What is Lolita Fashion?

Lolita fashion is a Japanese street fashion that originated in the late 1970s. It is characterized by its exaggeratedly feminine aesthetic, which often includes frilly blouses, skirts and dresses with petticoats, ruffles, lace trim and other Victorian-inspired elements. The clothing also has an element of kawaii or “cuteness” to it. Accessories such as headwear, parasols and bags are usually part of Lolita outfits as well. Check out these top lolita fashion influencers on Instagram below!

Lolita substyles

Here's some of the many lolita substyles that exist today:

- Gothic Lolita: a subtype influenced by victorian goth fashion. Gothic lolita includes religious themes and spooky patterns like bats, skulls, coffins, chandeliers, and dark roses. Gothic lolita primarily uses dark color like black, blue, crimson, purple, but pastel colors are occassionally incorporated as well.

- Sweet Lolita: a subtype influenced by childish and cartoon-ish, lighthearted elements. Sweet lolita sprinkles in light pastel colors with animals, flowers, and fun patterns.

- Classic Lolita: classic lolita is heavily inspired by historic fashion. Unlike sweet lolita, classic lolita looks more antique and mature, but it still incorporates artsy patterns and prints.

- Wa Lolita: Wa lolita combines the beauty of Japanese kimonos into its substyle. Wa lolita is generally harder to come by because kimonos are expensive and harder to find if you're on a budget. Nevertheless, this substyle consists of beautifully designed sleeves, patterns, and colors associated with traditional Japanese wear.

- Punk Lolita: punk lolita is inspired by Western fashion. Despite its punk asethetic, punk lolita has a more girly edge to it with puffy skirts, frills, bows, and pastel colors that clash with darker colors seen in gothic lolita.

- Country Lolita: country lolita is inspired by country fashion. This substyle includes fruit and flower themed patterns and accessories. The fabric is lightweight, and accessories include baskets, bags, flowers, hats, or bonnets.

- Ouji (Prince) Style: Ouji style is very similar to classic lolita, but it's known for its boystyle, victorian fashion. This prince-like style attracts men looking to bring back victorian-style fashion with a modern twist.

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If you liked our curation of the top lolita fashion influencers, check out our top art influencers on Instagram list here!

小鳥遊くれあ @kurea_primo

• Followers: 453.2k
• Average Likes Per Post: 1.3k
• Engagement Rate: .28%

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This Japanese Influencer delves into many styles on her page. Some of which just swim wear, others being tech wear, and some of them being of the Lolita substyle. In her posts you get to see the two distinct styles of the Gothic Lolita and Regular Lolita styled dresses. 

Kurea is most popular in countries like Indonesia (12.36%), Taiwan (10.91%), and the US (10.77%). Her audience primarily speaks English (32.24%), Spanish (14.81%), and Chinese (14.43%).

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Yurisa (유리사) @risa.yu

• Followers: 386.5k
• Average Likes Per Post: 14.3l
• Engagement Rate: 3.70%

Throughout her profile you get to see multiple Lolita styles. One of which is the Hime Lolita Style. This style listed above, is defined by a preference of elegance over cuteness. A simple way to understand this is the user’s desire to be portrayed as a strong princess.

Risa is extremely popular in countries like China (16.44%), Indonesia (13.87%), and Taiwan (12.67%). Because of this, most of her audience speaks English (31.42%), Chinese (30.94%), and Korean (6.63%).

Nyako @nyako_qwq

• Followers: 365.7k
• Average Likes Per Post: 4.6k
• Engagement Rate: 1.26%

The Lolita style shown above is called “Sweet Lolita,” due to the dresses resemblance to candy colors. People who dress as Sweet Lolita typically try to portray themselves as youthful and princess like. This specific influencer also dons the sailor, maid and Wa Lolita style. 

Similar to other top lilita fashion influencers on this list, Nyako is popular in countries like Indonesia (13.92%), Taiwan (12.62%), and the US (11.07%). Her audience primarily speaks English (33.99%) and Chinese (17.70%), but about 15% of her fans also speak Spanish.

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Misaki TL @misaki_tl

• Followers: 315.1k
• Average Likes Per Post: 20.5k
• Engagement Rate: 6.50%

The above shown Lolita Style is most similar to what Lolita looked at the outset of tis creation. This style is called Classic Lolita, due to the Victorian/Edwarian nature of the clothes. You will often see these dresses in a solid brown, beige, ivory, navy or other jewel tones. These outfits are typically meant to make the wearer look more mature, classy, elegant and vintage.

Misaki is more noteable in western countries like Mexico (26.73%), the US (10.85%), and Chile (7.87%). Surprisingly enough, over 53% of her fans speak Spanish. The second and third most popular languages in her audience is English (24.90%) and Portuguese at nearly 8%.

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Can't get enough fashion? Check these trending fashion influencers on TikTok here.

┐(￣ヘ￣;)┌ @candy_balll

• Followers: 255.6k
• Average Likes Per Post: 20.1k
• Engagement Rate: 8.00%

Candy has an impressive engagement rate and fashion sense! The style shown above is another example of the sweet lolita style. This is seen through the usage of light pastel colors that resemble candy. The cotton candy pink that she uses is meant to give the influencer the image of princess. 

Candy has captured western fashion lovers with nearly 25% living in the US. Another 8.96% and Brazil (6.88%) live in Mexico and Brazil. Nearly half of her fans speak English while others speak Spanish (24.38%) and Portuguese (6.35%).

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If you liked our curation of the top lolita fashion influencers, consider checking out NeoReach's list of the best alternatives to fast fashion here!

ちよ🎐 @chiyoalbum

• Followers: 155.4k ‍
• Average Likes Per Post: 7k‍
• Engagement Rate: 4.08% 

The last style we have to show is something called an Alice Lolita, in reference to Alice from the book Alice in Wonderland. Usually this outfit is paired with an aprons, vintage dresses, skirts, neutral and (sometimes) pastel tones, and large bows.

Chiyoalbum lives in Japan, hence her strong following in countries like Indonesia (22.94%), Taiwan (10.41%), and Japan (9.56%). Over a third of her fans speak English while others speak Chinese (18.03%) and Japanese (10.83%).

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Hungry? Check out these fast-growing cooking channels on YouTube at this Tensor blog!

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Blog by Benjamin Byun