Usually using a skirt, cutsew, smaller or simpler accessories and a more wearable comfortable vibe.

“Bittersweet”, I’m not here to debate whether or not this is a substyle or a “real thing” on this post, simply to acknowledge what the term refers to. During the ott era it was a micro trend to wear a mix of pastels and black- often paired with edgier hairstyles and accessories. A lot of people compare this style to pastel goth but I think a more accurate comparison is spank! Kei being the darker sibling to fairy kei. Consider this the spank kei of lolita.

Hair and makeup typically look inspiration from another wildly popular style at the time: gyaru. With its rise and popularity, many styles in Japan used the hair, makeup, and even deco nails from the style with their own styles. This can be seen very often in lolita. Hallmarks of this being the eye droop, lashes, circle lences, big teased hairstyles, face gems and heavy rounded blush.

Though still seen, metal jewelry was quickly becoming less common with plastic chunky jewelry becoming the popular trend for brands and wearers of lolita. Jewelry that directly matched the print really took off at the time.

Novelty bags were at their peak at this time. You can often see snaps of girls carrying multiple bags! Plush animal bags had also come back around as a trend with the emergence of many iconic designs like ap’s horse bags and the lyrical bunny pochette. Tote bags that featured the dress’s print were also quite popular as opposed to the screen printed designs of past eras.

Some of the most iconic and sought after prints were from this era, it truly defined what we view as lolita and so many people cite this era as what got them into lolita. The prints were honestly really varied in terms of motifs and colors though- moreso than ever before!

While twinning has always been a thing I feel like making a 2010s sweet post without showing some of the absolutely iconic twinning coords would be a disservice to everyone. Twinning was in and of itself a trend of the time

I often see any ott sweet coords called 2010s sweet when they simply aren’t. Deco lolita definitely existed at the time but it wasn’t the common look. So if you intend to emulate 2010s iconic sweet style try and look at and truly study the style of the time! I hope this post does help clear up some of the main misconceptions.

If you’re interested in reading more here’s part 1 and part 2

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Sweet lolita through the years

Part 2

2005-2008 (ish) “midschool” sweet

Moving out of the oldschool era we start to see sweet Lolita becoming more like we know it today. While solid color mainpieces and simpler styling were still common, printed pieces and more accessories were becoming more popular.

This transitional period between oldschool and the iconic 2010s ott era is often left out in conversations about Lolita history despite it really having its own interesting trends.

In general this era was very glamorous in its trends- gyaru was a huge influence on the trends and you can absolutely see that influence.

This is the period where balancing colors and having elaborately themed coords started. Brands really started to have their own styles and identities.

As a sort of in between of heavy prints and solids appliqué prints and screen prints were very popular at the time. Brands put a lot out and the community caught onto this trend very quickly

I also often see coords from the early part of this era mislabeled as oldschool despite them already being quite modern. I do think there’s overlap, especially around 2005-2006 but familiarizing yourself with the styling differences makes it pretty easy to see the differences. The “new” way of coording at the time was far more sweet, more elaborate, more detailed, and more accessorized. THIS is the period where tea parties, modern usakumya designs, baby’s heart bags, and many other iconic designs that are often labeled as oldschool were made. Mislabeling them as oldschool both harms the ability to properly emulate oldschool and erases the history of the transitional period between then and the ott era. Wrist cuffs were also becoming common place at this point.

Printed socks started to become both more elaborate and more popular though lace topped otks stayed pretty common and popular in this period.

Jewelry got more detailed and cutesy. Plastic jewelry started to become more common, however more detailed metal jewelry was the majority of what you’ll see. Jewelry and socks that matched the motifs of dresses started to become the standard at this point.

Other accessories were very varied though mini Alice bows were really the most popular and common. A lot of fun and experimental headpieces like plastic headbands, mini hats, and the always iconic napayoshi bunny bonnet were made in this time.

Novelty bags and heavily printed totes also started to become more common and popular. Strangely it seems that plush animal bags fell out of popularity until the tail end of this era moving into the ott craze. Printed hand bags were the most popular, but some shaped novelty bags were still made- especially towards the end of this period.

This is one of the first Lolita eras where hair and makeup became a big part of styling a coord. With the popularization of gyaru you could see many influences in how Lolita���s did their hair and makeup both in this period and in the 2010s. Though the makeup was simpler and typically didn’t veer into full gyaru territory until the later part into the 2010s

More accessories like wrist cuffs, faux collars, brooches, gloves and little chains that clipped from one jsk strap to the other were seen at this time too. Faux fur in details was extremely popular with some brands even including fur trims on their mainpieces. Pearls, polkadots, charms, and florals were all also rampant.

Motifs were all over the place at the time but some of the most popular / common were: poodles, cakes / sweets, polkadots, Alice / card / trumps, berries, crowns, cats, houndstooth, florals, and crowns!

Thanks so much for reading, if you’re interested in reading more see: part 1 part 3

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Sweet Lolita through the years

Part 1: Late 90s-2005 (ish) “Oldschool”

Oldschool sweet is the first truly recognizable form of sweet Lolita

Though during the Oldschool era the substyles had far more crossover and less individual traits I think there’s just enough that you still label coords from the time. When most people think of Oldschool they think of a solid color main piece with lace topped otks and a rectangle headdress… but Oldschool is so much more than that.

Oldschool in general was simpler, though some brands like Metamorphose Temps De Fille , Emily Temple Cute, and baby the stars shine bright were already making prints

Printed fabrics of fruits or florals were very common, but you did see a good amount of screen printed and appliquéd pieces coming out at the time too. Some very common sweet motifs in the oldschool era were:

•cats

•fruit

•alice in wonderland

•bunnies / rabbits

•bears

•alphabet / letter prints

•music notes

•hearts

The closer to the end of the identifiable oldschool era the more prints became popular! Though through most of the 2000’s prints would remain more minimal with the focus being on more structural elements like lace, bows, construction, and interesting fabric choices.

Due to the image limit on tumblr here’s a link to the correct sorting to see examples on lolibrary with examples of some early sweet prints and patterns. If you click the link on any of these items you’ll be able to view their lolibrary entries as well if available

Color balance wasn’t considered as highly as it is today, the overall vibe of Coords was more chaotic and experimental. A very make do attitude can be seen in many street snaps.

Patterned main pieces were another popular alternative to prints, things like gingham, stripes, tartan/plaid.

Bag choices were pretty varied, honestly in a lot of oldschool sweet coords people would use unique bags as the visual interest / focal point. You can already see that in someone of the coords above. Faux leather shaped bags like btssb’s heart bags weren’t very common yet. A few brands had put out heart bags, such as milk, but they were much simpler and often real leather in limited colors. You also didn’t see usakumyas in their modern iteration until well into the 2000’s towards the 2010’s. Plush bags of the era did not have the same clean marketable look. Some common / popular bags were:

-basket / wicker purses

-plush animal bags

-tote bags

-matching fabric bags

-leather handbags

-designer handbags

Shoes at the time were much chunkier and much less cutesy even in sweet styles. Tea parties didn’t exist until a good deal past this time period- honestly most popular modern Lolita shoe styles weren’t really seen. Real leather was far more common, in a much more limited pallet. When you did see colored shoes they typically weren’t used to color balance a coord like we do now a days. A lot of different styles were worn though, including:

-Mary Jane’s

-Platforms

-Rocking horse shoes

-Boots

-Oxfords

-sandals

Socks are often overlooked in oldschool. I’ve seen so many people say printed socks weren’t worn even though they absolutely were and many brands made them. Sure, lace topped otks were the trend and the most popular option but simple motif printed socks absolutely existed and were worn!

Headpieces were one of the most varied category. So many different styles and kinds were worn.

-mini crowns

-hair ribbons

-hats

-bows

-canotiers

-mini hats

-lace headdresses

Jewelry / Accessories were one area that Oldschool definitely was simpler. However brands were absolutely making both jewelry and other accessories. Plain metal necklaces with various motifs were common, lace chokers, faux collars, capes, ties, and though extremely uncommon you do sometimes run across wrist cuffs. Hopefully there’s more of an effort to start documenting jewelry and accessories from this time since it’s quite lacking

Makeup and hair were something that like all eras of Lolita followed the over all cultural trends of the time. More minimal make or simple 90’s - early 2000’s makeup is seen often. As for hair there’s so many different styles that really it would be impossible to list them all. In older magazines there’s often sections with hair tutorials and makeup tutorials!

Common lace styles included Torchon, Cotton, Eyelet, and Raschel. Many different trims and such were used in addition to these.

Part 2 and part 3

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‘Vintage’ Baby the Stars Shine Bright ads from FRUiTS magazines, 2000!

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by しょう ♡

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metamorphose corduroy + rainy day

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Simple summer outfit

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Elizabeth

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Another old coord from 2021 and I think the only reason I'm wearing those shoes is because it was ridiculously hot outside. Like think 100 degrees hot and I did not want to die. I ws trying to be more casual but I do not think I succeeded but honestly, I still have fondness for this coord.

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Older coordinate from two years ago with marine kingdom. It is one of my favorite ap prints.

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Angelic Pretty

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Miyako wears an unknown 1990s Baby high neck cutsew in pink x white.

If you have any more information on this, please let me know!

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Nobara and Mochi wear Baby’s tartan check jsk in blue.

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Dreaming of cute pink coords ZZZzzz ☁️🍡🥮

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Sakura wears Milk’s bambi print towelling camisole (not its official name) in pink. It’s a camisole worn over a top or dress, rather than a short sleeve cutsew like I had initially thought.

Example image credit to Clara @ decayingbun on IG