Do Gothic Lolitas Just Wanna Have Fun? An Examination of the Goth-Loli Style Tribes in Hong Kong and Tokyo

This paper explores the trend for young adults in Hong Kong and South East Asia to dress up in themed costumes as Gothic Lolitas (Goth-Lolis - gosurori) assuming the persona of characters from Japanese comic books (manga) and animated cartoons (anime), video games, television shows and pop music bands. The paper will explore the underlying reasons why individuals pursue this ‘Goth-Loli’ dress-up activity and the cross cultural, literary and historical influences that have guided them and their global followers. The study, which is part of an ongoing large scale research project tests out Stone’s ideas of the appropriacy of appearance in the development and presentation of self via the capacity of fantastic socialisation processes, whilst also revisiting Eicher’s work on communicating and exploring identity through the dressing of public, private and secret personas. Interviews were conducted with a selection of Gothic Lolitas in Hong Kong and Tokyo who regularly dress in a range of costumes in both private domestic spaces and public places or at organised themed events. Research questions included, what it means for Gothic Lolita participants to assume another persona, what motivates them to dress up, how they decide to choose a particular character, whether it is a form of creative expression, what resources they use for creative guidance, sub-cultural rebellion, secret or overt expressions of self, why and how they employ dress to pursue a particular Gothic fantasy and the role of gender socialisation in this type of costuming. Findings suggest that dressing up as a Gothic Lolita is multi-vocal experience representing different things to different participants, depending on demographic and psychographic profiles, including the reaffirmation of identity, and the escape from a known reality - in an attempt to recapture a ‘cute’ childhood innocence, and the visible, often mediated adherence to a defined and reassuring sub-cultural collective in the Asian context.