Tuesday 5 November 2013

The Widely Misunderstood Brolita

Posted by Unknown at 16:21

A Brolita pen pal of mine
Imagine you were looking on the internet at this cute, adorable well dressed young girl wearing the most amazing Lolita dress and striking a super adorable pose. You'd stare at the picture and wonder who it was right...what if you discovered they were a guy...would you get freaked out?

To the Lolita community a male wearer of Lolita Fashion is commonly known as a 'Brolita'. Just like the female counterparts they enjoy dressing up and wearing cute and elegant Lolita clothing. Many males wanting to wear Loita Fashion generally stick to the more masculine styles such as Ouji or Kodona. Yet the 'Brolita's as they are commonly known, are the ones that generally cross the line drawn by society and dress themselves to their best in cute Lolita garments.

Many people mistake and greatly misunderstand Brolita's. Many assume it to be a weird fetish, or claim that a guy dressing up in this way is a ridiculous notion. Yet Brolita's are human just like us, and very much the same as every other Lolita on the planet.

Just like girls who wear Lolita Fashion, not everyone gets it right. There will be guys even after many years of being in the fashion who still may look ita, and people who call their garments Lolita when they are clearly not. Yet those guys who wear Lolita the right way and follow all the rules, are still Lolita's.

Mana
These guys wear the clothes for the same reasons anyone else would. They may wear them to feel pretty, be creative or just to feel happy. Some people think that a guy wearing Lolita Fashion is a concept so hard to fathom, but why should the men miss out on all the fun? Some guys can even wear Lolita Fashion better than some females.

Societies views on what is and isn't feminine is what really ruins it for men. A guy can't wear a dress because that is what 'man' has decided. Since the beginning of time dresses have been considered something worn by only females, so a male wanting to dress this way is considered wrong. What you call feminine and masculine is only one person's view and perspective on life, if a man wants to wear a dress then he should be able to. He may not even consider it to be feminine, he may just like it. There is nothing wrong with a male being into this fashion, or even cross dressing in general if it is done right. If it isn't harming you then there is nothing wrong with it.

Also believe it or not Mana is a guy...

Being a Lolita you probably would have heard of him in some shape or form, even if you do not know about him exactly. Mana is a Japanese musician and fashion designer best known for his role as lead guitarist in the Visual Kei band Malice Mizer. His clothing label Moi-même-Moitié helped popularise Gothic Lolita Fashion, and helped to evolve it into the Fashion we know today.

Yes a popular and very significant Lolita Fashion idol is in fact a guy. If this guy can be so greatly respected, why can not all other males in the Lolita Fashion community be respected as well?

Also another thing that would be worth checking out is this Lolita Fashion documentary called Sugar Coated. It shows the views of a small minority of individuals within the Fashion community, and in fact has a brolita in it. This will help you get a better understanding of how they feel wearing the clothes they do, and exactly why they do it.

13 comments:

Laura Morrigan on 6 November 2013 at 10:57 said...

Thanks for a good article. I never understand people saying things like boys can't wear dresses. I never wear pants because I find them uncomfortable, and I honestly don't know how boys put up with them! Dresses are so much more comfortable, fun, and pretty, at least in my opinion, so anyone who feels that way too should be allowed to do so!

Mana is beautiful, I am endlessly jealous of him, and he was one of my early Lolita inspirations!

Unknown on 7 November 2013 at 20:33 said...

I'm glad you liked it, thank you :)

Yes I couldn't agree more, dresses are so much more fun and comfortable.

Unknown on 27 December 2013 at 02:45 said...

Thanks for this article :) It is so important that we are including no matter age, sex, colour, size, handicap et.c. - all with a love of Lolita fashion should truly feel welcomed by our communities. I get so inspired by Lollis' that aren't the standard size or shape, and I'm often absolutely blown away how beautiful they coordinate and create their own amazing coords with their signature personal twist. <3

Unknown on 1 January 2014 at 17:27 said...

You are most welcome :)


Yes we should be including...and that includes any hobby or subculture not just Lolita Fashion exclusively. I am glad you agree, and I am happy that you like my article ^w^

Anonymous said...

I agree that boys should be able to wear dresses, although I just want to point out when you say we decided forever ago that only girls can wear dresses that's not actually true. Many ancient cultures had men in robes and togas and other things rather than pants, which were often worn only by the poor. In fact, in one of the later dynasties in China, the saying was that only women wore pants. I'm not trying to be nitpicky about your post (because I agree wholeheartedly!) but I just wanted to mention that the "but boys have always worn pants" argument isn't even valid. :)

Unknown on 31 July 2014 at 13:06 said...

As you can tell I'm not an expert on history. And by that fact I probably should mention that I'm more referring to European cultures, where it probably wasn't accepted as much. Especially being Australian, where our culture originated from Britain, boys always have worn pants. Although I have not much understanding of History, so please don't hold that against me. Most of my earlier posts on this blog aren't very well done, and haven't gotten much background information, as I was still very new to blogging.

Thank you for reading my article ^w^

Unknown on 2 December 2015 at 18:09 said...

Thank you for the article! I'm a beginner at the brolita/lolita style and I was felling insecure, but you gave me hope and now I think I will look awesome as brolita :3 and as you can tell, english is not my first language, so sorry about it :v I also think that Yohio is a big reference in this style, he looks really cute after doing it for a while. He went from Ita and now he is one of the best brolita on my opinion and he's also one of my idols *-* but I still need some advices, like with the wig choice and how many lace I can use without turn into a lace monster XD I would be very grateful if you can give me your opinion!

Unknown on 4 January 2016 at 14:25 said...

I need to show this to my friend. He says he wants to become a lolita, but can't because he's a guy/thinks it would be weird. If he wants to do it, he should!

Unknown on 25 January 2016 at 13:43 said...

Nothing should stop you from doing the things you love, not even gender. Tell him to go for it :)

Unknown on 25 January 2016 at 13:49 said...

I'm glad my article inspired you to continue on with the fashion. Lolita Fashion is an extremely hard fashion to get into and stay with, due to how complicated it is. The overall public also has a hard time understanding our specific subculture and what the fashion itself represents. If this is something you love however, you should stick with it regardless of your gender.

As for places to learn more about the fashion here are some links:
http://www.lolitafashion.org/
http://fyeahlolita.blogspot.com.au/p/what-is-lolita.html
http://lolita-tips.tumblr.com/

DJ 9-Volt on 23 May 2016 at 14:48 said...

My god you nailed it so well i love it

Anonymous said...

Dear Caitlin.
I am a straight guy who has always been a little submissive to women.
I genuinely want to try the Brolita fashion but would need the assistance of a female friend.
What love any help.
Thank you

Anonymous said...

I'm a male Lolita and a love it. I bought my first coord just recently and I've got a couple more dresses on order. Can't wait until they arrive!

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