Introduction

If you’ve ever been to any page on this website before, then you’ve probably already seen an example of Lolita fashion. The header image on all my pages (currently) is Yotsugi Ononoki, from the Monogatari series, who is dressed in Lolita fashion.

A while back on Quora I answered a question about my favorite anime character outfits and mentioned that most of them would probably be in the Lolita fashion category. I can’t really pinpoint one reason why, but this style is just aesthetically pleasing.

Maybe I enjoy the style due to character designs that make use of it well like with Yotsugi, or maybe it’s just that some of my favorite characters are dressed in this style such as Betty from Re:ZERO or Kyōko Sakura (magical girl outfit) from Madoka Magica.

Lolita Fashion

There are many different kinds of Lolita fashion, but the main one I’ll be talking about today is Classic Lolita. Lolita fashion is all about “cuteness” and this is achieved through the use of frills, a lot of frills, and bows.

While the frills and bows are a must for just about any character dressed in Lolita fashion, other clothing items such as tiny hats and striped thigh high socks are frequent as well. Yotsugi, Chocolat, and Beatrice (the girls in the first three gifs in this post) all have both of these items.

While looking “cute” is the main objective of Lolita fashion, it’s also typically associated with looking “doll-like.”

For a character like Yotsugi (pictured above), dressing in Lolita fashion is more than just a style since she is, in fact, a doll made from a corpse. However, for a character like Chocolat (pictured below) the Lolita fashion highlights her child-like nature.

Beatrice (pictured below) dresses in Lolita fashion, not to show that she’s a doll or to show how she acts like a child, but to instead emphasize the difference between how she looks and how she acts. Despite having a child-like appearance, Beatrice is one of the most dependable and powerful characters in Re:ZERO.

I’ve mentioned in previous posts that Beatrice is very similar to my favorite anime character, Mayoi Hachikuji from the Monogatari series, in this regard. While you would typically assume they’re just children due to their appearances, these are actually the most mature characters in their respective anime.

Although just going by appearances it would seem you could group characters who dress in Lolita fashion into a single group such as you can with tsunderes, this isn’t the case. Out of just the three girls I used as examples so far, we have a character who functions as a tool, a child-like airhead, and a mentor/guardian.

Gothic Lolita

The other major type of Lolita fashion seen in anime is known as Gothic Lolita. For a majority of the Haganai first season, Kobato Hasegawa (pictured below) dresses in Gothic Lolita fashion, although this isn’t her only outfit of the series.

As you may have guessed by the name, Gothic Lolita fashion involves a generally darker color palette which includes black instead of the bright, vibrant colors of Classic Lolita. However, the emphasis on cuteness and being doll-like is still applicable.

When worn by child characters, Gothic Lolita fashion is often paired with chūnibyō, or Middle Schooler Syndrome (as is the case with Kobato).

Another example of a Gothic Lolita character is Rory Mercury from GATE (which is currently the next anime on my “Plan to Watch” list). Simply due to her character design, I have a feeling she’ll be my favorite character of that series, which I think is how most people feel about her.

Conclusion

There are many more characters who dress in various Lolita fashions, but these are the few I could remember off the top of my head since MAL‘s character list pages are still down. Who’s your favorite anime character who dresses in Lolita fashion?

* As a final note, although Lolita fashion is styled after old English children’s and doll’s clothing, it has nothing to do with the term Lolita as it is frequently used. Sure, there are some characters who would be considered “Lolita” and also happen to wear Lolita fashion, but the two are not related.