Everyone who even so much as dipped their toes into the world of lolita fashion will have quickly realised that it is full of jargon. There are plenty of words and acronyms that are exclusive or peculiar to this niche world - and luckily there are many lexicons and lists explaining what those mean. That is your Lolita Language 101, if you will. The 202 version is looking at the words that are common in the English language that lolitas use frequently, but which either have a slightly different meaning to the core English definition or which require having the shared knowledge of this fashion to understand the nuance in this particular context. NB, for all of the definitions I have used the Cambridge English Dictionary Online, unless otherwise stated.
VERSATILE
Definition: “able to change easily from one activity to another or able to be used for many different purposes”
In lolita fashion’s context this remains pretty much the same, lolitas predominantly talk about clothing being versatile and being able to use the same item in a variety of different outfits. The implied meaning is that a versatile item will compliment a range of other lolita-specific garments and may be appropriate for different substyles of lolita fashion. It is not usually used in the context of compatibility across different fashion styles, though it may still be applicable. In the context of main pieces or one’s lolita fashion wardrobe, this word carries an undertone of the potential for pieces suiting a variety of occasions and being possible to dress up or down according to needs as opposed to being boxed in to one set look.
BALANCE
Definition: “a state where things are of equal weight or force”
Lolitas love to use the word balance when describing coordinates! This is most often in relation to colours, however, it can also be used when referring to themes, patterns, volume, accessories etc. A coordinate that is balanced will have its elements (colours, patterns and so on) distributed evenly across the outfit, without any one place seeming too empty or too full. Similarly, when used to talk about volume or how much physical space an outfit occupies, a balanced coordinate will not be voluminous in one area and small or flat in another, but instead will have a unified look and the individual elements will be proportionately of similar size. In the context where lolita is deliberately mixed with other fashions or when two different styles of lolita fashion are blended in one coordinate, a balanced one will combine these elements in proportionately equal amounts to achieve a look where neither side overpowers the other (either by being more prominent or by numbering more pieces). Although it is possible to create a pleasing lolita outfit that is purposefully imbalanced, it is not a common look, therefore, referring to coordinates as balanced is meant as a compliment. Within lolita fashion, balance is understood to be a quality that individuals should aspire to and aim for when putting together outfits, and as such a lack of balance, unless explicitly stated or obvious to be intentional, will be pointed out as a mistake and an area for improvement.
COHESIVE
Definition: “united and working together effectively”
Cohesion in lolita fashion relates both to outfits and to wardrobes as a collection of garments, both in very similar ways. In the context of an outfit, “cohesive” implies a successful maintaining of balance (see above), as well as an overall harmony of the look in terms of colours, themes, patterns, substyles and/or more. A cohesive look will be consistent in those aspects both in primary and secondary elements (i.e. clothes and accessories). However, when referring to a wardrobe as cohesive, the implication is that it is easy to create new looks with the pieces one owns. A cohesive wardrobe is one that allows its owner to mix and match the majority or all of their items freely and effortlessly to create coordinates that are visually pleasing and meet the standards of lolita fashion. This may relate to versatility, but it can also be separate from it, particularly when one owns garments in multiple colourways and adhering to differing substyles. In such cases, a cohesion in a wardrobe indicates that despite the range of styles, themes, colours etc. one is still able to create pleasing lolita outfits, whether through careful curation of distinct capsules within one’s collection or by clever use of styling to successfully mix seemingly contrasting items.
COLOUR MATCH
Definition: “Matching colors [...] usually refers to complementary colors, pairs or triplets of colors that harmonize well together.” (from Wikipedia)
For the first time in this post we see an instance of the common definition being significantly different from its common use within lolita fashion. When lolitas refer to colours as matching or talk about looking for a matching colour, the implied meaning is that of an identical shade rather than a complementary one. Despite this not being an explicit rule and lolita fashion releases commonly having items from the same series in supposedly the same colourways being of different shades, the community has adopted a common understanding that using the exact same colour in an outfit makes for a more pleasing look and strives to find elements that achieve that. Whilst other elements of colour theory (shades and tones, complementary and contrasting colours etc.) apply to lolita fashion in equal measures as they do to other fashion styles, lolitas aspire to find items in the exact same colour and shade. Having said this, when used in the negative to say that colours in a coordinate don’t match, this can indicate either that the colours are not identical or that they do not harmonise well together, and which one it is would be inferred from context and careful examination of the outfit in question, if not explicitly stated. In other words, in lolita fashion matching colours almost always refer to having an identical shade, whereas colours not matching could mean either non-exact shades or colours that do not complement one another.
What other words do you think lolitas love to throw around, which a complete newbie might misunderstand or not grasp the nuance of because they aren’t quite as the dictionary definitions? If there are enough of those that I missed out now, there may be a part 2 of this lexicon coming!
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