Step1: What is Gothic Lolita?
This question can also be written as: What is the relationship between Goth and Lolita? What’s the difference?
In simple terms, the two are subsets of each other. Gothic Lolita is a type of Lolita style, and Lolita Gothic is also a type of Gothic style.
One of our previous articles about goth hairstyles briefly mentioned various gothic styles. You can take a look if you are interested.
Lolita has developed into many categories today. Currently, there are three main popular ones: Sweet Lolita, Classical Lolita, and Gothic Lolita, which we are going to focus on today.
Different from the pink and white color of Sweet Lolita and the classical elegant style of Classical Lolita, the main color of Gothic Lolita is black and white. It mainly wants to express the atmosphere of mystery, terror and death. It is usually decorated with crosses, silverware, etc. And mores intense dark makeup, such as black nails, eye shadow, and dark lip color.
Regarding goth makeup, we also mentioned it in our previous article: How To Do Goth Makeup Looks: A Complete Guide.
Step2: Features of Goth Lolita
- Keywords: as aloof and cold as the god of death;
- Key elements: black, red, purple and blue tones + silver jewelry + dark makeup;
- Representative brands: Moi-meme-Moitie, Mille Fleur
In addition, there are two more special branches of Gothic Lolita dresses:
- EGL Lolita (Elegant Gothic Lolita)
Its style design usually leans towards the traditional classical style. Although it is very close to Gothic Lolita, it has a little more noble charm of vampires.
- EGA Lolita (Elegant Gothic Aristocrat)
Its clothing styles are generally men’s clothing, long skirts, trousers, shirts and jackets with buttons at the collar.
Step3: What to wear
In this step, I’m going to give you everything you need to put on, all you need to do is to follow. Some parts are optional, but don’t worry, I’ll mark it for sure.
Blouse
For Lolita clothing, whether it is a stand-up collar or lapel shirt, it is decorated with beautiful lace and folds, and it is very cute when paired with a cute bow tie or collar flower.
In the Gothic Lolita category, blouse is mostly in black and white (as mentioned above). Most feature formal bow ties (bows, of course) and large ruffled collars. Depending on the occasion (parties or daily wear), and the overall look and feel of the designer’s own design. Gothic Lolita’s blouse design also has many different details: for example, the neckline may be pulled down in order to pair chokers or other matching accessories.
It is worth mentioning that in order to highlight the formal, aristocratic, and complicated sense of Gothic Lolita clothing, it is generally necessary to layer several pieces, instead of just one top and one skirt.
Note that Gothic Lolita blouse usually has long sleeves, and the sleeves are either lantern sleeves or open and drapey, decorated with ribbons.
Cape
In fact, it is a small jacket that can also be seen in daily clothing. A thin jacket suitable for wearing with a dress in early spring or autumn. This form of clothing is very common in Lolita. The ruffled design is suitable for both the elegance of EGL Lolita and the aristocratic temperament of EGA Lolita.
Coat
When traveling in winter, even if you can’t reveal the little dress underneath, a cute or elegant coat can still enhance your lolita temperament. Generally, it is a mid-length style with a waistband and fur collar.
Jumper Skirt
JSK for short, in Lolita dresses specifically refers to sleeveless dresses, tank tops, and suspenders, usually with blouse underneath.
One-piece
Abbreviated as “OP”, in the Lolita dress, it specifically refers to a dress with sleeves. This is also a major type of Lolita skirt, which is very suitable for daily wear and allows designers to give full play to the design of the skirt.
Skirt
They are usually knee-length skirts with ruffles + lace + bow designs. Skirts and tops need to be matched and worn, and they are usually from the same series. If you want to match them by yourself, you must carefully observe whether the design of the top and skirt matches. The length is also one of the factors to consider.
Drawerst
Whether it is a petticoat or a bustle, they are all designed to make the outer skirt more upright, more fluffy and more beautiful.
In terms of materials: petticoats are generally made of cotton suitable for autumn and winter, and bustles are generally made of gauze material suitable for spring and summer.
Headdress
There are quite a lot of types, including sun hats, top hats, hair bands, hair ties, hair nets and other varieties.
In terms of shape, the main designs are velvet roses, bows, angel wings and crowns, which symbolize elegance, purity or have certain religious and fairy tale implications.
Shoes
Most of the styles are round-toe platform shoes, round-toe boots and round-toe high heels that highlight the cuteness of girls. The height of shoes is usually above 5cm. This height design can make petite girls look slender.
Socks
The socks matched with different types of Lolita dresses are also different:
Gothic socks are generally knee-length or above, and are usually black or with contrasting stripes. Socks printed with skulls, crosses and other Gothic patterns are also very suitable for this style.
Accessory
Common styles include bags, necklaces, bracelets, rings, earrings, umbrellas, fans, etc. They have a variety of shapes, and their designs have different emphasis according to the style of the series. Oh, and gloves are a great option too! Depending on the theme you set, you can actually choose any accessory you want to highlight.
Conclusion
This article brings you a detailed guide on how to wear gothic lolita. This is a detailed step by step tutorial. I hope you can get what you want and match your gothic lolita outfit!
Halloween is coming soon, the Gothic Lolita look can be a really cute Halloween idea~ What about a vampire duke? Or a little vampire princess?
